The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 10 - Magical Beast Test (1)

“You may pass now.”

At the examiner's words, I took my hand off the Value Miner. And I stepped over the entrance and into the examination hall.

The first gateway of the entrance evaluation, the ability test, was just that. It was so insignificant that it was embarrassing to call it a gateway…….

The next test, the magical beast test, would not be so easy. It might even be the biggest hurdle of this entrance evaluation.

But well, I wouldn't fail. Because I'd make sure of it.

***

After entering the examination hall, I followed the supervisor's instructions and took a portal to a certain room. It was a room where all four sides were covered in white, a truly strange and bleak room.

That's right. This was the second examination site.

“It's just like I saw in the game.”

According to the description in , this was a sub-space created by magic. Well, to accommodate so many freshmen, it would have to be that much.

-Ah, ah. Hello, everyone~?

While I was briefly distracted, a voice echoed in the sub-space. It was a woman's voice with a high tension.

-To all the freshmen who will be taking the test this time! I am Jenna, a professor of the Combat Department, who will be in charge of supervising the Combat Department's B class this time~.

Jenna Lindholm……. a regular character who showed her face quite a lot in the game as well, huh.

She must be evaluating the students she's in charge of separately through surveillance magic in the supervisor's office right now. I would, of course, be one of them.

-Let's see, it seems everyone from class B is here……. good! Then I'll briefly explain the test~.

The content of the test Jenna explained was roughly like this. When it starts, magical beasts categorized into 10 levels of difficulty will be summoned starting from level 1, and your grade will be determined by how many you deal with.

Actually, I didn't really need to listen since I had repeated it to the point of being sick of it in the game, but……. there was actually an important point.

-……that's the content, but you must be thinking, what if I get hurt or die while fighting the magical beasts?

Yes, the story about the safety measures of the test was exactly that.

-But don't you worry! Everyone, please take a look at your left wrist~.

At Jenna's words, I looked at my wrist, and a bracelet was fastened there. A bracelet that seemed to be glowing with magic.

-As long as you have that bracelet, you won't actually get hurt or die from the magical beasts in the test. If you take damage that would render you unable to fight in a real battle, you will be immediately sent back to the waiting room.

-You might be wondering what happens if the bracelet is damaged, but the magical beasts will attack you while avoiding the bracelet. And it's an item that has never been broken before, so don't worry!

Yes. The bracelet on my wrist was literally my lifeline. If something were to go wrong with this, I might suffer a bad fate. In the worst case, I might even die.

And, I'm going to tamper with this precious lifeline a little. So cleverly that the supervisor won't be able to react.

***

The cheerful knight with pink hair, Jenna Lindholm, was honestly holding quite high expectations. For the examinee she was in charge of, Rain Enlight.

“I was honestly expecting a lot since that Senior Acaite praised him so much at the training ground~.”

Who was Acaite? Wasn't he a monster evaluated as one of the top powerhouses among the Master Knights—the highest knight title that only 100 people in the continent could receive?

For him to praise a student, she couldn't help but be interested.

But…….

“……But I'm not so sure…….”

Certainly, Rain's combat sense itself seemed to be extraordinary.

He seemed to have immediately seen through the characteristic linear movements of the level 1 magical beast, the imp, and cut down three of them with a single stroke, and he also aimed for the moment the level 2 hound, the standard for the academy's average, charged and shoved his sword into its mouth.

It was a practical and efficient fighting style that stood out.

Jenna thought that this level was certainly enough to secure an upper-middle rank or higher at the academy.

‘But that's it.’

From level 3, his limitations began to be revealed. His movements themselves seemed quite good, but it was felt in his movements that he had no knowledge or experience in anti-magical beast combat.

The level 3 magical beast, the zombie, had a human form, but it did not feel pain. It also had no internal organs, so attacking the vital points for humans would not have much effect.

In the early stages of the battle, Rain seemed to be unaware of this fact and showed himself stabbing the vital points of a human standard against multiple zombies at first.

Although he quickly grasped their characteristics and dealt with them effectively afterwards, he had taken some damage.

‘He certainly seems promising. Hmm…….’

To put it comprehensively……. he was ‘quite good’. His combat sense seemed exceptional, and his judgment and movements were also quick.

However, Jenna found it hard to understand why that Acaite had praised this student, leaving aside the prominent top-tier freshmen.

The evaluation Jenna made was, in a way, natural. Rain had only fought against humans during his past 200 deaths, and so he had only trained in interpersonal skills.

And that meant that this was the first time Rain was fighting a magical beast.

No matter how skilled a knight is, they need some time to adapt when fighting a new enemy.

Rather, showing this level of response to a completely new magical beast should have been praised, but there was no way for Jenna to know that.

‘Rather, this child catches my eye.’

There was another student who caught Jenna's attention. And that student was a male student named Khan, who was assigned to the Combat Department's B class that Jenna was in charge of.

Judging from the lack of a last name, he was either of commoner origin or from the frontier, and seeing the ornament he was wearing, he seemed to be from the frontier.

Anyway, Khan's physical abilities were superior to Rain's, and his sense for fighting magical beasts was also excellent. The archery he used was also peculiar, but he was effectively taking down the magical beasts anyway.

Moreover, he had not used magic like Rain so far, but the amount of mana he possessed was on a different level. In other words, he was the type who could use powerful magic in abundance if he wanted to.

Unlike Rain, whose innate mana was at rock bottom, Jenna thought there was probably something he had not shown yet.

Jenna's insight was accurate. And for good reason, because the Khan she was keeping an eye on was one of the seven playable characters of .

Anyway, regardless of Jenna's thoughts, the test proceeded.

The students who lacked even basic knowledge were eliminated at levels 1-2, and most of the average students were eliminated at level 3 or 4……. and the mid-rank students were filtered out at the level 5 magical beast, the owlbear.

And at level 6, the ogre level, only two students remained. Khan and Rain.

However, as mentioned before, the difference in their levels was clear. Khan had entered level 6 with only a slight injury on his arm, but Rain was a complete wreck.

Moreover, Khan had started the battle using his hidden card—excellent spirit arts—so the gap would widen even further.

On the other hand, in Rain's case…….

‘He endures and endures, and when a slight opening is shown, he inflicts a little damage…….’

The secret to Rain's reaching level 6 was that. A method of desperately enduring somehow and then catching an opening to cram in an attack.

He barely deflects the attack and rolls on the ground.

He pushes himself up from the ground and avoids the follow-up attacks.

And in the opening that appears, he finally lands even a weak attack.

It might be called the way of the weak, but at least that too was not easy.

Because it meant he was dodging or deflecting the incoming attacks to the extent of not receiving a fatal wound.

It was close to a desperate and fierce struggle. Jenna, who was watching it, might have honestly felt a little bit of sympathy and a supportive heart.

‘I hope it goes well, but…….’

“Hohoho……. Professor Jenna?”

And while she was supervising like that, a voice that sounded like it was greased with oil came from behind Jenna.

Jenna barely suppressed the urge to let out a sound of disgust, like ‘Eek’, and turned around.

“……Yes, Professor Hugo~.”

As Jenna answered and turned around, a middle-aged man with a stout build was standing there. A man with a noticeable mustache and a half-bald head.

“I heard that there's a shut-in who is tarnishing the name of the House of Enlight in your class. How is it, did any interesting sights come out?”

“Haha……. well, he's holding on well so far~.”

“……Yes? Ah, it seems he has the bare minimum of knowledge by clinging to the blood of Enlight?”

Hugo was surprised by the unexpected result, but he naturally led the conversation to slander.

This was exactly what Jenna detested. The fact that he would spew all sorts of slander and contempt for people he treated as below him every time he opened his mouth.

He was even incompetent, so if she had her way, she wouldn't even treat him like a person, but she couldn't.

Although Archenia Academy aimed for a skill-based selection, as an institution belonging to the empire, there were naturally parachutes through connections.

And, Hugo was the epitome of such a corrupt professor, as if drawn from a picture. A person who had managed to continue his long service without being fired due to his connections and eventually became a professor.

A petty man who was more engrossed in flattery and factional fights than in teaching. Jenna, who was a former knight who had fought on the front lines, couldn't bring herself to like him.

“Ahaha…….”

“Ah, but it seems that struggle will end soon. Look.”

At those words, Jenna turned her head to look at the screen. And, just as Professor Hugo said, Rain was on the defensive.

Level 6, the ogre, was not a magical beast that could be fought with a tired body. A size several times larger than a human, and overwhelming strength from that body.

Rain was barely dodging or deflecting the ogre's huge club, but he had already reached his limit.

“He has no chance of winning anyway, but look at that pathetic sight of him dragging it out. Haha!!”

Jenna deflected the answer to that question with a laugh. On the one hand, she was filled with questions.

Hugo's words were harsh and trashy, but they weren't wrong. The tide had already turned, and the ogre was fresh while Rain was a wreck.

It seemed he would be eliminated if he allowed even one more attack.

‘……Somehow, it seems like enduring itself is the goal…….’

That was the impression Jenna got from watching Rain's battle against the ogre……. an impression that he wanted to continue the battle while somehow avoiding fatal wounds.

But that too was only for a moment.

Rain in the screen, as if he had grasped the ogre's attack, threw his body to the right, but his leg seemed to have given out and he sat down on the spot. It seemed there was a limit to his strategy of dodging here and there.

“It's over!”

Professor Hugo shouted, as if he was so thrilled.

“……It's over~.”

As Hugo said, there was nothing more to see. Rain, who allowed that attack, would be sent outside the examination hall unharmed due to the ability of the magic bracelet.

“Hoo…….”

Jenna propped her chin on her hand, feeling a strange sense of regret. It was because she had a supportive heart, secretly hoping that Rain would somehow overcome it.

Hugo seemed truly excited.

But regardless of what emotions they each felt……. what happened next was completely beyond the two professors' expectations.

Kwaang-!

Rain, who was directly hit by the ogre's club, was not engulfed in white particles and sent outside the examination hall, but instead was sent flying with a loud noise and crashed into the wall. Blood from Rain's body was splattered on the wall.

“……Huh?”

And that sight suggested two facts.

The bracelet did not work.

Rain was dead.

And before Jenna and Hugo could even be surprised by that fact…….

[System : You have overcome death.]

The pocket watch was turned back again.