Chapter 50:
The first day of midterm week.
In the artificial forest terrain located east of the academy, numerous students stood with their backs to the inner wall gates.
In front of them stood Professor Hazen, along with two other full professors and ten teaching assistants.
Hazen, who was in charge of overseeing this exam, stepped forward and spoke.
“As previously announced, this midterm for Joint Tactics will be a real combat against magical beasts.”
A real combat against magical beasts meant exactly that—students would be fighting actual monsters.
Unlike during practice, real magical beasts had been released this time.
“All the released beasts are low-level, but there are three exceptions—the field bosses, which are mid-level beasts.”
The students murmured among themselves.
Hazen calmed them and continued.
“However, these beasts have been significantly weakened, and since they are plant-type, there’s no problem if you don’t get too close.”
He had already given prior information about the field bosses.
The beast designated as a field boss was named Giant Dionaea. As mentioned, it was a plant-type beast and had a pattern of attacking and devouring any intruder entering its territory.
Since it absorbs nutrients from nearby plants, twisted trees indicate that a field boss is nearby.
“If your team manages to defeat a field boss, all members of that team will receive a perfect score. But even weakened, it is still a mid-level beast, so only students confident in their abilities should challenge it.”
Some students were relieved they didn’t have to fight, while others grinned confidently.
“Finally, a word of caution: since weapons restrictions are lifted for this exam, safety is not guaranteed. And since this is real combat, clashes with other students cannot be avoided.”
Hazen paused for emphasis and spoke forcefully.
“However, anyone who attacks unnecessarily will be punished immediately, and their score will be zero. Keep that in mind.”
The weight of his words, charged with aura, brushed lightly over the students. It was a silent warning that anyone breaking the rule would not be left unharmed.
“You may abandon the exam at any time, and students judged by professors or TAs to be unable to continue will be withdrawn from the exam. Their score will then be calculated based on the beasts defeated up to that point.
That concludes the announcements. Any questions?”
Since there was little to question, everyone silently sized each other up.
Hazen then dismissed the TAs first and added:
“One last thing: today’s combat is an exam. Its purpose is to check how well you’ve listened to lectures and applied what you’ve learned, not to judge how valuable a student you are.
If you feel lacking in today’s combat, try to improve. If satisfied, analyze why you were satisfied. You have far more time than you think, so continue to progress without stopping.
Do not feel excessive pressure from today’s exam or others this week, and perform to the best of your abilities.”
His encouragement brought smiles to the worried students, while the confident ones adopted a slightly more serious demeanor.
But one student remained tense.
“What if I make a mistake on this exam?!”
Not only his own score but also Reina’s and the class’s scores were at stake, making Ridiphin more nervous than ever.
Reina tried to encourage him.
“It’s okay! N-not ‘it’ll somehow work out’! I’m nervous too! What do we do?!”
Ridiphin gave a wry smile.
‘What am I supposed to do if you’re more nervous than me?’
In the end, their class’s support held them up.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ve got you.”
Trying to sound casual, he accidentally bit his tongue. He was just as nervous.
‘I want to die…’
Seeing Ban, who had tried to act confident but froze in panic, close his eyes, the two laughed.
“Hahaha! What? Ban was the most nervous after all!”
“Even Ban was nervous… somehow I feel relieved.”
“These guys…”
Although things didn’t go exactly as expected, the two were satisfied since their tension eased.
“Then, the exam starts now!”
As soon as the exam began, students rushed out like spilled water.
They thought that if other students defeated beasts first, there’d be nothing left.
So most of them grouped with their own factions, trying to capture beasts while keeping others in check.
The largest and most influential group was Tyran’s faction.
They had already formed a group before enrollment, and most of their subordinates attended the same lectures—a natural result.
Being promoted by the Beryl faction, one of the three major factions, no one dared challenge them easily.
All exams at Iris Academy were relative evaluations. Tyran was confident he would score the highest.
“Anis’ faction is divided, and Seren’s faction lacks unity!”
Drenner and Celes, the promising students of Seren’s faction, were in the same team but showed surprisingly poor cooperation. Only Tyran’s faction moved as a unit.
Unlike the first-year initiation and dungeon conquest competition, this was a chance to shine in first-year combat.
Of course, caution was still necessary.
Drenner, vice-captain of the martial arts club, and Celes, a direct descendant of the magical Laplace family, were present.
But the bigger problem was:
‘Ban Astrea. Who knows what he’ll do.’
Though likely weaker, Ban always somehow ended up at the top.
‘He’ll probably try to defeat the beasts quickly before anyone else can form a group.’
They could have targeted the field boss from the start, but Tyran dismissed this possibility.
Even a few hits could force a professor to withdraw them, and defeating the field boss was essentially a gamble.
So, the common sense strategy was to defeat many low-level beasts first to secure base points, then challenge the boss.
‘No one would be reckless enough to aim for the field boss right away.’
Even the empire’s top delinquent would make strategic decisions like this during exams.
But as in all things, not everything goes as planned. Contrary to Tyran’s expectations, Ban’s team immediately headed for the field boss.
I recalled countless first-year midterms. And now!
“Three boar-type beasts ahead!”
No sooner had I finished speaking than three boar-type beasts leapt out from the underbrush.
I first attacked with Fire Spear. The beasts resisted magic and were only pushed back slightly.
While I bought time, Reina and Ridiphin finished preparing.
Serenia Type – Flame Pillar
Light Archery – Flash
Reina instantly defeated the central beast, and two arrows pierced the flanking beasts.
“Kuuuaah…”
Leaving the corpses behind, we ran again.
“Ban! I’ve always thought your detection ability is amazing! How do you do it?”
It wasn’t really detection—he had memorized the shortest route to the field boss and the timing and strategy for the beasts along the way.
I casually answered:
“Being a delinquent, you cause trouble and run away all the time. Detection skills naturally improve that way.”
Whether that was true or not, the other two believed me.
“Empire’s top delinquent, indeed!”
“Even as a delinquent, if the title ‘Empire’s top’ is added, it’s on another level.”
Praise, right? It had to be praise.
But I couldn’t dwell on that thought.
We ran into Drenner’s team on the way to the field boss.
Seeing each other, we grimaced as if seeing something horrifying.
“How did you get here…?”
“Why are you here…?”
“Don’t copy me!”
“I’m saying what I want to!”
As we aimed our weapons at each other, the other four took combat stances.
Drenner asked:
“What’s going on here? You didn’t…”
“You’re here to capture the field boss too?”
Targeting the field boss from the start was extremely risky.
I needed a perfect score to maintain Reina as the lead, and I knew the boss’s strategy, giving us a high chance of success.
Drenner, however, had no idea of the field boss’s traits or strategy.
Being rigid in personality, his mind seemed equally inflexible.
To defeat the field boss, both our team and Drenner’s had to conserve strength.
Drenner lowered his sword, agreeing silently.
“There are three field bosses. No need to compete over one.”
“Thinking the same. Let’s compete in the fairest way possible.”
“Agreed.”
We threw our weapons up simultaneously. While the other four tensed, Drenner and I reached out our arms.
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
I chose scissors, Drenner chose rock.
He caught the descending greatsword with a smile.
“I win.”
“Argh.”
Damn it, losing to him!
I grabbed my sword and turned without hesitation.
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
Reina was incredulous.
“You’re turning away without even trying your sword?!”
“If we fight now, it’ll disadvantage us against the field boss.”
Her jaw dropped at my confidence.
Even Celes didn’t understand the situation, while Sonia and Ridiphin just gave wry smiles.
Eventually, Reina and Ridiphin followed my lead toward the second field boss.
Now, we had to detect beasts with magic using the information we knew.
At that moment, living beings were detected by magic.
“Nine ahead!”
Five deer-type beasts charged at us.
“Not nine, but five!”
Ah, my mistake.
But as Reina and Ridiphin defeated them, nine students appeared.
“So that’s why it was nine!”
“The beasts aren’t a problem for you!”
“Yes, thank you so much!”
Reina took the lead, smiling, but the students divided into groups of three, marking and pressuring us.
“What are you guys?!”
“Ugh…!”
“Reina! Ridiphin!”
I tried to join them, but the students persistently blocked me.
“Why worry about you before them?!”
Pushed by three students, I clenched my teeth.
So this was how it would go.
Yet I wasn’t panicked—this scenario had happened in the game.
Tyran used his subordinates to block the protagonist. Even bypassing the student cafeteria event before enrollment, this was inevitable.
Still, I didn’t expect the protagonist, Drenner, to come at me! So unfair!
Probably because I handled the student cafeteria event myself, it came to this.
For now, I had to focus on the immediate situation.
Tyran’s subordinates were a standard combination: a sword-wielding knight, a ranged mage, and a cleric supporting with holy magic.
The knight said:
“Ban Astrea! We’ll finish you!”
They were confident, thinking they had the numerical advantage and that I wasn’t that strong.
Normally, I could take them down easily—but that was when controlling Drenner. With fewer numbers, it was tricky, but the bigger problem was that I couldn’t use full strength.
How much should I restrain myself…?
Suddenly, I realized something I had overlooked.
“Wait. You guys…”
They weren’t even main characters—they were extras.
“Not main characters, huh?”
