I tucked the artifact into the inner pocket of my jacket, right next to my heart. It felt cool against my chest, a reassuring weight.
I checked my schedule. I had a free period, but my body was itching for movent. The "treatnt" from Lily earlier had restored my circuits, but I needed to test my reflexes.
’I should go to a practical training session.’
Lost in thought about how to weaponize my new artifact, I found myself in front of the Combat Training Hall before I knew it. Without hesitation, I pushed the heavy double doors open and entered.
It was a spacious white area in the shape of a massive cube. The walls pulsed with dampening mana.
Students were grouped together, wandering around inside. But sothing was different today.
Among the sea of white freshman na tags, there were splashes of gold.
These Gold na tags belonged to the seniors. They were leaning against the walls, looking at us freshn with expressions ranging from boredom to predatory amusent.
"Hey, Alex!"
A familiar scent of citrus and rebellious attitude hit .
Maya spotted from across the room. She was sniffing her own sleeve for so reason, but the mont she saw , her face lit up. She confidently approached and clung to my arm, pressing her chest against my bicep without a shred of sha.
"You’re here? I thought you were still being scolded by the Witch."
"I just ca here. I survived the scolding."
I looked around. The number of first-year students gathered was surprisingly small. Apart from Maya and , there were only three other freshn. One was Martin, who waved at nervously from a safe distance, and the other two were completely unfamiliar faces from Group 5.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked.
Maya nodded eagerly, happy to supply information. "Today’s practice is being done in pairs on rotation. This ti slot is just for my Group 5 and your Group 11."
I glanced around the white room again. "But Emily isn’t here?"
"Ah, the Ice Princess?" Maya shrugged, though she held my arm tighter. "She said she won’t be able to make it today. Sothing ca up at the Magic Tower.."
While talking, Maya glanced nervously at the second-year students.
Her gaze exuded tension. It seed that even the "Delinquent Queen" of the first years regarded the seniors as dangerous territory. In this Academy, the gap of a single year was often a gap in power that couldn’t be bridged easily.
"Hey, Alex," she whispered, standing on her tiptoes to reach my ear. "But why are the second-year seniors here today...? They’re not doing the practice with us, right? That would be a massacre."
As Maya fumbled for words, the sound of heavy boots echoed through the hall.
Professor Leonard walked to the center of the room. The scarred giant looked particularly sadistic today.
"Pay attention, maggots."
His voice bood without any need for magic amplification. All eyes instantly fixed on him. The nacing aura of the Professor played a significant role in quieting down the nervous murmurs.
"Except for Emily Frost, who has an authorized absence, there shouldn’t be anyone missing," Leonard grunted, crossing his massive arms. "The Expedition gave you a taste of blood. But survival out there and controlled combat in here are two different beasts. Today, we will have a practical application session."
At his words, Martin raised a shaky hand.
"P-Professor? Will this... will this be reflected in our ranks?"
Leonard let out a dark, rumbling laugh. "Of course it will, boy. Practice is like real combat, and real combat is like practice. Everything is evaluated."
Upon hearing that it would be graded so soon after the grueling Expedition, a few of the students groaned and murmured in discontent.
Leonard, however, wore a satisfied, sadistic smile, as if he thrived on their despair.
"It’s a simple exercise," Leonard declared. "So stop your whining and don’t be so fussy."
He raised his hand and snapped his thick fingers.
SNAP.
The training ground imdiately underwent a dramatic transformation. The pristine white cube began to shift. The floor extended, stretching the room out into a massive, long rectangle.
RUMBLE.
Walls of smooth, grey stone shot up from the floor, forming a complex, towering maze. At the very far end of the newly ford gauntlet, a single, bright red flag dropped from the ceiling, hanging illuminated under a spotlight.
Simultaneously, the floor beneath Professor Leonard and the second-year students detached and began to levitate. Before long, they were standing on an observation platform floating high above the maze, looking down at us like gods observing lab rats.
Looking up at the daunting obstacle course, Maya swallowed hard and tugged on my sleeve.
"Hey, Alex," she whispered frantically. "So, what are they going to do in the end? Are the seniors just going to watch from up there? Then why did he change the space and put up a flag? Is this a race?"
"Why are you asking ?" I replied, amused by her panic.
"Because you know everything!" she insisted, looking at with absolute, blind faith.
It was a sowhat ambiguous statent. It felt less like a complint on my intelligence and more like she was treating as a fortune teller.
At that exact mont, Leonard’s booming voice echoed down from the floating platform.
"Why are you making noise over there? Are you that confident?"
His sharp gaze alternated between and Maya, before finally locking onto . He leaned over the railing, looking at with a heavily scrutinizing, intriguing glare.
"Ah. Alex Edelhart," Leonard called out, his voice echoing through the chamber. "So, you’re the one who snagged first place in the Expedition."
Again, it was entirely unclear whether he was complinting or putting a target on my back. The second-year students crossed their arms, their eyes shifting to with sudden, predatory interest.
Leonard chuckled, the sound grating like stones rubbing together.
"You seem awfully confident this ti, too, chatting away while I’m giving instructions. What kind of fascinating story made you so excited that you blatantly disregarded a Professor’s silence order?"
I looked up at him. I had never lacked confidence when it ca to magic, but honestly, even I didn’t know the exact rules of whatever obstacle course he had just built.
However, I did know how to deflect attention.
After pondering for a brief mont, I put on a perfectly calm, supportive smile and placed a hand on Maya’s shoulder.
"I was just explaining the rules to my junior," I called back up to the platform. "Maya was telling how excited she is. In fact, she wants to volunteer to give the course a try first."
Leonard raised a scarred eyebrow, a grin spreading across his face.
"Oh, really? Is that true?" Leonard laughed. "Excellent initiative! Maya, co forward. Let’s have you do the test run and show the other kids how it’s done."
"What?"
Maya froze. Her brain completely stalled. She slowly turned her head to look at , her mouth hanging open.
"Uh, no—wait—yes? I an, what?" She stamred, her tough-girl persona shattering into a million pieces. "Yes? Wait, uh? ? , , ?!"
Maya’s face turned completely pale as the spotlight suddenly shifted, illuminating her perfectly.
"Good luck, at-lover," I whispered, giving her a gentle shove forward. "Make proud."
****
"All you have to do is get to the point where the red flag is planted."
With a short, barking command, Professor Leonard began asuring ti on a floating magical stopwatch. Under the pouring gazes of the class and the seniors above, Maya set off.
Without any hesitation, she unleashed her innate ice elent.
Crack. Fsssh.
Quickly running up stairs made of rapidly forming blue crystals, Maya climbed up the smooth surface of the maze wall.
’Her utilization has significantly increased,’ I noted, watching the density of her ice. The physical and magical ’conditioning’ she had gone through recently was definitely showing results.
Having reached a high point on top of the walls, she connected the tops of the maze partitions with a thick bridge of ice. Soon, a straight, elevated path toward the red flag was created, bypassing the winding corridors completely.
By utilizing elental magic to effectively eliminate the constraint of the ’maze,’ Maya had no obstacles left. She swiftly sprinted across her bridge toward the red flag, a triumphant grin on her face.
I turned my gaze toward Professor Leonard.
’Isn’t it too simple?’
It was exactly as he explained. Too exactly.
It was overly simplistic for a practical exercise at rchen Academy, with more flaws than rits. By exposing her own strategy to everyone so early, Maya might as well have revealed her entire hand. Furthermore, a straight line is the easiest trajectory to intercept.
anwhile, Professor Leonard was simply standing still, his scarred face impassive, watching Maya running with all her might.
’What is he trying to evaluate with such a trivial exercise?’
At that exact mont, when such doubts aroused in my mind...
"Start!"
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