The lance moves.
No, rather than moving, the lance flickered.
In the blink of an eye, the lance headed for my neck.
The method to deal with wizards.
Not even giving them time to cast magic.
No matter how rotten her personality, she had talent reaching sublimity in combat.
Clang!
The lance and dagger collide.
Changseong's eyes grew wide.
Right, wizards are weak if they don't have time to cast magic.
It's not a fixed perception but an established fact that wizards are bad at close combat.
Wizards recognize this themselves as well, which is why they want to shoot magic from afar.
And that's why wizards are even worse at close combat.
Because they're scared, because they lack experience.
Clang- clang-
But an undying wizard is here.
There's no reason to be scared even on a battlefield strewn with swords.
Even if my neck flies off, my arms get cut off, my heart gets destroyed, I kept using magic to the end to strike down the enemy.
Having endlessly faced the peerless Kumseong and Changseong.
My close combat can be said to have reached mastery already.
As I move my dagger, magic pours towards her.
Kagagagaga-!
The dagger, magic, and lance clashed without rest.
With a mana-enhanced body and vision,
I could block, deflect, and divert the lances she shot beyond the defined limits of strength.
I wouldn't have been able to defeat Changseong with just a dagger.
No matter how young she was, her skills with cold weapons far surpassed mine.
But the magics stabbing at openings while only blocking with a dagger overwhelmed Changseong.
"Pant...pant..."
Swish-!
On the contrary, it was close combat that Changseong was being pushed at.
Changseong largely swung her lance and took several steps back.
She no longer looked down on me and was trying to go all out.
Her eyes sharply watched the enemy.
Her leg muscles perfectly supported her body.
Her upper body had no defined form like flowing water.
Deeply pulling back her arm.
And reaching forward.
Piercing one point.
Penetrating through.
Whoosh-!
What Changseong shot completely pierced that spot, starting from the table behind and penetrating the wall as well.
I reacted but it grazed me, leaving a small wound on my neck that bled.
...Does this bitch know I don't die?
It was a strike I absolutely couldn't have reacted to if it wasn't for the hero and Kumseong.
She shot that at me fully resolved.
"Pant...pant..."
The good thing was, Changseong no longer had the stamina to shoot that strike more than once.
Compared to when she would fire them continuously before regression, I guess you could say she's less vicious now.
Now to decide the victor.
"You lost, Axel."
"...I concede."
While Changseong was stubborn, she properly admitted it when the match was decided.
So she had to fulfill the demand I made.
"You didn't forget the bet right?"
"..."
Changseong looked away.
Was that so hard for her?
Her bets were almost like a creed to her.
I've never seen Changseong break a bet she made.
Was that wrong?
Changseong quietly said,
"See...you...later."
And she tried to leave staggering out while dragging her exhausted body.
...Was that her greeting?
Now that I think about it, Changseong didn't even properly say farewells.
"Ah, hold on."
Putting that aside, she had to pay for flipping my food bowl.
As I slowly approached while raising my dagger handle, Changseong desperately shook her head.
"No...no..."
-Whack!
Plop!
No matter what she said, I firmly cracked her skull.
And since she didn't even apologize for the mistake, I hit even harder.
With her strength completely gone, Changseong had no way to resist.
Perhaps that was why unlike Kumseong who got up quickly, Changseong was stuck to the floor, unable to get up.
I dust off my hands and look back.
Kumseong looking at the limp Changseong with a twisted expression.
Fran with her mouth agape in astonishment.
And the hero quietly watching me.
Seeming to have already expected my skills, Kumseong left with an expression as if there was nothing surprising at all.
That cocky bastard.
Letting it be, I turned my gaze to the remaining people.
Fran came up to me and asked.
"Can you gain that level of skill too when you awaken to the extremes?"
What's she on about now?
The extremes are just magic brought to its peak, not some panacea.
If that was the case, the grand wizard would have smashed the demon king.
Without answering, Fran seemed to interpret it herself, nodding her head and following me.
"Let's go. To take the exam."
"Yeah."
Up until the moment I opened the door and left.
The hero watched me, pondering something.
**
Raeli who slept at the dorm and had breakfast joined us as well.
If there was something that irritated her, it was probably Fran by my side.
"Why's that girl here?"
"Hey, don't call me that girl, that's too much."
While Fran was displeased, she didn't try to argue with Raeli like before.
Perhaps so as not to become too estranged from me if she doesn't get along with her.
To convince her, I explained,
"She's a wizard who'll be helpful."
"Hmph, isn't your artifact enough already?"
"There's no such thing as enough for anything, Raeli."
At just that one line, Raeli seemed to think of something as she made a serious face for a moment before nodding her head.
"Yeah, that sounds right."
"Right? So let's just get along comfortably."
"Got it, Fran."
Especially since Fran was being friendly, Raeli seemed to be letting go of her previous feelings.
What is this dramatic scene of reconciliation?
I was worried they'd fight, but I guess it's a bit fortunate.
And that was wrong, as their glaring contest sparked intensely.
I'm curious about something.
Is there really a reason for them to hate each other?
They just met yesterday.
I decided to just not understand the complicated feelings.
Anyway, they were patched up superficially.
And so, the hastily formed party of three arrived at the place the examiner told us to gather.
It was early morning, but the space was gradually filled by examinees coming out from the dorms.
As if they had talked to each other beforehand, the examinees formed groups one by one.
While there was no detailed explanation about the exam, they could guess to some extent.
You definitely can't move alone scouting the forest.
It was natural for those who trusted each other to group up.
And the top recruitment targets were of course the examinees who got S-rank.
Kumseong was already surrounded by many people, while Changseong was a bit... peculiar.
"Hey, can I join your party too...."
"Hello."
"We have front, rear, flank guards all set so if you just come...."
"Yeah, hello."
"Axel Montrose, this is a place nobles of at least Viscount families have gathered. If you just participate, the families will give you a separate reward...."
"Yeah, hello."
It sounded to me like 'piss off', 'yeah, piss off', 'yeah, piss off'.
Maybe she's saying hello instead of piss off because of the bet....
But it didn't seem meaningless as Changseong's words resembled politely rejecting them.
I felt a bit satisfied.
To think that thorough jackass is developing to the point no one can stop her later on.
And the last to arrive was the hero.
The hero just walked without a word, but excluded examinees flocked behind the hero.
Those who joined the hero were examinees with ambiguous scores like D who lacked confidence, even though they avoided failing by not getting F.
Even those who criticized the examinees joining the hero earlier desperately clung to the hero.
"Can I join your party too by any chance?"
"I'll just quietly follow from the side."
The hero silently nodded her head.
Because of this, the hero had the largest party scale.
On the other hand, our party of just three could be considered peculiarly small.
Raeli suggested,
"Shouldn't we join the hero too?"
"Hmm."
That might not necessarily be good.
While the hero is trustworthy, she's alone.
The moment devils and warlocks ambush that large procession from various directions, there will definitely be casualties.
With so many gathered, they can't help but draw attention.
For an exam like this, moving quietly with three might actually be better.
The period to devise tactics and form parties before starting the exam passed.
The examiner brought a cart full of large bags piled high.
"These are bags containing food to survive 5 days and essential tools."
And the examiner took out signal flares.
"If you want to give up during it, shoot this signal flare. Then we'll immediately rush over to rescue you."
Lining up, the examinees each received a bag.
When I got a bag and tried to lift it over my hand, the heavy bag immediately plopped to the ground.
...I can't even lift this?
While feeling inferior about this useless body, Raeli lifted my bag for me.
"Ugh, you just take care of the warlocks and devils."
"...Thanks."
"Euuungh, this is really heavy!"
It wasn't just heavy for me as Fran barely lifted up her bag as well.
...But Fran is lifting it.
A stronger sense of inferiority enthusiastically punched me repeatedly.
I have to eat a lot and exercise a lot.
I need to at least reach average.
Still, it was a bit much to have less strength than Fran.
That mishap was brief.
The examinees headed into the forest where warlocks lurked.
Since it wasn't far from the academy, it didn't take long to get there.
I could feel the massive scale from the entrance.
The trees were so densely packed it seemed moonlight wouldn't even reach the ground.
In front of the lush forest, the examiner solemnly spoke.
"Is there anyone who wants to quit at the last moment?"
Yet no one did.
Because of the value of the nobility and promotion the Crown Prince guaranteed.
No one could work up the courage for a feat no one else could, yet it would be given just by graduating the academy and going north.
The examiner nodded and stepped aside.
He didn't say anything, but it was the signal to begin now.
And when we stepped past a certain boundary.
An extremely sinister scent of magic power hit my nose.
Of course the scent of magic power would come out in a forest where devils and warlocks were released.
But upon analysis by a transcendent black wizard like me.
This wasn't the magic power devils or warlocks possessed, but the meticulously carved magic power of black magic.
"...It's a mess from the start huh."
The examinees vigorously charged into the forest.
It was like fish jumping into the wide open mouth of a predator.
It seemed like they were rushing to their deaths.