Main Building of Sage Academy, top-floor meeting room.
As today's third round of assessments was ongoing, Sage Academy's teachers started their meeting, just as they had done before.
Aside from the magic fluorescent screen that connected a center piece, the walls around were primarily composed in a simplistic white, complementing the sleek marble floor splendidly.
Currently, they were watching in real-time as Lanci and Hyperion were the examinees, and Firat was the examiner for the first test.
"Their luck..."
"Those two examinees, they wouldn't dare challenge Firat, would they?"
In the meeting room, the teachers either remained silent or occasionally shared a few brief conversations.
In the test posed by [Infinite Illusion Valley].
If one is unable to escape for 30 minutes, then the only solution is to confront the examiner directly.
Sometimes, there are indeed confident and powerful students who opt to directly intercept the examiner.
However.
A fully operational team of third-order examinees has hope of stalling the fourth-order limited examiners for a period of time.
Yet, all the teachers sitting in the meeting room recognized.
The examiner for this test—Viscount Firat Swensson, was naturally powerful.
He was a careful and unsparing Position Mage.
Even without using magic cards, Firat mastered many lethal spells, easily trouncing the Kingdom's regular army officers of the same order.
Backtracking, even if one doesn't discuss orders, based on Firat's years of extensive combat experience alone, it was enough to overpower two freshmen.
Moreover, he could now use up to fifth-order power.
The two sides were not even on the same level.
"..."
Vice Dean Ron, rubbing his chin, silently watched the projection in the center of the magic fluorescent screen.
He knew that this entrance examination involved the interests of some higher-ups in the kingdom.
There also was an invisible force impacting this test, preventing Hyperion from entering school.
After cleverly using Lanci to increase the difficulty while adhering to the rules, the only uncertain factor for them lay in Lanci's "unconventional wisdom".
Yet, any chance to deploy tricks was blockaded by the flat terrains.
Ron was unsettled whether this was a coincidence or inevitability.
Basically, these two freshmen have had fairly poor luck since they first encountered one another.
The Shadow World was the same.
No matter what skills one has, it was difficult to survive without the favor of luck.
...
On the boundless plain.
Dew hung on the tips of the grass, crystal clear, making it look like gems.
Accompanied by a gust of wind that seemed to attack from high above, the dews trembled and shattered into particles, like broken transparent gems.
The fifth-order examiner could even use fifth-order Wind Magic to fly.
Lanci and Hyperion could already see a small black dot, a shadow growing increasingly closer in the sky.
"Do you have a tactic?"
Hyperion asked.
She was perplexed by Lanci's calmness.
Yet, she felt that no matter how witty Lanci was, it was difficult to apply under such circumstances.
"No, what tactics can you have on a plain."
Lanci shook his head, if the examiner didn't even care about his face, what else can he do?
Either run a plain marathon, or face him head-on.
"Do you know the examiner's info?"
Lanci turned to Miss Duchess next to him and asked.
When Teresa, who received them in the test area earlier, mentioned the name "Firat Swensson", he noticed Hyperion seemed to recognize it.
After all, she was a local to Royal Capital and was quite familiar with the nobility and important figures.
Hyperion nodded.
"Viscount Firat Swensson, a man who is domineering towards the weak and fears the strong, he is a mean but cautious little man, also a lackey of the Alansar's hostile faction. Since my father's disappearance, they never stopped pestering me..."
With her teeth clenched, Hyperion spoke about what she knew about Firat. It seemed that she and Firat had a long-standing, unresolvable grudge.
"While he may know a great deal of spells, he mostly relies on his potent magic power to fight with a combination of Magic Cards…"
"It's obvious he's kind of overplaying."
Lanci nodded, staring at the examiner Firat hastening towards them, murmuring these words.
In the short time they had for conversation,
Firat had noticeably drawn much closer to their landmark.
A mage using Wind Magic for flight is a lot faster than running.
"Do you have some means to hold your own against him for a short time, and keep yourself safe?"
It seemed as if Lanci wanted to finalize something, thus he asked.
While Life-saving Magic Cards are rare, being Miss Duchess, Hyperion may very well have some.
"... I can ensure my safety, but I'm not sure how long I can buy time."
Hyperion hesitated a bit, but eventually admitted to Lanci.
Lanci: "Trust me."
Hyperion: "Our compatibility is bad, your healing magic won't do much for me."
Lanci: "Don't worry, after today, you'll find that I'm the best support you've ever had, regardless of compatibility."
It was like the final preparation time before the real exam starts.
Their casual conversation only lasted a few seconds.
Firat had already stopped in mid-air, a fair distance away.
He transitioned from sweeping across the sky like a shooting star to sudden stillness, not advancing any further.
Because at this distance, he could already cast powerful spells to annihilate both of them.
Firat, the examiner in mid-air, looked down.
He was silent for a while.
Seeming to be inspecting the two's state.
They were a lot more at ease than he had imagined.
"You can drop out of the exam now,"
Firat raised his hand slightly, pointing to Lanci standing behind Hyperion, and said.
His tone was very low, almost like an order not to be questioned.
However, the next moment—
All he saw was—
Hyperion's eyes now filled with an alertness as she obstinately blocked in front of Lanci like a vanguard.
From this angle, it's harder for him to instantly kill Lanci.
"Why would I drop out?"
Lanci asked, looking up in confusion.
"…"
Firat's index finger lightly tapped in the air, finding Lanci, the irrelevant player, quite annoying.
He initially wanted to convey some views on behalf of the higher-ups personally to Hyperion.
However, it seems there was a small annoying rat in the way.
"Did she promise you money, status, or something else?"
Firat's words carried a tone of mockery as he asked condescendingly.
In his view, any reward the endangered Duchess could offer was no more than an empty cheque.
Unless…
This naive lad was captivated by the Duchess's enchanting beauty and was thus willing to help her.
However, once he truly learns what this Duchess is about, he'll likely be scared out of his wits.
"Heh heh."
Lanci chuckled upon hearing the words, as if he'd heard a ridiculous question.
He took a deep breath, his eyes turned stern, staring at Firat, he asked:
"According to the exam rules, she's my teammate. It's explicitly mentioned in Article 13 that I must work with my teammate. Didn't you read the rules before coming as the examiner?"
His tone was similar to a rebuking supervisor addressing a subordinate.
This left Firat, hovering in mid-air, utterly stunned.