It is Thursday morning. Another skills class today.
Out of the various curriculum, the one today will be on a virtual monster.
The monster, created from mana, will be fought 1 vs. 1 or as a team, and its difficulty will be appropriate for the skillset of the student.
"You should already know this, but I will explain it one last time."
Professor Jin Hyuk Kim pointed towards the bushes and started explaining.
"First, go up to the measurement magic circle over there and follow the guidance of the support assistant. When the measurement is completed, enter the dungeon suitable for the level. Persons who have previously decided on a team go to the left side, and those who want one-on-one go to the right."
I had no idea how one would prepare a team on the third day of classes, but the extroverted ones had already made one.
The only ones I knew were Lucy and Rumy, who were their own group, and Young Han Kim also said that he belonged to a group. So, I just walked towards the individual group.
When I went to the matchfield, I saw a giant measurement circle.
I stood on top with the guide of the assistant.
"You are Hoyeon Lee of the A class, right? Please place your hand there."
In the center was a circular mana equipment emitting a blue hue.
When I placed my hand on top, mana passed my body with a woong sound.
After moving up and down a few times, the manas gathered and returned to the equipment.
[Please wait while we calculate the skill level.]
Then the number 5 appeared on the top of my head.
"…5? You are in class A, right?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Oh, well. Please go to that corner."
The average scores of the first years of the A class was 7. The lowest grade was 6, and I had broken the record. My pride was broken.
Kyeeeeeeeee–!
When I looked around the field, everyone was fighting gorgy monsters.
"Dieeee!"
Koom!
A giant reptile was smashed into the wall from the punch of a tiny girl.
I was reminded that I was in a game.
I was the only one in the level 5 matchfield.
Let's think positively. It's great that I don't have to wait in a long line. The level 7 kids had 10 to a line.
When I got to the main field, the number 5 reappeared on my head.
"Level 5? Isn't that a new low?"
"Wosh, I knew it from the moment he changed himself to be a magician."
The students who finished their exams early were murmuring amongst themselves.
It didn't matter. They were all extra characters anyway. Still, something was weird.
The original game character received level 5 the moment he entered the academy. Even with the [Battle Instincts] he began with, it was already a 5.
I had received all those special skill sets and still lingered at level 5. I guess the system couldn't measure those.
[An opponent suitable for difficulty 5 is summoned. 3 C-class monster ice flatters are summoned.]
Ice Flatter. A flat, plate-shaped monster made of ice.
Their main attack method is the ice beam emitted from the crystal in the center of their body.
Fortunately, a monster with good compatibility came out.
[The test begins.]
Bleep-!
When the mana barrier between me and the monsters disappeared, the ice flatters shot out their ice rays with cute sound effects.
I had already thought of a plan.
The ice rays of the ice flatters spread out wide and thin. Therefore, it was difficult to deal with them as a near-distance fighter, but I was a magician.
I spread out a fire attack in thin waves. Fortunately, I had practiced a similar style at the training center.
The wave of fire swallowed the ice rays as it spread, and reached the ice flatters.
The ice flatters were flustered by the hot radiation and started to shoot out the ice rays all over. If they had focused all of their ice into one form, it might have been sufficient enough to defeat my fire magic, but it was wrong to expect this kind of skill from level C monsters.
The board was set, all I had to do was throw the dice.
I shattered each monster separately, which was screaming bleep sounds all in different directions.
I knew that their weak point was the crystal that emitted the ice rays, so it was an easy task to throw fire towards the crystal.
Bleep!
I thought that I could try the harder levels.
[The test is over.]
"Heh? He won. I guess they calculated his level wrong."
"Yeah, it doesn't make sense for an A class student to be level 5."
The mana equipment that measures mana was not a perfect system. Since it is a magic tool that can grasp the approximate skills and characteristics, it cannot identify other obstacles or linkages. As a result, your estimated skill level may be low.
But even with inaccuracy, it should be up to a level.
"But level 6 is still shameful for level A, isn't it?"
"We will see what he can do."
According to the rules, with the permissions of the administrator, you could try up to 2 level grades above your skill level.
"I would like to try level 6."
"Lee Hoyeon for the level 6 skills test. I allow it."
*
"You have passed the level 9 test. Good job."
Phew.
Arranging her blonde hair, Alice let out a sigh after the test.
It was 9 again. I had practiced long before the academy to increase my skill set, but could not get past the 9 level.
Daeun Nam was different.
"Did you hear? Daeun completed the level 10 test in 30 seconds and went her way."
"Woah, although she is a bitch, she has got some skills."
Ugh.
No matter how hard I tried, the gap between Daeun and I remained far apart. The more disappointing thing was that only I thought of her as my rival.
Daeun Nam was always ahead, not even thinking of me as a rival.
"It's okay. I can do better next time."
It was bad to take it too personally. Alice consoled herself and went outside the field.
"Hey, that Hoyeon guy is at level 7."
"Who is Hoyeon?"
"That cute guy who changed to magician."
"Oh, him? He's trying for 7 though he tested for 5?"
The exams were almost over, but a crowd was gathering towards the level 7 match field.
I would have normally passed, but something bothered me.
When I got through the crowd, I saw a handsome student standing in the match field.
'Hoyeon Lee?'
I had no interest. The students who had made it here had trained for a decade. He had just changed his major, apparently.
But to change a major suddenly, after all those years of training. What was up with this dude?
'Was he trying to get into management with a degree in magic?'
After graduating from the Victoria Academy as a wizard, you can usually go into administrative work for a guild or association.
Of course, if you're aiming for that, it would be more efficient to prepare differently, but people have their own ways.
"I approve of the level 7 test of Hoyeon Lee."
[Summoning a suitable opponent. A-class monster scrap giant appears!]
As the magic power fluctuated from the other side of the dungeon, protruding mechanical parts began to merge.
"Hey, it's a scrap giant. It's over."
"What an unlucky guy."
Squeak squeak- squeak squeak-
The monster merged with the cogs and scrap metal that made a creepy sound, creating the form of a giant. The large body over 3 meters had rust everywhere, and made an unpleasant creaking noise whenever it moved.
"He's done for."
I had wasted 5 minutes of my time. My precious time.
[The test begins.]
Squeeeaak!
Thump! Thump!
As soon as the test started, the scrap metal giant started to move its massive body.
The body of the scrap metal giant is made from lumps of scrap metal. The metal of the Scrap Giant is special. Even if you break it, the parts will be re-attached by a strange force to reform into a body.
Its weakness was the giant's joints, preventing its body from reforming.
However, the bond was so hard and strong that it absorbed almost all external shocks.
In the end, it was necessary to have excellent mana control ability enough to shove mana into the gaps between the scrap metal that make up the body, but it was not easy to do such mana control at the cadet level.
Therefore, there were many people who wanted to upgrade the scrap giant to level 8 instead of level 7. However, it remained at level 7 due to its clear weaknesses.
The weakness of the monster would have been easier to handle with water or ice to get in between the joints.
If Lee Ho-yeon was a water or ice magician, the Scrap Giant might have been an easy opponent, but he was a fire-attribute wizard.
Squeeeeaaak!
The monster raised his arms sky-high. This signaled that it would thump the ground soon. The bigger the motion, the quicker the opponent needs to move, but Hoyeon was forming mana.
A thinly spread form of fire waves shot towards the giant.
'It's over.'
He must have tried to get in between the monster with light fire, but with that strength, it would not be sufficient for that sturdy giant.
It would have been better to use stronger advanced magic and make a bet.
The moment Alice turned to go back after losing interest,
Doom!
Unlike the expected sound of failure, a completely different noise rang the air.
When she looked back, an unexpected sight appeared before her eyes.
"What was that? How did he cut his leg?"
"It looks more as if he melted the joint with high heat…I have no idea what's going on"
'What the..'
That weak wave cut off a leg? To melt the scrap metal monster, you needed a fire over 1000C. A light wave form like that could not create such high heat.
Squeeaak-
The monster raised itself up using the remaining limbs.
The monster approached Hoyeon, but his speed was much lower than before.
Hoyeon slowly backed up and recreated his mana.
'It's that same form again.'
The magic slowly increased its range, then started to focus at one point suddenly.
"What is that?"
From her sudden exclamation, many turned to look at her, but she was in no mind to pay attention to them.
He spread flames thinly and widely. It was supposed to be used for that purpose.
But that guy was forcing the magic and compressing it.
The flames stacked on top as layers. In the end, the flame was as thin as a string, but the heat was multitude times greater.
The string pierced perfectly into the right leg of the giant that was barely maintaining its balance.
PKWEFKWF!
In the end, even the right leg was cut off and the balance was lost
The monster lost light from his eyes in the end.
[The test is over.]
It was an unexpected result.
A man who everyone looked down on had defeated the infamously difficult monster. Everyone just zoned out towards the match field, and the professors could not hide their shocked expressions.
'That kind of a mana application from a freshman?'
'What kind of unheard…'
The magic that Hoyeon Lee used was originally one that cracked like fires. There were supposed to be tiny little crackers. Using this, he got through the joints and the strength that was required was gathered and compressed.
Not only was it creative, but the control of mana was close to that of a god.
Alice, who passed the 9th level exam, also recognized his skill.
She could not listen to any of the noise surrounding her.
The idea of using tiny fire elements was not of importance.
What mattered was the application of the mana.
The application that formed thin strings of fire then focusing it through a gap was not a skill that belonged to a student.
No, maybe using it like a string was something she could do herself, too. But to compress many of them together? That was a different story.
Alice found out that Hoyeon Lee was no ordinary magician, and without him knowing, he had caught her attention.
*
"It's unfortunate that you can only try up to 2 levels above your measure, I think level 8 was possible as well."
"Haha, it's nothing."
I got out of the match field after completing the tests.
I had no more mana left in my body, doing more tests was nonsense.
"Woah, that was draining."
The virtual monster training today was really tiresome. I had not yet practiced an advanced magic that could get in between the joints of the scrap metal giant.
I had overused mana by trying to shape it with my force.
"The dumber you are, the more your body suffers."
I told myself that I have to increase more magic that I could use. I was still glad that the results came out great.
"Hey, what's for lunch today?"
"I think it was steak…do you want to go eat outside?"
"I saw that there was a craft burger restaurant that had just opened. Wanna go?"
It was now lunchtime, after the morning class.
I headed towards the school cafeteria.
There were many students who ate outside, but because the monthly scholarship was the only source of my income, I had to save.
Fortunately, the cafeteria at the Victoria Academy had no cost.
"A steak, please."
I was going to grab a seat anywhere after receiving my portion, but then Surin Moon caught my attention.
She was in a shaded corner next to a pole and slicing a piece of steak.
As I stared at her, she turned around after sensing something.
After we made eye contact, her pupils dilated a bit then she tapped on the seat in front of her.
"Heh?"
Did this mean that she wanted me to come over?
When I pointed a finger at myself, she nodded.
Nod nod.
Yeah, I mean eating with a pretty girl would be better than eating alone.
"Hoyeon, what's up?"
When I turned to the sound of my name, Young Han Kim was waving his hands at me.
"Hmm? Yeah."
"If you are eating alone, let's eat together. I came alone today."
"Sorry, but I already have someone…"
As I politely refused and walked over the Surin, she had already fled the scene.
"Where? I don't see anybody."
"I meant, let's go over there…"
Well, she was a popular student body president, so I understood.
I was shocked when I took a bite out of the steak.
'Why would anyone eat anything outside?'
Well, still, the addictive taste of junk food is another level of craving.
"Aren't you excited for the 1 on 1 battle later this afternoon? I was at the training center all day yesterday to prepare for today."
"Well, so-so?"
The class held this afternoon is a face to face type.
It was to be held at a match field where your protection is guaranteed. I had always wanted to try one, so this was exciting news.
Well, I guess nothing will go wrong, I hope?
"…"
"What's wrong, Hoyeon?"
"No, I just got shivers. I don't really know why?"
I suddenly got goosebumps on my arms…
I hope nothing goes wrong.