The next day, Liakade and her companions arrived early at the Academy.
Because of the joyous night Liakade spent with Alice and Field the previous night, her injuries had completely healed, and her magic and spirit had been greatly restored.
As for Alice and Field, although Liakade had absorbed some of their energy and magic at the time, the rate at which Liakade returned it was also very fast. By today, they were almost in perfect condition.
The injuries of Liakade and her group were definitely much lighter than Darkness, and their recovery speed was far beyond what Darkness could match.
Although high-level demons all have some self-healing ability, the self-healing power of a Shadow Demon like Darkness is far inferior to Liakade, who uses Blood Magic.
Moreover, Liakade could recover through joy with Alice and Field, but Darkness could not.
Korim had previously told Liakade that for Shadow Demons like Darkness to recover quickly, they needed to consume someone else’s shadow.
However, to eat another’s shadow, one must first kill the other party. In the Royal City and the Academy, especially with increased security, making a move rashly would easily be discovered by the Guards and the Church.
Therefore, now the enemy was weak while they were strong, and they also had magic to detect Darkness’s location. Liakade and her companions naturally planned to thoroughly defeat Darkness while she was still recovering.
“Good day, Miss Liakade.”
Chloe greeted Liakade as she entered the classroom, then greeted Alice and the others beside Liakade in turn.
After speaking, Chloe leaned closer to Liakade’s ear and whispered softly.
“Miss Liakade, that demon called Darkness… she’s still in the Academy, right?”
“Yes.”
Liakade glanced around and lowered her voice in reply.
“She’s seriously injured, but we shouldn’t discuss her so openly. She might be watching us from some shadow even now.”
“Ah, sorry.”
Chloe quickly realized her slip and apologized to Liakade.
“It’s fine.”
As they chatted, the Magic Instructor Fianna had already entered the classroom.
“Everyone, please quiet down.”
Fianna pressed both hands downward, signaling the students to be quiet, and then continued.
“The results of the practical test from the day before yesterday have been compiled by the Academy. Everyone performed very well. Even though this time the difficulty was higher, you all completed the assessment earnestly. Excellent work.”
“The comprehensive scores for the end of term will be announced today. You can check them on the Board in the Academy hall.”
“The first year has officially ended, and vacation begins tomorrow. You can go home or choose to stay at the Academy. Our Academy is quite flexible in this regard.”
“That’s all for this semester. I wish everyone a pleasant holiday.”
Fianna finished her brief speech, and as soon as the news of vacation was announced, the students in the classroom burst into cheers.
Though vacation would start tomorrow, Liakade and her companions did not relax at all. They didn’t discuss holiday plans or destinations, because there was still a more important mission before them.
That was to defeat Darkness completely while she was still weak.
“Let’s go check our grades first, since we’re free anyway.”
Liakade stood up and called to Alice and Field.
“Yes, let’s go together.”
Alice nodded.
The three of them went to the Academy hall and approached the Board, where many students had already gathered, crowding together in excitement over their final scores.
After all, there were prizes for the top ranks in the exams.
Due to her height, Liakade couldn’t see the Board over the crowd, even on tiptoe.
“Why are there so many people… huh!”
Suddenly, Liakade exclaimed as she felt arms slip under her armpits and lift her off the ground.
“Now you can see, right?”
It was Field.
Seeing Liakade struggling, Field had simply picked her up.
With Field’s strength, holding Liakade for a while was no trouble at all.
Besides, Liakade was light by nature.
“Help check mine and Alice’s scores too.”
“Alright.”
Liakade quickly found her own name, as well as Alice’s and Field’s rankings and scores—they were all at the top this time.
Liakade herself was at the very top, the only one with a perfect score for the year.
“Found it, found it. You can put me down now.”
Liakade patted Field’s arm gently, and Field carefully set her down.
“How did you do, Liakade?”
Alice came over immediately, her first concern being Liakade’s score. Field also looked at Liakade, clearly interested.
Liakade felt their curious stares, straightened her head, wiped her nose, and answered proudly.
“I got a perfect score this time, and ranked first in the Academy. The only perfect score.”
After all, Liakade had the highest grade in the test—her magic chant, flight speed, and magic power were top among all students.
Her stats alone had locked in the points.
As for the written part on Noble Etiquette, Liakade had reviewed a lot with Alice, so there were no mistakes on that front either.
In the practical, the four of them had defeated a LV.70 Purple Abyss Demon Octopus. That single monster was enough for a perfect practical score, not to mention the points from all the Shadow Creatures.
“So amazing?”
Field was surprised.
She could imagine Liakade getting a perfect score, but hadn’t expected Liakade to be the only one.
In past years, there were always several students with exceptional talent—usually three or four perfect scores—but this time, only Liakade.
“That’s because the difficulty of the exam increased for your class.”
An elderly but kind voice came from beside them—it was the Grade Director.
He stroked his white beard and seemed to understand what Field was thinking.
“Because your class was so talented, the Academy raised the assessment standards.”
“For first-years in previous years, LV.35 was a perfect score for the magic test. But with so many strong students in your class, if we didn’t adjust the standard, there would have been more than ten perfect scores.”
“I see.”
Field finally understood. If they had used the old standard, their group—Liakade, Alice, Field, and Chloe—could have all scored perfectly just by acing the written test, plus their magic and practicals.
Other students with LV.35 could have also scored perfectly with enough effort in the practicals.
“To balance the results, the perfect score for the level test was raised to LV.50 this time. But even so, students like Liakade managed to achieve it.”
At this, the white-haired Grade Director looked at Liakade with satisfaction.
“Alice and Princess Field’s performances were also excellent. At this rate, even if the Demon King is unsealed, you will become the Guardian Light of the Kingdom.”
“Thank you for your expectations, Director. We will do our best!”
Alice nodded, promising the Grade Director.
“Hahaha, youth is wonderful. I believe you can do it.”
With that, the Grade Director bid farewell to Liakade and the others.
“So, Liakade, how did we do?”
Alice looked at Liakade expectantly.
“Eh? Oh, right. You two are also near the top. Field is second, with 96 points. Probably lost a few on the adjusted level test.”
Liakade seemed a bit distracted, but answered after a moment.
“Alice is twelfth, with 92 points. Very good.”
“That’s great! If Mama finds out, she’ll be so happy!”
Alice beamed with joy. After all, during the midterms she had scored just average—partly due to Liakade’s “interference”—but now, with her own effort, she was among the best in the year. Of course she was happy.
She also planned to return home during the holiday. If her mother learned how well she was doing at the Academy, she would surely be proud.
“As expected, there’s still a bit of a gap between us.”
Field, hearing her own rank and score, wasn’t as excited as Alice, since she had already judged her own strength. In the whole year, only Liakade was ahead of her.
“…Seems like the gap is more than a little.”
Liakade muttered.
There was more than a ten-level difference between them. Even if the level test’s perfect score was LV.40 and they both got it, Liakade’s reason for being perfect was just that the cap was LV.40.
“Close enough.”
“Sigh, fine, fine.”
Liakade sighed. Since Field thought it was close enough, she let her have it.
But Liakade was already thinking about something else.
Although ultimately they still had to rely on Alice’s magic to search for Darkness’s trail, just now, Liakade seemed to sense Darkness’s presence.
That creature’s shadow seemed to be missing a piece.