Chapter 170: The Suddenly Changed Location

It’s better not to let others know about this for now.

After all, if the other Students find out, it could easily cause panic and chaos, maybe even push the Demon Race into desperation and trigger a massacre within the Academy.

Even though the four of them, plus the other Teachers in the Academy, could definitely eliminate Darkness, if she used ordinary Students as hostages to threaten them, they would be forced to hold back.

“But, Alice is already LV.32 now.”

Liyakade sat back in her seat, lowering her voice to speak with the others.

“Once Alice reaches LV.35, it’ll be fine. She probably doesn’t know that Alice can detect her after reaching LV.35.”

“Yeah, after this Exam is over, we should be able to drag her out.”

Field agreed.

Not long after, everyone’s levels were measured, and Liyakade and the others followed the Mage Teacher and Grade Director to the training grounds for the second part of the Test.

Several targets made of special materials were already standing on the field.

This time, the targets were even farther from them, about 300 meters away.

The Mage Teacher stood nearby, explaining the rules to the surrounding Students.

“This time, not only will your accuracy be recorded, but also the time your Magic takes to hit the target. In real battle, both accuracy and precision are essential. Each person has two attempts for this Test. Alright, let’s begin.”

“So far away…”

Alice looked at the distant target, feeling intimidated.

“Can I really hit that?”

“What’s so hard about that?”

“Wait!”

Liyakade stood beyond the white line, waving her hand gently.

A gust of wind arose, and a green Wind Blade shot out.

The Mage Teacher, seeing Liyakade’s action, tried to stop her, but by the time he spoke, the Wind Blade had already flown.

The entire target split in half along the bullseye, sliced cleanly by the Wind Blade in an instant.

“…2.17 seconds, both speed and accuracy are top-tier, but… can’t you let me finish first?!”

The Mage Teacher helplessly recorded Liyakade’s score, then spoke to her.

“Since your level exceeds LV.50, the Academy has prepared a new target for you, capable of withstanding attacks up to LV.65.”

“Uh…is that so?”

Liyakade looked at the target split in two in the distance, a bit embarrassed.

She recalled how, during the last Midterm Exam, she’d also broken the target.

Apparently, this target could only handle Magic around LV.50.

“So…do I need to retest?”

“No need… Full marks. Just don’t act so quickly next time. This target wasn’t meant for you.”

“Ahem…”

After Liyakade finished, it was Field’s turn.

Field pointed forward, and a blazing Fireball shot out, slamming into the bullseye with a boom.

“4.57 seconds, full marks for accuracy, excellent speed, total score 94.”

“So much slower?”

Field was a bit surprised by the result.

She hadn’t realized until the Test that Liyakade’s Magic was twice as fast as hers.

Also, while her Magic looked flashy and exploded on the target, it wasn’t enough to destroy it, whereas Liyakade had effortlessly sliced the target in two.

“Of course. Liyakade is a Wind Elemental Magic User like me. Wind is known for speed among the elements.”

Sistem watched Field’s Magic and explained her doubts.

“Even if your levels are the same, your Magic won’t be faster than hers. But you should have more power.”

“I see… Wait, who asked you?”

Field nodded, then realized after a second.

“Wow, I answer your question out of kindness and that’s what I get?”

Sistem’s forehead wrinkled into a grid.

“Pfft…Fine, thank you.”

“…Huh? Brat…”

Sistem relaxed, realizing Field was joking.

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since she got along with her little sister like this.

Next was Alice’s turn.

“So far…how am I supposed to hit that?”

Alice looked at the distant target, nervous.

She hadn’t expected the difficulty of the Final Exam to increase so much.

At this distance, Alice felt it was almost impossible to land a hit.

Back in the dungeon, Alice had never attacked such distant enemies.

Against far-off foes, she would usually attack directly with wide-range Light, without aiming for precision.

“You can definitely hit it. You’ve grown so much, your Magic accuracy has improved a lot. Even at this distance, Alice, you can do it easily.”

Field, seeing Alice’s nervousness, went over to encourage her.

“Field’s right. And last time, even though I was interfering with your Test, you still hit the bullseye. That shows your control was strong. Adding a little more distance is nothing. Just be brave and do it.”

Liyakade also cheered Alice on, recalling the previous target practice.

She had intended to use Magic to disrupt Alice, but to her surprise, Alice still hit the bullseye.

If she hadn’t interfered, Alice probably couldn’t have even hit the target back then.

Let Liyakade tell a little white lie for encouragement here.

“Yeah…Liyakade, Field, thank you.”

Alice exhaled deeply.

“I’m calm now.”

That’s right.

Last time, even with Liyakade’s interference, she could still hit the bullseye.

After rising nearly 30 levels, her Magic skill should only have improved, not diminished.

It’s just a little more distance—what’s there to fear?

Alice then extended her palm, firing a white Light Sphere forward.

It shot toward the target and struck it with a thud.

“6.36 seconds, nine rings, both accuracy and speed are good, total score 90.”

“See? That was easy.”

Liyakade poked Alice’s arm as she watched her get a high score.

“Whew…Yeah, I guess I’m still pretty awesome.”

“Of course. Don’t think so little of yourself, Alice.”

Field smiled, pleased with Alice’s performance.

Sistem wasn’t a first-year, so she didn’t have to take the Exam.

She was only here to help Liyakade and the others keep watch for the Demon Race.

She didn’t join the shooting.

Soon, everyone finished the Test.

“Today’s Test ends here, but there’s one final part to the Final Exam.”

After the Test, the Grade Director gathered all the Students.

“This last part is actual combat. In three days, we’ll head to Bibo Gorge for the final assessment. The Mage Teacher and I will both be there. In these three days, prepare yourselves!”

“Yes!”

“Alright, dismissed!”

Hearing the Grade Director’s last words, Liyakade frowned.

“Oh, your batch has high standards, huh?”

Sistem joked to Liyakade and the others.

“Looks like you’re all so strong that the Academy had to raise the difficulty.”

“What do you mean? Is Bibo Gorge that dangerous?”

Field asked Sistem.

“It’s not too dangerous. The monsters inside just have higher levels. But for you guys, it’s basically no threat.”

However, Liyakade saw it very differently.

In the original story, Alice, Field, and Liyakade’s levels were only a level or two lower than now, and with Irina Zi as a strong ally, their combined strength was even greater.

Yet, the Academy had chosen the Nasca Labyrinth, a low-difficulty dungeon.

Now, the Final Exam’s location had changed to Bibo Gorge.

It was hard for Liyakade not to suspect something was happening behind the scenes.

Was it because they cleared the Nasca Labyrinth, so the Academy changed the location?

That shouldn’t be.

The Academy didn’t even know they’d cleared the Nasca Labyrinth, and even if they had, so what?

The Academy would never let them go beyond the third floor, since there were still plenty of weaker Students, and going deeper would be dangerous.

Whether there was a labyrinth Boss or not made no difference to them.

Could it be that, because they applied to go to the Nasca Labyrinth before, the Academy assumed they’d already mastered it and thus switched to another area?

That couldn’t be either.

Besides them, there were many Students to assess, so it was impossible to change the location just for the three of them.

Liyakade could think of only one possibility.

Because the Nasca Labyrinth posed little threat to them, and traps there wouldn’t kill them, the location was changed to the more dangerous Bibo Gorge.

This also meant Darkness was not only hiding in the Academy, but had disguised herself as upper management, able to influence Exam locations!

Liyakade’s gaze grew more serious.

At that moment, even the Mage Teacher and Grade Director seemed dangerous in her eyes.

No one knew if, in the darkness beneath the shadows, a cruel and fierce demon might suddenly appear.