Chapter 22: The Assessment Begins

With the unshakable determination to “make that evil woman pay,” Sevitis strode into the exam building of the academy.

The massive Kantaier Academy felt unusually deserted.

The somber, tense atmosphere hanging in the air didn’t feel like a school at all; it was more like a fortress about to go to war.

To give these prospective freshmen enough “battlefield” for the exam, Kantaier hadn’t even called back the upperclassmen from break.

Only a small number who had chosen to stay on campus over the holiday remained, but they were strictly ordered not to approach the exam hall during the test—any violator would be expelled on the spot.

As for the family members accompanying the examinees, they had been politely shown out long ago.

Now the entire academy was basically empty except for the candidates preparing to charge into battle alone, along with the proctors and relevant staff.

As a bell rang through the campus, the Kantaier Academy entrance exam officially began.

This exam, which could determine countless fates, was divided into three parts.

Whether a candidate was ultimately admitted depended on their total score across all three parts.

The first part, now underway, was the most tedious written exam.

As the continent’s top academy, the bar for the written test was naturally absurdly high.

It covered nine subjects in one go, including magic studies, elemental studies, history, and monster studies.

If someone’s foundation wasn’t solid, scoring well here was basically a pipe dream.

However, for those powerhouses whose knowledge reserves fell short, it didn’t actually matter that much.

After all, the last two tests were purely practical combat.

Even if you got a zero on the written, outstanding performance later could still give you a decent total score.

To put it plainly, this written test was designed specifically for those geniuses on the continent whose literary abilities were second to none.

Some of the questions on the paper were so bizarre that even the exam writers probably couldn’t answer them.

If you could perfectly solve them, the academy’s higher-ups would admit you on the spot, regardless of your score.

The worst off were the half-baked candidates whose martial and academic abilities were neither here nor there.

Elsewhere they might rank in the upper middle, but in Kantaier, a place teeming with monsters, they’d just end up as cannon fodder at the bottom.

Fortunately, Sevitis clearly wasn’t in that group. Even though she couldn’t answer every question on the paper, she could still easily score high.

Don’t underestimate the power of the five years she’d spent in the Duke’s Mansion Library!

……

After several grueling days, the first written exam finally concluded with the chime of a bell.

Putting down her pen, Sevitis let out a long sigh in the exam hall.

In the exam room, Sevitis set down her aching wrist and breathed a long, weary breath.

‘I made it through somehow… Even though I hadn’t done any strenuous exercise over these three days, the high-intensity, continuous exams were still a test of body and mind, weren’t they?’

‘Sure enough, some candidates with weak mental fortitude had breakdowns and dropped out halfway. As for the rest, even if they forced themselves to submit their papers on the last day, their mental state was clearly… “beautiful.”‘

“Ahhh, why does this stupid test have to cover these insane things?!”

“‘What is the exact difference between the upper and lower fangs of the Blood Demon race’—What the hell kind of question is that?! Is that something a normal person could possibly answer?!”

The handsome blond elf at the next table was now clawing frantically at his own hair, roaring up at the ceiling with zero grace, completely shattering the typical image of an elegant elf.

‘Well, that’s understandable. Such a niche, obscure question would be hard even for an elf renowned for their vast knowledge.’

‘If Sevitis herself didn’t currently have those two pairs of fangs and hadn’t been bored enough to study them in the mirror, she probably wouldn’t have been able to answer either.’

“Candidate number 708, please maintain order in the exam hall! No loud shouting!” The proctor on the podium knocked on the desk with a cold expression.

‘It’s a good thing the papers have already been collected, or that emotionally volatile elf boy would have been more than just escorted out to cool off—he’d probably have been disqualified on the spot.’

‘So crude and simple-minded.’

Sevitis silently remarked to herself, then followed the crowd out of the exam hall.

‘Next, I need to prepare for the second test.’

……

The venue for the second test was set in a magnificent circular arena deep within the academy.

Of course, given the huge number of candidates, the Kantaier Academy obviously had more than one arena of this scale.

It was an ancient building constructed from dark cyan stone, with layered stands surrounding it.

The arena in the center, enveloped by a magic barrier, was the examination ground.

From the dark gates deep beneath the arena came the occasional chilling roars of beasts.

The ferocious monsters were crazily battering their cages, trying to break out and tear everything apart.

At this point, the candidates who had made it through the written test had gathered outside the arena and were filing into the stands in an orderly fashion.

“All candidates, please line up! Pass through one by one according to your admission ticket number!”

“I’m warning certain people—don’t even think about pulling any tricks! If anyone is caught cheating with a substitute, they will be banned for life from applying!”

The proctor at the entrance was maintaining order and issuing stern warnings.

The card issued to each candidate upon registration wasn’t just an admission ticket; it also contained a chip for identity verification.

Now, every candidate had to scan their chip at the entrance to confirm their identity.

There was no way to forge a substitute here; Kantaier’s magic technology, which was leagues ahead of the rest of the continent, wasn’t something just anyone could crack.

The rules for the second test were simple and brutal: a one-on-one fight with a monster.

The final score depended entirely on what rank of monster you defeated and your overall performance in the battle.

Candidates could decide which rank of monster to challenge.

If they won, they could continue to challenge stronger monsters, but if they lost, they were unfortunately eliminated.

As the chief examiner below began calling numbers, candidates on the stands descended one by one.

Some show-offs, eager to display their uniqueness and strength, deliberately chose not to use the stairs.

Instead, they leaped down from the stands over ten meters high, trying to make a flashy entrance.

The proctors couldn’t be bothered to care about such attention-seeking behavior.

As long as it didn’t disrupt the exam order, they usually turned a blind eye, treating it as a warm-up.

But the problem was, not everyone had the skill to land safely.

So when a few overconfident idiots jumped and broke their legs, Sevitis could only say, ‘Good. That’s what you get for trying to show off.’

Luckily, Kantaier Academy had a bit of humanity. They had arranged for a team of healing mages and clerics to stand by at the edge of the exam grounds.

But what left Sevitis speechless was: ‘Wasn’t this supposed to be for warriors injured in battle with monsters? Why were all the people being carried off on stretchers a bunch of idiots who’d broken their legs jumping off the stands and were now howling while clutching their knees?’

‘And that guy over there with blood all over his head, already unconscious and being carried off—what happened to him?’

Even Sevitis, who usually maintained a cool facade in front of others, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth.

‘Ah, youth. Fall asleep just like that.’

‘It seems Kantaier’s admission bar still has loopholes. It can filter out the weak with low magic power, but it can’t filter out the brain-dead idiots.’

‘No wonder the proctors looked so used to it; this scene probably plays out every year.’

‘But looking at it from another angle… isn’t this also a form of physical selection?’

“Candidate number 1024!”

With the examiner’s call, a purple-haired dragon girl stood up from the stands.

Though the dragon race was scarce on the Ateria Continent, their naturally monstrous physiques and magic power meant quite a few could be found at Kantaier Academy.

After all, the academy’s rules were clear: as long as you weren’t a demon, any bizarre race could enroll.

But Sevitis’s gaze couldn’t help lingering on that dragon girl for a few extra seconds.

No particular reason—it was just that the girl’s height was even shorter than Sevitis’s current form.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen a person smaller than myself since I turned into this state. And given the dragons’ long lifespans, her real age is definitely older than mine.’

A strange sense of superiority welled up in Sevitis’s heart. ‘So it seems my height isn’t necessarily the lowest in this whole venue.’

‘Hmph. I win.’

A confident, enigmatic smile crept onto Sevitis’s delicate little face. She even found the expressionless dragon loli much more pleasing to the eye.

She had initially expected the dragon girl to unfurl her fierce little wings and dive down from the air.

Instead, the purple-haired girl just stood still at the edge of the stands.

Then, the shadow beneath the girl’s feet began to rapidly expand, growing dark and viscous.

Her body seemed to sink into a bottomless swamp, melting into the shadow in the blink of an eye.

By the time Sevitis realized what had happened, the girl had already appeared silently on the exam grounds below.

‘Dark element magic, huh? That’s a rather extravagant way to make an entrance. But I have to admit, it’s cool—understated yet elegant.’

Sevitis sighed inwardly.

‘I envy that. Why don’t I have any elemental affinity? Even if I couldn’t use magic, I could at least enchant my body and weapons with elements. That would boost my combat power by a huge margin.’

‘Wait a second…’

Sevitis rubbed her chin. ‘I vaguely remember feeling the presence of elements when I transformed into a vampire before.’

‘Back when I was human, I was a complete magic idiot. My understanding of elements came entirely from books and others’ descriptions—I never experienced them firsthand.’

‘Besides, I was so busy fighting monsters those few days that I completely forgot about it.’

‘I only just remembered now. I definitely need to test this on a dark, moonless night, secretly transforming.’

‘After all, I’m now a noble vampire among the demon race. It’s only reasonable for a brute like me to become adept at magic, right?’

Lost in boundless fantasies of a bright future, the black-haired girl sitting in the corner of the stands unconsciously began fidgeting with delight.