Chapter 78
"..."
Rowen gently caught Kain's body as he slumped down.
Kain was already unconscious.
However, it was less like fainting and more like he had simply fallen asleep from utter exhaustion.
Rowen looked at the waiting disciples and said,
"I'll take Kain to the instructor's office for a bit. The examination will resume after that. Understood?"
With that, he left the sparring arena.
Upon arriving at the instructor's office, Rowen laid Kain on a cot. Kain was breathing softly and steadily, his face serene.
"Kain..."
To be honest, Rowen was surprised.
Very much so.
From dodging the first explosion onwards, every single move was astonishing, but what truly amazed him was the close-quarters combat at the end.
‘It's been a while since I've gotten so fired up.’
Rowen had enjoyed the combat so much that he couldn't even remember the last time he had been so immersed in a one-on-one fight.
‘Tsk. Honestly, I intended to go easy and just give him enough points for the Promotion Exam.’
In truth, the instructor assigned to the 3rd-circle disciples' examination this time was supposed to be Aiden, not Rowen.
However, Rowen, who was in charge of the 4th-circle disciples, had asked Instructor Aiden for a change.
-I'm a bit curious about Kain. Could we make an exception? Haha.
-I don't mind, but... if you intentionally spar with Kain and defeat him, causing him to be unable to take the Promotion Exam, how will you face the Clan Head with a good countenance?
-It's fine, it's fine. I can manage that much. So, you'll switch, right?
He had boasted so confidently, but...
‘Manage? Manage what? In the latter half, I unconsciously went all out. I almost forgot the restriction of only using 4th-circle magic.’
But what was even more surprising was that despite Rowen pushing him with such intensity and focus, Kain endured it all until the very end.
‘I still don't understand.’
Possessing naturally superior mana perception, utilizing Body Reinforcement to push his reaction speed to its limits, and sensing incoming attacks to react—these were, by a hundred concessions, theoretically possible.
However, even when his body was clearly under strain and his mana was depleted to the point where he couldn't react properly.
Kain never once exposed a vital spot.
He dragged the spar out to the very, very end, and finally seized an opportunity.
‘That... could only be explained as predictive responses born from experience.’
Otherwise, he must have been incredibly, incredibly lucky and intuitive for things to align so bizarrely.
‘Come to think of it, he gambled in a casino during the mission and turned a hundred gold into a thousand...’
Was he truly born with heavenly luck, or was there something about him that Rowen simply couldn't comprehend?
"He's certainly a curious fellow."
After watching Kain for a moment longer, Rowen left the instructor's office.
Many disciples still remained to take their sparring examination.
"Hmph."
Rowen rolled his shoulders, loosening up.
He had no intention of going easy.
"Kain, is he really going to be okay?"
"I know. He fainted the moment it ended."
"He just seemed to fall asleep, though?"
"But seriously, I still don't really know what just happened..."
"My point exactly. Kain was moving incredibly fast, and Instructor Rowen was jumping around in mid-air..."
While worrying about Kain, the disciples were also still caught up in the aftermath of the spar.
"That dagger he threw at the end, what was that?"
"It was a dagger imbued with Mana Enchantment. That's why the artifact reacted so strongly."
"Isn't that a technique used by knights or mercenaries...?"
"But Kain knows how to use it."
Anias, who had already spent a month with Kain and observed his combat, explained as if it were familiar.
"Now that you mention it, Anias, you went on a mission with Kain, didn't you, that's right!"
"That's right! Now that I think about it, yeah!"
"Anias, do you have anything else to say about Kain?"
"Yeah, tell us a bit."
"W-what kind of stories?"
Suddenly, with all eyes on her, Anias was flustered and recoiled slightly.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that. Like how he usually trains, or any tricks he taught you for combat?"
"Or what about his favorite foods or snacks? I want to try to get closer to him by subtly giving him some next time. So I can ask him to teach me some tricks."
"...I can't think of anything right now. But if it's about his favorite snacks, he likes sweets."
As Anias answered, the disciples' expressions brightened.
"Ohh, thanks! I'll have to ask him next time!"
"Me too. Honestly, Kain has a bit of an unapproachable demeanor, doesn't he?"
"But Anias, your barrier-casting in the first test looked really stable, even though you only recently reached 4th-circle?"
"Me...?"
"Of course, you! You've been training hard lately!"
"Yeah. It looks good. I'm looking forward to your spar with Instructor Rowen later."
"...Well, I'll have to do my best."
Anias replied, her ears slightly reddened.
As it approached the time for Rowen to arrive, the topic of conversation shifted back to the spar.
"But I just thought of something. If Kain gets a perfect score doing that, then for us, it's pretty much..."
"Hah... I shouldn't expect a good score this time."
"Wait, but Instructor Rowen unleashed a lot of magic just now, didn't he?"
"That's right."
"Then, unlike usual, since he used a lot of power, shouldn't we have a better chance...?"
"Oh, you're right!"
Even if it was 4th-circle magic, if multiple high-difficulty additional spell formulas were incorporated, the consumption of mana and mental energy would be considerable.
Since he had relentlessly poured out such magic for a short period, if he were to consecutively spar with disciples immediately after, even Rowen would inevitably see a reduction in his full power.
"Alright, let's try to get some points this time!"
"Please, let my turn be later!"
"But you know..."
"What now?"
"That forehead flick bet from earlier. You didn't forget, did you?"
"What? Hey, it was a draw!"
"I asked who you'd bet on, not who would win, did I? Kain got a perfect score, so I, who bet on Kain, won. Get ready for it."
"No, what kind of logic is that?"
"This kind of logic."
"Argh! It's stronger than last time."
Just as the forehead flick bets were settled.
"Kids, I'm here."
Rowen appeared with nimble movements.
"Let's start the examination."
After that, the disciples who confidently challenged Rowen fell one after another, unable to endure more than a few exchanges.
***
"Mmm..."
Kain opened his eyes.
Looking at the clock, not as much time had passed as he thought.
‘This must be thanks to my ice-attribute circle.’
Normally, if he had so severely depleted his dantian's mana and scraped clean even the mana within his fire-attribute circle, he would have been unconscious from mana exhaustion for at least half a day.
However, thanks to his ice-attribute circle, which still contained vibrant mana, he was able to recover his energy much faster than expected.
"Ugh."
Thanks to his consistent physical training, his body only ached a bit, even after overexerting himself.
If he had been in his frail body from before going to the snowy mountain, he probably wouldn't even be able to get up properly right now.
‘This is... Instructor Rowen's instructor's office?’
He had never visited it separately before.
Usually, disciples visit the instructor's office to ask questions when they don't know something, but Kain didn't have any questions.
On the table next to the cot, there was a glass of water.
It seemed to be a thoughtful gesture from Rowen, for him to drink upon waking.
After drinking the water, he definitely felt better.
‘Hmm. No matter how I think about it, I did push myself too hard in the end.’
The things he dodged by 'prediction' rather than 'reaction,' while his body was overloaded from overusing Body Reinforcement and his movements were slowed by dwindling mana.
‘If these movements were properly discerned, it might have seemed suspicious...’
But since Rowen wouldn't have fully understood them anyway, it probably wouldn't be a big issue.
‘Rowen is, after all, only a 6th-circle mage.’
Kain, who was an Archmage in his past life and whose sword skills were acknowledged by Alken's Knight Commander, moved at a level where Rowen, no matter how skilled, couldn't fully grasp his intentions.
‘Of course, my current body prevented me from even fully realizing that.’
In any case, Kain used every means at his disposal, excluding ice magic, to uphold his promise to give his best in the examination.
‘...Because I had to get a perfect score.’
If someone who was a Clan Head in his past life were to enter the Educational Building and fail to get a perfect score on an examination, and even be unable to take the Promotion Exam due to insufficient evaluation points...
‘That just couldn't happen.’
Regardless of who the evaluator was.
Kain left the instructor's office and headed for the sparring arena.
"You're already up? I thought you'd be out for half a day."
Anias was in the sparring arena.
"It's not over yet?"
"No way. Our floor finished ages ago."
"How did you do?"
"How do you think I did?"
Kain replied as if it were obvious.
"You lost, didn't you?"
"...You're right, but it's annoying."
But Anias's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Still, I got the highest evaluation score on our floor, besides you, that is. Hehe. Right now, the 2nd-circle disciples are taking their exam. I stayed behind to watch since I had some time."
Since the 4th and 5th-circle disciples were using the largest sparring arena, the one Kain had used when sparring with Hayden, the 2nd-circle disciples were now taking their exam in this arena, following the 3rd-circle.
"Oh, there's Edward coming out."
Edward received an artifact from Instructor Curtis and took his place.
He looked a bit nervous but also confident.
As soon as the spar began, Edward extended his hand and chanted,
"Flame Spear!"
"Fire Wall. Fire Needles, Split."
Instructor Curtis simultaneously erected a Fire Wall and generated multiple Fire Needles, launching a cross-attack at Edward.
"Fire Wall!"
Edward also used a Fire Wall, though a step late.
WHOOSH!
He simultaneously struck Curtis's Fire Wall with his Flame Spear and blocked the Fire Needles.
"You didn't miss the Flame Spear while deploying a defensive spell against a sudden cross-attack. That was a good response."
"...Thank you!"
"Fire Arrow. Curve."
"Fire Wall, Morph!"
Next, he blocked the Fire Arrow that curved around the side of the Fire Wall by using a transformation spell on his Fire Wall.
Edward immediately launched a counterattack after blocking, and Curtis continued the offense and defense, evaluating Edward's magical aptitude.
To be honest, compared to the spar Kain and Rowen had, the current spar felt incredibly peaceful, almost monotonous.
However.
"Right, that's actually normal."
Unlike Rowen, Curtis adjusted the type and power of his magic to thoroughly evaluate the disciples.
However, this didn't mean he gave the disciples opportunities to casually bombard him with attacks.
Curtis skillfully knew the exact abilities of the disciple he was facing, consistently creating a delicate difficulty level that was challenging for the disciple but didn't make them feel overwhelmed and give up.
‘Not bad.’
Kain nodded and watched the spar with Anias.
"Alright, please take care of me."
Following Edward, Fohn also took his sparring examination with Instructor Curtis.
Bolio also waited his turn and sparred.
"Haap! Fire Arrow!"
Surprisingly, Bolio showed a surprising counterattack, dodging Curtis's Fire Arrow by flinging his body and launching a surprise attack.
"Oh ho. Where did you learn that?"
"I ended up like this by trying to imitate Kain. I even caught a Fog Merman with this."
"...I see."
In any case, both 2nd-circle examinations were now concluded.
"I did the best I've ever done on an exam!"
"M-me too."
"I was worried I messed up the written exam, but luckily I made up for it in the practical!"
"I, of course, did well in both."
"Bragging again? Honestly."
"See? I told you to study theory more often. If you're going to make up for it with physical ability, why didn't you become a mercenary? Why did you learn magic?"
"You...! Just you wait. I'll do well on the written exam next time!"
"Yeah, please do well then."
Everyone seemed quite satisfied with their exam results.
Edward, Fohn, and Bolio, who achieved 3rd-circle on the 2nd-circle floor.
And Kain and Anias, who achieved 4th-circle on the 3rd-circle floor.
Now, only their Promotion Exams remained.
Kain, with a satisfied expression, nodded and summarized,
"Alright, then everyone has advanced to the Promotion Exam."
Fohn then cautiously glanced around and spoke,
"Um... K-Kain, you were the only one who had a close call..."
"Ah."
