NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21.1
In the one and only academy in the Empire aiming to teach the dignity of noble society and the responsibility of the power yielded by the Awoken…
At the academy, students were taught the culture and etiquette of nobles, how to handle their attributes, and given combat training.
However, this did not mean that the academy only accepted the Awoken as students.
Anyone could apply to the academy- even non-awakened students- as long as they were able to afford the expensive tuition fees.
Mainly the children of nobles who did not awaken or those who wanted to build relationships would enter through this route.
However, they would still be required to prove that they could participate in combat training without having awakened any attributes by passing the entrance exam.
*[Freshman No. 80, Jeon Ji-hye. Enter Forest District 4.]*
Also, Awakeners whose admissions had already been confirmed could still take the test if they wished to do so.
This was because students could receive advanced credits for some basic classes based on their achievements in the entrance exams.
All 22 of my classmates decided to take the test.
I was honestly very surprised at that.
Of course, since most of my classmates decided to do it, there would have been a few kids who were swept away by the mood and said they would do it, but it was still amazing that most of them showed such enthusiasm for the exam.
One had to remember, that these were the guys who were busy playing or resting until just recently.
Minho says that it was all thanks to me.
He said that they were impressed by my prowess in the duel.
In the end, the empire couldn’t find the 5 missing members of our class, even with winter ending and the spring sun shining down on us.
Where are they now and what are they doing?
Anyway, we were sitting huddled together in the exam waiting room, watching Jihye walking amongst the trees of the forest on a magic screen floating in the air in front of us.
Yes.
She is in a forest.
Right after being summoned, I, Jihye, Lee Hyunwoo, and Baek Namgyu were made to live out a real-life survival story out of nowhere in the forest of the academy.
The stage where this entrance test was set is in the forest, with the content of the test being to find a goblin colony and annihilate all of its members.
“Oh, so that’s where you guys were summoned! What do the goblins look like?!”
“Seung-Woo, shut up. I am about to get PTSD from those memories.”
“... Shit. Sorry…”
“It’s okay, dude. You’ve worked hard this past month bro.”
The test would evaluate our scouting aptitude by having us find a village by analysing the traces of the goblins, and also our combat abilities in being able to defeat the goblins.
Even if we are not successful, it is said that partial points may be awarded based on the process leading up to finding the goblins.
Jihye walked leisurely amongst the greenery as if she were in no hurry.
Just by looking at her, it looks like the image of a young lady who is out for a picnic and taking a walk in the woods.
[Life Reconnaissance]
However, the grey waves of magical energy emanating from her were in stark contrast to the peaceful atmosphere of the forest.
Judging by the rapid withering of the grass by the feet of Jihye, it’s clear that the Mana has the [Death] Attribute imbued in it.
“Found them.”
Wisdom muttered that on the screen before us and suddenly changed the direction in which she was walking.
After that, she started walking in a straight line towards the goblin colony she had found.
Originally, the purpose of the magic spell she had just used was to grasp the terrain within a radius of 200m, but Jihye implemented her attributes and changed it into magic that detected vitality within a radius of 2km.
She will surely score extremely high given that she can already apply her attributes to her magic.
And so, a goblin village eventually appeared before Jihye.
It was larger than the villages we had encountered in the forest the previous time.
Three magic arrows were shot by Jihye, piercing the three goblins’ necks, killing them all at the same time.
“Kiek?! Meh!”
“Kiaaaaag!!”
The rest of the goblins were alerted of her presence and rushed her, but they couldn’t inflict any wounds on her.
This was because these were the same ones that the academy bred for academy students to use in safe conditions as training dummies.
It’s a fact that I often forget because I’ve been taking magic classes with her lately, but Ji-hye’s motor capacity is also quite good.
By the end of it, after only 10 minutes passed, all that remained were the corpses of goblins decapitated by Jihye’s magic and her sword.
A smile bloomed on Ji-hye’s face as she looked down at the bloody sword in her hand, which couldn’t be hidden from view even on the screen.
“At this level, her practical results shouldn’t be anything less than full marks.”
Searched and destroyed.
As a freshman, there was nothing lacking in how she went about the practical exam.
“Freshman number 92, Jeong Ji-hoo? Please wait in front of the exam hall for your turn.”
Following the guidance of the faculty, I headed to a different test centre from Wisdom.
The academy forest was so large that tests were being held in several places at the same time.
*[Freshman No. 92, Jeong Ji-hoo. Enter Forest District 8.]*
As soon as I entered, I focused my attribute magic on my eyes.
As my field of vision became wider and farther, visual data that could never be perceived by ordinary eyes flooded into my brain.
One of the authorities of my Heaven attribute is the [Heaven (Clairvoyance)].
Thanks to this, I can clearly see the ant walking from very far away, and I can see the flowers hidden behind the rocks by looking through the obstacle.
Before long, I found a colony of goblins.
They were 700m northeast of here.
There were twelve goblins in total.
‘How should I go about doing this?’
I could just blow a magic storm in a straight line towards the village from here and grind them into a meat paste along with the trees all along the path.
But for some reason, it feels too bullish a move.
I created a pointed spear by forging sky-blue magic.
There were 12 goblins to kill and so I created 12 spears.
At a light flick of my wrist, the spears rocketed through the air and flew towards their respective targets.
This concluded my practical test.
I entered the woods and successfully completed the given goal without even having taken ten steps.
At the far reaches of my field of view, I could see the goblins who lost their lives without even getting a chance to resist.
“······.”
I also don’t feel anything about taking their lives.
No sympathy, no guilt, and no respect for their lives.
But why was it like that back then?
I distinctly recalled a moment from my duel with Kyle.
At that time, I had planned to take advantage of Kyle’s weak point and stab him right in the eye.
In fact, my fingers had slightly dug into his eyelids.
But I hesitated in that split second.
On Earth, rupturing an eyeball is a very serious and critical injury that can lead to permanent blindness, but in this other world, there are no major lasting problems as long as the patient is treated in time.
I was clearly aware of this fact, and at the time, capable priests were on standby for treatment.
It was my will that stretched out my hand to stab, and it was my conscience that stopped the movement of my fingers.
Does it accept harming humans to be a different level of maleficence than say killing monsters and or enemies such as goblins?
I’ve seen people die on Earth, but I have never had blood on my hands.
Remnants of my values from Earth still seem to remain within me deep down.
This is not good.
This world is clearly more dangerous than Earth.
It is not a peaceful world where my swords and magic should be prevented from their intended goal just because the enemy is a human.
I need to find a solution to this issue urgently.
***
After all the practical tests were completed, there was a written test.
The exam was done in a way wherein one would have to solve a number of problems within a certain amount of time for each subject, like how school exams were usually conducted.
I took five subjects: language, arithmetic, magic, history, and social studies.
Unfortunately, the written exam was not as easy as the practical exam.
The exam was very difficult, and there were a few problems I couldn’t solve.
This was unavoidable.
It was impossible to acquire all of the subject knowledge with only a brief education regarding the common sense of this other world for 3 months after being summoned.
There was no way I could achieve better grades than the sons of nobles who received systematic education within their families from childhood.
This time, I directly forfeited my first-place position in the entire school, but I will not give it away after actually entering the school.
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