Chapter 11
“Hey, did you see that kid?”
“Number 188? That little brat?”
“Is he really our age? He looks thirteen.”
Astell Imperial Academy was the finest educational institution in the empire, and its spacious waiting room was packed with examinees.
And among them was one boy who attracted unusual attention.
Along with his black hair and small frame, his face looked far younger than those of his peers—he looked no older than thirteen.
Most of the examinees were prodigies who had learned swordsmanship or magic from a young age.
In other words, they were the children of renowned magical or swordsmanship families.
“He’s supposed to fight a golem with that body?”
“One punch and he’ll go flying.”
“He’s the same age as my little brother! Oh my gosh, he’s cute!”
“Still, he’s probably our age, right? I heard there’s an age limit for admission. Fifteen.”
In a place like that, it was only natural for everyone’s attention to be drawn to such a small child who had come to take the Combat Department exam.
“I give him five seconds.”
“What?”
“I bet he’ll go down within five seconds of the golem moving.”
“Want to bet? I say ten seconds.”
“Fifteen seconds, three gold coins.”
Though mocking remarks and wagers passed back and forth, everyone was thinking the same thing deep down.
That boy is dangerous.
The Combat Department practical exam was no joke.
The combat golem prepared by the academy was a pseudo-combat weapon designed to evaluate new students.
It was not an opponent an ordinary fifteen-year-old could stand against.
Then.
-Examinee number 188. Please prepare yourself.
The announcement rang out.
Everyone in the waiting room turned their eyes toward one place.
“Oh? It’s that little brat’s turn.”
Without saying a word, the boy rose from his seat and slowly walked toward the center of the examination hall.
Soon, the iron doors opened, revealing a massive arena.
On the opposite side, a single iron golem engraved with countless magic formulas slowly rose to its feet.
-Thud.
-Thud.
The floor trembled every time its enormous body moved.
“……”
And then.
-Number 188. Please begin the examination.
-KRAAAAAASH!!!
A deafening boom rang out, dust instantly engulfed the arena, and the spectator stands fell silent in a heartbeat.
“……”
“……”
-Number 188. Record: 0.1 seconds.
“……?”
Someone muttered with a blank expression.
“What was that just now…?”
***
A few minutes earlier.
“The time will be measured from the moment combat with the golem begins!”
Before the exam began, the proctor repeated the same explanation to all the examinees.
“The golem will not move first. The battle begins the moment the examinee shows intent to attack!”
In other words, the exam began the moment one revealed the intention to fight.
I was watching the other examinees take their tests from one side of the waiting room.
At first, I had only planned to kill time while goofing off, you know?
I had to wait until my turn came, and the practical exam was ultimately just a matter of breaking one golem.
But after watching a few people take the test, my thoughts changed a little.
-Boom.
The golem’s fist smashed apart the arena floor, and short cries of alarm erupted from the surrounding stands.
Oh, that was a close one.
-Examinee 124. Thank you for your efforts.
-I surrender! I surrender!
-Examinee 156. Forfeited. Failed.
-Huff…… huff…….
-Examinee 172. Record: 12 minutes, 10 seconds.
What was this? Why was it so entertaining?
There’s actually something to watching this…!
After coming to this other world, the thing I had felt most keenly was the lack of dopamine.
Unlike back when I could use my phone in the tower, there was literally nothing here!
But what was this?! This was pumping out dopamine like crazy!
I continued watching the other examinees’ fights.
The golem moved first.
Dodging, attacking, getting blocked….
Then a question occurred to me.
What?
Why was the golem moving first?
The proctor had said it would not move first.
I continued observing the golem’s movements to find the reason.
‘Ah.’
It didn’t take long for me to figure it out.
Killing intent!!
Was the “intent to attack” they had mentioned at the beginning referring to killing intent?
When the golem sensed the will to knock it down or aggression toward it, it recognized that person as an enemy and moved.
If that was the case….
Then what if it sensed no hostility at all?
If I played this right, I could finish it with a snap, couldn’t I?
And then.
-Examinee number 188. Please prepare yourself.
At last, my turn had come.
I rose from my seat and carelessly put on the equipment I had been given.
Then I headed toward the examination hall.
Beyond the grand, towering colosseum-shaped space and the square arena spread out at its center, a massive iron golem was slowly rising with a dull clanking sound.
I concentrated mana in my eyes.
Then I saw a fist-sized mana stone inside the golem’s chest.
‘As I thought.’
This golem had a core too.
All I had to do was break that, and it would be over.
I could defeat the golems I had fought endlessly in the tower with my eyes closed!
In other words, this was easier than a piece of cake.
All right. Now I just had to completely conceal my killing intent.
I slowly exhaled.
And then.
【Ultimate Control (統制)】
【You completely control yourself. Whatever it is.】
I perfectly suppressed every emotion and every intention within my body.
Then I walked as though nothing were wrong.
As if I were simply out for a stroll.
One step.
Another step.
The golem did not move.
Perhaps it thought I was one of the exam officials.
Or perhaps it simply did not sense any threat.
Before I knew it, I was one meter away.
I slowly raised my hand, forming a blade with it.
And then.
【Heaven-Slaying Star】
In that instant.
The golem’s eyes lit up.
Too late now, you know?
-KABOOOOOM!!!
My hand punched straight through the golem’s chest.
Accompanied by the sound of the mana core inside shattering, the massive iron golem came to a complete stop.
And then.
-Number 188. Record: 0.1 seconds.
The highest record in the Astell Imperial Academy practical exam that day would remain forever as a legendary, unbreakable record.
***
In one section of the stands, professors from Astell Imperial Academy’s Combat Department were seated.
The atmosphere there was completely different from a moment before.
Until just now, the professors had been watching the examinees’ battles and evaluating them according to their own standards, as usual.
"His swordsmanship fundamentals are excellent… His mana control is stable…"
"Number 168 shows remarkable judgment in a crisis."
The Combat Department was not looking only at strength.
How efficiently could someone use their power in an extreme combat situation, and how calmly could they make decisions?
That was the core of the evaluation.
But moments ago, something had happened that shook those standards themselves.
"Did everyone see that?"
One professor spoke in a low voice.
His gaze was still fixed on the center of the arena.
The massive iron golem lay there with a hole in its chest, while a small-framed boy stood before it with an utterly unconcerned expression.
"……Yes."
The professor beside him gave a brief answer.
His gaze, too, remained fixed on the arena.
"That child."
The professor paused for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
"He completely erased his killing intent."
The professors around them quietly exchanged glances.
They all knew what those words meant.
Killing intent was not a mere emotion.
It was an aura that anyone who had experienced a battle for life and death would recognize.
The resolve to bring down an opponent, and something that inevitably leaked out when one’s life was on the line.
No matter how hard one tried to hide it, eliminating it completely was impossible.
That was normal.
But that boy was different.
Because the golem had never moved from beginning to end.
As if it had judged that the person standing before it had no intention of attacking.
"No."
One professor slowly shook his head.
"He didn’t erase it."
Another professor expressed his doubt.
"Then what on earth did he do?"
The professor fell silent for a moment, then looked toward the boy in the center of the arena and answered.
"It had never existed in the first place."
At that moment, the air around them grew heavy.
"……Is that even possible?”
Someone muttered as though they found it difficult to believe.
Hiding killing intent and preventing it from emerging were entirely different things.
Suppressing killing intent was a matter of willpower.
Controlling one’s emotions and concealing one’s intentions from one’s opponent.
But what that child had shown was beyond that level.
"……Is that possible at his age?"
One professor murmured under his breath.
"No matter how talented a child is, that requires experience to develop."
And yet, didn’t that boy look like a child who was only barely old enough to enter the academy?
"Where on earth did he experience something like that?"
No one could answer the question.
Then one professor gave a quiet laugh.
"Interesting."
“You find it interesting?”
"If that child is really fifteen….”
The professor continued quietly.
"Wouldn’t this year’s academy become quite noisy?”