Chapter 12
“This….”
“According to the hint, it says, 『Bring your full strength to bear.』… It looks like we have to defeat that golem.”
“D-defeat it? A golem that huge?”
“Yeah. But don't worry too much. Even if it looks like that, it's probably programmed not to fight back.”
The perceptiveness to find the right place by reading the written hint.
The literacy to combine ambiguous words and infer the correct answer.
And the adaptability to use various kinds of magic appropriately for the situation.
Evaluating all those abilities together was the essence of the ‘treasure hunt’ exam.
I drew my wand and turned to Julia.
“Would you like to go first this time, Julia?”
“Me first?”
“Yes. Teamwork will be reflected in the evaluation too.”
Even now, familiars controlled by the supervisors were surely circling around us, meticulously recording everything we did after coming into contact with the golem.
I turned my gaze toward Eli.
“Once Julia's attack is over, follow up immediately, Eli. A golem that big definitely won't go down from a single spell.”
“Ah… yes!”
“Next… right, Ria, try casting a fire bolt too.”
“What's with that sour look!”
“Nothing.”
I turned my gaze back to Julia.
“I'll handle the last one. Once my spell is cast, let's bombard it with magic in no particular order.”
The reason they had summoned such a massive golem was surely to evaluate not only the destructive power of simple spells, but also the stamina to keep firing magic without pause.
Accurately understanding the examiner's intentions was a model student's basic duty.
I quietly moved to the back of the group.
‘Besides, we can't overlook the teamwork score.’
Even if I couldn't show off my [Destructive Power], I could receive a higher overall evaluation by earning a high score in [Teamwork]. On top of that, since I had devised the strategy, I would even receive points for [Leadership].
This was the best way for me to aim for the highest score under the circumstances.
Standing at the rear of the group with my arms folded, I saw Julia raise her wand and step in front of the golem.
Julia stared up at the golem looming over her, then aimed her wand directly between its brows.
“Terra Ruina!”
‘Oh, a destruction spell.’
Against a golem with an earth attribute, it was theoretically the optimal choice.
Struck head-on by the spell, the golem shook its head with tremendous force, then dropped to one knee with a heavy thud.
But the mana connections within the golem's body remained intact, and it soon rose again with a grinding noise.
“Hmm, as expected, this isn't enough.”
Julia shrugged as if disappointed and lowered her wand.
“B-but that was amazing! You made that enormous golem kneel!”
“Yeah! That was really impressive!”
Eli and the underachiever nodded enthusiastically. Julia scratched her head bashfully and returned behind me.
“Good work.”
“What do you mean, good work? I didn't even land a proper hit.”
Julia clasped her hands behind her head.
“That aside, it really doesn't fight back. I was a little worried.”
“It's only the third clue, after all. They can't have a group get eliminated on the first day, right?”
If this had been the final exam, that golem would surely have fought back with all its strength.
“True, this is only an exam.”
After watching Eli prepare her magic for a moment, Julia turned back toward me.
“By the way, you seem to know quite a lot about this kind of exam, Rene.”
“I told you, Kairos told me.”
“Aha… Well, Kairos really does know everything.”
“Fulgur Disruptor!”
At that moment, Eli's sharp voice rang out. Julia and I simultaneously turned our gazes toward the golem.
‘Lightning magic against a golem….’
Eli, of all people, couldn't possibly be unaware of elemental matchups.
That meant this was clearly an attack using her full strength. Regardless of the matchup, it was the spell she was most confident in—the most powerful spell she had.
“Wow….”
What unfolded afterward was… just as Julia's dazed exclamation suggested, an overwhelming spectacle that elicited nothing but a ‘wow.’
Purple lightning struck the center of the golem's chest. A flash burst forth. Immediately afterward, the lightning split into four strands like snakes, wrapped around the golem's limbs, and spread throughout its body.
“Supremum!”
Another flash of light burst forth. This time, a thunderous roar shook the earth.
The strands of lightning wrapped around the golem's body pulled slightly away from it, and a merciless downpour of lightning poured through the gaps.
The metal making up the golem glowed red-hot in an instant, while the clods of earth began cracking with crumbling sounds. Along with the smell of something burning, the golem's movements visibly slowed.
But….
Clack-!
Though it twitched, the golem raised its head again, then swung its limbs and forcibly severed the strands of lightning wrapped around it.
“Ugh….”
Eli lowered her wand as well and hung her head.
The underachiever immediately approached as though to comfort her, while Julia turned back to me and opened her mouth.
“The skill of someone near the very top is impressive indeed.”
“Aren't you near the top too, Julia?”
“Near the top? Hardly. I was just lucky.”
Julia gave a small laugh and turned toward Eli. Soon, Eli approached us with her shoulders slumped.
“Ugh… I failed.”
“Failed? Anyone could see that was an effective hit.”
Besides, Eli had achieved that much using lightning, an element at a disadvantage against the golem. Judging solely by the power of pure lightning magic, even Kairos was clearly inferior to Eli.
‘Well, not quite on my level.’
“Ignis!”
Meanwhile, the underachiever cast her fire bolt without hesitation. As expected, it did absolutely no damage to the golem.
“Too bad!”
The underachiever pressed a hand to her forehead and returned to us. Kindhearted Eli and Julia sincerely comforted her.
“Good work.”
I casually patted her shoulder a few times and walked in front of the golem. I lightly spun the wand in my hand and thought.
‘I should hold back on anything too powerful….’
There was no need to use a Tier 2 spell here.
The catharsis of the underachiever mastering a Tier 2 spell at the final moment. Staging that would also be an element of earning a high score.
‘What we need now is a creative application of a Tier 1 spell….’
After thinking for a moment, I finally decided which spell to use. I nodded, raised my wand, and aimed at the very center of the golem.
“Gravitas Adrifta!”
Mana was sucked away in an instant. But this was within my expectations. I immediately aimed my wand again and called out the next spell.
“Levita Tendra!”
『Gravitas Adrifta』 was a spell that reduced the target's weight.
『Levita Tendra』 was a spell that lifted an object into the air.
“Ah.”
Eli had already noticed my intention, judging by the sharp intake of breath.
‘Rise…!’
I gritted my teeth and concentrated my mana.
I felt my mana being rapidly drained. But the golem also began to stagger. I raised my voice.
“When the golem is completely off the ground, focus all your firepower! We have to weaken its shell as much as possible!”
This was exactly the scene the instructors truly wanted to see… the creative use of a Tier 1 spell and perfect teamwork among the group members.
I poured even more mana into it.
And shortly afterward,
“Whoa…!!”
Accompanied by the underachiever's astonished cry, the golem weighing dozens of tons began to float gently into the air.
“Glacies Cindere!”
Julia was the first to react. With her incantation, the golem's surface was instantly covered in blue frost.
“F-Fulgur Disruptor!”
Eli immediately called out her spell as well. The same purple current as before wrapped around the frozen golem's body.
“Wha… wha… what do I do… E-Echido!”
The underachiever cast her acid spray in a panic, and the golem was painted in vivid magic of every color.
After confirming that everyone was concentrating their mana with wands in hand, I squeezed out my final strength and raised my wand a little higher.
‘At this rate of mana consumption… I can handle it!’
By then, the golem had risen to the height of the third floor of a building.
The underachiever had forgotten even to cast her spell and was standing there with her mouth hanging open.
“Supremum!”
Even so, Eli and Julia called out Supremum almost simultaneously and focused their mana for me.
Soon, the golem, alternately exposed to low and high temperatures, began to crack with a sharp, splintering sound… and I canceled Gravitas Adrifta in my mind before slamming my wand forcefully into the ground.
Boom-!
The ground shook violently, as though an earthquake had struck.
“Scutum Terrae!”
The rocks that immediately began raining down were blocked by a stone shield Eli quickly created.
‘……This is tough.’
As my body staggered from the mana consumption, which was greater than expected, the underachiever hurried over and grabbed my shoulder.
After a while, Eli's stone shield disappeared, clearing our view.
Beyond it… all that remained was the shattered wreckage of the golem strewn across the ground.
“Amaaaazing!”
“Ghk.”
The underachiever tightly embraced me as though she had been waiting for this moment. Something soft pressed firmly over my face.
“Th-that was really amazing, Rene!”
Eli's admiring voice reached me through the darkness blocking my vision.
After struggling to escape the underachiever's embrace, I could also see Julia staring at me with a dazed expression.
“What's amazing is everyone's teamwork. You all did a great job.”
I gave the kind of model answer the teachers would like, then pulled myself away from the underachiever.
Then, gathering my dazed thoughts, I walked over and picked up the third clue lying behind the golem.
“『There will be a path in the darkness. Gaze upon the shining crown here.』”
What was written as the clue was an obvious cipher. Julia answered as soon as she heard me.
“A path in the darkness and a crown… It must mean a constellation.”
“Y-yes! I thought so too.”
Eli immediately agreed. Only the underachiever tilted her head and said, “Huh, really?”
“It seems the teachers want us to proceed only as far as Stage 3 today.”
I nodded as well and returned to the other three. Then I asked Eli,
“What happened to those fast ones?”
“A-according to Randy, they've already set up camp and are lying down.”
Well, did that mean they weren't cheating?
I nodded and turned to Julia.
“Then shall we start preparing camp soon?”
“Yes, let's.”
Julia nodded and pulled a whistle from inside her clothes.
Pweeet-!
A sharp sound rang out, and from far away, a golem identical to the one we had just destroyed approached with heavy, thudding footsteps.
“Ugh… Somehow it looks like it's coming for revenge.”
The underachiever shuddered and pressed herself against my side. I chuckled and pointed at the golem fragments scattered across the middle of the clearing.
The golem silently nodded, opened its chest, and began sucking in the broken stones in an instant.
“Oh… It's amazing every time I see it. Teacher Levan's golem.”
“I know.”
In the blink of an eye, the golem finished cleaning up the area, spread out two broad sleeping bags on the cleared ground, and neatly stacked two lunch boxes beside each one.
Then it gave us a casual wave and vanished into the forest at top speed.
“The fact that there are two sleeping bags means….”
“Yeah! We can sleep together!”
The underachiever immediately rubbed her face against my shoulder.
‘……Good heavens.’
My mind went blank. I'd never had this happen before.
Eli glanced at me with an expression that seemed somehow disappointed, then nodded and approached Julia.
And not long afterward….
“Ghk….”
“Great, great!”
Taking advantage of the moment I let my guard down, the freshman's fierce embrace began again.
‘To get a good night's sleep for the final exam, I have to sleep soundly…!’
The ominous feeling that Worst Night, Season 2, was about to begin swept over my entire body.