Chapter 22 - Entrance Exam (8)

The forest at night was cold. Especially so in winter. Without lighting a fire or keeping the body warm, one could quickly die of hypothermia.

Superhumans who had mastered mana were somewhat free from such environments, but they weren't completely liberated. Even they had to bow their heads before harsh nature. That was why mages always accompanied long-distance expeditions or labyrinth explorations.

Their convenience in lighting fires with a single gesture, spending nights with barrier magic instead of night watches, and dealing with intrusions through barriers was unparalleled compared to other superhumans. Ellen, who had been on expeditions at the family level, knew very well how important such mages were.

Thanks to this, she could also understand how amazing a mage like Acel was.

A cave slightly far from the golem generation zone. The group lit a fire at the cave entrance and made makeshift beds with leaves they had brought. Originally, they would have had to sleep on the hard ground with just leaves spread out, but thanks to Acel's magic, they could sleep in a relatively soft place.

"Where did you learn this kind of magic?"

"The maid at the mansion. She was researching household magic, so I was able to learn a few things."

"A maid is a mage?"

"Most people living in Wyheim are mages."

The beds were set up in a circle around the campfire. A wind curtain was laid at the cave entrance to prevent cold air from penetrating inside the cave. This way, they could sleep warmly even in winter. If they had tents, they could have camped even better, but this was the best they could do for now.

The campsite setup was finished with this. Acel increased the size of the campfire once more, then went outside the cave briefly to set up barrier magic. It was magic that would make a sound if someone entered within range. He could have laid traps that directly attacked, but indiscriminately dealing with people without hostility didn't suit his temperament.

This should be enough.

Steam rose from his exhaled breath. After confirming that the magic was working properly, Acel briefly looked up at the sky.

Dark clouds were spewing rain for the first time in a very long while. It wasn't raining heavily, but it seemed they should refrain from outdoor activities until the rain stopped. Although no one in the group would catch a cold from getting rained on, it was still better to be cautious.

He returned inside the cave through the wind curtain. Elena was already trying to sleep on the bed, and Ellen was tending to her axe blade. She was sharpening the blade with a whetstone she had brought, and smiled faintly when she saw Acel.

"Is it done?"

"More or less," Acel said and plopped down on his bed.

Although it was just a pile of leaves called a bed, this was more than enough to be grateful for. He nodded with satisfaction and lay back.

"Do a moderate amount and sleep. We'll end the exam tomorrow as the last day."

"Alright. I'll go to sleep right after finishing this."

Although the exam period was a total of one week, it was possible to end the exam early by submitting if a certain amount of cores had been collected. There was no need to stay in the forest for a whole week. Tomorrow, they would have no more business in this forest.

It's been long.

Acel thought as he looked up at the cave ceiling.

It had already been 5 days since he left Wyheim. He wanted to return quickly and meet his master, Evelyn, and Haley. Later, when he officially enrolled in the academy, opportunities to meet face to face would decrease, so he needed to spend enough time with them before that.

They now felt like family to him. His relationship with them was very precious to Acel. Needless to say for Evelyn who was his blood relative, but the same was true for Ena and Haley. He could no longer even imagine a life without them.

He wondered how he had lived before. He no longer remembered the taste of moldy bread crumbs and water mixed with stone powder that he had gladly drank in the slums. His unfortunate life had completely disappeared from the day he was taken in by Ena.

Thinking about this, a smile naturally formed. Acel chuckled as he recalled Ena's characteristic expressionless face.

Should I hug her when I get back?

She seemed to secretly like skinship, so she probably wouldn't refuse. Just as Acel was thinking this and closed his eyes.

Beeeeeep!!

The barrier magic activated. Elena, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up, and Ellen hardened her face while gripping her sharply sharpened axe. Acel also opened his closed eyes and slowly drew up his magical power.

"Acel, does the magic catch animals too?"

"No."

At this immediate answer, Ellen immediately activated her aura. A cold light settled in her eyes. Strength entered her hand gripping the axe, and a fierce spirit that seemed ready to cut down anything at any moment spread out from her.

Elena also raised her blood energy and wrinkled her nose. Then she slightly furrowed her brow.

"...I smell blood."

"Is it an injured person?"

"No. There's only a little of their own blood, the rest is the blood of others."

"It means they're not a welcome guest."

Footsteps were getting closer. Ellen spread her energy to gauge the intruder's level, but all she could feel was their presence. Their level was not detected at all, as if they were an inanimate object. There was only one thing this could mean.

That the opponent was a monster standing in a place far beyond her. Ellen clicked her tongue and turned to look at Acel.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Male. Height about 180cm. Don't know the weight, arms are a bit long. The clothes he's wearing are high-quality and good for movement. Judging from the sword at his waist, he seems to be a swordsman, and there's a stab wound on his left forearm."

"...What are you doing?" Ellen asked with a frown, but Acel didn't answer. 

Instead, he continued to speak out the scenes flowing into his mind.

Barrier magic came in many varieties. The magic Acel had installed was his original spell formula that combined amplification-type magic that made a loud sound and surveillance-type magic that allowed observation from a distance at the moment of activation. Thanks to this, he could obtain a lot of information.

"Judging from the blood dripping from the wound, it seems he was injured not long ago. The other blood on his body is from others, as Elena said. The opponent's level is... unmeasurable, so he's at least a Master."

"...A Master? Was such a monster mixed in with the participants?"

"He's not a participant."

Acel hardened his face at the footsteps now heard right in front, and continued speaking, "He's an outsider."

"Correct!"

As soon as he uttered this, the wind curtain was cleanly cut away. The curtain that had been blocking the rain scattered into the air, and a soaking wet man walked out from beyond it. He brushed up his hair sticking to his face and smiled at the group.

"Hello, friends. Are you doing well on the exam?"

"Who are you?" Ellen asked, raising her axe. 

Fernan smiled bitterly at her fierce spirit.

"You're too hostile. Are we acquainted?"

"I'll ask again. Who are you?"

"I'm an academy professor. Fernan Clark. Heard of me?"

"...Fernan Clark?"

Ellen chewed on that name and wrinkled her face.

Fernan Clark. The eldest son of the Clark family and a swordsman who made great achievements in the devil subjugation war. The emerging monster who was rumored to have recently achieved Master rank had appeared before the group.

Even Ellen was seeing Fernan's face for the first time. Since he was known to stay cooped up in the academy after the subjugation war ended, there had been no chance to meet him. Ridiculously, they were meeting such a person not inside the academy but at the entrance exam site.

"...What business does a professor have here?"

Having confirmed the other party's identity, she couldn't address him casually anymore. Ellen immediately changed her speech to polite form and asked. 

Fernan smiled and answered while taking in all of the group with his eyes, "I'll tell you why I'm here later. First, let me explain the rules."

There was no time to ask what rules. It was because Fernan openly revealed his killing intent while drawing the sword at his waist. An enormous pressure weighed down on their shoulders and interfered with the flow of mana. Ellen and Elena widened their eyes and struggled to resist Fernan's surging energy.

In contrast, Acel stared at Fernan with a cold face. 

Seeing this, Fernan inwardly marveled and said, "First. I won't kill you, but I can make you unable to fight."

"...What do you—"

"Second. You must attack me with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you fail the exam."

"..."

"Understood? Let's begin."

The moment Fernan finished speaking, he pointed the tip of his sword at Ellen. Ellen swallowed hard as she looked at the blade dripping with water droplets.

At the same time, a streak of lightning poured out at high speed, grazing her temple.

[Pursuing Lightning]

Crackle!!

Dark blue lightning flew towards Fernan's brow with pinpoint accuracy. Fernan deflected the lightning with a swing of his sword. His gaze turned to Acel.

"Lightning magic."

"..."

"So you were Lady Ena’s disciple that the rumors were about."

"Has it spread that far already?"

"How could I not know when the magic department professors talk about it every day," Fernan said, looking down at his slightly trembling hand from directly receiving the lightning.

"More than that, the power of the magic is strange. Even considering I'm wet, to cause damage to a Master's body... And earlier, your magical power didn't fluctuate at all. Did Lady Ena pick up a strange monster?"

"A great monster indeed."

Acel smiled and stomped the ground hard.

"I'll come at you with killing intent."

"An interesting fellow."

Fernan swung his sword horizontally. Aura coated his blade, and a sharp sword wave shot towards Acel.

[Lightning Nature Wall]

A wall made of lightning formed under Acel's feet collided with the sword wave and scattered. Electric currents scattered in all directions. Electricity mixed with the moisture-filled air. Fernan smiled at the tingling sensation, and Acel clenched his fist to burst the currents.

[Lightning Explosion]

The violent lightning shot out resonated with the lingering traces of scattered lightning magic. Immediately after, a huge thunderous explosion engulfed the cave.

Boom!!

The cave, unable to withstand the power of the lightning, collapsed. Fernan pulled his body back, and Elena and Ellen pursued him.

The two looked at each other, then split up to approach Fernan's left and right sides, narrowing the distance.

[Blood Flow Shaping]

[Blood Halberd Thread]

Elena changed the blood she drew out into the form of a thorny thread and swung it. Ellen brought down her axe vertically with great force. Fernan deflected and cut through the straightforward falling attack and the flexibly flying attack in turn, then struck Ellen's abdomen with his elbow.

"Ugh!"

Ellen frowned and was pushed back greatly by the intense pain rising from her solar plexus. Elena, instead of worrying about her flying away, enhanced her body and kicked Fernan's shoulder. Fernan lightly received that attack and smiled.

"Duchess. It seems the Archduke didn't teach you martial arts."

He grabbed Elena's leg and swung it roughly. Her body flew and crashed directly into a tree.

"Ugh!"

A harsh breath burst from Elena's mouth. Fernan swung his sword to finish her off first.

As if his words about not killing were sincere, it was a simple downward slash without aura imbued. Thanks to this, Ellen, who had rushed over, could block that attack.

Clang!

Sparks flew as the axe blade and sword blade collided. Ellen gritted her teeth so hard they might break and endured Fernan's attack. Fernan looked down at her with a gentle smile.

"Even the Hargelin family, born with innate superhuman strength, can't withstand a Master's physical power."

"...Urgh."

"But... even though I didn't imbue aura, blocking this is unexpected. You must have good practical experience."

"Thank you... for the praise...!"

"Don't mention it."

Just as Fernan was about to put more strength into his sword hand while saying this.

"...!"

An eerie level of magical power condensed in the air above. The lingering traces of destruction magic created solely for killing and slaughter were clearly caught in his senses.

"Ha...!"

High-level magic with power far superior to mid-level magic. Moreover, it was high-level lightning magic. He, who had fought alongside Ena in the devil subjugation war, knew its power better than anyone. If hit directly, even Fernan couldn't avoid taking damage.

Moreover, the current environment was very advantageous for lightning magic. It was possible to electrocute the entire forest through water just by shooting out lightning. How much more powerful would high-level magic be?

"It's right to avoid this—"

"No."

The moment Fernan muttered, Acel, who had burst out of the darkness of the forest, instantly grabbed his abdomen. Fernan saw wings of flame evaporating rainwater behind Acel's back.

[Red Wing Flying Heaven]

A fire-type flight magic that boasted extreme magical power efficiency, so even Acel could only fly for a short time yet. In addition to that, he used stealth magic and [Silence] which killed sound, and [Ghost] which erased presence to approach and extended his hand to Fernan's skin, muttering softly.

"You can't avoid it."

[Annihilating Lightning]

Crackle!!

Thunder condensed from dozens of lightning bolts and drawn out shortly struck Fernan's abdomen.

Magic that greatly increased power by combining lightning and shortening the range. Even Fernan had to frown for a moment at this lethal magic capable of burning all nerve pathways from the point of impact and reducing the brain to ashes.

If I move my aura to block it, it's magic that destroys the inner core. How troublesome.

Fernan smiled at the burning pain starting from his abdomen.

It was possible to block magic without moving aura. A Master's body wasn't that weak. However, he had to endure some stiffness in the process. The destructive power and penetration unique to lightning magic couldn't be ignored even for a Master.

But instead of quietly receiving the attack, Fernan moved his aura to erase the lightning that had penetrated his body. This was possible because he knew that even if it was magic that attacked aura, Acel's current level couldn't cause him great damage. Thanks to this, he was free from stiffness, but some internal injury was unavoidable.

"Is it my turn now?" Fernan asked, spitting out a tiny amount of blood from his mouth. 

Acel grinned and stepped back.

"Not yet."

The moment he uttered this. The magical power condensed in the sky began to rotate violently. Fernan let out a hollow laugh at that fierce momentum and took his stance.

"You maintained the spell formula for high-level magic while using another magic? Is that possible by common sense? Your head should explode."

"I don't do what I can't do."

"Ha, these geniuses."

Fernan smiled bitterly, and Acel brought his hand down from above.

It was one of the high-level magics Ena often used.

An overwhelming phenomenon that the ancients called divine punishment.

[Natural Resonance]

[Spell Formula Overlap]

[Simultaneous Chanting]

An eerie blue light flashed in the sky.

[Lightning Strike]

Boom!!

A massive streak of lightning fell as if to split the earth.