End-of-Semester Evaluation (1)

"It's almost time for the end-of-semester evaluation."

Inside Class A's classroom in Orphin Hall. The top five students who arrived for class that morning were seated far apart from one another. It was an overwhelmingly large space for the number of students present.

They were looking at Philip Meltron, a middle-aged professor with red hair, standing in front of the podium.

With his hands behind his back, he made his announcement in a gentle tone.

"The end-of-semester evaluation consists of two parts: a written test and a practical test. The written test will be held for five days, nine hours a day, and the practical exams will be held on the grounds of the Old Academy for five hours. You are the elite of the elite, nobles among nobles, and I trust you will all achieve excellent grades in the end."

'Nobles among nobles'. Professor Philip, who was notorious among his students as discriminatory, frequently used this phrase to describe his Class-A students.

Of course, for the five Class A female students, it was a compliment with little meaning.

Lisetta Lionheart, a female student who wore a male school uniform with her shirt unbuttoned.

Keridna Whiteclark, who always wore a sinister smile for no apparent reason.

Ciel Carnedas, who was always dozing off.

Kaya Astrean, with her sparkling eyes and soldierly demeanor.

And Luce Eltania, the pinnacle of the first years, and indifferent to everyone.

Professor Philip was pleased with his Class A, which was made up of all the best and brightest students, and none of the commoners that he disliked.

"Ciel Carnedas, will you be dozing off like that during the end-of-semester evaluations?"

Ciel Carnedas, a beautiful girl with short, wavy blue hair, shook her head and struggled to keep her eyes open.

It wasn't the first time she'd dozed off in class, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. This was an insincere attitude that would reduce her attitude score, but Philip, who was intolerant of commoners and generous to nobles, tended to let it slide every time as if there were no problems.

The words he'd spoken earlier had been half in jest.

Ciel wiped the drool from her face with her sleeve, then rubbed her helplessly open eyes and looked at Philip.

"Maybe…"

Excluding Luce, who was not interested in others, the other three students looked at her in disbelief.

Philip just let out a friendly smile.

"Well, let's start class then."

Professor Phillip was now used to Class-A, which was filled with weirdos.

✦✧✦✧

"I will now explain the rules of the 'Fell Card Competition,' the practical exam for the end-of-semester evaluation."

Finally, the「Act 3, Chapter 3, End of Semester Evaluation」 part of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ had begun.

Up until last week, I had to take the written exam for a total of 5 days, 9 hours each day. It was so hard to actually do something that was easily skipped in the game.

In particular, the subjects were especially stressful: 'Introduction to Basic Magic', 'Study of Basic Elements', 'Ecology of Magic Beasts', 'Study of Magic Tools', 'Analysis of Magic Circles', etc... Since I came from a liberal arts background, I felt like I was dying while trying to solve calculation problems.

I could only study so much on top of my training, so I was unable to fully grasp all the materials before I took the exam.

But I gave it my best shot, so I expect to get a decent grade.

This was the site of the old Märchen Academy. It used to be a functioning school, but was now closed.

The first-year students of the Magic Department, including myself, stood in the site in an orderly fashion. Closed buildings with beautiful exteriors were nearby, as were gardens overgrown with weeds due to neglect.

On the stage in front of the students, Professor Fernando was speaking with a megaphone. Behind him stood the professors and exam proctors.

"The rules are simple. If you collect 5 of these 'Fell Cards' and bring them to the designated location for submission, you pass the exam."

Professor Fernando levitated a card with telekinesis magic and showed it to the students. It was a sophisticated card with a symbol representing a grimoire and a wizard.

"The Fell Cards are hidden throughout the sprawling grounds of the old academy. They will be difficult to find, as they emit only the faintest trace of mana."

The radius of the old Märchen Academy grounds was unknown, but it should be considered comparable to Yeouido in Korea. Anyways, it was rather spacious.

"The submission location will be revealed once you have collected 5 Fell Cards. It will be assigned at random, so don't be surprised if you happen to discover the location by chance. By the way, it is possible to steal Fell Cards. If you knock out a student with a Fell Card, it will be transferred to you. It is enchanted with telekinesis magic."

The students started whispering.

'I can't fight, what should I do?' 'Isn't this just another survival rule?' These conversations were ongoing. It was exactly the same repertoire as during the class placement evaluation.

Meanwhile, I caught sight of the test proctor, Dorothy Heartnova, who was standing behind Professor Fernando.

She tilted her head and waved her hand at me, her smile as bright as the sun. The star and moon earrings on her earlobes glistened in the sunlight.

'My favorite is too cute~'

I waved back and greeted her while trying to hold back my dad-like laughter.

But for some reason, the cheeky boys around me saw Dorothy's smile and blushed. I'm sorry, but that greeting is mine, kids.

"And the biggest part of this semester's end-of-semester evaluation is."

Professor Fernando extended his index finger upward. The students followed his gesture and looked up at the sky.

"It means that the information from 1st to 5th place will be disclosed in real-time."

A large amount of mana grains that looked like sand were engraved in the crystal clear sky. There were two large squares, and inside each square, there were five vertical lines of '-' inscriptions. It was enormous.

Fell

–

–

–

–

–

Eliminations

–

–

–

–

–

"The left column shows who has the most Fell Cards, while the right column shows who has eliminated the most students."

It was a live broadcast of those who ranked 1st through 5th in terms of card count and kill count, respectively.

"Now, take a look at the bracelets we handed out."

The students looked down at the bracelets handed out by the academy's administrators as per Professor Fernando's instructions. They were all wearing one on their wrist.

Each bracelet had a button with the words "Fell" and "Eliminations" on it.

"The bracelet cannot be removed until the end-of-semester evaluation is over. As long as it's on, your location will be relayed to us in real-time."

This bracelet was like a GPS with magical powers.

If you pass the end-of-semester evaluation, it will unlock itself on its own.

"And you can use it to check where the students ranked from 1st to 5th are. Take their Fell Cards or run away, it's up to you. Whatever choice you make will be reflected in the evaluation, so act carefully."

In other words, this was a survival game, a game of wits, and a game of control.

It was a method to evaluate overall mana perception, combat ability, tactical ability, and problem-solving skills as a wizard.

"The time limit is 5 hours. Collect 5 Fell Cards within that time, and arrive at the designated location for submission. At that time, you can take off the bracelet and go home. Even if you bring more than 5 Fell Cards, there will be no bonus points, so don't do anything unnecessary."

"Professor, what happens if I fail the exam?"

When a male student raised his hand and asked, Fernando explained with his usual icy face.

"If a student becomes incapacitated or fails to pass the exam within the time limit… they will have to take compulsory supplementary classes later today."

"Huhhhh?!"

The students were taken aback, but they quickly calmed down when Professor Fernando casually extended his hand. "This is a penalty. I won't even unlock your bracelets in case you try to run away," he said, as if he didn't care about their complaints.

Students either reacted with fright or disgust.

"Finally, today marks the end of your first semester. May you reap the fruits of your labor. That's all there is to it."

When Professor Fernando was done, the facilitator next to him directed everyone to board the carriage.

As the students began to grumble and leave, I started to walk away.

Suddenly, Dorothy turned to me, cupped her hands around her mouth, and mouthed the word, "Good luck." 1화이팅, literally 'Fighting'- used in Korean to cheer on someone and to wish someone good luck. It is used to express encouragement and to show support for a person's actions. Then she stretched her right arm upward and gave me a silent wave.

Aww, she's so cute. I'm gonna die.

A group of small carriages that had been modified to resemble minicars waited behind the site. You could hop in any of them, and they would take you to a designated location.

I chose a carriage and decided to organize my thoughts as we rode to the designated location.

The final part of the first semester of the first year – the End-of-Semester Evaluation and the Thunderbird Subjugation. I had already planned everything.

During the end-of-semester evaluation, around the time Luce passed the exam and nightfall was approaching, the demon, 'Vera the Summoner', appeared to steal Luce's familiar.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to consider her one of the strongest in the world of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, particularly when it came to controlling familiars, as she possessed an extreme level of dominance over them.

That demon forcibly summoned Luce's familiar, Thunderbird Galia, and placed the familiar under her control.

The demon then goes to the examination center and tries to kill the main character, Ian Fairytale, but was later foiled by Dorothy's intervention.

When Dorothy was forced to retreat for the sake of the student's safety, the demon would unleash the barrier of the Thunderbird and enshroud the site of the old Märchen Academy.

If I didn't pass the end-of-semester evaluation before that, my plan to 'kill Vera the Summoner at the optimal time' would be thrown out the window.

'In other words, my purpose…'

…was to pass the end-of-semester assessment as quickly as possible, remove the bracelet, and set myself free.

It was to prepare for ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱'s 「Act 3, Chapter 4, Thunderbird Subjugation」 part.

As a side note, there was no option to miss the exam. If I did not attend the exam for reasons other than those specified in the Marx Treaty, I would be automatically expelled.

"Phew, haa."

I inhaled and exhaled to relieve the tension I felt.

Now, it was time to check my current status.

There had been no dramatic change in my stats from the day I defeated Leafa the Illusive until now. [Ice Sovereign], which was always active, was still unusable, so I've been suppressing it to the point where it didn't even have an effect.

Still, I did achieve a higher level of growth than I expected at the beginning of the semester. It was thanks to defeating the Disaster Ant Corp and Leafa the Illusive.

[Status] Name: Isaac

Lv: 57

Gender: Male

Year: 1st

Title: Freshman

Mana: 1450/1450

– Mana Recovery Speed (C)

– Stamina (B-)

– Strength (B-)

– Intelligence (C+)

– Willpower (B+) Potential ❰❰Details❱❱ [Combat Skills] Elemental Series 1: Ice

– Elemental Firepower (B-)

– Elemental Efficiency (B-)

– Elemental Synergy (B-)

Elemental Series 2 (Locked) [Owned Skills] Active

– (★1) Ice Generation (B-) / (★5) Black Ice (B-)

– (★2) Ice Curtain(B-)

– (★1) Cold Divergence (B-)

– (★1) Basic Protection Magic (D+)

– (★4) Frostfire (C)

– (★4) Ice Wall (C)

– (★5) Frost Explosion (C-)

– (★2) Snow Pellets (C)

Passive

– (★7) Psychological Insight

– (★5) Demon Detection

– (★9) Ice Sovereign Skill Tree ❰❰Details❱❱ [Unique Attributes] – Hunter

My current level was 57. I had recently gained 1 more level. My growth rate was snail-like in comparison with the top students, but that was the way Isaac was, so I couldn't help it. I just had to deal with it.

For reference, I had invested the newly acquired 2 stat points in [Learning Efficiency].

'I've grown a lot from being the weakest in one semester…'

Of course, it still felt like there were more students in the first grade who I couldn't beat yet.

"We have arrived, students! Work hard!"

"Thank you."

I bid the coachman farewell and got off the carriage. We arrived at Seiran Hall, a four-story stone building surrounded by green foliage and vines.

It was originally designed that way, but due to neglect, even the windows were now overgrown with plants.

All I needed were five Fell Cards.

But as soon as I got the Fell Cards, my name would shoot to the top of the rankings, and all the first-year students would know where I was.

After that, I'll become everyone's target. And I would undoubtedly be attacked.

In other words, the main goal was to 'survive' until I collected 5 Fell Cards and arrived at the submission location.

I needed to do it as quickly as possible, but what rank should I be?

I did some quick math and came to the conclusion that I should be able to pass while ranking first or second. That's a hell of a difficulty level.

'It's a test I've played countless times in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.'

It'll be fine, it'll be fine… Please work out as planned…

To get rid of my worries, I warmed up my body by lightly stretching. And soon.

Pang─!

In the center of the old Märchen Academy grounds, firecrackers loudly exploded, signaling the start of the exam.

I swallowed my dry saliva and started running straight ahead, ignoring Seiran Hall right behind me.

Footnotes:

1화이팅, literally 'Fighting'- used in Korean to cheer on someone and to wish someone good luck. It is used to express encouragement and to show support for a person's actions.