Chapter 3 - Test

(Marceline's POV)

We spent six days in the northern forest. In this period, the young master demonstrated a powerful swordsmanship to defeat the monsters. The swordplay was so powerful that to say the monsters were down would be an understatement.

After defeating the monsters, the young master would remove their cores and absorb them, increasing their magic power.

At the end of the sixth day, I returned alone to Blady Manor, while the young master went straight to the Imperial Captain to perform the test.

Right now, I'm in the office of the head of the Blady family, Jeorge Blady. I had practically disappeared for the last three weeks and had to report to him what I was doing.

I responded to his interrogation by saying that I kept an eye on the young master's movements. Obviously, I modified some facts in my report, exactly as the young master had asked.

"Marceline, I want you to keep an eye on him. When he gets back from the imperial academy, I will tell him that you will be his personal maid."

The corner of my lips curled up a little. I was going to suggest just that. However, my goal is to stay close to the young master and support him, not spy and report his every move.

"If that's what my lord wants, I'll do it."

"Okay. Now you can leave."

....

(Luke's POV)

After a long journey, I arrived in the imperial capital to take the academy exam. On the way to the gym, I stopped at a store and bought new clothes.

I used some monster corpses to get money from the town guild.

I could easily be recognized as a beggar in my old clothes. After that purchase, I marched toward the gym.

The imperial academy welcomes students from the three races that make up the white faction. It has this name because the three races cry out to the God of light, unlike the dark faction, which cries out to the goddess of darkness.

The black faction is made up of the demon king and his people, as well as some traitors from the white faction.

The white faction is made up of the alliance of humans, elves and demihumans. All three of these races attend the imperial academy.

I pass through the imperial academy gate and head towards the test site. The exam is divided into written and practical exam. Luckily, I didn't see anyone I knew along the way.

Entering the room, as usual, I don't receive attention from the other students, I sit in the back. After a long wait, the written test began.

To be honest, I was never good at studying. However, I found the test quite easy due to my knowledge acquired during my other lives.

After the written test, we went to the basement of one of the arenas. Now, it was the practical test, that is, a battle against one of the academy professors.

The test is done in isolation, with only three evaluators as an audience. For this reason, students stay underground until called.

I didn't see the hero Arthur, the heroines, Sophia Lafaiet or my sister. This is due to the fact that I am in the E class, and they are in the S class. The test location is different due to the class.

"Luke Blady, it's your turn."

Suddenly, my name was called. Upon hearing my name, all the other students in the basement sensed my presence and looked at me. The way they look at me.....

I'm despised even by E-class commoners, should I kill them all? No, better ignore it and not cause trouble.

I left the basement and followed one of the evaluators into the arena.

In the center of the arena was a red-haired, bearded professor. When he saw me, his eyes lost their emotion, like he was looking at the garbage.

Seriously, what do these motherfuckers have against me?

"Young man, During the fight, the evaluators will analyze your performance. The fight will last until one of us gives up."

The person who said he was the teacher I'm going to fight, he probably said just following the rules. Looking at the evaluators, I see two elves and a demihuman, the teacher I'm going to fight is human.

They're not putting much faith in me. Well, it's normal given my fame, but that's going to change soon.

"It's free combat, you can use any style."

"OK."

Seeing the sword in the professor's hand, I conclude that he is a swordsman. I pull a sword out of my storage ring and get into combat stance.

"Let the combat begin." said one of the evaluators.

Quickly, I closed the distance and moved my sword vertically. The professor, surprised by my movement, raised his sword and defended himself.

Using his physical strength, he pushes my sword back and counterattacks. Seeing the direction of your sword, I defend with mine.

In this way, we initiate a series of defenses to and against attacks. The two of us weren't using techniques or anything, it was just two swords clashing.

The empty arena filled with the sound of metal colliding.

"Am I seeing things? Is Luke managing to match Professor Bernard?"

"They're not the same. It's hard to believe, but Luke is superior."

I managed to overhear the evaluators' conversation and discovered that the teacher's name is Bernard. He is very good, as you would expect from a professor at the imperial academy.

But, as one of the evaluators said, I am superior. To be honest, I'm kidding Bernard, I could have beaten him a long time ago.

However, things wouldn't be fun. As time passes, I feel the teacher's attacks become sloppy, indicating his emotional state.

From his frustrated expression, I can imagine what he's thinking. I decided to tease him a little

Seeing his sword cut the horizontal and come to the right of my body, in a simple way, I dodge taking a step back. I could only dodge because of the professor's sloppy manner.

The frustration of not hitting me is causing him to move carelessly. The opportunity to end the fight came again, however, I didn't want to end it.

Moving some of my magic power to my leg, I kick the professor in the side as a counterattack. Upon receiving the impact, the professor was thrown to the other side of the arena.

"YOU DARE YOUR TRASH."

The professor screams in rage and unleashes his magic power on the sword. Then he comes towards me.

[Sword of the Lion King]

"Teacher, STOP."

One of the evaluators yelled and stormed into the arena to try to stop the fight. However, it was already too late.

Seeing the professor execute his best sword technique, I decided to respond in kind.

[Leviathan]

I named this technique after Leviathan, the sea monster I killed in the other world.

Not only did I nullify the professor's technique, I left fifteen white lines on his body. At first, you see several white lines, but in reality they are cuts.

The professor's body spurted blood, and then he passed out. I didn't use the [Leviathan] technique in its final form, I lack magic power.

However, it is still a powerful technique. The professor just didn't die because I directed the cuts in non-lethal regions.

Anyone would be freaked out by this technique, just look at the stunned faces of the evaluators.

"Well, I think I'm done with the test."

"..."

I walked over to the evaluator who had invaded the arena.

"You better get him to a healer before it's too late."

"Hmm?.... Oh! Right."

The evaluator ran to the teacher and began to analyze his condition. As this is the last test of the day, I decided to go to the inn where I am sheltering.

I could go back to the mansion, but I don't feel like going back on the road right away.

Upon entering the guesthouse room, I began to increase my magic power by absorbing a few remaining beast cores. So, I spent the rest of my day.

The next day.

After three weeks away, I finally returned to the mansion. I thought my return would be smooth, that I wouldn't receive attention like before, but as soon as I arrived I was directed to my father's office.

....

(POV Jeorge)

Standing in front of me is a person I don't know. As soon as I received the information that Luke had returned to the mansion, I asked one of my servants to fetch him.

As Luke walked through the door, I couldn't recognize the person in front of me. Just as Marceline had told me before, his personality changed.

Before, Luke was a boy who possessed kind eyes and a positive atmosphere, despite being bullied by everyone around him due to his lack of talent. But now, he gives off an intimidating aura and his eyes have gone cold.

But what caught my attention the most was the ridiculous increase in his magic power. As soon as he passed through the mansion's gate, I sensed an anomaly.

Unlike Marceline, who is an assassin, I am one of the great mages of this empire, and we mages are sensitive to magical power.

"What have you been doing these three weeks?"

"As you may have noticed, I trained to take the test."

"Don't play with me. Before you left the mansion, you were an E rank. Now you are a B rank. Is that possible?"

That doesn't make any sense, it's impossible for someone to increase magic power like that in such a short time.

Luke sighed and said.

"Actually, I've always trained in hiding, I was c-rank before I left the mansion. I can hide my magic power in a way that even you can't feel it."

"Show me."

Suddenly, almost all of Luke's magic power was gone, making him an E rank. I never thought hiding magic power in this way was possible, not from high level mages.

"That's enough?"

"Yes. But how do you do it?"

"I don't know. I just think and it happens."

If you don't want to tell me, just say so.

"Why did you hide your power from everyone?"

"I was always alone, I didn't like the attention, I didn't like who I was, to be honest, I didn't know who I was. Until I found an answer."

"And who are you?"

"I am Luke Blady, the youngest son of one of the most powerful dukes in the empire. I can no longer remain in the shadows, I can no longer be a burden. I must honor the name of this family and my late mother."

Luke's eyes gleamed with willpower. I must take this opportunity.

"On second thought, I never treated you like my son, I never treated you like the other two. Despite that, you never complained about anything."

"..."

"Just like you said: you've always been alone. I think it's time to fill that loneliness, and Marceline will fulfill that role. I believe you will progress even more having someone by your side."

"I didn't understand."

"I've decided to make Marceline your personal maid."

Luke looks suspiciously at Marceline who was standing in the corner.

"I understand. I appreciate your kindness."

Luke bowed in thanks.

"Do you need anything else?"

"No, you can go now. Marceline too."

Luke made a reference and turned to leave the office, behind him was Marceline. Suddenly, something important came to my mind.

"Luke."

He stops and looks at me.

"I don't know what got into you to try to call off the engagement with your fiancée. But that's not going to happen. The union between these two families is something my father, your grandfather, wanted. Like it or not, the engagement will not be called off. "

"Right."

"Now you two can leave."

....

(Luke's POV.)

Marceline and I just left my father's office.

"Marceline, will you go to the imperial academy with me?"

"Yes, as you may already know, he asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Yes."

This talk about me being alone and Marceline filling that loneliness is the biggest bullshit he's ever said. I managed not to laugh when he made that ridiculous excuse.

My father is an amazing wizard and strategist, but he's a terrible liar. Even a blind man could see his goals.

I just danced to the dance and said words to please him, and in the end it worked. Leave the office without any problems.

"Young master, where are you going?"

"To the mansion's library."

I want to learn magic, so I'm going to get some spell books from the Blady family.

Upon entering the library, I come across a girl sitting in one of the armchairs, behind her was an older woman standing. When they heard the door open, they both looked at me.

"Luke? What are you doing here?"

That girl is my older sister, Lily Blady. Like me, she has the typical dark purple hair of the Blady family, her skin is snow-white, and her nose is pointy like her mother's.

She also has a nice body, but nothing that interests me. The woman behind her is the head maid of the house, and she is Lily's biggest sucker.

"I came to get some books."

I said and started walking towards the book sessions.

"I see. And you, Marceline, what are you doing here?"

"She became my personal maid."

"What?"

"Our father made her my maid. If you think it's bad, complain to him."

"Tch... Who do you think you are to talk like that?" the head maid asked.

I decided not to answer and went back to looking for the books.

"Are you looking for spell books? What happened? Did you finally realize that you have no talent for swinging a sword? Now are you going to waste your time trying to learn magic?" Said Lily.

In my first life, like my older brother, I chose to try the sword path. But people always compared my swordsmanship with his, and in the end they always made fun of me.

In the end, I ended up giving on swordplay and trying to learn magic. But, again, I failed to learn. What frustrated me the most was being compared to my two brothers.

"Maybe. It's never too late to try."

"Luke, I'll give you some advice. Never try something impossible, you'll just be wasting your time. Invest your time in something productive, like being my employee."

"Wow, that's great advice. Let me give you some advice too."

"To say."

"Be careful what you wish for, Lily, it could bring you death."

If I were her employee, I would put poison in her food.

Marceline and I left the library. Afterwards, we went to my room with the books.

Thus, a week passed and the day of the entrance ceremony of the imperial academy arrived. During this week I haven't seen my older brother, he is probably on a mission on behalf of the Blady family.

"Young master, we have to hurry and find you a place."

As it is the entrance ceremony, the main hall of the academy is packed with students of all three races. Quickly, Marceline found a seat for me and the ceremony began.

As a tradition, Empress Margaret gave an opening speech. I believe that at this moment I am the only one who knows that the empress is ill.

As I recall, she will pass away a few months after the decisive battle against the Demon King and his army.

Empress Margaret was born unable to have a child and her husband passed away a few years ago, meaning she does not have an heir to the throne. When she died, a civil war broke out between the dukes' houses to decide who would assume power.

In the face of this war, the hero Arthur and his harem assumed the throne. Arthur was the most powerful being on earth, and this made almost all nobles accept him as the new emperor.

Only my father was against it. This caused Arthur to eliminate the Blady family from the empire and I, even though I didn't participate in anything, died at the hero's hands.

I will never forget the smile on his face when he killed me. I tremble with rage at the thought that this son of a bitch stole my fiancée and killed me on top of that.

Currently, I have two goals. To make both the Blady family and the hero Arthur suffer, and for that to happen, I must heal the empress.

After achieving this goal, I will plunge this cruel world into endless despair. My hatred goes far beyond my family and the hero Arthur, I hate this world and this society that despises the weak and values ​​the strong.

I will destroy everyone.

"Young Master... Young Master."

"Hmm... Yes?"

"Are you okay? You were making a scary face just now."

"I was lost in thought. Did something happen?"

"They've already reported the best test scores for the first, second and third grades, as well as reporting each student's classrooms."

"OK."

"They will announce the fourth year results now."

One of the academy teachers began assigning students to their respective classrooms. After a few minutes, he had informed the students in classes E, D, C, B and A and

my name had not been mentioned.

As expected, I will be promoted to class S.

"Now, I'm going to quote the top five scores from the fourth-year tests."

The test consists of 500 written test points and 500 practical test points.

"5th place - Angelica. Rating: 970."

A very pretty human girl with shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes stood up and walked to the stage. What caught my attention the most was her breathtaking body. She, who is a saint, is one of the four heroes.

She's a pebleia raised in the church's orphanage, so she doesn't have last names. Like the other three heroes, they are all pebleus without a surname.

"4th place - Serina. Rating: 977."

A dark-skinned, black-haired elf stood up and entered the stage, she is also an unprecedented beauty. Like Angelica, she is one of the four heroes and is a sorceress, the only one who can use holy magic.

"3rd place - Mary Icebering. Rating:980"

A beautiful girl with white hair and blue eyes got up and walked up to the stage. She is Mary Icebering, the only heir to Duke Icebering's family, who has an affinity for the element of ice.

"2nd place - Arthur. Grade: 995"

Finally, it was the turn of the sword hero Arthur. Like the heroes before Arthur, he has blond hair and brown eyes. Arthur got up, walked to the stage and stood beside Mary.

"Wait, Arthur came in second?"

"Has anyone surpassed the hero?"

"Was it Carine who came first?"

People began to realize that someone had surpassed Arthur, and their hunch was that Carina, the last of the four heroes to have done such a feat. Carina is a demihuman and holds a knighthood of light.

"In 1st place..."

The professor hesitated a little to say and by the expression, he didn't believe the name it was at first.

"1st place - Luke Blady. Rating: 1000."

"..."

Silence was everyone's reaction. After a few seconds to absorb what the teacher had said, everyone looked at me, who was already walking towards the stage.

I already expected this result, I knew all the answers to the written test and I beat the teacher in the practical test.

Only the sound of my footsteps brushes the place. In the face of all this attention, I remained relaxed and confident.

When I got on stage, I stood next to Arthur, who was looking at me with a surprised look.

"I have a question?"

One of the students finally broke the silence. If I'm not mistaken, this guy last year was assigned to S class, but ended up dropping to A class this year.

In short, I took his place in the S class, and he was demoted. No wonder your frustrated face.

"And what would your question be?" the teacher asked.

"How is it possible that he got the perfect score on the test? Not even the hero Arthur got something like that."

After his speech, several people began to whisper.

"Are you saying he cheated on the tests?"

"Yea."

"That's impossible. We put a barrier that detects magical artifacts at the entrance of rooms that were written tests and at the entrance to the arena, cheating is impossible."

Like the student, I was surprised to learn this. One barrier I couldn't identify could only have been made by the school principal.

"But how can this guy be better than I? Everyone knows who he is."

"Boy, I accepted."

"Never... Luke Baldy, I challenge you to a duel."

The imperial academy has a duel system where one student can challenge the other. Usually something is wagered in the duel. This guy must be after my S-Class position.

"If I win, I go up to S class, and you go down to A class."

"Boy..."

"I accept."

I have no reason to refuse this challenge. To be honest, it will be nice to show my power to the other students.

"Hey, you two, we're in the middle of the ceremony. A challenge is now impossible."

"Teacher."

Suddenly, a voice echoes through the gym hall. It was none other than the empress who spoke.

"Yes, your Majesty?"

"Analyze the situation. A battle between two high-profile students would be a great ending to the entrance ceremony."

"Is your majesty saying to let the two fight?"

"Exactly. It remains to be announced to the fifth year students in their respective classrooms, in the meantime these two can prepare for the duel."

"If that's what Your Majesty wants. You two go to the main arena and get ready, when everything is ready, I'll call you. The rest can go back to their seats."

I and the others left the stage. Instead of going to my seat, I headed towards the exit, just like the boy who challenged me.

On the way, I looked at the empress. When our eyes met, the corner of his lip curled. At that moment, I understood its purpose.

The challenge launched by the boy was a great opportunity for her to evaluate me. Not just her, all the other nobles present today.

I, the trash of the Blady family, got over the hero and got their first. Obviously, I became a variable that can increase the power of the Blady family.

In short, if my power is real, I can be a threat.

I gave the empress a smile and left the hall. Reaching the arena's basement, a loud sound rang in my ears.

[Starting...]

[Antagonist of the system.]