060. Mid-term evaluation (2)
Unsuitably for the name ‘assessment’, mid-term evaluation has a simple test method.
First of all, after selecting the students to be evaluated, the tournament is matched randomly according to the class.
For example, if you are a student of class D, the lowest class in the current academy, you have to start with class D to win the championship, and finally defeat the top students in class A.
Some people said that this test method was not fair. But the important thing is not winning the tournament, but how much you proved your ability in the match against the opponent.
The evaluation is surprisingly public. The countless crowds sitting around Veris were proving that.
[ The next student, please come upstairs. Class B, Maria Theresia von Binsburg de Vera. Class C, John Taines. ]
A loud sound rang out from the magic loudspeaker at the scene of the evaluation. Then, everyone in the audience seats was looking at the competition hall with bewildered faces.
“What? Maria Theresia? Was there such a person in Class B?”
“No, wait a minute. That name is of the imperial family…….”
“Princess, I thought he was in Class B.”
The existence of Maria was so veiled that only rumors abounded and few people saw her existence in person. When her name suddenly appeared on the surface of the water and was called, the onlookers seated in the audience uttered a surprised sound.
Another one.
As soon as the clear sound of footsteps began to be heard from the waiting area for students, silence lingered around the arena as if cold water had been poured over it.
A light step. With each step she took, the sound of her heels spreading softly echoed through the amphitheatre.
“Ohh…… !”
“Waaa!”
“Oh my God, it is the first time in my life to see Her Highness in person!”
“Such beauty. It makes sense that she went to the academy while hiding her figure.”
As soon as Maria stood on the arena and took out her short wand, thunderous cheers erupted from all over the amphitheater.
Maria Theresia.
A member of the imperial family that rules the empire, and said to have her natural talent for mana, she has finally emerged from her false identity.
[ Let’s start sparring. Both students prepare for battle. ]
Soon after Maria’s sparring opponent, a student, came up to the arena, another sound came from the mana loudspeaker.
Nodding off.
The student spread his distance after bowing lightly. Holding the wand, Maria looked at her opponent with a firm gaze.
‘First lightly.’
As she slowly raised her mana, Maria thought about the direction of the battle.
The youthful student with a tense face standing in front of her is a swordsman. Originally, the fight between a swordsman and a wizard was mainly about how effectively they maintained a certain distance and how to use that distance to deliver meaningful hits.
‘Good.’
Soon, Maria remembered the magic she would use right away.
Compared to Beatrice, who came from her mage tower, she is a bit disappointing, but her Maria’s magic also boasts powerful power.
She’s specialty is ice barrier magic. That meant a talent with innate strength for keeping distance and holding enemies off their feet.
[ Start…… I’ll do it! ]
Shhh!
As the loudspeaker announces the start of the sparring, Maria’s enemies begin to move very quickly.
Quick battle.
It was also an action that should have been taken by a swordsman who had learned even a little bit about the Great Wizard.
“Please forgive my rudeness!”
The student seemed to feel guilty for swinging her sword at Maria, her princess.
It was an action that was conscious of the movement limiting magic that would spread across the arena, but it soon led to unexpected results.
“Become a vine that stops movement, Bind!”
Maria’s short chant broke out in a clear voice, and soon magic manifested itself by the swordsman’s side.
─Kwadeuk!
“Ugh!”
The mana vines of powerful power immediately entangled the student, and threw him to the ground with a futile ease.
[ Winner…… Maria Theresia! ]
The duel ended in an instant. It was also a sparring that would serve as an example for the students as it made the enemy fall into incapacity without being injured.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
As the student tied to her vine looked up at her Maria with her bemused face, Maria grinned.
The place she is looking at is not here. So she had no time to linger here.
Veris, who was watching the sparring, was clapping her hands.
“Maria’s strength is more than a joke.”
“That’s right. The speedy chanting and apparitions are at a level that even S-class students would stick out their tongues at.”
Arwen, who was listening to Berris talking to herself while watching Maria’s sparring in the audience, added her words.
She is actually Maria, who seemed infinitely weaker than her other children. But when she saw Dalian just now, she also felt that she wasn’t necessarily like that.
Fishik.
As Maria smiled brightly at finding him in the midst of a tidal wave of spectators, Veris responded with a smile.
How did he know you were here?
[ The next couplet is B class, Veris von Wittelsbach. Class B, tortillas. Please prepare for the match in the player waiting room. ]
Soon after her name was called through the magic loudspeaker, Veris got up from her seat. It was Berris, who was placed quite later in the order.
And that meant that we could provide quite a lot of fun to the audience, who had risen as soon as the heat rose.
* * *
[ Let’s start Dalian! ]
The host, Student Council President Balten’s voice rang through the loudspeaker.
The other student was looking at Berris with a frightened face.
“I’m sorry. I seriously intend to do it.”
Veris was planning to deal with him without using mana. He used all his strength. At least, wouldn’t it be possible to kill the same student in the evaluation at the academy?
From noble mtl dot com
“You are my opponent… ….”
The student lifted a large blunt weapon with a desperate face. Resembling a hammer, it closely resembled his appearance.
Actually, Verice’s position in class B was higher than expected. It is thanks to the customers of the S class who visit him every day.
Those like the saint Cecilia, the spirit swordsman Arwen, and the swordsman genius Gunther. That’s why he was so nervous when he faced Veris, who already had an outstanding presence.
“Go.”
Already a normal human…… No, Veris has transcendental power even compared to those who have trained mana. Incapacitating one of the students in Class B didn’t even require the use of mana.
─Pakan!
“Eh?”
“Gee, what happened?”
“…… I couldn’t even follow it with my eyes.”
“Crazy!”
Move, then swing the sword.
It was a damn simple move. However, the result of the call was making everyone rub their eyes and look at the arena again.
“Uh, how did the hammer… ….”
The blunt weapon held by Veris’ opponent, the student, was a sledgehammer. But surprisingly, Veris cut it off.
Besides…… What was cut off was not a relatively thin rod, but the head of a giant hammer.
A large, heavy piece of iron had been neatly cut into four pieces and had fallen to the floor.
“f*ck, why am I the only one… ….”
The sad mutterings of the students, unable to notice any movement or attack, resounded sadly in the silence of the arena.
Defeated with nothing to show. No one knew what direction his evaluation would be received.
* * *
“Huh?”
Contrary to the significance of the evaluation of achievement, quite a lot of spectators flock to the public midterm evaluation.
A person watching the sparring from the VIP seats in the arena-shaped arena exclaimed in admiration.
In fact, they were class B students whose level was so low that it was crude. Of course, there were a few exceptional ones among them.
First of all, Maria Theresia, the princess of the empire who revealed herself for the first time this time. Next was a student named Veris who had just cut the sledgehammer into four pieces with two blades.
“Amazing.”
“I think so too, Grand Duke.”
At the voice of the grand duke who let out an admiring sound as he touched his silver hair, the person who seemed to be a subordinate immediately folded his back and accepted the words.
Students in Class S are said to not participate in the midterm evaluation. Therefore, contrary to the grand duke’s thought of being boring, it was certainly encouraging that there were a few people who were interested.
“The attack of a student named Berris who just had sparring was unusual. For a moment, even I couldn’t detect the flow of her mana.”
“Sounds stupid.”
“…… ?”
Suha, who had been spitting out his own sentimental comments, raised a question when he heard the Grand Duke’s sudden sigh. Was there anything wrong with what you just said?
He had dedicated his whole life to the Grand Duke’s side, but this time, he couldn’t figure out the problem at all.
“Wrong.”
“…… Yes?”
The Grand Duke kindly began to explain to his subordinates.
“He just didn’t use mana.”
“How is that possible… ….”
I stopped talking and hurriedly shut my mouth.
As he served the Grand Duke for a long time, he was a man who knew the character of the Grand Duke very well.
So, for the Grand Duke, who hates to judge everything within the line of ‘common sense’, this sentiment will surely only cause discomfort.
“Then…… He just cut through a thick block of iron without even using mana.”
It was only then that the man who realized what the Grand Duke was trying to say looked at the back of Veris with a blank face.
I am only a student. Even a student in class B who has a relatively rare talent.
But what is the confidence you just showed?
“Room, just clear.”
“You are crazy. I knew that student was somewhat famous, but isn’t this an absurd skill?”
The man nodded at the comments of the other people sitting in the VIP seats.
“Funny!”
“… ….”
While the man was thinking about it, the Grand Duke was smiling with satisfaction.
And the man who knew very well what that meant made her tremble.