Over a hundred students all equipped in protective battle gears stomped across the overgrown path, so cutting through the foliage while others directly leapt across.
Highlighted on the holographic interface was the image of the students leaping across a twenty-foot ravine as they passed the midway point of their journey.
Despite their lower martial levels, they were moving at an incredible pace given the circumstances.
They had faced off against nurous different monsters, all at least Rank One in strength, with even so peak-level entities among them. Thankfully, all of the students here had been put through fire and steel by Lake and knew how to handle such a basic foe.
Kate led the group at the head of the pack, her pace steady despite having to face the brunt of the enemy forces. Honestly, she felt that even if a Rank Two creature were to appear, everyone here would be able to at least survive the encounter, even if they couldn’t win.
However, that feeling of ease and confidence was exactly why she was frowning even as she cut down another peak Rank One beast.
’It’s too simple...’
The exam had been a breeze so far. Despite the average level of the monsters continuing to steadily increase, it wasn’t at a pace where they had to be worried.
Although what they encountered so far was enough to give any of the past generation of first-year students a run for their money, the entire event felt too ta for the instructors they knew oh so well.
’I hope I’m just overthinking things...’
Still, despite her doubts, she continued to look forward, putting the matter to the back of her head. What she needed to do now was continue leading the charge.
If there truly was sothing wrong with the exam, she’ll deal with it when it cos.
anwhile, back in the stadium, the audience watched the group of students plow through the field of monsters.
The teams in front were responsible for clearing the way, while those that followed behind would occasionally switch out to give the front runners a chance to rest.
When they saw that the students had crossed the halfway point within just an hour, they couldn’t help but feel shocked.
Are these really first-year students?
All the guild mbers in the audience had already gotten into contact with their guilds, sending the data they had gathered and picking out potential talents from the batch. However, most scouts ran into a problem.
They simply couldn’t pick between the batch of students, as all of them seed like potential gems in the making.
So were even greedy enough to send a ssage for their guild to actively try to recruit everyone. Even if they managed to only successfully secure one student, they would still co out having made a profit.
In a private booth in the stadium, one instructor sat alongside a few special guests. The instructor appeared both calm and tense at the sa ti, striking quite an odd visual when paired with the divine appearance of the figures next to him.
"Hm, this is intriguing. Is this the average level of your students?"
Elder Seraphis asked, his eyes gleaming with wonder.
He hadn’t expected to see such a performance from a group of students. As a mber of the fairy race who had survived the great war, he knew that these students all possessed the quality of veteran soldiers despite being so young.
Although their strength was weaker compared to the actual soldiers who fought in the war, they more than made up for it thanks to their strategic reasoning and outstanding qualities.
After all, if he had to count how many tis he had seen people lose their lives due to carelessness or poor character, he would get depressed just thinking about it.
"Is the academy’s training really so effective?"
He turned to face the instructor sitting next to him. The man had a calm expression despite his rugged look, observing the shifting battlefield with an analytical gaze.
Hearing the fairy race elder call out to him, Alec seed to flinch.
His mouth slightly hung open for a long mont before he finally replied, his voice slow and asured.
"No...This is all thanks to their own talent...we rely provided the facilities for them to grow."
Elder Seraphis smiled at Alec’s humble answer, stroking his beard before shifting his gaze back to the changing battlefield.
In his mind, his impression of Alec and the Academy went up by a tiny bit. A teacher who can give away credit to his students is one worth paying attention to.
Seeing that the fairy elder had shifted his attention back to the screen, Alec breathed a quiet sigh of relief. If only Elder Seraphis knew what he was thinking at the mont, his opinion of Alec may have been completely different.
’I didn’t say anything wrong, did I? It’s true that the academy provided the field he uses to train the students so I should be fine...’
He had unluckily been assigned as the diplomatic agent for the Fairy Race’s elders visit to the academy.
That’s right, elders.
"Hmph, they’re only so-so." Elder Rain comnted as he observed the group run into another pack of beasts.
"Heh, what are you talking about? Could you do what they’re doing when you were their age?" Elder Sumr’s mocking voice echoed through the chamber, causing Elder Rain to frown.
"Hmph, fairies and humans are innately different. Twenty years for them is the sa as forty for us."
"Hehe, sounds like excuses~" Her teasing continued, not letting up, "And if we’re talking about age, aren’t the kids around the sa human age?"
As she finished speaking, she switched her monitor to show Bramble easily maneuvering through the rugged terrain.
When monsters appeared, Bramble would stun them with his charm ability, allowing his teammates to easily follow up and dispatch them. With just a look, he was able to paralyze dozens of creatures at once.
"Hmph. That brat’s charm blessing has always been powerful. Showing this ans nothing."
"Oh? Then what about your daughter?" Elder Sumr smirked before showcasing Iris, who was in the middle of punching a clearing through a horde of monsters.
With a single punch, she sent shockwaves through the air that tore apart anything that ca into contact with it. Several trees were pushed aside from the force, with even a few being directly uprooted or blown to splinters.
Within seconds, the path before her had been cleared, allowing the rest of the squad to continue their advance through the forest.
At the rate they were progressing, they might make it to the castle by the next hour.
"...."
Elder Rain frowned. He pretended to ignore Elder Sumr, knowing that replying would only make his situation worse.
Elder Sumr’s eyes carefully observed his reaction, noticing the slight upward twitch at the corner of his mouth despite his outward displeasure.
"Hmm~" She smiled but chose not to point it out, instead returning her focus to the event.
Elder Seraphis’s eyes were also glued to the screen, but his thoughts were a bit different.
Instead of the students, he was more focused on the exam itself.
’How marvelous. To think that they were able to create sothing akin to a secret realm despite their limited magical knowledge.’
He was genuinely impressed by the academy’s display of technology. To create a similar environnt to the demon king’s rift back in his world would require the assistance of at least three archmage-level entities.
Archmages themselves were extrely rare, with one rarely surfacing once every hundred years, and that was after decades of study and dedication to mastering their craft.
Even back in the great forest, the number of archmage-level entities could be counted on one hand.
As he admired the technology of the academy, the screen shifted to display another fairy.
"Hm?"
Elder Seraphis imdiately noticed sothing odd, his earlier intrigue vanishing as his brows knitted together into a tight frown.
Elder Sumr and Rain also noticed the oddity, their expressions turning even worse than Elder Seraphis’s at the sight.
"Did sothing recently happen to Sylph?"
Elder Sumr was the first to speak, her voice lacking its usual playfulness, instead filled by a swirling undercurrent.
"What?"
Alec was slightly startled at their notable change in attitude. He turned to face the three elders, montarily confused, but in the next mont felt an undeniable pressure spread throughout the room as Elder Sumr released a pressure no weaker than a Martial Grandmaster’s Mana Field.
The temperature in the room imdiately shot up, turning the cooled air conditioned room into a blazing sauna.
Alec imdiately tensed up, but as a Grandmaster himself, was able to quickly deploy his own mana to stabilize the surroundings. Otherwise, he feared he might’ve been roasted alive under that scorching heat.
Quickly, he switched his own screen to Sylph, trying to find what the Elders had seen to make them so upset.
Sylph was currently gliding through the forest, healing the occasionally injured student. Nothing seed to be wrong with her movents, and the longer Alec watched, the more confused he beca.
"Did you notice sothing wrong with her?"
Instead of struggling, Alec decided to carefully ask them instead.
Elder Sumr did not change her expression as she waved her hands, effortlessly controlling the advanced interface to zoom in on Sylph’s face as the temperature in the room continued to rise.
"There." She pointed, yet Alec could still not see anything wrong. Luckily, Elder Sumr did not keep him in suspense for long.
"Her smile. It’s gone."
Alec’s gaze followed her finger, indeed noticing that Sylph wasn’t smiling like usual. Instead, her face appeared sowhat exhausted and dark.
Her eyes were slightly puffy, with dark bags underneath them, while her skin had beco slightly paler. If one didn’t look carefully, they might’ve missed the details, just as Alec had.
"Did soone upset her?"
Elder Sumr’s voice was stern, her eyes narrowing to a glare.
At that mont, Alec felt the weight of his burden as the diplomatic host, feeling that he needed to quickly calm the three elders’ growing fury.
But just what could possibly cause the cheerful and bubbly Sylph to look like that?
"Ah—"
Just then, the face of his most problematic student flashed through his mind. Recalling the idle gossip of his female coworkers, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
...Cold sweat started to pool on Alec’s back as he investigated the situation further through his wristwatch.
The elders’ mood was worsening over ti, seeing Sylph showing no sign of returning to her usual cheerful self.
Swallowing nervously, Alec slowly voiced his discovery.
"...Well, there seems to be one thing I can think of."
The three Elders’ eyes snapped to him, awaiting his answer.
All Alec could do at that point was silently apologize to Lake in his heart as he explained the situation to them.
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