With ten minutes until the exam began, Simon waited on a floating platform, the gentle rocking of the sea a stark contrast to the tension in the air. The platform, a flat, buoyant material likely made from so sli byproduct, held about twenty to thirty students. All of them wore protective vests over their Kizen-issued wetsuits, with Tonguepads strapped to their arms. Countless other platforms dotted the water’s surface. This was an exam for all 847 first-years at once.
"Simoooon! I’m over here!" Dick’s voice carried from a distant platform, his arms waving wildly. Simon grinned and waved back.
’Alright. Focus,’ he told himself, examining the Tonguepad on his wrist. ’The design is different from the one I wore during the Island Survival Assessnt.’
The device would remotely calculate points from monster kills and transmit the data to headquarters. He could also use it to check his current score and overall rank. Simon familiarized himself with its functions as the final minutes ticked down. A nervous silence had fallen over his platform; students were either warming up in silence or steadying their minds with deep breaths.
[Bwahaha! Feeling the pressure, boy?] Pier’s voice echoed in his mind.
Simon shook his head with a smile. ’I’m fine. It’s not ti to be nervous yet.’
A voice-amplifying magic circle materialized in the sky, and a booming announcent echoed out.
—"Thank you for your patience! We will now begin the third ‘Comprehensive Black Magic Ability Assessnt.’"
—"The countdown will now begin!"
—"10."
—"9."
...The students began to chant along with the broadcast, their voices filled with energy.
—"6."
—"5."
The spectators on Roc Island, watching from the screens, joined in. Regardless of status or nationality, everyone was shouting the numbers.
—"2."
—"1."
—"The exam begins now!"
With a ship’s horn blaring across the sea, the students leaped into the water as one.
The simultaneous plunge of hundreds of students sent a colossal spray into the air—a truly magnificent spectacle.
"Ahaha! I’m going first!"
Surprisingly, the one leading the charge was Dick. He enchanted his flippers, and with a roar, Jet-Black energy erupted from them like a booster.
"All the coins are mi— Huh?"
Dick, who had been in the lead, ca to an abrupt halt. He glanced back to see a male student grinning, holding a strange, fishing rod-like device. A fishing line was snagged on his flipper, the hook biting deep.
"Where do you think you’re going!" the student yelled.
With a sharp tug on the rod, Dick’s body was yanked backward at an incredible speed.
"Whoa! What are you doing! Do you even know ?"
"Nope! I’m just targeting whoever goes first!" the student crowed. He lifted his rod, and Dick was flung clear out of the water. The student wore a smug, satisfied smile.
"Ugh!"
His barrier gauge plumted as Jet-Black arrows slamd into his back.
"Who was that?!" he spun around to see other students aiming at him. "You bastards...!"
"Should’ve watched your back."
The sea instantly devolved into a chaotic free-for-all. The number of coins on the seabed was limited. With only a thousand coins scattered at the start and a ten-coin requirent to pass, only about a hundred students could get an early lead. The competition was bound to be ferocious. Kizen would, of course, release more coins as ti went on, but the top-tier students were already bracing for the race.
"Get that one!"
"He’s getting away!"
"This isn’t the ti to fight each other! Let’s get the ones diving first!"
They were a tangled ss of projectiles, curses, and black magic lashing out in every direction. And Simon, whom Jane had singled out as one to watch...
He was just crouching quietly on the floating platform, calmly observing the chaos below. Explosions and splashes erupted from the water as the students tore into each other.
’No point in being the first one in,’ he mused. ’The lead runner just paints a target on their back. Better to conserve my strength.’
In fact, it wasn’t just Simon; most of the top-tier powerhouses were watching from their platforms, waiting for the others to exhaust themselves. Simon decided to wait patiently as well, charging his air-breathing magic circle.
[But the exam is only four hours long. Aren’t you being too relaxed, boy?] Pier comnted. [I propose a change in strategy.]
’Strategy?’
[That’s right! Go out to the open sea, hunt monsters to rack up points, and then co back when this coin scramble has died down!]
’Oh, that’s a good idea.’
Indeed, a fair number of students were already avoiding the fierce competition for coins and heading straight for the open sea. This area, the inner sea, was a shallow twenty ters deep, but the open sea was far deeper and teed with monsters. The strategy was to secure points first, then return with about an hour to spare to collect the coins. By then, most students would have their coins and be in the open sea themselves. Of course, one could also hunt other students in the open sea to take their coins. All the students heading out now had this in mind.
’Still, I’m going to wait a little longer.’
He had his secret weapon, Deimos. However, after a few training sessions, he’d found that Deimos’s energy consumption was high. It could only be active for about two hours at most. So, Simon’s plan was to get the coins first and then stay out until the exam was over.
’I made a flawless plan the mont I heard the rules. This ti, for sure!’
Despite his composed expression, Simon’s fighting spirit was burning. With Deimos, anything less than first place would be aningless.
---
"This third BMAT is developing in a most unexpected way!" the announcer shouted, his voice crackling with excitent. "Thirty minutes into the match, and only two students have collected more than eight coins! The interference is just too brutal!"
The students were far more focused on their competitors than on the coins. They were busy blocking others from surfacing for air or sniping at anyone who tried to pick up coins from the bottom.
"Ah! This is an unexpected developnt! According to the rules, if you don’t collect ten coins, you will be expelled, no matter how high your score! Vice-Pres—I an, Professor! If this continues, won’t we see a massive number of dropouts?"
Jane, who was resting her chin on her hand, shot the announcer a look of pity. He flinched.
"The students are not fools, Conrad."
"Yes! Yes! Of course! As expected, Professor, you believe in the students! As do I! Ah! As we speak—!"
The screen changed, displaying a boy cutting coolly through the water. He was dark-skinned, with white hair and a white swim cap. As he stretched out his arms and legs, projectiles shot from six magic circles at once.
The students swimming toward him were hit and completely neutralized, buried in what looked like snow. It didn’t even lt in the water. In the anti, the boy snatched two coins from the seabed.
"Ah! That student! It’s the very one Professor Jane ntioned! The Lord of the Snowy Field, Special Admission No. 8, Raheim! He’s already collected ten coins! He’s in the sole lead!"
With a decisive move finally cutting through the chaos, the audience cheered loudly. The announcer, beaming, turned to Jane.
"Professor! What on earth is that black magic he’s using?"
Raheim drew a magic circle on the soles of his feet. Just like with his projectiles, it flared as he shot through the water like a fish.
"It’s ‘Gold Snow,’ the unique black magic of the Snowy Field family," Jane explained. "It looks like ordinary snow, but it has no lting point. Once you’re buried, the snow multiplies and becos extrely heavy."
The students hit by Raheim’s snow bombs were struggling as they sank to the bottom of the sea. Their only options were to send a rescue signal with their Tonguepads and be eliminated, or for Kizen to automatically teleport them out when their breathing magic ran out of air.
"It’s truly the ultimate black magic for water combat! But Raheim isn’t advancing to the open sea even after collecting all his coins. He keeps circling the inner sea. I wonder who he’s looking for? Ah! As we speak, students who have collected ten coins are starting to appear one after another!"
Following Raheim’s lead, the students considered to be powerhouses began to make their move. Special Admission No. 7, Elisa, created a sort of submarine that surpassed a re ghost ship. She endured a barrage of attacks, reached the seabed, and swept up the coins. Special Admission No. 10, Malcolm, used a doppelganger to quickly find coins, while Kamibarez entered a large blood drop, reached the bottom, and rolled around like a ball, picking up coins. As for Serne, she simply sat on the starting platform as students began to bring coins directly to her.
"The competition has suddenly caught fire! A considerable number of students who were floating on the surface to interfere are now heading to the bottom!"
"They were waiting for the number of coins to increase," Jane explained. "More are added over ti. Another thousand coins were just released. Now, the rit of collecting them outweighs that of blocking others."
"I see!"
With plenty to watch, the audience seed satisfied. The announcer, with renewed energy, continued his comntary, spittle flying from his mouth. Just then, an assistant teacher approached and handed a docunt to both him and Jane.
"Ah, a new statistic has just co in! Currently, Combat Magic and Venomology aspirants are in the lead! Summoning aspirants, however, are at an overwhelming disadvantage! I hope they can put in a little more effort! Now, speaking of which, let’s take a look at the student called the hope of Summoning, Special Admission No. 1, Simon Polentia!"
The main screen switched to show Simon, still waiting at the starting line.
---
Simon was still waiting. His strategy was to rack up points in the last two hours, so it was unavoidable, but he was starting to get antsy.
’Should I go for a quick trip, as long as I don’t overdo it?’
As he contemplated this, a commotion erupted beside him. He turned his head.
"Ah!"
Simon hastily backed away as projectiles slamd into the floating platform.
’Boom! Boom!’ Snow explosions erupted.
’This ability... could it be?’
’Screeeech!’
The platform tilted violently as all the weight shifted to the side where the snow bombs had hit. The students who had been on the platform with Simon scread as they plunged into the sea. Simon imdiately stepped on the Jet-Black energy and dashed up to the platform’s highest point.
"Finally found you!" a white-haired man, drenched in water, laughed as he threw off his swim cap. "A duel for irin, right now!"
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