Stepping inside the building, they found themselves in a space with an open ceiling.
It was vast.
Tall walls enclosed it on all sides—but these were no ordinary walls.
Even at a glance, their thickness was extraordinary.
And carved across the walls were intricate, complex patterns.
Se-ha explained in a low voice.
“It’s the practical training ground. The biggest area in the Academy.”
“Hmm.”
“See those walls? They’re made of mana-blocking alloy. Over two meters thick, with a double-layered barrier seal inside—whatever happens in here doesn’t leak out.”
Da-hong swept her gaze across the walls.
Well.
They looked reasonably sturdy.
Da-hong looked up.
Beyond a transparent barrier, students were packed in rows.
It seemed to be a mix of students taking today’s exam and others who had come just to watch.
“They put real effort into this.”
“Right? Apparently it cost about as much as a national budget just to build this training ground.”
Da-hong lowered her gaze.
In the center was a wide examination area.
And a floor marked with lines.
Directly across from it, three professors sat at the judges’ panel.
“Huh—!”
Se-ha clapped a hand over his mouth.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, that’s—”
Se-ha pointed toward the judges’ panel and whispered low, his voice trembling.
Beside each of the professors stood summons radiating tremendous presence.
“The one next to the professor in the middle—that’s an intermediate angel….”
“An angel?”
Da-hong studied the angel carefully.
It was a strange form.
Roughly three meters tall.
Its entire body was wrapped in white cloth, with arms extending out between the folds.
Three pairs of them, no less.
Six arms, bending at the joints like a marionette, each gripping a different object.
A scale, a candle, a sword, a hammer, and something without a name.
And the head.
Where a face should have been, there was a mask of white porcelain-like material.
Front, left, right—each wore a different expression.
On its back, silver rays of light formed the shape of wings.
“…”
Da-hong stared at the being for a moment.
It was a kind she had never seen in hell.
“Angels gain more arms as their rank increases. That one has three pairs, so it’s intermediate—but at the higher rank it’s four pairs, and the records say the highest-ranking ones have seven. It specializes in healing and barriers. It uses that scale to distinguish friend from foe, the candle to erect barriers, and…”
Se-ha continued, eyes bright.
“You know a lot about this.”
“It’s in the textbooks. I’ve read them way too many times.”
Da-hong looked back at the angel.
As she did, one of the three masks slowly turned in her direction.
A face with no expression at all.
*What are you looking at.*
Da-hong held its gaze without flinching.
Se-ha gave her a light nudge.
“The one next to the professor on the right is a superior spirit knight.”
The spirit knight stood perfectly still, encased in armor shrouded in five-colored energy.
“Spirit knights can’t feel fear. They have no emotions at all—they’re known to be unshakeable in any situation. Wow… someone can actually summon one….”
“Hmm.”
At that, Da-hong shifted her gaze toward the spirit knight.
Curious.
It was a rare type to encounter in hell.
Her blood-red pupils fixed on the knight in quiet study.
And then.
*…clatter.*
“Hm…?”
The professor in charge tilted his head.
Was it his imagination, or had the spirit knight just trembled?
*That can’t be right.*
The professor dismissed it without a second thought.
“The one next to the female professor on the left is…”
“A griffon.”
“That’s right. You know it?”
A massive beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
Even sitting with its wings folded, its shoulder height was twice that of a person.
Its feathers, a blend of gold and brown, gleamed with a healthy sheen.
A single talon was as thick as Se-ha’s forearm.
“The ones I knew were a bit uglier.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Da-hong thought back to the griffons she had seen in hell.
Skin peeling off like zombies.
Three eyes as a baseline, fire spewing from their mouths.
Tentacle-like growths sprouting grotesquely from the backs of their necks.
This one was better-looking than those, she supposed.
Maybe because it was well cared for?
She had once caught and eaten one out of a craving for chicken.
It hadn’t been particularly good.
Maybe a well-groomed griffon would taste better.
At that moment.
“KREEEE!!”
The griffon lurched to its feet.
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden!”
“KREEE! KREEE!”
The griffon beat its wings frantically, straining to break away from its spot.
The female professor lashed chains of mana around the griffon and began trying to calm it down.
“Whoa, whoa! Settle down!”
The griffon folded its wings and barely managed to sit back in place.
But its body was still trembling.
At the same time, it refused to tear its gaze away from the direction Da-hong was standing.
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
“Whoa, damn, scared me….”
“Why is it acting like that all of a sudden?”
“I’ve never seen a griffon do that before….”
“The pressure coming off that thing is insane though.”
Se-ha stared at the griffon with a baffled expression.
“Maybe it got agitated from all the people. Still, as expected of the professor… she got it under control right away….”
Da-hong, seeming to lose interest, turned her gaze away from the griffon.
“Oh, what am I doing. We need to head to the waiting area now. Follow me.”
Se-ha led the way down the passage leading inside.
Da-hong followed after him without a word.
Meanwhile, one of the angel’s masks did not look away until Da-hong had disappeared at the end of the passage.
***
The exam began.
Students were called up one by one in order.
Summons appeared, one after another.
Spirit-type, undead-type, divine-type, beast-type….
The professors held up measuring devices, ran tests, and assigned scores.
Some drew gasps of admiration; others received words of disappointment.
Then a familiar name was called.
“Lee Sang-jun.”
It was the student who had blocked Se-ha at the school gate earlier.
Sang-jun strode out into the examination area.
The atmosphere at the professors’ panel shifted.
“I hear that student is the top candidate among this year’s summoner track?”
“That’s right. His mana output is high, and his summoning proficiency is overwhelmingly above his peers.”
Sang-jun looked as though he already knew this, his expression brimming with confidence.
The spectator stands reacted as well.
“It’s Lee Sang-jun.”
“He’s basically guaranteed first place, right? Written exam third, practical first.”
“Probably first overall, excluding Han I-sol.”
“His salamander is seriously huge.”
Sang-jun took his position at the center of the examination area.
Without hesitation, he deployed his summoning circle.
A flawless circle spread open in an instant, without a single error.
*Fwoom!*
Flames burst forth.
*ROOAAR!*
And a massive fire lizard appeared.
“Ohhh…”
A wave of awe swept through the spectator stands.
There had been other students who summoned salamanders before, but the size this time was different.
Its body length was three times that of a person.
Its scales, blazing red-hot, gleamed with a vivid sheen.
Its golden eyes were like the sun itself, and the fiery mane rising along its back burned with fierce vitality.
The head professor leaned forward.
“That size… not bad at all.”
“The individual’s condition is excellent as well.”
The professor beside him held up a measuring device and spoke.
“Pure bloodline, and the mana density is remarkably high. Maintaining a salamander of this caliber requires considerable mana control on the summoner’s part.”
The professors exchanged remarks back and forth, then each began noting something down.
A moment later, the head professor pointed toward a target.
“Sang-jun, we’ll be assessing your summon’s combat capability. Please attack.”
Lee Sang-jun lowered his hand. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
The salamander opened its jaws wide.
*FWOOOOOSH!!*
Flames poured toward the target.
The target melted in an instant.
“Whoa—!”
“That’s dangerous!”
The heat reached all the way to the spectator stands.
Students in the front rows reflexively shrank back.
The head professor delivered his final assessment.
“Lee Sang-jun. Mana output 91, attack power A, individual condition A. Top scores in this cohort. Well done.”
Applause erupted.
“Wait, actually 91?”
“That’s insane….”
“First place confirmed.”
Sang-jun took a sweeping bow like an actor on stage, then made his exit.
As he did, he glanced toward where Se-ha was sitting and smirked.
Se-ha saw it, but forced himself to look away.
After that, more summons appeared one by one.
A skeleton soldier rattled forward and swung a rusted sword.
A seahorse-like summon fired a jet of water.
But no one managed to make an impact that surpassed Sang-jun’s salamander.
Time passed.
“Next—Yu Se-ha.”
The waiting area fell momentarily silent.
Everyone looked at Se-ha.
Written exam, first place.
But a failing student.
If he failed to summon again this time, expulsion.
Perhaps because of that, everyone was watching him with eyes full of curiosity.
Se-ha drew a deep breath.
Then rose from his seat.
“Da-hong, let’s go.”
“Okay.”
The two walked out side by side into the examination area.
A wave of murmuring spread through the spectator stands.
“Is that the summon?”
“She didn’t even deploy a summoning circle?”
“She looks exactly like a human.”
“She’s got horns, but… that’s a summon?”
There was a reaction at the professors’ panel as well.
The head professor asked.
“Yu Se-ha. Did your summon appear without a summoning ritual?”
Se-ha answered timidly.
“Ah, she was already summoned, so….”
“…”
The professors exchanged glances.
The summoning ritual itself didn’t technically factor into the evaluation score.
So there was nothing against the rules.
The head professor raised the measuring device.
A number appeared.
*0.*
“Hm…?”
The professor’s brow furrowed.
Zero?
That was a reading that shouldn’t exist for any living being.
“Is it broken?”
“Seems like it.”
The professor took out a backup measuring device and aimed it at Da-hong.
But the result was the same.
Zero.
The professor muttered, as if something didn’t add up.
“…No mana is being detected whatsoever.”
The murmuring grew louder.
“Zero? Even the weakest ones register at least a one.”
“Is that actually a summon?”
“Are they cheating?”
The head professor looked at Se-ha.
“Are you certain this is your summon?”
“…Yes, she is.”
Se-ha gripped his trembling hands and answered.
The professors conferred briefly.
“This is an unprecedented case.”
“Per regulations, we can’t evaluate without a measured score, but…”
The head professor let out a sigh.
That said, he couldn’t assign a grade to a student without any measurement at all.
“Yu Se-ha. We’ll substitute the evaluation with a combat ability test. I’m sorry, but it seems you’ll have to accept a penalty on the measurement score.”