As the rising sun gradually dispelled the chill of the night, the streets, buildings, and roadside benches were illuminated by the dawn. Time passed, and the shafts of light stretched longer. The city of Ikerite seemed to awaken under the benevolent touch of the divine.
Shops lining the streets began to open their doors as enthusiastic shopkeepers exchanged greetings with each other. Beneath the awnings of sidewalk cafes, the delicate aroma of coffee drifted through the air, mingling with light, upbeat noise that filled the bustling streets.
Early commuters began to appear, hurriedly weaving through the crowds in Ikerite’s city center. Amid the morning breeze that carried the faint scent of fruit and flowers, Lance walked along the streets of the city with Talia.
Bathed in the morning sunlight, he wore a serene expression paired with a gentle smile, exuding an aura of warmth and cheer. He was in high spirits, as he found both the entrance exam and the artificial Shadow Realm to be quite entertaining. Talia, on the other hand, looked as though she were trudging to her own funeral. She was extremely reluctant to accompany Lance to Ikerite University again.
The last time she was with him, the constant stares from passersby had made her skin crawl. Fortunately, the third test of the entrance exam would not be broadcast live to the public. Only the teachers would be watching from behind the scenes. Otherwise, Talia would have called in sick rather than tag along with Lance today.
"Tali, are you in a bad mood?" Lance had noticed that Talia had been much quieter over the past couple of days. In particular, she seemed to be actively against spending time with him today.
Talia ignored him. She simply gazed straight ahead and kept walking. Lance quickened his pace slightly, breaking into a light jog, and stole a furtive glance at her face. Her expression was icy, and she still wasn't paying him any attention.
Yet, in that brief moment, Lance had caught a glimpse of the look in her eyes. It made him feel as though she truly hated him. He faltered and stood there in a daze while scratching his head. He had felt like their relationship was finally improving, even if just a little. So why did her attitude suddenly take a nosedive?
A demon's mind is truly hard to fathom. Especially that of an old crone who’s been single for over a century.
Just as Lance thought that, Talia happened to walk right up beside him. She turned and stared at him suspiciously. For some reason, she felt an inexplicable urge to kill Lance. Yet, he hadn't even said anything, and his expression looked perfectly normal...
Lance asked gently, "What is it, Tali?"
There was no trace of his previous impolite thoughts.
"It's nothing." Talia looked away from Lance and walked on ahead.
"Chasing the cloud away~ Chasing the clouds away..." Lance stepped forward as he hummed a cheerful tune and followed her.
***
Half an hour later, they arrived at Ikerite University, in the seventh floor atrium of the Learning and Education Hall. Sunlight streamed through the massive glass dome, refracting into soft arcs of light that lent a touch of tranquility to the open space.
As light and shadow danced across the floor, Lance walked along, watching faculty members come and go in the surrounding corridors. He entered the examination venue once more for the scheduled test, unable to help but admire the architect's visionary design.
In the distance, the massive magical terminal used to activate the artificial Shadow Realm looked like it had been repaired. However, a prominent new sign had been added: "Do NOT Force a Reboot." The fierce strokes on the sign suggested that whoever had posted the warning had been quite furious.
Unlike the second round of the exam, there weren’t many students or faculty members waiting here today. The third round was coordinated by instructors from the Sages’ College, and the chief examiner for each session would appear directly inside the Shadow Realm.
Dean Lawrence was absent as well. He held responsibilities within the Church of the Goddess of Fate, which often required him to leave the capital.
Lance noticed two people looking toward him as he stepped around the marble threshold into the waiting area.
One was Instructor Theresa, who was holding a tablet-like magical device, and she was clearly responsible for guiding candidates at the venue. She and Lance had met previously during the entrance exam's attribute test. Theresa offered Lance a faint, welcoming smile as soon as she saw him.
The other person was wearing an examinee bracelet identical to Lance's, so clearly his teammate for the third round.
The exam notification he received yesterday had outlined the details of the test. The theme for the third round was combat and survival. In this type of exam, healing mages and support mages often struggled to operate effectively on their own. Consequently, the university had adopted a team-based assessment format, pairing offensive mages with healers and support mages.
Teams usually consisted of three members. This approach also tested the students' ability to coordinate as a team. After all, in a real Shadow Realm dimension, the team's fate was shared. They succeeded or failed together. If an accident occurred, it usually meant total annihilation. There was no room for "what-ifs."
When Lance got a closer look of his teammate, he realized she was a lofty noblewoman. In fact, both parties were somewhat surprised.
At the end of the second test two days prior, this same person had asked Lance how long it took him to clear the stage, and he had modestly replied, "Less than fifty minutes."
"Less than fifty minutes?"
At the time, Hyperion seemed amused, and her tone had carried a hint of incredulity. However, after leaving the exam venue the day before yesterday, she had heard the news. Someone with black hair and green eyes had cleared the stage in just ten minutes.
At the time, she had wondered. Surely it couldn't be the guy who had been standing right next to her, the one who claimed his clear time was "under fifty minutes?" Now, she was certain. He was that sly, deceptive fellow.
Lance rubbed the back of his head out of slight embarrassment. He hadn't anticipated that the third test would use this specific method to form teams.
Upon observing their subtle reactions, Theresa asked out of curiosity, "Do you two know each other?"
Both of them shook their heads. Honesty was key among teammates. There was no reason to hide anything, so Lance was the first to introduce himself candidly, "My name is Lance Wilford. I’m a White Mage, though I focus more on utility than healing."
After a brief silence, the young heiress to a dukedom hesitated slightly before stating her name, "Hyperion Aransar. I’m a bit of an assassin-role type."
Her introduction was exceedingly brief. Clearly, she did not yet fully trust Lance. However, he nodded, with no intention of pressing the matter further. He glanced toward the entrance of the examination hall, seemingly waiting for their third teammate.
"No need to wait, chances are, that person isn't coming," interjected Hyperion.
Her sudden remark instantly drew puzzled looks from both Lance and Theresa. "Why?"
Hyperion spread her hands, her eyes cold and sharp. "Barring any surprises, we’ll likely receive word when the exam starts that he’s unable to participate for some reason. As for the specific reason? Well, that depends on whether they used coercion or bribery."
Although her tone conveyed a sense of resignation, she could not conceal the look in her eyes that betrayed the violent rage burning within her. She knew all too well the tactics employed by those high-ranking nobles who loved to manipulate the situation.
"Er... Lady Hyperion, th-this is just a hypothesis, right?"
Hyperion’s aura was the polar opposite of Lance’s. It was enough to send a slight shiver down Theresa’s spine. If Lance was like the pure, warm sunlight of a spring day, then Hyperion was like an ominous entity beyond redemption, lurking in the depths of a cold, filthy pool of blood.
Theresa glanced at Lance. The person in question, however, remained composed and unperturbed, his expression as unreadable as ever. Since Lance hadn't said anything, she, as the teacher, felt it wasn't her place to offer an opinion either.
***
Minutes passed. Just as the exam was about to begin, sure enough, the magical device in Instructor Theresa’s hand chimed with a notification. Their third teammate had voluntarily withdrawn from the exam, having decided to transfer to a different school.
Theresa looked troubled. "This is..."
Deep down, she had realized that this seemingly random occurrence might not be so random after all. After all, even Hyperion had anticipated it. Theresa asked hesitantly, "Should I ask the dean or the associate dean what we should do?"
She knew that the practical exam, which was overseen by Ferrat, would be anything but easy. Moreover, Ferrat was someone who didn’t want Hyperion admitted to the university. With only Hyperion and Lance, a White Mage with negligible mana power, there was absolutely no chance of their team passing.
Hyperion shook her head. Her icy gaze softened slightly as she looked at Theresa. Although she had rarely experienced goodwill from strangers, having grown up used to the malice of others, she could still, to some extent, distinguish between those who meant well and those who didn't.
"Those nobles love orchestrating ‘flawless’ coincidences. They never leave a shred of evidence for anyone to use against them." Hyperion revealed a mocking smile. "Even though today’s exam isn't being broadcast publicly, I imagine plenty of eyes are watching this stage from the shadows."
They could have gone further, having Hyperion’s last teammate participate normally only to play the saboteur or even stab her in the back.
However, if it were too obvious and Dean Lawrence caught even a hint of foul play, he could launch a thorough investigation into the exam's fairness. That was why the manipulators preferred to engineer a ‘coincidence.’
Lance rested his chin on his hand and frowned, seemingly deep in thought. "So, why didn't those people come after me?"
Hyperion fell silent for a moment. She couldn't tell if Lance genuinely didn't understand the situation or was merely feigning ignorance. She finally offered a brief explanation, "These people care about appearances. Simply bribing two examinees would make the whole thing look too staged, hardly a flawless coincidence."
Of course, she was certain that someone as sharp as Lance would easily grasp the real reason. Those bigwigs didn't believe he possessed any real combat capability. Moreover, keeping him around allowed the exam to proceed normally, effectively turning him into dead weight that would drag Hyperion down.
If she was the only examinee left, the college wouldn't be cruel enough to force her into a solo showdown with the chief examiner. Instead, they would likely slot her into another team and slightly ramp up the overall difficulty of the exam.
"I see. That’s a real shame, then..." Lance nodded slightly and sighed. He wore the expression of someone who had just missed out on a chance to make a fortune.
"Are you really that eager to be bought off by them?" Hyperion stared at Lance, at the look of undisguised regret on his face, and found it utterly ridiculous.
What had she done to warrant such disrespect? He wasn't even bothering to put on an act anymore. Even if the guy possessed some unique talent, he was ultimately no different from those scumbags with malicious intentions.
Lance barked out a cold laugh and nodded. "Of course."
Then he elaborated. "Heh, if they dared to mess with me, I’d have gathered evidence right on the spot. Then I’d donate the illicit funds to the Church of the Goddess of Fate, report the group for bribery and disrupting the order of an official state exam, and invoke the 'Clerical Intervention' clause on page 675 of The Legal Code of the Kingdom of Hutton.
"I’d also ask the church to use divine magic to trace the source of the tainted funds and conduct a thorough investigation. The Goddess’s clerics would rule that I had no subjective intent to extort, that I was merely gathering evidence. I’d then receive commendation and protection from the church; I might even become an initiate cleric in one fell swoop..."
He spoke with such righteous conviction that, had he been holding a copy of the legal code, he likely would have flipped it open right then and there to explain it all.
Hyperion stared at Lance, utterly flabbergasted.
Theresa’s lips parted in astonishment. leaving her speechless for a long moment.
Hyperion realized she had misunderstood Lance, and decided to retract her earlier assessment. Those unscrupulous nobles were mere novices in front of Lance, the true expert of scheming!