For the Anti-Magical Beast Combat Exercise in Joint Tactics, the students had to use only the training weapons prepared by Professor Hazen, break through the illusory Magical Beasts, and activate the Magic Stone.
They could not use their primary weapons, and they had to locate the Magic Stone in terrain that gave the Magical Beasts a relative advantage.
It would be easy by the time they became second-years, but it was a difficult objective for first-years, who tended to rely heavily on their weapons and had yet to develop detection abilities.
Thus, the exercise was designed to end in failure. Through that failure, Professor Hazen intended to teach them the nature and dangers of combat against Magical Beasts and prepare them for unexpected situations.
But even when failure was deliberately encouraged, exceptions inevitably emerged. Projection Magic was now sharing the performance of those exceptional students with everyone else.
Team Five, consisting of Drener, Sonia Serium, and Ceres Laplace, moved at high speed.
Drener was even running with Sonia tucked beneath one arm.
Despite suffering through the rough ride, Sonia delivered her briefing.
"Multiple small Magical Beasts on the left and two large ones on the right!"
Drener tossed Sonia into the air and took the left, while Ceres cast [Fall Delay] on Sonia and handled the right.
Drener swung his enormous greatsword and cut down the small Magical Beasts in one stroke. Sonia used a staff as tall as she was to invoke the 4th-Circle Wind Magic [Hurricane Spear], piercing the large Magical Beasts.
Once the Magical Beasts had been cleared away for the moment, Drener snatched Sonia out of the air.
"Ugh......."
"Do you require a rest?"
"No....... I'm fine......."
Ceres asked Sonia,
"Getting closer to the Magic Stone?"
"We just need to keep going straight."
"Okay."
There was no such thing as cooperation among them. Sonia merely detected the Magic Stone and the Magical Beasts, and Drener and Ceres pulverized everything she found.
With that simple premise alone, they activated the Magic Stone within the time limit and returned.
Their time was twelve minutes and thirteen seconds.
Hazen smiled as he restored the damaged forest with a magic tool.
'I may need to reorganize the teams at the professor's discretion.'
The team consisted of a direct descendant of House Laplace, a family renowned for magic, albeit less so than the Ducal House of Astraea, and two commoners.
Ceres and Drener had respectively placed first in the Magic Department and second in the Martial Arts Department. Given the disparity between the Entrance Examination and actual combat, they had seemed like a reasonably balanced combination.
But Drener was stronger than expected. Even though he and Ceres did nothing but run wild without coordinating, Sonia somehow balanced the two of them, producing the unexpected result of passing the exercise.
'Ceres Laplace's excellence is only natural, but Drener is remarkable.'
Having attained first-rate mastery of every weapon, Hazen recognized it at a glance. Drener still lacked the strength to wield a greatsword properly, yet his technique alone allowed him to handle it freely.
As though even that demanded little effort, his gaze remained fixed on the magic wielded by Ceres and Sonia.
Their team would destroy the balance at this rate, so Hazen ought to change it. But he had already warned them that their teams could not be changed, and once a piece was played, there were no takebacks.
Hazen simply took satisfaction in discovering another promising student and announced,
"Team Five. Twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. A rather good result for your first attempt."
Several impressed students applauded, but Sonia alone took satisfaction in the result. Drener and Ceres faced each other without expression.
"Not bad. But why did you not use the spatial magic you pride yourself on?"
"Because I'm hungry."
"......?"
"Big spells make me hungry faster. They also make me sleepy. So I don't use them unless I have to."
"......I see."
"But do you think greatswords are cool?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"The greatsword. You're good with it, but it looks inconvenient. I can't guess why you use it."
"I have my own reasons, but why are you curious?"
"No reason. I thought it might be interesting."
Drener still could not discern Ceres's intentions, while Ceres quickly lost interest in him and went on her way.
With Team Five's exercise complete, it was time for Team Six, consisting of Van, Reina, and Ridipin.
Reina carrying a sword and Van holding a wand were ordinary enough, but Ridipin carrying a bow and Van wearing a quiver on his back made for an unusual sight.
Hazen found it puzzling, but he had no reason to intervene, so he let it pass.
"As I told you, the time limit is fifteen minutes. Begin when I give the signal."
A moment later, a flare spell went off, and they immediately began running forward.
There were no Magical Beasts at the beginning, so they could run without interference.
But that did not last long. Ten seconds after they began running, Magical Beasts started charging at them from every direction.
"Grrrrrrrr."
"Awooooooo!"
Wolf-shaped and bear-shaped Magical Beasts lunged at Team Six, but the three students each evaded them in their own way without breaking stride.
Thirty seconds had now passed since the exercise began.
It would have been nice if they could continue evading the creatures and pressing forward, but the exercise was not easy enough to let them proceed that way.
In a mere twenty seconds, all manner of Magical Beasts had packed the space behind them. As a result, new Magical Beasts only joined from the front, left, and right. At this rate, they would be surrounded and eliminated in an instant.
But Team Six showed no sign of panic.
Reina accelerated and cut down the Magical Beasts charging from the front. Ridipin supported her with warning shots. Van, meanwhile, set the forest ablaze.
FWOOOOSH!
【Fire】 erupted from the tip of his wand and devoured the left, rear, and right sides all at once.
The students watching through Projection Magic reacted in shock, while Hazen raised the corners of his mouth and let out a disbelieving chuckle.
'That reckless fool......!'
A forest was a beast's natural terrain. Magical Beasts in animal forms held a far greater advantage there than humans did.
For that reason, the foundation of combat against Magical Beasts was terrain shaping: eliminating the advantages the creatures gained from their surroundings or turning the terrain to one's own advantage.
And Team Six was steadily shaping the terrain exactly as he had hoped.
Van's fire burned the trees, and Ridipin shot those trees down, creating blazing fences that blocked both flanks.
The Magical Beasts avoided the walls of flame and converged on the front and rear of Team Six.
Because the trees had fallen in a zigzag pattern, they also delayed the advance of the Magical Beasts behind them.
'He shattered the conventional wisdom that using fire in a forest is dangerous by confronting it head-on. As expected, he is anything but ordinary.'
Van's decision to simply set the forest on fire was astonishing, but Ridipin's archery, which felled trees with a single arrow, was no less extraordinary.
'Who would have thought a direct descendant of House Lightegers possessed such talent? But she hesitates every time she fires. And Van is burning each tree in time with that hesitation. You are out of your mind, Van Astraea.'
Furthermore, Hazen knew that the Magic Stone lay directly ahead of them.
That meant they had detected its location in an instant. Members of the Martial Arts Department had difficulty detecting anything without a magic tool or Aura, and none of them had yet reached the level required to use Aura. Hazen therefore naturally assumed that Van had used Detection Magic.
In truth, Van was merely following the map he had memorized while playing the game. Hazen, who had no way of knowing that, could only marvel.
While Van devoted himself to burning the forest and Ridipin created the fences, Reina single-handedly cleared the way ahead.
Unlike the destructive Drener, Reina eliminated the Magical Beasts one by one with precision and sharp efficiency.
'She seems slightly lacking for the top student of her year, but her skill has already reached the level of an Apprentice Knight.'
Thus, Team Six took five minutes and twenty-one seconds to find and activate the Magic Stone through a method that was both orthodox and brute-force.
A new record had been set for the Anti-Magical Beast Combat Exercise in Iris Academy's Joint Tactics course. It was approximately three minutes faster than the previous record of eight minutes and thirty-three seconds.
Hazen silently stared at Van.
'I cannot tell whether he wants to hide his abilities or show them off.......'
As Hazen watched the three innocently exchange high fives after producing such an absurd result, he could only let out a hollow laugh.
***
【Sub Event-Week 1 of the Anti-Magical Beast Combat Exercise has ended.】
【Experience acquired.】
【Proficiency of the Skill used has increased slightly.】
【Hidden Mission-New Record Set achieved. Hazen Rauzer’s Bond Level has increased significantly.】
I stretched and casually dismissed the system window.
Compared to rescuing Ria Heilin, the Anti-Magical Beast Combat Exercise had been extremely easy. All I had to do was move according to plan.
As I continued loosening up, Reina smiled brightly and held out her hand.
"Let's high-five! High five!"
Ridipin and I raised our hands and high-fived her, and Reina cheered, 'Yay~!'
Ridipin lowered her head shyly, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward.
"W-Was I helpful......?"
"Of course! You went pow! Pow! with your arrows! I don't think even I could've knocked the trees down like that."
"Th-Thank you."
After Reina praised her, Ridipin looked at me next, so I praised her as well.
"You did well. It's a shame that you haven't overcome your trauma yet, but I didn't expect you to follow my plan this precisely. That was impressive."
Ridipin could not shoot living creatures because of her trauma. That meant all she could do in battle was destroy terrain and provide covering fire.
Even then, her frequent hesitation made her timing unreliable. But as a veteran player of [Spell Breaker], I could make more than enough use of her as a teammate.
"R-Really? I was not useless, was I?"
"Of course not. If you were truly useless, I would've thrown you away already."
Unless it's Reina, I have no reason to keep anyone around unnecessarily.
Ridipin suddenly inhaled sharply in shock, and Reina gave an awkward laugh as she lightly tapped my shoulder.
"A-Anyway, you mean Ridipin did well, right?"
"That's right."
"Th-Then I am relieved......."
Just as the sudden awkwardness began to fluster me, Professor Hazen approached.
"Team Six. Five minutes and twenty-one seconds. That is the shortest time in the history of the Anti-Magical Beast Combat Exercise."
The students began murmuring among themselves.
"I knew they were fast, but five minutes?! They must've cheated!"
"I thought everyone except that Serenia girl was deadweight......."
"Are they strong because they all have high-ranking noble blood?!"
The students reacted in various ways. Some denied reality, some sank into self-loathing, and others took an interest in us.
Even Ceres Laplace, who was famous for her indifference to everything, studied us closely.
As a strange tension settled over the group, the next team's exercise began, scattering the students' attention.
"Damn it! Just do what I said!"
"I'd rather do this alone than work with you!"
"That moron......!"
The remaining three teams were eliminated in an instant as their members failed to coordinate, acted however they pleased, and made mistakes.
Now that was the typical result of a group project.
Professor Hazen restored the forest terrain with a magic tool and gathered the students again.
"Many of you failed to activate the Magic Stone in this exercise, and some did not even last the full fifteen minutes. But do not dwell on it too deeply. This exercise was designed on the assumption that you would fail."
The gloomy expressions of the students brightened slightly.
"Everything you will experience at Iris Academy from now on is 'training'. What matters is not how well you overcome that training, but what you learn from it. In that regard, Team Six's performance is worth studying for all of you."
Professor Hazen manipulated the magic tool and played the recording of our team's exercise.
He frequently paused the footage and briefly explained what results our actions had produced and what we had intended.
"In combat against Magical Beasts, it is important to create advantageous terrain in this manner. Ridipin Lightegers’ archery was crucial here. Not only did she select and topple the burning trees with a single arrow, but she also calculated their angles precisely."
Embarrassed by the praise, Ridipin bowed her head deeply and smiled.
"Reina Serenia also displayed powerful and precise swordsmanship. You could compete against the second-years without much difficulty."
"Thank you, sir!"
Ridipin and Reina had both received praise, so naturally, I would be next.
Even if the attention fell on me, I could act conceited and naturally turn the credit over to Reina and Ridipin. I was slightly excited to hear how Professor Hazen would praise me, and right on cue, he said my name.
"As for Van Astraea....... He did nothing particularly noteworthy beyond using 1st-Circle Fire Magic."
Wait! Why are you glossing over me?!
I might not have used Detection Magic, but you could at least deduce that I found the Magic Stone! And aren't you going to ask who devised the plan?!
But I could not say anything while playing the role of an incompetent scoundrel. I stared at Professor Hazen with an aggrieved expression, and he met my eyes and raised the corners of his mouth as though teasing me.
I'm only letting this go because you're a professor.......
After discussing a few more aspects of the battle, Professor Hazen stopped the magic tool.
"That will be enough for today's lesson. Since so many students were eliminated from the exercise, I will dismiss the class early."
Faced with their sudden free time, the students resumed arguments they had not finished or chatted about what they would do in their next class.
Team Six was no exception.
"Van! Don't worry too much! The professor might not have realized it, but we only did so well because of your plan. So don't be too discouraged."
"I'm not discouraged......."
"P-Please cheer up!"
"No, I'm telling you, that's not it."
No matter how many times I denied it, Reina and Ridipin comforted me without end.
I had only been annoyed with Professor Hazen, but their consolation somehow made me feel even more dejected.
"Anyway, Reina, are you busy during lunch?"
"Not really. I was probably going to train like always. Oh! You mean you want to train together!"
"No, I want to go to Stia Workshop."
"Oh, right. You asked me about that before."
Stia Workshop was a building as famous as Trihi Hall.
It had originally borne another name, but after Stia Vesta, a master artisan without equal, redesigned it, the workshop was renamed in her honor, and its fame rose accordingly.
It was fully equipped with all manner of crafting materials, tools, and work environments. Because that also made it dangerous, students ordinarily could not use it until their second year.
However, first-year students who ranked first or second could use the workshop with up to two companions.
"Since we're on the same team now, let's bring Ridipin too!"
Ah, that would be a little inconvenient.......
But before I could answer, Ridipin smiled and quietly celebrated.
"Oh, a-am I allowed to come too......?"
"Of course! That's okay with you, isn't it, Van?"
Ridipin was excited, so refusing would have felt wrong. Besides, I decided there was little difference between going with Reina alone and having Ridipin join us.
"If our top student tells me to go, I have no choice but to obey."
"Great! Then let's get something to eat first!"
"You must be very hungry."
"We did work hard, and today's menu is actually good for the student cafeteria....... N-No! It's just time to eat, that's all!"
Her flustered denial, as though she was embarrassed by her image as a food-loving girl, was adorable.