We left the room and went to a different location for the next exam.
We ended up in a strange space that wasn't a room.
There were several small rooms there.
The examinees, including me, entered the space and stopped.
It seemed the final exam would be held in this space.
Speaking of which, the number of examinees... has decreased.
Out of the 100 or so examinees, only 60 were left, less than two-thirds.
Annis came to the front of the examinees and began to explain the exam as usual.
"Alright, this is the final exam. I will now explain the practical exam. The exam is simple. Two examinees I call will fight each other. You will be graded based on who wins and who loses.
Losing does not mean you are disqualified.
Now, for the prohibited acts. The prohibited acts here are killing your opponent, attacking until your opponent is incapacitated, and attacking after the match is over. If we see any of these, the person will be disqualified.
Now, let's begin. First, I will call 10 pairs of 20 people."
After the explanation was over, the examinees were called in pairs.
There were 10 rooms for the exam, and it seemed one pair would be tested in each room.
And then...
"Next, Yuto and Zaco. Go to room number 4."
I was called surprisingly early and went to the front of room number 4.
A man was standing there waiting. Since there were no other examinees, I knew the man was Zaco.
I remembered the man named Zaco. He had a round, plump body and looked down on people.
The man named Zaco was the round one from the two guys who bothered me in the yard yesterday.
"You're here, transferred person. I'm finally going to beat the crap out of you."
When Zaco saw me, he smirked and said the same thing as he did yesterday.
He's saying something ridiculous again... I really don't like this guy.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just go inside."
I felt that it would be a hassle to take him seriously, so I just brushed him off and went into the room.
The room was mostly white and had enough space for us to move around freely.
The room also had a window, so people from the outside could watch the exam.
We stood in the middle of the room, facing each other with some distance between us. Then a proctor stood between me and Zaco.
"The practical exam will now begin! Prepare your Maseirin."
Zaco put his Maseirin on his finger, and a long wooden stick appeared in his hand.
I was also about to take out my Maseirin and put it on my finger. I didn't want him to know I couldn't use magic, but I couldn't make him wait anymore, so I put my Maseirin on and summoned my Jinki, a rusty greatsword.
The moment I did...
"Hahaha! What's with that Jinki? Can you not use magic?"
Zaco laughed loudly and mocked me.
I knew it. The moment I showed him this Jinki, he knew I couldn't use magic... I could see the people outside the window laughing, too.
"Yeah... this is going to be easy. There's no way I'll lose to a weakling who can't use magic. They say you're from another world, but you're not that great, are you?"
Zaco kept insulting me, like a fish out of water.
I didn't mind him mocking me, but he was so loud it was making me sick.
I couldn't let him say whatever he wanted. I had to win.
"Quiet down. The practical exam will now begin. Start!"
The proctor announced, and I was about to attack when...
BOOM!
I felt something flying at me and took a step back, dodging it.
It seemed Zaco's magic was a long-range attack. That's what had just flown at me.
Seriously... I thought he was a close-range fighter since he had a wooden stick. I shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
I didn't have time to think, as Zaco's magical orbs came at me one after another.
I managed to dodge the last one, but this time there were too many. I wouldn't be able to dodge them all.
I plunged my greatsword into the floor and used it as a shield to block the attacks.
After a few more attacks, the magical orbs suddenly stopped.
I didn't know why, but I knew this was my chance to attack. I grabbed my greatsword and started running toward Zaco.
The greatsword was heavy, so I couldn't move very fast. I was so close to Zaco, but then...
BOOM!
The magical orbs started flying at me again, and a few of them hit me. I quickly plunged my greatsword into the floor again.
A single hit didn't do much damage, but getting hit by so many at once... This wasn't good.
The floor was also getting chipped away by the magical orbs, and it was getting harder to block them with this greatsword.
This is bad. What should I do...?
Then, the magical orbs stopped again.
...Why did he stop?
He could have won if he just kept attacking.
"Come on! Just let me beat you already!"
I ignored Zaco's shouts and tried to think.
Then the magical orbs started flying again.
...Maybe? I had a theory.
If my theory was correct, I could win against Zaco. But the problem was this greatsword.
I needed speed to beat Zaco, but I couldn't move fast with this greatsword.
I could leave it here, but I couldn't risk leaving it behind, just in case...
Think, think. Is there anything in my memories that can get me out of this situation...?
Damn it! I can't think of anything. What would Dion do in a situation like this...?
Dion... Maybe! That's it!
At that moment, I came up with a plan that might get me out of this situation.
But I only had one chance to do it. If I failed, I would probably lose...
But I had no choice but to take this gamble.
I waited for the perfect moment to execute my plan.
And the moment finally came. The magical orbs stopped.
Right. Zaco's magic had a limit to the number of orbs he could fire at once.
So after firing a few, he had to wait for a while before he could fire again.
But I couldn't get to him in that amount of time.
The reason was simple: the greatsword was too heavy.
If the greatsword was too heavy for me to get to Zaco, then I'll do this.
I held my greatsword in my right hand, stood in front of Zaco, and took a powerful step forward with my left foot. Then!
"HAAAAAAH!!"
I threw my greatsword at Zaco with all my might!
If it's too heavy and I can't attack from a distance, then I'll just throw the useless greatsword and hit him with it.
Zaco was surprised by my action.
I had just thrown the greatsword I was using to defend myself and left myself wide open.
But he was only surprised. The thrown greatsword was slow and to the right, so it was easy to dodge.
Zaco ran to the left to dodge it.
Zaco was sure of his victory. I was unarmed, and I couldn't use magic. And there was a distance between us, so he had the advantage of long-range attacks.
But when Zaco turned to face me, he would be shocked.
Because I was standing right in front of him.
Right. I hadn't thrown the greatsword as an attack. I had thrown it to make Zaco focus on it, lure him to that spot, and then ambush him.
That's why I had thrown the greatsword to his right. I had predicted that he would dodge to the left, and I had already run to that spot and was waiting for him.
Something I had done by chance during my last training with Dion had become useful now.
My physical abilities had been enhanced by the Transfer Correction and the training with Dion, which allowed me to move quickly and ambush him easily.
Grab!
Zaco was confused and his mind stopped when I appeared in front of him. I grabbed his right shoulder firmly with my left hand.
I was at close range with Zaco. I guessed that if he used magic, he would get caught in it himself, so he wouldn't use it.
Zaco yelped and flinched when I grabbed his shoulder. Looking at his face, he was so terrified that he had lost all will to fight.
He had no will to fight, so it was fine to stop attacking. I would just pretend to punch him in the stomach and stop at the last second to make him surrender.
Thinking that, I clenched my right fist and swung it at his stomach, intending to stop just before I hit him.
But I had made a mistake.
I had never held back in this world before. I always gave it my all in my training with Dion, or I would have died.
Because I had never held back in this world, I couldn't control the power of my enhanced body.
As a result... my fist went past the point where I intended to stop and landed squarely on Zaco's plump stomach.
"Ugh...!!"
Zaco was knocked out with a single hit and collapsed on the floor.
I was confused, as I hadn't meant to hit him, and I just stared at him.
"Zaco is out of commission! The winner is Yuto!"
The proctor announced.
It seemed I had won the match.
I was a little conflicted, but a win is a win.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you... W-well, I'll just go outside first..."
I apologized to the fallen Zaco and was about to leave the room. At that moment...
"I... can't lose to a weakling like youuuu!!"
I heard Zaco's voice from behind, and a magical orb flew past me.
I quickly turned around and jumped back to create some distance, ready to counterattack. At that moment...
"Capture him, Snake."
I was in the air when I heard a voice from behind me, and something flew past me.
The next thing I knew, Zaco's body was wrapped in something like a snake, and he was writhing on the floor.
When I looked closely, the thing wrapped around him looked like a snake.
But it was different in color and form from a normal snake, and I could feel a faint magical power from it.
I immediately understood that it was someone's magic.
Clack, clack. I heard footsteps from behind me and turned around.
It was Annis.
Her face showed an anger that anyone could see.
"Hey, I said that attacking after the match is over is against the rules, didn't I?"
Annis's words were so filled with anger that not only Zaco, but I and the proctor froze.
"Zaco, you are disqualified. Go back to the dormitory and pack your things immediately. Take him away."
The proctor obeyed Annis's order and dragged Zaco, who was still wrapped in the snake, out of the room.
Zaco tried to say something, but Annis's overwhelming presence made him unable to speak, and he was taken away.
I was left alone in the room with Annis. I was about to ask her about the magic she just used.
"Um... was that... magic?"
I asked, a little scared of Annis's imposing presence.
"Yes, it was. My magic allows me to materialize things in the form of animals."
Annis kindly answered my question.
Maybe she's not that scary and is a good person?
"I've told you what I needed to tell you. Get out of this room. You're in the way of the next exam."
Annis said to me sternly.
I was so terrified of her voice that I immediately left the room.
Then, someone spoke to me immediately.
"Hey, you won, Yuto. I was wondering what was going to happen at first."
It was Day who spoke to me.
"Yeah. What about you?"
I replied casually and asked about him.
"Not yet... But soon..."
As we were talking...
Day was called by the proctor and went into room number 4, which I had just used.
Day's opponent was the lanky, fragile man who had been with Zaco yesterday.
And the result of the match was...
A complete victory for Day.
The moment the match began, Day used his lightning magic for a long-range electric shock to stop his opponent. Then he closed in and beat him up at close range. It was an instant kill.
His magical power is high, he's strong in combat, and he's good-looking... He's a little too perfect.
After Day came back, we decided to watch the other examinees. I noticed one room.
The room where Reina was taking her exam.
Inside the room, there was a fierce blizzard.
It seemed to be Reina's magic. The blizzard made it hard for her opponent to get close to her, and she used a shield made of snowflakes, like the one she used on me, to block long-range attacks.
The match lasted for a long time. The opponent seemed to have run out of magical power and surrendered, so Reina won.
We continued to watch the other examinees after that.
And as the exam was nearing its end, something happened.
The space where the exam was being held became noisy.
The examinees were looking at something. We also looked at the same thing.
What they were looking at was a red-haired girl and an old man in a neat suit.
And the red-haired girl opened her mouth in the middle of all the noise and said,
"You simpletons, kneel before me. The person you are looking at is Valin Wolnon, a noble of the Wolnon family of Pazele."
Her way of speaking was a little odd, but I knew one thing from the look on her face...
Oh, here comes a troublemaker.