LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 4 - Placement Test (2)
✦ Chapter 4 – Placement Test (2) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝
“!”
As Rohan’s longsword effortlessly sliced through the exam golem, the sight shocked everyone, including the instructor, whose hitherto lazy eyes widened in astonishment. His hand stopped scratching his head, and the yawn hanging at the corner of his mouth was promptly cut short.
The students watching from behind were no different.
Having experienced the dreadful hardness of the exam golems at least once in their home country’s training, the current situation was hard to comprehend even with their own eyes.
If it had been someone well-known, they might have been able to move past their shock and express admiration, but they had never even heard of the man’s appearance or the name ‘Rohan’ before. It was simply baffling.
“…………..”
The one who found the silence and stillness most unbearable was Rohan himself. Ignoring the piercing stares from the students behind him, he nonchalantly twirled the longsword before sheathing it and addressed the frozen instructor.
“Instructor, may I leave now?”
“Ah, yes. Number 99, your name was…”
“Rohan.”
“Alright, Rohan, you may go.”
The instructor underlined Rohan’s name and drew a star next to it, rubbing his stubbly chin. All traces of drowsiness had vanished from the moment the exam began.
‘This year’s freshmen seem to be unexpectedly exceptional. Managing them will be quite the task.’
There were at least one or two promising individuals he was already aware of. This year, an unusual number of rising stars, the kind that would be considered astonishing even if there was only one per grade, were gathered.
‘And among them are two who could be called once-in-a-generation talents. Those two are here in this gym…’
For such extraordinary individuals, he didn’t even need to see their faces to know them. The details in their files alone were enough to give him a headache and tire him out.
‘Good grief… what a headache.’
The instructor sighed deeply as he looked at the names and ID photos of the next students waiting their turn.
The Northern Kingdom, where beastkin made up 90% of the population. The nation of Tigrovah, with its vast, perpetual snowfields and extensive coniferous forests — Noah Frozenheart, the princess of Tigrovah and the youngest daughter of the Snow Tiger Emperor.
And from the Eastern Federation, Samhwa, there was Ichinose Yui, the heir to the nation’s largest corporation, Tenoten.
‘I’m already feeling the stress. Maybe I should take a leave of absence.’
As an instructor, he had only one hope — unlikely as it seemed, he wished deeply that these students could spend their two years quietly, without causing trouble, and graduate without incident.
‘………..’
In any case, a storm was brewing right before his eyes. Knowing he couldn’t avoid it even if it killed him, the instructor called out the next number in a weary voice.
“Next, number 252.”
“Right here!”
Noah, who had been sitting beside Ichinose, raised her hand enthusiastically and stood up. Rather than heading towards the wall lined with weapons, she boldly walked to the front with her bare fists.
She waited before the newly prepared golem, her round ears twitching in anticipation of the procedural question.
“Ahem… Name.”
“Noah Frozenheart!” she announced vigorously, her name echoing throughout the gymnasium.
Hearing such an illustrious name, the buzz among the students swelled like the waves of a nighttime ocean, and the instructor quickly quelled any potential disruptions.
“Any student who disrupts the exam with idle chatter will be penalized.”
After warning the rest, the instructor’s attention returned to Noah, who seemed unbothered by the whispers behind her, her lips curled with eagerness for the signal to begin.
The instructor, noting her empty hands, gave a formal caution.
“Not using a weapon doesn’t grant extra points, nor will it allow for a redo. Are you aware that personal artifacts are forbidden as well?”
*Nod, nod.*
She vigorously nodded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Her tail swished back and forth excitedly.
“Then… Begin within one minute.”
Just as the instructor signaled the start, echoing the same prompt given to Rohan…
“Hmph!”
As if she had been holding back for ages, Noah hurled her clenched fist forward without hesitation, and at the moment of impact with the golem, a roar and chill radiated outward.
*BOOOOOM!!!*
A white, frosty mist, like a dense cloud, billowed out, obscuring the view and filling the gymnasium.
It resembled a scene straight out of a frozen wasteland.
Rohan, who had finished his test and was observing, inwardly erupted in a firework display of admiration, brushing off the frost that had settled on his uniform.
─ Holy crap, what was that?!
─ Wh-What the hell was that?!
─ That’s Tigrovah’s…
As the startled students began to buzz amongst themselves, the instructor activated his mana and spoke.
“Silence.”
The dispersed cold air gathered in the instructor’s palm, forming a lump of pure white ice before dropping to the floor with a thud.
At the same time, the spot where Noah Frozenheart and the test golem had been standing was revealed.
All that remained before her was something that appeared to be the lower half of the golem. The unidentified powder scattered across the floor painted a clear picture of what had transpired.
“Can I go now?”
“Yes. You’re dismissed.”
This time, he had expected it. Therefore, the instructor’s outward reaction was composed. He merely tapped the star he had drawn next to her name with his pen, reminiscing about what he had just witnessed.
‘It seems heritage cannot be masked…’
Noah Frozenheart’s explosive display was not the result of an inability to control her overflowing mana. Just as it was a talent to imbue projectiles with mana, such as bullets, arrows, and throwing weapons, she was refining her innate talent and power into its ideal form.
“Next, number 253.”
“Yes.”
Ichinose Yui stood up, her black tachi in hand, and with closed eyes, she strode purposefully towards the wall.
The girl stopped in front of the wall, gently laying down her own sword before picking up a standard academy blade. Moving forward, she exuded a calm precision.
“Name.”
“Ichinose Yui.”
Her name, softly spoken, stirred another wave of murmurs among the students. Yet, unlike before, they quickly quieted down, wary of the instructor’s reaction.
“Begin within one minute.”
“Understood.”
With a brief nod, Ichinose shifted her left foot back.
Then, she leaned slightly forward, her upper body tilting gracefully. Her pale thumb flicked against the guard, and with a sharp click, the blade emerged from its sheath.
“…………..”
Without a single shout, the girl’s hand flowed smoothly, her draw releasing a swift, clean arc.
*Shing—!*
The blade, swung diagonally, sliced cleanly through the golem. It was a refined, controlled cut, a stark contrast to Noah Frozenheart’s explosive approach.
With a single, sharp ring, the sword returned to its sheath as quickly as it had been drawn.
The upper half of the golem, severed at the seam, slid off and crashed to the floor.
“I will step down now.”
“…Very well.”
The instructor kicked the fragments of the golem out of the way as he scratched his head with his pen.
Just how did he end up with these monsters at the front of the line?
It felt almost unfair to the students who were yet to be tested.
“Next, number 103.”
“Ah, y-yes…!”
As the next student stepped forward nervously, the subsequent exams unfolded just as the instructor had anticipated. From Ichinose Yui’s turn onwards, none managed to cut the golem in half or cause significant damage. Many couldn’t even leave a scratch.
Several students wore expressions of despair, overwhelmed by the sheer gap in ability, but the instructor knew well…
He was well aware that the performances of those two were anomalies. Their skills, though extraordinary, were not reflective of Orion Academy’s actual average — a fact proving that the majority of students were, in fact, painting a normal, and expected, picture.
｢✾｣
The practical exam concluded without incident, with no student raising objections or concerns.
However, there was one guest who lingered in the gymnasium.
While Noah Frozenheart, unable to bear her hunger any longer, had left to grab a bite to eat, Ichinose Yui remained in the gymnasium.
“………..”
In silence, the girl approached the remains of the golems, set aside post-examination.
According to the Orion Academy community forum’s practical exam reviews, only two freshmen had successfully cut through the test golem with a sword.
If one were to include all weapons besides swords, there were maybe five who had managed to either split or shatter the golem.
Even Noah had pulverized her golem with her bare fist, not even bothering with her primary weapon.
However, with swords, there were only two.
Ichinose Yui herself…
And one other, unfamiliar man.
‘…Number 99.’
She had felt the unhidden stares at herself and Noah at the beginning.
Being the target of gazes was nothing new to her, so she didn’t pay it much mind.
However, his eyes were different; they weren’t filled with lust or anything of that sort, but rather a clear, warm curiosity that she found strangely unoffending.
‘Noah must have felt it too.’
She didn’t know why he was looking at them like that.
But the moment he swung his sword…that moment was vividly etched in her memory.
It directly contradicted the warmth she had sensed in his gaze.
The movement of his cut… It was as if the very essence of killing intent had taken physical form.
Like someone who was well-acquainted with taking lives.
‘Whether it was a skill or not…’
It didn’t matter.
In the end, the effectiveness of an offensive skill relied on a strong foundation in the basics.
“……………”
*Tap, tap*
With eyes closed, she clicked her way to where number 99’s sword had cleaved through the golem. Standing before the sliced remnant, she touched the severed surface.
The cut was smooth.
A feeling of impatience led her to bite her lower lip.
*Tap*
Stepping back, the girl placed her own weapon down and, without hesitation, reached for the sword hanging on the wall.
With a fluid motion, she swung the blade.
*Shing!*
A sharp strike split the already severed golem once more.
She immediately touched the surface of the newly created section.
“Ah…”
Compared to the cut made by number 99, hers wasn’t as smooth.
There was a stark contrast—a screaming jaggedness to her own slice; it conveyed a forced severance.
↤ END OF CHAPTER ↦
Trivia :-
A tachi (太刀) is a type of sabre-like traditionally made Japanese sword (nihonto) worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan.
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