Mightiest Melee Magician

The graduation test.

Although this test had existed every year, the exact contents of it always changed year to year.

Duels, subjugation, relay race, trap disarming, poison neutralization.

They mixed a few of the categories and presented them as a single assessment.

They usually did a combination of about three categories, and there were two reasons for this.

The first was to keep the contents of the test hidden from the students before it started.

And the second was to test the overall ability of students to react.

As this was how the graduation test was like, we would call it the Challenge.

And the Challenge for this year had been announced.

“So it’s Isolation, Glacier, and Destruction.”

Isolation.

All students would start in a completely sealed, cubic room.

The first part of the Challenge would be to use magic to escape the Isolation room.

Glacier.

The second part was to safely navigate through a dangerous glacier field.

And finally, Destruction.

The test would end if you could use magic to destroy a sturdy stone wall that was resistant to most spells.

All these tasks would need to be completed within 15 minutes, and the 10 students taking the test together would start at the same time.

The faster you finished, the higher your ranking, and the students who couldn’t finish the test would receive the lowest marks.

I looked at the final test in my life and nodded.

“Seems easy.”

The students who had experienced the Grand Festival, me included, would find these to be quite familiar challenges.

As I was about to enter this test with relatively high spirits…

“......We need to do that?”

Most of the students who saw the challenge’s structure were shaking their heads.

“My father came all the way here to see me… It’d be a relief if I could just not mess up in front of him.”

“Same for me. You know that senior who graduated last year, right? That student who pissed his pants in the final test in front of all those nobles and got made fun of?”

“Of course. You also made fun of him a lot.”

“I just thought of him, but this time feeling like I’ll be in his position.”

“......”

Just like every year, the test itself wasn’t that hard.

It was made with the average level of the graduating students in mind.

Maybe that was why, in the middle of the testing grounds, a certain phrase started to make its rounds.

“Ruin will be the top student anyway.”

And most of the spectators were here to see that happen.

Even those two men watching me while hidden amongst the crowd.

“......Straang.”

“Yeah?”

“Those two men…”

I gestured to the pair of them with my chin.

“…I feel like I definitely know them.”

Hearing my words, Straang replied quite simply,

“Yeah, you’re right. You do know them.”

“Really? But how do you know that?”

“I am an Incarnation, not constricted by shape or form. Do you think that kind of Disguise will work on me?”

“Disguise?”

Disguise was a spell that could change a person’s face, also called Change Face or False Identity.

A high-ranking spell that even 6th-class magicians found hard to cast.

However, since it wasn’t always perfect, a low-level caster would have some parts become unstable, and the spell wouldn’t last long, either.

Also, if one could detect the caster’s mana, the spell was easily seen through.

I heard that 7th-class magicians were able to not just change their face, but their entire body, too.

Who were those men who could use Disguise to near perfection?

At that moment, a name entered my mind.

“......Fire King Teron.”

“That’s right.”

“And next to him… No way… The Crown Prince?”

I could tell this by the feel of his gaze.

In the second figure’s gaze, I could feel a complicated sense of jealousy.

And I guessed correctly.

“That’s right. It’s that perverted crown prince who treated you like a toy. Teron changed his face for him, but it looks like he can’t hide that disgustingness radiating off of him.”

“......”

Fire King Teron and Crown Prince Chaurmetan Raynac.

Why were they here?

If they had visited normally, this would’ve been an official event.

But they used Disguise to hide their identities for some reason, meaning that their visit was for personal reasons.

Only one reason came to mind.

“......Is it for me?”

“Obviously. Why else would they be here? It’s already been half a year since the Grand Festival ended. They would be curious to see how much stronger you’ve become.”

Yeah.

I was stronger.

Across the last three or so months, although I missed a few, I tried my best to complete the quests every day.

Thanks to this, my strength had at some point surpassed 9,900.

But what did this have to do with them?

“They’ll definitely try and make the same offer to you. To come under them.”

“......”

The crooked desire of the Crown Prince veiled behind the promise of all the gold in the world.

I made up my mind to give him a clear answer to his ominous possessiveness.

As I looked towards the haughty Crown Prince, our eyes met.

It felt like he was asking me,

“Have you been well?”

I tried to give an answer to this question, but I had to turn away after hearing…

“The 510th graduation test of Ignit Academy will now begin! I will introduce the contents of this year’s challenges!”

“YEEEEAAAAH!”

The graduation test had begun.

* * *

releases!

* * *

[Isolation, Glacier, Destruction]

A time-attack-style test where one needed to complete these three challenges as fast as possible.

The Isolation room tested the intellectual abilities of the magician.

There were many ways to escape a room that was tightly bound in locks and chains.

You could use Lock Cancel to open the lock, or Mana Gem to create a replica of the lock’s key and open it.

Or you could do something completely different.

The method didn’t matter. You just needed to get out of that room.

“7 magicians from group 6 have escaped the room at nearly the same time!”

Around 7 of 10 in a group would usually escape in 5 minutes.

However, after the glacier fields in the next challenge, the number of remaining students would fall by half.

“How unfortunate! Another student has stepped on a trap! The glacier fields are riddled with traps and hidden ice monsters. It is the most dangerous area!”

The glacier fields instantly decreased your body temperature.

To pass through it, you needed to maintain your temperature as you disarmed the traps hidden all over the place and dealt with randomly appearing ice monsters.

It tested the students’ abilities to deal with danger and unforeseen circumstances, so this was the area where the individual skills of the students became apparent.

‘About 8 minutes in Glacier.’

Only 2 minutes remained.

Onto the final area.

Destruction would be the final test of the students’ combat ability.

Using the strongest spell you could cast, you needed to break the sturdy stone wall.

However, the ones who passed Glacier were nearly guaranteed to pass this challenge as well.

“Jason Damon! Destruction time of 55 seconds! He has come 1st in group 6! This is a miracle!”

“Yahoo!”

…Jason.

You made so much fuss about making me take you with me. But it looks like you’ve made some preparations.

As I watched my peers’ attempts from the sidelines, I could form a basic image in my head.

‘So, on average, about 3 people pass, and all with less than a minute to spare.’

Even the students who achieved incredible results couldn’t finish with more than 2 minutes remaining.

Everyone had mostly used up the full 15 minutes.

Since most of this was spent in Glacier, passing through the ice as fast as possible would be the key to winning.

‘As fast as possible.’

As I was making plans…

“Next up are the students of group 7! Please come forward!”

It was finally my turn.

“In this group, we have the pride of our academy, the next generational magician Ruin Ardell! That’s right. We know that a lot of people came here to see him, so I am excited to see what kind of performance he will have for us!”

As my name was announced, a wave of whispers passed through the spectator seats.

“Where is he?!”

“There! Over there! In front of Room 1!”

The various nobles from the capital that came to see me, the Twin Princes, and…

“Ruin!”

“Young Master! Do your best!”

“Ruin! Go destroy everything!”

My family and friends.

And finally, there was Fire King Teron and the Crown Prince.

“......”

I received everyone’s shouts of support and gazes of curiosity before going inside the Isolation room.

Clank!

As soon as I entered, I could hear the lock fastening closed, and I was now truly trapped.

“Group 7 starts… now!”

As soon as the challenge started, I knocked on the walls.

The wall was so dense that it didn’t even budge.

‘Director, you’ve really prepared.’

Bang!

I put in a little more strength and properly punched it.

However, the wall still didn’t move.

It was specially designed to be unbreakable, even with my strength, in order to keep it fair for the other students.

I thought for a second if I should unlock the lock like the other students, but then another method struck me.

“......”

Hadn’t I learnt this at the Grand Festival?

Nothing in the world was perfect.

Even if the wall seemed unbreakable, there was bound to be a weakness if you looked close enough.

My eyes fell on the hinge housing the lock.

Compared to the sturdy walls, it was weak in construction.

I clasped my hand around the lock and pulled with all my might.

[Steel Destruction]

Clank! Creak.

The sound of the opening door combined with the breaking of the lock was quite refreshing.

* * *

“13… 13 seconds! The 1st room was opened in just 13 seconds!”

In that moment, everyone spectating the graduation test shot out of their seats.

“What? 13 seconds? Wh-what the hell…?”

“That’s impossible. The other magicians all took a whole 5 minutes!”

The faces of the spectators were filled with both surprise and bafflement.

However, the faces of Ruin’s friends were different.

“As expected of Ruin.”

“What’s everyone getting all antsy about? I already knew this would happen.”

[Ruin will be the top student anyway.]

Just like the words muttered all around Arena Hall suggested, this was only natural.

The two men hiding in the spectator seats with Disguise also found themselves feeling this way.

Fire King Teron and Crown Prince Chaurmetan Raynac.

“......Looks like he broke the lock.”

“More specifically, he would’ve broken the hinge the lock was attached to.”

“He’s still the same as always, right, godfather?”

“......”

Even as the Fire King was agreeing with the Crown Prince’s comment of ‘same as always’, he couldn’t hide his displeasure.

He asked the Crown Prince,

“Are your thoughts still the same, Your Highness?”

“My thoughts?”

“Your desire in coming to this place. Did you say it was your ‘final foolishness’?”

“Yes, that’s right. My final foolishness.”

Chaurmetan’s gaze was locked on Ruin.

After escaping the 1st challenge, Isolation, in just 13 seconds, Ruin charged toward Glacier without hesitation.

“Although he would become a great talent for you if you could take him in, he would bring great disaster to you in the future if you couldn’t.”

Hearing Teron’s words, the Crown Prince muttered, unfazed,

“As always, if I cannot have it, I shall destroy it.”

——