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The second practical exam was taken by three people at a time.

Mitran was quite nervous, but thanks to the potion he had taken before the exam, he managed to remain calm somehow.

‘It’s okay. It’s okay. I am the pride of our family.’

Mitran was the eldest son of a promising Viscount family.

He had received private tutoring from excellent teachers since he was young and had mastered the family’s swordsmanship to the point where it became a part of his body.

With talent added to his efforts, he was called the future of the Viscount family.

Although he couldn’t enter Ivecar Academy as a student, he graduated from another academy with excellent grades.

Now it was his turn to join Ivecar as a teacher.

He couldn’t afford to fail this time.

People continued to go up to the second floor. Mitran unknowingly showed a nervous demeanor, trembling in his legs.

How much time had passed?

“Group 7! Mitran, Ivara, Ethan. Please come up to the second floor!”

Upon hearing the staff’s words, the three of them stood up simultaneously from their seats.

‘Hmm?’

Mitran confirmed the two people who would be taking the exam with him. He knew one of them, but the other was someone he didn’t recognize.

‘Where did he come from?’

The recruitment exam for teachers at Ivecar Academy was not open to just anyone.

‘Could it be that he made a donation and came for the test?’

Mitran smirked.

In the second practical exam, the competitors who entered together were important. If he performed well in the exam while the others didn’t, he could receive additional points accordingly.

‘I already know a lot about the reviews of those who have already been accepted to Ivecar.’

Of course, all of that was obtained through the family’s money and connections.

The power of the family was his own power.

If he was competing against those two, it seemed likely that he could gain extra points in this practical exam.

With that thought, he felt a bit relieved.

Mitran took a deep breath and calmly went up to the second floor.

“Hello!”

As the first one to enter, Mitran greeted loudly.

There were three interviewers there.

The principal was in the center, and the vice principal and the head of the Knightly Department, which included swordsmanship, were beside him.

“Group 7, we will begin the practical exam. This time, you will be lecturing on the Revinade swordsmanship that you saw in the first written exam.”

As the principal spoke, Mitran inwardly sighed.

He never expected the second practical exam to be a lecture.

Among the three themes of the second practical exam, lecturing was the most difficult.

He had heard that if he showed even the slightest opening in front of the principal, vice principal, and the head of the Knightly Department, he would be bombarded with questions.

It was said that when the three highest-ranking officials in the academy put pressure on you, you would forget what you knew and find it even more difficult to think on your feet.

Even those who were good would falter, and those who were not good would struggle even more in this infamous practical exam.

That was why the academy was well aware of the notoriety of the lecture among the categories of the second practical exam.

‘So I heard that it doesn’t go well!’

Mitran began to feel even more nervous before it even started.

“Applicant Mitran Lyovitz, please begin.”

“Yes!”

Mitran made an effort to calm his nerves.

Paradoxically, the more difficult it was, the higher the likelihood that those two wouldn’t be able to do it perfectly.

Mitran stepped forward calmly and started explaining about the Revinade swordsmanship.

He had already read the Revinade swordsmanship textbook during the first written exam.

Among the people gathered here, there was no one who couldn’t memorize the swordsmanship textbook in a short period of time, so lecturing itself wasn’t difficult.

“Well, um, Revinade swordsmanship is…”

Based on the textbook, Mitran did his best to explain the Revinade swordsmanship. He had repeated the textbook countless times before.

He thought about how to lecture in a way that students could understand well and put in a lot of effort.

He even demonstrated by wielding the sword himself.

He made sure to show different techniques and movements to make it easy for the viewers to understand.

However, for some reason, the three examiners didn’t ask any significant questions. They were supposed to ask tough questions.

‘Could it be that I’m doing too well?’

If that were the case, it made sense.

If there were no questions to ask, then they wouldn’t ask any.

After finishing the lecture, Mitran took a deep breath.

“That’s it.”

“Hmm.”

As soon as it ended, the three examiners exchanged glances and quickly wrote something on their score sheets.

Mitran thought that this was it.

The other two wouldn’t be any different.

They could follow Mitran’s lecture as an example.

If that happened, it would practically be over.

With renewed confidence, Mitran took a seat in the designated area at the back.

“Now, next is Ethan Whiskers.”

“Yes.”

Ethan, who had been waiting, smiled and stepped forward.

“I’m Ethan Whiskers.”

Ethan briefly introduced himself and immediately started explaining.

“Well, um, so, ah, how should I explain this?”

However, his lecture didn’t flow smoothly.

For a moment, Ethan fell silent and gently stroked his chin, as if pondering.

‘That’s it! That’s it! I’ve surpassed him!’

That was a significant deduction of points. Mitran was delighted. This was it. His chances of passing had greatly increased!

Overwhelmed with joy, Mitran couldn’t control his expression and let out a slight smile.

And then, at that moment.

“Are you the Head of the Knightly Department?”

Ethan called out the Head of the Knightly Department, a man with deep wrinkles on his forehead and blue hair.

“Could you please come forward?”

For a moment, Mitran looked at Ethan with a gaze that seemed to question his sanity.

* * *

‘So this is Ethan Whiskers.’

Ethan Whiskers stood before the principal, who observed him closely.

It was their first face-to-face encounter.

‘His answer sheet was astonishing.’

After examining the answer sheets together, the principal directly called Claudie, who had supervised the exam.

Then the principal asked how Ethan Whiskers had taken the exam.

Claudie, initially puzzled by the question, seemed to grasp the situation.

-He continuously wrote without taking a break. Perhaps he intended to regain his position as an honorary teacher after seeing the difficulty of the exam.

Upon hearing Claudie’s response, the three examiners could only be more astonished.

‘The Revinade manual provided for the exam was significantly different from the original.’

It was an improved version specifically designed for the exam, not the original manual.

As a result, even those who knew the original Revinade swordsmanship would find it difficult to solve the problems easily.

-He must have written down the original Revinade swordsmanship as is or roughly.

That was the only logical conclusion Claudie could reach.

‘The purpose of providing an improved manual for the exam was to test the ability to discern.’

Therefore, applicants were generally expected to interpret and write down the answers based on both their prior knowledge of Revinade swordsmanship and the improved manual.

However, Ethan had solely relied on the improved manual to interpret and write down his answers.

Since the three examiners were the ones who made the improvements, they could easily discern what was correct by examining the answers.

‘He understood that perfectly on the spot. The modified Revinade swordsmanship.’

Only Ethan’s answer sheet differed from the others.

While others had mixed and interpreted the original Revinade swordsmanship with the modified version, Ethan alone had a complete understanding of the modified Revinade swordsmanship and wrote his answers accordingly.

Furthermore, hearing Claudie’s story was even more shocking.

‘The fact that he didn’t take a single break means he understood everything after reading it once. There was no need to pause in between.’

That was the more astonishing part.

‘There has been only one person like that so far.’

And currently, he was known as the Sword Emperor.

‘Applicant Mitran, I’m sorry, but your lectures didn’t make it into my mind at all.’

The same might be true for the other two as well.

The attention of the three examiners was now solely focused on Ethan Whiskers, who had aced the written exam.

They were curious about how he would perform in the practical exam.

“Please begin.”

Just as Ethan was about to start explaining, he suddenly stopped and called forth the head of the Knight Department.

“Me?”

The startled head of the Knight Division looked at the principal, who found the situation quite amusing.

“Go ahead and give it a try. However, Ethan Whiskers, you do understand that this goes beyond the line, right?”

“You asked me to give a lecture. And the students who are listening to me are the ones who pay my fees, aren’t they? It’s only natural to have the students come forward, isn’t it?”

The principal couldn’t help but laugh at Ethan’s words as if he found them unbelievable.

“Indeed, hahaha. You certainly have a way with words.”

The principal’s anticipation grew even stronger.

In reality, such words should not be allowed. But everyone remembered Ethan’s answer sheet from the first written exam.

That was why the head of the Knight Department also stepped forward first.

“Revinade swordsmanship is the very fundamental sword technique taught in Ivecar. It’s good to use as a base, and it’s also quite excellent as a standalone swordsmanship.”

As Ethan adjusted his posture, he continued speaking.

“From Form 1 to Form 5, and beyond Form 5, you can freely combine and develop your own sword style. That’s probably why it was chosen as the fundamental swordsmanship of Ivecar.”

When he signaled to the head of the Knight Department with a glance, the head also adjusted his stance. Ethan slowly moved behind the head.

“From now on, I will demonstrate the Revinade swordsmanship from Form 1 to Form 5 using the body of a student.”

“What are you talking about…”

“Relax, student. If I exert too much force, you might get hurt. You have to trust me completely.”

As Ethan moved discreetly behind the head, he lifted his sword and used it like a baton.

“…!”

“Lower your waist, move forward, and thrust, that’s Form 1.”

As Ethan pressed his sword against the head of the Knight Department’s shoulder and lightly kicked the back of his thigh with his foot, Ethan put him in the posture of Form 1 of the Revinade swordsmanship.

“While the original Form 1 feels like tapping the opponent, this revised manual aims to finish with the first attack. More forceful and fierce. However, there is a greater risk if it fails.”

The sword shot forward like the claw of a beast.

The head of the Knight Division, touched by Ethan’s movement, momentarily showed a surprised expression.

Although he didn’t fully trust Ethan’s words, he had exerted some strength from his body for the sake of his lecture.

But due to the sudden turn of events, he couldn’t fully release his strength. Even if Ethan tried to move him as he desired, there were rigid parts that prevented him from assuming the perfect posture.

‘It’s perfect.’

It was a perfect posture, even surprising to the head of the Knight Department himself.

‘I can even grasp how I moved in such detail.’

This kind of instruction wasn’t originally possible from the first lesson.

To receive such guidance, one had to fundamentally trust their partner. Only then could they release their strength. But even without fully releasing his strength, Ethan made it possible.

‘How did he do it?’

“Next is Form 2. As Form 1 ends, you can immediately move on to Form 2 to compensate for its weaknesses. Form 2 has also been revised. While the original emphasizes transitioning from tapping to attacking, the revised version is just as fierce as the preceding attack. However, it’s not as fierce as before.”

Once again, Ethan’s sword moved.

And it struck precisely to make the head of the Knight Department adjust his posture.

“I like forms that combine offense and defense.”

It was only when he entered Form 2 that he could understand.

Ethan was skilled.

He didn’t just rely on his sword to force the posture; he pressed the exact spots, making it impossible for the body to resist, no matter how much strength was exerted.

He moved the body of the Knight Department as if it were his own, and the Knight Department could do nothing but assume the perfect posture.

Mitran’s mouth hung open as he watched Ethan.

‘This can’t be real.’

The other two examiners, and even the Knight Department who had temporarily taken the role of a student, were all laughing.

They were laughing so brightly that they were unaware of their own laughter.

In the face of such a sight, Mitran felt despair.

This exam had already tilted.

‘What on earth is going on? Who is this guy?’

How could someone from the Whiskers family, whose name he didn’t even know, be capable of such instruction?

“That’s all for now.”

There was nothing more to see.

For Group 7, the exam was practically over at that point.

And though the results hadn’t been announced yet, Ethan could already sense the outcome.

-Survival probability is increasing!