The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter14

The morning of the opening exam had finally arrived.

I followed Adela as we made our way to the exam hall. Her voice was calm as she spoke.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

If Adela said so, then it must be true.

Targeting practice, sparring, and even agility training—dodging those magic orbs that flew at me from all directions until I was on the verge of collapse. Honestly, it would have been strange if I hadn’t improved.

Ah, my legs are trembling.

“Not that it’ll help much against the others.”

“…That’s true.”

It made sense that I wouldn’t be on par with the other students who had been training for a year or, in some cases, even before entering Ardel Academy.

Even if I worked my hardest, it seemed like I was destined to lose this opening exam.

The thought of having to bark like a dog made me seriously consider dropping out, but then Adela added something.

“Basic Taming is less dependent on magic control than other subjects, so you might still manage.”

“…”

“You do seem to be smarter than Creek, at least.”

Adela seemed genuinely impressed by how quickly I had improved.

She murmured under her breath, as if regretting that I hadn’t had another week to train, during which she believed I could have beaten Creek.

“Maybe that sparring practice really paid off…”

Huh?

It helped, sure, but…

“If you keep practicing every day, you could get even better, don’t you think?”

Adela’s eyes sparkled as she asked, and my brain short-circuited.

Targeting practice and agility training were grueling, but what nearly knocked me out cold was the sparring.

During our sparring sessions, I had been thrown out of the ring exactly five times.

“Han Siha! Are you okay?”

Adela had been frantic at first, but by the next sparring session, she was dead serious.

She hesitated at first, but soon enough, there was no hesitation at all. Those sparkling eyes, that comment just now… it was all starting to add up.

“Be honest. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“…No.”

“Strange. Why was your answer delayed?”

“….”

“Even stranger. Why aren’t you answering?”

I mean, where else would you get the chance to knock around a noble?

This is all a unique experience that can only happen at Ardel Academy, right?

Of course, Adela wasn’t about to admit it.

But a strong denial is a strong affirmation.

I was sure of it from her attitude.

She didn’t think much of it at first, but as she got into it, she started to enjoy it. There was no doubt about it.

“If you’d knocked Creek around, it wouldn’t have been as fun, right?”

“That’s true…”

“But my reactions were pretty entertaining?”

Thud, thud, thud.

Adela quickly picked up her pace, practically rushing ahead.

I also quickened my pace to keep up with her.

I decided to change the subject before she really decided to run away.

“Hey, wait, don’t leave.”

I circled back to the topic of the opening exam.

“So, how’s Creek’s performance usually?”

“He’s much better than you. Around 30th place.”

“Oh, so I just need to slide in at around 10th?”

“…?”

She gave me a look that was almost disdainful.

“For your information, I used to be first in my class. Well, except when I wasn’t.”

“You mean, from the bottom!”

Thwack.

As we exchanged silly banter, a line from the story suddenly came to mind.

“Even if you were innocent, I’d still have to kill you.”

A line that was impossible to forget in the current situation.

A chuckle escaped me.

The stark contrast between that line and our current circumstances was almost laughable.

I turned my head as Adela chimed in.

“Just don’t make it too humiliating if you lose. If you do, I’ll really send you flying during our next sparring session.”

“That’s definitely motivating.”

“Right?”

“Yeah, I think another hit might send me back to the afterlife.”

“…Good luck!”

I had intended to live quietly, but from the moment I got tangled up with this girl, my plans went awry.

But, it wasn’t so bad.

* * *

In the classroom, the students were buzzing with excitement when the assistant professor appeared.

“In a few moments, we’ll begin the Basic Taming Practical Exam. Everyone, please take your seats in the front rows.”

“Why do I always end up with Taming?”

“Why? I think it’s the easiest subject.”

“Students in the back! Stop talking and line up!”

The classroom was chaotic.

Just at the beginning of the term, students were complaining about their “core subjects,” but now they were all chatting excitedly, and Assistant Professor Sellen was doing her best to calm them down.

Some had chosen Taming by choice, but it seemed most had not.

As an unpopular subject, a lot of students who couldn’t get into other courses ended up here. Adela, too, had chosen Basic Taming out of necessity.

In hindsight, it seemed like I’d picked the subject with the lowest competition.

Still, I couldn’t help but worry.

“Will I be okay?”

I had chosen three subjects in total.

Mathematics and Symbolic Analysis, Basic Taming, and Monster Anatomy.

Of these, the one I felt least confident about was Basic Taming.

Basic Taming wasn’t theoretical but a practical course.

If I needed to use magic, this would be the subject. If I could demonstrate even half of what I’d practiced, I’d consider it a success.

“Grooo?”

Basilus tilted his head and stretched out his front paws.

As he lifted his tail slightly and blinked his eyes, a girl in the front row glanced back at us. The next moment, her friends were all staring as well.

“That’s a dragon, right?”

“…Is that Han Siha?”

“It really is. Hey, I guess those rumors were true.”

The kids in the same classroom kept quiet, trying to gauge the situation, but those who hadn’t caught on yet were whispering amongst themselves.

“So that’s what he’s been relying on?”

“It’s obvious he won’t be able to control it.”

Even a dragon egg would cost a fortune.

They probably thought my family had provided it, and now they were already excitedly bad-mouthing me, talking about how I was just throwing money around.

Basilus growled softly, his eyes gleaming.

I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking.

“Hold off for today. You can bite them after the exam.”

It’s fine to bite them later, but let’s get through this test first.

Their petty comments didn’t bother me.

Whatever they thought, I was focused on doing just well enough to beat Creek in the opening exam.

As I steeled myself, clenching my fists, a voice called out.

“Everyone’s here.”

Professor Grint, dressed in a sharp suit with his head held high, opened the door and walked in. He was the one who would be assessing our Basic Taming skills.

A harsh grading curve already started forming in my mind as soon as Professor Grint opened his mouth, cutting through the murmurs of the students.

“Let’s begin.”

“Yes, Professor!”

As Professor Sellen took out the list of names, she took a deep breath before announcing the first student.

“Okay, we’ll start quickly. First student, please step forward.”

“Adela, from the School of Magic? Are you here?”

“Here!”

Adela was the first to go. Without hesitation, she gripped her weapon and walked to the front.

In the cube, only basic magic attacks and taming abilities could be used. Even though Adela couldn’t use her earth magic, the difference in ability was still clear.

This was bad news for the other students.

“She’s going to ace this, no doubt.”

And as expected.

“…Truly impressive.”

Adela, who emerged victorious after perfectly defeating the virtual cube’s monster with just her Hellhound, fastened her sword to her waist with a satisfied smile.

Professor Grint gave a brief round of applause before announcing her score on the spot.

The score was based on the difficulty of the tamed monster, the utilization of its abilities, whether the monster was defeated, and the overall battle performance.

“5 minutes and 31 seconds. All targets eliminated. Adela, you receive an A grade.”

“Thank you, Professor!”

There was nothing more to see.

The Adela who struggled to control her Hellhound was long gone.

It was a result of immense effort, but… well, it was mostly talent.

Just a second-year student, with taming being essentially new to her, yet she’d managed to reach that level of skill in less than a week.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit of envy, but her level was so far beyond mine that all I could do was admire her.

“Nice work.”

I gave Adela a thumbs up as she returned from the assessment.

As long as I didn’t end up going after her.

My plan was simple: step in at a convenient time, do a decent job of handling the monster, and walk away.

I didn’t need to be exceptional, just avoid failing so I could make up for it in the other two theory subjects.

However, when Professor Grint, who had been scanning the list, finally spoke again, he called out a name that made my heart sink.

“Next, Han Siha?”

Of course, it had to be my name.

* * *

In most practical exams, order matters a lot. If the person before you sets a high standard, your score might plummet. But if they mess up, you might still come out okay.

But this…

This is the worst timing possible.

I didn’t know the details, but judging by Professor Grint’s reaction, Adela had done exceptionally well.

Because of that, I could hear stifled laughter all around me.

“So that’s the guy who bet with Creek?”

“He’s the one who knocked me down with that dragon!”

“Let’s see him bark like a dog. Man, I’ve been waiting for this.”

It was obvious that the ones Basilus had bitten were grumbling.

I swallowed nervously and faced forward.

A holographic screen flickered in the air, displaying a message.

In this virtual cube, a monster would be summoned for a one-on-one match.

It was like a combination of a pocket dimension and virtual reality.

I’d read about this countless times in the story, but seeing it in real life was quite fascinating.

I recalled Professor Grint’s words about how the virtual arena minimized risk, making sure neither the students nor their tamed monsters would get hurt.

Pretty advanced, huh?

A question popped up on the screen.

[Which cube would you like to choose?]

Each cube contained a different monster, with varying levels of difficulty.

While the specific cube wouldn’t penalize my score, I still needed to consider how I’d handle the battle and defeat the monster.

“Hoo…”

Staring at the empty air wouldn’t help, so I took a deep breath and quickly reached out.

[You have chosen Cube C.]

With a brief vibration, the screen in front of me flickered rapidly.

Soon, the background morphed into a somewhat poorly rendered virtual environment.

…It seems virtual reality tech isn’t quite there yet.

“We’ll begin now.”

At Professor Grint’s calm declaration, the surroundings fell into an eerie silence, as if the world had been sealed off.

The stillness was broken by a low, ominous growl.

Grrr.

“Oh.”

I quickly turned to face the monster that had materialized from the virtual cube.

It had yellow eyes and a massive frame that loomed so large I had to crane my neck to see its full height. Its body was covered in a rough, scaly hide.

Its serpent-like eyes glared menacingly at me.

Sssss.

A hissing sound, like the devil’s whisper, followed.

“…Could it be?”

One monster came to mind.

The snake-like monster, Odopteon, which Lee Han first encountered in his third year.

Its enormous size alone made it an incredibly intimidating opponent.

It was huge. One wrong move, and I’d be crushed.

Could I even take this thing down?

Lee Han had toyed with it like a punching bag, easily defeating it.

But I’m no monster like Lee Han.

Still…

I should be able to take it down.

They wouldn’t put an unbeatable monster in here.

“Basilus.”

“Grooo…”

Basilus, who seemed slightly intimidated by the monster’s overwhelming presence, raised his drooping wings.

But I had to defeat this monster.

“Let’s just get it done.”

I didn’t need to take it down in an overwhelming display of skill like Adela had. I just needed to beat it, somehow.

I stared straight into its cold, blue eyes, drew my shield, and swallowed hard.

I knew its weakness.

“Raaaagh!”

With a battle cry, I launched myself forward.