Chapter 537
They rode the teleportation magic circle and arrived at a new location.
Though it was broad daylight, the sky was dim and gloomy, covered in thick fog. The ground carried no trace of life, and only trees with bare, brittle branches remained.
‘This place…...’
[It’s Deathland.]
Feer’s clone suddenly spoke. Simon lowered his gaze.
‘We’re really here?’
[Indeed! But it looks like we’re quite far from the center where Prince’s mansion stands. Seems like the natural-type undead, like zombies, have already been cleared out beforehand!]
A massive mana screen had been set up here, and Keyzen headquarters staff bustled around busily. Seeing headquarters’ direct involvement confirmed that this was indeed a major exam.
Once all the students had gathered, Aron stepped forward.
“Attention. From this moment, I will explain the subject of this exam.”
Rumble—
Assistants rolled carts on wheels toward them. The students craned their necks or stood on tiptoe, eager to get a better look.
On the carts were three trays, each covered with a lid. The assistants lifted the lids in unison.
“This is…...”
“What the?”
Inside were broken plates with dirt still clinging to them, pottery shards, and the like. They looked very old, faded in color, and worn with time.
“The theme of this exam is ‘Artifact Acquisition Battle’.”
Artifact?
Every student’s eyes filled with question marks.
“Artifacts of great rarity are buried in the ground of the testing field. You will participate as treasure-hunter teams, and your objective is to secure more, and rarer, artifacts than your rival teams—faster.”
Simon quickly grasped the meaning and smiled faintly.
‘Buried underground, huh?’
That meant the exam was most likely the type where they’d have to use the ghoul’s developed sense of smell and detection abilities to unearth buried relics.
Aron activated the device in his hand. A screen powered on, displaying the vast exam field in one sweeping view.
“This is the exam ground. It forms a perfect square, and the flashing marks indicate your starting positions.”
On the square-shaped map, four blinking markers appeared near the corners.
“And at each starting location stands a structure called an ‘altar’.”
The screen now displayed the altar—a huge skull with its jaws agape, forming the structure.
“You must use your ghouls’ detection ability to unearth the artifacts buried across the field and return them to your altar.”
The display lit up with countless flickering blue and yellow markers, showing examples of where artifacts could be located.
“When the exam ends, the artifacts within the altar will be tallied. The team with the highest score will be the ultimate victor. The rest of the teams will be graded according to rank.”
As they listened intently, Loraine placed a hand on her chin.
“Surprisingly simple rules.”
Simon also nodded. ‘Yeah, it is.’
“Next is the scoring system.”
The blue artifacts scattered everywhere: 1 point each.
The rarer yellow artifacts: 3 points each.
And at each team’s starting altar rested a red artifact, worth a staggering 15 points.
A female student immediately raised her hand.
“Aseraz Mikel! What exactly is that red artifact?”
“It is the artifact stored at each team’s starting location.”
Aron answered plainly, a slight smirk on his lips.
“Every team begins this exam already in possession of that 15-point artifact.”
Quick-witted students instantly understood.
It was a very deliberate setup.
“To summarize: unearth artifacts scattered throughout the field and deposit them into your altar. At the exam’s end, the team with the highest score wins. Any questions?”
“None, sir!”
Aron folded his arms.
“That’s the broad overview. The rules are simple enough, but as always with Keyzen exams, the ‘detailed rules’ are what matter.”
Right on cue, the assistants spread out and handed pamphlets to the students.
“Make sure you thoroughly understand the detailed rules. Headquarters will observe all of your movements in real time. Breaking the rules earns you a warning once. Twice, and it will be considered cheating—you’ll be expelled from the exam with an F grade.”
Simon accepted a pamphlet.
“Next is the match-up chart.”
A new display appeared. Simon quickly searched for his own team’s bracket.
[Match 1: Team 1, Team 4, Team 10, Team 13]
‘We’re first match… and…’
His eyes shifted. Another student’s gaze met his at the same time.
Hector of Team 1.
“Waaah! Of all things, why the first match?!”
Eshu stomped about dramatically. Beside him, Loraine spoke in a calm, low voice.
“I don’t think it’s such a bad thing. Both we and our opponents will be awkward and fumbling—it levels the field.”
“Y-yeah, I guess you’re right?”
Just then, the head assistant’s voice rang out.
“You now have a 30-minute break! You may move around freely, but beware—if you wander too far, natural-type undead may attack you.”
It was called a break, but in truth, it was 30 minutes of strategy time. All four members of Team 10 immediately moved to a spot, sat down, and pulled out their pamphlets.
“Before we draft a plan, let’s go over the detailed rules.”
“Alright!”
There were many items listed, but the core rules boiled down to these four:
The examinees themselves cannot directly interfere.
Only ghoul-specific techniques may be used.
Each examinee may control up to 3 ghouls simultaneously. Once summoned, a ghoul cannot be returned to subspace.
At least one ghoul must be maintained at all times.
“I think these four are the essentials.”
Simon spoke. Toto, reading the pamphlet with utmost concentration, lifted his head.
“So basically, since it’s an exam to assess our ghouls, it enforces using only ghouls.”
“Exactly. Now, could you all share how many ghouls you still have left? I’ve got 9.”
Loraine raised her hand.
“I’ve got 9 as well.”
Eshu and Toto spoke a little sheepishly.
“4, President.”
“......Sorry, Simon. I only have 3 left.”
On average, students from the other Summonology majors had only about 3–4 ghouls left. Losing even one would mean a steep drop in combat strength. Students like Simon, who still had 9 ghouls ready for use, were rare.
Simon spoke again.
“From what I recall, Hector also has 9 left. Reducing his ghouls will be difficult.”
Though Hector had lost more ghouls than Simon during Funerology class, during Materials Science he had started with as many as 13.
Eshu suddenly raised her hand high.
“Me! Me! I’ve got info too! Pierre Buckley has 7 ghouls left!”
Simon, now well-accustomed to her over-the-top tension, received it calmly.
“How do you know that?”
“During last night’s all-nighter! We were chatting and I overheard them asking each other how many ghouls they had left. Well… it could’ve been a bluff though?”
“I-I’ll record it.”
Toto pulled out his notebook and carefully wrote down the estimated ghoul counts of their rivals.
Simon opened his mouth again.
“Alright, back to the detailed rules. There are a few more things we should note.”
All artifacts in the exam field can only be transported by ghouls.
The red artifact at the altar cannot be moved by the owning team.
“So in the end, the 15-point red artifact has to remain at our base altar.”
Loraine’s expression turned serious.
“Someone will have to stay behind to guard it.”
“Exactly.”
The value of the 15-point red artifact was immense.
To equal it, one would need to gather 15 of the 1-point blue artifacts, or 5 of the 3-point yellow artifacts.
“Hm—if that’s the case, everyone will prioritize artifact defense first. Won’t this just turn into a plain artifact scavenger hunt?”
Eshu blurted out.
“Everyone will just collect what’s near their own base, sometimes chase off rival ghouls if they go too far, and that’ll be about it.”
“No.”
Simon shook his head firmly.
“If it’s Hector, he’ll come for us.”
* * *
“We’ll strike Simon Follentia.”
Hector declared in a chilling voice.
Pierre Buckley nodded, while the other two students stiffened slightly.
“Y-you really want to fight the Student Council President’s team? Isn’t that too risky? Wouldn’t it be safer to just devour Team 4 or 13 and aim for first place that way…?”
“No.”
Hector shook his head.
“This exam is, strictly speaking, a showdown between Team 1 and Team 10. Since it’s a battle for first place, no matter how things unfold, we’ll have to face each other eventually. Moving to eliminate our main rival is the most natural decision.”
“Th-then… what if we take out Team 4 and 13 first, then target Simon’s Team 10…?”
“And while we waste time with weaker opponents, what if Simon’s Team 10 raids our altar?”
“......”
Their faces grew grim at the thought.
“All we’d achieve is exhausting our own forces. And even if we do crush Team 4 or 13 within two hours, if our base gets hit, we lose everything.”
“Then what should we—”
“Simple. Do the opposite of what you said.”
Hector’s eyes flashed.
“While everyone else scatters to search for artifacts, we’ll strike immediately and throw all our power at Team 10’s altar.”
“B-but won’t Simon try to retake what we steal and come attack our altar instead?”
“Then we block him. And frankly, it’s unlikely.”
Hector snorted.
“He always thinks rationally. Considering the time left, it would be more logical for him to strike the weaker Teams 4 or 13 than to risk a direct fight against us at full strength.”
“......Hmph.”
“There’s no need to overthink it.”
Hector pressed a finger against his forehead.
“This isn’t a 1:1:1:1. From the very start, it’s been a duel between Team 1 and Team 10.”
* * *
Meanwhile, Simon’s Team 10 was also in the middle of their strategy session.
But Eshu was less focused on planning and more on sticking her head out like a meerkat, spying on the other teams’ movements.
“Ah!”
She quickly ducked back down and whispered.
“Pierre! Pierre! Pierre Buckley is moving! What do we do? He’s heading toward Team 4!”
It was valuable intel.
Pretending to keep chatting, Simon cast a glance toward Team 4. Indeed, Pierre was seen talking with Team 4’s students.
“It must be an alliance proposal.”
Toto trembled nervously.
“What if all three teams come at us at once? If Hector pressures them into it—”
“I don’t think that’ll happen.”
Simon calmly shook his head.
“Teams 4 and 13 are still Keyzen students. They won’t bend so easily to Hector’s pressure, and Hector wouldn’t handle it that way anyway.”
“...Y-you think so?”
“Yeah. If it were back in our first year, with his hot-headed temper, maybe. But now?”
Simon smiled with his chin in his hand.
“He’s a department representative now. He won’t bully his classmates. At most, he’ll tell them to stay out of his way.”
Loraine chuckled softly.
“Is it because you’re in the same class? You seem to know each other too well.”
“...Haha.”
Eshu, still peeking around like a meerkat, suddenly whipped her head back.
“Guys, new intel! Hector Moore himself just approached Team 13! Ugh, shouldn’t we make a move too? This is making me nervous!”
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
Simon’s words made everyone’s eyes widen.
With a confident grin, Simon spoke.
“Unlike Hector, let’s make them an offer they absolutely can’t refuse.”
* * *
Once the strategy time ended, the head assistant shouted loudly.
“All students participating in the first match, please gather at the teleportation circle!”
Since this was the very first match, every student’s attention was drawn to it.
The four teams, including Simon’s, stepped forward, where four teleportation circles awaited them.
Team 1, Team 4, Team 10, Team 13.
Each team lined up before their circle.
“I trust you’ve all memorized the rules.”
Aron stepped out and spoke.
“Now, set aside hesitation. Compete fiercely, and focus solely on securing the highest score.”
“Yes, sir!”
“The exam begins now.”
The assistants activated the magic circles, and the 16 students’ bodies lifted into the air.
‘Good. This is the first major performance test. To keep my spot at the top, I must end this as number one.’
Simon’s head turned.
There was Hector, staring ahead with a sinister smile on his lips. He clearly brimmed with confidence for this ghoul performance exam.
Of course.
‘With my new ghoul, no matter who the opponent is, I won’t lose.’
Simon had not the slightest thought of defeat.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters