Chapter 46: The Test the Drunkard Prepared.

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: The Test the Drunkard Prepared.

"Not everyone will pass."

Torvellan Ari’s statement caused an immediate reaction among the students.

Some began murmuring, while others raised their hands to demand an explanation.

Many had spent years preparing to pass the entrance exams, and now a teacher who appeared to be drunk was telling them they could be disqualified before completing their first week of classes.

"Wait a minute!"

One of the students exclaimed.

"Are you saying we could be expelled?"

Ari, who had picked up her bottle again, regarded him calmly.

"How dramatic. I haven’t said anything about expelling you yet."

The student gritted his teeth.

"Then what does that mean?"

"It means some of you will have to undergo additional training before participating in certain activities, and particularly bad cases might end up repeating the introductory program."

Ari took a small sip.

"And if anyone turns out to have gained admission without meeting the minimum required qualifications, the academy will review their admission."

That last statement caused even greater unease.

Draven, who had been listening silently, began to suspect that the teacher was enjoying their reactions.

’She’s definitely just like she was in the video game.’

Torvellan Ari wasn’t exactly known for her tact, but Draven remembered that her training methods could be quite effective.

Although he also remembered that some players hated her, especially those who had tried to complete her quests without properly preparing.

"Alright, alright, calm down."

Ari placed the bottle on her desk and raised both hands.

"If you keep making this much noise, we’ll have to stay here until tonight."

The students began to quiet down.

"Much better."

The teacher turned toward the blackboard.

"Now I’ll explain what your first evaluation will involve."

With a movement of her finger, she used a small amount of mana to draw several glowing lines across the black surface.

The lines began connecting until they formed a map, and Draven immediately recognized that it depicted a forested area.

"This place is located within the grounds administered by the academy."

Ari explained.

"It’s a training reserve where we keep various species of magical creatures."

A student raised his hand.

"Magical creatures?"

"Yes, animals, beasts, and other things that will probably try to eat you if you do too many stupid things."

"..."

"I’m joking."

Ari smiled.

"Well, partly."

Nobody laughed, prompting the teacher to point at several glowing dots scattered across the map.

"We’ve placed a certain number of magical items throughout this forest, so your task will be quite simple: enter, find one, and return to the meeting point before the allotted time runs out."

"That’s all?"

A female student asked.

"That’s right, that’s all."

"Then it doesn’t sound too complicated."

Ari watched her for a few seconds.

"I love your confidence."

For some reason, those words made the young woman stop smiling.

"Of course..."

Ari continued.

"...there’s one small detail you should know."

The teacher pointed to the different regions of the map.

"The forest is inhabited by beasts of varying danger levels, so some are relatively weak, and any competent student should be able to handle them."

Several dots on the map turned yellow.

"Others, however, possess abilities beyond those of most newly admitted students."

The yellow dots were replaced by red ones.

"If you encounter one of those creatures, you’ll have to decide whether fighting is really worth it."

A dark-haired young man raised his hand.

"What if we manage to defeat one of the more powerful beasts?"

"Then you’ll have an interesting story to tell."

"Won’t we receive extra points?"

"No."

"No reward at all?"

"Staying alive should be enough."

Ari took another sip.

"Listen carefully. This test isn’t about defeating monsters. It’s about finding an item and returning, so if anyone decides to risk their life just to prove they’re stronger than everyone else, don’t expect me to congratulate them."

Draven nodded slightly.

’That makes sense.’

In Valkaen and a New Rebirth, many players made the mistake of treating every challenge as an opportunity to gain experience or materials.

However, some quests were designed to evaluate decision-making abilities, and that test...

’Wait.’

Draven looked at the map again.

’I know this place.’

The trees, the layout of the paths, and the small rocky area to the north all looked familiar.

In the videogame, there was an academy-related quest that involved recovering magical items from a forest.

It was one of the protagonist’s first important activities after beginning his studies.

’The Edran Forest Selection Test.’

Draven remembered completing it several times.

In the original version, students had to form small groups and recover three artifacts scattered across different sectors.

The main objective was to learn how to cooperate.

There was also a secondary route that allowed players to discover a hidden cave containing some rather valuable materials.

’If it’s the same test, it should be relatively easy.’

He knew where the creatures spawned, the safest paths, and several locations where the items could be found.

However, as he continued studying the map, he began noticing some differences.

’That area wasn’t closed off.’

At the western edge, a region was marked with a warning symbol.

There were also two paths he didn’t remember, and some of the areas where the artifacts had originally been placed appeared to have changed.

’Here we go again.’

Draven sighed silently, as it was still annoying to encounter differences in activities he knew perfectly well.

"Professor."

Taliah’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What is it, little Taliah?"

"Stop calling me that."

"I’ll try."

Taliah decided to ignore the comment.

"Will the items be distributed according to the danger level of each sector?"

Ari smiled.

"Good question."

The teacher pointed at the map again.

"Some items will be in relatively safe areas, while others will be in regions where you’ll encounter much more dangerous creatures."

"Then do they all have the same value?"

"Exactly."

Several students looked surprised.

"Wouldn’t it be fairer if the harder-to-obtain items earned higher grades?"

One asked.

"Why?"

"Because they require more effort."

"They also require taking greater risks."

Ari crossed her arms.

"Imagine two students are assigned a mission to retrieve an important document. One manages to find it while avoiding every confrontation, but the other defeats twenty creatures, gets seriously injured, and eventually retrieves the same document."

The teacher paused briefly.

"Which of the two did a better job?"

Nobody answered immediately.

"Exactly. It depends on the circumstances, but in this case, I’d prefer the first one."

Draven couldn’t help smiling.

’I like the way she thinks.’

After all, he had been using similar strategies for years, since he had no interest in risking his life simply to prove he could defeat a creature.

"That’s why..."

Ari continued.

"...the evaluation will take into account your ability to recognize dangers and make appropriate decisions."

Taliah nodded.

"Understood."

"I’m glad someone is paying attention."

Ari turned her attention back to the rest of the students.

"Now then, there’s another important rule."

The teacher raised a finger.

"The test will be individual."

For a few seconds, nobody reacted, but then the protests began.

"Individual!?"

"But you just said there are dangerous beasts!"

"We can’t form teams!?"

"That’s way too risky!"

Ari waited calmly until the students began to quiet down.

"That’s precisely why it’ll be individual."

A young man raised his hand.

"Could you explain?"

"Of course."

The teacher pointed at Taliah.

"Imagine our dear Taliah forms a team with four other students."

Taliah frowned.

"Why do I have to be the example?"

"Because you’re quite strong."

"..."

"Now imagine those four students do absolutely nothing while Taliah defeats all the creatures and collects the items."

Ari smiled.

"What would they have demonstrated?"

A student answered timidly.

"That they know how to choose good teammates."

"Exactly!"

The teacher burst out laughing.

"Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re evaluating."

Taliah crossed her arms.

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Of course it does, since I’m an extraordinary teacher."

"That last part is debatable."

"What a cruel student."

Draven looked at Taliah.

Unlike the other students, she didn’t seem particularly worried about the test, and she had good reason not to be.

Taliah was already an S-rank swordswoman, so her abilities were still far beyond those of an average student.

’This should be pretty easy for Taliah.’

Draven was also confident in his own chances.

He didn’t possess Taliah’s natural talent or Yruza’s extraordinary physical abilities, but he had trained with both of them for years.

Besides, he had the Shadows of the Forgotten.

’As long as some ridiculous creature doesn’t show up, I should be able to pass without any problems.’

"When will the test take place?"

A female student asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

"TOMORROW!?"

Ari tilted her head.

"Is there a problem?"

"We don’t have time to prepare!"

"Precisely."

The teacher smiled.

"I want to assess your current abilities, not how much you can improve after spending a week studying exclusively for the exam."

Some students continued protesting, but Ari showed no intention of changing her mind, so she finally brought the explanation to an end.

"Get plenty of rest. Tomorrow’s going to be quite an entertaining day."

Draven looked at the map again.

’Edran Forest, huh?’

If his memories were correct, there were several places where he could obtain one of the items without having to face dangerous creatures, but there was one problem.

’I can’t be sure the items are still in the same places.’

He would have to check for himself.