– Greetings, everyone! It’s that time of year again! The most significant event of the first semester for freshmen! I extend a warm welcome to all of you to the Familiar Race! My name is Runba Tes, a junior in the Summoning Department!
Wowwwww!
The students gathered on the Summoning Practice Field erupted in cheers.
Selia appeared anxious.
“Is this a test?”
During the Knight Department’s duel test, there were spectators, but the Summoning Department’s practical test had a different scale.
There was even live commentary, and proper seating for the audience had been arranged.
Video magic was set up in a location easily visible from the audience seats.
Sitting beside Selia, Lis burst into laughter.
“The Familiar Race is a traditional part of the summoning examination and is quite popular. It’s also a featured event during exchange competitions with other hero training academies, so there’s a lot of interest.”
“Mr. Student Council President! We’re from the Newspaper Club! Is the freshman sitting next to you Selia Zerdingher?”
A male student wearing a magical device for recording video approached with notebook and pen in hand.
“Yes.”
“Oh! Can we interview both of you?”
The Newspaper Club student requested.
“We have popcorn! Cold drinks available!”
“Come on! Choose! Choose! Who wants to go first! The odds are like this!”
In addition, students from the merchant clubs were selling merchandise and even facilitating gambling.
‘What kind of test is this!’
The first-year students internally lamented the bustling marketplace atmosphere, which was entirely different from the solemn test environment they were accustomed to.
Meanwhile, the first-year Summoning students suffered the most mental stress during all this.
“Why are they crowding around us and making it impossible to concentrate!”
When Tade grabbed his head and exclaimed, the surrounding first-year students nodded in agreement.
The perpetually nervous freshmen didn’t know how to handle the festive atmosphere created by the entire school gathering.
In fact, they felt even more pressured due to this atmosphere.
Of course, some students remained relaxed.
Representatives included Eliza and Warden of the Summoning Department.
“I find it distasteful that they treat me, a noble of the Hergin family, as a mere spectacle.”
Eliza’s followers nodded in agreement as she scowled.
As for Warden, he stood with his usual expressionless face.
Eliza glanced at Warden before noticing Leo stretching nearby.
“Didn’t you display exceptional skills during the Knight Department’s practical exam? Are you equally prepared for the Summoning practical test?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re as confident as ever.”
Eliza narrowed her eyes.
“But you were nowhere to be seen during the Summoning practical test practice… Are you taking the practical exam lightly?”
In the Familiar Race, participants typically rode familiars they had contracted.
However, many first-year students had not yet contracted a flying familiar.
That’s why Lumern provided flying familiars.
The key to this test was how quickly one could tame these flying familiars.
However, Leo had never participated in any of these practice sessions.
“Hey, Eliza. Why are you saying that?”
Tade frowned at her cutting remarks.
But the glances from those around Leo were far from friendly.
“Let’s be honest, that guy’s always slacking.”
“He might be well-known in the Knight and Magic Departments, but he only possesses magical abilities in the Summoning Department. We’ve never witnessed him forming contracts with spirits or familiars.”
“Is he not taking Summoning seriously?”
“Why doesn’t he just withdraw?”
Summoning students are a small group, so their loyalty to the department runs deep.
In such an environment, it was inevitable that Leo, who had consistently skipped test practice, would attract negative attention.
The Familiar Race required the use of summoning magic to navigate obstacles and reach the finish line swiftly.
The obstacles were challenging, and it was permissible to obstruct other participants.
Numerous injuries occurred during the race.
Considering the perilous nature of the race and Leo’s absence from practice, he wasn’t held in high regard by his fellow Summoning students.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Leo, who had extensive experience in aerial battles with familiars in his previous life, was entirely capable.
“Those are harsh words.”
“Ha! Are you taking his side because he’s your class leader?”
An individual from Class 5 grew agitated, while another from a different class chuckled.
“The atmosphere isn’t pleasant.”
Chen Shia intervened.
“I understand that everyone is tense due to the upcoming exam, but let’s avoid making derogatory remarks…”
“Chen Shia, you’re excelling in your knight studies, so you don’t really need to worry about your summoning studies, do you?”
A female student sneered.
As she became the focal point of attention, students from Class 10 were the next to become upset.
Tensions escalated as Summoning department students exchanged hostile glances.
Observing this, Leo clicked his tongue.
“So noisy.”
A deep, resonant voice reverberated.
All eyes turned toward one direction.
Warden, who had appeared disinterested and had his eyes closed, suddenly opened his amber eyes.
“If you’re going to take sides over who has summoned a bit more, do it somewhere else, not in front of me.”
“What did you say? What did you say, Warden!”
“I said it’s irritating to hear you boast about having summoned slightly more,” Warden stated with emotionlessness.
Upon hearing this, Sen Liu, a male student from the Eastern Continent representing the Summoning department, displayed an angered expression.
“Is that so? You rarely attended taming training yourself.”
Warden smirked at the Summoning department student who was sneering.
“What’s with that grin?”
“Do you want to know why I didn’t attend taming training?”
“Why?”
“Because it wasn’t worth my time. I’m not like you, incapable of properly handling even a griffin.”
Sparks flew from Liu’s eyes and those of the other students in response to this remark.
“You little!”
A male student aimed a punch at Warden.
Thump!
But just before the blow could land, Leo caught Liu’s fist.
“Fighting before the exam won’t lead to anything good.”
“Shut up! I don’t want to hear that from you!”
Liu shrugged off Leo’s hand and walked back to where the Summoning department students were.
Watching him walk away, Leo let out a sigh and remarked, “Maybe you should be more careful with your words.”
“Is telling the truth a problem?”
“I don’t know how skilled you are, but that doesn’t give you the right to ridicule the efforts of others, Warden Tyden.”
Ignoring Leo, who was looking up at him, Warden walked away with a cold smile.
“The atmosphere is worse than I anticipated.”
“I haven’t taken all the other major courses, so I can’t say for sure, but the Summoning department has been rather tense lately.”
“Why is that?”
“The top students in our class are you, Chen Shia, Warden, and Eliza, right?”
“True.”
“Our senior Summoning students have gathered us because you and Chen Shia are at the top. They’re acting like they’re wise elders.”
“You’re right about that! And in the midst of it all, Warden openly defied the seniors.”
As a result, the seniors became even more furious and started giving the first-year students a hard time.
“Anyway, the atmosphere has deteriorated because you and Warden have been mostly absent from training while preparing for the exams.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Exactly. So, please try to understand our perspective.”
“Okay.”
Having said that, Leo glanced around at the students preparing for the competition.
Amidst the prevailing tense atmosphere, a strange sense of hostility hung in the air.
‘Such issues arise as well.’
To others, he might have appeared indifferent.
‘But I have no intention of approaching this half-heartedly.’
As long as he was competing, his goal was to be the number one.
***
“Ladies and gentlemen! Finally, the moment has arrived! All the competitors are at the starting line!”
First-year students lined up along the starting line.
In front of them, they could see the fence with the griffins behind it.
As soon as the race began, the students were to tame those griffins at the fence and take off.
Summoning Department students prepared to start with tense expressions.
“Kids! Just perform as you’ve practiced! Don’t get nervous and underperform; I’ll give you a hard time later!”
Referee Yura raised the signal gun and shouted at her students.
Laughter broke out among the Summoning Department students, thanks to Yura’s words.
“Alright, then!”
Yura raised the signal gun.
“Three, two, one!”
Bang!
Crack!
As soon as it began, spells were cast around Leo and Warden.
Caught off guard, Leo hesitated.
– Ah! What’s going on! The students from the Summoning Department are restraining the grade representative Leo and the Southern Chief, Warden!
This unprecedented event caused a commotion among the spectators.
Even the students from Class 5 of the Summoning Department looked puzzled.
“Ah! What’s that!”
“How unsportsmanlike! Those Summoning students!”
“Hey! Have some dignity!”
“Play fair!”
-Haha! Boos are coming from the first-year Class 5!
The students in the stands were in an uproar.
“Class leader!”
“Hey, Leo! Wait up! I’ll help you out!”
“Don’t worry about me, go ahead!”
Leo urgently shouted to his classmates who were hesitant to undo the interfering spells.
“This is a test! I’ll handle it myself, so don’t fall behind! Keep going!”
“Ugh!”
“Leo! Sorry!”
Class 5 students started late, looking frustrated.
The ground, turned into mud by the water, clung to Leo’s feet.
Fire and wind blocked Leo’s path ahead.
Warden, who faced the same restraint as Leo, activated his spiritual power.
“How trivial.”
Whoosh!
Even though the spells from the Summoning Department were intentionally strong, Warden effortlessly dispelled them.
Such a feat would have been impossible without overwhelming skill.
“Seems like you’re having a tough time. Shall I lend a hand?”
When Warden asked, a hint of a smile on his face, Leo chuckled.
“No, I can handle it on my own.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll proceed.”
Warden strolled leisurely toward the fence where the griffins were.
Meanwhile, other students had finished taming the griffins and were already airborne.
From the starting line, Leo activated his spiritual power.
“I knew I wasn’t the most popular, but I didn’t expect them to obstruct me as a group.”
Watching Leo chuckle, Yura, who was observing, clicked her tongue.
‘This is going to be a challenge.’
If this weren’t an exam, he could easily overcome such interference.
However, the rules of this competition allowed only ‘summoning spells’ to be used.
Furthermore, from Yura’s observations, Leo’s primary summoning spell wasn’t elemental magic but rather illusionary summoning.
In this situation, he was subjected to elemental interference on a departmental level.
Leo, who was considered inexperienced in practical scenarios, seemed to struggle with this obstacle.
‘The divide among the first-year students is deeper than I thought, to engage in mass obstruction like this.’
While it wasn’t cheating, it wasn’t a good look.
As a professor, Yura believed she had been taking care of the students, but it seemed she had fallen short.
Just as Yura contemplated how to calm the departmental students—
“—!”
Hearing Leo’s voice, Yura’s hair stood on end.
The language with a flowing melody wasn’t a human language.
“—! —!”
As the melody continued, the elemental powers weakened.
Wurrr—!
Eventually, the force obstructing Leo vanished.
The elementals, previously following the commands of their contractors, joyfully danced around Leo before fading away.
The ability to influence elementals contracted by others.
‘Did that daring guy just use the language of elementals? That’s something you typically learn in the second-year elemental magic course.’
Yura couldn’t help but burst into cynical laughter as she watched Leo, who had a late start.
‘He’s something else, that’s for sure! Leo definitely needs to be in the Summoning department!’
Cliche Novel 