“Cough, cough. What’s going on?”
Arid, who had been dealing with the approaching Lizardmen while the mages prepared their spells, coughed. He saw Eugene leap down among the Lizardmen from a tree, and then suddenly, there was a tremendous burst of flames.
Boom!
“Be careful.”
The members of the 5th team quickly assumed defensive positions at the sudden loud noise.
“Team 5!”
“Huh?! That’s… the chief’s voice.”
Aaron turned around to see Deiker running into the test site.
The explosion they heard earlier was the sound of Deiker and the deans entering the site.
“Is everyone safe?”
“A few are injured, but we’re all alive.”
Arid quickly reported their situation. More Lizardmen than expected had swarmed them, resulting in some injuries among the students, but fortunately, no one had died.
“Where is Eugene Bedia?”
“Ah, the dean…”
The team members were startled to see the dean.
“Did he die?”
“No, he’s over there…”
Aaron pointed to the distant thick fog.
Whoosh.
Hobin Jessup waved his staff, dispelling the fog with a wordless spell.
“Leader!”
“Huh…?”
Hobin chuckled in disbelief at what he saw within the cleared fog.
Crackle, crackle.
‘Phew…’
Eugene was standing with his sword as a support, barely managing to stay upright among the blackened corpses of Lizardmen, with embers still flickering around.
“Leader!”
The team members, having dealt with the remaining Lizardmen, quickly ran towards Eugene.
As they got closer, they were speechless at the hellish scene. The numerous Lizardmen were nearly melted, the trees were all burned, and the heat around Eugene was so intense it was difficult to breathe, as if they were near lava. Steam was rising from Eugene’s body.
“Cough, leader… are you okay?”
Thud.
“Leader!”
“Take care… of the rest…”
Only after seeing his unharmed teammates, Deiker, and the deans, did Eugene’s strength give out and he collapsed. Although some Lizardmen were still left, Eugene fainted, reassured by the presence of others.
***
‘Where am I?’
Eugene, who had fainted during the test, slowly opened his eyes. The ceiling didn’t look like it belonged to the test site.
“You’re awake?”
“Where am I?”
Taeje, who had been lying down, spoke to Eugene as he regained consciousness.
“The medical… room? Ugh, the infirmary.”
“Oh…”
At Taeje’s words, Eugene realized where he was. The academy had an infirmary for injured students, but this was his first time being there.
“How long was I unconscious?”
“You? You were out for two full days.”
“Tsk.”
Eugene clicked his tongue at Taeje’s response. He felt pathetic for having been unconscious for two days just from overexerting himself.
“Lying down for two days just for that… pathetic.”
“I know, so can you be quiet?”
Eugene glared at Taeje, who was teasing him. As if he wasn’t already embarrassed enough, Taeje had to rub it in.
‘Well… it was really dangerous.’
If a third of the Lizardmen hadn’t turned towards his teammates, Eugene might have died on the spot. If he were at a 4-star level instead of 5-star, his martial arts wouldn’t have been enough to handle the Lizardmen.
‘Sure enough, the Heaven’s Killing God Technique doesn’t show its true power at lower levels.’
Forcing himself to repeatedly use the Heaven’s Killing God Technique (天殺神功) despite his inadequate level had strained his body and diminished the effectiveness of his martial arts.
Creak.
“Oh, you’re finally awake? I was worried you wouldn’t wake up.”
“Who are you?”
While Eugene was having a conversation with Taeje, a woman with green hair entered the infirmary.
“Me? I’m Mary Pofman, the owner here and the one who took care of you.”
“Oh, hello.”
Eugene bowed his head to greet the medical supervisor.
“Let’s see….”
Clang.
Rustle, rustle.
“Fortunately, there’s nothing major wrong.”
“…You’re a witch, aren’t you?”
Eugene’s eyes sparkled as he watched Mary Pofman use her peculiar magic.
In Seifran, there were beings known as witches, situated somewhere between wizards and alchemists.
The techniques witches used to wield magic were quite different from those of wizards.
“Isn’t it fascinating?”
“No, not really.”
“Oh, really? Most people find witches fascinating.”
This was understandable since witches were much rarer than wizards or alchemists.
There were only about 2,000 to 3,000 witches left in the world.
“By the way, do you know how I did on the test?”
With his name tag labeled as Group 5 pinned to his chest, and Mary Pofman being a supervisor, he thought she might have heard about the test results.
“Hmm… I think it would be best if you find out for yourself.”
Eugene tilted his head at Mary Pofman’s response.
“Now, if you’re feeling better, go have some lunch. It’s lunchtime.”
“Oh, okay.”
Eugene got out of bed, put on his shoes, and left the infirmary.
Creak.
“Oh? It’s Eugene Bedia.”
“It’s really him! He’s really fine?”
“Unbelievable…”
When other students recognized him, Eugene tilted his head in confusion.
“Leader!”
When Eugene entered the dining hall, the members of Group 5 ran to him with bright faces.
Murmur, murmur.
“Why does it feel like I’m a monkey?”
Why were the students murmuring and looking at him as soon as he entered the dining hall?
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but what about the test?”
Waving off the concern from Rohen, Eugene immediately asked about the test results.
After all the hardship he went through, could he have possibly failed?
Before he passed out, he had seen Deiker and the deans rush into the test area.
“Of course, you passed the test. You even received a reward!”
Rohen, excited like a child, jumped up and down.
“A reward?”
“Yeah. They said something went wrong, and the Space Ball malfunctioned.”
“That makes sense.”
Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been 50 lizardmen appearing when there were supposed to be only 18-20.
“So, as a reward, we got a vacation!”
“A vacation?”
Why a vacation all of a sudden?
He didn’t come to the academy to work, so why a vacation?
“Well…”
Thump.
“But first, our leader should eat.”
“Oh… I didn’t think of that. Eugene, hurry up and eat.”
Grabbing the excited Rohen by the shoulders, Aaron calmed him down.
They were grateful to Eugene, but he needed to eat first.
“More importantly, why is everyone staring at me?”
Eugene wondered why students were still looking at him as he sat down with his meal.
“It’s because your feat has become a legend in the entire academy.”
Ken shrugged, complimenting Eugene.
For a mere first-year student to nearly defeat 50 lizardmen was indeed something worth talking about.
Thanks to Eugene, everyone had survived a deadly incident.
“Did you guys spread the rumor?”
“No way.”
His team members shook their heads at Eugene’s question.
“The other students saw us taking the test.”
“How could other students watch our test?”
Eugene tilted his head at Rohen’s explanation.
In the original testing grounds, it was impossible to know what was happening inside while other groups were taking their tests.
But now, other students were watching them?
“When the last group is taking their test, they show the inside through a magic video.”
“Oh…?”
Eugene finally understood and nodded.
Since Group 5 was the last to take the test, the academy allowed other students to watch their test through a magic video.
By watching this video, students who had previously taken the test could see how other groups fought and understand what mistakes they had made.
“So the students who saw your performance are now looking at you with amazement.”
“Haha…”
Eugene forced an awkward smile.
He felt a mixture of pride and embarrassment.
“What do you mean by our vacation?”
“Oh… We almost died in this test before we could even make a move because of the malfunctioning Space Ball.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s why the academy is giving us a 10-day vacation as an apology.”
“Oh…?”
Eugene’s eyes sparkled at his teammates’ words.
Once students entered the academy, they usually couldn’t leave unless it was a special circumstance.
Of course, they could leave temporarily if their family head summoned them or if they had to take on a mission, but typically, first-year students couldn’t leave the academy for several months.
But now, Group 5 was getting a special vacation despite not being in such a situation.
“This is the first time I’ve seen our leader this happy.”
“Oh… well, I was feeling a bit suffocated.”
Eugene managed his expression and played off the situation.
Why was he so happy?
Because he could go out and find the ingredients needed to make an elixir.
Step, step.
“Eugene Bedia.”
“Teacher.”
As Eugene was chatting with his teammates in the excited atmosphere, Deiker approached him.
“The deans are looking for you.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away.”
Creak.
Eugene, who had already finished his meal, got up immediately.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Creak.
***
“Deans. I’ve brought student Eugene Bedia.”
“Come closer.”
Hobin, who was in the dean’s office, called Eugene over with a gentle voice.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Good, that’s a relief…”
After a brief conversation, Hobin fell silent, and the dean’s office was enveloped in stillness.
“Hobin.”
“……”
As the silence continued, another dean, Terron, called out to Hobin.
“I’ve misunderstood you all this time.”
Eugene listened quietly to Hobin’s words.
“When you first said you wanted to become a magic swordsman, I thought you were just following a childish dream because it looked cool. But…”
Hobin’s voice became more firm.
“You have shown me clearly that the path you chose is not the wrong one. I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”
Hobin abandoned his dignity as a dean and bowed his head to Eugene, offering his apology.
Hobin had made Eugene’s training difficult and demanding, and he was expressing his regret for that.
“From now on, I, Hobin Jessup, acknowledge Eugene Bedia’s pursuit of becoming a magic swordsman and will fully support it.”
“Thank you.”
Eugene bowed his head in gratitude at Hobin’s words.
With the academy dean supporting his path to becoming a magic swordsman, Eugene could now receive proper training like the other students.
No longer would he be confined to that strange training room with just a sparring arena.
Of course, he would still be the only student pursuing magic swordsmanship, but it felt good to be recognized as part of the regular curriculum.
“As you might have heard from your teammates, both your Group 5 and the female Group 3 will have a celebration and then receive a 10-day vacation. So, take a good rest during those 10 days.”
“Thank you… Huh?”
Eugene smiled but then felt something odd and tilted his head.
“Female Group 3? Why…?”
“Didn’t Deiker tell you? Before Deiker and I arrived at the testing grounds, it was Sophia from Group 3 who broke the space magic barrier around the test area. Thanks to Sophia creating a crack in the space magic, we could enter the test grounds more quickly.”
“Oh…”
While Hobin spoke proudly about Sophia, Eugene’s expression changed to one of confusion.
Cliche Novel 
Eugene got saved by the power of love letting Sophia break the barrier.
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