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No, it wasn’t a low score, and yes, I’d ranked quite high, but even so, very few people would be happy about coming second.

To be honest, I didn’t think my performance had been bad. I’d even wondered if I had beaten the Lord of Blood and Iron’s score.

I was reminded of the wise words of my third senior brother.

—Getting too excited and jumping to conclusions is a sin.

Then I began to wonder, how had the Lord of Blood and Iron cleared the Room of Agility?

Tap.

Without thinking, I tapped on the name “Dellark Bednicker” on the floating screen. I briefly wondered why there was no “C.” in his name, but that was obvious: This was before he received his middle name.

[Would you like to view Dellark Bednicker’s records?]

[Y/N]

“Huh?”

It had features like this?

Without thinking, I pressed “Y”...

A moment later, a small screen displayed the Lord of Blood and Iron.

[...]

He still looked young enough to be called the Boy Duke even now, but back then, he’d looked so much more youthful.

Is that... really Father?

He looked like a completely different person, but something was off... and it wasn’t just that he looked a few years younger.

I soon realized the feeling of incompatibility came from his expression, posture, gestures, and general difference in demeanor.

In the video, the Lord of Blood and Iron didn’t seem so coldhearted.

He wasn’t expressionless, nor did he give off his usual ruthless vibe. If anything, he seemed... timid.

He kind of looked like a small, frightened animal. For a moment, I thought he looked oddly adorab—

I’m crazy.

I shook my head to dismiss those thoughts. I shouldn’t have those kinds of thoughts about my father, the Lord of Blood and Iron or not.

Anyway, the duke took on the trials with a slightly nervous look on his face.

His approach to stages one through three wasn\'t particularly different from mine...

The difference appeared in stage four.

The moment the ceiling flipped over, revealing honeycomb-like holes and the weapons within—

[...]

The Lord of Blood and Iron glanced up. Then, in the blink of an eye, he drew his sword with a speed nearly impossible to follow and swung it toward the sky.

BOOOOM!

RUMBLE!

The force of wind unleashed from his blade tore through the air, obliterating the ceiling.

I let out a breath of disbelief. “...Ha.”

No matter how young he was, I was reminded that he was still the Lord of Blood and Iron.

Only now did I start to get a vague idea of how the scoring worked.

There didn’t seem to be a clear-cut “correct” answer to this trial, but he had certainly responded faster.

The moment the ceiling began to flip, the Lord of Blood and Iron immediately predicted the barrage of projectiles and counterattacked by destroying the ceiling in a split second.

“...Mmm.”

He completely outclassed me in both reaction speed and execution.

While I was impressed by him, there was also a sting to my pride because I knew how old he’d been when he entered Kartell Academy.

Just 12 years old.

Even if I wasn’t giving it my all, I still lost to a 12-year-old.

I slapped my cheeks. No, that’s just another excuse.

Thankfully, I still had a chance to make up for it.

There were two more rooms to go.

I guess I should be relieved? I’m far more confident in my strength and speed than my quick thinking.

As I was about to leave the room...

[Would you like to re-attempt?]

[Y/N]

I read the pop-up.

“...Eh?”

***

About eight hours into the exam, more than half of the participants had been eliminated from the tower.

In other words, the participants who were still climbing the tower had been accepted into the academy. They just had yet to realize it because they were still climbing.

No one bothered to tell them either.

After all, this tower was an evil playground carefully planned and built by the headmaster...

And a playground only truly served its purpose when people were “playing” in it.

As long as the headmaster didn’t intend for them to be eliminated, the remaining participants would have to keep climbing the tower for the rest of the day.

That aside...

Professor Morland watched the screen, slightly surprised. The results were somewhat unexpected.

A total of thirty-five participants had entered the Tower of Trials.

Ten of them were from Bednicker’s training camp, while twenty-five had come from House Goodspring’s Proof Ceremony.

Right now, all the participants from the training camp were still inside.

That meant every single one of them had successfully passed the Mana-Devouring Stairs...

In contrast, only six of the young heroes from the Proof Ceremony had passed the first floor.

I never thought there would be such a difference in level.

On average, the skill level of the young heroes from Bednicker was significantly greater.

Given that the two families were compared to each other in near every field they were involved in, it was honestly a baffling result.

“...”

Meanwhile, Headmaster Alderson’s gaze remained fixed on Luan, leaving aside the other participants climbing the tower.

Luan was currently the only one who had made it to the third floor.

It had been eight hours since the start of the exam, yet most participants were still stuck on the second floor. But that was only natural.

The questions on the Floor of Knowledge were extremely difficult to answer, even for renowned scholars and experts in their fields.

Arcane arts in particular was an area where even basic knowledge was strictly regulated by magic towers and academic institutes. The knowledge itself wielded immense power, but it also carried great risk.

Of course, Luan was of Bednicker blood.

With Asad as House Guardian and an archmage, it was certainly possible that Luan might have learned about the arcane arts.

Even so...

How had he been able to answer questions from completely different fields?

Was he a genius?

No. This was something else.

What he achieved isn’t something that can be accomplished just by being more intelligent.

Notably, he hadn’t passed the second floor the standard way.

Why did the Floor of Knowledge resemble a library?

It was intentionally designed so that participants, when stuck on a question, could seek out relevant books to get clues.

The shelves of the second-floor library were packed with rare, old manuscripts that were hard to come by now.

The reason the Floor of Knowledge took this form was purely due to Headmaster Alderson’s stubbornness...

It was unfortunate that young people nowadays visited libraries less and less. This trial had been specifically prepared to help them rediscover the fun of finding knowledge with their own hands.

...Of course, a system that required one to spend anywhere from one to four hours to solve a single problem was not normal. After this test, the participants would probably become hysterical at the mere sight of a library.

Anyway...!

That cheeky kid had casually solved it all in half an hour and just left the second floor!

But, unexpectedly, it seemed that even Luan Bednicker was stuck on the third floor.

* * * * *

* * * * *

“Professor Morland.”

“Yes?”

“How long has Luan Bednicker been on the third floor?”

“It has been three hours.”

“Hmm. He’s having trouble, it seems.”

Alderson stroked his beard, his demeanor calm again.

Watching Luan charge forward so fearlessly had brought back memories of the Nightmare of Bednicker...

But even the most exceptional talent didn’t seem to match up to someone like the Lord of Blood and Iron.

That was really only to be expected.

The Lord of Blood and Iron was the kind of talent that appeared only once every few centuries. The odds of another being born so soon—and from the same family at that? It was nigh impossible.

Still, he did quite well.

Luan Bednicker was only sixteen.

To achieve such feats at such a young age, before fully maturing? He was undeniably a promising talent for the future.

Regaining his composure, Headmaster Alderson smiled calmly and took another sip of his black tea.

“...”

Meanwhile, Morland was watching Luan with a hint of uneasiness.

The third floor, unlike the others, had only a few communication crystals.

All they could see was the waiting room. As for the three other rooms, the Rooms of Strength, Speed, and Agility... they didn’t know what was going on within.

Hmm...

Only those who scored a total of 150 points on the third floor could advance to the fourth floor.

That meant that, on average, a participant needed to get 50 points in each room... but that wasn’t easy.

For each room, the difficulty jumped drastically from stage three on.

Professor Morland knew there weren’t many talents among the current young heroes who could overcome such hardship.

...Still, considering he is the young hero who broke the record for the [Mana-Devouring Stairs], it’s very strange that he’s taking this long.

Morland turned to look at the screen.

Just as he was thinking that he really wanted to have a peek at what was going in there...

A voice came from Luan Bednicker’s screen.

[Congratulations. You have passed the Floor of Training.]

“...!”

***

[Room of Strength: 99 Points.]

[Room of Speed: 97 Points.]

[Room of Agility: 93 Points.]

[Overall Ranking.]

[NEW!] [1st Place: Luan Bednicker - 289 Points.]

[2nd Place: Leone - 281 Points.]

[3rd Place: Dellark Bednicker - 280 Points.]

[4th Place: Hyde Woodjack - 277 Points.]

[5th Place: Kayla Goldan - 265 Points.]

“...”

While I had secured first place overall, my immediate response was not any sense of accomplishment. Rather, I had... questions.

First of all, I was surprised that the Lord of Blood and Iron hadn’t held first place.

He’d placed first in the Room of Agility, but only second and third in the Rooms of Strength and Speed respectively.

The one who’d held first place in both of those rooms was Leone.

Who is Leone?

I frowned at the unfamiliar name. At least the other names were somewhat familiar.

There was, of course, the Lord of Blood and Iron, but I also recognized Hyde Woodjack, Charon’s father and the strongest ranger of the continent.

Then there was Kayla Goldan, whom I briefly mentioned before: the current Mercenary Queen and the adopted daughter of Kayan.

It was surprising that both Hyde and Kayla had attended the academy...

But most surprising of all was still this person named Leone.

I had never heard the name before, yet here they were, ranking higher than the Lord of Blood and Iron.

It might be an alias.

Curious, I checked the record like I had with Lord of Blood and Iron, and I saw a girl with jet-black hair and red eyes.

Of course, it wasn’t a face I recognized.

Leone tackled every trial with a fierce grin, and I clearly saw that her physical abilities were exceptional.

She’s still beneath me, though.

Anyway, that wrapped up the third floor.

Only 150 points were required to move on, and I had nearly doubled that. Having passed well over the requirement, I should now be able to head to the fourth floor.

I didn’t see any stairs around. Maybe if I waited, the surroundings would change on their own like before?

...

...

...

But for some reason, the surroundings weren’t changing.

As my brows knit in confusion...

[Ahem.]

A voice came out of nowhere.

Was it a communication crystal?

[Ah, ahem. Can you hear me, Young Hero Luan?]

It was the voice of Headmaster Alderson.

“What’s the matter?”

[Well, it’s nothing serious. First of all... I’ve been closely watching your remarkable performance from the control room. Truly impressive...]

I let the unnecessary flattery go in one ear and out the other. He wasn’t here just to give out compliments.

[...Now, getting to the main point, Young Hero Luan... I’m sorry to say that you won’t be able to move on to the fourth floor just yet.]

“What do you mean?”

[The next floor, the “Floor of Duels,” has a minimum participant requirement. At least two people are required to challenge the floor.]

I froze at the headmaster’s words.

“So you’re saying...”

[You cannot advance to the fourth floor until another young hero arrives.]

What a stupid-ass system.

There was probably a genuine reason for this setup, but I couldn’t help the irritated undertone in my voice as I said, “So what you’re saying is on the Floor of Duels, young heroes who made it this far have to fight each other?”

That explained the minimum requirement of two people since there couldn’t be an evaluation without an opponent.

[I’m afraid I cannot give you the details, but it’s a bit different from that.]

“If that’s not how it works, I don’t mind challenging it by myself.”

[That’s simply not how it works, Young Hero. Rules must be followed at all times.]

As I listened to the headmaster’s words, I realized something: This old man did not want me to proceed any higher up the tower.

[However, it would be a shame to just go back down after passing the third floor... Luan, your performance in this tower has been remarkable, so I’d like to reward you accordingly. Besides...]

Headmaster Alderson’s voice lowered.

[You’re exhausted, aren’t you? We are hosting a welcome party for the new students this evening, and we’ve invited one of the empire’s finest chefs along with an exceptional orchestra. You will need to change into something suitable for the party, so why not head down for today?]

Something stirred within me. A bit of my rebellious nature, perhaps?

I grinned slyly and replied, “So, Headmaster, you said the minimum requirement is two, right?”

[Indeed.]

“Then whoever it is that comes up next, I can challenge the fourth floor with them?”

[That is correct, but it will not be easy for the other young heroes to pass the second floor. Even if they do, they’ll need to score at least 150 points on the third floor. And even if they succeed, the odds that student will want to challenge the fourth floor as well are sli—]

“Sounds good,” I said, cutting off the headmaster a bit rudely.

To be honest, while the challenges on the first and second floors weren’t exactly a walk in the park—and the third floor was even more difficult—a few faces crossed my mind. People who had it in them to make it this far.

And one face stood out among the rest. For some unknown reason, I had a gut feeling they would be the fastest to reach this floor. Though, that was just a hunch.

[So... who are you waiting for?]

Alderson was curious after seeing how I maintained my calm demeanor. But I chose to remain silent, instead closing my eyes and beginning to circulate.

Yes, there was no sunlight, which did make it less effective... but I had nothing else to do, so I figured I’d take my time and wait leisurely.

After completing the microcosmic orbit according to the guiding principles of the strongest fire technique...

Flash!

A figure appeared in the center of the waiting room with a flash of bright light. Another hero had just entered the third floor.

I waited patiently for the light to fade before greeting the revealed figure with a cheerful wave.

“Hi!”

____