2026-09-02 12:29:59A young woman hesitantly raised her hand.
“I’m not going. There’s no penalty for failing the entrance exam, right? I’d rather wait here until time runs out.”
Several others immediately agreed.
Their fear was understandable.
They had already watched dozens of candidates get torn apart alive.
Knowing that death during this exam wouldn’t reduce their lifespan didn’t make the pain any less real.
Ryan counted quickly.
Out of twenty-six people, fourteen chose to stay inside the building.
That left twelve.
Marcus tapped the hilt of his sword confidently.
“Twelve is enough. With my thirty-two attribute points and Evelyn being the strongest candidate here, ordinary Blight Goblins won’t be a problem.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“The mandatory mission and killing five Blight Goblins shouldn’t be too difficult. The unknown factor is the Goblin Warlord.”
Marcus frowned.
“I haven’t even seen the Warlord. Maybe it’s somewhere else.”
“No.”
Ryan looked toward the courtyard.
“If the mission target hasn’t appeared yet, then something probably has to trigger it.”
Several candidates turned their attention toward him.
Ryan continued.
“There aren’t many possibilities. Time, the number of candidates who die, or the number of Blight Goblins killed.”
Evelyn considered that for a moment.
“Not time. Almost half the examination period has already passed. If the Warlord only appeared after a time threshold, Blackthorn would be giving us too little opportunity to complete the second optional mission.”
“The number of candidate deaths doesn’t make much sense either,” Ryan added. “It’s too unpredictable. That leaves the number of Blight Goblins killed as the most likely trigger.”
A candidate holding a bow glanced toward the courtyard.
“The first groups barely killed anything. They just tried to break through.”
“That’s the problem.”
Ryan nodded.
“We still have enough time. Instead of rushing straight toward the Sanctuary Zone, we should finish the five-goblin mission first.”
He looked around at the group.
“If the Warlord appears, we can decide whether it’s something we can handle. If it’s too strong, we still have time to retreat to the Sanctuary Zone before the exam ends.”
The plan was quickly accepted.
There was no penalty for failing, while the Academy Credits and Merit Marks offered by the optional missions were too valuable to ignore.
Marcus finally spoke.
“Then we need a formation. Eight people have close-range weapons and four have ranged weapons. Two archers, two wand users.”
He pointed toward the group.
“We form a circle. The ranged fighters stay in the middle, while the other eight protect the outer line.”
This time, Ryan had no reason to disagree.
Marcus might enjoy showing off, but the formation itself made sense.
The others began deciding their positions.
Evelyn took a place in the middle alongside the other wand user and the two archers.
Marcus, unsurprisingly, claimed the front position.
Ryan, meanwhile, crouched a short distance away and drew his dagger again.
[Basic Dagger Mastery Lv.1: 90/100.]
Ten points.
That was all he needed.
Marcus noticed what he was doing and snorted.
“We’re about to leave, and you’re still practicing?”
Ryan raised the dagger and performed one measured slash.
“You’re going to need a few minutes to organize the formation anyway. I’m just making sure the time doesn’t go to waste.”
[Basic Dagger Mastery Lv.1: 92/100.]
Marcus shook his head as though Ryan were wasting his time.
The others didn’t pay much attention either and went back to discussing their positions.
Only Evelyn watched Ryan for a little longer than the rest.
Ryan said nothing.
He adjusted his footing, tightened his grip on the dagger, and performed another slash.
[Basic Dagger Mastery Lv.1: 94/100.]
Six more points.
If Universal Prodigy worked the way Ryan expected, he might enter that courtyard with something none of the other candidates possessed.
A skill that had already reached the next level.
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Chapter 16 - Final Attack
“Two shots...” Ryan repeated quietly as he stared at the Goblin Warlord still standing in front of them. “That means we can’t afford to miss again.”Evelyn didn’t answer. Her face had gone pale, and the hand gripping her wand was trembling slightly, but her eyes remained fixed on the Warlord’s half-destroyed head.Two other candidates who had somehow survived on the far side of the courtyard exchanged glances.They could have taken advantage of the weakened Warlord and escaped toward the Sanctuary Zone.Instead, after seeing how close the monster was to falling, they raised their weapons and charged.“Now! Hold it down!”The fi
Chapter 15 - Shockwave
[Universal Prodigy activated.][Target: Goblin Warlord.][Copyable ability detected.][Shockwave - Rank F.][Copy successful.][Ability duration: 3 minutes.]Ryan read the notifications once before immediately turning to Evelyn. “Three minutes. That’s all the time we have. No matter what happens, aim for its head.”Evelyn frowned slightly, clearly not understanding where Ryan’s confidence was coming from, but she didn’t waste time asking questions. Her wand was already raised as Ryan tightened his grip on the dagger and ran toward the Goblin Warlord.One of the remaining candidates had just failed to escape.The Warlord grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the ground before his body shattered into light. The sight still made Ryan’s stomach turn, even though he knew everything happening here was only part of the exam.The moment Ryan entered its attack range, the Warlord’s red eyes shifted toward him.The creature swung its arm.Ryan had already estimated its reach and stepped
Chapter 14 - Trump Card
Evelyn had already turned toward the Sanctuary Zone, but after only a few steps, the difference in their speed became obvious.The Warlord was much faster.Evelyn, meanwhile, clearly wasn’t built around physical attributes.“Not toward the Sanctuary!” Ryan pointed toward the ruins of the building that had collapsed when the Warlord appeared. “Go toward the candidates who were hiding!”Evelyn glanced over and immediately understood.The fourteen candidates who had refused to fight from the beginning were now gathered near the ruins.They still hadn’t crossed the courtyard toward the Sanctuary Zone because they were too afraid, but the collapsed building had destroyed their hiding place.Evelyn changed direction and ran straight toward them.Several candidates immediately panicked.“Hey! Don’t come over here!”“Take that thing somewhere else!”Evelyn didn’t slow down.The Warlord kept gaining on her, but she still had a lead of roughly twenty meters.The moment she passed the group near
Chapter 13 - Under Pressure
“Don’t fight it head-on! Fall back!”Ryan was already moving away before he even finished shouting.Marcus had just been sent flying with a single blow, and that was more than enough to kill any desire Ryan had to test his strength against the Goblin Warlord.With his attributes, one hit might be enough to end his exam.Not everyone thought the same way.The ten candidates who had been heading toward the Sanctuary Zone immediately turned back when the boss appeared.They had already completed the five-goblin mission, which meant the only major reward left was standing right in front of them.“Attack together!”“Don’t give it a chance to move!”Several swords and axes struck the Goblin Warlord almost at the same time.Two arrows followed from behind.The result was disappointing.Its thick, muscular body suffered only shallow wounds, while the arrows barely managed to penetrate its skin.Ryan chose to observe from a safe distance.All the ordinary Blight Goblins had collapsed the momen
Chapter 12 - Triggering the Warlord
No one laughed this time.Too many coincidences had happened for it to still look like luck.Marcus was the angriest of them all.“You’re doing this on purpose!”Ryan turned toward him.“Doing what?”“Four!”Marcus raised four fingers, his face turning red.“You stole four kills from me!”Ryan was actually a little surprised by the number.He had deliberately targeted Marcus more often because his high attributes allowed him to weaken goblins quickly.But Ryan hadn’t realized he had taken that many.He checked his skill progress.[Power Slash Lv.1: 80/100.]What a shame.A little more and the skill might have leveled up.Then again, if Ryan kept doing the same thing, Marcus might decide to stab him before stabbing another Blight Goblin.“Fine. I’ll stop.”Marcus snorted loudly.The others looked more curious than genuinely angry.They all knew Ryan only had nine total attribute points.That made his ability to time his finishing blows so precisely even stranger.Ryan, of course, had n
Chapter 11 - Kill Steal
Ryan’s satisfaction after getting his first kill lasted only a few seconds.The moment he tried to raise his dagger again, the muscles in his arm felt heavy and sore, as though all the strength he had gathered earlier had been squeezed out in a single attack.Power Slash was strong, but Ryan only had three points in Vitality.If he forced himself to use the skill twice in quick succession, there was no guarantee his arm would still be able to hold a weapon afterward.So Ryan didn’t rush to look for another target.He continued moving with the formation while watching how the others fought.Some needed three strikes to bring down a Blight Goblin.Others needed four or five.Ryan began memorizing how strong each person was and estimating when a goblin had been weakened enough for him to finish it with a single attack.About a minute later, the heaviness in his arm started to fade.A candidate beside him was fighting a Blight Goblin that had already taken three sword strikes.The moment
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