Sixty minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
While Simon had solved all twenty questions of the summoning subject and was struggling with the mathematics problems alongside Kamibarez, the teaching assistant shouted that there were five minutes left in the exam.
"Just guess the remaining questions! Go with number five!" Mei Lin shouted as she finished the subjective questions.
Simon also marked the remaining questions with number five and then returned to the original questions, burning through the remaining time.
"The exam is over," Jane said.
"Everyone, put down your quills!" "Hands on your heads!" The teaching assistants moved around to collect the exam papers and answer sheets.
The students' eyes, filled with deep regret, turned towards the collected papers.
"Everyone did well," the teaching assistants said as they handed out new exam papers along with the answer sheets containing explanations.
"We will announce the results of the performance assessment after the midterms. For the remaining time, let's take a moment to grade our own papers and check the questions we got wrong."
"Yes!" Simon decided to start grading the summoning subject right away.
With a pounding heart, he focused on his quill. 'Please let it go up...!' He began grading.
Unlike the regular midterm exam, there were only twenty questions, but he had gotten many correct, and it was evident that his score would rise.
The result was, "It went up! 84 points!" It had risen by eight points from the previous 76. Of course, compared to the amount of study he had done for the summoning subject, it didn't seem like a huge increase, but the effort needed to go from the 70s to the 80s was on a different level than going from the 30s to the 40s.
An eight-point increase was undeniably a significant improvement.
"Um, well. Not bad," Mei Lin congratulated him with a somewhat reluctant smile. 'With scores coming out like this, studying is actually fun.' The problems were different, so a proper comparison couldn't be made, but in the previous test, Mei Lin had scored 85 points.
With this, hope was visible for the midterms.
"Hey! Who got this in Sacred Defense Studies?" Mei Lin suddenly shouted in anger while grading.
Dick looked up with a sheepish expression.
"I, I did?" "You got three questions in a row wrong! No way, these are questions you can get wrong?" Mei Lin unleashed her fiery anger, and Dick lowered his head with a wrinkled expression.
At that moment, Kamibarez, who was grading, exclaimed, "Wow! I got 89 points in Blood Flow Studies! My score went up!" "Oh, really? I love you, Kamii!" Mei Lin hugged her tightly, reveling in her joy.
Dick, who was being scolded, subtly raised his thumb.
Kamibarez also laughed and raised her thumb in response.
Thus, the grading was completed.
"Overall, I expect the top ranks," Mei Lin crossed her arms.
"There were some regrets, but since all four of us have different aspirations, it should work in our favor. Our rankings shouldn't drop."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"And of course, Professor Jane. The questions were good. If we thoroughly note down the mistakes from these questions, our scores should come out well. I made sure to tell the class president not to show these exam questions to the other classes."
She smiled slyly, moving her eyes.
"And I don't think any of our group would be foolish enough to sell these questions for money."
Dick looked a bit startled but quickly smiled and said, "Of course not! I would take this kind of loss for Class A... Ah!" "What's wrong, Dick?" "By the way, tomorrow is another duel assessment."
Ah—Kamibarez, who had been looking cheerful, suddenly became gloomy and buried her face in her palms.
On the other hand, Simon was smiling brightly.
"We have to do it once a week anyway. If we win tomorrow, we'll be in the upper squad, right?" "That's right."
"Oh, Simon, are you confident?" Mei Lin asked, and Simon crossed his arms.
"It's just the same as usual."
"Be especially careful in tomorrow's duel assessment, Simon," Dick said seriously.
"The rumor that you can use golems has spread widely. Your opponent will probably launch an attack from the start."
"That makes sense."
"Okay, okay."
Mei Lin clapped her hands.
"The duel assessment is really important, so I will focus on that tonight as well. Let's finish it quickly and study for the midterms."
"Yes! Mei Lin!" "Okay."
The next day, duel assessment day.
Indoor Arena No. 3. Unlike the excitement of last week, the audience seats were somewhat empty.
Next week was the midterms, and external scouts were also banned from entering during the exam period to help manage students' stress.
Dick, Mei Lin, and Kamibarez were each taking their duel assessments in different arenas.
This empty atmosphere actually felt more comfortable.
Simon, holding a notebook filled with memorized content, began to recite the formulas.
He couldn't afford to waste even this little time.
- A student from Class A, Simon Polentia.
Student Jessica Kananor from Class H, please come to the arena.
Having waited in advance, Simon stood up and walked to the arena.
His opponent was also walking over from the opposite side.
Jessica was a girl with green hair and freckles.
Minions rushed out to put a protective suit on him.
Then the referee gestured.
"Both contestants, shake hands."
Jessica approached to shake hands.
However...
Murmur, murmur, murmur.
Simon kept his eyes on the error notebook until the moment they got close.
Then, as they drew near, he lowered the notebook and smiled, extending his hand. 'Studying for the midterms at a time like this? What a strange character.' Jessica forced a smile as she shook hands with Simon.
The two slowly distanced themselves.
When Jessica glanced back, Simon had buried his face in the error notebook again. 'Is she looking down on me just because she’s a special case?' Jessica felt a bit annoyed.
A moment later, the two faced each other and took their stances.
"Then, we will now begin the duel assessment between Simon Polentia and Jessica Kananor."
The referee's arm dropped.
"Begin!" Simon, with his face covered by the error notebook, summoned three skeletons.
Jessica's expression hardened. 'There’s a limit to looking down on someone!' She immediately prepared dark magic in her palm.
Simon showed no radical movements other than advancing his formation, allowing her to successfully complete her magic.
'Poison Fog!' The green sphere created by Jessica began to emit poisonous mist in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, the entire arena was filled with green smoke.
Thanks to the magical barrier, the smoke couldn't escape into the audience seats, and only the central area where Simon stood was thick with it.
"Oh."
Simon finally took his gaze off the error notebook and looked around.
"A major in Poison Studies, huh?" This time, he had no information about his opponent.
To avoid putting unnecessary pressure on Dick during the midterm period, Simon had refused to gather information first.
And the protective suit covering Simon's body changed from red to blue repeatedly.
This meant that 'damage assessment' was continuously being applied.
[Simon Polentia: 97%]
[Jessica Kananor: 100%]
'Hmm, so this is how she fights.' Laying down the poison fog and gradually whittling away at the opponent's health while the poison mage focused on defense and counterplay.
Time was on the poison mage's side, so the opponent would inevitably become anxious psychologically.
Perhaps because of this, Simon also put the error notebook into the void.
Seeing this, Jessica smiled triumphantly. 'Yes, now he realizes this isn't the time for midterm studying...' But just as he put the error notebook away, a new notebook popped out. 'Lucky me!' This time, it was the Poison Studies memorization notebook.
'Poison Fog.
A common question in Poison Studies.
A wide-area magic that can give various effects to the opponent through the combination of poisons.
Weak against wind-type dark elemental magic, and the runes and formulas used are...' As Simon experienced studying for the first time in his life, he realized one important fact.
In Kizen, there was an endless amount of content to memorize, and just locking himself in the study room all day wouldn't help him memorize everything.
Thus, what Simon realized was the method of association.
A way to connect any event or situation to recall the words in his mind.
The most important point was that he shouldn't take the content he needed to memorize as mere language! If he could transform it into a living situation, he could recall it much more easily.
Therefore, studying Poison Studies in the current situation was an unmissable opportunity for Simon.
If he memorized Poison Studies here, he would be able to recall everything just by thinking of the battle with Jessica.
As Simon began to half-zone out and memorize the words, his opponent Jessica was in disbelief.
Now, she was not only annoyed but also angry. 'Ugh, how infuriating! I want to rush over and hit him...! Ah, no! I mustn't waver!' This was Kizen.
Deceiving and provoking the opponent was also a part of psychological warfare.
This was undoubtedly a ploy to shake her composure.
And if the opponent underestimated her and let their guard down, wouldn't that be a good thing? She just needed to not fall for the provocation and flatten the opponent with her skills. 'After all, his barrier gauge is continuously being whittled down.
If I can just hold on like this...!'
Whoosh! Suddenly, an arrow flew right in front of her face.
Jessica barely managed to dodge by turning her head. '...
W-What the?!' Cold sweat poured down her face.
By now, three skeletons armed with bows stood behind Simon.
Her pupils widened. 'S-Skeleton Archers! He’s using them already?' It seemed the rumor about the summoning student using golems was not just a baseless rumor.
At that moment, Simon, who had been burying his face in the notebook, stretched out his arm.
The archers' spirits extinguished, and the skeletons in the front charged toward Jessica. 'Stay calm...!' She raised a magic circle in her right hand and pulled out a poison potion in her left.
As she placed the potion on the magic circle, the potion bottle shattered with a loud bang, and the poison inside gathered.
She swung it with both hands. 'Poison Whip!'
A whip mixed with darkness and poison extended out, smashing all three skeletons at once.
Then Simon raised his index finger. 'Restore.' However, the shattered bones merely twitched and showed no reaction.
Simon subtly lowered the notebook and looked ahead.
The skeletons' bodies were tinged with purple.
"The poison of Kabara drastically reduces dark sensitivity," Jessica grinned.
"Especially when it touches the skeleton's body, it neutralizes the remaining dark essence in the bones, rendering them temporarily unable to be restored. You didn't know that, did you?" This was a move Jessica had prepared to counter a summoning student.
Seeing the foolish expression of the arrogant special case, she felt her chest lighten and her nose rise in pride.
"Oh, I see."
Simon said, genuinely impressed, as he pulled out a quill from the void.
"Kabara's poison... reduces dark sensitivity..."
Then he began to take notes.
Seeing this, a crease formed on Jessica's forehead.
"I am your midterm teacher!"
Three magic circles for dark arrows began to prepare at an incredible speed in front of her.
"No!" Just as she was about to give the command to launch the magic circles, whoosh! Bang! Whoosh! The arrows from the skeleton archers whizzed past the magic circles.
Her eyes widened in shock.
The magic circles began to flicker and collapse as if they were broken.
"The memorization points for dark arrows," Simon murmured.
"Fast casting. Easy multi-casting. Excellent penetration. The key rune is projection. Be careful not to confuse the elasticity formula when writing the launch formula. And..."
Simon's cold gaze turned toward the magic circles.
"Be careful of damage to the left binding formula."
"...... You!" Simon summoned new skeletons from the void, sending them charging forward.
This time, all three were armed with spears and shields.
Jessica bit her lip and pulled out a potion again to prepare another Poison Whip.
"The memorization points for Poison Whip."
The three skeletons threw their spears.
"If the coordinates of the magic circle are off, it will collapse."
Jessica gasped and leaped.
The spear tip grazed her body, and one struck her thigh.
Her barrier gauge dropped, and the magic circle she was preparing was destroyed.
"Ugh!" Staggering, Jessica tried to regain her stance when suddenly, a spear flew from behind her.
"Ah!"
[Simon Polentia: 85%]
[Jessica Kananor: 52%]
Kneeling on one knee, she quickly turned around.
By now, a skeleton's arm and shoulder had formed on the ground. 'No way...! Did he restore only the parts that weren't hit by the Poison Whip and pick up the spear that fell on the ground to throw it?'
The offensive was just beginning.
Simon's commands were dazzling enough to make her eyes widen.
"When deploying dark arrows targeting a moving object at 6 m/s..."
"When the 1/3 of the arm and chest bones are deemed unable to be restored, what is the correct countermeasure for the sorcerer?" "If the skeleton's dark composition is changed..."
Simon murmured, constructing formulas and problems while predicting and deciphering all of Jessica's movements and attacks.
Simon was surprised himself.
Studying and practical application were by no means separate.
The theory was being integrated into practice, aiding in rational decision-making.
The efforts during this exam period had made Simon's movements even more refined.
[Simon Polentia: 76%]
[Jessica Kananor: 37%]
'At this rate...!' Jessica gritted her teeth.
Before the Poison Fog could take Simon down, she would be the one to fall first.
All the dark magic she used was perfectly deciphered, and now she had to make a decision. 'I heard the rumors about Matuga being strong, but...!'
Gathering dark energy in both fists, she charged at Simon. 'This is the only way!' As arrows from the skeleton archers flew toward Simon, she rushed forward, taking the arrows with her body.
"Hryaaaaaa!" With all her strength, her fist surged toward Simon, who was hiding his face behind the notebook.
"......!" At that moment, she lost sight of Simon.
She thought he had vanished, and her fist cut through empty air.
Simon's body moved like lightning, dropping low to the ground before spinning as if sweeping the surroundings.
Soon, his legs shot up like pillars, launching into her abdomen.
Boom! With tremendous force, her body soared into the air.
Simon, having regained his stance, raised his arms above his head.
Clatter, clatter.
The scattered bones of the skeletons on the ground began to rise as if alive.
As Simon clenched his fist, it was a signal. <Simon Polentia Original - Bone Nail> Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! They flew toward her at terrifying speed from all directions. 'Ah...' There was no escaping in the air.
Jessica closed her eyes in resignation as she watched the flying bones.
Crash!
[Simon Polentia: 72%]
[Jessica Kananor: 0%]
"Match over!" Jessica fell helplessly to the ground as the referee shouted.
"The winner is Simon Polentia from Class A!"