The Royal Academy's survival test is a trial of raw strength and endurance. For eight hours, first-year students are thrown into a hostile forest infested with monsters. Although emergency teleportation devices are provided, the evaluation is based on the students' ability to defend themselves in critical conditions. Every movement is closely monitored by the teachers from within the academy.
Ella, infiltrated in the field to protect Davina, sighs beneath her invisibility spell as she sits on a moss-covered rock.
(I knew playing bodyguard would be boring, but this… I'm dying of boredom.)
She observes Davina's group, made up of three other students with varied talents:
Lucie Nostaka: A count's daughter and an earth sniper. She transmutes the ground into piercing projectiles to take down her targets from afar.
Violetta Kira: A mysterious mage wielding devastating blue flames. Her raw power is immense, but she still struggles to properly channel the intensity of her own magic.
Eva Arkone: An acrobatic skirmisher standing at 1.50 meters tall. She floods the battlefield with pure mana beams and kinetic barriers, harassing the enemy while never letting herself be hit.
Despite their talents, it is Davina who orchestrates everything. She chains magical explosions while maintaining a protective barrier for her allies—an impressive feat of mana management.
"You're really amazing, Davi!" Violetta exclaims, panting after the last fight.
(Davi?) Davina frowns, surprised by the nickname.
"Sorry, if it bothers you…"
"No, it's fine," Davina replies. "It's just… unusual."
Violetta presses on, full of admiration:
"How do you do it? After five impact spells, I'm completely drained, but you still seem inexhaustible!"
From the shadows, Ella analyzes the situation:
(In reality, Violetta has more raw mana. But Davina is a craftsman. She doesn't waste a single drop of energy—her magic circles are flawless. She must have trained with terrifying discipline to reach this level at our age… sometimes, I almost feel guilty for having learned magic so 'easily'.)
Suddenly, a roar tears through the air. A Berserk Red Bear, an intermediate-rank beast, bursts into a clearing.
As her friends freeze in terror, Davina takes command:
"Don't panic! If we stay together, we can take it down! Lucie, immobilize its legs! Eva, harass it and keep it distracted! Violetta, aim for its mouth with your flames! I'll prepare the final explosion!"
Galvanized by her confidence, the girls move into position. Ella smiles.
(Davina is a born leader. The complete opposite of me.)
However, a black arrow whistles through the air and pierces the bear's leg with such force that it ignores the creature's thick hide.
"Back off," a haughty voice calls from above. "That bear is mine."
Melty appears, perched on a branch, her bow drawn. She is accompanied by an alchemist and a squad of boys armed with magical chains.
"You're understaffed," Melty adds disdainfully. "Don't touch what belongs to me."
Within seconds, Melty's group launches a perfectly coordinated assault. The ground freezes beneath the bear's paws thanks to a mage named Aurora. Melty finishes the creature with an explosive arrow fired straight between its eyes.
She lands on the ground and walks away without a single glance at Davina's group, followed by her "guard."
Ella watches the scene, thoughtful:
(There are geniuses… and then there are dominants. Melty is an Alpha. She doesn't cooperate—she colonizes.)
Elsewhere in the forest, Alex walks among the corpses of werewolves. He seems completely lost in thought, a dagger in hand, which he uses with speed beyond human perception to decapitate any monster foolish enough to approach him.
(This is ridiculous… I'm supposed to find a shady guy within a five-kilometer radius in all this mess. Maybe I should start jumping from tree to tree?)
Several hours later, rain begins to fall. Davina and her group have taken refuge in a cave, where they are fighting a Giant Black Viper.
The serpent's scales resist conventional elemental magic. Eva creates diversions, Lucie tries to crush the beast with falling stalactites—but it is Davina who delivers the finishing blow. She compresses her flames into a small, hyper-dense orange sphere.
"Enjoy your meal. Explosion!"
The sphere detonates inside the serpent's mouth, pulverizing it from within. As the girls collapse from exhaustion, Davina remains standing, her eyes shining.
(Finally… I let off some steam. That princess was really starting to get on my nerves.)
Suddenly, a shadow emerges from the depths of the cave. A short, bald man with a dagger approaches, wearing a sick grin.
"Finally found you. You're in for a rough time, little girl…"
But behind him, an overwhelming presence manifests. Ella deactivates her invisibility, her face frozen in an icy expression.
"Oh, you…" Ella sighs. "You're exactly the one I was waiting for."
END OF CHAPTER
NEXT CHAPTER: Royal Academy, Act 1: Survival Test (2)