"Viktor's Forest Secret Realm", this is the name of the exam.
According to the rule explanation, every examinee will face four encounter battles inside the Forest Secret Realm.
Each battle involves different monsters, with different strengths, and in different numbers.
In the four battles, there will be one, three, five, and ten monsters respectively.
If you can pass the third encounter battle, then the result is considered a pass.
Henny waved a bit of magic over the scroll, and the rules of the exam appeared in the center.
The students present looked at the rules on the scroll, somewhat hesitant.
They couldn't believe it.
Professor Viktor's exam was actually making them challenge monsters personally?
This was actually a real combat exam!?
Wasn't this basically risking their lives?
"Like I said before, this exam has no limit on the number of attempts. Candidates who fail can take it again."
"You also don't need to worry. If you encounter life-threatening danger, the secret realm will automatically teleport you out and heal you."
Hearing this, the students looked at one another.
Even though such protective measures indeed gave them a lot of reassurance, hearing "real combat" still made them feel somewhat… Timid.
Students of the Royal Academy of Magic really don't have any actual combat experience.
At most they've only tried casting spells in the Arcane Hall and hitting wooden dummies.
Even though Associate Professor Henny said there would be no danger to their lives, instinct still made the students resistant.
The students started feeling like backing out; a few of the ones in the back even took several steps toward the exit.
But maybe the chance to gain two passes at once was too tempting for them.
After hesitating for a long time, they still returned to the group.
At the very least, they would watch a bit first.
Of course, Henny saw all their hesitation.
"Well then, the exam begins. Candidates who are ready, please line up and enter the testing grounds in order."
Those dozens of green teleportation arrays were the so-called "testing grounds."
With a wave of her hand, Henny activated the green magic arrays, which burst forth with waves of green energy.
All the candidates understood that once they stepped in, what awaited them next was an unprecedented real combat exam.
Erica was the first one to move.
She didn't care at all about the students' fear or shock around her; she simply walked toward the portal in front of her.
The teleportation array under her feet gradually emitted light. Very quickly, Erica's body dissolved like strands of magical energy and merged into the scroll.
"She went in!?"
"This… nothing bad is going to happen, right?"
"Should we wait for Erica to come out first and ask her what it's like in there?"
The students left behind started discussing.
However, the moment Erica fully entered the scroll, more than a dozen students squeezed out of the crowd and went to their respective portals.
And slowly, these people were recognized by the others.
"These people…"
"They're all top-ranked elite students…"
It wasn't only Erica who was looking forward to Viktor's exam.
They followed closely behind Erica, entering the secret realm one by one.
Even though they hadn't participated in Viktor's test at the Arcane Hall that day, that was only a flashy, superficial lesson.
True geniuses look forward to any challenge.
Besides, this was just an exam, and one with unlimited attempts.
If they didn't even have the courage to enter, then they might as well give up from the start.
Once they all entered the arrays, most of the students became quiet.
They looked at the glowing teleportation arrays; it felt as if a fire inside their hearts stirred them to move, but that fire was quickly extinguished by a bucket of cold water called "calm."
Finally, a small number of candidates gave up the exam on their own. Their faces showed troubled expressions as they shook their heads and turned toward the mage tower's teleportation exit.
At the moment they left, their expressions seemed extremely complicated.
No one knew whether they were troubled by their own fear, or regretful of their lack of strength.
Henny watched them, but didn't stop or urge anyone to proceed immediately.
After all, it was just as the students themselves imagined, Professor Viktor's exam was probably the hardest exam the academy had seen in recent years.
———
A few strands of green light slowly descended into a dense forest. The glowing feeling in her body made Erica feel almost weightless.
But the broad, heavy leaves around her told her that this was no illusion, this was a real forest.
This place had been constructed using Cocotte's spatial magic together with the Wood Catastrophe's terrain-crafting, layered over and over into multiple challenge spaces.
Every space was independent; the candidates would not interfere with each other.
Right now, Erica couldn't yet see the true wonder of this space.
She looked ahead. Beyond a tangle of branches and leaves, there seemed to be a hint of darkness.
Walking forward, Erica saw a winding little path.
The path was covered in weeds, making it hard to distinguish.
Erica walked carefully along it, not daring to take long or fast steps.
Even without monsters popping out, the insects and tiny flying bugs in the dense brush were already annoying enough.
She continued forward, stepping over weeds, leaving uneven footprints on the muddy ground.
No other people were around. Erica tried looking for other paths.
She walked toward a side route but felt like she had hit a wall.
"Ow ow ow."
Erica rubbed the shoulder she had bumped into that "air wall," staring at the empty space in surprise.
It was clearly dense forest on all sides, yet everything was completely blocked off.
"No other way, just this one path?"
This unique kind of exam felt strangely new to her.
It was like she was inside a mysterious space.
Walking forward again, a ray of sunset light pierced the trees and fell into Erica's eyes.
An exit.
She sped up, took two steps, and rushed out of the forest.
"This place is…"
She looked at the endless plains around her. The yellow foxtail grass swayed like waves under the breeze.
Just then, a mound of dirt at Erica's feet moved.
A dirt-yellow monster burst out of the ground, leaping straight toward Erica's face.
Its body looked like a prairie dog, but its tail carried a flower like some kind of parasite.
Along its long neck were several mouse heads full of thick fur, making mixed chittering and quacking noises.
But what surprised Erica the most was, the head at the very top had a duck's beak.
"So… is this a mouse or a duck…"
As if it heard Erica doubting whether it was a duck, the monster got angry and lunged at her, shaking its body aggressively.
Erica twisted aside and took several steps back. The monster missed and ended up biting a bunch of foxtail grass.
Refusing to lose, it swung the flower on its tail and attacked Erica again.
[Second-Tier Magic: Fireburst]
A red magic array formed quickly in her hands. Two pillars of flame shot forward.
The monster charging at her was instantly burned to nothing.
"Hmph, weak."
Erica clapped her hands. The charred monster was pulled back into the ground.
"That's it?"
Unlike other students, Erica had real combat experience.
Back at Mount Vesuvius, she had killed plenty of local fire-type monsters.
Compared to those, these monsters were far weaker.
Erica knew the monsters' strength had been deliberately adjusted for the sake of all candidates, which also made things easier for her.
She didn't know how exactly Professor Viktor controlled the monsters, but this kind of exam was quite interesting.
Erica continued forward. The second wave of monsters appeared.
Two mouse-like ducks burst from the ground and rushed at her again.
But this time, another type of monster joined them.
From far away, a tiny black dot flew rapidly toward her.
A creature like a bat, flapping four tattered film-like wings, rode the wind and spat three blobs of black liquid at Erica.
Erica flipped over the two mouse monsters.
In midair, she twisted, dodged the black liquid, stepped on the bat's back, and leapt backward.
Two spells formed in her hands at the same time.
[Second-Tier Magic: Waterfall Spiral]
[Second-Tier Magic: Fire-Smoke Ascension]
One red, one blue, both appeared in her palms.
As she descended, she thrust out both arms, sending the two intertwined spells at the three monsters.
BOOM!
Intense heat and exploding water droplets tore through the surrounding grass.
The smell of burning slowly rose.
Erica landed steadily and exhaled.
Fortunately, she had trained for a period with her father's "Magus Legion," so she could manage such agile movements.
If she hadn't neutralized the flying bat early, she might really have taken a fall here.
Two types of monsters fighting at long and short range together was still quite dangerous.
After a brief rest, Erica continued forward.
Her instincts told her the third wave was coming.
Sure enough, three "duck-mice", the name she had just given them, burst from the ground.
This time, their movements were far faster than the previous two waves.
In the distance, a bat shot toward her again, making Erica focus completely.
"No! There should be five monsters!"
Her sixth sense screamed wrong. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
She turned around, and saw a massive flying gnat diving toward her.
The creature's whole body was tangled with vine-like wood, hiding it within the surrounding green.
Without careful observation, you'd never notice such a clever predator.
"As expected!"
Erica stepped far to the side, dodging the duck-mice. She formed a flame in her hand and struck the flying gnat as it came at her.
The moment the flame touched it, it ignited.
Erica rolled away from the danger behind her, but the burning gnat suddenly flapped its wings wildly, snuffing out the fire immediately.
"Tch."
This wave of monsters was stronger than before.
Realizing this, Erica stopped holding back.
A bright green light flared from her chest, enveloping all the monsters around her.
The Power of Inheritance.
With this power, Erica was no longer who she used to be. The powerful natural energy in her now placed her far beyond simple second-tier spells.
The light dimmed. The monsters' bodies seemed to have seeds planted inside them; they sprouted violently, and sharp branches burst out from within.
The monsters collapsed under the incomplete sunset, utterly silent.
Their corpses dissolved along with the wooden vines, and behind Erica, a green teleportation gate lit up.
A cluster of glowing text appeared in the air before her.
[Result: Pass. Continue the challenge?]
This meant Erica had completed the exam and could now leave to take the other professors' exams.
But…
She didn't want to be satisfied yet.
"Continue the challenge."
Once she confirmed, the teleportation gate vanished.
She turned around, and at some point a bright green path had appeared before her, peaceful and harmonious under the sunlight.
The flowers along the path swayed in the breeze, as if celebrating her courage.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the waves of grass and continued into the depths of the path.