I glanced toward her—Elyndria was still looking down at the silver band in her hand, turning it slightly like she was examining a jewel rather than an exam tool. The casual grace she carried while doing the most mundane thing was honestly unfair.
Then I shifted my gaze to Aldric and Anastasia.
Anastisia was scanning the crowd, probably out of habit, when Aldric nudged her and asked who her partner was.
"It's someone called Rex," she replied casually.
Ah. Rex.
SS-rank awakener. Ranked 16th in the exam. Not bad—not good for her, but not bad for anyone else.
Aldric turned his golden eyes to me. "What about you, Arthur? Who's your partner?"
I didn't speak. Instead, I simply tilted my chin in Elyndria's direction.
Both of them froze.
Their faces said everything. They didn't comment—but the silence itself was loud.
Before they could even react properly, Kael's voice thundered once more across the sky.
"In fifty seconds, you will be teleported before the Rift assigned to you. These Rifts contain no beasts above Novice rank. Low-Novice monsters are worth 1 point, Mid-Novice 2 points, and High-Novice 4 points. You have six hours inside. Anyone who fails to obtain at least 40 points will be automatically eliminated. Even meeting the minimum does not guarantee entry. There are additional criteria."
A ripple of whispers swept through the massive crowd, but no one dared speak above a murmur. Kael's presence alone crushed the noise.
The massive circular rune beneath our feet brightened—
Light surged—
And my vision twisted.
I materialized in front of a massive spatial tear—blue, violet, and silver light swirling inside it like a living storm.
A Rift.
The mana density around it pressed against my skin. Heavy. Thick. Almost tangible.
Stronger than even the teleportation gates. That alone said everything.
And this was… an E-rank Rift.
'Well… technically it's artificial,' I reminded myself.
Real Rifts were unpredictable—abnormalities, rampaging monsters, corrupted mana storms. The academy wouldn't risk dropping students into a natural disaster. These artificially stabilized Rifts were created by condensing mana cores and sealing the space around them.
Still, the pressure was impressive.
"Hm… so that's the Rift we have to clear," I murmured.
A soft voice drifted from behind me.
"So this is it…"
Right. I wasn't alone.
I turned—and almost forgot how to breathe.
Two meters away stood the elven princess, Elyndria herself, her golden hair catching the Rift's glow like liquid sunlight. She didn't try to look beautiful—she simply breathed, existed, and the world adjusted around her.
I coughed lightly, attempting to look normal.
"Yes… it seems so."
Her forest-green eyes lifted to mine.
Thump—Thump.
My heartbeat stumbled. Again.
Her gaze lingered—longer than polite. Longer than expected. Long enough for my brain to lose all coherent function.
Then she blinked and looked away, as if snapping herself out of something.
"Since we're working together," she said, "we should introduce ourselves."
Of course. Textbook Elyndria. Reserved but polite. Soft-spoken but straightforward. A natural at forming connections but, ironically, terrible at keeping friends because of her sheltered upbringing.
I smiled and extended a hand.
"Arthur. SS-rank talent related to Time and Space."
A flicker of surprise lit her eyes—brief, sharp, then gone. Dual affinities like mine weren't something you just shrugged off.
But she recovered smoothly and took my hand.
"Elyndria. My talent is related to sprites. I can summon them to act under my will."
She didn't mention her rank. Smart. Only a handful in the world knew she was an SSS+ monster.
Before I could say more, a neutral voice echoed through the air.
"Your test begins now."
I nodded at her.
"Let's go."
She nodded back, expression composed once again.
Together, we stepped into the Rift—And the world distorted.
When the dizziness faded, we stood in a desert.
Sand, stretching endlessly. A faint heat in the air. No immediate monsters—though that never lasted long inside Rifts.
Elyndria remained perfectly calm.
"Let's find monsters first," I said. "Can you summon a sprite with sensory abilities?"
She blinked, surprised that I knew.
Of course I knew. I'd read the book of this world. But she didn't need to know that.
Still, she didn't question it. She nodded, and a flurry of multicolored particles erupted from her chest, swirling into a massive wolf made of pale-blue spirit energy. Cold mist drifted from its fur.
Her sprite.
"Fang," she said gently, "search for monsters."
The wolf closed its eyes, releasing a pulse of freezing spiritual energy that swept across nearly five kilometers.
After a moment, his eyes opened again.
Elyndria nodded. "There are seven low-rank and five mid-rank scorpions two kilometers west."
A perfect cluster.
I stepped closer and extended my hand.
She froze. Her ears reddened slightly. Fang growled at me viciously.
Ah—misunderstanding.
"I have a teleportation skill," I clarified quickly.
Her face lit up like a festival lantern.
"Really?! That makes everything so much easier—I hate walking."
For a second, her composed princess mask slipped, revealing her true self—a girl who loved comfort more than dignity.
Cute.
She grabbed my hand eagerly.
I activated Spatial Shift.
The world flickered—
And we appeared two kilometers away, sand shifting under our feet.
Only fifty meters ahead—
A cluster of thirteen poison scorpions crawled along the dunes, their tails glowing faintly with venom.
Perfect.
I glanced at the princess again. She looked utterly unbothered. As calm as someone observing butterflies, not deadly monsters.
I smiled.
"Hey, how about I finish them off?"
My first real battle in this world.
And the girl I'm aiming for was watching.
Perfect.