[375] Vol. 16 - Graduation Class Briefing (3)
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When the Courage of Truth ended, an elderly teacher walked out of the Graduating Class building.
It was Colli, the head teacher of the Graduating Class.
"Is the event over?"
Students in Class Three rarely had the chance to see the face of the Graduating Class teacher, but Colli was a familiar figure even to them.
During the Arcane incident, when Alpheas stepped down as headmaster for six months and before Olivia took office, Colli had served briefly as interim headmaster.
He held an official sixth-rank certification, but it was recognition for decades of service in education rather than raw talent—he was not as capable as merit-based instructors like Shiina, Etella, or Shad.
In any organization there are people who rise young into leadership, and others who remain career section chiefs or department heads forever.
Still, when it came to judging ability, Colli's eye was sharper than many younger teachers, so no student let their guard down.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Colli, head teacher of the Graduating Class."
"Hello!"
The students in Class Two were even more fired up than those in Class Three.
"From now on we'll hold the graduating class briefing. Class Three, follow me. Class Two, enjoy a short break. You know the drill, right?"
Class Two's faces went pale. But this too was the authority of someone with experience; they didn't mind putting on solemn looks.
Colli led Class Three to the meeting room on the first floor of the building.
It was empty and a little cold.
Ten students took their seats at the end of a long table as if clustering there for warmth, and Colli stepped up to the dais opposite them.
"From now on, you won't have time to learn things at school."
At Colli's single line, the murmuring died.
"The foundational education ends in Advanced Class. The Graduating Class serves only as the bridge between school and society. The most important thing here is whether your skills hold up in real combat."
They will.
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
"You were born with talents different from ordinary people, so we haven't coddled you at school as if you were children. This may sound harsh, but if you die during a class, fifty percent of the responsibility lies with you. If you prefer it without numbers: the school will compensate, but it won't take responsibility for your death."
It was the same message he'd heard at the Magic Academy entrance briefing—only Colli's words were much more blunt.
"And the Graduating Class is even clearer. One hundred percent—your life is your responsibility. From now on, this place is not the school but a cooperative institution of the Kingdom Magic Association. We'll be determining only whether you can be deployed to the field as immediately useful assets."
Colli slid out a card.
"What you're seeing now is an evaluator's certificate issued by the Graduation Exam Evaluation Office. From today, every evaluation I record will be formalized and submitted to the Association. Also, every institution under the Red Line has exclusive access to this information."
A strange chill swept the room. The things they had gone through in Advanced Class felt suddenly distant.
"Now I'll explain the Graduating Class schedule."
He tugged a golden cord and a schematic of the graduating evaluations unrolled.
"What's written here is the Graduating Class schedule. It runs for thirty weeks, and every week six events are evaluated on rotation."
Pandora raised her hand.
"May I write this down?"
"No. Day one's evaluation is person-to-person combat. The thirty students of the Graduating Class will change opponents each week; victory is three points, a draw is one point, defeat is zero. That means over twenty-nine weeks you'll face everyone once. There is no person-to-person combat in the final thirtieth week, because it can adversely affect the graduation exam."
Boyle raised a hand.
"I have a question. You said a draw is one point, but can a duel even end in a draw?"
"The side whose mental gauge reaches zero loses. However, if both reach zero simultaneously, or if ten minutes pass with no decisive result, it's a draw and each side is awarded one point."
'So there is a time limit,' Shirone thought.
There were students in the Graduating Class whose majors weren't combat-focused, so Shirone had been somewhat optimistic about the duels. But with a defensive strategy you could stall for ten minutes and grab a point.
"Day two's evaluation is Mental Activity. The venue is the Image Zone training ground. A holographic geometric filter will advance every three seconds. You must deform your Spirit Zone and pass through the filter without touching the hologram. Difficulty rises each week, and scores range from five to zero based on the number of successful passes."
'Ugh, that's really tough.'
Shirone had once altered the Spirit Zone in Vashka's Gold City to rescue hostages. Because durability was his strength, it had still been a tricky task.
Arin, however, seemed relaxed. As a mental-school mage, her mental fluidity was unrivaled, so this event shouldn't trouble her.
Canis, who knew that fact, leaned in and whispered, "You have to ace that one."
Arin simply nodded.
"Day three: Tactical Strategy. This is a team evaluation. Based on rankings from first to thirtieth, you'll be placed into six teams. The five members of each team will face simulation monsters at Training Ground 2000. The first team to complete the mission gets five points; the last, zero."
Even in the brief explanation, the students grasped the severity.
A rule guaranteeing zeros.
And collective responsibility.
Dividing by rank might give teams similar averages, but responsibility within a team could still be apportioned. Conflicts between teammates were inevitable.
Of course, such conflicts would be most likely in any team that scored zero.
"Day four: Specialty Enhancement. Twenty evaluation items prepared according to major. Each item is divided into ten levels; you get one point per level. For reference, the tenth-level difficulty for the flame attribute's 'heat output' item is 1,000°C."
'Master level is 1,000°C?'
This wasn't student-level difficulty.
Amy had reached a thousand degrees during vacation, but that had been only because she removed entropy with her crimson ability.
'So this really is a professional-level achievement.'
Specialty Enhancement cannot be scored cumulatively. Once you reach a certain level, the points for earlier levels are erased. You'll register your major in personal interviews tomorrow, so choose carefully.
'That's how it is...'
If you clear Master difficulty and get the ten points, you can't earn more for that item. But since you can selectively aim for high scores early and adjust your points strategically, this event will be a major variable in the competition.
"Day five: Perception and Judgment. The venue is the Virtual Zone. You all experienced this at the entrance test."
Shirone had also taken tests in the Virtual Zone—counting the number of orbs, describing hot and cold sensations.
"But the Graduating Class version is on another level. You will experience extreme situations. How long you survive according to your own judgment is the key. This, too, is scored from five to zero depending on performance."
Shirone rubbed his face. Even students who had walked through steel doors with confidence now looked grim.
"Day six evaluation: Environmental Manipulation. This is also held in the Virtual Zone. For example, if the problem is 'raise the temperature from −27°C to 3°C,' you must use the thirty-six basic spells designated by the Association to solve it."
Environmental Manipulation was tricky for Shirone as well.
He'd scored over eighty in every subject on the theory exam, but so had many others, so that didn't guarantee competitiveness.
"These are the six evaluations each week. You'll earn points on rotation for thirty weeks, and overall rankings will be updated daily based on your totals."
Thunk! Thunk! As Colli finished, several students dropped their foreheads to the table.
Shirone folded his arms and rested his head on the table too.
He just wanted to sleep.
'This is the week-one assessment? Amy, how did you endure this for a year? No, how did you decide to do it again?'
Colli smiled.
"Rest if you want. You're semi-professionals now. But if this is already overwhelming, you won't be able to graduate."
The students slowly lifted their upper bodies. Faces that read: Fine. Let's hear what else there is.
"There are overall evaluations. They're held on the last holiday of every four-week block, and the events are almost the same as the graduation exam: Person-to-Person Combat, High-Ground Occupation, Magic Power Control, Finishing Move, Survival, and Tactical Strategy."
It was a kind of mock graduation exam.
"You're free to form teams for the overall evaluation. Choose whomever you like. If you win an overall evaluation you earn twenty points. If you lose, twenty points are deducted."
The room stirred at the enormous point allocation.
If you could take twenty points and take twenty from your opponent, you could create a forty-point gap in a single event.
'This is... too cruel.'
Amy's "welcome to hell" hadn't been an exaggeration.
"If we assume perfect scores in every event through week thirty, the maximum an individual can earn is: Person-to-Person Combat 87 points, Mental Activity 150, Tactical Strategy 150, Perception and Judgment 150, Specialty Enhancement 200, Environmental Manipulation 300—for a total of 1,037 points."
Numbers began to spin in the students' heads.
"Add to that victories in the six overall evaluations for another 120 points, and the total perfect score is 1,157. Statistics show that the average cutoff for graduation eligibility is 1,000 points."
"One thousand points..."
Shirone gaped. That required obtaining 86.4 percent of the total available points.
"This evaluation runs every day except holidays, so rankings change daily. Early on the difficulty is low so rankings won't be volatile, but as the cycles progress, fluctuation is normal. That's the year ahead of you."
A sober silence hung in the meeting room.
'One thousand points? Not easy. This is really not easy.'
It wasn't just about being good at combat or having exceptional talent.
It was an assessment of everything you needed to be as a mage.
"Lastly, I'll tell you the most important thing."
All eyes turned back to Colli.
"The Graduating Class schedule starts in two days and the evaluations run for thirty weeks. And you all..."
He set down his baton, folded his hands behind his back, and said,
"You have the right to refuse all these evaluations."
For a moment the meeting room hummed silently, as if murmurs were heard in the air.
"So we can opt out of evaluations?"
"Yes. To be precise, the points you earn in evaluations do not affect whether you pass the graduation exam. Even if you refuse evaluation, if you pass the exam you graduate."
Sabina asked, "Is there any restriction if we refuse the evaluations?"
"No particular prohibition, but students who refuse evaluation will be restricted from entering the training grounds."
"Hmm... no spectating, huh."
You wouldn't be able to see your opponents' abilities with your own eyes.
But since there were factions even in the previous graduation exam, having even one ally still allowed strategizing, so it wasn't an absolute restriction.
Neid asked, "Then what's the benefit of taking evaluations?"
"I think you're misunderstanding. I said you're semi-pro. This isn't homework. There's no built-in advantage for doing it and disadvantage for not doing it. The judgment is yours."
Colli leaned on the dais and looked each of them in the face.
"On graduation exam day, scouts from Red Line associations around the world will be dispatched. At the top five prestigious institutions, dozens of countries' scouts will attend."
The students' eyes lit up.
"Under Red Line regulations the school is obligated to provide your profiles. To scouts, that adds depth to their judgments, but if your evaluation scores are a mess, it'll be a handicap. This is the issue. It's not the school's—it's your life. How you build it after graduation is your choice."
'I see. Graduation isn't everything anymore.'
The Red Line operates a trade system to prevent its mages from defecting.
The first right to negotiate belongs to the mage's home association, but if negotiations break down, taking them with a transfer fee is no problem.
Which major you choose, which institution you work for, and what you ultimately achieve in your life—
The moment you entered the Graduating Class, your life as a mage had effectively already begun.
"That concludes the briefing. There will be individual interviews tomorrow, so spend today carefully choosing your major."