The four days passed faster than the speed of light, and the day of the exam arrived. The crowd murmured restlessly. Once again, a massive stage leading from the entrance of Kizen had been set up, and countless visitors had come to Roc Island. Anyone was granted entry, regardless of class or nationality, as long as they could prove their identity. Today, the second test of the BMAT, the Comprehensive Black Magic Aptitude Test, in which all 898 first-year Kizen students would participate, was finally beginning.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting!" the same announcer in the flashy outfit from the opening ceremony exam shouted into a magnifying crystal sphere.
"It is a great honor to see you all again! I am Conrad Hayabon, your host for this second BMAT exam!"
The crowd roared a welcome, and the announcer offered a gentlemanly bow in response.
"The BMAT boasts an infernal level of difficulty, but the students of Kizen have honed their specialties for this very day! Will a new star emerge from this exam to shake the continent? Stay tuned to find out!"
The announcer's gaze shifted to the side.
"And now, I would like to introduce the Kizen professor who will be assisting me with commentary for this exam!"
Gasps rippled through the venue. A woman was walking toward the stage, her body wrapped from legs to chest in elastic black bandages with a thin jacket draped over them. The crowd was taken aback by her unconventional attire but chalked it up to Kizen's well-known eccentricity.
"Gimme that," she grunted.
She approached the announcer and snatched the amplifying crystal orb from his hand. He had been holding out a new crystal for her, but he now awkwardly brought it to his own mouth, forcing a smile to hide his embarrassment.
"Now, Professor! A brief intro—"
"I'M BYULYA!" she roared.
The sheer volume of her voice made the audience clamp their hands over their ears.
"I heard a lot of parents came this time! I'm the one who teaches your kids Venomology, and they're a real mess! You should at least turn them into decent human beings before sending them here! The little brats have gotten too big for their britches and keep talking back—MMH!"
"Ahaha! My apologies!" the announcer cried, horrified, as he clamped a hand over Byeolya's mouth.
But a searing, burn-like pain shot through his palm, and he yelped as he yanked his hand away.
"Hey, where do you think you're putting your hands?" Byeolya snarled, her eyes blazing. "Touch me wrong and you'll die, you bastard."
The announcer couldn't even show his pain and had to swallow his tears. In truth, Vice-Principal Jane was supposed to be the commentator for this second exam. But Nephthys had suddenly intervened, whisking Jane away and appointing this new person as the judge. When asked why, she had simply said: "Because it's fun!"
'Fun, my ass!' The announcer wanted to tear his hair out. 'No matter how much of a veteran I am, how am I supposed to host with this lunatic?'
"Hey, you over there! What are you staring at?"
Now she was even trying to pick a fight with the audience. The horrified announcer intercepted her and quickly threw out a question.
"Oh my, Professor! Your outfit is absolutely stunning!"
"You've got a good eye, at least," Byulya replied, a grin showing off her sharp, triangular teeth.
It was her new uniform. She had originally intended to appear at the official event in her usual tattered rags, but the coordinators had freaked out and stopped her. Since Byulya's body naturally secreted poison, any normal clothes she wore would inevitably turn to rags. Her signature look had started from her habit of layering new clothes on top of the old ones.
This bandage artifact, however, released the poison externally, making it safe, and the bandages would automatically regenerate if damaged. The coordinators had even made her wear a black outer coat with the Kizen insignia over the bandages. Thinking their effort commendable, Byulya had allowed that much—though the coat was already riddled with holes.
"Now, now! I will escort you to your seat!"
The announcer desperately kept her talking, trying to prevent another brawl with the audience as he led her to the commentary desk. She plopped into the chair with a thud and slammed both legs onto the table.
"Puhaha! Your sideburns are hilarious! Is that a lightning bolt?" Byulya cackled, tugging on the announcer's sideburns.
He forced a cheerful laugh and played along as if it were a planned skit, but he was weeping on the inside.
'Nelly, honey. This is how I earn a living every day.'
Still, he was a professional. He skillfully controlled his emotions and spoke with a smile.
"Now, Professor! Please explain this exam to us!"
"Right, I should!" Byeolya raised her arm and snapped her fingers. "Pull up the screen!"
A multitude of mana screens unfolded above her head. It looked simple, but below the stage, dozens of assistants were sweating profusely as they maneuvered the mana projectors.
"The theme of this BMAT exam is dungeon exploration!"
All the screens showed the interior of a dark, underground dungeon. There were traps with flying arrows, traps with spears shooting up from the floor, and traps with giant, rolling boulders. Finally, the audience gasped at the sight of a massive, spiked log swinging down.
"The dungeon is filled with all sorts of horrific traps! The students must break through them on their own. There are four stages in total."
The announcer quickly jumped in.
"In that case, it seems that critical thinking and reasoning skills to safely navigate the traps will be paramount for this exam!"
"That might be true for stages one and two," Byeolya said, smirking and crossing her arms. "But the traps in this exam are designed to be triggered no matter what."
"Triggered no matter what? What do you mean by that?"
"Show them Stage Three."
The screen changed to an empty, featureless room.
"I-Is this a trap?" the announcer asked.
"Yup."
On the screen, a single skeleton stood alone. It began to run on the necromancer's command. The moment it crossed a red line...
Hundreds of blades flew from all directions, embedding themselves in the floor. The skeleton ran frantically but was eventually pierced by a spear and fell, a mountain of blades piling on top of it. People everywhere covered their mouths or let out gasps of horror.
"Something like that," Byeolya said with a shrug.
The announcer gaped, flustered by the much higher level of intensity than he had been briefed on.
"You're not saying you're putting the students in a place like that, are you?"
"Uh, yeah, I am," she confirmed. "And without their Kizen uniforms, to boot."
Cries erupted from all directions. Some horrified parents cried out their children's names.
"It's too late! The kids have all signed waivers and are in the waiting room. Just cheer them on."
Just then, a pot-bellied noble shouted at Byeolya.
"Th-This isn't education! Get my son out of there at once!"
"That's right! Isn't this too much?!" another parent chimed in.
As a few noble parents protested, Byulya gave them the middle finger.
"What bullshit are you spewing?"
It was the audience who was more flustered by her antics.
"Didn't Kizen send out letters to all the parents before the semester started? This is a quasi-wartime curriculum, it's gonna be fucking hard, blah blah blah. We told you everything, and I understand you all agreed."
"B-But...! I didn't know it would be this severe!"
"You didn't know? You didn't know?" Byeolya mocked. "Oh my, all you knew was how to brag to the whole neighborhood that your son goes to Kizen. Don't you give a damn what kind of hardships your kids will face? You're not fucking parents."
The man's face turned beet red, his lips trembling. The announcer tried to stop her with a horrified expression, but Byeolya couldn't resist adding one more thing.
"And this isn't some backwater academy. All the safety measures are in place, so just shut up and watch. More importantly, before they're your kids, they're Kizen's necromancers."
Indeed, the more experienced parents were watching the situation calmly. They knew very well that this wasn't the first or second time Kizen had pulled something like this.
"What a waste of time," Byeolya muttered, propping her head up with her arm. "Tell them to proceed."
From early in the morning, Simon had followed the teaching assistants' instructions to a teleportation magic circle. From there, the entire student body teleported as a group. After that, they seemed to teleport a couple more times, once even with blindfolds on.
A moment later, at the command to remove the blindfolds, he took his off and looked around. He found himself in a gloomy underground room with a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Running his palm over the wall, it felt like a very old place.
In front of him, he could see iron bars. The mechanism couldn't be broken by force, and it was even enchanted with black magic—likely to prevent Necrology aspirants from escaping.
'Still, it's a relief they went with the theme everyone expected.'
The place reeked of a dungeon. Simon hadn't studied treasure-hunter skills like 'trap disarming.' He had spent all his time completely mastering the new techniques he had acquired.
'Now that it's come to this, I kind of regret it. Should I have studied up?'
[Bwahahaha! There's no time to learn useless little tricks, boy!] Pier's voice echoed from his chest. It was a new clone of Pier, modified so that Magnus couldn't detect it. [In the end, everything comes down to skill! Trust in the efforts you've made!]
'Yes, Pier. More importantly, I'm glad we can be together again!'
[Hehehehe!]
He had felt an emptiness all this time, but now that Pier had joined him, it was a relief to have someone to talk to. As Simon sat and waited, a broadcast emanated from the ceiling of the solitary cell.
Broadcasting from the Execution Headquarters. We will now explain the rules for the second Comprehensive Black Magic Aptitude Test.
At those words, Simon shot up, his ears pricked. The mana projector on the ceiling activated, displaying a screen in front of him.
The object you see on the screen is the final target you must destroy.
The final target was a 'Holy Grail' on a luxurious display stand. It seemed they had set up a scenario of destroying Efnel's Holy Grail in preparation for a battle against the Priests.
Of course, the journey to destroy the Holy Grail will be arduous. The exam will end when you break through the numerous obstacles and destroy the Holy Grail. Your rank will be determined by the time it takes you to destroy it. Next is the button to open the door.
On the screen, a red buzzer was attached to the wall.
Pressing this buzzer will open the door to the next area. That is all. We wish you luck.
[Hmm. Is that the end of the explanation?]
'It's simple enough.'
'Press the buzzer, and the door opens. Keep advancing, destroy the Holy Grail, and it's over.' As always, the rules were simple, but it would by no means be an easy exam.
'Not having my Kizen uniform is a bit of a liability.'
Simon and all the other students were wearing nothing but tracksuits with no protective magic. Compared to the first semester's curriculum, the overall risk had certainly increased.
The exam will now begin.
With a clank, the iron bars blocking his path began to rise.
'Alright.'
Simon steeled his resolve and walked toward the opening.
'Let's do this.'

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