"First, I will introduce the necromancer who will be supervising this fourth BMAT." Aaron’s expression tightened for a fraction of a second as he glanced at the next page of his script, but he continued without betraying any emotion.
"The most sensational necromancer of our time. The administrative genius of the Langerstine Kingdom. Selected by ’Bernessa Weekly’ as ‘This Week’s Most Influential Man,’ ‘The Necromancer I Most Want to Wrap His Arms Around My Waist,’ and..." His voice, which had been flowing smoothly, now took on a serious edge. "One of the continent’s ten great mysteries."
’Fanfare!’
A troupe of performers in gaudy clown costumes burst onto the stage, a cacophony of trumpets and other instruments filling the hall. The auditorium was instantly transformed into a festival. The troupe sang and danced to a jaunty, infectious tune, and the students erupted in applause as two clowns executed a series of spectacular mid-air somersaults.
’Boom! Boom!’
The lights flared to life, and a dazzling pyrotechnics display exploded from the ceiling. As every eye was drawn upward, a figure calmly walked to the center of the stage.
"I present to you," Aaron announced, his voice cutting through the noise, "the man known as the ‘Card Necromancer,’ Sir Endolas Bordeville."
From the sky, a waterfall of countless playing cards cascaded down, swirling and forming the shapes of various animals. The cards finally converged on the stage to create an archway, through which Endolas made his grand entrance. His face was painted a ghostly white, with garish green makeup smeared around his eyes. He wore a hat with an absurdly long brim, from which a wild mane of frizzy hair erupted, giving him a comical look.
The music stopped. The man raised his arms, and the hall exploded with thunderous applause.
"A pleasure to meet you, my dear students of Kizen!" he boomed, his voice resonating with theatrical flair. "I am Endolas Bordeville!" He tipped his hat with a flourish, every movement radiating pure showmanship.
"It’s really him!" Dick shouted, practically vibrating with excitement.
Simon, of course, had never heard the name. But it wasn’t just Dick; even Meirin and Kamibarez were staring at the stage, their faces a mixture of shock and awe.
"Wh-Who is he?" Simon asked quietly.
"You really make explaining things worthwhile."
"Shut up," Simon muttered, his face flushing.
"You know about the continent’s ten great mysteries, right?" Dick pressed.
"I know the concept, but I don’t know what all ten are."
"Good enough. Two of those mysteries are people. He’s one of them."
Simon blinked.
"Then who’s the other one?"
"The Witch of Death."
After a minion handed him an amplification crystal, Endolas Bordeville began his speech. "Thank you for that rousing welcome! It is an honor to stand before the continent’s finest young elites, the future leaders of the Dark Alliance! And above all!" He thumped his chest with his thumb. "I, Endolas Bordeville, am thrilled to announce that I will be personally supervising the fourth BMAT!"
"WHOAAAAAA!"
The students roared their approval. Endolas spread his hands, and the cards that appeared in his palms shot into the air, weaving a tapestry of magic.
"My unique ability is to create special ‘rooms’ with these cards!" Light shimmered from the cards, projecting a kaleidoscope of scenes onto the ceiling: a castle walking on giant legs, a labyrinth teeming with snakes, a dragon’s lair engulfed in flames, and a vault piled high with mountains of gold. "Whatever I think, whatever I imagine, I can recreate any adventure! You will enter the world within the cards and choose the quest you wish to undertake!"
’Choose our own quest? What is he talking about?’
"Allow me to provide a supplementary explanation," Aaron interjected. At his signal, minions activated a mana projector, displaying a large screen in the center of the hall. "The fourth BMAT will take place across the Kizen first-year campus and the entirety of Roc Island. Sir Endolas has personally hidden two thousand cards across the island."
A map of Roc Island appeared, dotted with examples of the cards’ locations.
"When you find a card, you may enter the ‘room’ it creates to take your test."
The screen showed a minion in the Kizen library stepping on a card and being instantly sucked inside. The scene then shifted. The minion now found himself in a dense forest as a horde of monsters charged toward him.
"Upon entering a room, you will be given a clear condition," Aaron explained. "In this case, it’s to defeat thirty kobolds within twenty minutes. Students who successfully pass the test will claim the card." He flipped to the next page of his document. "The basic requirement is to obtain six or more cards by the end of the evaluation. Five or fewer will result in immediate expulsion. Be warned: at least fifty of you will be expelled."
Listening to the explanation, Simon’s eyes gleamed. This BMAT was a high-stakes treasure hunt.
"Now, now! Allow me, your game master, to explain!" Endolas stepped forward, waving his hand grandly. The screen changed to display cards of various colors. "Each card has a different color! For the details, I would be most grateful if you would refer to the rulebook I have personally created!"
The fireworks on the ceiling ceased, and in their place, small books began to rain down, one gently floating down to each student. Simon reached out and caught one.
’Endolas’s Game Rulebook’
Simon opened the flat, rectangular booklet. It wasn’t a book at all, but a single, intricately folded sheet of paper. When he spread it open, it revealed a detailed map of Roc Island along with the game’s instructions.
Meirin smiled as she read. "I thought this would be complicated, but it actually sounds fun!"
There were seven card colors, each corresponding to a specific subject:
’ Red – Cursology
’ Orange – Jet-Black Dynamics
’ Yellow – Summoning
’ Green – Necrology
’ Blue – Hemomancy
’ Indigo – Venomology
’ Violet – Combat Magic
Entering a room from a red card, for example, meant you were highly likely to face a Cursology-related challenge. Furthermore, different areas of Roc Island had higher concentrations of certain colors. Green cards were more common in the forest, while orange cards appeared more frequently on the Kizen campus. These were the kinds of details students would have to discover for themselves.
"Whoa! This is going to be awesome!" Dick exclaimed, his eyes glued to the rulebook. "There’s even a siege battle! Thirty players split into attacking and defending teams!"
"Ooh, and look! This fairy race theme sounds fun!" Kamibarez added.
’Hmm.’ Simon’s attention was caught by the ‘Skeleton Assembly Showdown with the Undertaker’ theme. He definitely wanted to try that one.
"Honestly, you idiots! Look at the back page!" Meirin chided. "There are card combinations!"
"Really?"
A single card was worth one point. However, if you collected seven red cards, you would receive a three-point bonus.
"Hmm." Dick’s expression grew serious. "This means we can’t just grab any card we see. We’ll need a solid strategy."
Simon scanned the card combination section. ’Forget the others. I’m going for the top.’
The higher the combination, the greater the score. Collecting one of each color—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—for a set of seven would multiply the score by two, for a total of fourteen points.
But above that was the ultimate combination: all seven colors plus a special ‘Golden Card.’ An eight-card set would multiply the score by ’three’. A staggering twenty-four points. Completing that would all but guarantee a spot in the top ten.
The rulebook offered no explanation for the Golden Card, other than that it could be obtained during the game. Still, even without it, fourteen points was an excellent score.
’Alright.’ Simon made his decision. ’The competition will be fierce, but there’s no point in aiming for anything but the best.’
"Attention!"
At Aaron’s sharp command, the students tore their eyes away from their rulebooks.
"You will have plenty of time to strategize later. For now, fold your rulebooks and place them on your laps."
A collective groan of disappointment went through the crowd. Aaron’s eyes flashed.
"On your laps."
There was no further protest. The students did as they were told.
"Hmph. Kizen is far too oppressive," Endolas muttered, looking displeased. "The students are so captivated by my game!"
"My apologies," Aaron said, bowing his head respectfully before turning back to the students. "You will get the hang of Sir Endolas’s game soon enough. But there is another, more important announcement." He scanned the silent hall. "As the rumors have suggested, there have been numerous controversies surrounding the BMAT system. The curriculum for the entire second semester has revolved around it, causing coursework and performance evaluations to pile up. And as you know, you cannot advance to the second year if your evaluation scores are below standard."
At the mention of promotion, a fresh wave of tension washed over the students.
"Therefore, Kizen will be introducing a new system." Aaron paused for effect. "The After-School BMAT."
This was a new concept, and everyone leaned forward, hanging on his every word.
"Originally, the fourth BMAT was scheduled to be a grueling, three-day, two-night card scramble across Roc Island under Sir Endolas’s supervision."
’Three days and nights straight?’ A shudder went through the students. Some, like Kamibarez, sighed in relief. The host, Endolas, however, looked deeply disappointed, crossing his arms and turning his head away.
"Kizen has gotten soft! Tsk, tsk. To scale down the game...!" he grumbled. But the decision had already been approved by Nephthys; there was no changing it.
Aaron continued, "As I said, the semester has become excessively focused on the BMATs. To alleviate this burden and allow you to concentrate on your coursework, the BMAT will now be held twice a week, for four hours after school."
Simon nodded. Framed that way, it did sound much less daunting.
"But wait a minute," Dick said, propping his chin on his hand with a frown. "Doesn’t that just mean they’re cutting into our free time to run the BMAT? That seems..."
"I’m sure some of you will have complaints," Aaron said, his gaze seeming to land directly on Dick, who immediately fell silent. "To that end, we have decided to relieve you of one significant burden." He picked up a new document. "The second-year promotion exam will be replaced by the fifth BMAT."
"WOOWWW!"
Cheers erupted across the hall. The second-year promotion exam was the stuff of legends, infamous for its difficulty. The news of its cancellation was met with overwhelming joy.
"Of course," Aaron continued, his voice cutting through the celebration, "the difficulty of the fifth BMAT will be raised accordingly. As an aside, Kizen headquarters ran a simulation. Based on your skill levels during the third BMAT, if all 797 of you were to take the fifth BMAT now..." He lowered the document, his eyes cold. "It was predicted that a minimum of five hundred of you would fail."
A deathly pallor spread across the students’ faces as panicked whispers filled the hall.
"Therefore, the directive from Kizen headquarters is as follows: during this fourth BMAT and the upcoming evaluation season, you are to achieve at least a one-and-a-half-fold improvement in your skills. The faculty is in agreement. In other words, the meal you just ate—" A grim smile twisted Aaron’s lips. "Consider it your last supper. From here on out, things will only get harder."
As a chilling silence descended upon the Grand Auditorium, Endolas’s voice suddenly boomed.
"Such an insult! I will not stand for it!" The Card Necromancer was livid. "We are on the verge of the fourth BMAT, yet you speak of the fifth! Allow the students to focus entirely on my game, Professor Aaron!"
It was clear Endolas had his own frustrations.
"The conflict between Endolas and the faculty must be pretty intense," Dick whispered to Simon. "Endolas takes immense pride in his ‘game,’ while the professors want students to focus on their classes. That’s what this is about."
"Mm." Simon nodded in understanding.
Aaron, for his part, simply offered a silent, formal bow of apology.
"That is all from the faculty," Aaron announced. "The floor is now yours."
"Ahem!" Endolas cleared his throat, finally stepping forward with a satisfied smile.

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