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I say that, but I had experienced explosive growth during this vacation thanks to the incidents that had occurred, all because of my originally low level.
Honestly, now that I had average specs, I didn’t think I would easily lose to graduating students, even if they were from a higher grade.
Thud.
Plop!
Swish!
My foot suddenly sank into a hidden swamp, but I was able to use Black Bird to escape easily since I had anticipated this kind of trap.
Boom.
“Now, go back in.”
『 Squeak! Screech! 』
Swish.
If I wanted to, I could summon multiple Black Birds and fly, but doing something so conspicuous in an open plain with no cover would be asking to get sniped.
As I ran across the plain on foot, covering about a third of the distance, I noticed two students in a daze, their faces blank as they waved their arms in the air.
「 𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. 」
As expected of graduating students, their range of spell applications is quite broad.
Whooosh.
Boom.
“White Flower Advanced Brook.”
A spell specialized in dispelling negativity and awakening the mind.
I minimized the influence of the illusion and calmly continued forward.
The level of the spell itself was quite high, but thanks to the mental defense effect of my Shadow Assimilation trait, I didn’t take that much damage.
After advancing for a while, someone’s spell suddenly flew at a rapid pace from beyond the illusion.
“Fear.”
Crackle!
It was a basic curse-type spell, but it was quite well-executed.
However, the opponent had made a mistake.
I was the one who had somehow endured Hektel’s forbidden spell. A spell like Fear wouldn’t do much damage even if it hit me directly.
Crackle!
Crackle!
As I broke through the baptism of curses, I finally reached the end of the illusion, where three graduating students were waiting like predators.
“. . . What the hell? Did you see that? He’s just charging in recklessly?”
“Oh, I heard from the professor that there’s a second-year shikigami summoner who specializes in forbidden spells.”
“Huh. Even so, damn. I shot him lightly, but this is kind of hurting my pride.”
A burly man, a healthy-looking woman, and a girl sitting on a pile of rocks behind them, reading a book peacefully.
The girl was none other than Arietta, whom I had seen earlier.
“Hey, Miss Morgan. The customers are starting to arrive. . . . . . . .”
“I’m not done reading yet. You guys go.”
With her extreme indifference and expressionless face, yet still radiant appearance, she was definitely the Arietta Morgan I knew.
As the standoff continued for a while, another examinee emerged from behind me, breaking through the illusion.
“Aha, there you are. Using some lousy illusion and all. Someone hand over your token.”
A blond man with a cheerful tone. I heard he was one of the exchange students from abroad this time.
「 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 」
Ding.
【 Noah Jackson 】
▶ Level 35
His ability scores and traits seemed decent, and his level was also high. I took a step back to observe the situation for a while, giving way to my opponent.
“. . . There’s always an idiot every year. I guess you have the skills to talk big?”
“Of course.”
The ensuing battle was quite fierce. However, the outcome was decided not long after.
“Tri-Flow Quicksand Array!”
Whooosh.
Boom!
Rumble!
Rumble, rumble!
“Ugh, this can’t be. . . . . . . .”
“You should have brought some kind of trump card if you were going to choose the plain, which is obviously a trap. I’ll let you go in two hours, according to the rules. Of course, there will be a deduction of points!”
Noah’s skills themselves weren’t bad at all. At that level, he would be at least B-Class or higher.
However, his opponents were also confident in their abilities as graduating students. As expected, it wasn’t easy to bridge the gap in experience.
「 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 」
Ding.
【 Cheong Do-hyun 】
▶ Level 39
【 Lee Yoon-jin 】
▶ Level 37
Both of them were in their late 30s, and the man was from the Cheong family. My judgment was swift.
「 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙-𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 」
Look no further than the Tri-Flow Quicksand Array from earlier. It was a spell with a fairly high level of difficulty. Even after arriving here, I hadn’t seen anyone use it other than Sophia.
「 𝙉𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙩. 」
Having made up my mind, I immediately drew upon my spiritual power and formed hand seals.
Whooosh.
Boom.
“Sori-soe.”
Boom!
『 What is it, human? 』
With its spotted yellow fur and fluffy tail, the adorable leopard cat was summoned out of nowhere.
The opponents were visibly flustered. I quickly relayed my intentions to Sori-soe.
“Like last time, transform again.”
『 . . . It’s not difficult, but you need to transfer your energy. 』
As before, I began transferring spiritual power to Sori-soe through a shikigami pass. Soon, Sori-soe’s body was engulfed in shadows and gradually grew in size.
Swish.
Boom!
“What is this? What kind of shikigami is this?”
“Cheong Do-hyun, focus.”
The sight of Sori-soe, which had begun to exude a fierce aura, created a momentary sense of tension.
I mounted Sori-soe, which had grown to the size of a cheetah, and jumped gracefully, avoiding the graduating students as I raced towards the finish line.
“Huh? This guy?”
“Where? Azure Serpent Binding!”
Clank!
Screech!
Cheong Do-hyun, who made a quick judgment, cast his family’s unique binding spell, but I had already accurately predicted it based on his background and the current situation.
Clank!
“Azure Serpent Binding.”
Zzzt!
When two identical spells collided, the blue chains that sprang from the talisman lost their target and vanished.
“Wait a minute! That’s too fast!”
“I guess this won’t do. Who would have thought you’d have such a shikigami?”
Finally, the girl, who had been engrossed in her book, stood up, staring at me as I escaped the encirclement.
“. . . I’ll chase him.”
It was the appearance of Arietta Morgan, the all-rounder known as the little giant among the third-year graduating students.