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chapter 378
An Aura Master who uses Aura Blades.
A Grand Mage who uses strategy magic alone.
For knights who use aura or mages who use magic, the titles and criteria for “those who have crossed the Wall” are clearly defined, as mentioned above. But for other ability users, there isn’t such a classification.
In the case of Elementalists, there was once a suggestion to call them “Grand Elementalists,” but since that title had long been associated with a single person, Elementalists are simply… referred to as Elementalists who have crossed the Wall.
“Psionic users, shamans, and other rare ability users are roughly called Wall-crossed Awakened too,” someone noted.
For reference, Elementalists who have crossed the Wall don’t have a special skill like the Aura Blade or Strategy Magic that clearly separates pre-Wall and post-Wall levels. However, in details like the output of elemental magic, there’s a huge difference compared to before crossing the Wall.
“I’m sorry, but could you keep it a secret that we’ve crossed the Wall?”
Elena, an Elementalist who had crossed the Wall, asked us this.
Chloe seemed to share the same thought and also requested it.
“Sure. We can do that.”
For ordinary Awakened, it’s common to announce when they’ve crossed the Wall.
Crossing the Wall effectively raises their “value,” after all.
However, there are many, like Elena and Chloe, who prefer to hide it as much as possible.
The reason is simple.
“It’s a hassle.”
An increased value means more people will want them.
But both of them already have affiliations.
Elena, being part of the British royal family, is effectively a member of the London Awakened Association where her uncle is the chairman. Chloe is an instructor at the Seoul Awakened Academy.
Unless she planned to quit being an instructor, receiving that kind of attention would just be bothersome.
“Not to mention the surveillance issue.”
The movements of strong people like us are always monitored.
Not openly, but tracking things like flights abroad or contacts with foreign scouts. Each country’s association can’t just let a strong person leave the country unchecked.
Of course, if someone decided to leave intentionally, there’s no way to stop it—they would just hope they return soon or try to persuade them.
Anyway.
“……”
Elliot looked somewhat shocked.
Elena was already more skilled than him, but crossing the Wall was another matter entirely.
“Hm… come to think of it, Elena seems to have crossed the Wall at a younger age than Yeon Mirae.”
Yeon Mirae was once known as the youngest Aura Master.
Although the title was taken from her by me and Ha Eun, who crossed the Wall even younger… before that, only I and Ha Eun had crossed the Wall at a younger age than Yeon Mirae.
This means that if it weren’t for the irregulars like me and Ha Eun, Elena might have been the youngest to cross the Wall.
“I doubt Elena cares about something like that, though.”
The next day, we went to school as usual.
“Hi Elena! You seem to be in a good mood today. Something good happen?”
“Can you tell?”
Elena couldn’t hide the smile on her face at the thought of having crossed the Wall.
Not only that…
“Even you guys seem in a better mood than yesterday, don’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. The night before, I couldn’t sleep well because of nightmares, but last night I slept deeply. I feel completely refreshed.”
“All the… stress I’d… accumulated… feels… completely gone…”
The other kids seemed very well too.
‘Of course, sleeping deeply would relieve fatigue and stress.’
Gangaram hadn’t looked at the photos before, so he hadn’t had nightmares and didn’t show much difference, but everyone else—except one person—had a healthy glow on their faces.
That one person…
“……”
Was Elliot, who had been shocked yesterday when he realized Elena had crossed the Wall.
He probably didn’t have nightmares, but he was likely restless from the news.
“Hey, Elliot. What’s up with you?”
“… I stayed up watching YouTube.”
“……”
Ah, so that wasn’t it.
Even when he first met me, he charged at me to spar, so it would be strange for him to lose sleep just from shock.
Unless, of course, his pride was stoked and he trained harder.
Screech.
“Is everyone studying for the exams well?”
Just then, Teacher Son Ji-hye entered the classroom. Naturally, the chatting kids returned to their seats, and the teacher smiled.
“Yes, it’s better to see everyone full of energy than seeing you exhausted like yesterday.”
I agreed with her.
…Though if they were overly energetic, that might be annoying too.
“Ah, and I have an announcement.”
Next week is the exam, so what could she possibly want to say now?
“You will also have a practical exam.”
“… Excuse me?”
“What did you say?”
“……”
Everyone seemed confused by her words.
I felt the same.
In specialized high schools for Awakened, exams usually consist of a written test and optional sparring with instructors.
And sparring…
“You mean sparring? We’ve sparred among ourselves a lot, but we’ve never had formal sparring lessons.”
Sparring lessons are for second-year students, conducted by instructors rather than regular teachers.
Being first-year students, we’ve never had formal sparring lessons.
Personally, I have sparred quite a bit, though.
“Of course not. By practical exam, I mean…”
Monster hunting in virtual reality.
“……”
“……”
“… Huh?”
The kids didn’t understand.
Of course…
‘…Monster hunting in virtual reality?’
I didn’t understand either.
You could tell from my reaction that before regression, such exams didn’t exist.
It’s a butterfly effect caused by me.
“The education office sent a notice. Now not only academy students, but high school students must train to fight monsters. Even students going to college must experience it.”
They’re borrowing the academy’s equipment for this.
Still, since it’s not real combat, no one will be injured or killed, so no need to worry.
‘…The academy’s equipment.’
The academy does have VR equipment.
Before regression, I’d only used it once.
The reason?
‘The equipment didn’t recognize my inner energy.’
It wasn’t just me; some psionic users and those with rare abilities had the same problem.
Since the equipment didn’t detect their energy, proper training wasn’t possible.
Probably the same even after regression.
‘Why does the education office want to hold practical exams using VR equipment?’
I agree that high school students should experience fighting monsters.
But why such a rush?
And VR equipment isn’t the best way to assess skills.
‘…Could the education office be unaware that VR isn’t all-powerful?’
It’s possible.
If they received complaints and hastily planned a VR practical exam to look good…
“… I don’t know.”
“Huh? What?”
“Nothing.”
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling, thinking.
Whether the education office’s reasoning is sound isn’t my concern.
If there’s no issue, that’s fine. If there is…
‘The chairman of Seoul Awakened Academy, Shin Han-ji, wouldn’t stay quiet.’
He’s sincere about education, and if necessary, he’d overturn the education office.
He has the ability to do so.
A week passed.
“…We’re doomed.”
“Ugh…”
“Phew…”
As expected, Ryu Amin, Ryu Ayoung, and Jin Cheon-ha sighed at the provisional scores.
The other kids seemed to have done reasonably well.
Me?
Of course, I got full marks.
Though provisional, I don’t expect the real scores to differ.
For reference…
“…Yes! Full marks!”
“Ha ha. Me too.”
“There are four full marks just in our class?”
Ha Eun, Elena, and Gangaram also had full marks in the provisional grading.
“Argh… I got that wrong!”
“Hmm…”
Lee Doomin lost points due to small mistakes, and Kim Eun-yeon scored high in natural sciences but poorly in humanities.
Finally…
“Here.”
“…Not something to brag about, is it?”
Rain seemed to pour over Elliot’s test paper.
Even if he doesn’t care about grades, that’s a lot of mistakes.
“…Did you just guess?”
“No? I solved them all.”
“…All solved and got this?”
Elena looked at Elliot’s paper with a serious expression.
…Even if written scores matter less for academy entry, this is dangerous.
But someone like Elliot could make up for it in sparring evaluations from second year onwards.
“By the way, did everyone see several trucks coming into school earlier?”
While checking their scores, Ryu Ayoung asked everyone.
“Oh… you mean the vehicles that came in during the exam?”
“You were sightseeing instead of focusing on the exam…?”
Focus during exams, please.
“Probably the trucks carrying VR equipment. They’re likely setting it up in our school auditorium now.”
“Oh, right. The practical exam is in VR, wasn’t it?”
“…Was it?”
Since the teacher mentioned it casually a week ago, some kids forgot.
Honestly, I’d forgotten too.
I didn’t expect the academy to lend the VR equipment willingly.
That the equipment arrived safely means the academy lent it.
If there were issues with this plan, Chairman Shin Han-ji would have overturned the education office. That didn’t happen…
‘So even Shin Han-ji thinks the VR practical exam is necessary?’
It seems he sided with the education office.
