Chapter 97: Team Assessment Test

The Academy’s team evaluation was designed to test something individual rankings could not measure: what happened when four students with different strengths were forced to rely on one another.

Each team consisted of four students selected across the Academy’s departments, and each would face another team in a duel conducted across different terrains. Raw strength mattered, but it wasn’t enough to guarantee victory.

The rule concerning leadership made that possibility even more interesting.

A leader would be selected at random from each team. Once the selection was made, only that student could lead or issue instructions. Any other member who attempted to take command would cause their team to fail the evaluation.

It was a simple rule with unpleasant consequences if an incapable person got the role.

For most students, including him, the evaluation was an opportunity to improve or maintain their Academy ranking and demonstrate their abilities. Those with sufficient confidence would hope for capable teammates. Those without it would pray that their assigned partners weren’t complete disasters.

Caelus had no intention of relying on prayer.

His performance would be judged by people who could influence his standing inside the Academy, and this time, their opinions wouldn’t remain confined to its walls.

Unlike the entrance examination, the team evaluation would be broadcast to the outside world. Families, nobles, influential figures, and anyone else interested in the Academy’s rising generation would be able to watch the students compete.

A poor showing could damage his reputation. A strong one could open doors that rank alone might not.

Neither outcome was something he could afford to leave to chance.

The evaluation held an entirely different significance for Lucian Ashborne.

In the original story, this was the point at which the Hero began to challenge the role the world had assigned him. Ever since receiving the Goddess’s blessing and awakening his Sacred Light Affinity, Lucian’s accomplishments had been attributed to his divine selection.

His training, his persistence, and the work he had put into becoming stronger were easily overshadowed by the convenient explanation that the Goddess had simply chosen someone exceptional.

It was difficult to prove your own worth when everyone had already decided where it came from.

In the original storyline, Lucian would decide to complete the entire tournament without using his Sacred Light Affinity. He would go on to crush the competition, demonstrating that his abilities were his own rather than a convenient consequence of divine favor.

His teammates would contribute to the victory, and they deserved their share of the credit. Even so, Lucian would carry the team’s performance.

It was a turning point for the Hero, and Caelus remembered it well.

He had no desire to share a team with Lucian. The Hero’s hostility toward him was difficult to miss, and Caelus understood where it came from. Lucian still blamed him for Kyla’s death during the entrance examination, believing she might have survived if he hadn’t followed Caelus instead of staying with his childhood friend.

Kyla had known Lucian before the Goddess chose him. She had seen him as a person long before the rest of the world began treating him as the Hero.

Caelus could understand why that loss had left such a deep wound.

He could also understand why Lucian had decided to direct his resentment at him.

That didn’t mean Caelus intended to indulge it.

The evaluation would affect his rank and reputation, and the entire world would be watching. He had spent enough time dealing with other people’s problems to last him several lifetimes. He wasn’t about to compromise his performance because the Hero had unresolved feelings about the past.

Lucian could hate him as much as he pleased.

As long as that hatred didn’t interfere with the evaluation, Caelus had no intention of doing anything about it.

He made his way toward the Academy’s main hall.

The atmosphere inside was considerably livelier than usual. Students crowded the spacious hall, gathering around designated team stations marked with group codes.

Caelus passed them without much interest.

His gaze swept across the hall, passing over groups of students until it caught on four familiar figures.

He stopped.

For a moment, he genuinely considered whether he had taken a wrong turn.

The Hero wasn’t on his team, thank the heavens. But the moment Caelus recognized the group standing at one of the team stations, his relief vanished.

There stood Lucian Ashborne, Eve, the Elven Princess Aelirya, and a student from the Special Abilities Department whom Caelus didn’t recognize.

It was completely different from the team Lucian had in the original novel.

Lucian noticed him almost immediately. Their eyes met, and the Hero’s expression hardened. Eve, standing nearby with her usual composed posture, followed his gaze and fixed Caelus with a glare of her own.

Two different sources of hostility, gathered in one convenient location.

How thoughtful of the Academy.

Aelirya, on the other hand, seemed pleased to see him. She raised a hand in a small wave, her smile hesitant but genuine enough.

Caelus stared at the group for another moment before forcing himself to smile and return the greeting.

A faint trail of cold sweat slipped down his back.

Whoever had to face that team was cursed.

Lucian and Eve were already formidable opponents, and Aelirya was hardly someone he could afford to underestimate. The student from the Special Abilities Department was an unknown variable, one he hadn’t accounted for.

Perhaps the Academy’s leadership had developed a peculiar sense of humor.

Caelus resumed walking before anyone could mistake his pause for an invitation to join them. Lucian’s stare followed him for a few steps, but Caelus ignored it.

His assigned station was farther into the hall, and by the time he reached it, his expression had settled into its usual calm. The first thing he noticed was that the place was nearly empty.

In fact, there was only one person waiting there.

A girl stood near the edge of the designated area, her short white-blonde hair framing a small face that seemed determined to disappear behind her own shoulders. She was noticeably shorter than most of the students around her, and her posture did little to suggest that she was comfortable being there. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, and she seemed to be watching the floor with considerable dedication.

Caelus looked at her.

Then he looked again, this time paying attention to what he could sense.

There was no apparent mana condensation, nor could he detect a core. It wasn’t enough to tell him everything about her capabilities, but it did narrow the possibilities.

A student from the Special Abilities Department, then.

Students from the Special Abilities Department weren’t necessarily weak, but their circumstances and abilities could differ considerably from those of ordinary candidates. Without knowing anything about this girl, he had no reliable way to judge what she might contribute to the team.

He continued looking at her while trying to work out what he could reasonably infer.

Unfortunately, she appeared to interpret his assessment rather differently.

The girl’s shoulders drew inward. Her fingers tightened around one another, and when she finally lifted her eyes to meet his, they were wide with apprehension. She shifted a step backward, looking so close to tears that Caelus began to wonder whether he had accidentally threatened her simply by standing there.

He frowned.

Was my face really that alarming?

He had certainly been accused of worse things, but there was a difference between intimidating someone who had challenged him and making a complete stranger look ready to cry before they had even exchanged a word.

Caelus drew breath, intending to say something that might reassure her without making the situation more awkward.

Before he could speak, another set of footsteps approached the station.

The girl looked up.

Caelus turned.

Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, both of them stopped moving.

It was Ruven von Stailor.

The Knight had recovered enough from their duel to return to the Academy’s public events, though Caelus doubted that meant his injuries had vanished entirely. Whatever treatment he had received afterward had apparently done its job, because he now stood with the same polished posture and self-satisfied expression he had worn before their encounter.

If the duel had humbled him, he was doing an impressive job of concealing it.

Ruven’s gaze passed over Caelus, and his smile widened.

Then he bowed with an exaggerated flourish, making no effort to conceal the mockery beneath the gesture.

"I greet the young master."

Caelus stared at him.

For a moment, he considered the possibility that Ruven had genuinely failed to understand what had happened between them. Perhaps the damage to his head had been more extensive than expected.

Then again, that would have required Caelus to believe Ruven had enough sense to learn from a mistake.

His expression softened into a pleasant smile.

Ruven straightened, apparently interpreting the change as a sign that Caelus intended to entertain his performance. Before he could say anything else, Caelus stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

The gesture looked almost friendly.

Caelus leaned closer, bringing his mouth near Ruven’s ear so that their conversation wouldn’t carry beyond the small space between them.

"If you try anything funny, I’ll make sure you’ll see all your limbs from a different perspective."

Ruven went still.

The smile remained on his face, but it took him a moment to remember how to use it. His eyes flickered toward Caelus, searching for some indication that the threat had been a joke.

Caelus gave him nothing.

Ruven seemed to reach the same conclusion, or at least recognize the wisdom of pretending that he had.

"Of course, young master," he replied, his smile returning with slightly less enthusiasm.

Caelus gave his shoulder a final pat before releasing him.

"Good."

He stepped back and turned toward the center of the hall, leaving Ruven to recover whatever dignity he believed he had preserved. The Knight remained quiet behind him, which Caelus considered a promising start.

He could work with silence.

It was much harder to work with someone who insisted on making every conversation a contest.

Caelus was apparently representing the Mage Department, while Ruven filled the Knight’s position. The short-haired girl seemed to be from the Special Abilities Department, though he still had no idea what she could do.

That left one member.

A Martial Artist.

Caelus glanced across the hall, wondering whether the final member had simply been delayed or had decided that arriving on time was beneath them.

A small gasp interrupted his thoughts.

It came from directly ahead.

Caelus turned, his brows drawing together as he looked toward the sound.

A young woman with very long red hair and golden eyes with slit pupils stood several steps away, pointing straight at him. Her expression had twisted with such unmistakable anger that, for a moment, the surrounding noise seemed to recede behind it.

It was the Imperial Princess.

Anna Aurellia Draconis.

Her eyes were fixed on him.

"What are you doing here?!" she screamed, her voice resonating through the hall.