REAPER SCANS
[The Legendary Hero is an Academy Honor Student]
[Translator – Aine ]
[Proofreader – Ash ]
Chapter 22
"Woah, getting dismissed... Isn’t that too harsh?"
Carr spoke nervously.
Chloe nudged him.
"You scared?"
"Definitely! Lumene's sorcery exams are notoriously tough!"
"I wonder if they’ll throw us curveball questions right out the gate?"
"I envy you, honor student."
Carr barely made it through the entrance exam, so he was on shaky ground from the start.
To him, it seemed like he was the only one in that boat.
"Dismissal? That's extreme!"
“Isn’t that too much pressure?” the anxious students chorused.
"Professors have the authority to kick students out. That's common knowledge."
"But they can't just expel someone without cause!"
"Naturally, there needs to be a valid reason for dismissal."
Professor Len tapped the test paper with his fingers.
"But if you can't pass a test like this, you probably shouldn't be at Lumene."
Then, a student from another department raised his hand.
"What about people who want to minor in sorcery?”
"You can enroll in sorcery classes for your minor while taking your major classes."
"Anyone a dual-class?"
"I guess that's an option for dual-classes..."
Professor Len chuckled, his words trailing off.
"I might uncover some magical talents in such a mixed class that I couldn’t get with the temporary class."
The students looked perplexed at his sudden statement.
"I can see some people are thinking of becoming complacent, so I'm treating this test with just as much weight for the minors."
Some students visibly flinched.
"Is it fair for someone who hasn't dedicated their life to sorcery to stand alongside those who have?"
Professor Len smiled, but his gaze was chilly.
Chloe nodded eagerly, her eyes gleaming.
"You need at least 40 out of 100 points to pass."
Students breathed a sigh of relief at the reasonable passing mark.
With a flick of his finger, Professor Len summoned a large hourglass.
"You have one hour. Those who finish early can leave their papers at their desks and wait outside."
Students got their writing instruments ready.
"Begin."
The hourglass started its countdown, sand trickling down.
Students lifted their pens and got to work on the test.
The test papers consisted of a question packet, an answer sheet, and several sheets of paper for solving the formulas.
Leo's expression soured as he scanned the questions among the sound of pens scratching away.
‘Describe the means by which it is possible to combine the following spells.’
He could feel a headache coming on.
‘What kind of question is this?’
The biggest change since Kyle's time was undoubtedly in sorcery.
Sorcery, fundamentally, was a field of study.
While the basic runes remain the same, the methods of spell invocation had evolved over time.
Especially now, with advancements recorded in the Hero Records, sorcery practices had seen significant development.
Leo, unfamiliar with modern magical texts since his reincarnation, found himself grappling with the unfamiliar rituals in front of him.
Glancing over, he noticed Carr, brow furrowed in concentration, tackling the same problem.
Chloe swiftly jotted down her response to the question.
‘Kids these days are sharp. Managing to decipher these intricate incantations just in their heads?’
Leo, feeling weary, took a deep breath.
‘OK. I can do this. Let's try to grasp this new method of spell invocation. Even if the techniques are different, understanding the composition of magic itself should help me get it at least half-way correct.’
Leo pressed on.
‘I can't flunk out on the first test!’
He was a hero who once saved the world!
With determination gleaming in his eyes, Leo swiftly decoded the question.
‘Phew! At least it was a common spell.’
Meanwhile, Carr, looking more relieved than before, worked through his own problem.
Contrary to his concerns, the test wasn't overly challenging.
All the spells on the exam were familiar.
The questions were complex, but as Professor Len had said, failure to solve them would deem one unworthy of studying sorcery at Lumene.
‘At this level, calculating the spells in my head is a breeze.’
Chloe's pen moved almost automatically, swiftly jotting down the correct answers without hesitation.
Watching Leo, she noticed his pen darting rapidly.
Yet, his answer sheet remained empty.
‘Oh? I thought Leo wanted to dual-class, but he doesn’t know anything about spells?’
At this rate, Leo might miss out on the sorcery major.
Carr looked disappointed, thinking that they couldn't take the sorcery classes together.
"Thirty minutes remaining."
‘Oops, I have to focus. Let's tackle these problems first.’
Meanwhile, Leo, having filled in every corner of his scrap paper, finally stopped moving his pen.
‘Why are they making spell-casting so much more complicated than it has to be?’
The exam was definitely doable if he could have enough time.
The problem was that there was too little time.
Yet, upon reviewing the next question, he found himself presented with another unfamiliar puzzle.
Leo, frustrated, halted.
He flipped ahead to the final problem.
The exam comprised 50 questions in total.
Questions 1 to 49 involved solving equations, while the last one required interpreting the results of those equations.
Compared to the others, this final equation wasn't overly complex.
He could even calculate it mentally.
Quickly writing down that one answer, Leo rose from his seat.
All eyes fixed on him.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Aine]
[Proofreader – Ash]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
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‘I’m giving up, huh? Well, I haven’t even cracked the first one yet, so I suppose it’s better to not keep wasting my time.’
Watching Leo hand over his answer sheet to the teaching assistant, Carr looked up.
'Guess I'll skip the sorcery class.'
With only one out of fifty questions answered, how could he have possibly passed?
‘I'll have to figure it out on my own.’
Leaving the classroom, he berated himself for being complacent.
Meanwhile, the hourglass continued to trickle away.
No one budged from their seats.
Even if non-major students had underestimated the exam, they had still possessed basic knowledge of modern sorcery.
"Time's up. Pass your papers to the teaching staff."
"Phew, I’m exhausted."
Stretching, Carr turned to Chloe.
"Hey, what was the answer to the last question? I couldn't crack it."
Chloe, looking fatigued, shook her head in disappointment.
"I didn't manage to solve any of it. There wasn’t enough time."
"Really? Sounds tough."
"And Leo?"
"I don’t think he answered a single question."
"Which is why he left?"
Nodding, Carr followed Chloe's lead.
"Brother! How did you do?"
"As well as I could, of course!"
"Nice!"
Chloe approached Abad and Chelsea.
"Hey, Chelsea."
"Huh? Oh, Carr! Who is this?”
“Oh, it's Chloe Mueller."
"She's the Northern section chief. Don’t you know?"
Chelsea's eyes widened in surprise.
"Hi, Abad Lewellin. Did you manage the last question?"
"Nope, ran out of time. How about you?"
"Same here."
Comparing their answers, Chloe pulled out her test paper.
"I'm curious to see how our solutions differ. Mind if we compare?"
"I was just about to ask the same thing. Let's do it."
Chloe's scratch paper was packed with the final question's solution.
Abad's paper was equally thoroughly filled.
Carr clicked his tongue.
‘The captains are truly on another level. With more time, I could've aced them all.’
"And Leo?"
"I reckon he's long gone from the magic building. I don’t think he got around to solving a single question."
"Well, they weren’t problems for a knight to solve."
Chelsea, familiar with Leo's prowess as a knight, nodded approvingly.
Returning to the podium, Professor Len prompted the students to retake their seats.
"Great effort on the test, everyone."
His smile was pristine.
"The teaching assistants will soon finish grading. But first, a brief overview of the Magical Theory class."
Professor Len's lecture commenced, eliciting exclamations from the students.
His teaching style was captivating.
Intuitively, they knew they had encountered a remarkable professor.
‘I can't wait to keep taking classes with professors like him!’
Anticipation swelled among the students.
Once Professor Len concluded his lecture, one of the teaching assistants approached.
"Professor, the test results are ready."
"Shall we all check our scores?"
Other assistants wheeled in a bulletin board displaying the results.
"This exam consisted of 49 questions worth one point each, and one question worth 51 points."
As excitement rippled through the students, Professor Len continued.
"This test is integral to selecting students for the sorcery major."
With a gesture, Professor Len cast a spell.
"In recent centuries, sorcery has evolved significantly. As a result, we can now employ a form of sorcery that had once required a complete understanding of the original technique by simply memorizing the triggering conditions.”
Then, he dispelled it with a clenched fist, sending glittering shards of magic flying across the lecture hall.
"Such spells have diluted the essence of sorcery!"
The students were taken aback by his passionate declaration.
"Modern sorcerers focus on memorization, neglecting true understanding. Surely, that’s an easy way to get to using magic, but that’s not real sorcery! Sorcery is about inquiry, not rote learning! But what are young sorcerers doing now? They’re just busy memorizing and memorizing and memorizing! This so-called “development” is regressing sorcery as a whole!"
Professor Len extended his hands.
A vast spread of magical trickery unfolded above them.
"This is my own spell, using a recipe unique to me. My own creation, from start to finish. Are there any sorcerers who create their own spells nowadays?"
It was the embodiment of individualized magic.
In the eyes of the students, Professor Len's magical world shimmered with beauty.
"In a battle between sorcerers, there is also a battle between who understands and may break down their opponent’s spells more efficiently than the other. You cannot rise to greatness by just memorizing formulas. And that is why—”
Shwick!
With a final flourish, his spell vanished.
"I shall teach you to truly comprehend magic, to become genuine sorcerers!"
Inspired, the students erupted into applause.
The notion of being a "true sorcerer" resonated deeply.
Acknowledging the students' enthusiasm, Professor Len gestured to the bulletin board.
"Check your scores. And I'm sorry, but for students scoring below 40 points, please leave the class. That's all!"
The students congregated around the bulletin board.
Approaching, one of the teaching assistants caught Professor Len's deep gaze.
"Professor."
"What is it?"
"One of the students aced question 50."
"They got a perfect score?"
Professor Len was genuinely taken aback.
"What a remarkable talent! Abad? Chloe? Ah! Could this be the student I've been waiting for?"
"The student did not get a perfect score."
"They didn’t get 100 points?"
Professor Len's expression shifted.
It was evident that a student capable of tackling the last question wouldn't have found the previous 49 too challenging.
So why hadn’t they received a perfect score?
"Ah. They likely left some questions unanswered to tackle the last one."
"Not quite. Everything else is blank. They only answered this last question."
The teaching assistant handed the answer sheet to Professor Len.
Professor Len, who was checking the blank sheet, asked with a serious expression, "…Who is this student?"
* * *
Chloe, scanning the bulletin board, naturally started out at the top.
And froze.
Second place: Chloe Mueller, Abad Lewellin (49 points)
Third place: Chelsea Lewellin (48 points)
Chloe and Abad had tied for second.
And at the very top.
First place: Leo Plov (51 points)
Stiff-faced, Chloe glanced at the front row seat in which Leo had sat.
She hurried to check his test papers, which were still laid there.
‘What on earth?’
Chloe couldn't help but stand in awe, parsing through the work Leo had used to answer the very first question, which he’d given up on solving.
‘Leo Plov... What in the world are you up to!’
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