The next morning, at 8:00 a.m.

  We were all gathered in front of the Duke's residence gate, waiting for Mr. Alan to emerge. This morning, around 6:00 a.m., Mr. Alan had gone to the Duke's residence first to take this final exam.

  "Why weren't we told to go inside? Instead, we were told to wait at the front gate. Are we not taking this final exam at the residence?" Noa asked.

  "I don't know," I said.

  Then Mr. Alan, Commander Marshall, and the other Duke's soldiers emerged from within the residence grounds. This time, Duke Darwin wasn't accompanying them.

  "Are all the first-year students here, and are there any left at the inn?" Mr. Alan asked.

  We looked around to check on our friends.

  "No, sir," the students said.

  "Ok, ?then I'll explain about this final exam."

  "Do you know what's behind the Duke's residence? More specifically, what's outside the back gate of the Duke's residence," said Mr. Alan.

  "There are grasslands, mountains, but they're also smaller, maybe hills, rivers, forests, and more, sir," said one of the students.

  "You're right, behind the Duke's residence are hills, forests, rivers, fields, and more, totaling about 300 hectares. Your final exam will be held there," said Mr. Alan.

  The students were surprised to hear this.

  "The exam will be held there?"

  "Does that mean we'll be taking the exam in the wilderness?" the students asked.

  "Yes, this final exam will be in the wilderness behind the Duke's residence," said Mr. Alan.

  Then Mr. Alan took something from his pocket.

  "Do you know this?" asked Mr. Alan, showing something he had taken from his pocket.

  "That's a medal, right?" said one of the students.

  "Yes, these are medals. They're just ordinary medals made of iron. In this exam, you must collect medals similar to these in the wild. One medal is worth 200 points, and the maximum points you can earn in this exam is 4,000. This means that if you want to get the maximum points, you must obtain 20 medals in this exam."

  "Initially, these knights will escort you to your respective starting points. Your starting points will be different; some of you will start from the forest, others from the hills, and so on. To start the exam, so you can immediately search for the medals together, even if you're in different locations, we will launch a magic attack in the sky, signaling the start of the exam."

  "The exam deadline is 6:00 PM. If you have collected 20 medals before then, you can deliver them directly to the back gate of the Duke's residence. We won't provide a map, so you'll have to find the residence gate yourself. If you have trouble finding the residence gate, you can stay there and w?ait until you're picked up by the knights. If you only collect a few medals by 6 p.m., your points will be calculated based on the medals you've earned, but you won't get a full score. Understood?" said Mr. Alan.

  "Understood, sir," said the students.

  The students seemed to understand Mr. Alan's explanation.

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  "This looks like it'll be an easy exam,"

  "Right, we only have to find 20 medals, and the time limit is quite long," said the students who were chatting.

  "There's more to it," said Mr. Alan.

  "Is there more?"

  "I thought that was all," said the students, a little surprised to hear that there was more to it.

  "There are only 2,000 medals scattered throughout the wild. There are 200 first-year students, which means there should be 4,000 medals available so each student can earn 20. If there are only 2,000 medals, only 100 students can earn 20, and the remaining 100 won't get any medals."

  "You can find the medals at the bottom of rivers, in trees, behind bushes, and so on. But of course, finding them all isn't easy. There are other ways to get medals besides searching for them in the wild," said Mr. Alan.

  "What is that, sir?" asked one of the students.

  "Defeating other students who have medals and taking their medals," Mr. Alan replied.

  Hearing this, the students were shocked.

  "Why are you surprised? I think it's understandable, especially since the number of medals available for a full score doesn't match the number of students. You'll definitely be fighting over those medals to get a full score. Therefore, I declare that attacking and stealing other students ?medals is permitted."

  "You may also form teams with other students to search for medals, but you will still have to earn your own medals. If you form a team of two, you'll need 40 medals to get a full score."

  "Since the exam will last until 6 p.m., you'll probably skip lunch. You're free to eat anything in the wilderness, whether it's fruit, plants, or animals. However, you'll be responsible for the risk of food poisoning from eating wild food yourself."

  "One more thing. Besides being wary of other students who might attack you, you must also be wary of wild animals and monsters in the wilderness. When the other knights and I placed our medals in the wilderness, we saw several monsters like slimes, small groups of goblins, Plantas, and Blooms. Although they are low-level monsters, they are quite dangerous for students like you, so you must be careful. Do you understand?" asked Mr. Alan.

  "Understood, sir," said the students.

  Most of the students felt anxious and afraid of this exam after hearing Mr. Alan's further explanation. Initially, they thought the test would be easy, but eventually they realized the danger, especially since they would be starting at different locations.

  "If you understand and have no more questions, let's begin the exam immediately. The knights will escort you to different locations. Once you arrive, wait for our magic signal," said Mr. Alan.

  "Yes, sir," said the students.

  Then, the knights escorted us to different locations. I was escorted by a knights to the forest behind the Duke's residence. Several students were also taken to the forest, but we were still assigned to different spots.

  After that, I arrived at my starting point. The spot I was assigned to was in a remote part of the forest, and it was very quiet there. I waited for the magic cues from Mr. Alan and the other instructors. After a while, several spells were cast into the sky, signaling the start of the exam. I initially wanted to immediately search for the medals after the magic was cast, but I had other matters to attend to.

  "Hey, sir. Isn't each student only accompanied by one knights to their designated spot?" I asked the knight who had accompanied me to my spot.

  The knight remained nearby to ensure I began the exam according to the magic cues.

  "That's right," the knight said.

  "Then why are there so many knights surrounding me?," I asked.

  "Oh, so you already knew," the knight said.

  The other knights who had been hiding in and behind trees began to approach me.

  "Does it take this many to finish off a student?" asked one knight.

  "Just do it, it's Lord Duke's orders," said another knight.

  "Please forgive us. We have no personal grudges against you, but we were simply following orders," said the knight I had fought on the first and second days of the exam.

  He was also among the group of knights surrounding me. Seeing the knights begin to approach me, I immediately readied my sword.

  "You'd better not fight back, after all, what can you do with a sword from the academy?" asked the knight I had previously fought.

  ~Enhance Weapon - Sharp~

  I enhanced the sharpness of my sword.

  "I knew this would happen. While at the Duke's residence, I always felt like someone was watching me. I also knew I was going to be killed here after reading the thoughts of the knights accompanying me," I said.

  "Then if you knew that, why did you still follow him?" asked one of the knights.

  "Of course, it was to deal with you guys too. I followed that knight because I was confident I could handle this. If I don't deal with you all now, it will be a problem in the future," I said.

  "You're so arrogant, boy," said another knights.

  They got closer to me.

  "You placed me in this spot so no one would know you were planning to kill me, right? But the same goes for me, this spot will keep me from being noticed when I kill you all,"

  "I've never killed anyone before. It looks like this will be my first time," I said, preparing to strike with my sword.

  -To be continued