———Karra———

  <1: 03 pm>

  Let’s see how this test run will go. With this new level of mastery in hand, I should be able to take down a few levels pretty easily. With the fire knife by my side, I think this should be easy enough. At least going to-

  “Yo.” Wah!?

  “Holy-!? You scared me. When did you get here?” I was in the middle of my inner-monologue and Wiina suddenly sneaked up on me. I think this is the first time she actually approached me.

  “Just now, actually.” She said while scratching her cheek. “Looks like you were about to enter the dungeon… Doesn’t look like you have any cameras on you though.”

  “I’m just trying to test out how well I’m gonna do in a dungeon solo. I’m not gonna bother bringing those stuff along.” I expined myself. “And why are you here? Gonna tackle the dungeon as well?”

  “Nothing like that. I just noticed you were going to enter the dungeon, so I approached you for a wellness check.” She expined herself. Is she… concerned for me?

  “Umm… Thanks?” I’m not sure what to say. “So I guess you’ll…”

  “I actually want to test something else. I’m not sure who else to ask, but are you up for it?” She suddenly offered. What could this be about, I wonder. It has to be something interesting, I think.

  ———Kenni———

  <1: 39 pm>

  Hmm… Doesn’t look like any of the defense mechanisms are activating despite me getting close to the walls. I wonder if its detection range doesn’t include high up in the sky.

  Now this is starting to get exciting, maybe if I thread around carefully, I can actually infiltrate this pce without any arm going off.

  *Shine* *Cnk*

  “What!?” When did this-!? Some sort of chain made of light?

  *Pull*

  “Waaah!?” It’s pulling me down!? Did the security system actually go off!?

  *Thud*

  “Ow!” What in the world even- Wait. Wiina!?

  “You should consider yourself lucky that none of the anti-air mechanisms are tripped.” She said with scrutinizing eyes as the chains dissipated into thin air. “Guess we have one more person to help out.”

  “Kenni, what the hell are you doing here?” Karra asked, also looking at me incredulously. I didn’t even register her being here at first.

  “Could say the same for you two.” I said before standing back up and dusting myself off. “Well, I do know that Wiina will have access, at least.”

  “Quite ballsy of you to do that. Nothing is set to lethal, but you could’ve gotten crippled for all I know.” Wiina said, sounding like she’s trying to scare me. Can’t tell if she’s serious or not, but I wouldn’t put it past her to be.

  “Ain’t that kinda overkill?” I remarked as I looked at the surrounding area. We’re in the middle of a rge path towards the main building in the center. It branches into the parking area and other buildings as well. I don’t think we really know what those are for just yet. Maybe Wiina does, but Karra and I most definitely don't. “So what are you two doing here?”

  “I approached Karra to help test some training equipment in the training ground. I have tested it myself, but they are a bit too easy for me.” Wiina casually answered. “And you will do the same, whether you’d like to or not.”

  “Jeez. I would’ve helped anyway, do you really need to sound that authoritarian?” I exasperatedly asked as we walked on the path towards the main building.

  The people renovating this pce certainly makes use of the rge amount of space this school covers, the main building alone is obviously massive, and it being called a skyscraper is definitely warranted.

  Now this is exciting! Getting a scoop into the-

  “By the way, I recommend not taking any pictures.” Wiina suddenly said as if reading my mind. Dang.

  “Just what can we even talk about?” Karra asked once we went through the entrance. The inside does still have a somewhat school-like interior, though everything is more shiny and clean-looking.

  “Anything, really. You just can’t have photographic evidence to back it up.” Wiina crified. So she wants us to spread information that can’t be substantiated, basically. Creating more rumors and specutions that would’ve drowned out our statements.

  “Our words won’t hold that much water, then.” Karra summed it up.

  We then walked past the doors and entered the main area in the middle, which has multiple of those teleporters around, as well as some elevators. This area actually looks more like the middle of a five-star hotel or some other high-end locations. You wouldn’t think it’s a school.

  “Wouldn’t it be really hard to navigate around?” I couldn't help but ask. There are maps on the walls, but with how massive this pce is, difficulty in navigating is a guarantee.

  “Perhaps, but that comes with the territory of how rge this campus is.” Wiina casually replied as we walked over to one of the teleporters. “Just so you know, this pce can easily house thousands of people, so there are multiple of each facility so as to not cause one to be overcrowded.”

  If this school didn’t have a rge amount of space to work with already, this wouldn’t be the case. Kinda makes it seem like targeting this pce is intentional, which Wiina should be aware of.

  She then starts pressing a few buttons on the gss panel, with both Karra and I taking a gnce at it as she sets the destination.

  *Beep* *Shine*

  “Whoa!” I can’t help but say it out loud. It was arming, very sudden. One moment we were in the center of the first floor, then suddenly we were elsewhere. Now this does kinda look like a gym, but we already know there is more to this pce.

  “Not as big as I thought…” Karra muttered, and that’s also my impression. The room is still big, obviously, but considering the scale of the pce in general, the usual standard seems quite small when that’s taken into account.

  “It has to be that way if we wanna make multiple dozens of it. This pce is massive, obviously, but it doesn’t exactly have infinite space to work with.” Wiina expined. Considering most schools can only house just one of these, I can see what she meant. “But that’s not what we're here for. I want to see at what difficulty levels you two can handle, and to look for any oversights, of course.”

  “Now this is getting interesting.” I remarked as we walked towards the middle, the field for the battle, I assume. There are more panels to look through not too far from here.

  “Alright then you two, go drop off your stuff. Don’t want anything breaking in the middle of the test.” She instructed as we walked past the training ground and towards some lockers. Guess something still remains retively archaic.

  “How does this whole thing work exactly?” Karra asked once we put our stuff away and walked over to the panels.

  “It’ll enact a barrier around the field so no stray magic bsts or projectiles can fly off towards the spectators, and there are multiple conditions that can be set, from difficulty to type of enemies. Do you two need any weapons, by the way?” She said as she pointed at the area next to the wall with a bunch of what I think are training weapons.

  “I think this knife will do just fine.” Karra said while showing off that fancy-schmancy knife of hers.

  “I’m fine with just my fist and magic, thanks.” Meanwhile I don’t feel like picking up any weapons.

  “You use your fist?” Karra suddenly asked for crification. I just said that for the heck of it, it’s not that deep.

  “Ignore it.” I said while making a dismissive wave. It’s just a slip of the tongue.

  “Alright then… You two, go into the training ground.” Wiina instructed. “By the way, there is a failsafe in case you can’t win. Just hugged the barrier for a few seconds.”

  “Hopefully we ain’t using that.” I remarked as the two of us entered the training field. I can see two circles of light on the ground, probably where the… Actually, this pce looks quite different from one of the training room diagrams, ain’t it? It only show stuff like training dummies and weapons, not any of this high te-

  “Begin… Now!” Wiina suddenly announced, and suddenly light emerged from the edge of the training ground, which must’ve been the barrier meant to keep us and anything else from leaving the area prematurely.

  *Shine*

  Two stone golems appeared, with one of its arms looking more like sharp rock than anything. Guess we’re taking out one each.

  *Dash* *Csh*

  Karra quickly rushed in and fought one of the golems with her knife, able to match it blow-for-blow even if it looked much more physically imposing. It must be that mana-cdding thing she talked about.

  Unfortunately I am not quite there just yet, but my spells alone should be enough!

  *Dash* *Fly*

  The other golem tried to chase me down but I quickly got airborne before it could make contact.

  “[Wind Bomb]!” I yelled as I threw a ball of heavily concentrated wind towards it.

  *Whirl* *Tumble*

  The moment it makes contact the golem is blown back and loses bance.

  “[Wind Cross]!” I shouted again as I swung my arms like they were swords. Two rge bursts of wind emerged and flew toward the golem.

  *Shatter*

  The two projectiles hit the golem dead-on, shattering it into pieces. Easy-peasy.

  “Ow.” A few shards hit Karra who is still in the middle of her fight, but doesn’t seem to do much aside from bothering her a smidge.

  *Smash*

  She quickly swung her knife down and smashed the golem’s torso, ending her encounter with the practice golem.

  It was all too easy. Taking less than five minutes, if my intuition is correct.

  The subtle wall of light surrounding the area dissipates alongside the remains of the golem as I descend back down to the ground, and then a giant hologram screen appears to show the result.

  “Less than a minute and a half…” Karra muttered as she looked through the result screen. It took less time than I thought.

  “You two handled that pretty well. About what I expected.” Wiina said as she walked over. “Those were golems set to Rank D in terms of power. It’s roughly equal to the level of the golems on floor eight in the nearby dungeon.”

  “When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound all too impressive.” I remarked.

  “We need to start a bit modest in order to gauge how well the students will do. This is the lowest rank I think you two will at least have the slightest bit of trouble. At Rank E even muggles should be able to defeat them no problem.” Wiina expined her reasoning for picking this difficulty.

  “So you want us to try out Rank C next?” Karra presumed.

  “Let’s try D+ first. If I really want to know how well you two are doing, and if there is an abnormally rge gap in difficulty between ranks, we need to go slow and gradual.” She replied. So there’s a rank in-between the letters. “You two are still in top shape, so I assume neither of you need any rest?”

  “I’m plenty fine.” I casually replied.

  “Same here.” Karra followed suit.

  “If that’s the case, stay still while I change the settings.” She instructed before walking over to the panel, pressing a few buttons on the screen. “Begin!”

  Two more golems appeared, looking roughly the same as the st duo. I can’t exactly tell if there’s any difference or-

  *Dash* *Csh* *Fly*

  “Woah!” I let out an involuntarily panicked yelp as I flew back up while Karra tried to fight hers with just melee alone.

  *Leap* *Swing* *Evade*

  “Hah!?” I let out another sound when the golem jumped up to my height and took a swing at me. Thankfully it can’t stay airborne but that was a bit of a scare. These things are definitely more aggressive, at least.

  I think I should respond in kind!

  “[Wind Bomb]! [Wind Cross]!” I don’t even bother trying to check if it’ll hit, I simply threw the spells in direct succession.

  *Whirl* *Tumble* *Crack*

  Unlike the previous one this thing doesn’t keel over immediately. It quickly stood back up after taking a direct hit.

  I guess this needs one more good-

  *Leap* *Swing* *Evade*

  “Woah!” Almost got hit again. It can still move freely despite the damage on it? Kinda crazy.

  “[Explosion]!” I overheard Karra chanting a spell.

  *BOOM*

  The pressure released from that explosive spell actually pushed me back and made me lose a bit of bance. I guess that particur golem just disintegrated from that… Oh right I need to destroy mine.

  “[Wind Cross]!” I then recast the wind bdes spell, aiming at the golem that-

  *Leap*

  -it actually rushed towards me despite the spell? Guess it really just doesn’t care.

  *Shatter*

  It was hit by the spell mid-air and predictably couldn't tank the second attack, destroying it and sending the shards flying.

  “Alright then, what’s the result this time?” I muttered out loud as I touched the ground. The screen appeared before us again and… “Two minutes and a little bit. Not too bad, right?”

  “This seems about right.” Wiina muttered as she came over. “How are you two doing? It was only a bit more difficult, but you two did get into two fights simultaneously.”

  “I still have plenty in reserve.” I boasted. Probably roughly seventy percent left in the tank.

  “I mean, do we have to go all the way? How many ranks are there?” Karra asked, wondering how long this can go for.

  “Not counting the E and E+, we have eleven left.” Eleven!? No way we’re gonna go through all of that!

  “Seriously? Do we even have any real incentive here?” I can’t help but compin. We’re doing this for free for crying out loud.

  “Perhaps that’s fair.” She suddenly replied with that. “We can tour around the campus some more after you two are pushed to the limits, how does that sound?”

  “It sounds nice, but…” Karra also seems rather hesitant on letting herself be put through the wringer for so little.

  “...I’ll negotiate with the head honcho here to let you two roam the area freely, how does that sound?” Hmm… That’s even more tempting…

  “It’s not guaranteed, from the sound of it.” I remarked, considering she needs to talk to someone of higher position. Is it really worth doing it for something that we might not get?

  “I’ll also pay you. A grand each.” She suddenly offered while pulling a bunch of hundred dolr bills.

  “Deal.” Something with more clear value works for me. Who wouldn’t want money.

  “I’ll also take that deal, thank you very much.” Karra also accepted the offer.

  “Good to hear. Then let’s get started with the Rank C test then.” She said before walking over to the gss panel. Guess we’re gonna be here for a while longer.

  DekuKurohi