After leaving the mana measurement hall, we went straight to the waiting seats at the next testing area, the speed measurement hall, and sat down.
The air around us was still chilly.
No—more than before, it felt as if sticky, unpleasant gazes were clinging to the backs of our heads.
“Hey, did you see that? Zero points in mana. Does that even make sense?”
“She’s disgracing a prestigious family. I’m telling you, her summoning failed and she just brought some random guy.”
“She brought a person and thinks she can take the entrance exam? Shameless.”
Whispering voices murmured behind us.
The sound of snickering laughter, as if they wanted us to hear it, flew in like daggers and lodged itself in us.
I casually picked at my ear.
I was used to it.
The boos and mockery that poured down every time I lost in the Octagon, the malicious comments plastered across internet articles.
Compared to that, this level of backbiting was child’s play.
‘I’m fine, but… I wonder if she’s okay.’
I quietly turned my head and glanced sideways at Yustia beside me.
I wondered whether a noble young lady who valued her family’s honor could endure this kind of insult.
But my expectations were completely wrong.
Yustia had her head lowered, but her shoulders were trembling slightly.
Thinking she might be crying, I looked closer, only to find the corners of her mouth twisted upward in a bizarre grin.
Grin, grin.
Like a child who had found a very amusing toy, she was desperately swallowing laughter she couldn’t control.
“…Why, what’s wrong?”
I asked carefully.
Only then did Yustia raise her head and look at me.
Her eyes were gleaming brightly.
“The kids behind us.”
She whispered in a soft voice.
“I was wondering whether they’ll still be able to spout that nonsense after the speed measurement is over. Isn’t it so enjoyable just imagining it, Taesan?”
Her smile was so bright it was eerie.
Only then did I realize it.
This young lady was no ordinary person.
She was enjoying the mockery being thrown at us now as nothing more than an appetizer for the reversal that was about to come.
I let out a snort of laughter and shook my head.
“You’ve got some unique tastes.”
“Next examinee, Number 91, Yustia Rosenhart! Prepare for speed measurement!”
At the sharp call, I rose from my seat.
As if she had been waiting, Yustia sprang up like a coil.
Step, step.
We walked toward the speed measurement area.
This time, the air was even colder than before.
It was probably because of the miserable result from the mana measurement.
But Yustia proudly held her head high and linked her arm with mine as if to show everyone.
At her confidence, I swallowed a bitter smile inwardly.
“Please wait. Entry is prohibited to anyone other than examinees.”
As expected.
Once again, a student in uniform blocked our path.
The name tag on her chest read [Staff: Esila], along with the title of student council secretary.
“Guardians and companions, please wait in the waiting room.”
Her voice was businesslike and dry.
“No, this person is my summoned creature.”
Yustia replied like a parrot once again.
But this time, the nuance was a little different.
Compared to earlier, there was far more composure and a subtle sense of anticipation in her voice.
“Yes?”
Behind Esila’s glasses, her eyes widened and trembled.
“Summoned creature?”
“Yes, that’s right. Please check.”
Yustia pointed at the nape of my neck.
I let out a sigh and slightly pulled back my collar.
A red mark, clearly engraved near my collarbone.
The proof of my contract with Yustia was revealed.
Esila’s eyes opened wide when she saw it.
For a moment, she seemed to lose her words, staring back and forth between me and the mark with her mouth open.
“Th-this is….”
She gulped and checked the documents once more.
“…What in the world.”
Her expression, as she muttered in disbelief, held a mixture of shock and curiosity.
“Then we can go in, right?”
Yustia asked with a triumphant grin.
Esila nodded blankly.
“Yes, yes…. Please enter.”
Looking flustered, Esila scanned the surroundings in search of a professor.
Taking the chance while she stepped aside, we leisurely entered the speed measurement track.
The murmuring behind us had now grown even louder.
Students seeing us for the first time stared with wide eyes, watching curiously.
“What? What is that? A summoned creature?”
“Why did a person go in there?”
“Is her summoned creature too slow, so she’s running herself?”
The mocking voices stabbed at my ears, but I actually felt myself calming down.
The enormous circular track spread out before my eyes.
When I saw the endless course stretching ahead, my heart began to pound in response.
This was the stage I was most confident in.
As long as I didn’t make a mistake, I could run at high speed with this body that had become as light as a feather.
I had confidence.
I lightly warmed up and stood at the starting line.
“Show them, Taesan. It’s time to shut their mouths.”
“Ready… go!”
No sooner had the signal sounded than I kicked off the ground.
Thwack—!
With a sound of friction, my body shot forward like an arrow.
It was a familiar sensation.
Explosive acceleration.
This place was different from Earth.
‘Too light.’
Every time my foot touched the ground, it felt as if my body was floating.
Whoooosh—!
The sound of the wind swept past my ears as if tearing them apart.
It was a speed fast enough to blur my vision.
The scenery of the track flowed backward like smeared paint.
One lap, two laps….
In an instant, the lap times shrank.
My heart pounded as if it would burst, pumping furiously.
‘Damn it, I can’t control it!’
I was going so fast that my feet felt like they might tangle.
It felt as though my legs had slipped free of my will and were moving on their own.
It was like riding a runaway wild horse and desperately gripping the reins.
Five laps, six laps….
The murmur from the stands surged in like a wave.
“Whoa, fuck! What the hell is that?”
“Insane. Did she bring some kind of track athlete?”
“Is he really human? Does that speed make any sense?”
A noise mixed with shock and exclamations struck my ears.
But I had no room to pay attention to it.
I had to focus every nerve on keeping my balance.
It was precarious.
It was a dangerous sprint where I felt I would tumble the moment my balance broke even slightly.
And finally, the moment I was on my tenth lap.
Lurch—
Unable to withstand the excessive speed, my ankle twisted.
“Ugh!”
My balance collapsed in an instant.
My body tilted, and I crashed straight to the ground.
Crash—!
I rolled across the rough dirt floor.
A cloud of dust rose up.
“Aaaah!”
“He fell!”
Screams erupted from the stands.
I gritted my teeth and pushed myself up.
My knee was scraped and bleeding, and my whole body throbbed.
But what stung more than the pain was the embarrassment.
‘I screwed up.’
The record was a mess.
Of course, by ordinary human standards, it was an unimaginable speed, but by the standards of a summoned creature test, it was nowhere near enough.
Considering the leopard summoned creature from earlier had run fourteen laps, this was a clear failure.
When I limped back to the finish line, Yustia’s face had turned deathly pale.
“Ta… Taesan! Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief. Does it hurt?”
“It’s more embarrassing than painful.”
She hurried over and supported me.
But her eyes were trembling uneasily.
“Ha… Then entering as top student is out of the question… and if things go wrong, I might fail to enter at all….”
Yustia muttered while biting her fingernail.
In an instant, her complexion darkened.
The confident appearance from earlier was nowhere to be found, and anxiety was written all over her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. I did expect there could be a mistake. Still, it’s fortunate. Ten laps is… fairly decent, I suppose…?”
She seemed to be calculating with complicated thoughts running through her head.
“For now… I think you’ll need to break all twenty stone slabs for full marks in the strength test.”
Yustia’s eyes were trembling.
All that remained now was the destructive power measurement.
If we couldn’t score overwhelmingly here, then tarnishing the Rosenhart name would be the least of our problems; even her admission itself might become uncertain.
“Can you do it?”
Yustia asked, tightly gripping my sleeve.
Her voice was dripping with desperation.
“I’ll give it a try. Though what breaks won’t be the stone slabs, but those bastards’ minds.”
I deliberately flashed a grin.
It was meant to ease her tension, but in truth, I didn’t feel at ease either.
But what could I do?
The dice had already been cast, and I was either going to sweep the pot or be left with nothing.
“Let’s go, Taesan. Show them.”
Yustia nodded with a solemn expression.
We headed toward the final testing area, the destructive power measurement hall.
“Hey, did you see that bastard trip while running?”
“He’s fast, but I guess he can’t control it. What an idiot.”
“I’m curious what his destructive power will be like. Is he going to break his own wrist this time?”
“But if it’s breaking stone slabs anyway, isn’t one slab the maximum for him? Then he’s definitely eliminated, right?”
“Hey. What kind of bullshit is that? One slab? You think that thing can break even one?”
When we entered the entrance of the destructive power measurement hall, we saw massive stone slabs stacked up.
They looked to be a good ten centimeters thick.
“Next examinee, Number 91, Yustia Rosenhart!”
At the proctor’s call, I took a deep breath and walked out in front of the platform.
Twenty stone slabs lay before my eyes.
Their oppressive height seemed to be looking down on me.
I slowly raised my right arm.
My muscles twitched and contracted.
‘No mistakes this time.’
I steadied my breathing and focused the strength of my entire body into the end of my fist.
Boom!
“Holy shit….”
With a monstrous crash, all twenty stone slabs were pulverized at once and scattered into dust.