The time for the placement exam had finally come.

Estelle and her party, along with all other parties intending to challenge the dungeon, had been reunited. During winter, the bitter cold forced everyone to wear warm clothes early in the morning.

There were also some patches of snow here and there left behind by a snowstorm a few days back.

Eventually, the headmaster came in front of them all.

“Good morning, little ones. The time has come. I see a total of six parties has come to challenge the dungeon. So, as I have told you, before you all enter, there will be a few theoretical questions and a little physical exam to decide what kinds of assistance you’ll receive.”

‘Right, there was something like this. It’s not as if we need any assistance. We trained in combat in the last few days, and from what I saw, we have no equals.’

“So, let’s see. Every party should pick one representative for the theoretical exam. I’ll give you five minutes.”

Turning her head towards her companions, Estelle asked them how they should do this.

“You heard the headmaster. I’d propose myself for the theoretical exam. I’ve been studying a lot, you know!”

“Don’t make me laugh. I’m going. I’m clearly the one who has the brains here!”

Elene Bauer immediately expressed a contrasting opinion.

“I also think Elene should be the one to do it.”

Andre von Rais supported Elene’s opinion as well.

“Very well, do what you want! Hmpf.”

Though she was pretty irritated, she let it go. Her pride was a little hurt, but right now, all she could care about was winning.

‘I’ll show you! I’ll rank first once again!’

She then turned to look at Vince’s party to see who they had picked. As expected, they had chosen Vince to represent their party. He was the guy who scored three hundred points in the theory, after all.

“I see everyone has picked their representatives. Very well, let’s go. Everyone, come.”

They were then brought near the entrance of the dungeon. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary cave.

On the side of the entrance, a little stage had been built. There were also two circles with some signs on top. One was a big X, one a big O.

“The tests will be conducted here. Some questions will be asked out loud. There will be a total of ten. Each of those questions will grant an advantage if answered correctly. But remember, if you answer just one question wrong, you won’t be able to answer any other questions afterwards. So, you should answer only if you are confident.”

The six representatives were thus brought on the stage.

“After every question, I’ll count to thirty. Once I finished the countdown, whatever circle you are in, I’ll count it as the answer you gave. Very well, let’s start!”

“First question: are kobolds classified as humanoid monsters, yes or no. Pick the O if you think yes, the X otherwise.”

Vince immediately walked to the ‘X’ circle. Once the others saw his immediate choice, Elene and another representative also walked on the ‘X’.

‘He picked the X? I thought the statement was true… maybe I remember wrong, though.’

Two other representatives, who thought the statement was true, started doubting themselves, seeing the first ranked in the theoretical exam picking a different answer than what they expected. When the countdown was at ten, eventually, one of them decided to join them on the ‘X’.

The other one decided to stay outside of any circles. There was also one last representative, who had immediately walked onto the ‘O’ circle.

“Five, four, three, two, one!”

Exactly when the count went down to one, Vince made a small leap outside the circle, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

“Stop!”

A magic circle appeared under every representative’s feet. A pair of chains locked everyone in place wherever they were at that instant.

“The three people in the X circle, you are all out. The two outside any circle, you won’t receive any reward, but you can continue with the test. As for the only one in the ‘O’ circle, your party shall receive five healing potions.”

But no one was really paying attention to what the headmaster was saying. Everyone was giving Vince a blank stare.

“What’s with those stares? I simply skimmed a little the competition. I didn’t break any rules, right headmaster?”

“You are absolutely correct. The rules I said are the only ones that apply. There’s no rule saying you must stay in the same circle once you pick one. Anyway, let’s move on to the second question.”

‘So our party is already out… on the first round of questions. We won’t have any assistance. Sigh. Whatever.’

Once Elene Bauer had joined them back, she was given the cold shoulder by everyone else, but no one criticised her openly.

“Second question: Are kobolds protective of their babies? Yes or No.”

Vince immediately walked onto the ‘O’ circle. This time though, the others weren’t so quick in imitating him. Once the countdown was on fifteen, the representative from the prince’s party, Theo von Macht stepped into the ‘O’ circle. But much like Vince, he stayed on the outskirts of the circle.

“Five, four…”

Vince stepped outside the circle on four. Reacting immediately, Theo also stepped out. The last representative hadn’t picked any circle.

“Three, Two, One, Stop!”

Chains once again bounded everyone.

“Only one participant answered correctly. Your party shall receive a map of the dungeon.”

Everyone was stupefied once again. Vince had stepped back into the circle last second.

“Little one, you sure play some interesting tricks! It’s been a while since this old man was this entertained. Anyway, let’s move on to the third quesiton…”

On the third and fourth questions, Vince stopped playing tricks. He simply answered the questions right. The other two, who by now had learnt to ignore Vince, answered on their own. The three of them got both the questions right.

The rewards included camping equipment for the third question and a magic torch for the fourth question.

Then suddenly, Vince asked the headmaster something.

“Excuse me, headmaster, is receiving suggestions from the crowd cheating?”

“As I said earlier, the only rules are the ones I stated! I would have stopped them otherwise!”

“Sorry to inconvenience you, headmaster.”

‘Receiving suggestions from the crowd? Then…’

Suddenly everyone was paying attention to everyone.

“Anyway, onto the fifth question. Are kobold shamans high up in the hierarchy?”

The countdown started. But, no matter how much time passed, Vince didn’t move from where he was.

“Hell, even if he doesn’t know, I do!”

Theo von Macht walked onto the ‘O’ circle. After Vince had hinted at everybody that someone was receiving advice from the crowd, his party members avoided suggesting him.

“Three, Two, One… Stop!”

“The one on the ‘O’, you are wrong. Kobold shamans don’t exist in the first place. Both answers would have been wrong. We are now down to two participants, aren’t we? Let’s move on to the sixth question!”

“Kobolds have a hierarchy based on strength. True or false.”

As the headmaster was starting the countdown, one of the two participants fell flat on the floor. Vince had knocked him out with a hit on the head.

Vince dragged the fainted participant onto the ‘O’ circle, then walked into the ‘X’ circle.

“Three, Two, One… Stop!”

“‘O’ was the wrong answer, ‘X’ the right one. Kobold’s hierarchy is based on age, not strength.”

“We are now down to the last participant!”

“Hey! That was dirty!! This was supposed to be a theoretical exam!”

“I said there was also a physical one, didn’t I? I think fighting on such a small stage makes for a great physical exam!”

Everyone in the crowd was left dumbfounded. The headmaster had intended for them to fight from the start.

Vince then proceeded to answer the remaining questions right.

‘It’s so frustrating! But this isn’t over yet! My party excels at combat. I’ll show you how we conquer this dungeon easily, even without assistance!’

***

A little while later, all the parties had been lined up in front of the cave entrance.

“Now then, every party leader will be given an Owl’s eye and a Bounded Stone. The Owl’s eye will allow the teachers to see your progress. The party’s results as a whole will give up to eight hundred points. Based on your performance, the teachers might also give up to two hundred points more to each individual.”

A teacher proceeded to give each of the party leaders those two items.

“As for the Bounded Stone, whenever you feel like you are at your limit, you can break it. Bounded stones are called that way because their fates are connected. Once one breaks, the other will do so as well. As soon as you break it, a teacher will come and pick you up.

Also, be careful. Don’t be too greedy. If you are in danger, break that stone and don’t hesitate. You might die inside of here.”

Estelle felt a little shiver run down her spine after hearing what the headmaster said. ‘They may die.’. The lightness in his words was maybe the scariest bit of them all. He said it as if it wasn’t such a big deal.

“Now, let me state the rules. First of all, you aren’t allowed to engage in combat with other parties. Humans should always be united in fighting monsters. Enmities can be left for when any immediate threat to the species has been eliminated. That is an important lesson, especially for people from the Flossen Kingdom.

As every one of you knows, our kingdom is on the boundaries of the Human Domain and confines with the Eternal Forest. Although a long and tall wall was erected in ancient times to keep the monsters out from the mainland, sometimes there are still some leaks. At those times, humans have to fight together.

As for how many points will be given to each party, it shall depend on many factors. We won’t say all of them, but I’ll state the main ones. The main ones are how many kobolds you kill and how far you go into the dungeon. The remaining ones will be announced only at the end.”

“The order in which you go inside shall be randomly picked. We have here a box with each party leader’s name on it. Every thirty minutes, we will extract one. As for having less time, you shouldn’t worry. This test will surely last a few days, so three hours won’t make much of a difference.

Now then, let’s proceed with the first extraction!”

The headmaster thus put his hand inside of the box and extracted a piece of paper.

“The name is: Estelle von Sideria!”

‘We’re first? I don’t know whether that’s an advantage or not…’

The headmaster then walked close to Estelle and whispered something to her.

“Well then, in five minutes, you shall enter the dungeon. Be sure to move forward a bit quickly at the start. You shouldn’t face any monsters within the first thirty minutes by walk. Also, even though fighting among yourselves is strictly prohibited, others might take advantage of you. They might follow you and make you do the hard work of clearing a path while they laze around.

Since you are the first one I decided to give you this little advice. Also, beware of that Vince guy. He is probably the most dangerous of them all. He might not be the strongest, but he is a witty one.”

‘I should beware of Vince… I don’t know how I should feel about this piece of advice.’

Once the five minutes were over, the headmaster signalled them to go ahead.

Estelle and her party thus started walking towards the dark cave.