Xira’s assessments are no joke.

Even the students of Xira, known as the future’s elites label this semesterly event, as the “Armageddon of Xira”

Kind of cringe not going to lie, but it serves as an inside joke from time to time.

And as exaggerated as the name was, in some ways, it was true. 

The more the future pillars of society suffered, the more the wild did. 

So every semester there was a grueling season of studying and more studying, training and more training.

Every student would, in some way, suffer from overwork and pressure, leading to a dropout on the higher end of the scale, despite the academy’s prestige.

You may think this is too extreme, but all the students knew what they were applying for, so they can’t complain.

Because humanity’s hope isn’t something you can just decide to be. 

And so far, this process of selection naturally produced the best results.

With an average of ten subjects to revise each, this was not enough.

Well at least in the professor’s books.

There was always a whole grade assessment, that was confidential, only exposed to the most loyal teachers of the academy.

Favoritism? Bribes? Nepotism? They all went down the drain. 

In addition, to all of the chaos, there was also some hidden or unexpected task every time.

And it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the cause of most of the dropouts to flunk, the minority being eliminated due to the actual test in the first place.

“So we were going with the original plan riiiiight?~” Felicity asked.

Professor Kyle and the Head murmured their confirmations.

“Hehe- Don’t you think this is a bit much, even third grades would have trouble with this, but first? It’s-”

“You’re underestimating them, there are a lot of prodigies in this grade.” the Head cut off Professor Felicity.

“Eh? Are you crazy? A dungeon breakout is something most mercenary teams can’t handle most of the time.”

“ORDINARY mercenary teams, that are all probably old arrogant adults, on the brink of retirement. 

On the other hand, these are all hand-picked students at their best.”

“Not after they go through Xira’s apparent “Armageddon”.”

“Well if they give up after those measly exams, they are not fit to be a part of Xira.”

… Dungeon breakout? Mother? Who?

‘Well, are you going to explain or am I finally going to  understand the conversation after a million years or not…?’

‘They are absolutely insane! Dungeon breakouts, not much is known about this phenomenon yet but there are multiple theories on how it occurs, the most popular one, obviously suggested by a Xira graduate, said that if a dungeon accumulates too much mana the portal barrier on our side malfunctions, allowing anyone or thing to freely enter our world.

They are usually not discovered til when it’s almost too late though, since most of the time, they are hidden dungeons, and monsters slowly stream out, as they find out the barrier has been destroyed. But in extremely rare cases, if the dungeon is an A rank or over, the stronger of the monsters run wild, causing a huge stampede to-’

‘What is-’

‘I was going to explain,’ I said as I read my bond’s intentions, ‘even less are known about dungeons, all we know is there is a portal with monsters inside, that can only be entered through our side, and if they are cleared or all the monsters inside are slain, you earn rewards. 

In uncommon situations, when the conditions have been met, the dungeon is no longer considered a threat and can be cleared repeatedly. 

There is a downside though; The drops you obtain are not as good as the first time.

Secondly, they are sorted out by ranks, due to their difficulty, because of this, most of the categories of the world are sorted into ranks too, like how powerful you are, or how powerful this weapon is, etc.

But what happens if a dungeon isn’t cleared in time? Well, this is where dungeon breakouts come in, and you know the rest of the story.’

The combat professor interrupted their glare-off, “We are sticking with that for the official assessment task, right?

After a silent pause, for what I presumed to be the other two nodding he continued, “Just to clarify, the students will be split into teams, half of them will be tasked to infiltrate a foreign building and kidnap their target and the other half will be protecting their client from the opposing team. After the match, they will swap roles, the former protecting the client and vice versa?”

“Yes, but how are the teams decided?”

“In teams of seven, we will distribute students randomly, but if the students match too well, for all of the students are on an equal level, we will change it accordingly.” Professor Kyle answered.

The Head added, “Also, we will start the exams a week earlier than expected.”

In a low tone, the necromancy professor whispered, “Is it because we need to prepare them for THAT?”

“Stop,” Professor Kyle suddenly snapped, “I sense another teacher attempting to stalk us. We will discuss this another time.

Somewhere more… private, I hope.”

I heard the door shut, as their footsteps became quieter the further down the corridor they went.

SKGDSKAKDAUGDK What did I just hear?!?!?!?

***

“AAAAAARRGGGGGGGGHH” 

Elijah screamed in concentration as he tried to manifest his healing ability. 

Above him floated a languid figure sitting crossed-legged. 

It was none other than his number one friend and supporter Kaida. Well, it was not like he had anyone else.

“Go Elijah~~~

You can do ittt.”

Kaida lamely exclaimed, munching on eclairs, which she received from the bribe earlier in the day.

‘Tch. That brat has been doing nothing but eating and yelling at me to try harder for the past two hours. The least she could do was try to be supportive.

I swear I smelled some foul dragon fart in here earlier.’ Elijah grumbled internally.

Little did he know, his bond was thinking to herself, ‘He sounds so goddamn constipated.’

Grinding his teeth, Elijah once again tried to concentrate, to no avail. 

For the past or so, he has been training, realising that the professors took one week away from their studying and training period before the assessment, armed with only a fortnight, the pair decided to awaken Kaida’s powers.

“Hey Kaida”, Elijah suddenly exclaimed. 

“Are you sure you have any real power, much less be able to lend it to me?”

“HAAAAHH??

I beg your pardon???? That’s absurd! Take back your words you *insert insult*. My power is absolutely impressive, you just don’t have a good eye, young man! My magic is capable of swaying even the mightiest of gods!

I remember it. 

It was something like SWOOSH, and then BOOM and I was super super cool and powerful and awesome and I blew up a tree- no- a mountain!”, Kaida continued to ramble about her delusions.

They would be screwed if it wasn’t for the soundproofing feature of the room. 

Elijah didn’t hesitate to retort. 

“Well, then why don’t you try teaching me, super super amazing master of blowing up mountains.”

Soon backhanded retorts turned to a full-scale argument. 

“I’m too good to teach you. Just watch as I demonstrate my mastery in the art of a power so great, not even mountains can resist.”

Kaida, who had obviously used up a large amount of mana levitating while snacking suddenly dropped down onto the floor.

“OOOMMPFF”

Pretending to be natural she dusted her bottom, and stood up, trying to seem confident, she waved her hand mid-air and half babbled and half shrieked a series of incomprehensible “spells”. 

“???”

“I just conjured an invisible sword, that can slice the earth in one second.” Kaida pointed at the ground triumphantly

“Sure, I believe you.”

Elijah’s face said otherwise.

He placed his foot on the ground, where Kaida had indicated the sword was supposedly laying, “What were you saying again?”

“It’s also intangible, only good and powerful people can wield it, this means you are greedy and weak.” She said, not a hint of shame was on her face, clearly so convinced of her own words.

“...”