Chapter 249: The Practical Assessment [6]

By the time the second stage’s results were posted, the notice board outside the Magic Department had become almost impossible to approach.

Garen managed to squeeze through the crowd first, although his enthusiasm disappeared once he found his name. Having lost his engagement, he had received a respectable evaluation for offensive spellcasting but poor marks for mana efficiency.

"I don’t understand. My attacks were working."

"Until you ran out of mana," Solveig reminded him.

"Yes, thank you. I remember."

Despite his complaints, Garen continued examining the results. The instructors had included individual remarks beneath each student’s evaluation, explaining where they had performed well and what needed improvement.

Ilya found that more useful than the rankings themselves.

His victory against Cedric Armand had earned him high marks for adaptability and battlefield awareness. However, the supervising instructor had also noted his excessive mana expenditure during the opening exchanges.

Fair enough.

He had spent too much time testing Cedric’s defenses before identifying a reliable opening, and several of those attacks had accomplished little beyond confirming what he already suspected.

Elise had earned an excellent evaluation for her control over lightning magic, while Solveig, Ma?lle, Wolfram, and Lisbet had all performed well enough to qualify for the next stage.

Garen, unfortunately, had not.

The discovery dampened his mood until Ma?lle pointed out that the assessment wouldn’t affect his ordinary academic standing beyond the marks already awarded. He could still participate in the department’s regular practical classes and apply for the advanced facilities during the next evaluation period.

That seemed to cheer him up.

A little.

The more interesting announcement came shortly afterward.

Professor Eklund appeared before the gathered students and confirmed that the final stage would involve cooperative engagements.

Unlike the previous exercises, participants would be organized into small teams and assigned objectives requiring coordination between different magical specialties.

The instructors would determine the groups.

That immediately disappointed several students who had hoped to participate alongside their friends.

Ilya wasn’t particularly bothered. He had already considered the possibility, and learning to cooperate with unfamiliar people was a reasonable part of the assessment.

However, Eklund continued with another announcement.

"Each team will consist of three students. Your assignments have been selected to provide a balance of experience and magical specialties. You will receive your objectives tomorrow morning."

The instructors began posting the groups.

Ilya waited until the crowd thinned before approaching the board.

His name appeared under Team Seven.

The first member was Elise Margaux de Beaumont.

The second was Solenne Vernet.

Ilya stared at the list for a moment.

Well.

That was unexpected.

He had anticipated being assigned unfamiliar students, but apparently the instructors had decided that his existing acquaintances would provide enough variety for the exercise.

Elise was a talented lightning mage with excellent control, while Solenne possessed her own strengths and had demonstrated during the previous examination that she could remain composed under pressure.

There was certainly no shortage of ability between them.

The problem was that Ilya had never actually fought alongside both at the same time.

He could already imagine several difficulties arising from their different approaches.

Fortunately, neither was foolish enough to allow personal feelings to interfere with an examination.

At least, he hoped so.

"Ilya!"

Elise appeared beside him, having apparently discovered the assignment herself.

"We’re in the same group."

"So it seems."

She looked pleased, although her attention soon shifted toward the third name.

"Solenne Vernet..."

"You know her?"

"Of course I know who she is."

That was understandable.

The Vernet family possessed considerable commercial influence throughout the Empire, and Solenne’s enrollment at Holy Trinity had attracted attention from students who followed such matters.

However, Ilya wasn’t sure how much the two girls had actually interacted.

Before he could ask, someone approached from behind.

"Oh, there you are."

Solenne Vernet greeted him with her usual pleasant expression, a folded assignment notice resting between her fingers.

"I was wondering whether you’d seen the groups."

"Just now."

"Then I suppose we’ll be working together."

She glanced toward Elise.

"Lady Beaumont. It’s nice to see you."

"Miss Vernet."

Their greetings were perfectly courteous.

Ilya had no particular reason to expect otherwise, although he noticed that both appeared to be examining the other with some interest.

Perhaps they were simply curious about their respective abilities.

After all, the instructors had given them a team assignment without providing any opportunity to prepare beforehand.

Solenne was the first to raise the practical question.

"Do either of you know what the final exercise involves?"

"Nothing beyond what Professor Eklund announced," Elise answered. "Three-person teams, coordinated objectives, and restrictions depending on our assignments."

"Then we should probably discuss what each of us can do before tomorrow."

Ilya agreed.

There was no reason to wait until the assessment began to discover that their techniques interfered with one another.

They found an empty table in one of the nearby study rooms and began reviewing the rules.

Elise explained her preferred applications of lightning magic, including the offensive spells she had used during the previous examination. She was comfortable attacking from a distance and could maintain enough control to adjust her spells around obstacles.

Ilya was already familiar with much of that.

He had known Elise for years, and her fighting style had developed in ways that complemented her natural talent.

Solenne listened carefully before describing her own experience.

Unlike Elise, she preferred a more measured approach, relying on careful spell selection and positioning rather than overwhelming an opponent immediately.

Ilya remembered that from the Hunting Grounds.

Solenne had been capable of responding to unexpected threats, although their previous encounters hadn’t exactly provided ideal opportunities for cooperation.

There was, after all, the unfortunate matter of him eliminating her during the examination.

Fortunately, she appeared to have moved past it.

Mostly.

When they discussed their previous combat experience, Solenne gave him a look.

"I’d appreciate it if you didn’t punch me this time."

Ilya coughed.

"That wasn’t exactly my finest moment."

Elise looked between them.

"Punch?"

"During the Hunting Grounds," Solenne explained. "He eliminated me."

"With a punch?"

"Apparently, that was the most efficient option."

Ilya decided that defending himself would only make the situation worse.

In fairness, the examination had encouraged students to eliminate one another, and he had been competing for points like everyone else.

Still, he could understand why Solenne remembered the encounter.

Elise appeared to find the explanation more surprising than amusing.

"You could’ve used a spell."

"I was in a hurry."

"Of course you were."

Thankfully, the conversation soon returned to their preparations.

The three began discussing how their abilities might complement one another, particularly if the assessment required them to protect an objective while advancing through hostile territory.

Elise could provide strong offensive pressure, while Solenne’s more cautious approach would help them avoid committing too many resources before understanding the situation.

Ilya, meanwhile, could take advantage of his mobility to scout ahead, disrupt enemy positions, or respond quickly when their formation came under attack.

However, he suggested that they avoid assigning permanent roles until they received the actual objective.

A defensive exercise might require an entirely different arrangement from an offensive one, and preparing too narrowly could leave them vulnerable.

Both girls agreed.

After reviewing the rules for another half hour, they decided to meet before the assessment began.

Elise volunteered to obtain copies of the department’s previous cooperative examination guidelines, while Solenne offered to review the scoring criteria and identify any restrictions that might affect their proposed strategies.

Ilya agreed to examine the available information concerning the training arenas.

It was a simple division of responsibilities, but enough to make their preparations useful.

By the time they finished, the afternoon had begun giving way to evening.

Solenne excused herself first, mentioning that she had another appointment before returning to her residence.

Elise remained behind to gather her belongings.

"Well, this should be interesting," she remarked.

"I think we’ll manage."

"You’re awfully confident."

"You’re both capable. I’d be more concerned if the instructors had assigned me two people who couldn’t work together."

Elise seemed pleased by the answer.

For a while, they continued walking through the department building, discussing the assessment and their plans for the following morning.

Elise had always enjoyed these quieter moments with Ilya. They reminded her of the years before their friendship had become complicated, when spending time together had required neither an invitation nor an excuse.

Back then, she could simply approach him whenever she wanted. They had grown up together, after all, and she had never imagined there would come a time when even an ordinary conversation between them would feel like something precious.

Unfortunately, she had learned just how easily those things could disappear.

She glanced at Ilya, wondering whether he realized how much their relationship had changed since his transfer to the Magic Department. He seemed perfectly comfortable walking beside her, discussing tomorrow’s assessment as though nothing had ever happened between them.

In a way, she was grateful for that.

Still, it was rather frustrating.

He could recognize an opening in an opponent’s defenses from across an arena, yet sometimes seemed completely oblivious to what was happening right beside him. And now there was an Imperial Princess openly calling him her fiancé, along with Solenne Vernet, who apparently had no difficulty spending time with him either.

Elise wasn’t particularly proud of how much those things bothered her.

She had already wasted enough time worrying about appearances and what other people might think. If she wanted to remain an important part of Ilya’s life, she would have to make that effort herself.

For now, though, she was simply happy that they could walk together like this again.

Ilya had already begun considering several possible arrangements, although he intended to wait until they received their objective before making any final decisions.

The academy’s cooperative exercises were meant to test adaptability.

He doubted the instructors would reward students who arrived with an elaborate plan and refused to change it when circumstances demanded otherwise.

As they approached the courtyard, Elise mentioned that she would bring the reference materials to their meeting.

Ilya thanked her.

They separated near the main staircase, leaving him to return home and finish reviewing his notes.

Tomorrow’s assessment would be his first opportunity to fight alongside Elise and Solenne as a proper team.

He was curious to see how well their abilities would work together, especially since the two girls had very different approaches to magic.

With a little preparation, they might even produce something interesting.

For now, though, he had enough work waiting at home without inventing additional problems for himself.