How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game - Chapter 507: Evaluation For Freshmen and Seniors

Chapter 507: Evaluation For Freshmen and Seniors

It was late in the afternoon.

A faint orange hue stretched across the sky, the sun beginning its slow descent beyond the horizon.

“Did you locate it?”

I folded my arms, nodding to myself before turning to Seo. “Still, what about you? What brings you here? Aren’t you supposed to be training your assigned students right now? You got paired with two of them, right? Are you holding up fine?”

That part was covered.

Act 4 was packed.

“Normally, yes,” I said, watching the glow of Stacia’s flame shimmer like molten gold in the distance. “But not this time. My job with her is done.”

Seo nodded slowly. “Yes… especially with the way she trains. That same stubborn, obsessive intensity… and the look in her eyes. It’s the same as yours when we used to train together.”

“She’s growing faster than I expected,” I admitted, the pride in my voice undeniable. “Her control, her discipline—combined with how I inadvertently sped up her development, she’s already reaching territory that took other key characters much longer to unlock. Honestly, if Flamme keeps slacking off the way she usually does, the title of the strongest freshman might just pass on to Stacia before she even realizes it.”

Only recently had I guided her to open her mana core, but already she was progressing far beyond expectation.

I glanced at her. “She reminds you of me?”

Flames roared to life at its center before swiftly compressing into a controlled pillar, shrinking down and molding into a single figure bathed in reddish-orange glow.

Seo raised an eyebrow as the girl below continued her silent dance with flame, the reddish-orange aura gracefully weaving through the field without so much as burning a leaf out of place.

My eyes drifted toward the open clearing near the training field—our usual spot.

Wings glowing softly, she twirled with theatrical flair before hovering in front of me, hands on her hips like a scolding teacher.

She turned to me, curiosity lightly flickering in her eyes. “So… are you here monitoring your student too? I thought you were the type to teach more hands-on, practically.”

“I did!” she nodded with a puffed chest, then squinted at me suspiciously. “But… Master, why are you suddenly so interested in clown-related coordinates? Were you always into circus men? Should I be worried?”

Because at the rate Stacia was improving, it was only a matter of time.

“That’s part of being a mentor,” I said with a small grin. “Still, good to hear you’re managing.”

FOOOP!

Seo’s expression was unreadable. Not quite admiration, nor envy… something in-between. Something quietly analytical, like a cat watching a flickering flame with mild curiosity.

Stacia’s route.

It made me wonder… if I continued to directly interfered? Would she have set herself in the same path?

I fell quiet for a moment, watching as Stacia gathered the fire around her in a brilliant spiral. The control, the stability—it was almost beautiful.

“You sound oddly proud,” she said.

She didn’t say anything more—just leaned her cheek gently down my side, gazing down with a quiet, knowing look.

…..

Her platinum-blonde hair shimmered under the light, catching the embers like threads of gold, while her crimson eyes mirrored the flicker of her flame—alive, resolute, and burning with newfound clarity.

“You’re getting better at sneaking up on me…”

I shut the door behind me with a soft click and took a deep breath before slumping onto my desk.

I guess with Seo being a social clutz, acting strict might be a challenge.

Stacia’s flames weren’t just fire—they were absolute, fueled by will and soul. If mana was the language of the world, then her fire was poetry written in defiance.

The Clown.

I guess she notices things like this more than I thought….

Seo gave a small shrug, her voice as calm and quiet as the wind. “I’m fine. They’re good kids, very eager to learn. It’s not difficult… though they tend to skip the morning routines I assign if I’m not around to watch them….It’s exhausting having to act strict just to keep them focused.”]

I hadn’t seen many characters in this world—or the game—wield such raw, destructive beauty.

Possibly a one-on-one duel format, or maybe even a full teamfight involving all the first years.

She wasn’t looking at me—her gaze was fixed on Stacia in the distance.

She tilted her head. “Really? Could’ve fooled me with the way you’ve been researching them lately…”

Stacia was ready.

I already had a plan for dealing with the scattered remnants of the demonic cult.

“She’s strong,” Seo said, her gaze fixed firmly on the girl surrounded by flames. “Her mana control and efficiency are far better than most mages I’ve met so far… and with that flame trait of hers, is she the most powerful among the freshmen?”

After finishing my casual monitoring of Stacia’s progress, I returned to my room without delay.

FOOOOSHHH—!

We both sat there in silence for a moment longer, the wind rustling softly between the branches as the sound of Stacia’s flame continued to hum in the distance.

Still… I needed to review what comes next.

A sudden surge of flames erupted in the distance.

“I am,” I replied without hesitation.

After that, things would start getting more complex.

A love that could burn the heavens down. But now…

Now that Stacia was steadily improving, I had no immediate concerns about her meeting the evaluation standards.

I smiled faintly. “Yeah… for now.”

Either way, it wasn’t something I needed to waste my attention on anymore.

Chapter 3 and 4 were largely centered around Lucas’s growth.

That damn bastard.

It was no longer wild, destructive flame. free\NovelFire.c o(m)

No—this was something else entirely.

Her fire responded not just to mana, but to emotion—to obsession, longing, love.

“Yes, she—w-Woah?! Seo?! Where the heck did you come from?”

A chime of cosmic light shimmered in my room as Lavine appeared, floating into view in her miniature fairy form.

I paused, a bit caught off guard. “Huh… is that so?”

[Act 4 – Chapter 2: Placed Chaos in the Dungeons]

He was too unpredictable, too dangerous.

The reckless, almost desperate energy she once wielded was now tempered into something deliberate. Refined.

Her mana, once reckless and overwhelming, now flowed with precision.

Stacia already has her flames but still a lingering worry settles on me.

A walking disaster whose influence wasn’t just magical, but psychological.

The sun was already beginning to dip behind the academy rooftops, casting long, golden shadows across the hallway.

The breeze was calm, carrying with it the fading scent of winter.

She stood alone in the center of the field, her form illuminated by the brilliance of her fire, yet untouched by it.

It coated her like an elegant veil, no longer radiating heat, but presence.

[Act 4 – Chapter 3: The One Beyond]

“No wonder she reminds me of you,” she murmured.

“No. I’m not into clowns.”

“Riley, Is she your student?”

The last time this arc played out, the result was a massacre unless the protagonist was geared and lucky—or cheated with overpowered help.

The academy’s instructors were set to assess our mentorship performance based on the growth and progress of the juniors assigned to us.

Her jet-black hair swayed faintly in the breeze, contrasting sharply with her fair skin and the quiet fire reflecting in her crimson eyes.

Namely, the upcoming story arcs.

I let out a long exhale and leaned back in my chair, eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Her flames literally consumed mana itself.

Seo blinked. “Done?”

I would love to say otherwise, but even with all the preparation, even after helping her unlock her mana core and stabilizing her flame output, the threat waiting for her at the climax of that route was not something she—or anyone—could face head-on without a near-perfect setup.

“I was always good at it, You were just distracted.”

[Act 4 – Chapter 4: The Demon’s Deceit]

I’d take on the role of a mysterious antagonist, guiding the growth of a few side characters and manipulating the dungeon events from the shadows.

“She doesn’t need my guidance anymore.”

Of course, the exact criteria remained unclear—as always.

“She has something rare,” I added. “And the scariest part? She hasn’t even realized how terrifying she can become.”

Stacia.

No, what I needed to prioritize was the Crimson Curtain.

[Act 4 – Chapter 5: Lightbringer]

In the game, her unyielding devotion to Lucas was what turned her flame into something eternal.

But Chapter 2 would come first—an easy one, relatively speaking.

[Stacia Route – Crimson Curtain]

She looked back at Stacia and studied her again, her crimson eyes unreadable for a moment.

“MASTER~ I’M BACK~!”

“…I see.” Seo’s voice was softer now.

In a few days, the month-long evaluation period would end.

A knock of magic sparkled in front of me, breaking my chain of thought.

“…Maybe.”

She was ready. Or, rather… she was almost ready.

I rested my chin on my hand, watching her in silence.

But knowing this academy, it would likely revolve around raw strength, mana proficiency, and combat prowess.

The ground beneath her feet was scorched only where necessary. Trees and grass beyond the edges of her control were left untouched. Her flame was no longer a wildfire—it was a blade. Sharp. Focused.

Seo glanced sideways at me. “For now?”

That was his stage—not mine. Interfering too early might stunt his development, especially now that I could tell his pace was accelerating fast.

“Yeah. My mentor-mentee relationship with Stacia ended recently. We both agreed. I’ve already set her on the right path, reinforced her foundation, and gave her a proper push forward. Now… the rest is up to her.”

I leaned back against the branch, eyes lazily watching Stacia’s flames flicker and mold to her movements like a second skin. “Close,” I replied. “But not exactly. That title still belongs to a certain first-year mage.”

As expected of a genius like her.

She looked like a goddess of the sun, descended upon a battlefield.

She stood quietly just beside my branch, leaning her back against the tree trunk as if she had been there all along. Her presence was so seamless I hadn’t even noticed her climb up.

“From below,” she answered calmly, tilting her head slightly.

Now that I had changed the script… what would fuel her fire from here on out?

Which meant—I could finally redirect my attention toward more important matters.

I sat at the top of the usual tree in the back gardens of Killian Hall—its wide branches had always served as a quiet perch, a place where I could observe without being seen.

If anything, I despise them.