Chapter 43: Result

Although Raven met three more goblins along the way, they didn't even pose a threat to him.

Thanks to his increased strength and speed, he killed them with a single slash.

He also met a few classmates while walking toward the woods' outer region.

"Raven, how did you manage to stay alive all alone?" a young girl shouted from the crowd, causing him to furrow.

The one who called him was a 15-year-old blonde-haired young girl. She was around 140cm tall, had olive skin and brown eyes, and wore black leather armor over her plain grey shirt. She also held a spear in her left hand and a bag in her other hand.

Upon seeing her face, Raven couldn't help but reveal a forced smile.

She was his crush during school, but her personality and attitude kept him away.

'Mary Whitbard!' She wasn't Baron's daughter but from Whitbard Household's branch family.

[Yeah, your so-called crush...] Zera's words appeared calm, but he felt like a somewhat annoyed tone.

Shaking his head, he moved closer to the group and greeted all other classmates before bowing towards the young girl.

"Greetings, My Lady. I hope you had an easier time in the woods."

"It's way easier than I had expected. How about you? Did you at least kill a goblin?" Mary asked. Her tone contained a hint of mockery and ridicule, causing her friends to giggle.

"Y-Yeah," Raven scratched his head and nodded.

Noticing his awkwardness, she lost interest in his achievement and shook her head.

"Let's go." Saying so, she took the lead and walked towards the outer region of the woods.

Before long, the group walked out of the Mirage Woodlands and saw a well-fortified town a few kilometers away.

"It seems everyone has made it out this time as well. Come and join the line," a calm voice said from the left side.

Slowly, Raven turned towards the left and saw many familiar faces standing a few hundred meters away.

Teacher Elizabeth nodded at them and gestured for them to join the other students.

"Yes, Teacher." Raven and others replied in unison and joined the group.

At that moment, she sat beside a wooden bench and seemed to be in the middle of checking the test result. Raven also saw a few police officers, two silver-armored knights, and three men in formal black dresses standing there.

In the meantime, Elizabeth called out the students' names individually and checked their loots before announcing the result.

"Addison. Come forward." She said loudly.

"Yes, ma'am." A tall boy with a lean physique stepped out of the line he was standing, arrived before the blonde-haired woman, and gave her a large leather pouch.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth took the pouch, poured down the content inside on the nearby wooden table,

"9 Goblins and 4 Kobolds. 17 points." She gave the empty pouch back to Addison and called out another name.

Most students hunted more than ten goblins and a few kobolds, while only a few showed outstanding results.

"Mary Whitbard," Elizabeth shouted.

As those words came out, the whole batch of students went silent.

Meanwhile, Mary held the spear in her left hand and walked towards the front.

Once she arrived closer to the table, she lifted the bag, opened it, and took out a leather pouch from it.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Then, she untied the knot, flipped the pouch, and put down the materials.

"Oh? As expected of a member of Whitbard Household, you have hunted more than enough to reach the top score." Elizabeth made a surprising comment and continued while counting down the ears.

"Hmm, 25 Goblins, 15 Kobolds, 4 Wolves. You earned a total of 67 points. Not bad at all!" Her result caused gasps and whispers among the group of kids.

After Mary, a few more names were called out. Although many scored above 30 points, none managed to cross 50.

"Raven. Come forth." Finally, Elizabeth called out his name and looked at him.

A flash of surprise appeared on her face briefly before returning to normal.

Like the other classmates, Raven also moved forward, arrived before Teacher Elizabeth, and soon took the small bag from his waist.

"Here, Ma'am." He gave it to her.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth caught the bag, removed the knot that tied it firmly, and opened it.

Then, she flipped the bag and let the contents pour down.

After that, she counted the results and widened her eyes.

"That's surprising. There are twenty-three Goblins' ears, Seventeen Kobolds' ears, and Five Wolves' ears. Wow, you've scored a total of 72 points!"

She knew Raven was a genius kid when it came to studies but always felt disappointed at his practical exams.

But the current result was completely out of her expectations.

'Did he hide his strength?' Although she couldn't tell how strong he was, she vaguely sensed his strength had improved.

On the other hand, most of the students started to murmur among themselves and raise their voices.

"Impossible!" Mary was the first to shout in shock.

"Teacher, he must have cheated! Please verify if someone helped him during the exam," Dennis also shouted.

"Yes, Teacher. We all know he is the weakest of the bunch and can't even create a mana circle." Another student also raised his voice and protested.

Almost everyone in the class raised their voice within a minute and refused to acknowledge his result.

Elizabeth looked coldly at the group of students and took a deep breath.

"SILENCE!!!!!" A loud voice came from her mouth, causing the surrounding air to vibrate.

The power behind the voice was so loud that it caused all the students to stagger.

More than one-third of the students fell pathetically and felt dizzy.

Even Raven felt a sharp headache from the voice and barely managed to stand steadily.

A strange silence appeared in the area.

Although no one understood what happened, they all realized that their Etiquette teacher was not a normal mortal but a powerful Walker herself.

Satisfied with the silence, she looked at Raven and spoke

"Congratulations, Raven. I think you will be the winner of this test."

Saying so, Elizabeth returned the empty leather bag to him.

As he walked back, many of his classmates showed hostility openly, and some even clenched their fists.

Even Mary was angered by the result and glared at him fiercely. The same goes for Dennis and all other friends. Only Dante, Chris, and Daisy looked surprised and gave him thumbs-ups.

As he returned to his position, Elizabeth started to call out the next name.

The test result checking continued for over 30 minutes and ended around 6.45 A.M.

"Now, let's announce the final results by ranking."

"First position goes to Raven for scoring 72 points!"

"Second position goes to Mary Whitbard for scoring 67 points!"

"Third position goes to Dennis for scoring 62 points!"

"Fourth position goes to Chris for scoring 53 points!"

"Fifth position..."

…

"Twelfth position goes to Dante, Biley, and Sam for scoring 40 points!"

Teacher Elizabeth continued to announce results for a while and then added.

"Those who scored above 25 points will be considered as pass and are eligible to be officially promoted to 'Apprentice Walkers.' Each of you will be given a complete Beginner Knight Technique from the school and will go through an affinity check-up. Those who score below 25 will be demoted to Class 4 and have to train harder to meet the requirement before the next year's test. Students who fail this exam for three consecutive years will be expelled from the Knight Training School."

She deliberated for a moment and then continued again.

"It's time to give some reward for the top three students. Dennis, come forward."

As soon as she spoke, a silver-haired boy stepped forward from the group of students and walked closer to Elizabeth. He was around 170 cm tall, had similar silver eyes, a round face, and a well-balanced muscular body.

Elizabeth touched the silver ring in her left hand and took a long sword out of thin air.

"This sword is an artifact created by Rune Master Abel and enchanted with a Rank-1 wizard spell called 'Shock.' Although the material used to make this weapon is only common iron, it is still a unique item. This is a gift present by Lord Baron for the third place."

As soon as Elizabeth finished her words, the group of kids gasped and mumbled. For commoners, this single weapon was more than enough to change their lifestyle completely. With this weapon, even an Apprentice Walker could overpower an Official Knight and win in a one-on-one fight.

Meanwhile, Dennis stared at the long sword for a moment and showed a confused look.

"Teacher, I chose my pathway as an Assassin. Can you replace it with a dagger?"

Elizabeth showed an amusing smile and shook her head.

"Lord Baron himself decides this gift. I can't do anything about it."

With no other choice, Dennis took the long sword and returned to the line.

"Next is Mary Whitbard. Please come forward." Elizabeth spoke again.

Soon, a blonde-haired young girl stepped forward from the group of students and moved towards Elizabeth.

On the other hand, Elizabeth took a leather-covered book from her spatial ring and spoke.

"This is a 'Common' Rank Spirit Technique called 'Boundless Sense.' Although Lord Baron told me to give you this technique only if you get first place, I'll make an exception." Her words caused a huge commotion not only among the students but even among the police officers.