In the top-floor conference room of the Sage Academy's main building.
As the third round of exams was taking place today, the teachers of the Sage Academy once again began their meeting, just as before.
Except for the central interconnected magic screen, the surrounding walls were primarily simple white, complementing the smooth marble floor.
Here, they were watching the first exam in real-time, with Lanqi and Huberrian as examinees and Felat as the examiner.
"Their luck..."
"These two examinees, they're not planning to confront Felat, are they?"
The teachers in the conference room were either silent or occasionally making brief comments.
In the [Infinite Phantom Canyon] exam,
If they couldn't escape for 30 minutes, the only option was to directly face the examiner.
Sometimes, confident and powerful students would choose to intercept the examiner directly.
However,
A full team of Third Order examinees might still have hope to directly hold off an examiner limited to Fourth Order for a while.
But all the teachers sitting in the conference room understood.
The examiner for this exam—Felat Shavinson—was inherently very strong.
He was a cautious field mage who never showed mercy.
Even without using magic cards, Felat mastered many highly destructive spells, capable of easily defeating same-rank officers from the kingdom's regular army.
Taking a step back, even without considering rank, Felat's years of rich combat experience alone were enough to crush two new students.
Moreover, he could now use Fifth Order battle power.
The two sides weren't even in the same league.
"..."
Vice Principal Roen covered his chin, silently watching the projection on the magic screen in the center of the conference room.
He knew that this entrance exam involved the interests of some high-level figures in the kingdom.
There was also an invisible force influencing this exam, preventing Huberrian from enrolling.
After those people legitimately used Lanqi to raise the difficulty, the only unstable factor for them was the "extraordinary wisdom" also coming from Lanqi.
But any space for employing tricks was blocked by the plains terrain.
Roen couldn't say whether this was coincidental or inevitable.
He could only say that these two new students had been quite unlucky since they first met each other.
The same was true for the Shadow World.
People not favored by luck find it difficult to survive no matter what abilities they have.
...
On the endless grassland.
Dewdrops hung on the tips of the grass, crystal clear, like tiny gems.
With a gust of wind seeming to come from high above, the dewdrops scattered like shattered transparent jewels.
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The Fifth Order examiner could even use Fifth Order wind magic to fly.
Lanqi and Huberrian could already see a dot-like shadow in the distant sky, approaching them ever closer.
"Do you have a strategy?" Huberrian asked.
Lanqi's stable state of mind puzzled her.
But she felt that in this situation, no matter what wisdom Lanqi had, there was no way to use it.
"No, what strategy could there be on a plain?" Lanqi shook his head. The examiner had thrown away all pretense of fairness, what could he do?
Either a great race across the plains or a head-on confrontation.
"Do you know any information about the examiner?" Lanqi asked the duke's daughter beside him.
He had heard Teresa, who received them at the exam site, mention the name "Felat Shavinson" for the examiner, and Huberrian seemed to recognize it.
After all, she was from the royal capital and familiar with the complicated noble lineages and important figures there.
Huberrian nodded.
"Viscount Felat Shavinson, a cowardly bully, a despicable and cautious villain, also a lackey of the faction opposing the Alansar family. Since my father's disappearance, they've been relentlessly hounding me..."
Huberrian gritted her teeth as she spoke about what she knew of Felat, seemingly having an unending grudge against him,
"Although he himself masters many spells, he relies more on his strong magical power, using magic card combinations for combat..."
"I can see he's a bit of a sore loser," Lanqi nodded, murmuring as he gazed at the examiner Felat rapidly flying towards them.
In the brief time they were talking,
Felat had visibly come much closer to their location.
A mage using wind magic to fly was far faster than running.
"Can you engage with him for a short time while protecting yourself?" Lanqi asked, as if wanting to confirm one last thing.
Although self-preservation magic cards were rare, Huberrian, being a duke's daughter, was likely to have some.
"...Self-protection is no problem, but I'm not sure how long I can hold out."
Huberrian hesitated slightly but admitted to Lanqi.
Lanqi: "Then trust me."
Huberrian: "Our compatibility is very poor, your healing magic won't be of much use to me."
Lanqi: "Don't worry, after today, you'll find I'm the best support you've ever seen, regardless of compatibility."
Like the final moments of preparation before the real exam begins,
Their casual conversation lasted only a few seconds.
Felat had already stopped in mid-air far above the two.
He transitioned from streaking across the sky like a meteor to suddenly hovering, not coming any closer.
Because this distance was already sufficient for him to unleash high-power spells to obliterate the two.
Examiner Felat, suspended in mid-air, looked down.
He remained silent for a moment.
Seemingly observing the state of the two.
It was much easier than he had imagined.
"You, you can withdraw from the exam now," Felat said, slightly raising his hand and pointing at Lanqi behind Huberrian.
His tone was low, as if issuing an indisputable command.
However, the next second,
He only saw,
Huberrian's eyes full of vigilance, standing even more resolutely in front of Lanqi like a vanguard.
From this angle, it would be harder for him to instantly kill Lanqi.
"Why should I withdraw from the exam?" Lanqi asked, looking up in confusion.
"..."
Felat lightly tapped his finger in the air, feeling that Lanqi, this irrelevant person, was very troublesome.
He had wanted to convey some intentions from the higher-ups to Huberrian alone.
But it seemed that before that, there was still a troublesome little black mouse.
"Did she promise you money, status, or something else?" Felat asked condescendingly, his words carrying a hint of mockery.
In his view, any reward this precarious duke's daughter could offer was nothing but an empty promise.
Unless,
This foolish boy was enticed by the duke's daughter's beauty and willing to help her.
But when he truly knew what this duke's daughter really was, he would probably be scared out of his wits.
"Hmph," Lanqi chuckled upon hearing this, as if he had heard a ridiculous question.
He took a deep breath, his gaze becoming a bit more stern as he stared at Felat and asked:
"According to the exam rules, she is my teammate. Rule 13 clearly states that I need to work together with my teammate. As an examiner, didn't you even read the rules before coming?"
This tone, like a leader coming to inspect and criticizing a subordinate,
Made Felat, suspended in the air, freeze for a moment.