Via stepped into the magic-shrouded barrier, and within her field of vision, a flag bearing the crest of Avalon Academy fluttered gently.
“Team 043 member Via Shirleyford has arrived at the safe zone and completed the assessment. Please proceed to score evaluation!”
The announcement echoed across the safe zone.
Many students who had already finished their assessments emerged from the rest area to watch the commotion, all eyes turning toward the pink-haired girl in the dirty, wrinkled uniform.
“Via finished the assessment?”
“Look at her filthy state. She must’ve snuck her way back.”
“Yeah, and her two teammates are missing. Must’ve abandoned her. Same as last year.”
No one took Via seriously. They were just here for entertainment—eager to see her hand over her monster cores, so the teacher could confirm her as dead last.
Via ignored the crowd and headed toward the evaluation area at the center of the zone.
Anima, the evaluator, stood up, pushing his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose slightly. Seeing Via approach alone, he frowned and asked, “Via, you came back by yourself?”
“Yes.” Via nodded.
“What about the others?”
“Not too sure… I guess we got separated. I couldn’t find Mary or Hank anywhere.”
“Separated? Fine.”
Anima couldn’t even be bothered to poke holes in her excuse.
It was just like last year. The other members of Via’s team had gotten fed up with her and kicked the useless pink-hair out.
In the end, abandoned Via earned the lowest score—and made a very similar excuse.
This time, it was probably the same: Team 043 had dumped their dead weight.
“According to the rules, reaching the safe zone completes the assessment. Now, hand in your monster cores and your score will be calculated. But let me remind you—turning in something doesn’t guarantee a pass. If the number is too low, you’ll still fail.”
Anima spoke lazily, already imagining Via would produce a ridiculous raw Black Iron core that would draw laughter.
“Via, what are you waiting for? Hand over your cores and let everyone have a look!” a student yelled, drawing snickers from the crowd.
“I…”
Via held the pouch containing her collection, shrinking her head slightly, clearly reluctant.
Her guilty demeanor convinced Anima that it was the worst-case scenario—that she didn’t even have a single Black Iron core.
“Hurry up. Don’t waste my time!”
Anima impatiently snatched the pouch and opened it publicly.
“Alright, I’ll announce that Via Shirleyford’s assessment score is—huh?”
He froze. The pen fell from his hand.
So did everyone else’s expressions.
The scene fell silent. It was like Via had silently cast a wide-range Null Magic, rendering everyone speechless.
The pouch wasn’t holding Black Iron cores. Everything inside was Bronze grade at minimum—and several cores had a deep, refined luster unmistakably belonging to Silver grade.
So many Silver-grade cores. A result like this needed no explanation.
“Teacher Anima, why aren’t you announcing my score?” Via picked up the fallen pen and handed it back to him.
“Y-you… Silver grade? Five of them!!” Anima stared, wide-eyed.
Students who were ready to laugh at Via went stiff-faced.
In their entire year, only a few teams had even managed to get multiple Silver-grade cores.
Most students were just scrambling for enough Bronze cores to pass.
“Via… how did you get these?” Anima asked hurriedly.
“Picked them up.”
“Picked… them up?”
“Mm. Yep.”
“Are you joking? Do you think Silver-grade monster cores are just stones lying around for you to casually pick up?”
Anima’s lip twitched.
The way she talked made it sound like finding Silver cores was no harder than stumbling over rocks.
If the assessment was that easy, Avalon’s graduation diploma wouldn’t be worth anything anymore.
“I guess I got lucky. I found them by the roadside. Maybe they were left behind by other teams who used teleport crystals to escape…”
Via was just as soft-spoken as usual.
“The assessment handbook didn’t say we couldn’t pick things up, did it?”
“This…?”
Anima had no rebuttal.
The handbook truly didn’t forbid it. After all, luck was a valid part of strength.
Following protocol, he had no choice but to announce her score.
After tallying everything, he scribbled down the results.
“Team 043 member Via Shirleyford has submitted 8 Bronze-grade monster cores and 5 Silver-grade monster cores. Final score—Excellent!”
The word “Excellent” set the zone off like a bomb.
Chaos erupted.
The dust had settled.
Via felt a small warmth inside. Earning an Excellent really wasn’t easy.
“Via? The same girl who didn’t even pass last year… got Excellent this time?”
“You’re kidding. We almost died and barely scraped by with a pass!”
“Yeah, who believes that she just ‘picked them up’?!”
Confusion. Jealousy. Outrage. The zone was flooded with voices.
Nobody saw this coming.
They’d all been waiting to watch her fail—now they were choking on the result.
“Teacher Anima, do you really believe Via got this score by pure luck?” one of the students demanded. “Something’s definitely going on!”
“This…”
Anima also doubted Via, but he had no proof.
After some thought, he offered a way to silence the crowd for now.
“Enough. The academy will investigate this matter further. If Via is found to have cheated in any way, her score will be revoked!”
…
…
“What’s with all that noise outside?”
Via was resting when she heard the commotion echoing from inside the zone.
Seemed like Team 023’s results had been announced. Barely passed?
She got up and stepped out of the resting room—only to see a group of exhausted, mud-soaked students marching angrily toward her.
At the front was Owen—the adored noble himself. But now, not a trace of his usual elegance remained. His face was dark, almost dripping with rage.
The moment he laid eyes on Via, pure fury blazed in them.
“Via, you… actually dare to show up here? Look what you’ve done!!”