Saria was overwhelmed.
Even though the first stage of the exam had ended, she couldn’t regain her composure.
Meanwhile, Si-woo calmly checked his condition, looking as though he hadn’t just wiped out an entire goblin settlement.
It was hard to believe that the serene figure beside her was the same person who had cut down goblins with a single strike.
It seemed impossible that he had performed the nerve-enhancing technique, a feat that defied all logic.
Saria stared blankly at him, unable even to form a question.
“Rest time is one minute, right?” Si-woo’s voice snapped her back to reality.
“Get a grip. You’re still in the middle of the entrance exam!”
Finally regaining her senses, the first thing Saria did was double-check her perception—particularly her mana detection.
For the first time, she doubted the ability she had always trusted.
After all, strengthening the nervous system wasn’t something she believed was possible.
She even entertained the wild notion that perhaps her senses had deceived her.
“Hah…”
But that thought didn’t last long.
Even Academy students, if limited to melee abilities alone, would need at least ten minutes to wipe out a goblin settlement.
No matter how much she tried to deny her senses, the facts stared her in the face.
The idea that Si-woo, an Academy candidate with a charm-type engraving, could annihilate a goblin settlement in one minute with just ordinary enhancement was nonsensical.
“It’d be more realistic if he had awakened a combat-type engraving.”
The heat in her head slowly began to cool as rationality returned.
And with it, memories of how she had acted earlier—arrogantly dismissing Si-woo’s abilities—came rushing back.
“Ugh!!”
How foolish must she have looked?
As soon as she made assumptions about his engraving, she had jumped to the conclusion that he was weak without even assessing his actual abilities.
She had even smugly suggested she would carry him through the exam.
The weight of her embarrassment and shame hit her like a tidal wave.
“I want to die.”
A deep sigh escaped from the pit of her stomach.
What kind of future guild leader fails to properly evaluate their temporary partner’s abilities?
The realization filled Saria with a crushing sense of self-loathing.
Saria, lost in self-loathing, was approached by Si-woo.
There was no need to lecture someone in her state. Si-woo knew she was already tearing herself apart with harsh words in her mind.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” he said casually.
“What about you, Saria? What’s your plan?”
It was a simple question, but with a subtle edge of provocation.
Was she going to sit back and play the role of a competent mage and finish the entrance exam in the rear guard?
Though the question lightly taunted her, Saria understood the encouragement it carried.
After a moment’s hesitation, she sighed and rubbed her face several times.
Then, she swept her long blue hair out of her eyes, pushing it back over her head.
The dullness that had clouded her crimson eyes disappeared, replaced by a fiery intensity.
Si-woo smiled as he met her gaze, which now seemed almost wild.
“If she was this easily broken, she wouldn’t have the qualities of a Hunter.”
“No, I’m not settling for that,” Saria declared.
Si-woo drew his sword from its sheath, its polished blade catching the dim light.
Saria followed suit, raising her staff in sync with him.
“Well, I have my own score to settle. Think you could buy me about a minute?”
“With you as my partner, a minute might not even be enough for my own score.”
“Then how about we compromise? We both give it our all.”
“That sounds fair.”
Si-woo extended his hand toward Saria.
After a brief hesitation, she grasped it, giving his cheek a playful slap as she did.
Though they hadn’t yet stepped into the gate, mana began to flow naturally between them.
Saria directed hers toward her heart, drawing in energy and focusing it.
Not to be outdone, Si-woo raised his concentration as well, compressing his mana within himself.
Rather than harmonizing, their preparations felt like a competition. They weren’t just partners—they were rivals, pushing each other to their limits.
<Stage 2 begins.>
“Shall we?” Si-woo asked.
“Yes, let’s do this,” Saria replied.
They saw each other as partners and, at the same time, as adversaries to overcome.
“I’m not losing here.”
“I’m definitely going to win.”
The moment they arrived at the Slime Plains, the atmosphere shifted.
Before their feet even touched the ground, Si-woo dashed through the air while Saria’s magic tore apart the land inhabited by the slimes.
Silence in the Exam Hall
The exam hall, which had been bustling just moments ago, fell into complete silence.
Not just the candidates but even the examiners stared in disbelief at the scenes unfolding on the monitors.
“Can you even see what’s happening?” one candidate asked.
“Not… really,” another replied.
For the candidates, the visible details boiled down to only two key moments:
When Saria’s magic activated.
When Si-woo’s blade sliced through a slime’s core.
To most candidates, it was simply awe-inspiring.
They vaguely understood that the duo was incredible, but they couldn’t grasp the finer details of what was happening.
For a select few candidates with sharper senses and the examiners, whose perceptions were leagues beyond, it was a different story.
They recognized the duo’s abilities with frightening clarity.
“Their skills are astonishing… no, terrifying,” one examiner murmured.
“At their level, they’re easily at C-rank Hunter caliber or above,” another remarked.
Saria’s level of performance was easier to comprehend.
She had awakened an SS-rank engraving a year ago, had received unwavering support from Arkineth—one of the Big Three guilds—and had actual combat experience fighting monsters in real gates.
Her ability to outperform other candidates was expected.
After all, her goal in joining the Academy wasn’t to prove herself but to secure the C-rank Hunter license awarded to graduates.
Saria’s talent, engraving, and Arkineth’s resources explained her exceptional performance.
Slash!
But Si-woo was another story entirely.
“Who is that guy?”
In an industry where male Hunters were rare, Si-woo’s abilities stood out like a beacon.
Not only was Si-woo a close-combat Hunter wielding a sword—a rarity in itself—but according to the Awakening Association, his engraving, Symbol of Allure, was purely a charm ability.
It was completely unrelated to combat.
On top of that, he didn’t even have the most basic experience, such as clearing an F-rank gate.
Based on this, the examiners had confidently predicted Si-woo’s swift elimination.
Slash!
They had never anticipated this.
“Is that… a troll?”
“Yes, the 5th stage,” an assistant confirmed, prompting the examiner to groan.
The 5th stage.
Aside from two other teams, no one had even reached this stage, let alone cleared it.
But Si-woo seemed oblivious to how extraordinary this was.
With the same focus and teleportation-like speed he’d demonstrated in the goblin settlement, he dashed forward and swung his sword.
“Rooarrrr!!!”
The troll’s deafening roar reverberated through the exam hall, causing many candidates watching the monitor to freeze in fear.
The troll wasn’t just a monster—it was a creature that incited primal terror.
Every swing of its massive fist created a sonic boom, followed by a shockwave that distorted the air.
The sound and lingering afterimages triggered an instinctive sense of dread in those watching.
Even seasoned Hunters would hesitate to face that monster.
Its sheer presence alone was enough to crush the will to fight.
“Has he faced trolls before?” one examiner muttered, baffled.
For those unaware of Si-woo’s unique enhancement technique, that seemed like the only plausible explanation.
Dodging the troll’s sonic boom attacks with precision, Si-woo unleashed a relentless flurry of strikes.
Rather than relying on one decisive blow, he exploited the troll’s known weakness: its regeneration ability, which consumed enormous energy.
By continuously dealing smaller injuries, Si-woo was forcing the troll to burn through its reserves faster.
This method didn’t require overwhelming power—just technical skill and patience.
To the uninformed, it made Si-woo appear like a Hunter honed through sheer effort and experience, elevating him further in their eyes.
“How far do you think they can go at this pace?”
“With Saria’s skills, they might make it to the 6th or 7th stage,” one of the newly appointed Academy instructors remarked confidently.
Seeking agreement, the newer instructors turned toward the veteran instructors, who had been with the Academy for over a decade.
But the older instructors, who had witnessed Si-woo’s movements, couldn’t agree with the optimistic predictions.
“He’s reacting after seeing the attacks.”
Si-woo’s movements weren’t something any ordinary human could achieve.
He wasn’t simply avoiding the troll’s attacks instinctively; he was reading the troll’s actions, judging the direction of its strikes, and then dodging with calculated precision.
The veteran instructors noticed this immediately, and their attention shifted to a single figure—the person responsible for teaching Si-woo that extraordinary technique.
The creator of the enhancement method Si-woo was using.
Jung Se-ah.
A woman with striking purple hair, seated casually, her gaze glued to the monitor displaying Si-woo’s performance.
“When the famously successful S-rank Hunter said she suddenly wanted to become an instructor…”
“There was a reason after all.”
Se-ah, still focused on the monitor, answered their comments in a casual tone.
“I just didn’t want to be apart from my disciple for even a second.”
“…Hah.”
Her response drew sighs of exasperation, but the instructors’ eyes gleamed with curiosity.
After all, Si-woo wasn’t just any student—he was the personal disciple of one of Korea’s rare, pure swordsmasters.
Everyone was eager to see just how far this young man, chosen by such a figure, could go.
However, not everyone shared the excitement.
Two instructors exchanged uncomfortable glances, fully aware that the emotions Se-ah directed toward Si-woo weren’t limited to mere admiration for her disciple.
Meanwhile, Se-ah ignored the envious and frustrated stares cast her way.
“Oh my~♥ He’s grown up so well,” she murmured, her gaze full of affectionate pride as she watched her disciple dominate.
It was clear that she couldn’t care less about petty jealousy or judgment from others.
Her full focus was on Si-woo, marveling at his growth and triumphs with pure, undivided attention.