Growing without attending the academy is incredibly challenging.
It’s not impossible, but unless you’re ready to face some serious hardships, attending the academy is much safer and more efficient.
As such, in this world, the difference between those who have received academy training and those who haven’t is greater than one might expect.
Especially in the early stages of growth, the gap is even more pronounced; it’s as if a top-ranked freshman would be thoroughly outclassed by a bottom-ranked second-year student.
And standing before me now was Grain, a figure specialized in scouting, as often mentioned, but despite that, she had enough strength to hold her place among the top of the second-year ranks.
My abilities, which only allowed me to dominate during the early stages of the first year, were meaningless numbers in comparison to hers.
But was winning important right now?
No, not really. Here, I just needed to show them that I wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
I wasn’t sure how I’d handle the consequences of this accumulating karma in the future, but that was a problem for later.
“You seem to have the leisure for daydreaming?”
Before I knew it, Grain had lunged forward, reaching out to grab my clothes.
And at that moment, I realized it—she had grown beyond what I knew of her from the original story.
As a scout-type, her primary weapon was a bow, and for archery, the necessary stats were strength and magic, not agility.
Strength was needed to draw the bowstring, making it taut and durable.
Magic added magical effects to simple arrows, boosting firepower.
In this world, archers were essentially stronger mages—unless you were some rare elf who charged into battle with a bow, high agility was not a priority.
But with Grain, that didn’t seem to be the case…
‘She’s insanely fast!’
For some reason, her speed was beyond what I had imagined.
I couldn’t check her stats with my eyes, but it was definitely higher than mine.
‘Damn it, that’s supposed to be my highest stat.’
For a non-agility-focused character to be this quick from the start of the second year—it seemed too much, no matter how rapid her growth.
This only confirmed the theory that this world was set to a higher difficulty level than the original, making me even more anxious.
But for now, that didn’t matter; I wasn’t struggling to the point of defeat, so I decided to stay focused.
I stepped back, dodging her outstretched hand.
She immediately followed, trying to grab me again, but this time, I darted forward to evade her.
I passed right through Grain’s body.
“Huh?”
It was a dodge maneuver I’d first experienced during my fight with Lillith—passing through someone’s body.
Everyone, except for Seria and Alkine who had seen my trial process, began to doubt their eyes.
However, there was no time to dwell on questions in the middle of a sparring match; Grain turned back around and launched another attack.
This time, instead of grabbing me, she tried to strike directly, indicating she’d sensed something odd.
It didn’t matter what it was—I dodged all her attacks.
Once. Twice… Ten times.
After a total of ten evasions, Grain’s onslaught finally ceased.
Is it over? As I glanced at her, I noticed her face filled with confusion—she couldn’t understand my dodging moves at all.
If even she couldn’t grasp it, then this must be something beyond normal abilities.
So, the only trait I have is my ‘No Growth’ one? This is ridiculous—how is that even considered a trait?
At that moment, Grain seemed to notice my concentration slip, seizing the opening and rushing toward me again.
Oh, this stance is perfect for a parry.
Barehanded techniques allow for barehanded parries. Unlike the shield parry, which deflects, this one is more like grabbing and throwing, but it worked nonetheless.
Almost by instinct, I caught her incoming fist, spun around, and threw her, utilizing centrifugal force.
Thanks to the system’s correction, there was no resistance; it worked flawlessly.
Whoosh!
I felt no impact or weight that should have transferred to me, leaving only the strange sensation of having simply completed the throw.
Grain, having been parried, flew through the air and crashed into the ground.
Did I throw her too hard? It looked like she landed face-first.
But, since she’s at a level equivalent to a student council member, she shouldn’t be injured too badly, so I don’t need to worry.
If I say I’m joining the student council after this, no one should be able to complain, right?
Joining the council has its benefits, so even if my secret is exposed and I’m kicked out later, it’s better to get in for now.
But why isn’t Grain getting up? She’s still lying there. The parry shouldn’t have caused much damage.
“Uh… Senior Grain? Are you okay?”
I asked cautiously, and only then did she start to move.
She didn’t fully stand up but just sat up from lying on the ground.
It was then that I realized something was off about the situation.
Grain has a small frame, and here I was, someone with a much larger build, having thrown her… This made me look like a complete jerk.
“Uh… Senior, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go this far.”
I apologized immediately, but Grain remained silent to the end, even refusing my help when I offered to assist her up.
In the silence that filled the space, Alkine stepped forward to wrap up the situation.
“Rudion, Seria. I apologize for saying this after calling you here, but… could you both leave now?”
It was a gentle dismissal. Well, we’d already seen what we needed to, so it was about time for us to leave anyway.
“After the entrance ceremony tomorrow, I’ll meet with you directly.”
The council president had scheduled another meeting with me, but since everything seemed to be over for now, it was fine to leave.
Seria and I exchanged brief farewells with everyone and made our exit.
Finally, the turbulent day had come to an end.
‘When I get back, I’ll need to properly look into a few things.’
The entrance exams had started right after my possession, leaving me no time to think.
I was lucky to have learned a few things during the exam, but I felt that wasn’t everything.
Now, it was time to uncover the rest.
‘The president has a keen eye for potential, so she must have seen something in this audacious guy.’
That’s what Grain thought initially.
Even though the president personally recruited him, he was still a rookie who hadn’t received any academy training yet.
At best, she expected his skills to be on par with Seria’s or maybe slightly better.
Acting hastily on that judgment was her biggest mistake.
‘…Huh?’
Before she knew it, she was lying on the ground, looking up at this audacious junior.
What she had just experienced was beyond her comprehension. She’d even activated her trait, despite its side effects, to try and understand, but somehow she couldn’t grasp anything.
Meanwhile, he acted as if it was nothing, as if it was all completely normal.
It was then that Grain realized that Rudion hadn’t been recruited for his potential.
‘At this point, there’s no reason for me to oppose him.’
Now that she’d experienced firsthand what the president had mentioned, she no longer had any grounds to object to him joining the council.
That was fine, anyway; her resistance was more like a token objection.
Even if Rudion had failed to prove his skills against her, she wouldn’t have seriously opposed his joining the council.
The president must have known that and created this situation intentionally.
But regardless of her intentions, the outcome was a complete embarrassment.
This arrogant junior… No, she couldn’t even call him arrogant anymore. Losing so thoroughly and then calling him arrogant would only make her look foolish.
It was her fault for completely overlooking and underestimating his skills.
She felt sorry only for the two people who had come along because of her. When she glanced back at them, they also seemed shocked, as if they hadn’t expected her to lose.
“This makes no sense!”
“President, please call them back. If we let them go like this, how much weaker do you think we’ll look?”
The shock seemed to have clouded their judgment. They had witnessed everything with their own eyes; were they even thinking of a plan? Probably not.
They were acting out of concern for her, so she couldn’t blame them, but still…
Regardless, she didn’t believe the outcome would be any different, even if they stepped in.
Knowing this, she stood up and stopped them.
“Kain, Golid. That’s enough. Stop.”
“But…”
“You both saw it, didn’t you? This isn’t something we can define with the usual concept of a ‘freshman.’ It’s completely beyond that.”
That’s why even her own trait didn’t overload.
From the beginning, it wasn’t something that could be analyzed.
“We’ll head back first, President. Please disregard the opinions we submitted.”
“Alright, understood. Go on now.”
They left hastily, almost as if fleeing.
Leading Kain and Golid, Grain found a quiet café.
“Are you okay? With that kind of power, it might be tough for you, too.”
No, it wasn’t. That thing couldn’t even register with my trait. I tried activating my ability, planning to take a pill today if needed… but it didn’t pick up anything.
“…Is that even possible?”
“That’s why I said it’s beyond normal reasoning. Trying to understand it would just give you a headache.”
Ironically, that’s why my head doesn’t hurt. Haha.
There was such a mix of emotions in her dry laugh that Kain and Golid couldn’t say anything in response.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m fine, really. There’s no point in labeling someone like that as a freshman or whatever.”
“Grain.”
“Kain. Let go. I’m going to get mad.”
“If you want to get mad, go ahead. But first, be honest.”
She paused and revisited her feelings.
She felt anger, a bit of bitterness, and a confusing mix of many fleeting emotions.
But the strongest feeling among them was…
“I’m so damn embarrassed. Damn it.”
It was shame. That’s why she ignored Rudion when he asked if she was alright.
If the president had known everything, he should’ve stopped me when I insisted on stepping up. Why did he just let me?
No, wait. The president did try to stop me. I was the one who insisted.
“How will Seria see me now… I just wanted to make a good impression on a junior….”
“Sigh… Yeah, I figured your pride wouldn’t matter as much to you.”
Hearing her words, Kain, as if he anticipated it, placed a note in Grain’s hand.
“What’s this?”
“That guy came to me and left it.”
A note from that junior? I thought he’d just left, but he’d gone so far as to write a note before leaving?
Maybe he had something to say as a junior after all.
What on earth could he have wanted to say, enough to write a note?
Curiosity rising, she opened it… only to find something completely unexpected.
“Got owned by a freshman, huh, second-year?”
This… this…
“This cheeky bastard! Who the hell does he think he is?!”
The title “junior” she’d barely settled on was instantly downgraded back to “cheeky junior.”
Turning her shame into anger, he had actually thought it through, that little junior.
In Kain and Golid’s minds, Rudion’s image shifted slightly for the better. He had just written it as a playful jab, but… meaning is in the interpretation.