Autrys took a deep breath and, under the gaze of everyone in Class A, stepped out from the crowd toward the stone tablet of the Book of Summoning.
To be honest, Autrys was a little nervous at that moment—and that nervousness came precisely from the student who had just completed her Summoning Test: Alice Tutt.
Alice was strong. Though Autrys had not dueled her during the past month since enrollment, just watching her duels against other students in Class A was enough for him to understand that she might very well be his only true rival in the class.
And now that the opponent he recognized as his rival had gained an even stronger spirit and card, he wondered: should he still stick to his original plan—to summon a spirit that fit his deck?
After some thought, Autrys decided to follow through with his initial plan. He trusted his own judgment.
Having made his decision, he placed his hand on the stone tablet of the Book of Summoning and released his magical energy.
It was as if a thunderclap exploded from nowhere—the magic power released from Autrys was that of a Great Magician, even stronger than what Alice had displayed earlier. In an instant, joy spread across the faces of all the Class A students.
Two Great Magician-level duelists appearing in the same class—and the stronger one being their class representative, His Highness the Third Prince of the Kingdom—this was without a doubt the greatest boost to their morale.
Janice smiled as she watched this scene and nodded approvingly. Her family had long served the royal house, so seeing such talent in a member of the royal family naturally filled her with pride.
Autrys then spoke slowly: "Divine blessing, Book of Summoning that carries the memory of the planet—please, allow the knight who wields the Soul Spear and guards the Nation of Sorcery to appear before me and open the path forward with me! Spirit Summon!!"
Golden light flared, followed by a crimson beam shooting out from a hieroglyph at the center of the tablet. Along with the light appeared a man clad in green magical armor, holding a bronze spear.
[Giltia the D. Knight - Soul Spear] Level 5│LIGHT│Warrior│1850 ATK / 1500 DEF
"Oh, that's Giltia the D. Knight!? So he's aiming to use a combo core card!"
From outside the field, Yuui immediately called out the monster's name as he saw it land in front of Autrys.
Alicia asked, "Yuui-san, what kind of effect does that monster have?"
"The effect's actually pretty good," Yuui said after thinking a moment. "If I remember correctly, it can be Normal Summoned without Tributing when your field is empty, and when it's Summoned successfully, it can banish one of your opponent's monsters with higher Attack—plus it doesn't target.
"That's quite useful. And there's more—it has a search effect that can make it the core of a deck engine. By discarding one card, you can add from your Deck a Level 7 DARK Dragon, a Level 6 DARK Machine, or a Level 5 WATER Warrior to your hand."
"Level 7 DARK Dragon, Level 6 DARK Machine, Level 5 WATER Warrior…" Alicia thought carefully. "Even with all those restrictions, it can still search exactly the ace monster you need! For example, Red-Eyes Black Dragon is a Level 7 DARK Dragon, isn't it?"
"Exactly," Yuui nodded. "The prince probably knows Giltia's effect well; That's why he specifically chose to summon this spirit. Though Giltia himself isn't all that strong as a spirit, his effect can really support the Third Prince's Red-Eyes deck."
"Hmm, but if that's the case…" Alicia looked at Yuui and asked, "Yuui-san, since the spirit His Highness summoned isn't that powerful, his score should be lower than Alice's, right?"
"Uh… yeah, probably," Yuui admitted after thinking for a moment. "Whether it's the level, effect, or stats, Diabellze is way beyond what Giltia can compare to. Unless the instructor gives him extra points because he's a prince, Alice should take the top score for this month's Summoning Test."
Sure enough, the score Instructor Janice gave Autrys wasn't as high as Alice's. He earned 35 points—far below Alice's 48.
After the Summoning Test concluded, the next part was the Duel Test. Alicia promptly returned to her class's designated Duel platforms.
The Duel Test proceeded smoothly. Alicia defeated the Class B representative, earning a perfect score of 50 points from Professor White. Her final total came to 90.
Seeing the "90" on her report, Alicia smiled with satisfaction.
A person should never forget their roots. Even now, though she held tens of thousands of magic gold coins—enough for an ordinary family to spend a lifetime—Alicia still felt she should keep saving money.
As evening arrived and the sun set, the Duel Tests for Class E also came to an end.
Judging from the results, everyone in Class E had improved significantly over the past month. They might not yet match Class A, but they had every reason to be proud.
Afterward, everyone happily headed to the academy dining hall for dinner before returning to their dorms for rest.
Despite the monthly exam, it was still an ordinary, peaceful day.
….
That night, in the principal's office—
Aleister was reviewing the "Monthly Assessment" reports submitted by each grade supervisor, while Magistus Chorozo was already fast asleep on the desk.
Aleister stared at the report for a while, then sighed and stroked his beard in frustration.
"This level of improvement just isn't enough. I need to think of a solution… perhaps… should I send the students to explore Site No.1: Ancient Ruins? No, that won't do… the 'Thunder Dragons' guarding the gate are far too temperamental. If anyone got killed, it'd be disastrous.
"Then Site No.2, maybe? Ugh, no, that won't work either! The ruin wardens there won't let underqualified students in. What should I do?"
As Aleister racked his brain over the students' performance, an alchemy device on his desk suddenly lit up.
The image of a beautiful woman, someone he knew very well, appeared before him.
...
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