EndGame: The Successor's Legacy-Chapter 40: The Entrance Exam-4

A calm voice echoed through the forest, carried by magic rather than air. It was Vice headmaster’s voice.

[Attention all candidates, your entrance exam is now beginning. Each of you has been given a badge. Look to your side it is there. The badge counts the number of opponents you defeat.]

[Your objective is to defeat as many opponents as possible. You will not die, so fight without restraint.]

Leaves rustled as the announcement continued.

[The top one hundred candidates with the highest wins will advance to the ranking match. The exam duration is three hours.]

A brief pause followed between. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

[Good luck.]

The voice faded.

Calix looked up into the sky, spotting a magical drone hovering high above the canopy, its faint blue glow barely visible between the branches. He didn’t dwell on it. He already knew about it.

His gaze shifted down.

The blue badge on his chest pulsed softly.

000

"...Fancy," he muttered.

Fsssh

Calix stopped walking, lazily he tilted his head back slightly.

A wind slash passed right in front of his face, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle before dissipating among the trees. A few strands of his black hair fluttering beneath the hood.

Slowly, he turned.

A boy stood a short distance away, partially concealed behind a tree. He looked around Calix’s age, slim build, eyes sharp with intent.

Mana still lingered around his hands spinning with wind element.

’An ambusher, this early...’ He tilted his head lightly.

In this exam, nothing was forbidden. Sneak attacks, cheap tricks, striking from behind. As long as it wasn’t outright vile, everything was allowed.

The boy tensed, clearly realizing that his first strike had failed. His chance to ambush had been useless.

"You almost had me." Calix muttered lightly.

The boy’s eyes narrowed at Calix’s relaxed tone. Without another word, he raised his hand again. Wind gathered, sharper this time, compressing into thin blades that distorted the air around them.

Calix also moved his hand towards the boy, however he stopped, as if thinking something.

"Actually, let’s warm up a bit." Instead of using magic, he stepped forward.

The moment the boy released the attack, Calix moved his body slipping to the side with minimal motion. The wind blades tore past him, carving shallow lines into tree trunks behind him.

Then, before the boy could even react. Calix was already there.

Close...too close.

His fist slammed into the boy’s ribs.

Thud.

The air rushing out of the ambusher’s lungs as his eyes widened in shock. Calix followed immediately, grabbing the boy’s collar and sweeping his leg.

The boy hit the ground hard.

Calix placed his foot on the boy’s chest, pinning him down without much problem. He crouched, his fingers moved closely towards the boy’s neck as lightning cracked into them.

"Yield," Calix said simply.

The boy swallowed, panic flashing across his face. As he saw the purple thunder. However, it seems he was much more desperate to enter into the academy. "...I-I —take this."

Even when pinned, his raised hand as wind gathered around it however it was useless.

"Foolish choice, buddy." A flash of purple lit up the forest as light wrapped around the boy’s body.

In the next instant, he vanished teleported out of the exam area.

Calix stood up as a soft chime echoed in his head. While his badge glowed.

001

"...One down," he muttered.

*******

Into the Academy...

The arena that had once been filled with nervous candidates was now overflowing with spectators.

Tiered stands rose high around the combat grounds, packed with people from countless races.

Humans, beastkin, elves, dwarves, and many others filled the seats, their voices blending into a constant roar of excitement.

They were all the islanders those who lived on the Academy’s floating city. For them, this wasn’t a test of survival...no for them, it was entertainment.

This was a privilege few outsiders ever received...the right to watch the Entrance Exam from within the Academy itself.

Magical screens hovered above the arena, projecting shifting scenes from the forests where the candidates fought, each screen locked onto different battles.

Cheers erupted when someone landed a clean blow. Gasps followed ambushes. Laughter rang out when an overconfident candidate was crushed in seconds.

"Damn, to think these are this year’s batch..."

"Not bad. A few promising ones."

"That one—zoom in on that fight!"

The arena buzzed with life.

Above them, instructors and officials watched from their own reserved balconies, their expressions far more restrained. They weren’t cheering, no they were judging.

After all, one of them could be their personal future disciple...

"So," Zyraelle Whitmore asked casually as she settled back into her seat, legs crossed with refined confidence, "how does this semester look to you all?"

The instructors seated around her exchanged glances.

From their elevated balcony, they had a perfect view of the floating screens—each one showing fragments of chaos unfolding across the forest arenas.

Mana clashed, traps were sprung, candidates fell, and others adapted.

An elderly elf instructor stroked his long beard, eyes narrowed.

"Sharper than the last year," he said slowly. "The average mana control seems higher. Still crude... but promising."

A beastkin woman snorted lightly, tail flicking behind her chair. "Promising, sure. But too many rely on magic. Strip that away and they’ll crumble."

"Not all of them, Instructor Sera." another instructor interjected, a human with scarred hands and a soldier’s posture. He tapped the armrest, gaze fixed on a particular screen.

"Some of them are already thinking like hunters."

Zyraelle followed his gaze—but her expression remained unreadable.

A robed mage also leaned forward, their fingers laced together.

"The interesting ones aren’t the loud ones," he said. "They’re the quiet candidates. The ones who don’t panic. The ones who don’t show everything."

A faint smirk crossed Zyraelle’s lips.

"Oh?" she replied. "Then I suppose you’ve already found someone you like, Miss witch."

The Mage frowned. "...Perhaps, also stop calling me that."

Another instructor scoffed.

"Careful though. This exam weeds out the weak, not the dangerous. Some of the most dangerous ones won’t stand out at all."

Zyraelle’s eyes flickered briefly to a different screen. A confident figure moved through the forest, calm amid chaos.

Her smile deepened just slightly.

"Well," she said lightly, resting her chin on her hand, "that’s the fun part, isn’t it?"