091 Uninhabited Island

A few hours had already ticked by since the teleportation kicked off.

It had been a while since I’d donned the academy training gear, and the moment I pulled it on, I felt my focus sharpen. The fact that I hadn't run into a single soul yet was a testament to just how massive this uninhabited island really was.

As for what I was currently doing? I was sitting on the coast, staring out at a beautiful stretch of ocean. The spot was a sheer cliff with a nasty overhang, making it completely useless for swimming, but it served my purposes just fine.

I cut a branch, twisted some vines into a line, fashioned a hook, and skewered a tiny insect on the end.

I was fishing.

The goal, of course, was to secure a food supply. During the previous Survival Exam, I hadn't rested at all since it was only a three-day affair. Back then, the points from monsters were high, and—well, there were other petty reasons—but this time was different. If I wanted to sprint through this exam while conserving my stamina, I needed to make an upfront investment of time.

I’d already confirmed that I could store a decent amount of supplies inside Debi’s Dark Magic. I could have hunted for meat, but butchering takes forever. My plan was simple: catch enough fish to last a few days, wait for the sun to go down, and then start picking off any overconfident small fries I stumbled across.

That was the plan, anyway.

But I’d overlooked one catastrophic miscalculation.

"I’m not catching anything..."

It turns out, I had absolutely zero talent for fishing.

...But I anticipated a failure like this! I already have a backup plan.

Presumably, everyone else was also scrambling to find food right about now. If that was the case, I could just skip the middleman and steal my food from the enemy. It was a barbaric way of thinking, sure, but nothing was more efficient.

I called it: Operation: Charge into the Neighbor's Dinner.

It was a little dorky, I'll admit, but I couldn't think of a more fitting name.

"Heh. I really am a genius."

Just as the thought crossed my mind, the line tugged.

Wait, seriously?

"Ngh! It’s heavy... Is this a big one?!"

I hauled the line up with a grunt of effort—only to find a tattered, waterlogged shoe that had likely been swept out to sea from the Royal Capital.

"...Keep the ocean clean, you idiots."

I used Dark Magic to disintegrate the trash and prepared to move on, but then, a "mob" character—a lowerclassman—emerged from the forest. In his hand, he held something that looked like a rabbit.

My stomach let out a treacherous, echoing growl.

"W-Weiss?!"

"Yo. Thanks for going through the trouble of delivering that to me."

I called him a "small fry," but even a student like him was several times stronger than your average adventurer. The lowerclassman thrust his palm toward me. He must have been a user of the rare Water Magic.

"I can do this here!"

The moment he raised his hand, the seawater behind me surged upward. I caught a glimpse of fish splashing around in the rising tide. Damn it, this guy actually has talent for fishing...

"Water Magic—"

"—Die."

[Lyndon Gris: Incapacitated. Points awarded to Weiss Fancent.]

After the Magic Bird’s announcement finished, the Restricted Areas were broadcast. The place where I was standing seemed to be safe for now.

"Man, this rabbit is delicious..."

Since he’d been kind enough to bleed the thing, I just had to gather some dry wood and start a fire to enjoy a gourmet meal.

After that, the announcements of dropouts continued to drone on in the background. However, not a single one of the top-tier students like Allen or Cynthia appeared on the list. Well, that was to be expected. I’d save the real fun for the end. My goal was first place, after all.

For today, I’d just focus on making preparations while "hunting" for food.

---

The next day, I woke up early and washed my face in a small forest stream.

My kill count was up to about seven people. Since every single one of them had been carrying a nice haul of fish or rabbit, I’d stuffed it all into Debi’s Dark Magic storage.

Now, the real exam began. Leaving too many heavy hitters for the final days would be a pain. I’m sure the others were thinking the same thing.

"—Debi."

"Debibit!"

I summoned Debi and drew my Dual Sword. I let out a fraction of the mana I’d been suppressing and began to calibrate my senses.

This forest was packed with trees that threw mana into a frenzy. To put it simply, it was like a compass spinning wildly due to a magnetic field. With strange mana signatures reacting all over the place, finding someone wasn't easy. If my Mana Sense was too effective, the exam would be a cakewalk, so this was actually a decent bit of "game balance."

It really felt like I was back in the world of the game.

Still, if I pushed my mana output a bit higher, I could sense things within a short range. I slowly closed my eyes. I filtered out the mana of the trees, the monsters, and the local wildlife, searching specifically for the unique signature of a human.

I expanded the radius. Several meters. Dozens of meters.

And then...

"...Come to think of it, we’ve never actually fought."

To be honest, the person I found was the one I was least excited to face. It was probably because I felt so much genuine gratitude toward her. But even so, I’d made my choice.

I took a deep breath and sprinted straight for her. As I closed the distance, I felt her react to my presence. I could have masked my mana and crept up slowly, but I didn't want to resort to a surprise attack. At the very least, I wanted to face her fair and square.

Not that I had any intention of losing.

She was standing in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. There were traces of a campsite nearby.

"Sorry. You were just the closest one to me."

"—Don't worry about it. I had a feeling I’d end up fighting you eventually."

"I see. You're alone? I fully expected you to form a party with someone."

"I wouldn't do that. I’m seriously aiming for first place. I’m a student of Nobless Academy too, you know."

"Heh. Fair enough."

With her long black hair and glasses, Cecil didn't seem to be carrying a weapon. A dagger? Some kind of hidden tool? Usually, she focused on magic, but I was sure she’d owned a sword.

Honestly, she didn't have a single trait that excelled in direct combat. Her grades and points were top-class, but that was strictly because she specialized in team battles. She’d rarely been tested in individual combat recently, and she wasn't particularly strong. In the Original Story, her mana capacity was described as being among the lowest in the cast.

But she was a genius.

"—Cecil. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to knock you out of the exam."

If it hadn’t been for her, we probably never would have repelled that Calamity.

I didn't move. It wasn't because I was hesitant, but because of something startling—she didn't have a single opening. She had no weapon. She wasn't even in a combat stance.

Is it just because it's Cecil? No, this is way too suspicious.

There was no way she was just standing there with nothing up her sleeve.

I signaled Debi in my mind. Whatever happens, just destroy everything.

The next instant, I charged.

"Debibit!"

Debi fired a Mana Cannon from behind Cecil. If she moved to evade, I’d cut her down. If she tried to chant a defensive spell, I’d just shatter it with Time Lapse. I probably didn't need to go this far, but going all out was the only way to show her proper respect.

Debi’s Mana Cannon was fast. It was set to impact before I even reached her. Cecil didn't move; it was as if she hadn't even noticed it.

Noblesse Oblige is just a game, I told myself. Every character has their own role. Even if she loses here, it won't change her value.

But as I whispered those justifications to myself, I saw something impossible.

Just as the Mana Cannon was about to slam into her, Cecil vanished into thin air.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of killing intent from behind. I twisted my body just in time to see a thin—no, a needle-thin—blade zip past my cheek. I could feel a staggering amount of mana radiating from that sword.

"De-Debibit?!"

The dark Mana Cannon came looping back toward me, but I swatted it aside with my sword. I glanced at the relieved Debi before turning my attention back to Cecil.

"—Construction Magic, huh?"

"Yes. It looks like I managed to surprise you. I was hoping to end it with that, but I suppose I was being too optimistic against an opponent like you."

Just as she said, I was stunned. Construction Magic was a technique used to create physical matter from scratch using mana. Magic is a world of imagery, and the more complex the object, the harder it is to visualize.

However, a rapier is simple. A sword constructed of pure mana deals far more damage because it's saturated with elemental power. It was similar to Cynthia’s Glass Sword, though in Cynthia's case, she could manifest it through sheer imagination without needing a formal spell.

But this was a move meant for mages with massive mana pools. With Cecil’s limited capacity, constructing a rapier should have drained her instantly. In fact, I couldn't feel a single trace of mana coming from her body right now.

And yet, how was she moving like that?

No time to overthink it!

I kicked off the ground, putting every ounce of speed, strength, and mana I had into a heavy swing. If it was a sword made of mana, I just had to break the formula behind it.

But she didn't block. She shifted her weight, letting her blade glide along the flat of my sword to redirect the force. She understood her weaknesses perfectly and had decided from the start that she wouldn't take a direct hit. There was no way she’d prepared this just for the exam.

"I haven't just been watching from the sidelines all this time, you know."

The ground beneath us erupted in the glow of a magic circle. A Light Magic Formula. Construction Magic could be used regardless of one's elemental affinity, but it required an insane level of complexity and understanding to pull off. It was similar to my Blessing of Healing, but since she lacked dark magic, she couldn't debuff me. Instead, she was buffing herself.

But that wasn't all. This speed... it was unthinkable for a simple buff.

Ah, this is why I love Noblesse.

Cecil, I acknowledge you more than anyone else in this world. I’m sure everyone at the academy feels the same way. But you weren't satisfied with just that. In this brief exchange, I could feel the sheer weight of your effort.

"Cecil... you’re the best."

"Thank you. Hearing you say that... makes all that hard work worth it."

That was exactly why I would show her the respect of defeating her with everything I had.