Chapter 39-1: - Demon Simulation Battle (3)
Chapter 39-1: - Demon Simulation Battle (3)
As time passed swiftly, the ten-day preparation period quickly came to an end.
While some groups were still indecisive about which demon to face, others had been training rigorously since day one.
Edna was among the latter group.
This episode was not properly recorded in the original novel, so Edna took it upon herself to sift through the demon encyclopedia and select potential candidates to face beforehand.
This allowed her to progress smoothly with her training from the very first day.
Special demons could provide additional points for their abilities, but Edna primarily excelled with the normal demon, which had almost no extraordinary properties.
Thus, she would have to forego the additional points. Furthermore, as no one had hunted down a special Intermediate demon in the original story, Edna boldly gave up on that opportunity as well.
Instead, she focused on hunting down Intermediate demon on her own, demonstrating her resourcefulness and adaptability. Despite the challenges she faced, Edna remained determined to give her all in the upcoming Demon Simulation Battle.
She decided to take on the challenge just like Mayuseong did in the original game novel.
That was why she didnt need to worry about minor details like elemental affinities and just aim for the highest score possible.
"The preparation period of one day may have been short or long, but you should remember that it was ample time given to you by me. You could choose the demons you wanted and even train with them."
Instructor Lee Hanwol announced as he gathered 100 students from Class A and 41 students from Class S for the performance evaluation.
Stella Dome was filled with many spectators, including not only professors but also other students from different years, with seats prepared for them accordingly.
<em class="chakra-text css-0">Hmm, I don't mind losing, but I hope Eisel does well
In that episode, Eisel was drowned in despair by Hong Bi-Yeon.
Initially, Edna tried to recruit Eisel as her team member, but to her surprise, she was now working together with Baek Yu-Seol.
<em class="chakra-text css-0">Well, if it's Baek Yu-Seol he'll take care of her even if I leave her alone.
If Eisel received a high score in the Demon Simulation Battle, her bleak future could change significantly.
"Alright, let's start the performance evaluation now. Group 1, come forward and prepare," said Instructor Lee Hanwol.
The students of Group 1 stepped forward and arranged themselves in formation. A knight was placed at the front, with three priests in a triangle formation behind. The knight would attract the demons attention while one of the priests would immobilize it, and the remaining two would unleash a massive attack.
As soon as Group 1's formation was ready, a bright light shone in front of them, revealing a single demon.
"Oh... is it Spellturtle?" asked one of the students.
"Yes, that's right," replied Instructor Lee.
Spellturtle was a demon which resembled a turtle. It had a sturdy shell as its armor. However, it had a weakness against fire-attribute, making it one of the Intermediate demon that could be exploited easily by the mages.
It appeared that the students, being inexperienced, opted for a relatively easy and non-threatening demon to hunt.
During the battle, Group 1 effectively thwarted Spellturtles most menacing attack, the Spiral Blitz, and synchronized their breathing to deliver a coordinated strike, resulting in a flawless victory.
"Excellent job!" exclaimed one of the students, feeling elated with their triumph.
Even if one couldn't kill the demon, he could still get points on the basis of strategies and their execution of the plan.
However, in any case, once the students succeeded in hunting the demon, it brought a different sense of accomplishment, and the students from Group 1 descended from the stage with happy faces.
Next was the performance evaluation of Group 2.
They seemed unprepared and were unable to take their positions properly. However, when the demon appeared, they hurriedly engaged in the fight.
The standard tactic would have been to deploy two priests to form a defensive line when there was no Knight position available, but perhaps because they didn't trust each other, they each spread their own defense spells chaotically, and fell one by one like fallen leaves.
As a result, they were completely annihilated without even causing any significant damage to the demon.
Although they were probably individually talented as Class A students, it seemed that there was some kind of internal division or problem among them.
"What are they doing?"
"Haha, all the promising rookies from the first year are gathered together, but they turned out to be a bunch of comedians."
Some second and third year students taunted them, but it was a pitiful scene where they had nothing to say in response.
"...Next, Group 3."
After the performance evaluations of other teams quickly passed, it was finally Ednas turn.
"Group 17, come forward.
With a deep breath, Edna headed towards the central arena, rubbing her broad head, which resembled an apple.
As she was walking, something caught her foot, and her weight shifted abruptly, causing her to stumble forward.
"Aaaah!" she exclaimed, fearing that she might fall.
Fortunately, someone grabbed her by the nape of her neck, preventing her from hitting the ground.
Confused and embarrassed, Edna found herself dangling from the grasp of a stranger's hand, causing some in the audience to laugh and make jokes about her height.
"What is she, a middle schooler? Shes even smaller than my little sister," one remarked.
Another commented on the person who caught her, saying, "Hes probably the same age as her."
Slowly turning her head, she realized that it was Baek Yu-Seol, who was holding her. She was sweating and blushing as she whispered, "Let go."
Baek Yu-Seol released her immediately, saying, "Oh, sorry,"
In response, Edna replied gratefully, "No, it's okay. I appreciate it."
Barely managing to regain balance, Baek Yu-Seol exhaled a breath of relief, and pointed downwards.
"Can you re-tie your shoe? It's untied."
".... Uh?"
Looking down, Edna saw that the lace on one of her shoes was completely tangled. It was perfectly fine earlier when Jecky had tied it for her.
If she had gone out to fight like this, it would have caused big trouble.
"Shall I tie it for you?"
"It's okay."
Edna quickly sorted out her shoelace and climbed up onto the arena.
Then, another question arose.
"Is she alone?"
"It seems like it?"
"No way, would she do that alone?"
"Last year, there were a few like her who couldn't form teams because they had no friends."
"Ah... That was the case."
The second-year students murmured and seemed to understand.
"There are always those kinds of people. They judge based on appearance and end up getting bullied."
"How important human relationships are in a magical society."
Regardless of whether they had any misunderstandings or not, Ednas personal evaluation had begun.
As the battle began, the opponent demon that Edna would face was a Intermediate creature with a simple name, "Mac Giant."
It was an ordinary demon without any special attributes, but since it was invulnerable to elemental advantages, it was one of the most unpopular demons in this evaluation.
Edna firmly gripped a staff longer than her upper body with both hands and took a deep breath.
"Let's start."
At the sound of Lee Hanwols signal, the Mac Giant charged towards Edna, but she stood still without moving a single step, and brought down her long staff with a thud.
"A whisper of flower petals carried by the wind....."