I Died on The First Day of the Tutorial

Chapter 110 - The Qualifiers (2)


Verity reached the instructor's meeting early in the morning. He'd decided to wear a navy blue suit, and before coming, he had convinced himself to trim his hair, and to shave the stubs that grew unevenly across his cheeks.

For the first time in long, long while, he had walked around without his spear in hand. Of course, it was in a safe place with no risk of being stolen, but simply not having it in hand made Verity uncomfortable.

'Tsk, I can't even put it in my inventory because it's not from the shop... if it wasn't so recognizable... I'd carry it everywhere...!!'

Verity had taken public transport, strolled through the streets of Nexia, and had even purchased a cup of coffee on his way to the academy.

It had been some time since he'd felt so… normal.

When Verity pushed the heavy doors of the meeting room open, all heads turned toward him. Feeling a tinge of nervousness, he looked to his right where a large window was placed, ensuring that his dark eyed contacts were in place, and when he confirmed that they were, he sighed with relief.

He waved. "U-Uh, sorry for being late," he said awkwardly, quickly realizing that his previous actions had been unnecessary.

He was familiar with all of those present.

Hoshino, Elio, Felicia, and Marco were the ones currently in the meeting room.

They had changed somewhat in the last four years.

Marco had sworn off wearing a shirt, which made sense, as he now stood nine feet tall. A giant of chiseled muscles and unbridled strength. No human clothes could fit him anymore, and he was nearly impervious to cold, heat, or any damage, really.

Hoshino, on the other hand, was still the same as ever. She wore a pink and red magical girl inspired outfit. She'd stopped wearing a cape some time ago because it burdened her in battle, but she still insisted on wearing a long sparkling golden scarf that was just as inconvenient.

As for Elio. Verity scrunched his nose when he laid eyes on him. He was still handsome, annoyingly so, and he seemed to take his style rather seriously. He wore an array of designer-looking clothes that accentuated his already prominent features, but somehow also appeared to be practical in real combat.

Verity became more and more annoyed as he looked at him.

"Verity, it's been so long!! How are you!" Marco shouted loud enough to burst an ordinary person's eardrums.

Verity surrendered to the colossal man's embrace and patted him on the back. "Yeah… it's nice to see you too."

"Ah! My Knight of Truth! You've finally returned to me! But of course, you must have been miserable without my great self leading you!" Said Hoshino, holding her wand high above her head.

Verity ignored her.

He waved to Felicia, who nodded with a smile, and then turned to Elio.

Both clicked their tongues when they locked eyes.

"Don't think that because I've been lenient, you're–"

Verity picked his nose as he interrupted him. "Yeah, yeah, whatever man. Don't you ever get tired of this?"

A vein bulged on Elio's temple. "...It seems your head has become enlarged in the time we haven't seen each other. You've deluded yourself into thinking you're strong because of your petty tricks."

Verity shrugged. "As far as I know, it's zero to one in my favor between you and I, and everyone here can confirm."

Elio clenched his fists, but before he could speak again, Felicia clapped her hands. "Alright boys, let's stop this here."

"He started it."

"You…!"

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

'He still falls for simple taunts so easily…' Verity thought.

He wasn't sure what his relationship with Elio was… especially after that talk three years ago, but at least the man had stopped trying to kill him.

Felicia sighed. "...The instructors of the Larva, Dragon, and Supernova classes will be here soon."

Hoshino smirked. "Hmm! Mighty names indeed! You oughta let me name all of the facilities at this academy, my Knight of Joy!"

Marco shook his head in exasperation. "...Just ignore her. Keep going, Felicia."

"Right… Well, the reason I brought all of you here is because you'll all be instructors this year. Well, you and one other member of the Top ten who owes me a favor."

Protests erupted immediately.

"I don't have time for this." Elio said coldly.

"I have the southern front… and the Guild to manage, sorry Felicia." Marco said.

"If not for the great me, who could possibly handle the mighty Golden Magic tower!?"

Verity said nothing. He had already accepted her demand, after all.

"Will all of you just shut up and hear me out for one second!??" Felicia retorted, a tinge of anger in her voice, which was rather rare.

She exhaled sharply when no one dared speak. "I'm only asking you to come once a week. I want to expose the kids to demon subjugation, but even with A-rank Protectors, that's risky, which is why I need people of your caliber at least, and of course, I'll participate as well."

The three of them went into deep thought for a moment. Every single one of them owed Felicia a lot. As vice-chair of the Protectorate, leader of the most prominent guild in the settlement, and dean of Nexia academy, she was a woman with a lot of power.

Refusing here would have been improper, and most importantly, they were her friends. Once a week was not unreasonable, and finding leftover demons far from their colonies was not too difficult a task, as the weaker ones, desperate for power, tended to lurk near human cities.

Verity scratched his cheek. He wasn't exactly eager to stand beside the continent's most powerful. Not officially, anyway.

As they pondered, Verity raised a hand. "Officially, I'm just a B-rank protector though…? Aren't you all enough?"

Felicia grinned. "That's why you won't be the one to go."

Verity crossed his arms when he understood her meaning and he turned his head away. "No way. I refuse."

"Are you going back on your word?"

He shook his head. "No. You asked for me. I'll be a regular instructor, not the King of Fools."

"Pff." Hoshino struggled to hold in a laugh. "I still have a hard time believing that's your Alias," she said.

Verity's cheeks reddened. "I-In any case, that's a no go!"

Marco nodded with his arms crossed. "Hmm! It's in the nature of men to want a secret identity! Of course, we normally outgrow that once out of high school, but there's no shame, Verity my friend! I support you!"

Verity grimaced. "N-No, that's not it…"

He could tell from their eyes. Not a single person in this room believed him. Even Hoshino, the resident crazy lady, looked at him with a hint of pitiful understanding in her eyes.

"I swear that's not it! I have my reasons for wanting to keep that part of my life separate!!"

In the end, they managed to convince him, or rather, it was a way to prove that he wasn't just pretending to be a comic book superhero.

'I've been had!!' He thought as he got ready for the practical exam of the third year qualifiers.

The instructions he'd been given were simple.

He'd be in a sparring room with a single student, where they would fight for at most, ten minutes. Within that same room, there would be two other examiners whose sole jobs would be to observe.

At the end of the ten minutes, or the end dictated by the combat examiner, all three would declare which class they decided the student would be in.

A majority could overthrow the combat examiner, but if all three disagreed, the combat examiner's decision took precedence, except if that decision was the Supernova class, in which case the examiners would be forced to discuss and come to a consensus.

The students were given simple instructions.

Pretend the person in that room is a demon. Use all that you know with the intent to kill them.

To reinforce that, the combat examiners were made to don a mask that resembled the demons of ancient folklore.

The first student walked in. He wore the robes of a mage and a palm-sized wand. One of the two observers explained the rules once more, and he began the countdown for the start of the test.

The student, a boy with blond hair and freckles, held onto his wand tightly, and began chanting a spell.

It wasn't even a second later that a fist sunk into his stomach.

The boy's breath was stolen for a moment and he fell to his knees.

Verity spoke through his mask. "The first spell you're meant to cast as a mage is Barrier. You should know that at this stage. You'll go to the Larva class."

"W-Wait! Let me try again! I-I was just nervous!! I can do better!"

Verity shook his head and walked away. "Try again? If I was a demon, you'd already be dead. There's no such thing as a second chance out there."

The other examiners agreed with him and the boy was escorted out of the room.

The second one was a student who was at least a head taller than Verity. He wore heavy armor and thick gauntlets.

'A martial artist..? But why the armor?'

Verity let him have the first strike, which he dodged effortlessly. He circled around the student as he tired himself out, striking aimlessly.

'The armor is slowing him down…is he afraid of being hurt?'

After five minutes or so, the student was panting heavily. Verity swiped at his feet and the student fell to the ground.

Then he slowly stuck his wooden spear through the slit in his visor. "And you're dead. Discard the armor. You're a martial artist, you know? The whole point of the class is the lack of need for armor… Larva."

"Larva."

"Larva"

'Surely it gets better, right?' Verity thought.

It was only once the tenth student had entered that Verity finally felt the corner of his mouth curl upward. This one was of the assassin class, a rare variant of the Thief Class. A boy with platinum-colored hair and sunken eyes.

He wielded his shadow-stepping class skill with precision, slipping in and out of darkness. His footwork was unpredictable, each movement muffled by [Silent Step]. More than once, his sudden strikes surprised Verity.

CLANG

Once ten minutes had passed, Verity knocked the short sword out of the boy's hand. His technical skill with it was lacking in comparison to his movement and tactical insight.

"You're not exactly a warrior, but your level with the sword is too low regardless. You should be able to defend yourself enough to escape in an emergency. You'll join the Dragon class."

The other two agreed.

'How many more to go...?' Verity wondered

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