Practical exam.
Although it sounds the same as the practical exam of the entrance exam, it's totally different.
While in the entrance exam, you have to show your skill against the mana puppet - which is programmed with stats.
After you fight against that mana puppet with your full power, AI will make a detailed report from the data it collected during the fight.
On the other hand, in the practical exam of the mid-terms, you will be given a mission.
That mission is very simple.
The academy will provide you with a target monster. You have to kill it and come back safely.
You would be ranked on how quickly and safely you completed the mission.
Isn't it easy?
It would have been quite easy if the dungeon regarding the exam was explored.
However, Roaring Cave was only partially explored. Many of the passageways of that cave were unknown. No one knew what kind of monsters were waiting for them.
Currently, all of the students were well-equipped and prepared.
As they entered the cave, the team leader's smartwatch rang.
[Ding!]
All of them checked their smartwatches.
Amy projected a hologram from her smartwatch into the air as soon as the notification came.
[Kobold King - D rank]
The monster's name was displayed. Amy spoke briefly.
"Let's go. We can talk while we're moving."
***
The Roaring Cave was an expansive dungeon, large enough to accommodate up to twenty groups of students, with each group consisting of up to five people.
As the students approached the entrance of the cave, they could see that it was wide enough to allow several groups to enter at once.
All of them wished good luck to each other and entered the dungeon.
Once inside, they could see that the cave's chambers and passageways were spacious enough to allow multiple groups to explore the dungeon without getting in each other's way.
In fact, the caverns and tunnels were so vast that it was easy for groups to lose track of each other, even while exploring the same general area.
Currently, in one of those passageways, a group of five students was fighting dozens of kobolds.
It was Amy's group.
"Why do these stupid monsters don't stop coming?" Amy said in an annoyed tone as she slashed at a nearby kobold.
The kobold's scaly hide proved easy to penetrate with her blade, and Amy had to strike it a few times before it finally fell to the ground.
It was expected as Amy was a low C Ranked individual while these kobolds were only E rank. It's just there were too many of them.
Everyone nodded, and Amelia began to chant her spell. As the kobolds began to stumble out of the cave, Robert and Amy charged in, their weapons flashing in the dim light. Daphne and Grey peppered the kobolds with arrows, taking out the stragglers.
As the group made their way deeper into the kobold nest, they stumbled upon a massive chamber where the kobold king sat atop a pile of bones, surrounded by his loyal subjects. It looked quite scary in the darkness.
Amy and her group stood at the entrance, eyeing the kobold king warily.
"We have to take out the kobold king if we want to end their attacks for good," Amy said, gripping her heavy longsword tightly.
She stepped forward, cracking her knuckles. "Leave it to me. I'll take him down with my sword skills."
"Musclehead, Dumbo," Grey said in low voice. However, as an Awakened Amy could clearly hear that.
But just as he was about to charge forward, Daphne held her back. "Wait, I have an idea," she said, pulling out a handful of glittering confetti from her pocket. "What if we distract the kobold king with this?"
The group exchanged skeptical looks, but Daphne was already tossing the confetti into the air, creating a sparkling rain of color.
The kobold king stopped in his tracks, staring up in wonder at the falling confetti. His eyes widened, and he let out a high-pitched laugh. "Ooh, shiny! Pretty!"
The group exchanged a look of disbelief before Amy charged forward, sword in hand. But the kobold king was too distracted, trying to catch the falling confetti in his tiny hands.
"Shiny~ Shiny~ Pretty~ Pretty~" He sang a song as he collected confetti from the air.
Amy was too irritated with this song.
Amelia used the opportunity to cast spells, weakening the kobold king's defenses.
Suddenly, the kobold king let out a loud sneeze, sending a cloud of confetti flying in all directions.
Amy was caught off guard and ended up covered in confetti. Robert, however, managed to dodge the confetti cloud and land a solid blow on the kobold king, sending him toppling off his pile of treasure.
"You!" Amy's face became crimson as rage filled in her mind.
"YOU COVERED MY PRECIOUS EQUIPMENT WITH THIS!!" Amy swung her heavy sword like a butter knife at Kobold King.
'Dragon's fury sword art'
As she swung her sword a dragon momentarily materialized around her sword.
In the blink of an eye, Kobold King's head was severed.
In the meantime, other group members took care of other kobolds.
The group let out a cheer as the kobold king lay defeated on the ground.
"Stop! There is something weird, there is no way, we can complete this mission so easily," Daphne warned.
Soon, everyone's smartwatch started ranging.
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
As they opened notifications, they saw countless messages asking for help.
"What the hell happened?" Robert stared at a series of notifications in disbelief.
[ROAAAR!!]
At that moment, they heard a roar. It was so terrifying that all of them were momentarily paralyzed.
"Oh, looks like Dragon is out," Rain said while eating fresh blueberries.