“Enemies really do meet on a single-log bridge, huh.”“Hmph, what single-log bridge.”Vwoom vwoom—.Tepes spun the steel bat through the air, then pointed it at me like a spear.Then she gave the order.“Cuilinn, and the other four. Go take care of them.”Given the Cost currently available, there was no way all of them could be combatants.However—'Unless they’re not all one team.'If they moved together without forming a team through the Cubes, just walking as separate teams, then they weren’t constrained by Cost.Of course, that meant they needed firm trust that they wouldn’t attack each other while traveling together, but these were all students of Jerome Academy in the first place.There was no way they would stab their Student Council President, Tepes, in the back, so you could say they’d used their heads well.Watching the students charge in, I spoke to Ciel.“Ciel, subdue Cuilinn. I’ll handle the rest.”Shring—.I drew the Azoth Sword and slammed it into the ground.- Elemental aptitude set to Wood attribute.Kiiing—.The letters engraved on the Azoth Sword turned green, and at the same time, current flowed through the blade.At that moment—Chwachwachwa—!The tree roots sunk beneath the swamp were transmuted, bursting up like sharp spikes.“Guh!”The four students rushing at me rolled aside in an instant to dodge the roots rearing up like spikes.However—Chwaaah—.Unlike “Steel” Transmutation, these tree roots were living things.They could be controlled far more flexibly and smoothly.The tree roots’ attacks, which seemed to have missed, soon curved and shot back toward the enemies.Kuwagwagwag—!“Uwaagh!”The Jerome students were hit head-on and toppled.I moved the tree roots to bind all four tightly so they couldn’t resist any longer.“You bastard!”Just then, Tepes fired purple lightning at me.Kwagwagwag—!Violet True Heaven Cannon!A powerful bolt of thunder rushed in, dyeing my field of vision purple.- Elemental aptitude set to Earth attribute.Kiiing—.In an instant, the light of the Azoth Sword shifted, and I immediately altered the earth’s energy into a barrier to protect myself.KWAANG—!No matter how powerful the current, it was powerless before the non-conductive soil.“Tch.”When Tepes’ attack went to waste, she charged straight at me and swung the bat herself.Vwooom—.Her strike was much faster and sharper than when I’d faced her before.It seemed she’d put herself through some pretty harsh training after losing to me.'But she’s not my opponent now.'Because my growth had far outpaced Tepes’ growth.I raised my hand and blocked Tepes’ bat.KKAANG—!Shock vibrated through my hand, making it tingle, but Tepes’ attack could not penetrate Altair’s suit or Aegis’ barrier.“……!”I looked at wide-eyed Tepes and gave a small smirk.“What, did you think you were the only one who got stronger?”Thud—.I struck Tepes in the stomach with my other palm and sent her flying.“Guh!”Thanks to the Cube’s barrier, she wouldn’t take serious damage, but it was enough to send her flying far away.“Lady Tepes!”The four bound in roots and Cuilinn shouted, but no one could immediately rush to her aid.“Eyes on your opponent!”Ciel shouted in anger as she pressed Cuilinn hard.“Kh.”Cuilinn swung the massive greatsword wildly in attempts to fight back against Ciel, but Ciel was on a completely different level in both speed and strength.KWAANG—!Ciel leaped high, evaded Cuilinn’s greatsword, then brought her heel down on Cuilinn’s head.Even the Cube’s barrier was fully pierced; Cuilinn slammed into the ground and passed out on the spot.Tap tap—.Ciel brushed off her hands and declared victory.“That wasn’t particularly difficult.”“I’m done over here too.”Chwaruruk—.I used the Azoth Sword to manipulate the roots and snatch Tepes’ steel bat away.“What will you do with these students? Allies? Or subordinates?”I glanced at the Jerome students tied up in roots and shrugged.“Would these punks listen to me even if I put them on the team? Just eliminate them.”In most cases, using them as subordinates at least was more advantageous to our overall strength.Each student’s personal trait helped, and even if it didn’t, they could serve as mana batteries or grunt labor.But the Jerome Academy side was different.If I put them on the team, they’d stir up trouble instead of listening to me, so it was better to just reclaim their Cubes and knock them out of the exam.Ciel collected a total of six Cubes and brought them over.I first slotted my student ID into the Cubes of the four tied up and Cuilinn, eliminating them.[ Cuilinn, Dinco, Maronin, Harvey, Vito eliminated. Transferring to early-elimination zone. ]Swaaah—.The five eliminated were transported elsewhere by the floating ship’s beam.I then put my student ID into Tepes’ Cube and pressed a different button than before.“You’re a subordinate for now.”“What? Just eliminate me already!”“That’s my decision to make.”For now, I’d have Tepes tag along as grunt labor, and if needed, I could use her as a fighter.Tepes was a fairly strong combatant, despite appearances.'Given the nature of the Faction War, I can’t handle everything alone.'I’d need separate commander-level forces to move independently and lead allied units. In that sense, Tepes was the perfect candidate.Of course, if she proved uncontrollable, I could just eliminate her on the spot, so it wasn’t much of a risk.I spoke to Tepes.“You’ll act as grunt labor for now. Go collect some fruit.”“What? You little bastard!”Vwooom—.Insulted by being treated like a grunt, Tepes lunged and swung a fist.CLAAANG—!But her fist didn’t touch me in the slightest.She had already lost her Cube and become a “subordinate,” so her attacks could not affect me at all.I shrugged at the sight of Tepes trembling beyond the Cube’s barrier.“If you don’t like it, you can wander this island alone. Without a Cube, you’ll be sleeping on the bare ground. No restroom either.”“……”“And in terms of points, it’s better to survive longer as a subordinate than to be eliminated early. If I take first place, you’ll get a lot of points too.”“…First place my ass.”Tepes grumbled, but didn’t resist any further.“If you understand the situation, follow my orders. Also, here—these two are your seniors.”“Ahem.”The two male students who had surrendered first and become our subordinates: Jabia and Langte.They put on airs as they issued orders to Tepes.“Go pick some fruit. Move out.”“Move out!”At that, Tepes bared her teeth and glared with one eye.“Huh? Have you two lost your minds? You don’t even have Cubes.”“……!”Unlike fighters like Ciel and me, who were protected by the Cubes’ barriers, the two male students, as subordinates, had no such protection.“Uh…”I moved to stop Tepes as she tried to vent her anger by beating up the two male students.“That’s enough. One more time, and I’ll spend Cost to promote those two to fighters.”“Tch.”“And if you keep being uncooperative, I can use artifacts too, so behave yourself.”I had stocked up on a lot of single-use artifacts on the floating ship in preparation for this exam.Among them were artifacts like the tightening headband of Sun Wukong that inflicted pain if the wearer disobeyed orders.I could only hope I wouldn’t have to use them.***By the time the sun had set—We had ten Cubes in total and five team members.Base Level was 5.Normally, it would take sixteen Cubes to raise the Base Level to 5, but thanks to my first-activation achievement bonus of +1 level, it was possible.The dwelling built from a Level 5 Cube was quite impressive.Roughly thirty pyeong of space.There were multiple rooms, and plenty of bunk beds, making the interior feel spacious.There were bathrooms and showers, of course, and even a kitchen where we could cook, so we could make food whenever we wanted.Of course, no food was provided, so we had to procure ingredients locally.“Tada.”But since I already knew the exam content beforehand, I had bought the necessary ingredients at the shopping mall on the floating ship and stored them in subspace, so it didn’t really matter.Using the ingredients I’d prepared, Ciel and I cooked together.Ciel’s cooking skills were well known, and I too could rely on the support of “Transmutation” to make delicious food, so the result was quite a splendid meal.We ended up with a luxurious beef stew you’d never expect to see in a jungle like this, warm bread, and cold drinks.I handed portions to the two other male students and Tepes and spoke.“You should be grateful.”Tepes snatched the bowl from my hand and grumbled.“What’s there to be grateful for… Give me back my ten billion. That compensation payment was all my own money.”It seemed the compensation paid to Izelin Academy had not come from national funding, but from Tepes’ personal funds.'Clean up your own mess, huh.'I handed over the drink as well and said:“Just consider that settling your karmic debt. You bullied them for way more than a day or two.”“……”“And stop trying to sugarcoat things with words. Just quietly eat.”“…?”Leaving Tepes tilting her head, I turned my ear to Ciel’s question.“Lord Loen, what are your plans going forward?”Tearing off pieces of bread, I explained the plan.“For now, I plan to use this as our base and systematically crush all the nearby teams.”There were roughly thirty thousand second-year Union students.Spread across four islands, that made about seven thousand per island.So to become ruler of an island, you had to subdue at least three to four thousand people—either by eliminating them or making them allies.At a glance, it sounded very difficult, but if we kept increasing allies and expanding our influence, it wouldn’t take that long.Handling everything alone would obviously be hard, but as I said earlier, if we split into multiple teams, each with its own field commander, the goal could be reached quickly.We had to operate our forces by unit, like an army.There was a reason this exam was called the Faction War.'In that sense, reliable allies like Ciel and commander-level forces like Tepes are crucial.'Securing commander-level forces you could trust with the troops as quickly as possible was the absolute priority in the early stages.If we turned them into allies quickly, everything became easier.But if we failed to recruit them, they’d become a major headache later.If we didn’t absorb them, then hostile forces would rally around them and grow.“Fast, decisive ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) action in the early stages is critical.”At this explanation, Ciel’s eyes sparkled as she nodded.“I see.”“……”Tepes sat there with arms crossed and a sulky expression, but she didn’t argue with my words.I couldn’t tell if she agreed with me or was just pouting.“In any case, the opening moves are the most important. We’re not resting tonight either.”“In other words…”I clenched my fist with a sharp grin.“That’s right—night raids.”***Full Moon Island. Jungle zone.Night had fallen, and darkness lay thick over the land.With the campfire crackling and casting its light—Hildegard looked proudly at the neatly erected Cube building.“Hoho, well done, everyone.”Her faction had formed around her, and along the way they had absorbed new allies like Caron and Dandol.Thanks to that, the Base Level had already reached 4, and they had plenty of fighters and subordinates.They had built a fine base nearby, raised palisades, and were perfectly prepared against monster incursions.'And we killed a lot of monsters, too.'When you fed the magic stones acquired from monsters into the Cube, “Cost recovery rate” would temporarily surge, letting you recruit more allies.At this pace, Hildegard felt confident she could earn high marks in this exam.Clenching her fist, Hildegard looked up at the sky and read the power of the stars.The energy of the constellations showing through the Milky Way, which looked as if it might spill across the sky.“……”Yet somehow, separate from her grand plans and the smooth progress so far, she saw ominous signs that a shadow hung over her future.To interpret it more precisely, it meant her rosy dream would soon be shattered.And tonight, at that.Hildegard frowned at the sky.'Hmm, why am I seeing a sign like that?'After pondering for quite some time, she shook her head and fanned the front of her clothes to cool her sweat.“Phew.”'I must be reading the stars wrong because I’m not in good condition.'It was just too hot.In this climate, sweat poured down your body just from being still, and your body went limp. There was no way to feel at your best.Physical condition was extremely important when reading the law of the heavens.Hildegard climbed down from atop the Cube—where she’d been reading the flow of the stars—and addressed her companions.“Everyone, my divination says tonight will be quite dangerous. I think it’s probably a false alarm, but I’d like you all to remain on alert. I’ll assign watches, so please follow my instructions.”“Yes, ma’am!”“Now then, first watch will be…”Fwoosh—.As Hildegard was assigning sentry duty, something whipped past her side.“……”At the sudden sound of wind, she tilted her head.A Cube that had been hidden inside the dwelling rose up into the air and began floating on its own into the darkness.“Wh-what is that?!”It was like having your nose cut off in broad daylight.As Hildegard’s teammates flailed in confusion and scrambled into battle positions—Kuwaguang—!The palisades erected around the base suddenly collapsed, and tree vines burst up from all directions, attacking the team.“Tch.”Caron and Dandol each drew sword and axe, hacking down the vines.Hildegard borrowed the power of [Blessing] and burned away the vines with fire magic, shouting:“Who’s there! Stop hiding and attacking like cowards and show yourselves at once!”“If you insist.”At her shout, a familiar voice rang out from the darkness.Step, step—.When the owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows, Hildegard’s eyes widened in shock.“!”A stylish black suit instead of the Union uniform.A male student who looked completely dry, not a bead of sweat on him even in this stifling heat.It was the arrival of Loen Dvralis.

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