All throughout the forest of monsters there were people fighting.

The clashes of flesh, steel and bone were grating, creating a cacophony of sounds unpleasant to the ear.

More so the closer you got to the forest's center.

Several monsters had been killed in the 3 hours since the start of the exam.

Multiple candidates had been taken out as well.

"I think this year's batch is quite impressive."

In the meeting room inside the academy, three professors were staring at what seemed to be a holographic screen.

This was a magic artifact called the [World's Reflection].

The academy had several of these in their possession, which were used to spy on...

Sorry, monitor the students in the academy.

...though there was nothing stopping some professors from trying to entertain themselves watching student drama.

"Indeed. The number of powerhouses is quite astonishing. And the mediocre candidates aren't too bad either." A booming voice said.

A response came in the calm voice of a woman, "Yes, though the number of people teaming up is higher than usual..."

"At least at this point in the game."

The booming voice belonged to a bulky man, almost two meters in height.

He had his arms crossed in front of him and emanated a serious aura.

"Hmph, I've never supported the idea of cooperation between the candidates."

"The strong don't need to rely on others!" The man said loudly, his voice bouncing off the walls.

"Keep your voice down." The woman replied, holding her hands to her ears.

"You'll break my eardrums." She berated the man.

"...Sorry." The man said scratching his hair-filled chin.

"What do you think, Professor Hebus?" The man looked to his right.

Sitting down in a relaxed pose was a man with slick hair that was black with specks of green.

He had a thick strand of hair coming down in between his eyes which reflected a green light.

He raised his head to address the bulky man, "Hmmm... me?"

"Yes you." He nodded back, "You're watching the examination are you not?"

Hebus played with his hair a bit, without responding.

He shuffled deeper into the chair he was sitting on. Clearly, he didn't want to respond.

"Well, if I have to comment..." He said reluctantly.

"Those who group together this early are usually the weak ones."

"I hate to agree with Grimm, but he's right. They aren't confident by themselves, so they find solace in numbers."

The bulky man, Grimm, looked over at the woman he was talking with, Ada, and smirked at her.

Ada kissed her teeth and glared at Hebus, prompting him to sink deeper into his chair.

'This was why I didn't want to answer.'

To alleviate his situation he added, "Buuuutttt..."

Ada looked at him with a raised eyebrow, while Grimm asked, "But what?"

"But... there's an exception."

"Those who know the true nature of the exam."

Grimm frowned at Hebus, "I already raised my dissatisfaction with the headmaster. This exam seems too complicated."

Ada snickered behind a hand on her mouth, "Or it's just too complicated for you."

"What was that?!"

Hebus was then forced to watch two adults chase each other around like children.

Grimm was big but Ada seemed too fast for him, always slipping out of his grasp at the last second.

Ada stuck out her tongue in a mocking gesture at Grimm, making him grind his teeth in frustration.

He reached out to grab her, but Ada deftly ducked under his outstretched arm and landed in his personal space.

"Gotcha!!" Grimm, confident in his grappling skills attempted to pull his arms around Ada and trap her in a bear hug.

Ada smiled, "Not today." and climbed up his body, landing on his shoulder.

Grimm couldn’t maintain his balance from his missed swing, and ended up losing his balance.

He fell to the floor with Ada sitting on top of him like she had just mopped the floor with him.

Which... technically she did.

Hebus shook his head, "Aren't you two supposed to be professors?" He muttered under his breath.

He looked back at the [World's Reflection], staring at all the different people that were shown.

There was a girl with silver hair being attacked by a troop of monkeys.

Though they were merely first-degree monsters, they were deadly in troops.

The girl was already covered in gashes and severe bruises that were visible on her torso.

'Tch, that's gotta hurt. It seems her luck isn't that good.' Hebus shook his head in pity.

It wasn't even worth all the pain.

Even if she managed to defeat the whole troop or escape them, she'd still have to face other participants or stronger beasts.

'Healing spells would definitely come in handy right now. Though it wouldn't help much.'

A healing spell would deal with her wounds, but it would come at the cost of her mana.

Mana that she would need to combat her opponents.

'Let's just hope she survives until the next stage then.'

Hebus shifted his line of sight a bit and saw another girl with blonde hair, wearing a black frilly dress.

'Hmm, she seems quite competent. Not a scratch on her.'

'Will she be one of the ones to look out for?'

He looked to another student, one with brown hair and a long sword in hand.

'Oh? I recognize this one. Wasn't he the one in that rumor...?’

'What was it again... oh right!'

Hebus sprung to his feet, he was very interested in this candidate.

Grimm looked to his side from where he was still being used as a stool by Ada.

Hebus was sure he would be able to push her off, so he had no idea why he was still in that position.

Ada didn't seem to notice, as she was poking his cheek saying stuff like, "Heh, so you really are this hopeless."

Grimm asked him, "What? Did one of the students pique your interest?"

Hebus nodded. He pointed at the boy with brown hair, "This is Markus, the rumored child mercenary."

Grimm stood up abruptly, causing Ada to fall off his back ungracefully. "Hey you big oaf, what was that about?!"

Grimm walked towards Hebus, "You mean, the boy who entered battlefield after battlefield as a child?"

Hebus nodded, "I heard he had already participated in a clash between armies at 8 years old."

Grimm squinted his eyes, "Since then he has been joining different battles under many banners."

"He would sign up for disputes between borders, not only fighting but stacking up quite the number of kills."

Hebus kept his eye on the boy who was currently fighting a tiger-like beast, "He's received several offers to come under a noble banner."

"His potential is nothing to scoff at."

Grimm folded his hands while shaking his head, "I wonder what that boy has seen... at such a young age."

Hebus shook his head as well, he disagreed though, “That’s the wrong way to look at it."

His eyes sparkled as he studied the way Markus fought. "He's already ahead of the competition."

"If he passes, he'll be a student that already has combat experience."