"Isabel, are you really going alone?"
"Yes! Don't worry. I have something to prove. Hehe."
"Prove...?"
"You'd better prepare yourself. Miss Yuri, you might fail if you let your guard down for even a moment...!"
Isabel ran into the forest with a terrifying smile. She was essentially the first to make a move.
While most students were still standing in the clearing eyeing each other cautiously, Isabel's actions captured everyone's attention.
She ran into the forest alone as soon as the test began?
That would be impossible unless she had something she firmly believed in. Considering the unknown attackers waiting in the forest and having to be wary of fellow students while traveling alone.
The students glanced at each other before gathering in small groups and slowly making their way deeper into the forest.
And Ivan, who had been watching the scene from above, also began to move slowly.
"Ivan, where are you going?"
"I have something I need to see for myself."
"Hmm...? Very suspicious? Who is it? What rascal has caught our 'Little' Ivan's interest?"
Enrique chuckled and shrugged. As Ivan turned to leave without answering, Enrique spoke up.
"Don't interfere with the kids' test. They'll do fine. You're a bit over-armed, that's all."
"I'm preparing for contingencies."
"When you say you're preparing for contingencies in Pritzenkaya, it sounds like a coup is about to happen. Relax your shoulders, my disciple. That's paranoia."
"Perhaps."
Ivan had no intention of trying to convince this stubborn pre-modern old man.
If one were to list the three events at the academy most vulnerable to attack, they would be:
The entrance ceremony, field training, and festivals.
The reason they remain so carefree despite creating a test curriculum that practically begs for terrorism is because they lack common sense.
Ivan was an extremely practical person who only attempted what was possible. And teaching common sense to a centenarian was not within his range of possibilities.
Ivan silently jumped onto a tree and disappeared into the forest.
"Has he become... somewhat annoying lately?"
Enrique felt irritated as he recalled the expression Ivan had worn.
"What does that man really do for a living?"
Isabel muttered as she ran through the forest.
Everything she had learned in Ivan's class was vividly clear in her mind.
-Nature has no straight lines. During daylight hours, anything that shines in a straight line is a trap.
Indeed it was. Isabel had already disarmed six booby traps and continued running without hesitation.
And one more thing.
-For a well-trained agent with sufficient time, a trap never exists in isolation. So, imagine where you would dodge when you avoid a trap.
Trap guidance. On the cleanest path to avoid an ambush trap, there is always a second trap.
That lesson was also appropriate. These agents, Enrique's disciples, seemed to be sufficiently trained even by Ivan's standards.
After disarming traps and mapping escape routes in her head, there was always a second trap exactly where she expected.
After running for some time, Isabel heard a rustling sound.
"Is someone there?"
A student. Isabel crouched in the bushes and quietly gripped her knife handle.
Soon there was a rustling sound, and a student appeared. What was his name again? Alain? He was probably a freshman from Tilles like her.
And he was quite well-connected.
But he appeared alone? That can't be right.
Isabel smiled coldly as she surveyed the surroundings. Sure enough, she spotted shadows moving far behind Alain. They seemed to be hiding behind trees, but such clumsy concealment was worse than not hiding at all.
It only raises suspicion.
Isabel couldn't help but smile. Seeing such incompetence made her realize again how remarkable that man was. This is why she couldn't deal with children.
She was startled by her own thoughts. No, what do I mean by "deal with"?
'Just gratitude, nothing more!'
At least confessions should be received, not given. As proven by long history, despite how much the world has changed.
According to Tilles court etiquette, there is only one case where women confess first: when a woman's father approaches to arrange a strategic marriage.
Unfortunately, Isabel doesn't have a father. Maximillian has been missing for four years now.
Therefore, Isabel must follow the history and tradition of Tilles. If Ivan confesses first, she might consider it, and she's quite willing to review it positively.
'Me confessing first? That's not right. No matter how much of an old man he is, I'm much more valuable. I'm the daughter of a hero, a noble, pretty, and young.'
Normally, Asidis or Yuri would have appropriately stopped Isabel when she started getting carried away, but unfortunately, no one was by her side right now...
"Hey, I guess no one's here?"
"Strange, I definitely heard something."
When Alain grumbled, a group of students hiding behind trees appeared. Familiar faces, Alain's group.
Five. A number difficult to handle without casualties in a frontal confrontation.
But Isabel gripped her knife and quietly climbed up a tree.
Anti-ambush training could also be considered ambush training. To counter ambushes, one first had to be proficient in ambush methods.
So, Isabel, who had received direct field training from Krasilov's top field agent, now possessed skills that college freshmen couldn't counter.
'First, one down.'
Isabel covered the mouth of the man at the back and immediately held a knife to his nape.
"Mmph...mmph?!"
"Shh. This is sharp."
"M-Miss Isabel...?!"
"Tsk, if you don't stay quiet, you might get hurt."
She took a bead from the unknown classmate's possession and struck the back of his neck.
"Gack!!"
"Oh, that's how the old man used to knock people out."
"Attack...! We're under attack!! She took my bead!!"
"Ah, that's cheating. If you're eliminated, you should be quiet."
Isabel grumbled as she raised her knife. The classmate who had been hit on the nape writhed in pain, but thanks to him, four others were now rushing toward her.
"Isabel...! After running off alone, you're making the first move! Are you brave or just stupid?"
"Oh, Alain. Are we on informal terms now?"
Isabel grinned as she raised her knife. Well, four is better than five. She decided to think positively.
She didn't like how they all forced smiles when looking at her anyway.
And additionally.
'What's with that stance.'
Their attacking stance, their rushing momentum, even their uncoordinated movements.
Each aspect was laughably inadequate.
Compared to the entrance train where she had to face terrorists with her life on the line, and Ivan's attacks during the past week that felt like real combat, this was almost boring.
She smirked. Anyway, really. When she thought about it, it was all about that old man. So serious.
"I wonder if five beads will make me the top student? I really want to be first this time."
Isabel grinned and charged forward.
As time passed, about two hours after the test began.
By the time half of the students had failed and were being escorted out of the forest.
That is, when Enrique's disciples had fewer students to handle and the attacks were becoming more intense.
-Rumble rumble rumble....
The ground began to shake from deep below.
"Kyaah?!"
Yuri lost her balance and fell while running. She immediately got up and gripped her knife handle, scanning her surroundings.
But there was no one. No signs of an attack.
"What's going on?"
-Rumble rumble...!!
The ground tremors intensified. Increasingly heavy, the forest trees swayed and dropped leaves with a rustle.
Enrique frowned and immediately jumped up onto a tree.
"...What's happening?"
-Rumble rumble...!!
As the ground shook, Ivan leaped from the tree. He jumped to the top of the tallest tree and surveyed the surroundings.
The entire vast forest was shaking.
"Where is it."
Ivan wasn't surprised by the sudden earthquake. Since an attack was a constant, he wasn't the type to be startled by each event unfolding according to common sense.
Where's the target?
Ivan scanned the area with cold eyes. The range was too wide. He had already identified the positions of Isabel and Oskar, but the direction of the earthquake wasn't limited to just their locations.
The entire forest was trembling.
"Ha, this."
Ivan soon smiled. He recognized a familiar pattern.
The dwarf was right. As expected.
Ivan quickly scanned the forest. If one wasn't panicked by the sudden earthquake, if one observed the entire battlefield with a broad view, there were things to be seen.
An earthquake is ultimately a wave. The epicenter is where the shaking is most violent.
So, if we deduce.
The swaying trees themselves serve as excellent markers. If one could gauge the degree of shaking, one could locate the epicenter.
As he had once reflected, a forest is essentially a maze-like structure. It's a complex mechanism formed by randomly grown trees and mature trees intertwined with each other.
If one isn't deceived by such forms, if one can analyze each swaying tree as an independent object.
"It's a spider web."
He could see a long epicenter spreading out in a circular pattern, like a spider web.
The 5th Dragon Corps Engineering Battalion, "Webmaker's" unique attack method.
It's been a while. Ivan almost felt nostalgic. It was a very orthodox attack, reminiscent of the past "Tunnel Wars."
Though it was much smaller in scale than back then, still.
-CRASH!!
With a sound like an avalanche, the entire forest sank.
Trees tangled and fell, soil flipped over revealing deep burrows.
Everything above was swept away in the mudslide,
And soil dust and broken timber splashed up, creating a large reverberation.
In the hazy battlefield, Ivan heard the screams of many students.
'I'll leave student rescue to Enrique.'
Enrique would be able to assess the situation immediately upon seeing it. Dwarf attacks would be familiar to her as well.
Additionally, most students carried "position tracking magical tools." In other words, student rescue should be possible within the golden time.
For external training, especially an "anti-ambush" test close to real combat, healers would also be on standby. Even if there were significant injuries, they could be recovered.
Ivan immediately jumped down from the tree.
'Oskar is closer.'
If he thought either Isabel or Oskar was the target, he'd start with the closer one.
Ivan visualized his route in his head and threw himself into the gap of a deep burrow with no visible bottom.
The battlefield was close, the objective was clear, and he was well-armed.
An Annihilation Squad officer needed nothing more.