The person who popped out of the bush was a second-year senior wearing a green tie. He looked around, spotted me, and was startled, immediately summoning his beast.
“Come! White Grave!”
—Nyaa!
A small cat popped out from the back of his hand. Though small in stature and not very useful in battle, it was a biological weapon capable of slaughtering low-level monsters despite its size.
As he summoned his creature, a beeping sound came from his artifact, and time began to flow. But, perhaps not realizing it, he looked at me blankly and shouted.
“What are you doing!? Are you giving up!?”
“Just a little experiment.”
“Experiment…? What is it?”
I didn’t summon a creature and simply faced him. However, he didn’t attack me directly.
Rule #2: Cadets could not directly attack each other.
Naturally, that rule should also applied to summons. That was a rule that had to be observed.
He was watching me, devouring my time, but he soon realized the conditions for victory and gave an order to his creature.
“Oh! White Grave! Break that guy’s bracelet!”
“Nyao on!”
At his command, the white cat jumped and flew towards me. Judging by his approach, it seemed he was still unfamiliar with survival, perhaps from going a bit wild last year. I also didn’t recognize his face.
‘Theresia.’
[I know, Master.]
I gently waved the back of my hand. Sparks flew from the pattern on my hand, and a sword protruded, slicing through the body of the white cat.
“Nyaah!”
“W-white Grave!”
While the senior rushed to check on his injured summon, I glanced at the seconds displayed on my artifact.
[29:59]
‘I think it took less than a second.’
In 0.1 seconds, the number decreased, even though it was a piercing blow. This meant at least 1 second was required to use the summoned creature. In terms of seconds, 30 minutes equaled 1,800 seconds. That theoretically allowed for 1,800 hits, but…
‘That’s not realistically going to happen.’
The reason I managed to win this time was that I could counterattack in a one-on-one situation by preparing for his initial move. Facing multiple summoned creatures simultaneously wouldn’t go as smoothly, as I couldn’t count on them rushing at me first.
Having summarized the experiment’s results, I approached the crying senior, holding his summon in his arms.
“Senior, I’m wasting time. Would you just give me your bracelet?”
“Bla—… What?”
“Or I’ll have to k!ll the summoned beast. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”
“…You…b*stard.”
Fortunately, the senior removed his bracelet and handed it to me, seemingly unwilling to continue the fight. The moment I broke the bracelet, his figure was enveloped in particles of light and vanished from my sight.
I immediately understood what had happened.
‘When the bracelet breaks, it teleports you to a safe place, right?’
I wanted to experiment with what would happen after 30 minutes, but with the limited time, there was a chance my creature could recover from injuries and flee, so I let it go.
Waiting nervously for 30 minutes against an unpredictable opponent was impractical.
Beep—When I noticed a +1 mark on my artifact, I revised my immediate goal.
‘I need to find food first.’
The survival test would last for 3 days and 2 nights. Thanks to the conditions, I had to locate food and shelter on my own, though… I didn’t expect this test to be so challenging.
‘There should be some fruits… If I search, I might find something like a food package.’
This was a special area created by mana, so food and shelter likely existed in specific locations. It was highly probable these locations were accessible to many cadets. To eat, sleep, and rest comfortably, I needed strength.
‘About this…’
I prayed I wouldn’t encounter any 3-star summons and headed toward the center.
***
[Stella’s POV]
[Stella, there are cadets chasing you from behind.]
“I know… Can’t they just come out all together? It reduces time and seconds.”
[Puhh, maybe we should just burn down this forest. What are you so worried about?]
Stella frowned at Ifrit’s suggestion. This wasn’t that kind of test, and if she set fire to the forest, what would she do afterward?
While she had some resistance to fire due to possessing two fire-attributed summons, she wasn’t entirely immune. Ifrit’s fire, spread uncontrollably, could even burn the summoner herself.
“Besides, I won’t summon you for this exam.”
[Why!?]
“Because you’re too strong. Can’t you sit this one out?”
Despite her words, the reason for not summoning Ifrit was obvious. She stood out too much. Unless she wanted to turn everyone in the forest into her enemy at once, she needed to avoid summoning Ifrit.
Tuk-krut!
[Oh, you’re surrounded. Are you still not going to summon me?]
As Ifrit said, the cadets chasing Stella began appearing one by one.
The cadets emerging from the front, back, and all directions wore smug smiles.
Patreon Tiers Just Got More Affordable: From now on, FSM Level 2 will become the CN WN Bundle. The price will remain the same which is $10. Also, the price for the KR WN Bundle will also be decreased to $10 to match this bundle.
With this I have gotten rid of the level system. The reason I am doing this, is because I plan to add more chapters to the $5 Patron tiers. Currently the readers get 2 advance chapters when they become a $5 Patron, but I want to increase the chapters they get to at least 5 chapters and more. So the current updated tier system will work like this:
The Individual Tiers ($5) will give you access to 5 chapters or more.
The Bundle Tiers ($10) will give you access to all the chapters of CN or KR webnovels.
The Supreme Patron ($30) will give you access to all the webnovel chapters on Goblinslate.
Orginal use of summon for this world, partial summoning. Too good idea for MC knowing his track record.
Thanks