Chapter 165: The Final Test, Part One

{Sometime later}

Rin woke up on a quiet Monday morning with a minor headache. Maybe it had come as a result of the intense training she'd had with Maria yesterday, or due to sensory overload from everything that had happened recently, but it was there and it was noticeable.

"Ugh," the adventurer-in-training groaned as she threw her quilt off of her body and sat up on the edge of her bed. One look at the clock on the wall let her know that there were just thirty minutes left before the first class of the day began.

[... Come on,] she told herself, as she looked ahead and saw that Elisa wasn't there. [Get up and get ready. You've got stuff to do.]

A short while later, Rin had taken a shower, thrown on some black sweatpants along with a sleeveless white shirt, and exited her room. The halls of the Academy were largely empty, save for the space ahead of the classroom Rin shared with the others, where the students were standing outside, waiting for Harriton to arrive.

Rin saw Eve talking to Lisa and walked up to her.

"Hey," she greeted them, raising a hand and putting forth a smile as she tried to ignore the mild pain in her head.

"Hello," Lisa, the amazingly busty healer, greeted Rin back with a polite smile of her own.

"Yo," Eve winked at the raven-haired girl. "You good? You look a little weird."

[Is it that obvious?]

"Tired, mostly. Maria really pushed me hard yesterday," Rin replied.

"Ohhh, yeah that sounds about right," Eve said with a chuckle. "At least she's nice, though."

"Yeah," Rin responded with a sigh as she leaned on the railing. Outside, a few older students were walking in and out of the Academy under a blanket of sunlight. "She's great."

Almost as soon as she said that, Harriton arrived at the classroom with a smile and a slight hurry to his step.

"Good morning! Come on in, everyone!" The spellweaver said to the students outside. "Got a bit of an announcement to make."

"Oh?" Eve tapped a finger to her bottom lip as her bright, colorful eyes watched her teacher walk in. "I wonder what this is about."

[I think I can guess if my talks with Maria are anything to go by.]

One by one, the students all followed him inside, and soon, they were all seated, waiting to hear what he had to say. Harriton sat at the edge of the desk at the back of the classroom and began with:

"So," he started as he clapped his hands, "as you all know, by order of the Adventurer's Guild, you will all be able to take real, regular missions starting in a couple of months, in January. What you might not remember is that we here at the Adventurer's Academy offer a full winter recess. Just some time off to let you all unwind and reconnect with any friends or family that you may have neglected due to your studies here. Well... that recess begins in two weeks."

"Oh shit," Elisa muttered from the seat next to Rin's. There was a tangible pause, a sudden contemplation brought by this statement that was felt by every single one of the students there.

"Your next mission is next Monday. If you're catching on to what I'm trying to say, you'll understand that this means the next mission is the final mission of this term. Your final exam before you are set to take on real missions with the Guild."

Harriton's smile went away as low mutters gradually accumulated amongst the students.

[... Holy crap,] Rin thought, internalizing this information.

"Now, I do have to make something clear. As was the case with second-year students every year before this one, you will all be able to bid the academy farewell as soon as you start taking real missions. Some students do that, as they feel like what they've picked up here is enough to make it out in the wild, or they just can't afford to pay for more classes. If you think you need more, though, well, that's why we have second and third-year students. The academy will continue to be open to you, so long as you continue to pay for each semester, of course. Don't forget to do that, by the way, if you are planning on continuing to take classes here. Now, before we get on with our usual Essence-related stuff, any questions?"

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Though both Varyn and Lisa quickly raised their hands, Alea raised hers the fastest. So, Harriton pointed at her.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Will the classes be changing, then?"

"In what sense?" He asked, but the smirk that appeared on his face let Rin know he probably guessed what she meant.

"We'll be taking on real missions," Alea pointed out. "We'll be seeing what we've discussed all this time. Will we talk about it here, maybe?"

As annoying as Alea could be, Rin did want to know the answer to that question as well so she was glad she asked.

Harriton shrugged.

"If you mention it, one of us may be willing to go over some of what you saw. You see a strange monster out there, you run into a weird rune spell, you have some sort of technical combat-related question, I'm sure we could set some time aside to talk about it." He glanced at the rest of the classroom. "Anything else?"

Lisa was up next.

"We will be able to choose what we want to do, right?" She asked, sounding nervous.

"Of course," Harriton quickly replied. "In case I wasn't clear enough, I'm saying that, as soon as January arrives, you can be your own full-fledged adventurer. Whatever you want to do, you do it. You're holding all the cards, and in one month's time, you choose what to do with them."

---

"Damn, so, we're actually going to be adventurers in like a month?" Eve asked later, at the cafeteria, as she and Rin sat across from each other at one of the tables to the front.

In front of them were two plates of oatmeal, and in their bodies was the soreness of a good workout courtesy of Eli. Rin noticed that today, he'd pushed them especially harshly. The adventurer wondered how much of that was because of the fact that they'd be entering recess soon.

"Yeah..." Rin said, keeping her eyes on her food. "I guess so."

"You don't sound too hyped up about it," Eve remarked, tilting her head.

"I mean," Rin began, putting her spoon down for a moment. "Do you actually think we're ready?"

"Hell yeah," Eve replied almost instantly. "I mean, Harriton said we'd get to choose our own missions. It's not like we can't just take the easiest stuff and build up some experience from there. Plus, we've already been fighting real monsters. How different could it be to not have our teachers there with us?"

Rin raised a brow.

[... I guess we'll find out.]

--- 

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