[Joint Assessment for 1st and 2nd Year Students]

The assessment is primarily individual.

However, the actions to be taken during the assessment are not specified.

The duration is three days and two nights, held in the Gotrin Mountains.

Individuals can earn points through combat in the mountains, and these points determine their ranking.

There are two ways to gain points: incapacitate another student in combat or capture magical beasts in the mountains.

Points are assigned based on the strength of the beasts, and scores are awarded according to contribution.

If a student incapacitates another, they can earn points proportional to that student's individual assessment rank and the points that student had earned.

If a 2nd-year student incapacitates a 1st-year student, they can only earn half of the points the 1st-year student had.

Once a student is incapacitated, they cannot participate further and their score is finalized.

Yeniel looked over these rules.

"It seems well thought out."

Everyone was paying attention to how the assessment would be conducted, as the 2nd-year midterms lacked differentiation.

This method would satisfy most.

The 2nd years also had the penalty of only receiving half the points for attacking 1st years, and the individual format would increase differentiation in the assessment.

Yeniel reviewed the other rules and came to a conclusion.

"It's practically saying to cooperate..."

Points are distributed based on contribution when capturing magical beasts.

Acting alone is less beneficial.

While solo action might seem advantageous, to score high in this assessment, one must cooperate with others.

Hunting magical beasts together may not yield high scores in the short term, but it's more efficient in the long run.

When hunting alone, it's inevitable to encounter other students.

In such cases, if the opponent has a team, you might face a one-against-many battle.

Defeat in such a situation essentially means the end.

No matter how many points you earn from beasts, you're just giving them away to others.

Considering all these aspects, forming a team early in the assessment is crucial for success.

It ensures safety.

If someone is alone by the mid-phase, they become prey for other teams.

From a team's perspective, the likelihood of accepting a lone individual into the team mid-way is low.

It's hard to tell if a person who didn't form a team early on betrayed their own team or has been hunting others.

Moreover, it might be more advantageous to capture an individual and gain points than to accept them into the team.

There were several strategies to secure the first place in the assessment.

However, these were not strategies just anyone could implement.

They required either special abilities or overwhelming power.

Such methods of victory were reserved for exceptional individuals, not something an ordinary person could achieve.

"If someone could do it"

Two people immediately came to mind.

Rudy Astria and Evan.

They were exceptional cases.

Predicting their actions was nearly impossible.

Especially with Evan's current state, which was concerning.

The last time they spoke, he seemed as lost as a navigator without the North Star, clearly unsettled.

But there was nothing Yeniel could do about it.

Although she was concerned about Evan, Yeniel doubted that she could bring about a change.

A few words from Yeniel were unlikely to change Evan.

People don't change that easily.

Evan needed to experience and feel things himself before he could change.

"Setting Evan aside for now,"

Yeniel mused.

"What should I do?"

This time, even Yeniel was particularly focused on their performance.

McDowell, the principal, had instructed her to bring back good results, and Yeniel intended to follow through.

If possible, even aiming for the top spot.

"Interesting."

I was looking over the rules for the joint assessment.

"At least this time we don't have to fight each other! We just have to catch all the magical beasts!"

Luna said cheerfully beside me.

"It would be great if it were as Luna says"

But that was unlikely.

Defeating people would be more beneficial for gaining points, but when considering overall rankings, reducing the number of competitors was more effective.

In fact, defeating people could be more advantageous for increasing points.

Towards the latter half, catching a weak player who has accumulated points from beasts could yield higher scores compared to fighting.

"Luna! Shall we decide where to meet up? Let's get together and catch a ton of beasts!"

"Should we?"

Still, I was relieved that I wouldn't have to fight people I knew.

There was no reason to confront Rie or Luna.

Both Rie and Luna were high-ranking, and I felt uncomfortable facing them.

With these rules, there was no need to fight Luna or Rie.

"Then let's tell Rie too! Decide on a place to meet! And tell other people!"

"Don't gather too many."

Luna was excitedly making plans, which made me anxious.

It felt like we were deciding who to take on a picnic...

"Of course! I'll only tell people we know!"

"Alright..."

Although I felt uneasy, I couldn't afford to worry about that.

I had other things to do.

"Firstly..."

I fiddled with the booklet distributed by the academy.

It was a beast encyclopedia.

It detailed what beasts would appear in the joint assessment, their characteristics, and how many points they were worth.

My task was to figure out which beasts would be the most efficient to catch.

Catching people might be good, but I didn't particularly want to do that.

Unless they were causing harm to me or others, I didn't want to attack people who were living peacefully.

"Well, I guess I should get going."

"Huh? Going where?"

"I can't keep standing in front of the bulletin board."

"Right..."

"I'm going to my room now to train and study the beasts."

As I said that, Luna made a peculiar face.

It was an expression mixed with dissatisfaction.

I looked at Luna, tilting my head in confusion.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well... Rudy?"

"Hmm?"

"Rie and you... everything's fine recently?"

Luna looked anxious, fidgeting with her fingers.

It was an obvious question.

I smiled at Luna.

"There were... some issues?"

"There were?"

Luna's eyes widened in surprise.

"What happened?"

"Just rolling around here and there with each other..."

I said in a playful tone.

"Rolled around?"

Luna mumbled quietly to herself in disbelief, "That's impossible," and "Now that I think about it, last time too..."

"Rudy..."

Seeing Luna's pout, I couldn't help but laugh playfully.

"Just kidding. We've been struggling a bit with magic-related stuff recently."

"Magic?"

"Yeah, Rie and I were discussing teleportation magic. We had some disagreements, so things got a bit heated."

Hearing this, Luna scrunched up her nose.

"Rudy!"

"Why are you asking such a question? You trying to slyly probe was the naughty part here."

Luna pouted her lips at my remark.

"So, nothing really happened then?"

"You know how busy we've been lately. What could have happened?"

"But, what was that about?"

"What?"

"When Rie asked you to hug her during the individual assessment. It seemed too natural. Almost like you've hugged her before..."

A twinge of guilt hit me at her words.

Is a woman's intuition really this scary?

I laughed awkwardly.

"Did it?"

"Hmm... never mind then."

Although Luna looked suspicious, she let it go.

"Anyway! I'm still trying to win you over, Rudy! You know that, right?"

"Win me over?"

That was something from when we went to the Railer territory.

It was only supposed to last until we returned from the Railer territory.

Honestly, I hadnt taken those half-joking words too seriously.

"It didn't end when we returned to the academy?"

"It's overtime. It didn't end back then."

So its overtime until she succeeds?

Practically like an endless rain dance until it rains.

But it didn't really matter to me.

It wasn't uncomfortable, and her antics were actually amusing.

"Alright, give it your best shot."

"But! If you start liking me too much, you have to tell me, okay?"

I laughed at her silly statement.

"Got it. You should head back and train too."

"Okay! See you tomorrow!"

I waved at Luna as I headed to the dormitory.

Entering my room, I opened the booklet containing the names of the beasts.

I had skimmed through the booklet as soon as I received it.

There were beasts I recognized from our Magical Beast Studies class and some I had never seen before.

I flipped through the book to its last section.

The beast listed at the end.

Beside its name, several red warning notes were written.

"It feels like this one will just pop up near the end..."

It was typical for a creature with such warnings to make an appearance.

I smiled.

"This is going to be interesting."

The name of the beast at the very end of the book.

It was the Red Dragon Hatchling.

So, there were two goals for the joint practical.

The highest scorers in both categories.

Catching the Red Dragon Hatchling among the beasts.

And catching Evan among the students.

That was my plan.