Appraisal

"Wha— You can't fail Allen!" Cecil protested indignantly. At the same time, Krena asked, "Why did Allen fail?" Dogora stared fixedly at the readings panel as if confirming every letter one by one.

"Well, looks like I've failed, guys. Good luck with your exams! Let's discuss where to meet up after you're done."

Cecil retorted, "Why're you moving on like nothing happened?!"

'I mean, there are still plenty of things I can do even without attending the Academy.'

Honestly, Allen was fine with failing. He had known that all his stats would show up as "E" and had already considered the possibility that this might lead to his rejection. He had received a written notice from the viscount just in case, explaining that the Appraisal result from when he was five years old was mistaken and that he did indeed possess a Talent, but that letter clearly was not going to be of any help in this situation.

'Still, this wasn't an entire waste. There's a lot that I can deduce now based on the fact that they fail Talented applicants if their stat rankings are low.'

While in line, Allen had observed the examiners fail almost one out of every three examinees. It was obvious that just having a Talent was not enough to guarantee admittance. From this, Allen figured out two things:

There is a variation in stat rankings among those with Talents, which affects how strong they could ultimately become.

It is possible to estimate how strong someone can get based on their stat rankings.

The first implied that it was possible that two people could possess the same Talent yet have different stat rankings—for example, a Swordsman with low Attack was possible. The Academy, for its part, wanted Talented applicants with Statuses actually suited to their Talents. Based on the examiner's reaction, Krena, Cecil, and Dogora had all met this requirement.

The second meant growth was determined by stat rankings; it was possible to tell how strong someone could become just by looking at their stat rankings and doing the math. The Academy saw no point in accepting and training someone who, even after three years of education and training, would prove to be useless on the battlefield.

This was likely the real reason why there was no practical element to the entrance exam. Some applicants may have done some leveling, whereas some were still Lvl 1. Whether someone had leveled up or not was a bad standard of judgment, as it did nothing to confirm how useful their Talent and stats were.

'I see, they must have determined whether to pass someone or not based solely on their written exam results and the Appraisal from when they were five, but after those nobles falsified their Talents, they now conduct an Appraisal on the spot. This way, there's no way for applicants to lie about their Talents, plus the Academy also manages to weed out those with low stats. Two birds with one stone.'

"What's all the commotion? You shouldn't make a scene just because you failed."

A blue-haired young man approached them. Based on his flippant aura, he was clearly not an examiner. At his side was a silver-haired elf, who seemed in the prime of his maturity. They had apparently been drawn by the fuss that Krena and Cecil were kicking up.

'Oh! It's a real-life elf!'

Allen was slightly excited at his first sight of a fantasy race since coming to this world.

"Uh, um, actually..."

After the examiner explained the situation, the blue-haired young man said, "Really? Let me take a look at the Appraisal results," and peered over.

Cecil closed in on him, demanding, "It makes no sense for Allen to have failed! I need an explanation for this!"

"What do you mean by 'it makes no sense'?" the man returned.

"It means exactly what it means! After all, Allen is strong enough to kill a murdergalsh by himself!" As someone who had watched the life-and-death battle between Allen and a murdergalsh up close, Cecil absolutely refused to accept this turn of events.

"A murdergalsh? At his age? Now, that is a feat indeed. And yet all his stat rankings are 'E.' It's true that I've never seen an Appraisal result like this..." The man turned and shrugged at the elf. "Maybe this really is your guy."

'What does that last part mean?'

The elf's eyebrows rose in surprise. "So Lord Rohzen was right. A young man with all his stat rankings at 'E' really did show up this year."

"Did Rohzen say anything else, Headmaster? It's hard to make a call based on this alone."

'What's going on? What're they talking about?'

"Our Lord is not so proficient at reading the future. In the first place, foresight is not a gift that naturally belongs to spirits. And more importantly, as I've asked time and again, can you stop referring to our object of worship so casually?"

"Ah, sorry. I'm not good at using 'lord' and 'lady' and all that."

"So then, Sir Helmios. Can you help confirm the validity of this reading?"

"Gimme a sec; I'll take a look."

The blue-haired man's golden eyes gleamed as he turned toward Allen.

Allen and Cecil both recognized the names "Helmios" and "Headmaster." According to their magic tutor, Helmios was the name of the Hero who had been born in Giamut. This Helmios had referred to the elf as Headmaster, the title for the person at the very top of Academy City.

Helmios's eyes glowed even brighter as he continued staring at Allen.

'So, the Hero showed up. What's he doing in a place like this? And when he said he'd "take a look," he was talking about me, right?'

"Uh, lemme see... His Attack is 570— Whoa! His Intelligence is 1,630!"

'Hold on a damn moment! He totally has an Appraisal skill! And he's just exposing my Status in front of the whole world! Why does a five-star Hero get an Appraisal skill while an eight-star like me doesn't?! The gods are so going to get some prayers for this!'

Allen practically bit his tongue trying not to exclaim, "Don't read my stats out loud!" Doing so would have confirmed that Helmios really was reading his Status.

"His Intelligence would have to be 'S' to be higher than 1,600," the headmaster said, peering at the plaque displaying Allen's Appraisal results. "So why is it 'E' here?"

"Something's not adding up," Helmios announced. "This Status isn't enough to defeat a murdergalsh."

"Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm. His Attack, Agility, and Endurance are all lower than what a murdergalsh would have. He wouldn't last a second. His Intelligence is high, sure, and his overall Status is close to that of an Archwizard, but he doesn't have any magic skills listed."

'Okay, seriously, can you stop? That said, his analysis is correct. He's not the Hero for nothing, I suppose.'

"An Archwizard who can't use magic..." The headmaster frowned as he tried to wrap his mind around what Helmios was saying.

"I believe this Talent that I've never heard of—'Summoner'—is the key.

Your name is Allen, right? Apparently the Appraisal Ceremony equipment is broken, so I'll Appraise you myself."

Cecil broke into a smile. "In other words, Allen passes, right?! Allen, you passed!"

"Hmm, but we would want to see a little bit of his powers as a Summoner.

It'd be hard to make a call if we don't know anything about what he can do."

"Huh? That's all you need? Allen, show them that large be—?!"

Allen stepped up from behind Cecil in a split second and covered her mouth.

'Can you not give away my personal info too?! So, how should I handle this?

'From what's been said, it seems like they were looking for me. In that case...'

"I'm sorry for the commotion, Mr. Examiner," Allen said, ignoring Helmios's expectant look. "Since I've failed, I'll get out of your hair now.

Wouldn't want to waste any more of your time, with how long the line is behind me and all."

"Uh...what? Huh?"

With Allen's hand still over her mouth, Cecil made an indignant rumble that sounded something like, "What do you think you're saying?!"

Helmios interrupted, "But I'm saying that I'll pass you if you show me your power."

Allen turned to him with a confused look. "I'm sorry. You don't appear to be an examiner. May I ask who you are?"

Both the headmaster and examiner went, "Huh?!"

After a short pause, Helmios gathered himself and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Helmios. I'm the Hero, if you've heard of me."

"Hero? Don't think I have. Is that a reason why I have to show you my power?"

Another "Huh?!" went around. No one expected Allen to maintain his attitude even after learning of Helmios's identity.

"Enough," the headmaster cut in. "I, the headmaster, order you to show us.

Would that do?"

"I refuse," Allen replied firmly.

"What?!" The headmaster did not expect Allen to remain uncooperative still.

"If you're admitted into the Academy, you're going to have to show it off anyways," Helmios pointed out. "Why are you so against it?"

"I never said that I'm against showing my Talent," Allen returned.

"What?"

"I'm saying that I don't want to show it for free."

"What do you mean?"

"My Talent is so rare that even the headmaster has never seen or heard of it before, right? If you want to see it in action, then I want something in return."

"Like what? Money?"

"No, I'm not interested in money. Judging from your conversation with the headmaster, you've seen my Status. Would you mind showing me yours using the crystal? Then I'll call it even."

Allen knew that the whole thing about the Appraisal Ceremony equipment being broken was just something that Helmios had made up on the spot. Helmios shot a glance at the headmaster, who sighed and nodded to give his permission.

Helmios shrugged. "I mean, I don't really mind." He approached the crystal.

'Awesome, I'm glad that worked. This is going to be really helpful for my analysis. I haven't the faintest idea why the Hero would be roaming around the exam grounds, but this is a lucky break for me.'

Three years from now, Allen would have to head to war. Just how much strength would he need to survive it? Just how powerful was the Hero who had managed to beat the Demon Lord Army back and restore Giamut's borders? This was what Allen wanted to know.

When the Hero's hand touched the crystal, it glowed—not as brightly as it had for Allen, but still more than enough to be impressive.

___

Name: Helmios

HP: S

MP: A

Attack: S

Endurance: S

Agility: S

Intelligence: A

Luck: A

Talent: Hero

___

'Whoa, it's all just "A"s and "S"s. This is more of a physical combat build, I see. Pretty much as I'd expected.'

Allen could not help doing some light analysis while copying down the reading into his grimoire.

"Okay, I've shown you my Status. Now show me your Talent."