Rise to the top in a meritocratic academy.
About
⚔️ Astraea General Combat Academy
Results over lineage.
Outcome over talent.
Magic, Swordsmanship, Summoning, Sorcery, Martial Arts, Assassination—.
What kind of power do you wield?
Into what house were you born?
At this academy, those things alone do not determine your value.
Only one thing is evaluated.
What can you do with that power?
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✦ The Kingdom's Premier Combat Education Institution ✦
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Astraea General Combat Academy is a pure meritocracy that accepts students regardless of ability or status, evaluating combat power, technique, judgment, and mission execution capability.
Enrolled students are classified into seven ranks from 《S》 to 《F》 based on their ability.
Rank is not merely a grade.
- Classes you can attend
- Facilities you can use
- Missions you are permitted to join
- Treatment provided by the academy
- Career paths available after graduation
Much of academy life changes based on your current rank.
Produce results, and you are promoted.
Fail to meet the standards, and you are demoted.
Even those from prestigious families will fall if they lack ability.
Even unknown students can reach the top by accumulating achievements.
Here, the results shown in the present carry more weight than titles from the past.
♛ The Seven Ranks
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《S》— The Academy's Strongest
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Astraea General Combat Academy's highest student rank.
Only those who pass the annual 《Crown Exam》 are certified.
Once obtained, the qualification is held until graduation, so multiple S-rank students may be enrolled at once.
This is the realm of the strongest students in the academy.
However, they still do not reach the level of seasoned professionals with years of combat experience, such as the nation's top knights or court mages.
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《A》— The Student Elite
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A rank certified when high-ranking B-rank students pass the 《Hero Exam》.
It requires the ability to face high-level monsters alone and continuously execute grueling missions.
While it gathers powerhouses nearing completion in their respective fields, there is still a gap in experience and skill compared to veteran knights and mages who have mastered their paths.
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《B》— Dangerous Mission Participants
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Certified when high-ranking C-rank students pass the 《Rising Dragon Exam》.
Students at this rank can solo common monsters and are permitted to participate in dangerous off-campus missions.
It requires not just combat power, but also judgment, coordination, and crisis management skills.
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《C》— Excellent Students
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A rank for students with excellent abilities.
Some are certified at this level during the enrollment assessment.
However, to advance to B-rank, one must accumulate achievements within the academy and challenge the Rising Dragon Exam.
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《D》— The Standard Rank
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The rank to which the largest number of students in the academy belong.
While acquiring basic abilities, students determine their combat techniques and the direction they wish to take.
Many work hard from here to advance to higher ranks.
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《E》— Developing
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A rank for students who still have issues with basic abilities, techniques, control, or academics.
Failure to show sufficient results may lead to demotion to F-rank.
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《F》— The Bottom Rank
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This rank includes not only those with extremely low ability but also those whose true strength could not be measured correctly during assessment due to unique traits.
Treatment and evaluation from others are harsh, and they are prone to discrimination and contempt.
However, rank is not a fixed social status.
As long as you show results, you can aim for the top even from F-rank.
🛡️ Education Based on Real Combat
Classes at Astraea General Combat Academy do not end with sitting at a desk.
⚔️ Mock Battles
✦ Ability Control Training
⚔️ Interpersonal Combat
✦ Group Combat
⚔️ Monster Hunting
✦ Escort Missions
⚔️ Field Exercises in Dangerous Areas
At the heart of education is always real combat.
High evaluations cannot be obtained through raw power alone.
No matter how powerful the magic, it is a failure if it hits an ally.
Even if you defeat the enemy, the mission is not achieved if the escort target is lost.
Even if you excel individually, you put your comrades at risk if you disrupt group actions.
What is evaluated at the academy is—
- Combat Power
- Technique
- Control
- Situational Judgment
- Adaptability
- Sustainability
- Coordination
- Crisis Management
- The power to execute a mission to the end
Most teachers are former professionals who have experienced the battlefield as knights, soldiers, adventurers, court mages, or assassins.
Even high-ranking students cannot match veteran teachers who have survived years of real combat.
This academy is not just a place to decide who is the strongest among students.
It is a place to raise those who can survive on a real battlefield after graduation.
✧ Mana and the Two Combat Systems
All combat techniques existing in this world have 《Mana》 as their source.
Fighting styles are broadly divided into two systems.
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⚔️ Warrior System
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Circulates mana within the body to enhance the physical form and weapons as 《Aura》.
Focuses on techniques using the body or weapons, such as swordsmanship, spearmanship, martial arts, archery, and assassination.
Using enhanced physical abilities, they close distance at high speed to attack before a mage's chanting or concentration is complete.
Characteristics of the Warrior System
Strengths
- One-on-one
- Combat in narrow spaces
- High-speed approach
- Anti-mage combat
- Instantaneous offense and defense
Weaknesses
- Long-range combat
- Wide-area attacks
- Situations where approach is hindered
- Handling multiple enemies simultaneously
They can also evade or mitigate magic using Aura.
However, if they cannot get close to the enemy, it is difficult to demonstrate their true strength.
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🔮 Mage System
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Releases mana outside the body and converts it into various phenomena.
Fire, lightning, ice, impact, barriers, healing, summoning, curses—.
The powers they can handle are diverse, enabling high-power and wide-range attacks.
Characteristics of the Mage System
Strengths
- Long-range combat
- Group combat
- Wide-area attacks
- Defensive battles
- Support and interference
Weaknesses
- Close-quarters combat
- Situations where chanting is interrupted
- Environments where concentration cannot be maintained
- Responding to instantaneous ambushes
The more powerful the magic, the more chanting and concentration it requires.
If someone gets inside their guard or disrupts their formula, they cannot demonstrate their true power.
Warrior-types circulate mana internally.
Mage-types release mana externally.
Because these two techniques are contradictory in nature, it is extremely difficult to handle both at a high level.
Warriors have the advantage in one-on-one or narrow spaces.
Mages have the advantage in group combat or wide battlefields.
However, results can be overturned by skill, environment, compatibility, and tactics.
There is no absolute way to fight.
🐉 Rising Dragon Exam
—— From C-rank to B-rank
The Rising Dragon Exam is the certification test for C-rank students to promote to B-rank.
Only C-rank students with grades above a certain level can challenge it.
The exam consists of multiple practical tasks.
- Monster Hunting
- Escort Missions
- Mock Battles
It is not just combat power that is evaluated.
Judgment.
Coordination.
Crisis Management.
Mission Execution Capability.
Passing requires the ability to solo common monsters and execute missions involving danger.
Even among C-ranks, few pass, and only those who break through officially promote to B-rank.
Becoming B-rank grants the qualification to participate in more dangerous and high-difficulty off-campus missions.
◇ Fair National Standards
The exam content is set by national standards and does not change every time.
There is no adjustment of difficulty based on a teacher's discretion.
No matter who the examinee is, the content is the same.
No matter who the examiner is, the judgment is the same.
The exam does not become easier or stricter to suit the examinee.
"If you have this much skill, you are B-rank, no matter who you are."
All students are measured by the same yardstick.
🦅 Hero Exam
—— From B-rank to A-rank
The Hero Exam is a special test for B-rank students to promote to A-rank.
Only top-tier B-rank students can challenge it.
The exam consists of multiple grueling tasks.
- Real combat against teachers
- Consecutive battles against multiple high-level monsters
- Sudden missions that occur without warning
What is screened is not just raw instantaneous firepower.
Sustainability to keep fighting for long periods.
Judgment to respond to unexpected events.
Mental Fortitude to continue the mission despite fatigue or injury.
Only those who can solo high-level monsters on equal or better terms in harsh conditions with little rest are certified as A-rank.
◇ Passing Standards No One Can Change
The exam content is fixed by national standards.
The content and passing criteria do not change based on a teacher's judgment.
There are no individual standards per student.
"If you have this much skill, you are A-rank, no matter who you are."
Fair, just, and transparent.
Only those who cross that absolute standard are permitted to advance to the student elite.
👑 Crown Exam
—— From A-rank to the Highest Student Rank 《S》
The Crown Exam is a special annual test to determine promotees to the highest student rank, S.
Eligibility is granted only to—
The 《Top Five A-rank Students》
selected based on annual grades, mission achievements, and faculty evaluations.
The exam venue is the Full Virtual Combat Domain:
《Gladius Domain》
Within the domain, the participants' bodies, equipment, and abilities are reproduced exactly as in reality.
Injuries sustained in the domain are not reflected in the physical body in reality.
Even if you die, you do not lose your life in reality.
However—
- Pain
- Fatigue
- Bleeding
- Dismemberment
- Fear
- Backlash from ability usage
All of it is faithfully reproduced.
While safe, neither the pain nor the fear is fake.
That is why participants can fight for real without holding back.
⚠️ Methods for Survival are Generally Unrestricted
- Lethal Magic.
- Vital Point Strikes.
- Poison.
- Sorcery.
- Summoning.
- Traps.
- Ambushes.
- Negotiation.
- Alliances.
- Betrayal.
To seize the crown, any tactic is permitted.
The exam environment changes every year.
- Forests.
- Wastelands.
- Ruins.
- Labyrinths.
Participants do not just fight each other.
They aim to be the last one standing while also dealing with monsters and disasters that appear within the domain.
◇ Elimination Conditions
- Death Judgment
- Incapacitation
- Surrender
- Forced Teleportation
- Unfit to Continue Judgment
However—
Remaining until the end does not guarantee becoming S-rank.
- Combat Power.
- Strategy.
- Judgment.
- Mental Fortitude.
- Adaptability.
- Leadership.
If the overall power worthy of being called the academy's strongest does not reach the standard, even the winner will not be certified.
There are even years where not a single new S-rank is born despite the Crown Exam being held.
Survival alone will not reach the crown.
⚜️ Results Change Everything
At Astraea General Combat Academy, there is no single form of strength.
Those who master the sword.
Those who research magic.
Those who fight alongside summons.
Those who defeat superiors through ambushes and poison.
Those who protect and support their comrades.
Whatever the power, it will be evaluated if results are shown.
Conversely, even if you have a rare ability or superior lineage, it is meaningless if you cannot master it.
What will you learn?
Which rank will you aim for?
What kind of power will you master?
Will you polish a potential that no one understands?
This is not a place to become a predetermined hero.
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It is an academy for proving
who you are through your own strength.
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Characters
Sourcebook
Intro
Astraea General Combat Academy, the kingdom's premier educational institution. On the first day of school, new students were gathered for the rank assessment that would determine their initial standing based on their abilities.
Teachers and upperclassmen lined the vast arena, while multiple measuring devices and barriers for mock battles were set up in the center. As Guest entered the venue, all eyes turned toward them at once.
Tense new students whispered among themselves.
"All the S-ranks and A-ranks are here to watch..." "Why? It's just the entrance assessment..."
The Head of the Assessment Bureau stood on the podium. Her calm gaze held no prejudice toward status or lineage.
We will now begin the freshman rank assessment. The ranks certified today will range from C to F. Ranks B and above are granted only to those who accumulate achievements after enrollment and pass the promotion exams.
The buzzing of the arena fell silent.
She pointed to the three testing zones.
The assessment consists of three stages. First is the basic ability measurement, testing physical capacity, mana volume, and control precision. Second is the practical exam, where you freely demonstrate your specialized techniques. Third is a mock battle against a teacher. We will evaluate not just power, but technique, judgment, adaptability, and control as a whole. Status and family background do not matter. We will not tolerate fraud, favoritism, or undervaluation.
Creator Comment
Release Date 2026.08.01 / Last Updated 2026.08.01
