⚔️ Astraea General Combat Academy

Not lineage, but ability.
Not talent, but results.

Magic, Swordsmanship, Summoning, Cursing, Martial Arts, Assassination—.

What kind of power do you wield?
What kind of house were you born into?

In 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 complete 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.

Ranks are not just grades.

• Classes you can take
• 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 criteria, and you are demoted.

Even if you come from a prestigious family, you will fall if you lack ability.
Even if you are an unknown student, you can advance to the top by accumulating achievements.

Here, the results shown here and now carry more weight than past titles.

♛ The Seven Ranks

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《S》— The Academy's Strongest

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At Astraea General Combat Academy, this is the highest student rank.

Only those who pass the annual 《Crown Exam》 are certified.

Since the qualification is held until graduation once obtained, multiple S-rank students may be enrolled at the same time.

This is the realm of the strongest among students.

However, they are no match for fully realized professionals with years of actual 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 top B-rank students pass the 《Hero Exam》.

It requires the ability to face high-level monsters alone and continuously execute grueling missions.

Strong individuals nearing completion in their respective fields gather here, yet 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 top C-rank students pass the 《Rising Dragon Exam》.

A rank permitted to hunt common monsters alone and participate in dangerous off-campus missions.

It requires not just combat power, but also judgment, cooperation, 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 the time of their enrollment assessment.

However, to advance to B-rank, one must build a track record 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 own combat techniques and the direction they wish to take.

Not a few students 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, technique, control, or academics.

If they fail to show sufficient results, there is a possibility of demotion to F-rank.

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《F》— The Lowest Rank

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This rank includes not only those with extremely low ability but also those whose true strength could not be correctly measured in assessments due to special traits.

Treatment and evaluation from others are harsh, and they are prone to becoming targets of 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 Premised on Actual Combat

Classes at Astraea General Combat Academy do not end with just sitting at a desk.

⚔️ Mock Battles
✦ Ability Control Training
⚔️ Interpersonal Combat
✦ Group Combat
⚔️ Monster Hunting
✦ Escort Missions
⚔️ Field Exercises in Dangerous Areas

At the center of education is always actual combat.

Simple destructive power alone cannot earn a high evaluation.

No matter how powerful the magic, if it catches allies in the blast, it is a failure.

Even if you defeat the enemy, if you lose the escort target, the mission is not achieved.

Even if you are excellent alone, if you disrupt group actions, you put your comrades in danger.

What is evaluated at the academy is—

• Combat Power
• Technique
• Control
• Situational Judgment
• Adaptability
• Sustainability
• Cooperation
• Crisis Management
• The ability to carry out 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 are no match for veteran teachers who have survived years of actual 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 Type

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Circulates mana within the body to enhance the physical self 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 the distance at high speed and attack before a mage's chant or concentration is complete.

Characteristics of Warrior Types

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
• Simultaneously handling many enemies

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 Type

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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 Mage Types

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 original power.

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Warrior types circulate mana internally.

Mage types release mana externally.

Because the two techniques are contradictory in nature, it is extremely difficult to handle both at a high level.

Warriors have the advantage in 1v1s and narrow spaces.
Mages have the advantage in group combat and 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 a certification test for C-rank students to be promoted 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.
Cooperation.
Crisis Management.
Mission Execution Capability.

What is required for passing is the ability to hunt common monsters alone and carry out missions involving danger.

Passers are few even among C-ranks, and only those who break through officially promote to B-rank.

Becoming B-rank grants eligibility to participate in more dangerous and high-difficulty off-campus missions.

◇ Fair National Standards

The exam content is determined by national standards and does not change every time.

There is no adjustment of difficulty at the 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 ability, 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 be promoted to A-rank.

Only top-tier B-rank students can challenge it.

The exam consists of several grueling tasks.

• Actual combat with teachers
• Consecutive battles with multiple high-level monsters
• Sudden missions that occur without notice

It is not just simple instantaneous firepower that is screened.

Sustainability to keep fighting for long periods.

Judgment to respond to unexpected situations.

Mental Strength to continue the mission despite fatigue or injury.

Only those who can hold their own or better against high-level monsters alone, even in harsh conditions with little rest, are certified as A-rank.

◇ Passing Criteria That 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 for each student.

"If you have this much ability, you are A-rank, no matter who you are."

Fair, just, and open.

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 records, and faculty evaluations.

The exam venue is the Full Virtual Combat Realm:
《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 on the physical body in reality.

Even if you die, you do not lose your life in reality.

However—

• Pain
• Fatigue
• Bleeding
• Loss of limbs
• Fear
• Backlash from ability use

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.

⚠️ Means to Survive are Generally Free

• Lethal Magic.
• Vital Point Strikes.
• Poison.
• Curses.
• 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 in the domain.

◇ Elimination Conditions

• Death Judgment
• Incapacitation
• Surrender
• Forced Teleportation
• Judgment of Inability to Continue

However—

Remaining until the end does not guarantee becoming S-rank.

• Combat Power.
• Strategy.
• Judgment.
• Mental Strength.
• 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 when a Crown Exam is held but not a single new S-rank is born.

Survival alone is not enough to reach the crown.

⚜️ Results Change Everything

At Astraea General Combat Academy, strength does not take just one form.

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, if you show results, you will be evaluated.

Conversely, even if you have a rare ability or an excellent lineage, it is meaningless if you cannot master it.

What will you learn?
Which rank will you aim for?
What power will you master?
Will you polish a potential that no one else 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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