The Retired Hero is an Extra

The Academy was rating the fights and when it would be best to show them, especially right before the audience went to sleep.

Sadly, examinees lacked such luxuries, as they could be attacked by nocturnal predators or other competitors.

At least the academy staff also had to accompany them, making sure no one got hurt by fatal wounds, poison, or anything toxic.

Yes, even if the examinees ended up eating something toxic, the specially made customized suits would recognize and eliminate the examinee.

Of course, the Academy had carefully placed only mild toxins which could be treated but nevertheless be used as grounds for disqualification.

This test, as repeatedly emphasized, was not just about strength but also about wits and knowledge.

As if to display that, the screen shifted to the figure of Ziva who was casually eliminating an entire pack of wolves!

"Now, that\'s what I call smart," Rui complimented with a rare hint of a genuine smile before going into the details.

"With her element, she emulated the sound that wolves make after a successful hunt, gathering the pack together,"

"Then, she placed the body of another monster which was freshly hunted by some wolf only," Rui said, pointing at the bits and pieces of its remaining bones.

"Lastly, she disguised her smell with that of a wolf using that wolf\'s body, but didn\'t touch a single drop of wolf blood."

Finally, the pieces of a puzzle were set together and the audience understood what she had done yet her element intrigued them.

Unfortunately, Rui just smiled, "It\'s a secret~ You only know if you know, else you don\'t~"

Infuriated by his response, the audience cursed at him while admiring the planning done by the girl on the screen.

Yet Ziva wasn\'t done as she distorted the senses of the monsters that approached after smelling blood.

No one saw how exactly but the scene was only left with the monster\'s dead bodies.

It was a clear massacre.

The sight sent chills down the spines of men who fantasized about her and girls who idolized her for a moment.

Surprisingly, her training had transformed her from a gentle, emotional girl into a scheming one.

Obviously, even some professors took her actions as excessive but it didn\'t matter as they weren\'t the majority.

However, even they were stunned by her choice of weapon, a retractable whip-sword.

It looked exactly like a sword but was made up of several parts that could be separated and functioned as a serrated whip.

And somehow Ziva could use it exceptionally well despite its well-known difficulty amongst the populace as most shifted to swords after some time.

Little did they know that Ziva was the only one with enough talent to use this weapon and even reach the Master realm of proficiency with it.

Sadly, she only reached it during her last fight while she was an A-rank hunter fighting an Integration-Rank.

Something that was seemingly impossible was made possible by her and that\'s why the protagonist made every attempt to thaw her icy heart.

Not like it mattered since she wasn\'t meant to be his, even his cheat—plot armor—didn\'t help, let alone his efforts.

Though no one knew her future and how it would change with the presence of Jash who was hell bent on changing it at any cost.

Or would it even go his way?

Still, it was a distant future and neither Ziva nor the audience were aware of it as they just seemed to be focused on their own goals.

Just like them, Rui was focused on his own goal of having fun and working as the announcer.

"Alright, alright, enough gawking, let\'s switch to the dwarves as well?" Rui commented, finally eliciting cheers from the dwarves.

At the sight of their prince, Grunghin, with fiery orange hair and amber eyes, the dwarves cheered boastfully, louder than any prior cheers.

Unlike humans who were corrupted with selfishness or the reserved elves, the dwarves believed in letting it be and really enjoyed letting themselves loose.

Despite that, their nation was well-maintained with their own rules and had less criminals than humans.

Only elves were the ones who had literally the least number of criminals, not even totalling a 100.

Well, not like the Church had any criminals, so the elves having even that many would surprise anyone as they had their World Tree to pray to.

Anyways, it\'s not something that needs any mention now as currently the audience was also interested in the dwarven prince.

"What the hell? Those geezers think this is a good location to hold an Entrance Test!?" Grunghin cursed as he was struggling to travel.

Not only was his height short, the sledgehammer on his back didn\'t help in any way.

Though it wasn\'t much for Grunghin as he was a dwarf, born with short height but extremely strong and sturdy physiques.

Heck, he could easily wield a weapon twice or thrice the weight of this sledgehammer, the problem was its size.

Nevertheless, he got used to it and eliminated quite a few irksome examinees who laughed at his pitiful sight.

"Voila!" Grunghin\'s smile widened as he heard the sound of spells being thrown around.

He dashed forward and saw two mages fighting with each other.

"Wind Bla–" A boy, midway through his chant, stopped at the comical sight of a flying sledgehammer before he noticed the dwarf.

Alas, it was too late and he got eliminated without even a chance to defend himself from the menace.

His next choice was to dodge, but he had no time because of his attention being spared thin with his already ongoing duel.

Grunghin looked at the barrier turning into motes of white light with a grin before turning towards the other mage, who had a pale face.

"Hehe, let\'s have some fun, shall we?" Grunghin snickered before charging at the terrified mage.

Despite his fear, he managed to switch his spells and throw them at the approaching Grunghin, who dodged most of them.

Even if the size of the sledgehammer impeded Grunghin, he didn\'t care and focused on eliminating the human mage.

Still, the daggers made of water hit his face and arms, leaving behind small cuts.

Luckily, none of them struck his eyes or the suit would have activated the barrier, eliminating him under the audience\'s sight.

The suit was carefully designed to activate only in fatal situations or at the discretion of test conductors monitoring every participant closely.

If they deemed it necessary, they could activate the barrier but they only did it if it was absolutely necessary.

They would not activate the barrier if the wound or the injury could be treated at their medical blocks, and the students would be fine after a few days.

Not caring about any of it, Grungin swung his sledgehammer, "HAAH!"

Somehow, the mage dodged the swing, but Grunghin continued attacking him, moving erratically to dodge all spells.

In the end, the boy landed with his back against a tree and cursed at the sight of the approaching sledgehammer, "FU–"

His curse was left half-spoken as Grunghin spared no mercy and broke his ribs, resulting in a barrier covering the boy before the full force could hit.

"Haha, Now, this is fun!" Damian laughed before smirking, "Wait till I meet you, my best friend."

Right at that moment, Zaos sneezed, looking left and right, trying to figure out why he would sneeze?