I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error

Chapter 10

After the exam ended, there were no additional classes.

Thanks to that, the students gained their freedom early in the day.

Baa!

Moo~

“You already ate earlier, and you’re asking for more?”

In the barn, I was the only one working myself to the bone.

I had cleaned the farm, organized the storage room, and even fed the animals, yet there was still work left to do.

I hadn’t even eaten, so my stomach was empty, and fatigue was building up in my body, but my heart felt the exact opposite.

“Puhuhuhu…”

Whenever I felt tired, I would take the score sheet out of my pocket and recharge my energy.

I didn’t know how many times I had looked at it already.

It made the corners of my lips curl up on their own.

「Team F4 - 13 minutes 47 seconds, Rank 19」

Team F4 had safely made it into the top 10%.

‘20th place was 13 minutes 49 seconds, 21st place was 13 minutes 53 seconds.’

We had succeeded in slipping into the upper ranks by a hair’s breadth.

‘When we first encountered the wrong monster, I had only thought about avoiding failure.’

Unfortunately, we had run into a monster that wasn’t fully affected by the weakening potion.

It was twice as strong as the ones other students were facing.

But at that perfect timing, Hwayo had reached level 3.

By using its abilities, we were able to take it down quickly.

‘Thanks to that, I avoided failing and even got a high score.’

I took an egg from my chest pocket and placed it into the ✿Animal✿Farm✿ screen.

Popong.

Inside the screen, Hwayo sniffed the boiled egg, then swallowed it whole.

For some reason, it looked even cuter than usual today.

“Yeah, eat well. Just watching you eat fills me up.”

From today onward, my ability had grown significantly.

‘Card.’

When I held out my palm, a small flame rose in midair.

Then, the flame turned into a single card.

It was a card with Hwayo’s portrait drawn on it.

This was my new skill.

‘Right now, I can use it in two ways.’

The first was the ability to create a flaming sword.

The second was a technique to spew fire with explosive power.

‘You could say I’ve awakened an elemental attribute.’

Villed had been nothing more than a small fry without even a single attribute, but now I had finally obtained one — the fire attribute.

In Yggdrasil, an ‘attribute’ was an extremely valuable ability.

Magic was a matter of innate talent.

Low-tier characters either had no attribute or only one.

It was normal for mid-tier or higher characters to possess two attributes.

Three meant a prodigy, and four meant a once-in-a-century genius.

Especially awakening the light or darkness attributes was something only a tiny fraction could achieve.

‘The only ones who could use all six attributes were the final boss, a hero of the past, and the future protagonist.’

Among all the students in Yggdrasil, other than the protagonist Duke Ren, there was not a single character with six attributes.

‘The protagonist could awaken attributes through growth. He might only have one right now, but in the final chapter, he’ll master them all.’

Being able to add attributes through growth was a privilege unique to the protagonist.

‘But maybe… I could become like that too.’

Right now, I was only raising Hwayo, a fire lizard, but this wouldn’t be the end.

‘There should be animals that use water, and ones that use wind too.’

If I were to raise a variety of animals…?

Not only could I awaken the rare darkness or light attributes, but I might even end up with abilities greater than the protagonist’s.

Of course, that was still a far-off possibility, but it was there.

‘Yeah, if I live diligently, someday a good day will come.’

When I looked into the hand mirror hanging in the storage room, a new hologram appeared.

Health: 3

Mana: 6

Strength: 3

Willpower: 3

Agility: 4

As a reward for placing in the top 10% of the exam, all my stats had increased by 2.

‘Thanks to that, I feel like I’ve gotten a bit stronger.’

I could now lift the water container I couldn’t properly hold before, albeit while trembling and straining with all my might.

Of course, compared to other students, I was still a weakling.

But for someone who had been at the worst level, this was a huge improvement.

‘Anyway, that’s the end with those guys now.’

With the exam over, Team F4 was disbanded.

Even during the disbandment, aside from saying goodbye, we didn’t exchange many words.

We hadn’t talked much even when we were on the same team in the first place.

I would no longer have any ties to Arowell or Nixie.

‘That’s actually what I want.’

Those two were important characters who would give great help to the protagonist.

They needed to team up with him and work hard until the ending.

‘Things will get tougher from here on out, so I hope they can stay strong by the protagonist’s side.’

As a player of Yggdrasil, I simply had a sincere wish to cheer them on.

When the sky began to darken, my barn work finally ended.

I returned to the dormitory.

Normally, students could be seen in the hallways or on the stairs, but today, there was no one.

‘It’s quiet.’

After the exam, there was an event that gave students a few days of rest.

They were probably returning to their hometowns or staying outside the school.

‘I have to stay stuck at school because of barn duties though.’

Still, the school would be quiet for a while.

Thinking that, I went up the stairs.

‘…What’s this?’

There was an envelope stuck between my door.

‘A letter for me?’

Who could it be from?

It couldn’t possibly be a love letter.

Without much thought, I pulled the envelope out and checked both sides.

‘It doesn’t look ordinary.’

When I saw the luxurious seal stamped on the envelope’s wax, my feelings were half anxiety, half anticipation.

‘Wait a second.’

As I examined the envelope more closely, I spotted a familiar name, and my heart sank.

‘Sender… Dedenkman?’

***

It was a letter from my family.

An afternoon dyed in the orange hue of sunset.

Second floor of the Professor’s Hall in Yggdrasil Academy.

The Professor’s Hall was usually quiet, but today it was even more so.

That was because many students were staying outside, with the weekend and holidays overlapping.

There would be few students remaining in Yggdrasil.

Ruberr, the professor in charge of first years in the Magic Department, was working alone.

Step.

Soft footsteps echoed through the hallway, then stopped in front of the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Even as the knocking sound reached him, Professor Ruberr replied without even glancing at the door.

Creak.

The one who opened the door and entered was a girl with red eyes.

When the girl bowed her head in greeting, her long black hair flowed down like waves.

“I’m Nixie Chefs, a first-year taking your lecture, Professor.”

“What is your business, Miss Chefs?”

“I have something I’d like to ask regarding the exam.”

Nixie replied clearly and calmly.

The first thing was about the intention behind the exam questions.

“Hmm.”

Professor Ruberr pushed the papers aside and looked at Nixie.

“Even though you’ve already scored full marks, you still have doubts, I see.”

“I simply… cannot accept it.”

It was only then that Nixie spoke about Villed.

To find the answer by looking at the terrain…

No matter how she thought about it, it was strange.

It didn’t seem like he had solved it in the way the professor intended.

But Ruberr answered immediately, as if it were nothing.

“The intended purpose was already stated: for team members to work together to break through the dungeon. I won’t stop you from using any means to achieve that.”

“…”

Nixie closed her mouth.

However, contrary to Ruberr’s words, there had indeed been a clear intention behind the dungeon question.

It wasn’t something to be solved merely by luck or figuring out the terrain.

There were ways to solve it using skills like Mind’s Eye or Clairvoyance.

Or through contracted spirits or fairies.

Or by sensing subtle traces of mana to find the answer.

Students who took the exam were isolated separately, so there was no way to leak the answer.

Even if it was leaked, the test had ten different variations shuffled randomly to prevent it.

Cheating was impossible.

‘But terrain…?’

Professor Ruberr pushed the papers aside as he thought.

To find the answer just by looking at the cave’s terrain was an absurd notion far removed from the exam’s intent.

‘There’s no way that method would work.’

He felt a slight sense of doubt, but only for a moment.

It could only be explained as sheer luck.

It wasn’t an impossible probability, after all.

“I have something else to tell you.”

Nixie asked another question.

During the exam, an unforeseen incident occurred and a monster stronger than expected appeared.

Professor Ruberr nodded.

“There are always variables in a dungeon, yet you still managed to defeat it.”

“It wasn’t me.”

It was then that Nixie finally got to her main point.

“Villed… he doesn’t attend your fire-element lectures, does he?”

He defeated it using fire-element magic. I did nothing at all.

That was what Nixie said next.

“I see.”

Ruberr gave a short reply.

He was not only the chief mage of the Astrid royal family but also a renowned professor at Yggdrasil.

He had a keen eye for recognizing talented individuals.

‘Villed…’

Villed.

He had been a student Ruberr had dismissed as worthless since the entrance ceremony.

The number of elemental attributes he could use was exactly zero.

He had no talent for magic, nor for anything else.

He had even caused all sorts of trouble, ending up stuck managing the barn in disgrace.

It was questionable whether he had entered fairly, and graduating properly had seemed impossible.

And yet, in just a few days, he had awakened an elemental attribute.

“Other students may think Villed is incompetent, but I want you, Professor, to at least know the truth.”

“Have you told this to anyone else?”

“Only to you, Professor.”

Hearing that, Ruberr looked straight into Nixie’s eyes and spoke.

“From now on, refrain from such unnecessary interference. Any more questions?”

“No more. Excuse me.”

Nixie bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, then quietly closed the door and left into the hallway.

Ruberr, instead of returning to his pile of papers, took out the first-year student records and sank into thought.

‘So, there’s one more.’

In this exam, there had been only one student who had shown explosive growth.

Duke Ren.

He had been without attributes and without talent, yet through this exam, he had awakened the wind attribute.

Having only a single attribute was nothing to boast about — in fact, it was something to be ridiculed for.

But earning it through growth was a completely different story.

‘A rare occurrence indeed.’

A frightening growth rate.

Elemental attributes were not something acquired later; they were innate.

No matter how hard one worked, innate talent was absolute.

Other than a few heroes of the past, there were no precedents of acquiring attributes after birth.

And yet Ren and Villed had both done it.

It was surprising enough for one to appear, but now there was another.

‘Duke Ren, Villed.’

The professor’s eyes glimmered faintly.

“Sigh…”

**

I placed my stuffed bag on top of the bed and let out a deep breath.

I had packed every item in the room into the bag.

The reason was simple — starting today, I had to leave this place.

‘Where should I go now?’

I gazed out the window, lost in thought.

To summarize the letter from my family—

They had learned that I had acted rudely toward Princess Arlhardt.

Until I repented for that offense and regained her acknowledgment, they would completely cut off their support.

‘I was terrified, thinking it was about disowning me.’

It was at least a relief that the letter didn’t say they would expel me from the family.

In any case, even without the family’s order, my goal had been to earn the Princess’s recognition and graduate normally.

‘But the problem is…’

If that “support” had only meant pocket money, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.

The problem was that it included things like dormitory fees and tuition.

Even when barn management wore down my body and mind, the fact that I had the Dedenkman family’s support had been my one source of comfort.

Now, even that was gone.

Of all days, today had to be the end of the month.

‘Telling me to leave starting today… what perfect timing.’

I had to vacate the room right now.

I picked up my bag and turned off the light.

I kept glancing back toward the room.

‘I’ll miss you. Goodbye, my room.’

After grueling barn work, the comfortable room and soft bed had been my only joys, and now they would be gone for the foreseeable future.

I closed the door and walked down the hallway.

‘Where should I really go?’

Even as I descended the dormitory stairs, I kept thinking and thinking.

‘In the end… there’s only that place.’

The answer was already decided in my heart.