Everyone in the vast training hall stared with widened eyes as Christopher walked out from the gateway, his hands tucked casually in his pockets.
A collective murmur rippled through the assembled students. The training exercise, designed to test their abilities and teamwork, had just concluded.
"Wow! Good job, big brother!" Katherine exclaid, her face lighting up. She rushed towards him, launching herself into his arms with a joyful leap.
"It is nothing," Christopher chuckled, easily catching her.
"Hmm..."
Monica stared at Christopher for a few seconds, her gaze piercing. She then slowly nodded her head. "And this concludes today’s test..." she said, her voice devoid of warmth, a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes playing on her lips.
The Dean noticed Monica’s subtle shift in deanor but remained silent. He turned to Christopher, Advika, Mitchell, and Mariana.
"When you are done, you four... et in my office." With that said, he walked away, all eyes in the hall following his retreating figure.
"Office?" Katherine was confused, still clinging to her brother.
"Don’t worry, everything is fine... I think he wants to explain more about the coming competition," Christopher reassured her, gently setting her down.
"Yes, that is only two days from now... And I heard the other academies will be flying over," Katherine said in a low voice, a hint of excitent in her tone.
"Listen up everyone!" Monica waved her hand, and countless small gift bags shimred into existence before the hundred students, each one flying towards its owner, landing gently on their palms.
"The ranking today is." She turned to a large holographic screen that materialized behind her and snapped her fingers.
WHOOSH!
[Team Ranking.]
The screen glowed, displaying the results in bold, luminous script.
[First place: Christopher team with 8,000 points.]
[Second place: Elsa (Phoenix) Team with 4,500 points.]
[Third place: Adrian Team with 4,000 points.]
[Fourth place: Juliet Team with 3,500 points.]
The list continued, detailing all the individual rankings:
[First place: Christopher with 5,000 points.]
[Second place: Else (Phoenix) with 2,000 points.]
[Third place: Chloe with 1,900 Points.]
[Fourth place: Advika with 1,800 points.]
[Fifth place: Adrian with 1,500 points.]
[Sixth place: Leyla with 1,499 Points.]
[Seventh place: Katherine with 1,300 points.]
[Eighth place: Mike with 1,200 points.]
[Ninth place: Mariana with 1,100 points.]
[Tenth place: Juliet with 1,000 points.]
"These are the top ten... Before you ask, these points are calculated by the simulation, with your kills, exploration, ideas, and battle... Note: killing other classmates don’t give that much points," Monica explained, her gaze sweeping over the students.
"You should have told us that from that start!" Adrian yelled, his face flushed.
Monica folded her arms on her chest, an unreadable expression on her face. "Young master Adrian, would anything have changed if I had told you?" she asked.
"....."
Adrian fell silent, unable to argue.
"Let it go, brother," Mariana whispered, nudging him gently. "It is just a test."
Adrian considered her words and slowly nodded his head. "Ok."
Monica stared at him with a small frown, sighing inwardly. "You all can leave, today’s training class is over."
She waved her hand again, and the familiar glowing bowl of Life Force Artifacts appeared before the students.
"Everyone... Take your life force artifact before leaving."
Those who had kept theirs with her walked forward and picked it up. While those who kept theirs with their beasts simply commanded their companions to return them.
The students nodded at her, a mixture of relief and fatigue on their faces, and walked towards the door, one at a ti.
"What is the ti?" Christopher asked Katherine.
"Oh... School period is over, we can go ho," Katherine said, checking her phone. She added.
"Brother Adonis called; he said he will be going first... I don’t know where he is going." She was.
Christopher nodded his head upon hearing her words, then turned to the other three girls – Chloe, Juliet, and Leyla – who were walking towards him.
"Thank you," Chloe said with a grateful smile, a genuine warmth in her eyes.
"It is nothing, we are teammates," Christopher replied, turning his head to Juliet, who had now approached them. She gave a small, formal bow.
"Master Christopher... I want to ask if you can take care of ?"
"...?"
Christopher and the four girls were stunned into silence by Juliet’s unexpected question.
"Take care of you?" Leyla frowned, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"No. No. No." Juliet said quickly, her cheeks flushing. She corrected herself: "I just want to ask if Master Christopher can take as a friend? What do you say?" She turned to Christopher, her expression hopeful.
’Hmm... Having more friends isn’t a bad thing, and this girl here is also a powerful tar,’ Christopher mused inwardly.
Juliet was known for her exceptional fighting skill with aerial beasts, a rare and valuable beast.
Christopher nodded his head: "Ok... From now on we are friends." he said simply.
Juliet smiled brightly, a wave of relief washing over her, and quickly thanked him: "Thank you, Master Christopher. Thank you."
"No need to thank ," Christopher said with a small shake of his head. He then turned to Advika:
"Wait for us in the car, you two... We will go and see the Dean." He said, and walked away, Advika quickly falling into step behind him.
As they walked, Christopher turned his head to the audience section, his gaze eting Phoenix’s. She was watching him, a small, knowing smile on her face. Phoenix, or Elsa; the na she used in the academy smiled at him.
’Master gotten even more powerful? When will I reach his stage? I must grow stronger.’ She thought inwardly.
Christopher nodded at her, a silent acknowledgnt, and continued walking away. Grim shrunk in size, leaped into the air and landed on his shoulder, as the two walked out of the training hall.
___
[Dean’s Office.]
The four selected students – Christopher, Advika, Mitchell, and Mariana – stood in front of the Dean’s imposing desk. The inner office itself was a testant to the Academy’s history, lined with ancient, leather-bound tos and awards from past competitions.
The Dean sat in his high-backed office chair, his gaze serious as he surveyed the four students before him.
"Do any of you know why I called you here?" The Dean asked, his voice low and asured.
"To explain about the academy competition?" Mariana guessed, her voice a little timid.
"That, and sothing else," the Dean replied, a hint of gravity in his tone.
The students looked at one another in confusion.
"There have been so developnts about the academy competition... You know there are three major countries in the continent of Baltimore, known as Avalon, Cordelia, and Vanilla, right?"
The four nodded their heads. These three nations were the strength and powerful core of the Baltimore Continent, each boasting unique strengths and resources.
"But now... With the threat of the beast heading towards Cordelia, the governnt made a new rule... The other small cities can participate in this competition, and those guys already got their teams ready in a day... Note!"
His gaze turned serious, a stark contrast to his previous casual deanor.
"These two small countries, Altro and Blackwood, have the privilege to send their strongest, not just freshn like the three big countries... This is so that the governnt can know who are the strongest to recruit for this battle against the beast."
The "beasts" referred to the dangerous, mutated horse erging from the red zone, a growing threat to Cordelia.
"Battle against the beast? Are we joining the battle?" Advika asked, in mild surprise in her voice. The idea of a direct conflict with the formidable creature was daunting.
"Yes... Not all of you though, on that day... The Governor himself will be here, to oversee all the competition. If you get picked during this competition, your family and na will reach the whole five countries... So this is a big opportunity for many students... Most of all, if you are picked, the governnts will make sure you partake in the international competition." He paused and continued:
"As you all know, the international competition is a legendary event, where the strongest from across the globe gathered, often with significant geopolitical implications."
The four looked at one another, their expressions shifting from surprise to understanding and a hint of excitent. The stakes had just significantly increased.
"So each country has one tar academy?" Christopher asked in curiosity, his mind already processing the new information.
"As a matter of fact, yes... Each country has one... On that day, there will be five academics, with a total of 20 students, and five teams, all competing for the throne."
The "throne" symbolized not just victory in the competition, but also a coveted position of influence and power.
The Dean stood up, walked towards a sturdy wooden shelf carved with intricate tar symbols, and brought out four old, leather-bound books. Their covers were worn, suggesting imnse age and knowledge within.
He walked towards the table, and started handing them to each of the four.
"Here."
Reviews
All reviews (0)