Pointless Animosity

After experiencing various things, finally, after several months, the academy held a test to assess the students' abilities to see the results of what they have learned so far. As known, this test is held at least every six months, and every student must be prepared to achieve a perfect score or above the standard.

That day, the first exam was about to begin. Each student competed against each other, evaluated, and achieved victories. But, all of this was not about winning or losing.

Coincidentally, Evan was paired with Juliet, who seemed still upset with Evan, as seen from his wrinkled face.

In this exam, there were no rules about how they could defeat their opponents, push them out of the arena, or even K.O. It was all up to them, whether they wanted to use magic or not. There was only one thing for sure, they were not allowed to use sharp objects, and if it was an bow, the arrowhead had to be blunt, unless...

Juliet drew out his sword, pointing it towards Evan, surprising the referee who said, "Juliet, you are not allowed to use sharp objects--!"

"No. It's okay," said Evan, then he handed over his wooden sword.

Indeed, the condition for using sharp objects was that both parties had to mutually accept or one of them accepted it, indicating that the individual was capable and ready to face it.

From her VIP seat, Rina watched Evan accept the challenge, she smiled and crossed her arms, then said, "You're quite brave, huh..."

The referee nodded towards the judges and signaled both of them, "Begin!"

The arena now belonged to them.

Juliet startled and immediately split-stepped, thrusting his sword without hesitation towards Evan's face. However, Evan easily avoided the sword that flew towards his face and immediately made a counter-move. Juliet stepped back and positioned himself, waiting for Evan to face him, but...

As Evan lunged towards Juliet, he suddenly disappeared like the wind. Juliet was surprised and looked around to the left and right. Then he realized, looked upwards, and found Evan already above him, swinging his wooden sword towards Juliet.

Juliet easily blocked Evan's attack, although it was a split-second late, preparing himself to attack again because this is his chance. However, right after Juliet opened up a gap, Evan spun around once again and kicked Juliet from above to below with great force, to the point where Juliet knelt, holding his shoulder that was hit hard, leaving him no choice but to transfer his sword from right hand to his left hand.

No words came out of their mouths. Then Juliet advanced to retaliate against Evan. This time, Juliet had the upper hand. Evan was also surprised to see that Juliet was more skillful in using his left hand in swordsmanship.

Evan avoided Juliet's thrusting attack and intended to strike his face with his left hand because it was the only opening available. As the punch was thrown, Juliet also without hesitation continued to swing his sword towards Evan's head before his punch reached Juliet's face, forcing Evan to have no choice but to retreat.

Juliet managed to wound Evan on his cheek, albeit slightly, at least indicating his superiority in swordsmanship. No wonder Michelle was betrothed to someone like him.

Evan mumbled, "I think I'll give it a try." He then channeled magic energy throughout his body, making him slightly stronger than before, commonly referred to as 'Support Magic.'

However, Evan felt a bit different at that moment. It wasn't the first time for Evan since he obtained the 'sword' and 'memory' back then, he felt a large amount of energy flowing intensely. He had tried this before when striking the punching bag during training, with a single powerful strike, the bag shattered. The same thing happened when he tried something else, like fire elemental magic. He accidentally burned a large tree near the academy courtyard, luckily someone was able to restore the tree to its original state, or else...

Never mind, it's not important. Currently, Evan was still uncertain about using it on humans, but he had no other choice because his current opponent seemed determined to kill him.

(What made Evan visually appealing was his shining blue eyes.)

Evan prepared himself and swiftly charged towards his opponent. Juliet, surprised by the sudden change, immediately swung his sword forward, thinking his attack would hit Evan.

At that very moment, Evan disappeared, moving to Juliet's side, gripping his wooden sword with both hands, then swinging it directly towards Juliet's abdomen.

Juliet realized this and tried to block Evan's attack with her sword, but Evan's strength was too powerful, causing Juliet's iron sword to shatter and penetrating his defense. Evan's strike landed heavily on her abdomen. Right when the attack hit Juliet, Evan's wooden sword also shattered due to the resulting shockwave, sending Juliet flying out of the arena.

Cheers could be heard from all directions, whether it was students or people passing by to watch. They all considered their duel to be worthy of the highest praise, but it wasn't a performance, it was an examination.

Evan won by knocking Juliet out. However, Evan still felt uneasy about hurting him. "Besides, this is just an examination," he said, extending his hand and using recovery magic from a distance to heal Juliet, then he left the arena.

The judges and referees saw this as a good addition to Evan's score because the purpose of this examination was not about winning or losing. It was all about measuring and evaluating the potential of each student to produce mentally qualified promising individuals.

Evan went up to the spectator seats and rested while watching other students duel. Ash, who was next to him, said, "I didn't expect you to be that good. Is it because of your training all this time?"

"Thanks to you too, bud. Without your physical training list, I wouldn't have gained these muscles," Evan replied, pointing at his arm muscles.

Ash adjusted his glasses and said, "Heh, well, it's nothing special."

The examination continued until the evening, and the announcement of the results would be made tomorrow.

Tonight, Evan decided to go to the city just to wander around for a bit. Of course, Michelle was by his side, and... Rina as well.

"Can you take off that armor of yours and wear something else?" Evan suggested.

"What? Why? Is it a problem for you? Besides, this is not like the armor you're thinking of. It's more like clothes, and they're not heavy either," Rina retorted.

"Plus, why are you following suit? Aren't you on duty?" Evan muttered.

"There's nothing wrong with it, right? I also want a free time," Rina replied with a proud shrug.

Well, there's no harm in it. Who wouldn't want to hang out with two beautiful girls in this land?

That night, they enjoyed their free time by sitting in a popular hangout spot in the city center. The place had become quite famous recently, with a cool atmosphere and a spacious courtyard. Occasionally, Rina was greeted by some of her 'fans' who wanted to shake her hand. It's hard to believe that Rina, the most aloof girl, still had people who liked her, whether they were girls or boys, it didn't matter.

The night turned into morning. Evan hurriedly approached the announcement board set up by the academy.

Evan kept searching and searching until he finally found his name. The names were arranged based on their opponents from the examination yesterday.

Juliet vs. Evan, 0-100.

Evan's eyes widened after seeing that he received a perfect score, but why? There was a mix of happiness and discomfort. Truly a gentle man...

He remembered something.

A while ago, a mentor approached the announcement board and changed the scores from 0-100 to 50-50. Right at that moment, Juliet arrived with a desperate look on his face. He saw his name and was surprised to find that he had received a passing grade.

"I... Passed," he said with a relieved breath, as he had thought he wouldn't pass.

From a distance, Evan watched with a small smile on his face, then he left.

Some time ago.

"Are you sure? You deserve a perfect score, Evan," said the headmaster of the academy in his office.

"I'm sure. Besides, Juliet isn't that bad when it comes to talent," Evan replied.

"But his attitude... Are you really sure?" the headmaster of the academy asked again.

"I don't mind that," Evan answered.

The headmaster sighed with relief and said, "Alright, I respect your decision. I'll give Juliet 50 from your score," and smiled at Evan.

With that, Juliet was able to pass.

All of this remained a secret between Evan and the headmaster. Of course, in the future, Juliet might not pass and Evan couldn't continue like this forever. Let's consider this a second chance for Juliet.

Not many people like Evan appeared in society. Evan's recent action wasn't reckless. He had been thinking about it since the end of the exam yesterday. His intuition was correct when he saw Juliet's score was blank.

Perhaps Juliet had already realized this. Evan could only remain silent, hoping that Juliet would change for the better. Because Evan still believed that Juliet was a good person.

On the same day, the academy announced an upcoming exam in six months' time. It was a survival test.

The students were asked to prepare themselves from now on, whether it be knowledge or skills. Because essentially, this was not just a survival test, but it also determined their life and death. Those who were not strong or capable could leave and withdraw from now on.

The students were allowed to form teams now to get to know each other and facilitate their collaboration in surviving.

"Can I join?" Ash asked, sitting next to Evan.

"I don't mind. And also..." Evan said.

"Do you have any recommendations, Ash? Maybe someone you think has potential?" Evan asked.

"I'm not sure, what do you think of her? She's a girl and she's good at cooking," Ash replied pointing at someone.

While they were talking, someone entered Evan's classroom and stopped in front of Evan's desk, then said, "Allow me to join you."

Evan was slightly surprised and looked at the person, who turned out to be Juliet. Evan didn't expect his change to happen this quickly.

Evan stopped for awhile then smiled and replied, "Please cooperate," offering a fist bump.

Evan, Ash, and Juliet had officially become a team.