Top 10 Revealed

[09:00 AM Xenovia Academy]

"Come on, kids, we'll be late," Raphael told his brothers to move fast as they were late for school. "Coming, brother, just a sec," Rennie replied from upstairs. Tanna had just woken up, still hungover from the night before. "Raphael, don't yell. I can hear you from across the hallway." I chuckle at her words and approach the main entrance.

"Sir Raphael, do you need anything before you leave." Anabelle bowed her head and greeted Raphael. "I don't need anything, Anabelle. Ask my brothers when they come down." Raphael opened the door, and Iran was waiting there to greet them. "Raphael, this is my last day here. I need to go back to the base as we still lack trusted members," he takes out a card and hands it over to me. "This will be your ticket to getting stronger but do not open it before your first year ends."

The card he handed Raphael was a rectangular-shaped heavy card that felt like metal in his hands. Raphael did not question him further as he knew how stubborn Iran could be, and he would not tell him before the time he set. The twins get down to the front yard of the villa, and the three of them get on the xerat to the academy's main grounds.

[10:00 AM Xenovia Academy Main Grounds]

"Reggie, you have a great time in class; I'm going upstairs with Raphael now." Rennie was dragging Raphael by his hand to go with him. Where the classes differed by the place, you got in the exam. Ranking from the bottom and up, the shape of the academy was very symmetrical and consisted of 100 Floors that contained less and less space as you went up.

There were classrooms up until the 30th floor, and from there were spaces that included artificial life created by the simulator that the academy had researched since it opened. On floors 31-100, various tests and puzzles matched the difficulties of rank 3-2 rifts, and the final floor, which was the only one with difficulty to match a rank one rift. Oddly enough, this floor was still forbidden to enter as it was still unstable and being worked on.

Raphael's class was on the 30th floor as he was part of the elite classroom that contained the top ten students for that year. Along his classroom were five others represented by the top students each year. The rankings changed every month and were decided by points gathered throughout the timespan of 30-31 days and depended on the score you got from each subject.

There was an elevator powered by Xer close to the front desk. Raphael and Rennie entered it as they needed to get to the highest floors. Rennie's class was one floor below Raphael's as he ranked 17th in the exams, and this meant that the only one who was lower was Reggie. Rennie finally got out on the 29th floor, and as the door closed, he waved at Raphael. "Bye, brother, see you after school," "Have a nice day, Rennie, and don't get yourself into trouble."

Raphael was not nervous; on the contrary, he was excited to know what his subjects to learn would be. The other students had already entered the class, and the only seat available was the one in the back of the class from the windows side. Alezinia was in the middle front seat, which was the closest to the professor. She raised her hand and greeted Raphael.

"Greetings, Raphael Rosewood. Take a seat near the back table that is empty, and we need to carry on with class." she pointed at the empty seat in the back. Raphael noticed Zephisto, his new "slave," staring at him intensely. "Don't look at your new master like that. I may decide to punish you later," Raphael whispered. His eyes began to glow a bright red, but soon the glow died down as the professor waited for me to take a seat.

"Now, for a quick introduction, my name is Adelle Bluemoon. I come from the main branch of the House of Bluemoon," she pulled out two shortswords. "As you all may know, the House of Bluemoon is well known for some of the greatest assassins ever to live. Can you tell me why that is?" She looked at Raphael and, with a playful look, asked: "How about we have the boy who decided to be late on his first-day answer."

"Introduce yourself, first Raphael."

"My name is Raphael Rosewood. I come from the house of Rosewood and am the nephew of Iran Rosewood, a top-ranked RW."

"What are your abilities, and what are their uses? Tell us more about the unique fighting style we saw that day in the arena." She further extended her previous question.

"Well, professor, would you display your abilities before probable future adversaries and rivals?" Raphael shrugged while asking.

"You don't need to worry. Showing your primary abilities is an obligation when you are a part of Xenovia. Although that is the case, you don't need to show your trump cards." Adelle pointed at the door next to the exit.

"Alright then, do I just need to enter?"

"Yes, enter, and I will give you further instructions." She said.

Raphael entered the door, and on the other side of the classroom was a large training space that could be seen from the other side of the whiteboard. The others could see what was going on behind the board, but on the other hand, Raphael could not. Adelle pulled out a microphone connected to the room and started to instruct.

"Raphael, proceed to the gear stand and pick up your chosen weapon."

"Alright, with what do I need to start?"

"Just start with the basics and continue scaling up your attacks simultaneously."

Raphael chooses a spear as his main weapon and casts his [Shadow Blade] while enveloping his weapon in the signature black-purple Xer. A target dummy showed up just like it did in the exam.

"Show us your powers, Raphael."

Raphael got the spear ready by infusing it with his signature purple Xer, and his casting was silent, followed by a darkish aura that enveloped his body whole. The students were more fascinated than they would like to show. His way of merging Xer and his weapon was only seen in higher-ranking people, so seeing it in a rookie was remarkable.

Raphael used his Xer as a propeller once again, just like he did before. His control made Adelle shiver with excitement, this kind of talent was not heard of in quite a while since the golden generation. If the other students showed similar potential to him, it would start a revolutionary era.

The spear that Raphael chose was an Ahlspeiss with a sword-like long tip that had good reach; However, this was not his primary choice. The intention behind that pick was not that he wanted to change his weapon but to show his capability of using different weapons with excellent efficiency.

"Come now Raphael, don't make us wait too much," Adelle said in anticipation.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy the show, just try to keep up."

Rose-like markings enveloped his bare arm, and he chanted [Shadow Garden]. He felt his Xer leave the body, and his speed only increased after he propelled towards the target. Since his reach was more significant than the short-sword could manage, the spear quickly impaled the practice dummy. As soon as the tip penetrated an inch, the whole dummy was enveloped and tangled in black-tinted purple roses. The practice dummy was made out of skin-like material, and it just started deforming and melting off, meaning it would have the same effect on the skin if Xer did not protect it.

Raphael's Xer was almost depleted, but Adelle was done with her evaluation, so she just asked him to step out of the room. She had an impressed look, but his performance compared to battle-trained professionals was still lacking in many ways. She composed herself, and a point evaluation table was shown on the board. One row was filled, and ten others were empty. The names of the other students were written on it, so it probably meant that they got to evaluate me for what they thought.

The table was divided into efficiency, power, and Xer control.

"Zephisto, since you are the one who recently had an interaction with Raphael, I want you to be the first to evaluate him accordingly." She gave a domineering look, and he did not hesitate to stand up.

"Firstly, I would like to say that his Xer usage was inefficient even though his control was amazing. The second would be that his pattern is very predictable and linear." He was surprisingly honest with his evaluation and gave Raphael 54 points from the 100 available, unlike Adelle, who gave him 41 points. He proceeds to sit down and lower his head.

"Next is Clay, it's your turn."

"I'll give him 100 points for the beautiful performance and abilities, just how I like it."

"Clay you need to be more specific about how many points you give to your classmates depending on what you thought of their performance."

"But that's what I thought it deserves, it was beautiful from start to finish, there is no need for it to be perfect to get my full marks."

Adelle was stunned for a second, but due to Clay's flashy hard-to-deal personality, she just sighed and moved on to the next student. She finally pointed at a student, "Anastasia, it's your turn next." Anastasia looked anxious, so she was fidgeting a lot. She put her hands under the table, and finally, she got out some words, "A-As Zephisto said, his Xer usage from time to time w-was inefficient, but his Xer control was on par with some higher ranking students inside the academy." she got up from her chair and started moving towards the board to give her marks.

"Although he destroyed the target, this damage is unnecessary for a single target, but if he controls it and manages to reduce the Xer output on his abilities, it will be a huge upgrade." The second time she talked, she did not stutter and continued to ideally point out every mistake that Raphael made on the spot, so she gave him the same points that Adelle gave.

"Thank you for the in-depth analysis Anastasia, good perception skills."

Anastasia followed with a nod and proceeded to take a seat quietly. Despite making her presence known with the sudden shift in character when she was focused, her tiny footsteps captured everybody's attention. She was beautiful, but her slow and shy personality overshadowed her looks and made her look less attractive. Now her slender figure and pretty yellow eyes shined brightly in the eyes of both male and female students. Her hair was lightly tinted brown and had a slight blonde shine.

The male students made sure not to drop their jaws too low and shifted their focus again. The rest just sighed and let it slide even though the attraction was apparent.

"Let us move on to the following point assessment," Adelle spoke and gestured to the point table. Time flew by, and it was already over. Raphael's score average was 43, which was above average for a starting student. His evaluation got the other students riled up to not fall behind him and do better. Next in line was Ray Ferrati, and his eyes were full of vigor, waiting to explode. His performance would be highly anticipated even though he was defeated previously by Raphael since he was a part of the Ferrati Famiglia.

"This is going to be a good show so watch closely Raphael," he points toward the glass from the other side but at someone else, not Raphael, which made him look dumb. The whole class let out a chuckle. Raphael gets close to the professor's mic and says, "Better not disappoint Ray I'm expecting a good performance."