Chapter 102:

Ace was at Sophie's house for a large part of the night, and was driven back home, only once they had finished watching all the movies they had planned. Quite a few people showed up, some he did not know, so it was interesting to meet them, and by the end of the night, everyone had made new friends.

On Sunday, he simply streamed for most of the day, alternating between various games, and playing music for his viewers. It was only at about 7 in the evening, when he received a text message from Leilah, informing him that the rankings and scores for the Knowledge Tournament were to be released the next day, and so, he did not have to go to school. He just had to wear his uniform, and wait for the bus that would pick them up and take them there.

'Well, at least tomorrow won't be boring.', Ace thought with a smile, 'I am pretty curious as to whether we managed to make the goal or not. Will anyone get close to my scores?'

These and many more interesting thoughts floated around his brain as he went to bed on the Sunday, only to wake up early on the Monday.

********************

"Good morning.", Ace said, greeting the bus driver, an older man with balding hair and an amicable smile, he looked like a good man, and had an aura of likeability around him.

"Good morning.", the man said with a bright smile, "I hope you are having a fantastic day!"

Ace grinned at the over the top excitement and happiness the man showed, 'Definately a morning person.'

Ace walked down the aisle, and sat in one of the seats at the back, pulling out his Noxia with some earbuds, and proceeding to watch a past match of the pro-league, observing the various tactics and plays employed.

He was watching for about fifteen minutes, before Leilah got on the bus, and began to pester him about scores and such things. It was a nerve-wracking car-ride for everyone, but for Ace, all his suffering stemmed from the talkative Leilah, and her nervous chatter. This would be her last time participating, and she wanted to show good results, which could influence her final ranking quite a bit.

As they arrived at their destination, Ace saw a variety of coaches and buses parked around the compound, boys and girls of varying ages filing and making their way towards the entrance. They did the same, making their way as one group through the main entrance, towards the place where they could sit down, and wait for the speech to begin. Once that ended, the results would be out, and people would have a chance to meet and talk with each other.

"Would you like a drink?", one of the many waitresses asked him, Ace noticed that there were platters of food and drinks being carried around by waiters, the contestants eating and drinking nervously.

"Yes please, a coke with ice and lemon, thank you.", Ace said, and went to sit down where most of his group was.

He kept his eyes on the entrance, waiting to see if Ray showed up, but multiple of his teammates were currently trying to get his attention, and it seemed disrespectful to not pay them attention, considering that he had not been the most supportive or socially involved of teammates. Most had invited them to go to the party after the exam, and he had declined completely, preferring to spend time on his lonesome, playing games in the recreation room. It had been a pretty big strike, and Leilah had reprimanded him for it, after a few teammates complained about the fact that he just ignored them wholeheartedly.

"Good morning students.", the same voice as last time began speaking, and Ace turned his attention towards the man, preparing for a long speech, "I will be brief, you have all worked extremely hard, and deserve a large reward, this is our reward for you, you will be able to spend the whole day here, not having to go back to your various places of learning. I hope that…", useless chatter which Ace droned out form, while thinking about the repercussions from his statement. It would mean that he had to spend the whole day with these people, and would have to waste what could have been a good day of doing nothing.

'Well that sucks.', Ace thought, while looking at the excited faces of the people around him.

"Thank you for listening, now,to begin, the rankings will be displayed, along with a picture of the student that has achieved them, so that you may recognise them easily. We have done this in the hopes that you will use this chance to meet fellow students, and build connections with equally gifted students that will serve you for the rest of your lifes."

'D*mm, that was a charged statement.', to begin with, people that have a high ranking but a low or weak background will just be thrown to the wolves, and people with low rankings will also be humiliated in front of their peers. Furthermore, he is warning students to only get close to people they can actually help, warding them off against a Rank 200 meeting a Rank 10, since they would not be considered "equally gifted".

"And now, the moment you have all been waiting for…", he snapped his fingers, and the various boards around the room began to display the rankings. Each had the various sections of exams, junior, senior… at the top, and the ranks were moving upwards, it would display the rank, name and image of the person. It was done big enough that one could look at two sections at once, and the Global board was the biggest and the one placed in the middle, which meant that people were easily aware of who the big fish were. It also made it easy for the participants that partook in that exam to be aware of both the Global rankings, and the separate rankings for the grade of exam they had chosen.

It was a noisy process, and every time new names appeared, waves of chatter would explode around the room. The atmosphere also built up, as less and less people were left without knowing their rankings. After five minutes, it was the top rankings left now, and people that saw their names now were considerably happier than the others. Ace noticed that Ray had placed 13th in the Global exam, considering that Stella had placed 15th, she was most likely happy.

Then, the top ten, followed by the top nine, top eight, top seven, top six, top five, top three, top two, and Ace.

When people saw his image on the final board for both the Global and Freshman exams, a wide array of emotions were felt. Some had disbelief, unable to understand that someone who had not attended a single preparatory class had gotten the best score on the exam. His teammates were overjoyed, they had managed to do it, and the top five ranks in the Global examination, along with the top Rank of every year group had been secured by the Goldsign Institute.

It was a joyous occasion, and while it was only them that were happy about it, they were happy enough for everyone. Hordes of conversations and whispers assaulted Ace's mind, his enhanced senses catching the whispers form a couple across the room. He tuned them down to a manageable level, and focused on sipping his coke and congratulating his teammates for a job well done.

"Well, I guess you have managed to do it.", a stern woman said to a man, this man being the Headteacher of the Goldsign Institute. "You have a good one this year, if he keeps going the way he is, he should dominate everything he participates in."

"Yes, I am just worried that some people will get jealous, and do something they could potentially regret.". The man said, a sigh escaping his lips, and demonstrating the fact that he almost expected it to happen.

"Bah, no one would be that stupid, they all know who he is, and what she is."

"Let's hope so.", the man said, "Let's truly hope so."