The Unit Tests are here

NOAH GREY:

After the 'incident' with Emily, I decided to change the timing of my bowmanship practice.

These days, I practice at 2 A.M—it is the time when nobody else is in the gym.

Obviously, my sleep schedule also changed.

But it wasn't a big deal; the entire campus is active 24x7.

During this time I also ordered a bronze Art online, called 'Consecutive Archery'. For reference, what Emily uses is 'Advanced Consecutive Archery', a silver ranked Art.

Buying 'Advanced Consecutive Archery' is not that hard.

At best, it would cost a couple of thousand dens, but I would rather start learning archery from a bronze Art.

The higher the rank of an Art is, the harder it is to learn.

So, usually, people start from bronze or iron-ranked Arts. After mastering those, it becomes easier to learn higher Arts like silver or diamond.

That's the reason why, even though Emily is from a wealthy family, she is using a silver-ranked Art.

Starting from a higher ranked Art without mastering the previous Arts, can cause trouble later. For instance, if a person skips the bronze Art and learns a silver ranked Art with only 10% mastery, a bronze Art practitioner with 100% mastery can defeat him.

That is why, even though Aeravat is using the strongest Art there is, 'Flow of the Universe', he isn't super strong because he has only mastered about 0.79% of it by this point in the story.

But mastering flow of the universe will take eons.

"Noah?" James' voice interrupted, reaching me from across the table.

James, I and Anastasia were currently in the cafeteria.

"Yes? What is it?"

Looking slightly concerned, James remarked, "You seem a bit down lately. Is everything okay?" He motioned a circle above his face, indicating that my expressions weren't exactly the brightest.

Well, he was not entirely wrong.

I am usually a very melancholic person.

But that's not the reason for my current demeanor.

Something else has been gnawing at my thoughts lately.

Reflecting back on my encounter with Emily, I cringed—I cringed hard at my foolish behavior.

Much later the realization dawned on me just how foolish and abrupt my change in tone must have seemed to Emily.

What if she now thinks I'm a jerk or simply stupid?

I don't want her to hate me...I want her to lik-no fuck off. Ultasigmagigachadisticalpha!

"Cheer up, buddy. This is the only time you'll get to, after all. Unit tests start tomorrow, and once they begin, you'll have plenty of reasons to be upset", Anastasia said with a defeated tone, sighing as she kept her head buried in the book of magical principles.

I couldn't help but shake my head as I saw her with books even in the cafeteria.

But she was right.

The unit tests were approaching, and I should probably focus more on studying.

But, let's be honest, there was not much to focus on. I can easily rely on Google to find answers during the test.

"I will get going then. There are no more classes, anyway", I exhaled, rising from my seat.

"Already?" James inquired, sounding dejected.

Anastasia waved her hand at me, bidding her goodbye with a smile in her eyes.

Returning their gestures with a smile of my own, I left the cafeteria.

As I strolled down the hallway of Section A1, two unfamiliar boys approached me. Based on their appearance, I deduced that they were first-year students, just like myself.

Given the sheer number of students in the class, it was hard for me to remember who's in my own class.

"You're thaaat Noah guy, right?" one of them asked, his tone filled with disgust as he heavily emphasized the word 'that.'

'That'. Rarely anybody would call me 'That Noah guy' unless they wanted to point out my bad reputation.

I do understand that, according to the stories, Noah took pictures of many naked girls in the bathroom once... but, well,... Ok, I somewhat get it.

But, something just felt off about this whole thing.

"Yeah, what's the problem?"

I was already convinced that these guys had some sort of issue with me.

I hope not...

"How dare a pervert like you practice archery with our goddess!" the other guy spat, pushing me forcefully on my chest.

'Your goddess?' I raised a brow, silently questioning his claim.

Who the fuck is his goddess?

When did I ever practice archery with any goddess?

But then it struck me who they were referring to.

"So, you guys are part of that cringe

Emily club?"

"Tell me something, don't you feel ashamed or embarrassed by your behavior? Is Emily some sort of goddess to you? She's just a human, what more excuses you need to be so creepy towards a girl."

My comment seemed to have enraged them even further, their mana rised up, "How dare you insult our goddess, you filthy human?!" —"How dare you call her a mere human?!"

"Oh crap", I muttered to myself, realizing that I had managed to anger these simp enthusiasts.

Before I knew it, one of them threw a punch at me.

Just as his fist was about to connect, a sudden "Thap!" filled the air.

To my surprise, someone had caught his hand in mid-air.

As my gaze followed the hand, I found myself staring into a pair of piercing light pink eyes and blonde hair.

"Nola?" I whispered under my breath.

"What are you guys up to? Fighting within the academy campus?" Nola questioned, forcefully pushing the other guy's hand away from me.

"Er, well... no, we were just messing around", one of them stammered, clearly intimidated by Nola's presence.

Soon the other two guys retreated giving me a glare.

But why did Nola saved me?

"You know, I'm sorry for my behavior the last time," Nola started, addressing me out of the blue.

"I had no reason to challenge you to a duel. It's just... I was disappointed in my sloppy victory during our sparring match. It was a letdown, but it was on me, not you", Nola confessed, starting to walk away from me.

"Although I must give you credit. You surprised me with your performance in the dungeon trials", she added, waving goodbye with a "see ya" gesture.

I couldn't help but smile at her changed demeanor.

What could have caused this change of heart?

You know what? I've had a change of heart too. Besides, against such a sexy opponent...

"Nola! Wait!" I called out to her, catching her attention with a perplexed look on her face.

"Let's have a rematch, in the battle test", I declared confidently, flashing a smile.

Nola appeared surprised at first but soon nodded in agreement.