Chapter 12: Ranking Exam [1]

*BZZZ*

When I got out of bed, I heard my phone vibrating, which was unusual as I had 0 contacts on it.

"Ah, it's about that time, isn't it?"

On the screen of my school phone, an announcement was displayed in all bold and red text, making it impossible for any student not to see it.

[From today or Friday, September 5, the class system will be dissolved. Approximately 150 Elven students will transfer to the school to begin classes here at Celestial Academy. Your new class will be assigned randomly, and you will know it by this Sunday. At 8:00, report to the combat arena for the first-year ranking exams. Only bring your training weapons.]

Stretching my muscles, I silently thanked my training potions for healing my body overnight. Waking up on the first day of dagger training was hell; I could feel almost every muscle aching from the beatdown the stage 1 robot gave me. I could barely even walk, causing me to be late for a class.

Thankfully, being late to class was probably usual for someone like Ren, so besides a scolding from the teacher, I got away pretty quickly.

Grabbing the smartwatch and a water bottle I had bought, I glanced at my system menu one last time before leaving the safety of my dorm room.

[Class: Novice Assassin: (Level 1: 88%) ]

-> Stealth : E-

-> Beginner Dagger Mastery : 92%

-> Arts: (N/A)

On the second day, I had reached my goal of beating the Stage 1 dummy within a minute, so my progress began to quicken again while I fought the Stage 2 dummy. Adding the boost of the training potion, I was on pace to reach my goal of intermediate mastery by today's training session if everything went according to plan.

Entering the massive arena, I could see around 1000 first-years looking at each other with confused expressions.

They had just learned that they would be switching classes and that over 100 new transfer students were coming.

Some students looked scared at the prospect of making new friends in a new class, while others seemed excited to meet some elves, and finally, there were those looking serious as they had grasped the current situation.

Some students may have thought this meeting would be about announcements; however, their excitement and confusion soon turned solemn.

This ranking exam would determine their futures. Being ranked highly would lead to you catching the attention of many guilds, and possibly being recruited while being ranked lowly would damage your chances of ever joining a high-ranked guild.

*CLAP*

*CLAP*

*CLAP*

The sound of the clapping reverberated throughout the arena, and instantly, silence descended upon the students.

My former teacher was seen walking up to the stage at the front of an arena, her purple hair swaying with every step.

Upon reaching the podium, she wasted no time and immediately began speaking.

"Now is not the time for questions about the email you have all received. Starting now, Celestial Academy will begin its first-ever ranking exam. For the next four hours, your ability as a hero will be tested through a series of physical and mental drills. Finally, after all those drills, you will be assigned to a random 4-person group and be given a mission. Using your results from the drills and group mission, you will be assigned a ranking number."

Instantly, the mood of the arena changed. Even without knowing anything about the ranking system, every student understood that receiving the highest ranking number was the most important.

Behind the teacher, a giant digital screen, usually used for duels, lit up. After a few moments, the first message was finally displayed on the screen.

[Former Class E students, report to the back of the arena for your exam.]

Behind me, I could hear a student start grumbling.

"just my fucking luck. I can't have one peaceful goddamn morning."

I wanted to pat him on the back and encourage him as I knew exactly how he felt, but alas, such a thing did not suit Ren's personality, so I watched the student sullenly walk toward the back of the arena.

After 10 minutes, it was finally Class D's turn, so I started walking towards the back. Upon entering the arena halls, I saw my former teacher waiting in front of a door with a clipboard.

It seemed like I was the first Class D student to arrive, so I walked towards her. She gave me a quick nod before checking something off on her clipboard.

Honestly, I was expecting her to ask me what my name was.

This teacher is a significant character in the story as she is Liam's new teacher. After seeing his work ethic and how others treated him due to his commoner status, she began to mentor him. Without her, Liam probably would have died in one of the many djinn attacks on the school.

Looking up from her clipboard, Mrs. Zia redirected her attention to me and asked.

"Please show your selected weapon or weapons."

Taking my daggers out of my backpack, I put them in my hand and showed them to her.

Glancing between her clipboard and my daggers, she waited momentarily before asking.

"Say, Cadet Ren, it says here you use a sword."

Wait, how does she know my name? Why is she calling me cadet? This is not the goddamn military; this is a glorified high school.

"Ah, yes, I decided to switch weapons."

"Noted. Leave your backpack outside."

 Staring at the ominous-looking door in front of me, I glanced at the outside world before heading inside.

4 hours straight of training and exercise drills prepared to break your body and test your limits. These next few hours were going to be hell.

But I had already gone through hell on my mountain expedition.

After opening the door, I glanced at my surroundings momentarily before realizing that the room resembled the private AI dummy chambers in the training hall.

Even if the room was completely dark, I could recognize it. After all, I had spent hours there getting beat up every day.

"Oh, don't tell me..."

[Take out your weapon or weapons. Your first test will begin shortly.]

Readjusting my grip on the curved daggers, I took a ready stance.

I wasn't planning to rank anywhere close to the top 10... well, not that I could even if I tried my best, but getting a higher rank meant getting a bigger room so I wouldn't laze out.

My plan was simple.

Go all out on this first test, and then do mediocre or terrible on the next ones. Since this test was weighed much more than the others, my rank would actually be higher if I used that strategy.

The room lights turned on, illuminating a Stage 1 AI dummy standing in the center of the room with a sword in its right hand.

I calmly waited for the dummy's first attack without moving an inch from my original spot. Seeing that I was giving it the initiative, the AI dummy rushed towards me with his sword prepared for a horizontal slash.

Even without my Dragon's Eye passive, I had fought this dummy enough times to know what move it was using solely based on its grip on the sword and stance.

Seeing the dummy near me, I sidestepped to the right and raised my right dagger to block the sword.

The force of the dummy's sword crashed into my dagger, pushing me back for a moment, but I was prepared for the impact.

Without giving the dummy time to react, I used my left dagger and slashed at the body of the dummy.

One dagger swipe wasn't enough to kill it, so I patiently awaited its next attack and delivered another counter-attack to finish it.

[Level 1 Completed]

The room's lights flickered for a moment, putting me on edge. Once the lights were back on, I saw 2 AI dummies waiting in the middle of the room, and the previous AI dummy had disappeared.

"... 2 daggers, one for each dummy"

Although there were 2 dummies, their teamwork and coordination were terrible, as the two rushed at me without regard for the other.

This was my first time fighting two opponents at once, so I had no idea on how the dragon's eye passive would be affected.

Would it take longer than the usual minute to see their attacks? If so, how much longer? Would I only be able to see one of the dummies's attacks or both?

However, it wasn't like I wasn't prepared for a scenario like this. Even without the dragon's eye passive, I could reasonably guess the dummies's subsequent attacks due to my hours of training.

The dummy on the right was going to reach me first, so I sidestepped to avoid its charge; however, doing that gave me no time to avoid the left dummy's attack, so I formed an X with my dagger, blocking the dummy's arial sword attack.

The strength of both my daggers combined outclassed the dummy sword, so instead of repositioning myself, I pushed my daggers forward, forcing the right dummy to remain in place.

The second dummy came rushing at me, but once again, I sidestepped to the right.

*BANG*

The sound of the two dummies crashing into together echoed throughout the room.

I could have ended one of the dummies right there while they were lying on the floor confused, but it had almost been a minute, so I wanted to test how my passive would fair with this new scenario.

After that moment, the dummies stood together and prepared to attack again. Looking at the 2 dummies in front of me, I noticed a peculiarity between them.

The one on the right had their sword in their right hand, while the one on the left held their sword in their left hand.

Of course, this scenario was perfect for me, as my daggers would have an easier time blocking. If they both held their swords in their right hand, I would have to twist my body and move my left hand to block their simultaneous sword strikes.

Was this a coinencdence, or did the teachers do this on purpose?

Snapping me out of my thoughts, the two dummies rushed toward me once again, but this time, instead of standing still and waiting for them, I preemptively moved away, causing the dummies to stop midcharge.

Currently, my goal was to stall for time until my passive showed some signs of life.

Thankfully, it only took another 15 seconds for my passive to ignite again.

Looking at the two dummies, I could see both of their swords' projected trajectory and next moves.

"So, it just takes a bit longer with more people."

With the boost of my passive, it only took me another minute to finish both the dummies off.

*SWISH*

*SWISH*

[Stage 2 Complete]

The lights flickered again, and in the center of the room, three Stage 1 dummies could be seen standing.

"Ah, for fucks sake."

Although I wanted to test the limits of the passive by seeing how it would fair against three opponents, facing three dummies simultaneously was too dangerous, even for a professional like me.

*SWISH*

Taking out one dummy was fairly easy with their uncoordinated and messy attacks, so once again, I was left facing 2 dummies, each with swords in different hands.

It had taken me a minute to remove the first one, so I was surprised to see the trajectory of both of the dummies' attacks again.

"Guess this type also gets shorter."

After disposing of the two dummies, I waited for the flickering lights again, but this time there was none.

[Level 3 Complete. Please move on to the next drill.]

On the opposite side of the room, the wall opened up, revealing a hallway and some other rooms.

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"I-i t-take e-everything b-back about experiencing hell earlier. T-this w-was t-the r-real deal."

One hour of endurance training and sprinting, another hour of weight lifting, and finally, an hour of surviving in an artificial environment full of traps.

At times like this, I wished I was a magic major; they had it easy.

Interrupting my long-needed rest, my phone vibrated again.

"2 in one day? Guess I'm on a roll."

[Report to the arena entrance in one hour for your group mission. Your group is as follows.

Irene - Class A

Zane - Class C

Deon - Class C

Ren - Class D

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