Exam Over

In the exam site right now, Elio was grumbling away, but still not giving up, searching all around. "Where the heck could they be hiding? Even a cat isn't as good at hiding as they are."

Varden, who always got a kick out of seeing Elio bump into Drexel, was just chilling. He was leaning against a tree, tuning his harp's strings.

After a bit, Zephyr came out from the trees to the south. He shook his head at the two, and then just leaned against a tree, cleaning his energy gun.

Elio was frustrated but not daring to express it at the lack of help from the others. He could only hope as he looked towards Cirilla, who hadn't come back from the east yet.

"I didn't find them either," Cirilla said as she came out from the eastern woods, dodging dirty, dusty leaves with a look of disgust.

Elio's hopeful look fell, and he cursed through gritted teeth, "Drexel! Come out, what's the point of hiding? Be a man, come out and fight!"

After cursing, he swung his sword at the nearby woods in frustration. Where the light blade passed, trees fell down one after another.

Arix was hiding in a hole. When she poked her head out and saw this terrifying scene, she quickly pulled back. Then she swallowed nervously and whispered to Drexel, "Are your enemies always this scary?"

Drexel coolly said to Arix, "Now they're your enemies too."

Hearing the annoyance in Drexel's tone, Arix felt a bit guilty, "I didn't mean to do it just now, sorry, okay? I won't tease you again, alright?"

Drexel's expression softened a bit, but he still glared fiercely at Arix, "If there's a next time, I won't need them to act; I'll take you out myself."

"I didn't expect you to be so naive! Lucky it's me, if it were someone else, you would have been sold out without a clue," Arix mumbled under her breath.

"What are you mumbling about?" Drexel looked at Arix suspiciously, feeling like she was bad-mouthing him again.

Arix stiffened for a moment, dodged the gaze, and then calmly said, "Nothing, I wasn't mumbling. I was just thinking this place isn't safe. If their main force comes, we definitely can't hide."

"You're right, they would go through everything, even an ant's nest. This place isn't safe," Drexel frowned and thought.

Seeing that she had fooled Drexel, Arix breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait! I've got an idea," Drexel said with a smile, seeming a bit excited.

Arix looked at Drexel eagerly, "What's the idea, come on, tell me."

Drexel smirked at Arix, then mysteriously said, "Do you remember the insectoid nest?"

Arix's face turned green, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "You're not thinking of hiding in an insectoid nest, are you?"

"Bingo!" Drexel nodded in approval.

"Don't even think about it. If you want to go, go by yourself. I'd rather be eliminated than go to a place where bugs live," Arix declared, holding onto her dignity as if it were her last stand.

"Don't you want your mecha anymore?" Drexel said coolly.

Arix stiffened, then put on a weepy face. "Drexel, you've changed so much, you know that? You're no longer the kind and warm dude you used to be 30 minutes ago."

Drexel rolled his eyes and shuddered in disgust, "Cut the act. Let's head to the insectoid nest before the main force of our enemies arrives."

Arix stopped struggling and sulkily followed Drexel out of the hole.

Half an hour later, when they finally reached the entrance of the nest, the terrifying and disgusting surroundings made Arix wish she could die on the spot.

The inside of the insectoid nest was smelly and damp. The sticky ground was covered in insectoid corpses, and there were even piles of insectoid waste in the corners.

Not only did Arix turn pale, but even Drexel felt queasy. However, his fragile pride wouldn't allow him to admit it.

After a moment, Arix and Drexel exchanged a look and turned to head back, only to be greeted by four sinister smiling faces.

"Darn it! Told you there's monster inside!" Arix shrieked and darted behind Drexel.

Drexel, unimpressed, elbowed Arix, "It's not a monster."

Arix let out a sigh of relief and cautiously peeked out from behind Drexel. "How did you find us so quickly? You didn't cheat, did you?"

"Ha! You think I need to cheat? To catch you guys, I spent an entire term's allowance to buy a tracking device from the store. If I don't eliminate you today, I won't be doing justice to my one hundred million astrocredits," Elio said, his smile twisting.

One hundred million!

Arix and Drexel were both stunned. The original Arix sold her enrollment for 1 million and died. Now the new Arix was offered 100 times more than that.

Thinking this, Arix looked at Elio, the stupid rich dude, with a broken heart. If he had given the money to her directly, Arix knew she would concede defeat without a second thought.

Drexel, with a subtle expression, said, "How about you give me the money and I'll concede defeat right here right now?"

"Exactly, Elio. I don't need that much; just 50 million is enough for me. If that's too much, I'll take 10 million," Arix said, her eyes filled with hope.

"In your dreams!" Elio gritted his teeth, each word seething with anger.

Without another word, Elio raised his sword and charged at Arix and Drexel.

"Run!"

Arix and Drexel didn't hesitate; they turned around and dashed into the insectoid nest.

Elio immediately gave chase but was quickly repulsed by the disgusting smell emanating from the insectoid nest.

"What's that smell?" Elio grimaced, almost blacking out from disgust.

Cirilla's face turned shades of blue. After pondering for a moment, she decided to stay back with Varden and Zephyr, about ten meters away from the entrance of the nest.

"Aren't you going to chase them?" Elio turned and asked the other three.

"Drexel is my cousin, after all. How could I do that to my cousin?" Varden said innocently.

'Now you remember he's your cousin!' Elio thought sarcastically, then turned to Cirilla.

"How could I possibly go into such a disgusting place?" Cirilla said with a grimace.

Elio rolled his eyes internally at this princess and then looked at Zephyr.

"Ugh! How disgusting!" Zephyr simply stated, with a cold expression.

Resigned to his fate with such teammates, Elio was about to grit his teeth and head into the insectoid nest when he saw the two who had just gone in running out like mad.

"Help!" Arix screamed in terror, running for her life.

Elio, not noticing Arix's fear, was initially excited to see Drexel running back towards them. But the next second, his excitement turned to horror, and he took off like he was being chased by a ghost.

Varden and the others finally realized something was wrong. On closer inspection, they saw a seemingly endless swarm of giant insectoids following closely behind Arix and Drexel.

The group exchanged nervous glances, swallowed hard, and then sprinted after Elio.

"Wait for us!" Arix shouted, desperately trying to keep up.

"What's going on? Why are there so many bugs? Didn't you guys kill them all?" Elio asked as he ran.

Arix was too distressed to speak, and Drexel, with a complicated expression, said, "There's a Queen inside."

Silence fell upon hearing this.

"Why is she waking up? What the hell did you do?" Elio exclaimed in desperation.

Back at the Alliance Military Academy's meeting room, Laiden was watching the video feed with a deadpan look, his eyes fixed on Elio. The young man was still complaining.

Marlone couldn't hold back a chuckle, which he quickly tried to cover up with a cough, but it was too late.

Even Solis and the others couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Laiden shot Marlone a cold glance before turning his attention back to the arena, saying with a sinister smile, "One queen insect seems too few. Let's add another one!"

Marlone opened his mouth as if to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he just looked sympathetically at the video feed, where the six were still frantically running for their lives.

Arix felt so tired, it was like her body was running while her soul floated behind, ready to leave her body at any moment.

"Oh man, oh man! I can't keep this up!" 

Arix felt like giving up. If she couldn't get the mecha she wanted now, there would always be another chance. If she kept running, she worried there wouldn't be a "later" for her.

Drexel also felt that running further wouldn't solve anything, so he turned to Arix and asked, "Do you have any bug-repelling potion?"

"I have the ingredients! But they won't work unless I made them into a potion." Arix knew what Drexel was planning, but they were surrounded by insectoids, making it impossible to make the potion right now.

"How long will it take to make one?" Drexel asked urgently.

"Twenty minutes," Arix replied, gritting her teeth.

It normally took half an hour, but under the current circumstances, she could make it in twenty minutes if she tried her hardest.

"Start making the potion, leave the rest to me," Drexel told Arix and then ran off to join the other four.

Soon, Drexel, with Elio and three others, surrounded Arix, leaving her puzzled.

"Arix, the five of us will hold up a psychic barrier, but we only have 20 minutes, so everything is up to you," Drexel said seriously.

Arix, stunned, looked into Drexel's solemn eyes. He had been immature and even a bit foolish not long ago, but now he seemed reliable.

"I got it!" Arix replied, her gaze serious.

Drexel, Cirilla, Elio, Zephyr, and Varden stopped running and formed a circle around Arix, protecting her.

Together, their incredible psychic powers merged into a psychic barrier, a feat not as simple as it sounded. The powers had to be equal, and they had to trust each other completely. Any doubt could cause severe backlash.

This show of brotherhood was almost too much for Arix.

As the psychic barrier formed, countless insectoids swarmed over, crashing against the barrier.

"Arix, hurry!" Drexel, the only one among them who was seriously injured, kept channeling his psychic power into the barrier, using all his strength even to speak.

Arix suppressed her worry. She took a deep breath, and quickly took out her alchemy equipment from the buy-to-win shop.

She crushed the ingredients, heated them, simmered the mixture, extracted, and purified it...

During the wait, Elio noticed something off with Drexel's psychic power. It should have been stable and peaceful, but it was now fluctuating like ocean waves, which was a sign that his psychic power was nearing exhaustion.

"Drexel..." Elio's words were cut short by the sight of Drexel's face. He was shockingly pale, with blood streaming from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, making him look less than alive. 

Despite that, Drexel managed a weak shake of his head at Elio.

Elio was utterly confused. 'Why would Drexel not pull out of the exam under such conditions? Continuing like this could damage his psychic world; and even if he made it through, it would require at least a month in a healing pod. Drexel was not one to focus solely on immediate gains, so what was he holding on for?'

When Elio was about to ask, Drexel shook his head again, his eyes pleading in a manner Elio had never seen before.

Elio fell silent, taken aback by Drexel's plea. He should have felt happy, but instead, he was filled with anger and turned away from Drexel.

Drexel sighed in relief, not quite sure himself why he persisted, but he knew he wanted Arix to win a top ten mecha, to give this interesting little girl what she desired.

From the moment he met Arix, Drexel was reminded of his sister Raya, who was kidnapped by traitors of the Kering family ten years ago and never found.

Raya was mischievous, wearing red dresses but climbing mechas like a boy, causing their mother to nearly faint while she laughed heartily.

Despite the relentless insectoid assault on the psychic barrier, Drexel's bloodied face bore a smile from the beautiful memories.

One minute, five minutes, ten, fifteen... In the final half minute of the 20-minute mark, Arix successfully crafted the bug-repellent spray.

Without a word, she sprayed everyone with it. The potion worked wonders, and the insectoids, as if facing their nemesis, flew away from the psychic barrier.

In less than a minute, the swarming insectoids were gone. The group collapsed on the ground, exhausted, not caring about the dirt, not even Cirilla.

"Huh? Drexel, aren't you tired?" Cirilla asked, admiringly looking at Drexel, who was still standing.

Hearing this, Arix and Elio's faces changed, and they rushed towards Drexel in panic.

Varden, realizing something was wrong with his cousin, quickly stood up to join them.

Zephyr and Cirilla exchanged a worried glance and followed.

In a frantic panic, Arix caught Drexel as he fell.

His face was covered in blood, prompting her to call out in a fluster.

Varden, also worried, looked over Drexel. Luckily, as an heir to a chemist family and skilled in medicine, he managed to give Drexel a basic check-up.

After making sure Drexel was fine, Varden fumed, "Drexel, you're really pushing it! Your psychic power's worn out. You need to give up now, leave the exam, and don't even think about leaving a healing pod for at least a month,"

Varden could no longer maintain his usual calm demeanor.

"Sorry, Varden," Drexel managed weakly, even as he coughed up blood.

Then, turning slightly to Elio, he said, "Didn't you want to eliminate me? Here's your chance, will you take it?"

Elio looked disdainfully at Drexel, lifting his chin haughtily, "You're no longer worthy of being my rival. Beating someone as stupid as you would only disgrace myself."

Drexel couldn't help laughing, which caused him to cough up more blood.

"Drexel, can you hold on? The exam is almost over," Arix said, her eyes reddening.

"Sorry, I can't stay till the end with you. I'll wait for you outside. Good luck." With a smile, Drexel's body digitized and vanished from the holographic exam area.

Arix clenched her fists in silence for a long time before finally looking up at the others and saying, "Shall we take down the insectoid queen?"

Varden and the others exchanged looks and silently nodded in agreement.

As the entrance exam neared its end, Arix, still venting her frustration on the insectoids, felt a tug at her soul.

Then she woke up in the giant Connective Pod.

"Jeez, that scared the life out of me." As soon as Arix opened her eyes, she saw a crowd of students surrounding her, nearly giving her a heart attack.

The students fell silent, staring at Arix as if she were an alien.

"You got Supergiant-Class psychic power?" one of the students suddenly asked.

Arix, confused, wasn't sure about her psychic power level but felt the term "Supergiant-Class" might refer to her, so she incredulously asked, "Are you talking about me?"

"Yes, you. Don't you know your own psychic power level?" Once one person spoke up, the others began to join in.

Arix swallowed her words. The old Arix had only tested her psychic power level once; she hadn't done that since because the test was too expensive, a perfect excuse for not knowing her current level.

Thinking about this, Arix acted as if she was hesitant and embarrassed. Then she said, "I don't know... I'm sorry. The cost to such a test is 1,000 astrocredits, and that's umm, so…"

"So?" All the students looked at Arix eagerly, waiting for her answer.

"So, I CAN'T AFFORD IT!" Arix stressed innocently.

It might have been her imagination, but Arix felt as if there was a collective groan around her, as if her words had somehow caused a group of people to hurt emotionally.

Feeling somewhat guilty but relieved, Arix was glad the subject had to change when the central screen in the examination area lit up.

The large screen displayed the message that the examination was over, followed by the campus announcement over the loudspeakers.

"The entrance examination competition for new students at the Hecaris Military Academy has officially ended. The results will be sent to the students' opticomputers at 15:00 tomorrow. Please pay attention to the relevant information."

As the announcement ended, the holographic screen above the examination area disappeared from the center downwards, exposing all the students under the clear blue sky.

Once the holographic screen was completely gone, the students stopped crowding around Arix and started to leave the examination area one by one, some excited, others sad...

After enduring three grueling days of the examination, Arix stretched comfortably at the sight of the clear blue sky. It was then that she suddenly felt like she had forgotten something important.