Chapter 18: Hoop Academy (3)

While all the students of A1-1 class were waiting inside, a very attractive woman with short red hair and bright blue eyes walked in. Jessica Hill, nicknamed the Red Queen, was 27 years old and the envy of all, a brilliant sorceress and master of telekinesis.

One by one, Jessica looked around at all the children of the elite families gathered in her classroom and then introduced herself with a short introduction.

"Hello everyone. I'm sure most of you know me, but for those of you who don't, let me introduce myself. My name is Jessica Hill and I will be your personal trainer for this class for this year and the years to come. However, this year the exam that was supposed to be held before the start of the semester will be held a week later due to some setbacks. So I recommend that you spend this one week practicing."

When a murmur filled the classroom after her words, Jessica silenced everyone with the aura she emitted, her blue eyes shining. Her presence was powerful.

"Today is orientation day, we don't normally have anything to do and the classes will be reorganized after the exam. So some of you will continue with me while others will have to transfer to another class."

"Ms. Hill, how will the class rankings work?" a female student raised her hand and asked.

"After the test evaluation, eight groups will be formed and ten students will be selected from each group and placed in a class," she explained, smiling at the confused students.

"You will be placed in classes according to your scores, with ten students in each group. For example, the top ten students, ten students from the middle rankings and ten students from the last rank can be placed in the A1-5 class. Thus, there will be eighty mixed students in each class."

"Now, if there are no more questions, I will take you to the training area after taking roll call."

When no one made a sound, Jessica started to take the class roll call.

"Rank 80, Emily Over."

"Present."

"Rank 79, Francis Rich"

"Present."

"..."

"..."

.

.

.

"Rank 9, Sylive Vernon"

"Present."

"Rank 8, Dante Hatt"

"Present."

"Rank 7, Elliot Trevor"

"Present."

"Rank 6, Amy Donovan" 

"Present."

"Rank 5, Veronica Cecil"

"Present."

"Rank 4, Hope Duncan"

"Present."

"Rank 3, Felix Creystone"

"Present."

"Rank 2, Amaris Reagon"

"Present."

"Rank 1, Damien Heart"

"Present."

"I'm glad everyone is here. Your ranks have been randomized for now. Your real ranks will be determined after the exam. So it is too early for you to be happy or sad", she said, pouring cold water on the joy she saw in some of the students whose desks she had told them were high.

"Let's go now," she said, and the students followed her lead.

Jessica had chosen to go to the training facility where Giles, her friend from the academy, had his students. After Jessica had given them the necessary explanations and left the weapons room, Amaris could see some of the students chattering excitedly around Damien and his henchmen.

And it wasn't just them. It happened to Felix, Hope and herself. Seeing some of the girls blushing and talking to Dante, Amaris laughed quietly at his uncomfortable face, which seemed to want to disappear as soon as possible.

She ignored those who tried to talk to her and chose a sword similar to her own weapon, but of lesser quality. Although the academy allowed them to use their own weapons, it was more useful to use what the school provided for training. 

After all, she was paying that much money. How could she be happy if she didn't exploit it as much as she paid?

After she took her weapon and left, she saw that the students in the other class had already started their training.

'Of all the facilities, why did he bring us to the one where another class was practicing?'

Amaris was answered by the sight of Jessica smiling and talking to a man with short light blue hair. The man had a dangerous aura with short hair, tanned skin, sharp features and a large body.

His gaze was blank and indifferent, as if he wanted to keep everyone at a distance. Amaris sighed and moved to the empty area in the center to avoid being caught watching them. The training facility was so large that all one hundred and sixty students could find a comfortable place to study.

As the other members of her class arrived, a spot caught her eye. A group was gathered on one side, laughing and pointing to a spot.

"What's wrong with this freak?" one of them asked with a chuckle.

"Is he trying to attract attention?"

"All he does is sit and close his eyes, or is he asleep?"

Before he could say, "Maybe you think it's weird-" a girl punched him in the arm.

"Don't be a jerk."

Amaris' eyes widened as she looked where they were looking. She hadn't expected to find the person she hadn't expected to see here. His shoulder-length hair was pulled up into a topknot, revealing his sharp features.

His eyes were closed and he seemed to be in a trance. The collar of his T-shirt was wet with sweat. Amaris frowned. From what had been said, he had done nothing but sit.

'So what is he doing sweating so much?'

Dante came over and watched Cale with a frown, while the others slowly stopped what they were doing and looked where they were looking.

"Should we wake him up?" one of them, a large boy, grinned grimly.

"How?"

"A little pain will make him come to his senses," he grinned and showed them the small dagger in his hand.

"Don't be silly, what the hell are you going to do if he's badly hurt?" he looked at the girl with contempt.

"We're would-be hunters, if he's going to complain about a minor injury he should leave this place now!"

"Terry's right Lizzie we're going to be hunters and we're going to get a lot more injuries than that. A bastard like him just sits there sleeping like a doll. This asshole who thinks he's better than us needs to be taught a lesson," he said as he took the buckle off one of the three maces attached to the chain and picked it up.

He took the needle points between his fingers and raised his arm up. Terry and Nevil threw one mace and one dagger at the person sitting on the floor at the same time.

"Stop!" When Amaris shouted and Dante rushed forward, fear gripped everyone's hearts as if they sensed something bad was about to happen.

Everyone watched with bated breath as some screamed in shock. When the mace hit Cale's nose, Cale slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, his eyes glowed red, but when they returned to normal, blood began to drip from his nose.

As Cale frowned and put his hand to his nose and looked at the blood on his hand, the two instructors who approached them were extremely angry.

"What the hell do you idiots think you did on the first day!"

Jessica shouted angrily and Terry and Nevil trembled at her anger as if they had just realized what they had done. Amaris saw Giles kneeling next to Cale, holding his face and looking at him without saying a word.

As Jessica scolded the two students in front of her, Amaris frowned as she smelled something different. Looking around, she saw a trail of mana with a blue glow. It was a brief moment, but she sensed something different.

"You two are barred from the exam!" she said and Amaris saw Terry and Nevil's eyes widen.

"But professor-"

"Are you still talking?" she looked eerily at Nevil. "Your punishment won't stop there, you'll be expelled from the academy for a second offense," she said, glaring at everyone. "Let this be a lesson to all of you that if you do such nonsense and injure a defenseless person, there will be consequences!" 

Amaris thought this was a light punishment. So she frowned and muttered under her breath as Dante glanced sideways at her.

"He almost died and the only punishment they get is to be banned from the exam?"

Amaris looked at him confused as he said, "The punishment seems simple, but it's actually the biggest punishment he's going to give them."

"Taking the exam and ranking high gives every student privileges according to their ranking. But they went straight to the bottom of the list without taking the exam. They will be exempt from many privileges at the academy. And even if they are not in the elite families, they are in the sub-family. Unfortunately, this is the maximum punishment she could give them."

"It's still a very light punishment. What, they won't bother him later because he gave them this punishment? Bullshit!" she said, pointing at Cale with her eyes.

"You don't think he can protect himself?" Dante looked at her with the implication in his eyes.

Amaris sighed as she remembered what had happened in the dungeon, understanding what he meant.

"You're right."

"Are you okay?" Giles asked, helping Cale to his feet.

"I'm fine, thank you," he said as he closed and opened his eyes a few times and waited for them to clear.

"Cale Rayne, how are you feeling?" Jessica asked, looking worriedly at Cale, who had redder hair than her own.

"I'm fine, Professor, it's nothing," Jessica frowned at Cale's reddening face and the scar that had opened above his nose.

"You two follow me to my room!" she said in a commanding voice as she looked at Terry and Nevil. Seeing their uncomfortable looks, her blue eyes flashed eerily, startling them. "I hope you didn't think that would be your only punishment?"

"N-no, professor," Terry stammered in fear.

"Fine," she said with one last glance at Cale and walked on ahead, Terry and Nevil following her with uncomfortable looks.

"Come to the infirmary after you've washed up," Giles said as he left Cale alone and Cale made his way to the sinks.

"Now that the show's over, mind your own business!" Giles shouted, and with fewer students following them, everyone continued with their unfinished training, frightened by the oppressive aura he exuded.

Giles felt the presence of the dagger in his pants pocket as he looked at Cale's back. When a blue shimmering mana appeared in the air and disappeared again, he stopped looking at it and went back to analyzing the students.