A/N: GUESS WHAT? IM BACK, UPLOADS WILL BE DAILY AGAIN.
ALSO PLEASE COMMENT OR LEAVE A REVIEW. EVEN IF ITS CRITICS 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏.
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In twenty minutes, I eventually broke free from the river, and ran amongst other cadets who had also finished with the river, like my life depended on it. And soon I started to see the barren field, and a maybe a little over five hundred cadets already there. But like I said, it wasn't a competition, but a race against time. I finally reached the finish line in three minutes. And in the two hours and forty three minutes mark.
I slumped onto the ground gasping for breath like many other cadets. "Took you long enough" Owen smirked as he came above my fallen form. "Don't mind him, you did great" Tokito said arriving. They both were looked exhausted, but nothing like I did. They only had some beads of sweat on their forehead, whilst I was panting on the floor.
"Would you guys please shut up? I'm trying to rest here" I spoke.
"How many do you think will make it?" asked Tokito.
"Why do we care how many make it?" grumbled Owen.
"Maybe around seven hundred" I guessed as even though we were over five hundred here, and more were still arriving, there was only fifteen minutes left until time was up.
"Good guess, wanna bet?" Owen proposed.
"No" I gave a cold rejection.
"Tsk, spoilsport" he hissed. "I was hoping to get some free points".
We continued our bickering, and soon it was time up. A massive barrier suddenly appeared, separating us, and the cadets that still haven't made it. Even though some were extremely close, heck there was this girl that was only a few meters away.
"Attention cadets" instructor Blake called. "From now on, this will be your routine, every single day. It doesn't matter if it's Monday, or Sunday, you do it every single day, understood?!"
*Silence* Perhaps due to the announcement of not a single free day from this 'torture', the cadets were silent. That was until,
"I SAID AM I UNDERSTOOD!!??" He bellowed.
"YES SIR!!!" We answered in chorus.
"Good" he said. And soft clicks echoed all around, or more precisely from the wrists of every cadet in the field, except for those who came late of course.
Sighs of reliefs sounded along with the clicks, as the bloodline suppressor came off, I felt my essence again, and my body feeling rejuvenated. In seconds my exhaustion was gone. Though the scratches from the red forest were still there, it'll take maybe half an hour to an hour for the minor scratches to heal. As for the bigger ones on my hands that came from climbing, I'll need healing potions for that.
"Now do you know what happened to those who arrived here late three hours ago?" Instructor Blake asked. "They were delayed for thirty minutes. And now most of them are the ones late again" he paused.
"Now they'll retake the entire thing!" People gasped, some choked, and those outside the barrier that heard him paled. I feel for them, after undergoing that phase, now they're forced to retake the entire track again.
"Sucks to be them" Owen muttered.
"Hey be a little sensitive will ya" Tokito chided, but the sly smile on his face gave another story.
"The rest of you, you're all free to go" instructor Blake said before he turned to the cadets who arrived late.
The portal before us was the same one we had used to get here in the first place, so little by little cadets were leaving through it, until it was finally our turn to move through the portal. Once we arrived at the other end of the portal, I said to both Owen and Tokito, " I'll see you guys later, I gotta go get this off and take a proper bath".
"Clean freak" Owen quipped as I walked away.
Once I got to my dorm room, I first decided to take a bath. I was in the shower when I saw myself properly in the mirror, my hair had gotten too long. When I first arrived in the academy, my hair was barely touching my neck, but now it was a little past my shoulders. And, 'is that... white?!' I thought in disbelief as I took a lock, no it wasn't a lock, a streak of hair, it was white, no silver, a contrast against my otherwise navy blue hair.
"I'll deal with it later" i sighed.
After taking my bath, I then drank a healing potion to heal the rest of my wounds. Turns out potions are being sold at the alchemy department. A regular healing potion costed twenty points, and an essence replenishing potion costed fifty points. I bought five of the former, and two of the latter.
Anyway, after taking the potion, the scratches on my palms started to heal. Satisfied, I wore my uniform, texted both Owen and Tokito, and then headed out. Once I got to the ground floor, I waited for them to arrive. Not long after, they both arrived together, after all they're literally a floor apart.
"So where're we going" Owen asked.
"To the restaurant of course" Tokito stated matter of factly.
"Okay let's go" I interrupted before they started arguing. It has become sort of their thing these past few days. Soon we arrived at the restaurant which was unsurprisingly teeming with cadets, which isn't normally the case by this hour. But I guess everyone is feeling famished due to the early morning workout.
Luckily just as we entered, we found an empty table. Coincidentally or not, it was the last table remaining. The restaurant of course was not nearly big enough to accommodate the entire first years. At most it could accommodate a little over two hundred cadets.
Today, it was the bots serving, the cadets working here probably haven't adjusted to the time difference, either that, or they were part of the cadets that were late. Anyway, we ordered from the table screen, and not long after a bit arrived with our orders.
"I simply don't understand your fascination with seafood" Owen said with a shake of his head looking at my dish. It was 'marinated red prawns'. "You can't understand greatness" I shot back. "All you eat are sugar and pastry".
"Tell me about it" Tokito scoffed. "Maybe that's where he gets all the excessive energy from".
"Hey why am I the one being cooked" Owen protested. "All you ever eat is meat" he glared at Tokito. "Less talking and more eating" I said. In the end we finished our respective meals with no more banter.
According to schedule, the only class we have today was combat class. But mind you, it wasn't the normal combat class, it was combat class 2.0. No more bloodline suppressors, the difference between cadets would be further shown.
As we entered the combat grounds, "Is it just me or or did the combat grounds just got bigger?" I asked. "And more fortified" Tokito added. "It makes sense after all, if they want it to survive the lashing of different bloodlines". Owen added.
The combat grounds had been expanded by at least three times. The ceiling was higher, the walls were wider, but it didn't look any different from outside. And last but not least, the white walls had turned a dull grey, it wasn't much, but we could tell they were sturdier.
We stood alone away from everybody else, just like every other cliques. Not long after, instructor Blake appeared in the middle of the combat grounds.
"SILENCE!!" HE bellowed.
The atmosphere stilled, "Today everyone will fight, just that you'll do so with everything you've got" he began. "Deploy the battle arenas" he said to his smart bracelet. As soon as he said that, three grand arenas started emerging from the ground, bigger than the ones we used before. All three adjacent to one another.
"The pairings will be random, and you'll fight until one gives up, or one cannot continue anymore". "Start the lot" he once again said to his bracelet.
Our bracelets responded in tandem, my bracelet displayed a hologram with two slots, with my name on one, and a 'vs' in between both slots. And then on the last slot was what I assumed to be names slipping my too fast, until it eventually settled on a name,
"Raj Sharma?".
"Raj Sharma, rank 102?" I muttered.
"What rank are you guys fighting?" Owen asked stretching his neck.
"Some dude named Raj Sharma, rank 102" I replied.
"Mine's a girl, rank 72" said Tokito.
"Kukuku, guess mine" Owen chuckled.
*Sigh* "I'm too tired for this" I muttered. "Hey come on we told you ours" Tokito argued.
"Fine fine fine, it's Gabriel Snow, rank 10" Owen relented.
Gabriel Snow, the name hit differently, Aurelia's twin. Personally I have no opinion of him, but I've seen his sister fight, so I'm guessing he would be as strong as, if not stronger than her.
"There will be three spars going on simultaneously. These are instructors Arc and Seren" he gestured to two instructors who appeared beside him. "They'll both be watching an arena each. Now rank 1 and her opponent, onto the arena!!" he ordered.