By the ti Kael stepped over to where the rest of Class 1-D had gathered, the central training floor had already been converted into a live assessnt zone.
That alone was enough to sharpen the atmosphere.
The instructors had raised multiple reinforced partitions around the lower combat field, creating several enclosed testing sectors lined with mana barriers and observation platforms. Projection screens had been activated overhead, displaying student nas, class designations, and score tallies that would update in real ti.
So this is how they’re doing it.
Kael adjusted the weighted bands around his wrists and scanned the setup.
Simple.
Efficient.
And entirely in line with academy tradition.
Every incoming first-year batch underwent a live practical combat assessnt within the first week. Officially, it was presented as an introductory benchmark—a way for instructors to asure reaction speed, mana control, physical output, and combat decision-making under simulated pressure.
In practice, it served another purpose.
It established hierarchy.
Fast.
Publicly.
The academy did not wait long to teach its students where they stood.
A score board.
A staged arena.
A visible ranking.
That was enough.
By the end of the day, every first-year would know who was worth watching, who was worth avoiding, and who could be safely ignored.
And because Class 1-D had ranked below the upper first-year divisions in initial placent, they had been scheduled last.
Naturally.
The better classes went first.
The lower classes watched.
That was how the academy taught expectation.
Kael exhaled slowly and took his place near the back of his class.
Students from 1-A had already begun.
A conjuration array ignited in the center of the arena.
Mana surged.
Light condensed.
Then a creature ford.
An ogre.
Large.
Broad-shouldered.
Grey-skinned and heavily muscled, standing nearly three ters tall with thick limbs and crude armor strapped over its torso. A heavy iron club rested in one hand, and its mana signature stabilized at the edge of low D-rank.
Simulated.
But not harmless.
The academy’s combat constructs were designed to mimic real monsters closely enough that fear remained a factor.
That mattered more than most first-years realized.
Strength could be trained.
Instinct under pressure was harder to fake.
"The first-year practical is simple," one of the instructors announced from the platform overhead. "You will engage the combat construct assigned to your bracket. Scoring will be based on efficiency, control, reaction ti, and finishing execution."
A pause.
"Panic is penalized. Waste is penalized. Hesitation is penalized."
That got everyone’s attention.
Good.
A na appeared on the projection board.
AURELIA VOSS – CLASS 1-A
The arena quieted imdiately.
Of course it did.
Aurelia stepped forward without a word.
Dark silver hair.
Perfect posture.
Calm expression.
No wasted motion.
No visible tension.
She stepped into the arena like soone walking into routine.
The ogre let out a low growl and tightened its grip on the club.
Aurelia drew her sword.
The entire room seed to sharpen.
She lowered her stance.
One foot forward.
Blade angled low.
Shoulders relaxed.
No theatrics.
No flourish.
Then she moved.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
Aurelia vanished.
Not literally.
Just fast enough that most first-years lost visual tracking for half a second.
She reappeared behind the ogre.
One clean step beyond it.
Her sword lowered.
A thin line appeared across the monster’s torso.
Then the upper half slid free.
The construct split cleanly in two before dissolving into mana.
Silence.
Then the scoreboard updated.
Perfect Execution
Reaction: Exceptional
Control: Exceptional
Score: 97
The room erupted into whispers.
Kael stared at the empty arena.
Flash Step.
The academy’s foundational high-speed movent technique.
Basic by advanced standards.
Still absurdly useful.
A short-range burst acceleration technique built around compressed mana discharge and lower-body reinforcent.
Simple.
Efficient.
Universally applicable.
And one of the most important baseline movent skills in the academy.
Kael replayed the motion in his head once.
Weight transfer.
Breath timing.
Mana reinforcent.
Foot compression.
Release.
Understood.
His eyes flicked briefly to his internal status.
No notification appeared.
As expected.
Interesting.
So copied techniques didn’t register in the system as learned skills.
That confird what he had suspected.
Perfect Copy reproduced function.
Not formal acquisition.
Anything copied through his unique ability beca instinctively executable—but did not register as system-recognized mastery.
Useful.
And inconvenient.
The next na appeared.
ZION CRAWFORD – CLASS 1-A
Now that drew a different reaction.
The atmosphere changed the mont he stepped forward.
Less excitent.
More attention.
Zion entered the arena with the sa detached calm Kael had seen yesterday.
Blonde hair.
Red eyes.
Practice blade at his waist.
No visible emotion.
The ogre roared the mont it ford and lunged.
Zion rested one hand lightly on the hilt of his sword.
Then lowered his center of gravity.
A bent stance.
Odd.
Not academy standard.
Not conventional.
Kael’s eyes sharpened imdiately.
Then Zion spoke.
"First Form."
His hand tightened on the hilt.
"Star Sword Technique: Guiding Light."
He moved.
No—
he disappeared.
Not like Aurelia.
Faster.
A streak of pale light flashed across the arena so cleanly it looked less like movent and more like the aftermath of it.
The ogre froze.
Then split diagonally from shoulder to hip.
The construct dissolved before the delayed wind from Zion’s movent even settled.
Silence.
Then the scoreboard updated.
Perfect Execution
Reaction: Exceptional
Control: Exceptional
Score: 99
Kael stared.
That was faster than Flash Step.
Not by much.
But enough.
The difference was in the structure.
Flash Step was acceleration.
A movent technique.
Guiding Light was a sword form built around directional burst movent and draw-speed compression.
It was not just movent.
It was movent optimized for killing.
Kael replayed the sequence once.
Twice.
Three tis.
Weight shift.
Breath control.
Hip rotation.
Draw angle.
Burst timing.
Then stopped.
Understood.
He had it.
Kael exhaled slowly.
So this is what cheating feels like.
The demonstrations continued.
One after another, the first-years stepped into the arena.
So perford well.
So perford acceptably.
So embarrassed themselves.
The gap between classes beca obvious almost imdiately.
Class 1-A was exactly what its placent implied.
Refined.
Prepared.
Efficient.
Not every student was exceptional, but most were competent enough to avoid looking incompetent.
Class 1-B perford slightly worse.
1-C worse still.
By the ti the lower classes began rotating in, the quality drop beca impossible to ignore.
More hesitation.
Poorer control.
Slower execution.
Sloppier mana usage.
By the ti it reached Class 1-D, the instructors had already stopped pretending the lower classes were expected to impress.
The difference showed imdiately.
The ogres were the sa.
The students were not.
Several hesitated the mont the constructs advanced.
One overcommitted and nearly got his arm broken.
Another burned half her mana pool on a single panic-cast and still failed to finish cleanly.
One beastkin student did well.
A spear user from the demi-human group scored cleanly.
Lillian perford modestly—nothing impressive, but no major mistakes.
Controlled.
Safe.
Unremarkable.
Exactly what he expected.
Useful later.
Not now.
Kael watched in silence as the scores continued to rise and fall.
By his count, only seven first-years so far had scored high enough to be worth rembering imdiately.
Aurelia.
Zion.
Felix.
Two others from 1-A.
One from 1-B.
One from 1-C.
All familiar nas.
All relevant.
All characters who, at minimum, mattered during the academy arc.
Which ant the trend was holding.
The important pieces were still where they were supposed to be.
Good.
That made the board easier to read.
One by one, the remaining students cycled through.
Then Kael’s na appeared overhead.
KAEL DRAVEN – CLASS 1-D
A few nearby whispers started instantly.
House Draven.
Weighted bands.
Class 1-D.
Questionable placent.
Kael stepped forward and entered the arena.
The weighted bands pulled at his limbs with every step.
His body was still sore from yesterday.
Still adapting.
Still heavier than it should have been.
Good.
That made the test useful.
He stepped into position.
Across from him, the summoning array ignited.
Mana surged.
The construct ford.
A D-rank ogre.
Larger than the previous ones.
Broader fra.
Heavier weapon.
Denser mana output.
Its yellow eyes locked onto him as it exhaled a hot, low growl through broken tusks.
Kael stared back in silence.
Then slowly rolled his shoulders.
Right.
Let’s see where I stand.
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