"Ah, wait! I almost forgot again! Student Jagua Agua, come forward!" The Assistant Instructor said while smacking his own forehead and a female mage stepped out amongst the other 49 mages
Her face was tainted with a red color while her expression was that of embarrassment. She had a hunch about why her name was called
Out of the fifty mages in this batch, she was the last mage that entered the gym. This means that she is the one that would be punished
If she was given the punishments privately then so be it but now, all of her classmates will think that she was the most untalented among them which might not be far from the truth
Although she is a Spirit Mage in the 4th cycle, she barely reached that rank before the admission test. She might be a mage that can be considered very talented but that is only if we compare her to mages of third-rate academies
In a second-rate Academy like the Trysr Academy, she barely reached the threshold to pass. She might even only passed because the exam's admission test was easier than normal
This made her feel insecure and she was uncomfortable with the gaze she was receiving
"As the last student that entered the gym, today's punishment would be given to you. As for the punishment, it would be this"
The Assistant Instructor clapped his hands and numbers suddenly appeared on the crystals
Most numbers ranged at several thousand with the highest reaching the ten thousand
"These numbers quantify the damage that the crystals received from your attacks. Since this is the first day, even if there were many of you that have scores lower than ten thousand, I will let it slide. But starting tomorrow, the bare minimum score is 10,000 before you can be dismissed from my class"
"And here comes the best part. The student that will come travel from your theory class's classroom to this place will have to score twice the score of the highest score of the day. Since today's highest score is 10,587, student Jagua Agua has to reach the score of 21,174 before she can be dismissed"
"And oh, if you are trying to be compassionate and try to score as low as possible I wouldn't recommend that. Know that all of you are being evaluated. As I mentioned earlier, students that have progress that doesn't reach the standards of the academy will be expelled. There are many factors affecting the judgment and I can confidently say that your performance in your classes is a huge part of that. So, think twice before you put compassion first"
"As much as the city needed kind people, it needs strong mages more since we are not the hegemons of the realm. Do you understand that? If yes then go, all of you are dismissed aside from Student Jagua!"
Now that the students heard what the punishment would be, they heaved a sigh of relief. They wanted to be the first ones to destroy the crystal and to do so, they need time to study. None of them are willing to lose time by receiving the punishment
"Phew, I was the second to the last that arrived. I was very nervous about the punishment. Fortunately, it was not that bad!"
"Right? I thought it was something hard and extreme but turns out it was something we can do if given enough time!"
"What was the suspense for? They made the punishment sound as if it was something extremely scary!"
The students started discussing amongst themselves while walking out of the gym. Most of them are thinking in a simple way and Rezen that heard their words cannot help but shake his head
All of them are roughly at the same age but their level of maturity was not. Since Rezen has experienced more things, he can see much more than the other students
Do they think that the punishment is that simple? Maybe, the punishment itself is simple but not the other things that it could affect
"Why are you shaking your head? Do you not agree?" A person suddenly talked next to Rezen and judging by the voice, it was another person familiar to him
It was one of the three mages he fought back at the entrance ceremony and also a fellow 3rd cycle Deviant Mage. It was Theon Sharp
Since this mage is also pretty talented, Rezen wouldn't mind forming an amicable relationship with him and he gave an answer
"Why? Do you also think that the punishment is that simple?" Rezen asked back and Theon narrowed his eyes
"Hello? Hello? What's happening? What are you guys talking about? Are you going to spar?"
"Rezen, my best friend, you are too popular, wait for me!"
Aside from Theon Sharp, Porenz, and Treen also started walking next to Rezen. It seems like while many of his classmates doesn't like him, he was still a bit popular thanks to his performance back at the entrance ceremony
"We're talking about whether the punishment is as simple as it sounds" Rezen replied to the two newcomers but unfortunately, these two are not exactly the brightest minds in the class
"Ah, is that so? That's so boring! Why don't we just fight? It'll help us grow stronger and smash that crystal!"
"Nah, it's better if we go home. I miss my soft bed"
The two simpletons were not interested and only Theon was
"What do you mean by that? Is there something else?" Theon asked curiously and Rezen shrugged his shoulders
"This is just a theory of mine. I think that while the punishment itself is simple, the effects it would have is not. Remember, both instructors insinuated that the punishment is not something we will like. They made it sound like a grave thing"
"Assistant Instructor Thereb also said that we are being evaluated and there's a chance that we will be expelled if we performed underwhelmingly. By using these points, what if that student was still the slowest on the second, third, fourth, and so on dates? How many offenses similar to that does it take for a student to be expelled?"
"Let's say each of us has three points and every time that we performed the worst, the academy will deduct a point and when we used up all of our points, the Academy will then expel us"
Rezen explained and realization dawned upon Theon's face as he speaks. "The punishment is light and is just a bit troublesome. This would make us not think too much of the punishment. Most students wouldn't even care much if they always arrived the last. The academy will let us be free to see who among us really has the drive to improve"
At that, Rezen nodded his head. "Not only that, but the Assistant Instructor also didn't say that the punishment would always be that light. What if the punishment for tomorrow is something worse? Of course, I could also be just overthinking"
"No, I think that you made valid points. My mentor always told me that when it comes to the progress of their mages, a second-rate academy is very serious. More often than not, their decisions have hidden meanings and it was better to overthink than not think at all"
Rezen is also aware of that fact. The city is facing constant threat from the magic beasts and when it comes to the growth of their mages, they are meticulous
"Argh, all these talks are making my head hurt. I'm out of here!" The musclehead cannot handle intellectual conversation and she immediately ran away to escape
"I-I also have to go" Treen said as he too does not want to use his brains as much as Rezen and Thereb do
As such, only the two of them remained and Theon cannot help but ask another question
"T-then... d-do you have any tips on how we can destroy the crystals? Of course, I'm not asking you for free. If in our future classes, I discovered something or a trick for another challenge that they will give us, I will share them with you"
Currently, Rezen is lacking in the wisdom department. As much as he wanted to be the first one to destroy the crystal and receive the reward, that was close to impossible. He has a lot of catching up to do and this is not something that could be done in a day or two
His classmates are geniuses and most of them also have resources while he only has the latter. As such, it was better if it was someone with a good relationship with Rezen that will receive the reward
"I have but it's also only another theory" Rezen replied but after seeing how sharp his mind was, Theon was more than willing to listen and give this theory a try
"Can I hear it?" Theon asked while swallowing a mouthful of saliva
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com