Chapter 141: Chapter 139
Combat Exam (Saturday, 3 A.M.)
We were back in the same forest where our combat evaluation had been held before.
The moment I recognized the trees, I immediately felt nostalgic. Mostly because this forest had already witnessed several terrible choices that made me end up with a negative rank.
Hundreds of students stood gathered in the clearing while the instructors explained the rules.
Instructor Nueve stepped forward.
"Your combat examination will last for two days."
A collective groan spread through the students.
"Your examination will be Capture the Flag."
I perked up slightly.
Instructor Nueve pointed toward a large projected map floating above the clearing.
"The forest has been divided into five sections. Each section belongs to a different class. The center area will contain shared supplies and you will be fighting for it."
Students immediately began whispering among themselves.
"Each class may infiltrate another class’s territory. However, invading classes can only defend themselves and attempt to capture the enemy flag."
I nodded thoughtfully.
Reasonable.
"If Class A captures Class B’s flag, Class B may attempt to retrieve it at any time before the examination ends."
Still reasonable.
"The winning class will be whichever class captures the most flags."
I smiled.
’That sounds easy. It was just a simple game of Capture of the Flag.’
The rest of my class could handle everything while I found a nice tree, drank milk, and enjoyed two peaceful days of absolutely no responsibility.
I was already planning my nap schedule.
Maybe one nap before lunch.
Another after lunch.
Possibly a third for strategic purposes.
Life was finally looking bright.
Instructor Nueve suddenly smiled.
Years of experience had taught me that instructors only smiled when they were about to ruin someone’s day.
"Only this time..."
The smile widened.
"...the flag you’ll be capturing is a person."
Silence.
The entire forest became silent.
I blinked. "...What?"
Nueve snapped his fingers as five large bowls suddenly appeared in front of the instructors, each filled to the brim with folded pieces of paper.
Nobody liked where this was going.
"Now then," Nueve continued far too cheerfully, "shall we find out which students have been chosen as our lucky flags?"
A collective groan immediately echoed through the forest.
Instructor Afri stepped forward first.
He reached into the nearest bowl, shuffled the papers dramatically for several seconds, then pulled one out.
"Recora Brook from Porita Class."
A girl somewhere in the crowd immediately screamed. "WHAT?!"
Her classmates started laughing as one of them even patted her shoulder.
"Congratulations."
"I’m going to die!"
"Probably."
Next was Instructor Sheng.
He unfolded a paper.
"Conrad Terdis from Ralites Class."
A loud curse echoed from the crowd.
Conrad looked personally betrayed by fate.
Instructor Karin stepped forward.
"Hector Servon from Voltes Class."
The poor guy dropped to his knees.
His classmates immediately started discussing funeral arrangements.
Then Instructor Nueve drew his own.
"Sandro Miller from Soltaire Class."
The student stared into the distance as if he had just accepted his tragic destiny.
That left one bowl, one instructor, and one final victim.
I wasn’t worried since there were dozens of students in our class and the chances of my name being picked were low.
Instructor Dmitri stepped forward as he casually placed a hand inside the bowl.
When he saw the name of the paper, he smiled as if he had finally been handed an opportunity by fate itself.
It was the smile of someone who had spent months suffering because of a particular student and had suddenly discovered the universe was willing to help him get revenge.
"Blanca Frostine will serve as Altaire’s flag."
"Damn it."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Around me, my classmates exploded.
"YES!"
"WE WON!"
"THEY PICKED THE CRAZIEST ONE OUT OF ALL OF US!"
"WE’RE INVINCIBLE!"
"ALTAIRE VICTORY!"
Several of them were already hugging each other.
Meanwhile, the other classes looked personally offended.
"UNFAIR!"
"WE DEMAND ANOTHER STUDENT!"
"THAT’S NOT A FLAG, THAT’S A WEAPON!"
"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE HER?!"
"I SAW HER THROW A PROFESSOR ONCE!"
"THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"
The student immediately pointed at me.
"SHE ADMITTED IT!"
The instructors collectively ignored the complaints.
Years of experience had apparently made them immune.
Instructor Sheng stepped forward.
"May the flags come forward and choose their flag colors."
The five chosen sacrifices—I mean representatives—slowly stepped forward.
Recora looked nervous.
Conrad looked depressed.
Sandra looked like she’d accepted death.
Hector was still muttering prayers.
And then I was wondering if I could fake food poisoning.
A table suddenly appeared in front of us.
Five folded flags rested neatly on top.
Blue.
Black.
White.
Violet.
Red.
I wanted the blue flag but before I could reach for it, a hand shot past me and snatched the blue flag.
I stared at Recora who was smiling nervously while clutching it.
"...Really?"
She avoided eye contact.
I slowly reached toward the black flag but Conrad grabbed it first then immediately took three steps away from me.
I stared at him. "Are you blind? I was reaching for that first."
He didn’t answer and just stared at literally anything except me.
Fine.
I reached for the white and violet flags simultaneously. Unfortunately, Hector and Sandro reacted like starving beasts spotting food.
The two practically dove across the table. One snatched the white flag while the other grabbed the violet.
I barely had time to blink.
A second later, all that remained was a single lonely piece of cloth.
Red.
I only wore red once and suddenly everyone had collectively decided it was my favorite color.
’I was never escaping that red veil incident, was I?’
With a sigh, I picked up the flag.
Immediately, several students nodded.
"Looks right."
"Definitely hers."
"Very intimidating."
I ignored them, mostly because violence wasn’t allowed yet.
Instructor Dmitri clapped his hands.
"All class will be standing in the center of the forest."
The five of us immediately looked toward him.
Once the signal sounds," Dmitri continued, "you may return to your designated territory, gather supplies from the central area, establish defenses, fight other classes, or use whatever strategy your class decides."
"Oh, we’ll also be adding a few additional rules. This is not an elimination exam."
Students nodded.
"Students cannot surrender."
Half the forest groaned.
"Do not destroy your designated Omni Drones."
The groaning became louder.
"Points will be deducted."
One student immediately lowered the hammer he’d been holding.
"Soul weapons are allowed."
Cheers erupted.
"Shifting into beast forms is allowed."
Even louder cheers.
"If you’re injured, use the supplies provided."
I raised my hand.
Dmitri ignored me.
"You can steal supplies from other class."
I kept my hand raised.
He continued talking.
"Killing is prohibited but making them half-dead is acceptable."
I raised it higher.
He looked directly at me then continued ignoring me. "Any questions?"
My hand was still raised.
The instructors collectively looked elsewhere.
I waved my arm. "What if I—"
"Since there are no more questions," Dmitri interrupted immediately. "Head to the center of the forest."
I pointed at myself. "My hand is literally still up!"
"NOW."
The instructors quickly vanished.
I slowly lowered my hand.
Beside me, Sandro looked sympathetic. "What were you going to ask?"
I sighed. "I wanted to know if the flag was allowed to fake their own kidnapping."
The other four representatives stopped walking.
Conrad slowly turned toward me. "...What?"
"What?"
"You were planning to fake your own kidnapping?"
"It seemed like a reasonable strategy."
The four of them immediately moved farther away from me.
I sighed again.
Honestly, everyone in this academy was so judgmental.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
We were gathered in the center of the forest.
The supply zone occupied the very middle, filled with medical kits, ropes, food rations, tools, spare batteries, and various items students would inevitably weaponize despite the instructors’ intentions.
Around it stood the five classes, each huddled together and discussing strategies.
Some were whispering, some arguing, and some were even openly threatening one another.
Meanwhile, Altaire Class had gathered beneath a large tree.
"Our priority is gathering supplies," Ravian said while drawing a rough map on the ground with a stick.
Everyone immediately focused on him.
"Half of us will gather resources. The other half will intercept anyone attempting to steal them. The remaining students will defend our gatherers."
Several students nodded. Unfortunately, one person immediately found a flaw.
"Who will defend our flag then?" Silvano asked.
The group immediately fell silent.
Sebastian looked at him like he had asked whether water was wet.
"Why are you worried about her?"
He pointed upward.
"Do you think they can manage to touch her?"
Several students immediately nodded.
"Good point."
"I’m more worried about the people trying."
Stephano crossed his arms. "I’m pretty sure none of the classes will actually try stealing her.
Everyone looked at him.
"She’s a pain the ass," Stephano continued.
The students immediately started nodding again.
"True."
"I still remember combat class."
"I still remember coffee incident."
"I still remember the teaching incident."
Nobody knew which accident they were referring to anymore since there had been too many.
"And even if someone manages to capture her..." Vivienne tapped her chin thoughtfully. "...they would probably pass her off to another class."
The entire group became thoughtful.
"Actually..."
"That sounds likely."
"I’d do it."
"Me too."
"Immediately."
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