Chapter 792 Practical Session [Pt 1]
[The Next Day]
"Alright, students, you know the drill. It's time for your Practical Session."
Instructor Isra'il's two hands were formally placed behind him as he stood at the center of an empty Practice Hall, facing his fifteen students.
He had a stern look on his face, and for good reason. As Class A's Primary Instructor, he was in charge of the growth of these young ones, which meant he was to personally oversee their training—such as this one—in order to determine how much they had grown, or the measures of improvements they needed.
It was also pertinent for him to pluck out the inferior students and consider their demotion to a lower class.
All of this was his responsibility, and he was constantly determined to carry it out with utmost diligence. That said, he had no doubt that his students would show him yet another interesting match today.
'The only variables are the new students. I haven't seen them fight, so now is the best chance to do so…'
The footage of Entrance Exams weren't supposed to be released to the Instructors of the Academy, and he didn't have enough pull to check them out behind the scenes. The only things he was given to work with were Evaluations made from the Center.
'Well, I guess I'll see it with my own eyes…' His eyes focused on the boy with jet-black hair, and the girl with silvery white hair.
'Let's see how good you are.'
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"Today, you'll be placed into groups of three."
The moment Rey heard this, his mood was nearly soiled. He had expected some sort of one-on-one practical session, but it turned out things weren't going to be too straightforward after all.
Still, he wasn't too disappointed.
'I'll finally be able to copy the Skills of some of my classmates. I initially wasn't expecting too much, since they're Newts, but… there are a few potential ones among them.'
Besides, he could simply sell off the Skills that he didn't need, getting more Stats to his stockpile.
—A win-win situation.
"There will be a total of five groups. With all of that understood, I shall now call the name of the team members per group."
The listings began, and Rey didn't hear his name until the very end.
Lucielle was paired with Mi'ja, and another girl called A'manda—the serious girl with round glasses. Ad'oni got paired with Ph'irabel and Mor'ucho. And as for Rey…
'... Looks like my teammates are Chi'go and Lu'ffa.'
As soon as he turned to look at them, they also gave their attention to him. Chi'go was dressed in his usual manner—having his uniform nearly buttoned down, revealing his bare chest and the tons of chains that hung around his neck. He had piercings on his ear, eyebrows, nose, lip and one on his tongue. He also had rings and bracelets that glimmered as he removed his hands from his packers.
After seeing all of this, it was a wonder why piercings and accessories of such magnitude weren't banned in the Academy.
Of course, Rey already knew why—at least, for Chi'go's sake—certain students were allowed to go to the extreme with their fashion choices.
It wasn't an arbitrary decision for sure.
'It has to do with his Skill. I can't say the same about—'
"Hey, there! My name is Lu'ffa! R'ai… let's do our best, okay?!" Rey maintained his composure as he was nearly run into by the boy wearing a straw hat, and a stupidly wide grin.
He had red eyes and white hair, and honestly would have been the male version of Lucielle if it wasn't for his really conspicuous straw hat.
'That's just a fashion choice and has nothing to do with his Skills.' This was his team—two weirdos that were dressed strangely, with eccentric personalities that he wasn't the most comfortable with.
Lucielle ended up with a pretty stable team, and so did Ad'oni, so why?
Why did he have to get such a team?
Rey wasn't the least bit disappointed in the current situation, though. In fact, he found himself getting a bit excited as he stared at them.
"Nice to meet you, Lu'ffa. You too, Chi'go!"
After all, despite their eccentric personalities, they were among the class' strongest.
"Hmph! Just don't hold me back, 'kay?" Chi'go responded as he drew closer to Rey and Lu'ffa, still maintaining his "Tough Boy" persona.
It wasn't all an act, though.
'I guess he has some stuff to back it up. We'll see all that once we begin, won't we?' All the teams gathered their members together, and before long, the five clusters of students had formed. They all stared at their Instructor and awaited further instructions.
As expected, he did not disappoint.
"For the whole day, you and your team will collectively engage in activities to amass points. Of course, the total point of the group will be divided by three, and allocated to each member there. Please note that it isn't enough for you to do well. Everyone in your group must excel."
'As expected.' Rey smiled. 'I guess I have nothing to be worried about, considering the kind of people I have in my corner. Still… the part I'm most worried about is our teamwork.'
It wasn't enough for the students to be strong, but they had to function well together in order to properly win and amass points.
Normally, none of these would really concern Rey. However, considering the consequences of failure, he had to make sure he didn't screw this up, and also ensure his teammates didn't do the same.
'A demotion is the last thing I need right now.'
"There will be a total of five tasks for today. Team Matches, Hide and Seek, Object Search, Individual Matches, and finally… Weapon Proficiency."
Fair or Unfair, this was the nature of any Academy—no, of society as a whole.
"You all better not drag my points down." Chi'go growled at his two teammates, clenching his fist as he listened to the Instructor's words.
"Hehe! This should be fun!" Lu'ffa grinned like an idiot.
Through all this, Rey simply maintained his silence and calm demeanor as he awaited the Practical Session's commencement.
'I should brace myself for the worst…'