"Some of the greatest battles you will ever have, are those fought within the silent chambers of your own soul."
*****
"Okay, class. I have some news for you," Mr. Wang, our class teacher, announced.
It was the day after Feng Mian, Qing Yue, Yu An Xue, Yu An Yan, and I had ate at Grange Grill, and the sisters had their fateful reunion. Class 2-D, Shenzhen Magic High School. My name is Xuan Kai, and I am in my 2nd year at this school, Class D - meaning we ranked last out of the 4 classes of each year.
Yu An Yan had decided to remain at this school, unsurprisingly. She now sat at her own seat, and I got to have my seat back to myself, fortunately.
Since a class consisted of 25 students, we were organized into a seating arrangement of 5 x 5 (five rows, each row having five seats in it). Our class just happened to be short 3 people before Qing Yue transferred in, so it goes without saying that Feng Mian and Yu An Yan who transferred in later were automatically placed into Class D.
And therefore, the entire back row was now filled with people who knew my secret - the 4 girls, and myself. Though since Feng Mian had her seat in between Qing Yue and I's, there was technically still a vacant spot for a desk to be placed. From right to left (my perspective), the order was as follows:
Yu An Xue, Yu An Yan, Qing Yue, Feng Mian, and I.
Before, people would only look back here to humiliate me, but now most of the boys' eyes were constantly glued to the back of the class, in admiration of the beauties. Even the other girls were curious.
In any case - Mr. Wang sure got everyone's attention with that announcement. My fellow students of Class 2-D all settled down to listen to what our teacher had to say.
Seeing everyone focused on him, Mr. Wang continued. "As you know, the Advancement Exams are coming up."
The students all nodded, while Yu An Yan and I raised an eyebrow. Yu An Yan since she was still new, and me because I never really cared about such things. Mr. Wang, as if having seen through the two of us, explained what he meant.
"It is the end of your 2nd year at Shenzhen Magic High School. Thus, by regulations, you are required to take an examination in December - that is, one week from now - in order to advance to the next level of mages."
Ah...the Advancement Exams. I see. Every two years at any high school, students were required to take a test to see if you were able to advance to the next level. Currently, all of us were Novice Mages, meaning we could only cast Level One spells (without the use of Conjoined Release, of course). Once we have proven we could use Level Two spells with proficiency through this exam, we would be awarded the title of Intermediate Mage, thus advancing to the next level.
This came with its benefits, of course. For one, you were respected more in society - the more powerful you were, the higher your rank was, after all. You also gained access to more advanced lessons, better equipment provided by the school, and basically unlocked everything you need to advance to the next level. Rank skipping wasn't allowed, so in order to study the necessary information to become an Advanced Mage, you had to first become an Intermediate one. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that if you wanted to continue improving on the path of magic, you had to take and pass this Advancement Exam.
The student sitting directly in front of me raised her hand. What was her name again? Ah...forget it.
Mr. Wang saw this, and pointed at her, giving her permission to speak. "What is it, Ai Yao?"
Ai Yao...eh, probably not going to remember it anyway.
The girl then asked her question after confirming she had been given permission. "Yes! What will be the exact date of the examination, Mr. Wang?"
Mr. Wang adjusted his glasses slightly and replied in a calm tone. "I will get to that eventually, just sit tight."
Ai Yao or whatever her name is nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.
"Now then, where was I..." Mr. Wang muttered, going through some papers laid out on the table. "...Ah, right! I would like to inform you that this year's Advancement Exams are not like any of the past ones."
The students were all even more curious now, and kept quiet in order to listen clearly. Seeing this, Mr. Wang was pleased, and continued.
"This year's Advancement Exams will be battle-focused."
"Battle focused?" someone echoed.
"What does that mean?" another asked.
Mr. Wang motioned for everyone to calm down, and after a short silence he carried on.
"Allow me to explain. This year, every Year Two class will be divided into teams of five, and engage in a single elimination battle tournament within the class itself. After that, the winning team of each class will compete against each other, and the 5 members of the champion team that comes out on top in that 4-way tournament will be automatically promoted to an Intermediate Mage. Each member will also receive a prize that will help them greatly in their cultivation, and in addition - the class that the team belongs to will automatically become the new Class A, pushing all the other classes down a rank."
A bunch of 'oohs' and 'woahs' filled the classroom at the rewards for winning. Not only do the team members get amazing prizes, the entire class gets to benefit from it as well.
"What about the others? How will they be assessed for passing?" a boy in the front row asked. Once again, I didn't know his name. No matter.
"Those apart from the winning team will be evaluated based on their performance in the fights," Mr. Wang answered. "We will be inviting several powerhouses on the day of the examination, and they will be the ones to act as our judges."
Powerhouses? Hm...there were countless big-shots in Shenzhen. It was a nice city, and close to the Magic Capital Shanghai as well. The Coastal Metropolis is a huge attraction for tourists, making it a popular hotspot for business owners as well. Just how many judges were there going to be...? Of course, it depended on just how much of a 'powerhouse' they were, but...
Zhang Zhe Rui, one of Li Yi Fei's two lackeys, spoke up. "Mr. Wang, why are the exams like so this year? In previous years, the tests were simple - show that you can cast 5 Level Two Spells over a course of 2 hours, and you would pass."
"Hm...you heard that from your elder brother, yes?" Mr. Wang asked.
Zhang Zhe Rui had an older brother...? Ah...I remember now. Ranked 6th on the Magus Rankings of our school, 4th year - Zhang Yu.
"Yes. That is also precisely why I am curious as to why the system has been changed."
"Well...to be honest, I do not know either," Mr. Wang replied, sighing slightly. "The principal decided on this in a staff meeting, and the other teachers didn't do much to veto the idea, since they each want to use this chance to advance their own class rank..."
That made sense. If a class got promoted in rank (for example, from D to C), then the teacher that taught this class would receive a raise in pay and resources accordingly. This system motivated the teachers to put their all into teaching the students, both to promote their own class and prevent your class from being overtaken (since no class could share one rank - if Class D became Class C, then Class C would drop to Class D).
Zhang Zhe Rui, realizing he wasn't going to get any useful information here, nodded and retreated.
Mr. Wang then scanned the classroom for a while, and after seeing there weren't any more questions, he concluded, "Very well. Since there are no more further inquiries, you may begin forming your teams."
Then, as a friendly reminder, he added, "Ah, remember - teams of 5, no more, no less. You must finish organizing and reporting your team roster to me by the end of today."
And finally, after seeing all of us acknowledging his announcement, he sighed and ended the class.
"That's all. Class - dismissed!"