"Let's go to the Gym," Jake answered, walking past her.
The answer made Chloe raise her eyebrows, it was not what she expected, but in a good way result. She knew that Jake was doing fine, then go after him.
"I thought you were gonna skipped the clubs," she asked, walking beside him.
"I thought so, but after taking a little nap in class, I change my mind. I feel like I got plenty much energy to kick some assess."
Chloe sneered after hearing Jake's boastful words. "Yeah, I wish you success," said Chloe sounding sarcastic.
Jake raised one of his eyebrows, looking at her solemnly. "Hey, what's wrong with that tone? Are you underestimating me?"
"No, but I have never heard you won single sparring against the third-grade student, how am I supposed to cheer you up? On the other hand, I have won several times though."
"Alright, you got a point." Jake sighed.
Taking a glance at her, Jake felt this kind of situation slowly draining his energy. Dealing with a girl that knew him so well and pretending that he was the Jake she used to know, those things were giving him a hard time surely. It was not his temperament and personality.
"By the way, I got you some good news!" Chloe exclaimed, scattering Jake's thoughts.
"Okay, and what is that?"
"Do you still remember how tremendous was the last Turney? It would come back! Oh, Helios! I'm so excited!"
Looking at Chloe who was clapping and cheering by herself, Jake frowned.
"Turney? Do you mean Throne of Survival?"
"Of course, what else? From the rumor, it would be held within a month! Sheesh... I can't wait!"
Then, numerous memory clips opened in his sea of mind, interpreting to him what Chloe meant.
Throne of Survival was a grand event held by Arcadia Academy for decades. It was a survival game-like competition where the groups of students participated to claim the title of the strongest. The winners would be entered into the Power Rankings list of the Arcadia Academy.
The tournament was not obligatory, however, there were many prizes. The most interesting part was the tournament would be held in Somnia because it would be part of D-sport. Unlike on earth where E-sport was booming, Dream sport was more popular here. Instead of using a certain character, class, and power to compete with other players, D-sport provided real athletes who struggle with their power as Magian.
Recollecting some facts and information about the last Throne of Survival, made Jake's blood boil. He would never imagine such a competition existed. And the fact that death in Somnia would not cause severe damage to a person, Jake was mind blown.
"I know it would be intriguing, but you didn't hear the second news yet! I, Chloe Winter, would participate in the Tourney!"
"No way?! Are you for real?!"
"Hey, what do you mean? Did you think I don't have capabilities, huh?!"
"No, it is not like that. But, you know there are plenty of big names, for example, the winner of the previous tourney; Gray Birdwhistle! Do you think you can compete with his team?"
"I know it would be hard, but being a participant is not bad either. I would get experience, compensation, and also prestige! Whose doesn't want all that? And about my chance of winning, I purely aim for the third place."
Jake was a bit stupefied, he didn't expect that Chloe would be so confident.
'Where the hell does her confidence come from?'
Mulling over what Chloe said, Jake realized that he didn't have a clue about her strength. What he did to this day was admire her beauty, interest, and personality. He had never asked her about her dunamis rank!
As far as Jake remembered, Gray Birdwhistle was an eight-rank middle-stage when he won the tournament. If Chloe was that confident, he assumed that at least she was at the same level as Gray a year ago. 'But that would be impossible, right?'
"What's wrong? Still doubting me?"
Chloe's voice pulled Jake back to his senses. They exchanged gazes for a blink of an eye.
"I'm just wondering, did you have the strength to uphold your goal?"
Chloe snorted, "Would you believe it if I say that now I'm an eight-rank?"
"For real?! How did you achieve it? Damn, I never knew that you had such an exceptional talent!"
Jake exclaimed, pretending to be surprised, giving an exaggerated response that the former Jake would most likely do.
Chloe half-chuckled in response, her eyes lit up more after hearing such a reaction from Jake. "It is our second year in the Academy, so I think this is the right chance to participate. And I heard a rumor that the Principal would have a special gift for the winner! It is so crazy!"
"I wish you success from the bottom of my heart! I'll vote for you!"
"You better do!" Chloe squinted her eyes, glaring at Jake.
Not long after, they arrived at the Gymnasium but, they had to separate cause they have different clubs. Jake took Pospathion, a club that teaches the student how to use the sword as the main weapon. It had some techniques just like common sword art such as stab, slash, and trust.
In another hand, Chloe chose Prankation, a club that teaches the student how to fight with bare hands. It consisted of several techniques like kick, grapple, arm lock, and takedown maneuver. It suited Chloe's pyschomagic, The Freezing hand.
In a short time, the gymnasium was filled with students. The footsteps of barefoot against the maple wood floor could be heard by club participants after taking off their shoes. They were ready to demonstrate their proficiency in a one-on-one duel. Before the test started, the student had to change their outfit according to their respective club uniform.
The students were disciplined and formed four rows of the squad like a platoon. However, they were in a sitting position, waiting for the teacher to arrive. The former Jake was usually sitting in the front row as he was so excited to learn Pospathion. So Jake decided to do the same this time.
When the teacher came through the main door, the students gave a greeting. Zeno Potnech, the teacher's name, was not alone, he was accompanied by three students holding enough amount of wooden xiphos with them.
"Thank you. You can go back to your squads," Zeno instructed.
"All right everyone, we're here today to do some tests with one-on-one duels. I wanna see how much you improved within a month since our last duel. Are you ready?"
"Yes, Mr. Zeno!"
The sparring or training duel was a match between two students with wooden xiphos as the main weapon. The dueler was prohibited to use psychomagic strength because not all the participants were Magians.
There was a vague sight of fluctuated energy coming out from the body of the Magians when they used the spiritual power. So, the teacher would notice if a student tried to abuse his opponent secretly. Even though Jake was a small fry, he dared to participate in a training duel several times because he knew that it was a fair duel.
"Excellent! And for the first match... What about you, Jessica?" Zeno pointed his forefinger to a young beautiful student from the second row.
"Yes, I'm ready!" Jessica responded with confidence.
Turning his head over the chosen, Jake was dumbfounded after realizing who she was. Jessica Rowland was his cousin. Unlike him, Jessica was a genius at sword art. Even though she was a second-grade student, her ability was on par or could be stronger than third-grade students.
Looking back at his teacher, Jake gulped, fearing he might be the opponent. 'Fuck, is not that I'm afraid of her, but it could be absurd if I got beaten by a girl!'
"And... you, yeah, the girl with a ponytail! In the last match, you barely won against a junior, it is your chance to prove your proficiency!"
Hearing the teacher's voice, Jake turned solemn. He knew the girl that would be Jessica's opponent. She was a third-grade student who joined the club because of his brother. She was a big sister to her brother, and by learning pospathion she hopes that she can teach his brother how to defend himself.
Marilyn was physically below average, that was the reason she chose sword art over prankation. From his memory, Jake could see that she indeed had some talent but it was not enough compared to Jessica. It was clear as a day, not a single student would think otherwise.
From this situation, Jake felt that Zeno was trying to make Jessica more dazzling using Marylin as a stepstone. It was not a secret knowledge that teachers tend to give favor to a student from high-status families. Looking at Jessica's background, it was guessable.
'What a despicable freak!' Glaring at Zeno's face, Jake was irritated and couldn't help but cursed. However, he couldn't do anything. He could only endure his temper while hoping Marylin wouldn't lose without any injury.
In the meantime, both Jessica and Marylin were ready with their position, separated by 3 meters of space. With a wooden double-edged sword in their right hand pointing upward, Jessica and Marylin formed the most common stance with the left foot was slightly behind the right while both feet were parallel, and the center of gravity was focused between both feet. They were waiting for the instruction to go.
Standing aside between Jessica and Marylin, Zeno raised his hand. He looked at both of them simultaneously while giving the start command.
"Both duelers ready? Okay, fight!"