Chapter 13— Side Story: Road to Beginnings III
...
"The last match for today's battle assessment. Skye VS Javkon." Instructor Leo said.
The two boys quickly stepped on the training ring.
"Hey runt! You should give up! You should know that an inferior commoner like you stands no chance against me! A proud scion of the Dreylar family!" A younger version of Javkon said to Skye with a condescending grin on his face.
"..." Skye just looked at him placidly.
"Ignoring me are you? You'll regret it later, hehe!" Javkon just laughed with a sinister tone.
"You feel— so weak. Are you sure you are a scion of the Dreylar family?" Skye asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"How dare you mock me? I'll make you pay!" Javkon rushed at Skye with a clenched fist aimed towards the latter's face.
As the punch drew closer towards Skye, he flexibly dodged whilst moving towards Javkon's side. Javkon was quick to react and quickly aimed another punch at Skye.
Skye blocked Javkon's punch with his hand and quickly held on it as he hit Javkon's stomach with his knee. The hit briefly incapacitated the latter which allowed Skye to quickly connect a kick to Javkon's face, sending him across the ring.
The fight ended in less than a minute, leaving everyone stunned of the results.
"The winner of the match— Skye!" Instructor Leo said, feeling quite surprised himself.
"Alright, that concludes the assessment for today. Tommorow, your talents will be assessed. The day after that, your results will be announced." Instructor Leo told the leaving students.
...
"Those were some great fighting skills you got there. Nice! Maybe you could teach me a thing or two sometime." Layla said as the two of them walked away from the school premises.
"Alright. Sure." Skye said rather disinterestedly, but he was actually keeping watch of his surroundings.
'I feel so uneasy. What's going on? Is it just my imagination? I could have sworn that I felt a malicious intent towards me. It keeps giving me the chills. Gotta be careful. Even though this is an academy, I can't be sure that I can actually trust anyone here— execpt for her. She's quite simple, so she won't pose too much of a threat.' He thought as he looked at Layla who was chattering away.
"Hey what's up? Why are you just staring at me like that? You look like there's something on your mind. Is there something wrong?" Layla asked with slight worry on her face as she looked at him.
'Yeah, I think I can trust her— for now at least.'
"It's— nothing. Training starts tomorrow at this location by sunset. Don't be late." Skye said as he passed her a piece of paper as he walked away from her.
"Hey wait! Where you going?" Layla shouted.
"Don't worry. It's nothing important. See you tomorrow." Skye said as he walked into the distance.
...
"Your assessment results have been sent to the log. You can check them out yourselves—"
No sooner had Instructor Leo finished speaking when the students entered the log through the Web and started checking their names.
"What the?— It says here that I have an E+ in the combat assessment and a grade 2 talent. What does that even mean?"
"I dunno man. I'm not the instructor, am I?"
A plethora of voices could be heard in the spacious classroom.
"Quiet all of you! And let me finish! Ehem! As I was saying, the scores on your assessment will determine whether or not you can stay here. Those with less than grade 5 talents and a C will be expelled— starting tomorrow. So— the unlucky ones among you should pack their bags, because today is going to be your last day— as a student of the Imperial Academy."
A wave of shock soon ran through some of the students' face. Some of them had their complexions turn pale in the blink of an eye. But the instructor didn't seem to care about their situation and calmly dismissed the class.
As Skye was about to leave, the instructor soon called his attention.
"Skye, I know about your talent— and I am really sorry to have to see a person gifted in combat such as yourself to have to waste his potential because of it. And the higher ups of the academy see that too, and that's why they have agreed to let you stay in the academy." Instructor Leo said with a slight smile on his face as the two of them were left in the class.
"But—why?" Skye asked with a face full of disbelief.
"Don't think too much about it and just accept the good news boy! Truth be told, I don't think that anyone would disagree with this decision as long as they've seen your combat skills. Good job kiddo!" Instructor Leo laughed.
Skye just nodded and left the class.
'Hmm. I'm happy, but why do I feel so weird? Something isn't right. I'll just have to keep an eye out.' He thought pensively.
...
"Hey, what was your assessment Skye?" Layla asked as they were about to begin training.
"Combat, S+. Talent, grade 4." Skye said coolly as he began putting on his training gear.
"Grade 4? Are you going to be ok?" Layla asked in shock and worry.
"Yeah. The academy said that I would not be expelled on account of my combat assessment result." Skye said without much thought.
"That's great news! But I'm surprised, I've never heard of something like this happening before..."
"Maybe because I'm awesome? I did get an S+ assessment in combat. Don't think too much about it and let's train. Else I might just leave you in the dust. Hehe!" Skye " while trying to suppress the faint uneasiness in his heart.
"Oh please! Don't get too cocky because of your S+ combat rating!" Layla laughed as she threw a punch at Skye.
...
*Two years later*
In a wild forest, a dead beast could be seen being dragged by two figures as they navigated their way through the endless patch of green. The two figures soon made their way to a small cave where they quickly set up camp to rest.
"Skye! It's your fault that we are in this mess you dummy! Didn't you check the level of the Beast Territory before you signed us up for an expedition? Or do you want to send us to our graves?" A slightly older Layla could be seen talking in exasperation.
"I did. And I told you that you weren't ready yet. But you still decided to follow me. Who should be the one complaining right about now?" Skye asked as he sat on a rock whilst deep in thought, closing his eyes.
"So— will the materials from this beast be able to bring us some cash?" Layla quickly avoided the topic, opting to ask about something else.
"Maybe. But not nearly enough for what we need. Look Layla—"
"Hey! I know what you are about to say right now, and I will not allow it! We are together! We made a promise! Till the very end!"
"But Layla, you don't have to do this for me. I thought by having to stay in the academy, things would get better. Turns out I was wrong."
"Things WILL get better! I know it will! We just have to stay together!—"
"Are you still going on about that? You know that was just a kids promise right?—" Skye was speaking when he was interrupted by a punch to the face from Layla.
"What do you mean by that? Does our bond feel like a kids promise to you? You better shut up right now or I'll—"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want you to suffer because of me. But— there is one place we could go that could earn us enough coins to exchange for resources—"
"Where? Where?" Layla asked excitedly.
"A dungeon." Skye said calmly.
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