The air was saturated with the impressive power of soul force as dozens of students released it at once. A mirage of colors in every shade possible covered the practice field as students tried to get a head start. Golden showed an impressive difference in power compared to the other students. His soul force exploded impressively, propelling him forward and into the air. Golden managed to cover 300 meters with that singular jump alone, landing far ahead of the rest of the students.
"Hahaha! Slow-ass side characters! This competition is mine!" Golden took off in an impressive sprint. His speed could be compared to that of a sports car. Almost all of the students were left in the dust.
Almost all of the students.
Adalaene appeared from above, landing in front of him. Her own jump had carried her higher and farther than Golden's did.
Golden was surprised by her sudden appearance. "You…!" Adalaene sent him a cheeky grin as she ran backwards so she could look at him. "Hey, there! Let me know how third place feels when you reach the finish line!"
Golden frowned at her. "Third…?"
__
Glade had a much slower start than the other students. Because of his thin and weak soul force Glade couldn't produce the same explosiveness or power that the other students could, causing him to fall behind the others at the start, but that didn't mean Glade was slow.
A handful of male students from Class D watched him running behind them in the distance.
"Hahaha! Look at the irregular!"
"Dead last!"
"Irregularly slow!"
The start of the obstacle course was a straight line. It was an uphill battle against gravelly ground with minimal obstacles in the way. Those with powerful soul force held a great advantage over others because of this.
"H-hey… Look behind us."
"You're kidding, right?"
"My soul force is twice as strong as his! How is he closing the distance?!"
Glade displayed impressive agility as he began picking up speed. The distance between himself and the other students from class D was gradually getting smaller.
"RAAAAAAH! I refuse to get passed by the incompetent 1.8!" The male students yelled and screamed as if it would speed them up– It didn't. Glade managed to pass by them in a flash and approached the top of the gravel mountain.
"So fast!"
"Damn it! I got passed!"
"How the hell did he do that?!"
__
Puck was right in the middle of everybody else. While his soul power was strong, his application was inefficient, causing him to lose speed and power. The middle of the group was now approaching the second part of the obstacle course: The pillar pit.
The 'pillar pit' was a large cavern filled with stone pillars and boulders that pierced the sky. The bottom of the cavern was a massive sinkhole filled with quicksand that would slow and trap anyone that got caught in it. The key to passing through the pillar pit efficiently was to jump on the correct pillars.
It sounds simple, but it requires acute cognitive ability, quick decision making and accurate jumps– Puck lacked almost all of those. A single mistake would be disastrous as students who fell into the sinkhole would be slowed incomprehensibly.
"Don't fall…! Don't fall..!" Puck was psyching himself up as he prepared to jump to the first pillar. A few other students ahead of him took the initiative, jumping onto or against the pillar and quickly jumping towards the next. Two students collided mid-air as they jumped towards the same pillar, falling into large sinkhole below. Puck froze in place before he could jump.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Renne appeared next to him and snapped him out of it. Puck was flustered and embarassed. "I-ah… Be… I couldn't!"
Renne glared at him and smacked him on the back of his head. "Get yourself together! Just follow me if you don't know where to jump!" Renne jumped towards the first pillar, landing on it gracefully before jumping towards the next with impressive acrobatics.
"Ah! Okay!" Puck jumped after her, following her path. Renne jumped from pillar to pillar like a dancer would, displaying acrobatics and impressive agility. Her jumps were precise and her path was clear as she moved across the large chasm gracefully. Puck did his best to follow behind her, almost slipping a few times. Renne made it across the gap and Puck landed next to her a moment later.
"T-thanks!" Puck thanked her for her help.
"Yeah, whatever! Just keep running!" Renne kept moving and Puck followed close behind her.
__
Renne didn't really understand why she'd helped Puck cross the pillar pit. She could've just ignored him and moved on. But for some reason she'd stopped and helped him. Now she was even farther behind that 9.7 slut…
Damn it.
__
Adalaene and Golden managed to cross the pillar pit easily and were already onto the next obstacle– It was a large, frozen lake. Adalaene propelled herself expertly with her soul force as she skated over the thick ice. She looked behind her towards Golden, who was struggling to keep up but barely managing it. "I'm actually kind of impressed! I thought you were all talk!"
Golden sent her a fierce glare as he almost slipped on the ice. "What did you mean when you said third place earlier?!"
"I meant there's no way you could beat him!" Adalaene twirled on the ice like a figure skater.
"Beat who?!" Golden was frustrated by how easy Adalaene made it look.
"Glade! There's no way you could possibly beat him!"
"What?! The incompetent 1.8?!" Golden's face flushed red from anger. "How stupid! There's no way he could ever beat me!"
"I've never beaten him in a race, you know." Adalaene looked serious while she said it, so Golden didn't believe she was lying.
"What?!"
"You'll see!"
__
Glade approached the pillar pit. A large number of a students were currently crossing it, jumping between the pillars and awkwardly bumping into each other in the frenzy. Glade jumped on a top of a pillar and dashed across the chasm in an instant, expertly navigating the most efficient path across.
"What the hell?!"
"What was that?!"
"What the…!"
Numerous students were shocked by his unbelievable speed and efficiency as he reached the other side of the chasm and sped up even more-- Glade was now quicker than a ghost.
"Who was that?!"
Glade passed numerous students with incredible speed as he approached the next part of the obstacle course.
While having a slight amount of soul force can most definitely be a weakness it also had advantages. The thin and low amount of soul force was easy to control and focus. Glade had always been good at manipulating his soul force and the fact that it was thin and pliable only made him more efficient. While he couldn't use his soul force to produce explosive power like most could, he circulated it throughout his body with extreme speed and efficiency, giving him agility that even fully fledged consor pilots would have trouble keeping up with.
__
Typ trembled nervously as she climbed out of the pillar pit. She was one of the students who'd fallen down into the sinkhole. She trembled as she remembered Renne threatening her.
She had to get out of this pit and do what Renne had instructed her to do! Her future depended on it! The livelihood of her entire family depended on it!
She'd entrusted her student notebook with a friend who would carry it across the finish line, so she just had to do what she had to do!
Typ went off-course and took a shortcut, arriving at a later stage in the obstacle course. There's no way the irregular EX-rank girl could have made it here already, but she didn't have much time. She had to get to work.
__
Renne was nervous. Except for that strange moment where it felt like she was passed by a ghost earlier, she'd managed to pass most of the other students while crossing the large frozen lake and she was now at the front.
Where was Puck? He'd suddenly started falling behind at a certain stage in the obstacle course... But why should she care?
If Typ managed to do as she'd told her, she should be able to get second place behind Golden. She could already imagine the look of shame that 9.7 slut would have on her face when she got last place. And then Golden would beg her to come back to him. Renne giggled excitedly.
__
Adalaene and Golden managed to pass the next few obstacles with ease. The sweeping willows, rumbling river and natural spike formation hadn't posed a threat to them. The only difference was that the distance between Adalaene and Golden had grown considerably, and at this point he looked no bigger than an ant to Adalaene.
There was only one obstacle left– The entanglement jungle. The entanglement jungle was an especially large obstacle, twice as large as the frozen lake. It was also the most difficult to get past quickly. The swampy ground slowed anyone moving low considerably, while the large number of vines would tangle up anyone who tried to move above. Another issue was the lack of clear path. The large number of trees obstructed vision and made it easy to get turned around. It was truly a difficult obstacle to overcome.
Adalaene felt a shiver travel up her spine. She should speed up– Glade was getting close.
She was definitely beating him, this time! Adalaene gathered her soul force in her legs and sped up with explosive speed! She moved so fast that she was running on the thin layer of water that covered the swampy ground that would have ordinarily slowed her down.
There was an issue with this method, however. By increasing her speed she relinquished some of her control, and Adalaene barely managed to move around the trees and rocks in her path. If something suddenly entered her path, she wouldn't be able to stop in time.
__
"That must be the EX-rank!" Typ readied herself as she heard the familiar sound of soul force exploding with power. She felt bad about what she was about to do… But she had no choice. Typ wrapped the long vines around her arms and infused them with her soul force.
__
Adalaene turned roughly around a tree, barely skimming past it. The path ahead of her was clear– She could speed up a bit more.
The moment Adalaene sped up a number of vines on the ground came to life, forming a net that blocked her path. "What the-?!" Adalaene couldn't avoid them. Her only choice was to jump. Adalaene tried to jump over the net of vines but couldn't clear them completely. Her foot was caught by a vine and she fell into a sinkhole that only became visible after the vines came to life.
"A trap?!" Adalaene fell into the large sinkhole. The vine that had caught Adalaene pulled taught with tension and broke her ankle. Adalaene moaned in pain as she hung suspended from her broken ankle.
Moments later Golden appeared to look down on her. "I guess I'm getting first place." He grinned with a self-satisfied look on his face and jumped over the large hole.
"Damn it…"
Golden truly believed he was the chosen one. Even he wouldn't have been able to avoid a trap like that. He was lucky Adalaene had fallen for it first. First place was his! And after he got first place he would claim the EX-rank girl next! "HAHAHA! How amazing!"
__
Glade jumped down the large hole. "Ada?!" Glade inspected her condition before taking her down from the large vine. "Are you okay?" A heavy layer of concern laced his voice as he looked at her. It made Ada's heart squeeze. "Yeah, I just broke my ankle, I think."
"What?" Glade felt anger well up inside of him. "Who did this?"
"I don't know. Maybe it was a random trap the instructors prepared to make it more difficult. It doesn't matter." Ada tried to stand up, focusing her soul force on her ankle. "I really thought I might be able to beat you this time… Damn it!" Ada faltered as she put her weight on her ankle. She definitely couldn't run anymore. "Just go. That bastard Golden went ahead. He's probably pretty close to finish line, by now. You can't let him beat you."
"No." Glade refused to leave her.
"What do you mean, no? Just g-" Ada forgot what she was trying to say as she met Glade's intense stare. "Ah…"
Glade picked her up. "You were going to beat me this time, right?" Ada buried her face in his chest to hide her extreme blushing. Her red ears peaked out of her long dark blue hair.
"Ada, remember that game we used to play as kids?" Glade suddenly asked her something unrelated. "You mean the one where I used to cover you with my soul force until you started choking?"
"Yeah. Do the same thing now."
Adalaene wasn't completely sure what Glade wanted to do, but she did as he asked.
__
Golden could see the finish line. It was unobstructed ahead of him, all his. He was definitely getting first place now! "I am the main character!"
A large blast shook the earth behind him. Golden tensed instinctively as he looked behind him.
Glade was running towards the finish line with Adalaene in his arms at imperceptible speed. Adalaene's purplish-blue soul force mixed with Glade's black soul force, the colors blending. Golden shivered at the sight. "No way!" He gathered all of his remaining soul force for a final burst of speed. First place was his! First place belonged to him! He deserved it!
"First place belongs to me!!!" Golden exploded towards the finish line using all of his remaining soul force, breaking his limits for a short moment. His speed was earth-shattering. Golden closed the distance between himself and the finish line in an instant. The only thing that filled his vision was the finish line. His finger was about to pass over the threshold. "Yes!"
But if Golden closed the distance in an instant, Adalaene and Glade did it in less than an instant. Adalaene crossed the finish line first as she was in Glade's arms. Glade crossed the finish line in less than fraction of a second after her. Golden only managed to clear the finish line half a second later.
"No!!!"
Glade and Adalaene collapsed on top of each other as Golden started throwing a fit. "No! No! No! No!" He approached Glade menacingly. "What did you do?! How did you cheat?! Tell me!" Golden grabbed Glade roughly by the collar of his uniform. Glade was completely paralyzed, unable to defend himself.
"Let go of him!" Adalaene blasted Golden back with her soul force. Golden, having used up all of his own soul force a moment earlier, was unable to defend himself and was knocked out by the blast. An instructor arrived a moment later handle the situation.
"Hey." Glade pulled Ada's attention back to him. "Guess what? You finally beat me!"
"Shut up." Ada kissed his smug mouth.
__
Renne arrived at the finish line next.
"How…!" She took in the scene of an unconscious Golden being carried away. The 9.7 slut and her man-whore were being helped by instructors and aided by paramedics. Renne's expression soured as she realized her plan had failed.
"How?!" Did the girl she threatened fail? No… She definitely saw evidence of the trap succeeding. So then how…?!
"Was it him...?" Renne silently glared at Glade's back. How had the irregular arrived before she did? She had never even noticed him pass her! Did he cheat? He must have! That foul bastard!
Renne had the urge to stomp her feet from frustration.
No– How it happened didn't matter. All that mattered was that the plan had failed and Golden still did not want her.
__
Other students began to trickle over the finish line as the main body of the competition caught up. Puck was near the front of the large group. He couldn't find Adalaene and Glade anywhere. They did manage to clear the course, right? Puck smacked himself on the forehead. Of course they did! If anyone could clear it is was those two!
Puck found Renne resting on a bench and approached her. Because of Puck's awkwardness, he didn't notice how angry and frustrated she looked. "H-hey… Renne?" Renne looked up from the ground and stared coldly at Puck. "What?"
Puck shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Do… Maybe… I-... W-would…?" Renne's frustration and annoyance boiled over as Puck stumbled over his words. "Just spit it out, will you?!"
"Ah! S-sorry… Partner! Would you like to be my partner?" Puck bowed at a 90 degree angle and stuck his hand out towards her.
Renne's face transformed into one of pure disgust. "...Seriously?!" Renne stood up from the bench and moved away, leaving Puck standing in his awkward bow. A few of the other students snickered at the scene.
"Ah…!" Tears filled Puck's eyes as he watched her leave.
__
How stupid! Me, partner with him?! How humilitating that would be!
Renne couldn't help but shiver at the thought of being partnered to someone so helpless, meek and naive. No way! She wouldn't do it even if it helped her get back to Golden!
...Would she?
Renne recognized the error she had just made. If she partnered with Puck...it may help her reach her goal quicker. She also had yet to find a suitable partner ever since Golden had thrown her aside for the 9.7 slut...Puck wasn't 'suitable'--but he did have a soul force worthy of being B-rank...
Renne turned around and approached the sniveling Puck. "Hey." Renne called out to him and Puck looked at her with teary eyes. Renne grimaced- this was so embarrassing.
"I-I'll be your partner." Renne looked away as she said it. If she saw Puck's happy face she might throw up.
"R-really?! Thanks!" Puck cheered up and started shaking Renne's hand excitedly. "I won't make you regret it!"
...His hand was sweaty. Renne was already regretting it.
Had she made a mistake?
__
Glade helped Ada up the stairs of the female dorms. Her broken ankle had been healed by the paramedics, but it was still extremely sore and unstable, so she needed some help to get to her dorm room.
"Wow... This is kind of ridiculous." Glade couldn't help but say it as he compared Adalaene's expansive room to his own. Ada grinned. "I know, right?"
Glade helped her sit down on her bed and prepared to leave. Adalaene tried to stop him. "You're leaving already?!"
"I'm still not sure I'm allowed to be here." Glade said it like an apology. He didn't really want to leave either. Ada's disappointed face changed as she tried a different tactic.
Ada pulled at her sticky uniform, exposing some of her perfect breasts. "But... What if I need some help in the shower?" She leaned forward so she had a better angle of attack and Glade had a better angle to get a view.
Glade's face turned as red as a tomato as she made the move. "Ah... Eh... Wait! No! We promised to wait until we're genuine pilots!" Glade turned away and smacked his flustered face.
"Eh... I don't want to wait that long. Can't we just do it now? Its not like we'd ever pilot with other people." Consor pilots needed their soul force to be compatible with each other in order to power a consor. Having sex strengthened the connection between pilots immesurably, making their soul force nearly indistinguishable from each other.
The issue was that the pair would only be able to pilot with each other from that moment on, as their soul force would reject the imprint of new partners. Many consor pilots married each other for this reason and even more were forced into retirement if their partner was rendered unable to pilot.
Irina Yeklov, the director of DUST academy, is an example of such as case. Her partner was forced into retirement after developing reaper psychosis, preventing Irina Yeklov from ever battling the reapers again.
Glade turned around after he'd calmed himself down and stared at Ada. Ada blushed from its intensity. "Ah..."
"Even if that is the case, I still won't do it. Though we're adults now, I have a feeling we'll regret it if we do it now. And even more than that," Glade pushed her down on the large bed. "I refuse to claim you when other people could hear us through these thin walls. I want you all to myself." Glade let her go and quickly left the room.
"Eh..." Ada squeeked and blushed bright red. "Ah! I almost had a heart attack when he pushed me down..." That idiot! How did he manage to turn her own attack on back on her so quickly?!
__
Puck gleefully entered his dorm room. Hehehe! He couldn't believe Renne agreed to be his partner! This time he wouldn't make the same mistake. If his last partner thought he liked consors more than he liked her, then all he had to do was make his next partner like consors just as much as he did!
...Would that work?
Regardless, Puck started taking notes and writing down 'fun' consor facts he could tell Renne tomorrow. He theorized what type of consor she liked to pilot. Maybe a defense frame? Puck compared her bright her that of the Straize consor. A Straize was a defense frame which used long appendages attached to its back to block incoming reaper blasts-- so cool!
He hoped Renne would think so, too.
__
Renne was walking to class the next morning when she suddenly came face to face with a familiar face. "G-Golden..."
Golden looked down on her with an indifferent expression. She looked at his hands-- the nails were patchy as if he'd been chewing on them. Golden only bit his nails when he was stressed. Renne was filled with concern.
"A-are you okay...?" Renne asked tentatively. Golden's face changed from indifferent to apprehensive after she asked him the question. "Who do you think you are, to ask me that?! Just leave me alone already, you petulant leech!"
Renne flinched away from his words and looked down. "A-ah... Okay, s-sorry..." She apologized but Golden was already walking away from her and into his classroom. A girl approached him and started talking to him. Renne had a complicated expression on her face as she watched the interaction. It seemed Golden had already found her replacement until he managed to partner up with Adalaene.
Renne sighed and dejectedly entered her own classroom. She sat down at her desk and Puck found her quickly.
"H-here!" He was offering her a flower. "It's...It's for you."
Renne flushed with embarrassment as a few of the other students watched them. Did Puck find enjoyment in humiliating her?!
But still, she took the flower so she didn't cause a scene. "T-thanks..." She grimaced as she smelled the rosy fragrance-- Did he HAVE to pick such a strong smelling flower?
Puck gave her an innocent smile as he sat down next to her. "So... Do you know about the Straize frame consor? It's a defense frame and has some appendages on its back that remind me of your hair!"
"W-what?" Did Puck just compare her to a consor? And why did he look so excited?
"Yeah! It's really cool! Do you like defense frames? I sure do! Well, I like all consors, actually! My family's company makes the joint parts and programs the psycho-dynamics! Aren't consors cool?! They..." Puck began prattling off about consors to a flustered Renne. She hadn't expected such passion from Puck.
Renne didn't like the way Puck acted at all... He was timid, weak, naive and awkward. But one thing Renne had always liked in people was passion. And Puck was showing a lot of passion as he spoke to her about consors.
After her encounter with Golden she needed a distraction. And right now Puck didn't seem like a particularly bad one.
Renne put her head down on the table and let Puck prattle off about consors to his heart's content.
__
Glade felt clear hostility from his classmates as he sat down in his seat. He could always feel some glares on the back of his head, but it was much more obvious today.
And why was that? Because the rankings for the obstacle course had been published!
'How did the irregular 1.8 get second place? Impossible! He must have cheated!' Most of the students thought this way. They had always imagined themselves superior to Glade, who had a considerably weaker soul force than them. When the rankings were published and reality proved the opposite, most of them refused to accept it. They became angry seeing someone inferior to them have a higher ranking. That anger was currently used to send hateful glares towards Glade.
A group of males surrounded him and started bugging him with questions.
"How'd you pass us like that?"
"Seriously-- you sped up too fast! What did you do?"
"Your uphill speed was ridiculous."
That's right-- It was the three boys he had passed on the first part of the obstacle course-- the Gravel mountain.
At first Glade thought they were accusing him of cheating as well but he realized there was no hostility coming from the three of them. Glades suspicions were pleasantly confirmed by the next question.
"C-could you teach us...?" The boy in the middle looked a bit embarrassed as he asked the question. "We're sorry for how we acted before... Please teach us!" The three boys all acted apologetic and bowed their heads towards him. Glade felt slightly overwhelmed.
"I'm not mad or anything... Just calm down first. What are your names?" Glade steered the conversation towards a more natural flow and the faces of all three boys lit up as they introduced themselves.
"I'm Lid! Soul force strength of 2.7! Rank 156!" Lid had light green hair and a buzz cut. He was tall and skinny. His face was... unpleasant to look at.
"I'm Roid! Soul force strength of 3.6! Rank 135!" Roid was the complete opposite of Lid. He was short and pudgy with a clean face and shoulder length purple hair.
"And I'm Koll! Soul force strength of 3.2! Rank 150 on the rankings!" Koll was average in every aspect. Average height, average looks, average body weight. But he seemed a bit more charismatic than the other two.
"Alright, nice to meet you guys. I'm Glade. I'll teach you. Here's your first lesson!"
The three boys watched him expectantly as Glade prepared to tell them their first lesson. What secrets was he about to impart?! "Your first lesson is to forget about the strength of your soul force!"
"Eh...?"
The boys all looked at each other disappointedly. Glade explained his reasoning to them. "You all are low ranked and have relatively low soul force. Of course, you have a lot compared to me but that's besides the point. You guys limit yourselves because of your ranks and the strength of your soul force. You don't think you can be as good as the person with twice the amount of soul force you do. But that's wrong. What matters most with soul force is application! So your first lesson is to stop comparing yourself to others and stop limiting yourselves!"
The boys all understood what Glade was saying. They were limiting themselves by comparing the strength of their soul force with that of others! How had they not understood this before?! If they wanted to reach the sky above the sky they couldn't compare themselves to a person who had reached the skies!
"Yes!" All three boys said in tandem.
__
His temporary partner was prattling off in his in ear like some headless chicken. She was an A-rank with a decent amount of soul force, but Golden would bet on his life that the only thing inside her head was air.
...Could she just stop talking about cupcakes already?!
Golden was brooding. He hated to admit it, but he was. And the reason for his brooding was...
That damn incompetent 1.8 again... grr! Always getting in his way!
Golden remembered how he'd barely missed first place in the obstacle course because of Glade. How had that mongrel 1.8 managed to clear the course so fast, and to cross the distance between himself and the finish line faster than Golden could--while carrying the EX-rank girl! Damn cheat! He must have done something to generate that amount of speed! Otherwise it was impossible!
What could he do to put that mongrel in his place... Oh!
Golden smiled as a dastardly plan formed in his head. How had he not thought of this before?!
If he wanted to steal the EX-rank away from the irregular 1.8, all he had to do was show he was superior! And there was no better way to show one was superior than to beat the other person into the ground!
The next joint lesson was... Close-quarters combat! Perfect!
Golden grinned as he imagined grinding Glade's handsome face into the ground with his feet. He would make him grovel! More importantly he would make the EX-rank girl grovel!
Hehehehe! Golden could already imagine the horrified look on her face as he ground her partner into the dust.