The instructor walked over to a white orb then gestured at it. "Touch this while refining your Hani."
Since I had gone through this process almost every month for the last two years I did not need any further explanation so I put my hand on the orb and began refining my Hani.
A few seconds after I started I pulled my hand away and waited for the results.
The instructor touched a panel next to the white orb then turned back to me. "Fifty-six percent Hani Refining Completion."
Hani Refining Completion is basically a percentage that shows how close a Ranked is to reaching the limit and having their Hani core go through a qualitative change. This qualitative change has to do with the Hani core of a Ranked changing from being gaseous in nature to being liquid, when this happens the Ranked has reached the First Tier.
The instructor and I then went through test after test until my stats had been fully updated and now showed my latest figures.
ALEX SHAMPA - Fourteen years old
Hani Refining Completion: 56%
Acceleration: 42m/s
Average Distance Covered Per Hour: 150km/h
Punch Strength - Force Strength: 62/100
Reaction Time: 69/100
Max Carry Capacity: 74kg
The instructor then tapped on her XOC before she turned to look at me.
"Your current class rank after taking into consideration your scores in class and these new stats is....eighty three." Then she continued immediately after. "Mind you this ranking is not permanent and you'll probably, if not definitely drop after all the students in your class have taken their tests too."
She then said a few more words before she told me that I could leave.
'I'm making progress,' I thought as I walked out of the building and into the sunlight. 'But it's nowhere near fast enough.'
I then walked onto the green grass and sighed.
'At this rate I'll never become part of the Twelve Icons.'
-
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-
Alex was gazing into the distance with a contemplating look on his face as the sun fell below the horizon.
"Alex, Agustin's back."
I turned around and saw Agustin walking towards us with a wide smile on his face.
When he reached us I got up and tried to put my hand on his shoulder which looked awkward with how much taller he was than me. "How did the test go?"
Agustin rubbed his nose then said pridefully. "Why don't you check for yourself."
He then turned his XOC to show me his new stats.
AGUSTIN GRAY - Fifteen years old
Hani Refining Completion: 53%
Acceleration: 33m/s
Average Distance Covered Per Hour: 110km/h
Punch Strength - Force Strength: 80/100
Reaction Time: 59/100
Max Carry Capacity: 92kg
"Damn," I said as I looked at Agustin's stats. "Your hani refining completion is only a little less than mine."
"And far above mine." Added Alistair. "His punch strength is also significantly higher than yours and so is his max carry capacity. But you have him beat in reaction time, acceleration and distance per hour."
If someone looked at Alex and Agustin's hani refining completion then looked at their stats they would wonder why even though Alex's hani refining is higher than Agustin's some of Agustin's stats are higher than Alex. The answer to that question lies in their physiques.
Alex couldn't be called either slim or muscular, he was right in the sweet spot that was between both of them, thanks to this he was quite fast and had a good reaction time, but that also meant that although his punch couldn't be called weak it also couldn't be called really strong. But Agustin was different, with his seven foot frame of pure muscle, his punches carried much more force than Alex but with that physique you could imagine that he couldn't move as fast as Alex.
This physique difference might have also influenced their style of fighting. Agustin was a bare hand fighter while Alex fought with daggers.
*BEEP*
I looked down at my XOC and saw that a message had come in.
'All students in JS 3 have completed their stats updates. The Class Ranking for the aforementioned class has been updated. Tap HERE to view the new Class Rankings.'
Freestone Academy was divided into two parts, the Primary section and the Secondary section.
When students first enter Freestone, usually at five or six years old, they head to the Primary section and study there for five years before they take a final exam, and if they pass that exam head to the Secondary section.
The Secondary section is divided into two parts, the Senior Secondary and the Junior Secondary.
After leaving the Primary section students enter into Junior Secondary (JS) which has three classes, the first class being JS 1 all the way to the last class JS 3. After reaching JS 3 students once again take an exam that if they pass will allow them to enter Senior Secondary (SS), which also has three classes, from SS 1 to SS 3 which is the final class in Freestone Academy.
The last thing to note about Freestone Academy is how the lessons are structured. There are many different advanced courses that students can take in Freestone that weren't in the Primary section starting from JS 1 such as Hani manipulation, Survival training, Close quarters combat, Dagger training, Basic alchemy, Runic systems, and other more normal ones such as History, Political maneuvering, Advanced math, Monsters and Beasts 101, and different foreign languages. There are also special courses for people with special powers and bloodlines, but unfortunately there isn't much known about these courses.
Anyway students take classes on the basics of all available courses during the first two months of JS 1, then after that period that is used to let students know which courses to choose passes, they must choose a minimum of seven courses to study until JS 3.
Alex chose eight courses, namely, Hani manipulation, Survival training, Dagger training, Runic systems, History, Political maneuvering, Monsters and Beasts 101, and lastly Business administration.
'Did I move up or down in the Class Ranking.' Thought Alex as he opened the new Class Rankings.
He quickly scanned through the top hundred but didn't find his name anywhere there.
Alex sighed in frustration. 'Of course I'm not in the top hundred, what did I expect?'
His eyes then moved lower and lower until he saw his name.
'One hundred and eighteen.....one hundred and nineteen....one hundred and twenty...here! One hundred and twenty-one.' A smile slowly spread across my face. 'I'm up thirty-two places from last month!'
I looked up and saw Alistair and Agustin both looking at their XOCs.
"You guys seen your rankings?" I asked.
Agustin looked up and gave me a huge grin. "I've moved up to one hundred and thirty!"
I returned Agustin's grin and clenched my hands into a fist. 'This is good, all we have to do is break into the top hundred then it's probable that some new students will join Hydra.'
"Well I'm now ranked two hundred on the dot." Said Alistair with a wry smile. "Isn't that great?"
Agustin and I glanced at each other before plastering fake smiles on our faces.
"Yeah," I said as I patted Alistair on the shoulder. "That's great."
Agustin walked up to Alistair and put his hand on his other shoulder.
"Yeah, that's great skinny glasses....." Agustin hurriedly stopped himself. "I mean....."
He then plastered an even faker smile on his face. "Alistair."
I could see Alistair glaring at us through his glasses before he sighed and shrugged off our hands.
"It might not be a big deal to you two, but for me it means I can leave that hellish dormitory and move to FI68." Alistair then shivered. "And I have to tell you, I'm not going to miss that place."
"I know, we all lived there during our first year in the Secondary section." I then also shivered as I remembered those hard times.
Agustin shrugged his shoulders and looked at us in bewilderment. "I don't know why you guys don't like it, I personally liked it."
His eyes then took on a distant dreamy look. "Those dorms were great, it reeked and there were only guys in there."
I decided to ignore that statement then turned to Alistair.
"But seriously that's great news." I then frowned. "My only question is how you managed to get there, it's not like you got much stronger during this past month?"
"I'm not sure of the exact details but apparently the Class Ranking is not only determined by stats, but also by how well students do in their courses."
Alistair's face took on a smug look. "I've been doing great in class lately, so my rank went up."
I nodded my head in agreement. "That does explain how even though Agustin and I have similar Hani refining completion we're nine places apart in the Class Ranking."
"By the way," Added Agustin. "Did any of you check who the number one Ranked person is?"