The last period of studying for the first year has passed and the final exam is coming soon. Mariel who tried to reduce her sword practice to spend time to studying and preparing for the exam, arrived at the day of the first-year end exam, where the total score for each subject was 100 points, which was announced on the score board for each subject in the large scoreboard inside the school building. There were separate zones for the first, second-, and third-year students and to separate the scores for each year more clearly.
"Mariel, are you ready for the exam?" Beatrix asked as she got dressed to her friend.
"Yes, I am." Mariel replied with a smile.
"I am also confident that I will get a score in the top 10." Mania said.
"For the three of us to be in the top 10 of the highest scores in Class 1, it's not strange but for the first year level, it might be something." Beatrix said.
"Is it really that important?" Mariel asked curiously.
"I don't know either, but I heard our senior students talking about how the top 10 highest scores of each year will receive a special prize." Beatrix said.
"Interesting. We'll have to give it a try." Mariel said, her eyes sparkling.
They were walking up to the school building to prepare for the final exams with the others. On the way up the building, they met Yujin, Mariel's friend from a previous life. He was standing while reading a textbook, but when he saw Mariel walking by, he stopped reading for a moment and asked to talk to Mariel privately.
"How are you? Are you ready for the exam?" Yujin asked.
"I'm ready, my friend. How's about you?" Mariel replied, asking back.
"I'm good. I don't really like reading books but at least I can pass an exam for sure." Yujin replied.
"We set a goal to get into the top 10, so we had to study hard." Mariel said.
"That's great. We'll celebrate after the end of the semester." Yujin said.
"When you have a time, come to my house. We can eat, drink and talk together. I think that I'll ask Beatrix and Mania to visit my house too." Mariel invited Yujin.
"That's great. Can I bring my girlfriend with me?" Yujin said with a slightly shy expression.
"Sure! My friend." Mariel replied.
"Ok, see you later, buddy. Do your best for the exam. I hope you do as well as you expect." Yujin said before getting ready to enter the exam room.
"You too, my friend. See you." Mariel said.
The end of year exams for all 5 subjects went well. Mariel didn't feel too worried because she had prepared this very well. The total scores of the end of year exams for all 5 subjects would be posted on the scoreboard the next day. This made all the students very excited to see if the results of their efforts in reviewing all the subjects would be as high scores as they had hoped. In the evening, there was a big party for the students of every year. A variety of food and drinks were prepared in the school cafeteria.
The students were eating and drinking happily, and Jerrick was getting quite drunk and had an idea. He walked over to Mariel, who was chatting with the other girls at this moment.
"Mariel, how about we make a bet that whoever gets more total scores than the other will get a special prize from other. If you lose, you must go on a one-on-one date with me. But if you win, I will do whatever you ask for a whole day." Jerrick challenged Mariel with extreme confidence.
Mariel stared into the other's eyes, and when she saw that Jerrick was clearly drunk, she immediately thought of a plan in her mind.
"I have a better offer for you. Would you like to hear it? My dear." Mariel asked.
"Hmm… interesting. What is it?" Jerrick said, ready to listen to the offer.
"I think that I'll give a special award to you, without anyone else getting involved. It'll just be the two of us. Are you interested?" Mariel suggested.
"Got it!" Jerrick immediately accepted the offer. Then he asked to go back and drink with his friends.
"Are you sure about this?" Beatrix asked.
"Yes, Jerrick is a genius. He even got into this school as number one." Mania said.
"Who said that I expected to win this? I knew I couldn't beat him in the final exam." Mariel said.
"Then why did you accept his challenge?" Bellany, who was sitting near Mariel's group, asked curiously.
"I have something fun to tease him, my friends." Mariel said with a wink.
The next day, the results of the end of year exams were announced. Mariel was ranked 5th in class 1. First place was Jerrick, who scored 498 points out of a total of 500 scores, including mid-term scores that were added to each subject's test scores. Secondly was Beatrix, who was close behind with a total score of 496 points. Mariel was ranked 5th with a total score of 492 points. Finally, Mania was ranked 8th in class 1.
As for the overall ranking of the first year, Mariel ranked 7th, which was within the top 10. This made her very excited about what special prize she would receive from the school.
In the evening, Principal Hector immediately invited the top ten students who scored the highest to the reception room. Hector looked at the top ten first-year students with a smile on his face. On the table were ten small silver badges.
"Please take one, each of you." Hector said.
Then, all 10 students took these silver badges. Mariel felt very proud of herself when she attached these badges because this was the reward for the hard work that she studied in one year. Only the top students from all 10 classes hoped to be in the top ten and make their parents proud of this.
"Now, think about what your future career wants to be. Close your eyes and think about it." Hector said.
Everyone closed their eyes. Each of them thought about their future careers. Jerrick intended to inherit the family business and become the school director from his father. Bellany aimed to become a famous fashion designer in the capital city and become famous worldwide. Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania aimed to become famous adventurers.
"Now, open your eyes and look at your badges." Hector said.
When the ten students opened their eyes, they found that their badges had different symbols, depending on the profession they had in mind. Jerrick's was a small school building, Bellany's was a fashion symbol: beautiful clothes, Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania's were swords, magic staff, and healing staff, depending on their abilities. The others had different symbols as well.
"From the second year onwards, everyone's studies remain the same, but what different is the basic experience. Our school will have famous people in society to give advice on various careers. All of you who have these badges will receive special advice and can also ask to learn directly from these famous people." Hector said.
"What about me? Principal Hector." Jerrick asked immediately.
"Your business leaders from other countries will definitely come to visit. You should know Lord Michael." Hector said.
"Great!!!" Jerrick exclaimed happily, because Lord Michael was a very famous merchant with a lot of wealth.
"What about me?" Bellany asked immediately.
"Lady Freida will be the special advisor of you, don't worry." Hector replied.
"Lady Freida!!! I'm so very happy. Thank you so much!" Bellany exclaimed with extreme joy.
"This school is really extraordinary." Beatrix praised.
"Are these two persons very famous?" Mariel asked.
"Yes, especially Lady Freida. If anyone can pass her strict examination, that person's future in fashion will shine even more in the future." Beatrix said.
Hector just finished talking about the others whose would go into business, construction, and nursing careers before turning to look at the last group, Mariel and friends.
"As for the three of you, you will be able to do basic adult missions from your second year onwards. As a special offer, you will be able to start accumulating fame and wealth immediately. If you need any other advice, Elizabeth and I are always ready to help you." Hector said cheerfully.
"Th-thank you very much!" The three girls bowed with joy.
"We got to explore the world before anyone else." Beatrix said.
"Mania is very excited." Mania said.
Everyone went back to their dormitory because they would be glad to tell their parents about this good news. While walking back to the dormitory, Jerrick immediately asked about the promise.
"Oh, I thought you'd forgotten about this because that time you are drunk." Mariel said.
"I won't forget. Being drunk won't do anything to me, even if it's a special reward from my beloved angel Mariel." Jerrick said with a laugh.
"That's great. I guess I'll have to reward you. Follow me." Mariel said with a smile, then led Jerrick to the training room at the back of the school that she had reserved for a special occasion.
"Wait! Don't tell me… Jerrick realized it was too late, they were in the small training room together, just the two of them, as she had promised.
"I told you, the two of us will fight until I'm satisfied. It's a special reward that I want to give to Jerrick with all my heart." Mariel said cheerfully and prepared the Dragon Slayer Sword.
"Can we cancel it? Let's just have dinner together or something else." Jerrick asked.
"Let's fight!!!" Mariel shouted and immediately swung her sword at Jerrick.
"Ahh!!!!!!" Jerrick's painful voice came from the training room.