Every student was directed into an open hall, funneling through a single entrance. The crowd was so dense that students had to use force to make their way inside on time.
Sonic followed the line of students from his bus. Their queue was peaceful until a male student accidentally stepped on the foot of a female student.
Her demeanor was intimidating, but she was undeniably beautiful. Despite her stern expression, a few male students were already envisioning her as their girlfriend once they both passed the Entrance Exam.
"Apologize for touching me," the female student commanded the other student who had bumped into her.
The male student would have apologized without the female student commanding him, but now that she was demanding it, he had to refuse. He clearly wanted to save face in front of his friends.
"And what if I don't? Bitch!" The male student spat harshly.
But just as he finished his rant, the female student grabbed his hands, and soon, the sound of cracking bones echoed through the crowd.
"Arrgh!" The male student helplessly lamented in agony as his fingers were twisted sideways.
"I'm sorry! Please let go! Arrgh!" He screamed as he found himself apologizing involuntarily.
Before releasing the male student's hand, one last crack echoed through the hall. The female student had broken all five fingers of the other student."
Immediately after witnessing that, no one wanted to mess with her. Everyone kept their distance, including those who arrived at the same bus with her.
The female student was clearly establishing a reputation as someone not to be trifled with during her time here.
"I guess her ability is to break fingers." A student joked within his friend zone.
"Then that makes her Finger Girl, right?" The crowd whispered among themselves in hushed voices.
"Wow. She's pretty strong," Sonic grumbled to himself as he continued walking.
One thing Sonic noticed was that there were militants in every corner, and he was sure some of them witnessed the whole ordeal, but none stood up for the male student.
This was when Sonic came to the conclusion that the Military school was a survival zone, a place where the strong preyed on the weak.
'If this is how the military school works, it's no better than the outside world,' Sonic thought.
"When is the world going to change?" he added.
As all four hundred plus students made their way inside the vast hall, a bald man in his late sixties echoed from the top open floor, looking down at them and explaining how the exam was going to be finalized.
"Good day, everyone! I'm Mister Robert Frank, the General of the Military school. I welcome all the participants of today's exam. I hope those of you who are wise make it into the Military school. The rules remain the same: choose an opponent to spar with. The winner will make it into the academy, and the loser returns home and comes back next year. To choose an opponent, shake hands, and your Digital-Wrist-watches will be paired automatically. Once you're paired, your Digital-Wrist-watch will display your round number on it."
With that brief information, the General returned to his exquisite chair, alongside a few Royal members and some politicians.
The students were given thirty minutes to search among themselves and pick an opponent to spar with. Anyone without an opponent at the end of the given time will be disqualified from taking the exam. So, as the countdown began, everyone started searching for weaker opponents to increase their chances of winning.
Just as Sonic turned around in search of a partner, he was met with a familiar face: Nash, one of the bullies who attacked him yesterday and left him to die.
Immediately upon seeing Sonic, Nash was startled to the bone and zoomed off, as if he had seen a ghost. Perhaps Sonic's ghost had come to haunt him and the others. Nash ran in search of Rony and Leon, his comrades.
"He's here. The boy from the woods is here," Nash informed Rony and Leon, breathing heavily.
"Keep it down, you fool!" Rony retorted.
"Now's not the time to worry about who's here and who's not. You haven't even paired with anyone yet. Come, let's go look for a weak opponent for you," Leon said, dragging Nash back into the crowd in search of an opponent.
Nash was completely blown away when he mentioned Sonic. To the others, he was referring to the boy that Sonic saved. After all, they were not going to believe that the person they left for dead had risen and was here to take the exam with them. Who was he? A human with nine lives?
At this point, no one wanted to appear strong, as a weaker opponent wouldn't accept pairing with them.
However, one student stood out, screaming among the crowd, boasting of his strength. He also claimed to be the most formidable opponent in the hall, just to find someone bold enough to face him.
If the exam were based on body size and posture, this student clearly was the most formidable opponent, as he happened to be the most athletic one among the crowd.
Everyone focused their attention on the huge student as he continued boasting, but no one stepped out to challenge him to a spar. Perhaps some would have, but they may have already paired with someone else.
Of course, there could still be stronger opponents in the crowd without partners yet, but they didn't want to take the chance of winning or losing. Even if they won, it wouldn't be easy considering the guy's size. He was almost the epitome of a Dark Slayer in person.
When General Robert saw that no one was challenging the huge student, he got up from his seat and made another announcement, one that shocked everyone watching.
"The huge student has passed the entrance exam," the general said.
"Huh!" exclaimed a student from the crowd.
"Seriously?" said another.
"He's not even going to take the exam? What a lucky dude," whispers could be heard from all corners.
The huge student walked out of the hall, escorted by one of the militants present by the side of the hall entrance.
Now, everyone was driven to choose their opponents randomly, regardless of whether they were stronger or weaker.
Soon, Sonic's system brought up a new Quest for him.
< Challenge and win an opponent for rewards >
< Gain a Beast Weapon for challenging an opponent >
< You can use inspection to spy on opponents before pairing >
Sonic grinned at three things: First, he was going to be rewarded with a Beast Weapon for choosing an opponent. Secondly, he could use inspection to pick a weaker opponent for a quick and easy win. And thirdly, he would also be rewarded if he wins.
Just as Sonic was searching for a weak opponent among the crowd, he set his eyes on the last person he wanted to see: Rony, who hadn't found anyone to pair with yet.
Driven by great anger, Sonic immediately walked closer to him and tapped him from behind, stretching forth his hand for pairing.
"Ha! Finally, I got someone to pair with," Rony said in excitement. But as he raised his head to see his opponent, it was Sonic.
Rony abruptly withdrew his hand from Sonic's, but they were already paired as opponents.
"I'm happy to spar with you," said Sonic as he mischievously grinned.
< Congratulations, Slayer, you've gained a Beast Weapon for challenging your opponent. >
< Weapon name: Slayer Blade >
< Beast Weapon Class: Tier 1 >
< Upgrades are allowed. >
The system kept its word, and now Sonic could summon his Beast Weapon at will. Although Sonic hadn't tried it before, it felt like a child knowing he's about to drink his mother's milk for survival.
Rony wasn't afraid of sparring with Sonic; he was only startled because seeing the same person who was gravely injured yesterday standing before him, alive and well, caught him off guard.
"Didn't you get enough from our encounter yesterday? I don't care how you survived, but I promise you, I will be standing on your corpse this time around," Rony retorted as his voice regained strength.
Now he finally understood who Nash had seen earlier and why he was breathing heavily.
Soon, the given time to pair ended, and the first team to spar was the last team that had just paired up. Luckily for Sonic and Rony, they were third in line.