"Hey Kris have you acquired your Data Beast? was it the Flycon that your parents gave you?"
Necho leaned over to Kris and whispered
"Uh, no, I got another one," Kris replied casually.
"Really? I knew you wanted to go to Cinder Forest last time, but I didn't think you actually went!" Necho's eyes widened in surprise at Kris's boldness.
Thursday, overhearing their conversation, turned around.
"You went to Cinder Forest, mate? Are you crazy? That place is dangerous!"
Kris just shrugged.
"You guys better hurry up and finish filling out your paper already," he said, changing the subject.
Necho then asked the big question. "So... that's where you had your accident, huh?"
"WHAT?!" Thursday suddenly stood up in shock.
Thud!
Something flew across the room and hit Thursday square on the back of his head.
"Who threw that?!"
Thursday did a 180 and to see Sir Ahmed standing at the podium, slowly walking toward them.
"Was talking and shouting part of the assignment?" Sir Ahmed crossed his arms, looking annoyed.
"Heh... sorry, Sir. I just got a little surprised by one of the questions,"
Thursday said, rubbing the location where the object had hit him and he sat back down on his seat.
Kris shook his head at his friend's blunder and quietly went back to filling out his Data Beast information, leaving some of the important parts blank.
As Kris read through the questions on the paper he stopped on a question and it was about his Data Beast and how he acquired it, he scratched his head, unsure what to write.
He hesitated to reveal where he got it, and if he said he bought it, he'd have to provide the store's name.
'this is a bit complicated, I should've asked James what his alibi is about pyro cub'
He remembered what Butler James had told him these past few days that he shouldn't mention the details of his accident to anyone.
Just saying he had amnesia would suffice as an excuse for him to easily navigate school.
So in the end he just put that it was his parents who bought it for him and that was that, he glossed over the other questions.
One of the blank questions made him pause. Should he really reveal that his Data Beast had Platinum potential?
'I should checked with Necho if its alright,' he thought.
"Necho, what potential is your Data Beast?" Kris whispered.
Necho turned to him and said, "Mine's Silver. It's a Rank 1 Bolt Ape."
"It's a bit pricey, but my grandfather said it's good for my age since I'm still an elementary-grade Data Trainer."
"Elementary?" Kris raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember reading anything about that in his books or internet research.
Necho suddenly realized something. "Oh, right. You weren't here last week. At Data Beast Training Camp, they started assigning us grades. It's a new system HAVEN set up for trainers in the city. They wanted to create a ranking system for us."
Kris nodded, understanding what Necho said.
Still, he wondered why they hadn't done that sooner, it was something similar for his time as a marine it was to establish rank and seniority.
"So, what's the grading system like? How many grades are there?"
"As I said, it's like a ranking system for Data Beast trainers. There are five known grades. So far, we have Elementary Grade for trainers with 500 Aura Points, Warrior Grade for those with 2,000 Aura Points, and then Elite Grade, Commander Grade, and Star Grade. I can't remember all the details, but it's based on how many Aura Points you have."
Kris remembered reading a book about Aura.
the phenomenon was discovered by a scientist named Tonya, who was also the creator of the Data Device.
She was one of the people who saved humanity when they were on the brink of destruction. Without her discoveries, humanity might have faced extinction.
Aura was one of her major breakthroughs.
Before she invented the Datavice, there was an accident during one of her experiments.
One of her lab pets, a Data Beast she cherished, fell ill.
Tonya took care of it until it healed.
The Data Beast, realizing how much she cared for it, stared at her for a moment, and then, suddenly, a light emitted from its body, turning the Data Beast into a card.
When the Data Beast turned into a card, instead of panicking, Tonya calmly analyzed the situation.
She remembered the game Beast Kings.
In that game, some NPCs didn't have Beast Capturing Devices, She saw how the NPCs would close their eyes and throw the card in the air and it would release the beast inside it.
Since the game world had merged with reality, she wondered if she could use the same method to summon the Data Beast from the card.
Tonya would focused, holding the card tightly. With a flash of light, the first summoned Data Beast was born.
With her discovery, Tonya took it a step further.
She closed her eyes and, once again, turned the Data Beast into a card.
When she succeeded, she named this ability "Aura." During her studies, she realized that when she summoned the Data Beast, she was releasing an invisible energy around her.
This energy became the key to controlling the Data Beasts.
Kris snapped out of his trance.
"So how did you guys get graded?"
"It's a machine called T12. It scans our bodies for Aura when we summon a Data Beast," Necho explained.
"T12? That's Tonya's 12th invention, right? I read about that. Hopefully, I can get graded soon too."
"You can just put 'Elementary Grade' on the paper for now," Necho suggested.
Kris thought for a moment, nodded and then asked, "What grade would you be if you had a Platinum-potential Data Beast?"
Necho pondered then shrugged. "Hmm, I've never heard of anyone at our school having a Platinum-grade Data Beast. But if someone does, they haven't shown up yet. Mostly Elite Grade trainers possess Data Beasts like that."
Kris nodded to Necho and thanked him, but Necho looked at Kris with a mix of confusion and curiosity.
Kris turned back to his paper and wrote, "Gold" and "Elementary" in the blank spaces.
'I hope I don't get in trouble for filling this with fake info,' Kris thought. 'I really didn't want to lie, but staying low-key seems like the smart choice for now.'
10 minutes later.
"Okay, everyone! I'll be collecting your papers now!" Sir Ahmed's voice erupted, breaking the silence.
The papers on their desks floated toward the front, landing neatly on Sir Ahmed's desk. He glanced over each one, then suddenly gasped in surprise when he saw a students Data Beast information.
"Kris, is the potential of your Data Beast correct?" he asked telepathically, eyes fixed on Kris.
Kris just nodded calmly, and Sir Ahmed, looking into Kris's clear, honest eyes, knew he wasn't lying.
"Attention, everyone! Tomorrow, I want you all to be prepared. Get a good night's sleep and enjoy yourselves!"
he then paused and stared at some specific students and continued
"And for those who haven't acquired a Data Beast yet, I hope you'll join the second-round evaluation next month. Everyone is Dismissed!"
As soon as Sir Ahmed finished speaking, the room filled with the soft shuffle of students gathering their things.
Backpacks zipped, papers were stuffed into folders, and a few whispered conversations echoed around the room.
Some students slung their bags over their shoulders, while others stretched and yawned, clearly eager to head home after a long day.
"Hey mate, I heard from the other students that you and that bloke Adam had an altercation earlier," Thursday said, his curiosity piqued.
Kris nodded, confirming the news. "Yeah, it was just a misunderstanding."
"I was talking with Belle, and then everything escalated quickly," he explained.
Necho's eyes widened in surprise. "I see, so your amnesia didn't make you forget your feelings for Belle then?"
Kris shook his head, puzzled by the implication.
'Why would I have feelings for a 16-year-old girl?'
"No, she was just asking me a question, and everything after that got chaotic."
Thursday sighed dramatically. "Love is such a luxury. You guys better enjoy your youth before it slips away."
"How would you know—"
Necho was interrupted by Miguel, who approached with a serious expression. "Kris, meet me later. Same place."