Jin Minhe and I sat under the awning shade near our prep section—me drenched in sweat and low on sugar, munching on star beast meat jerky. Jin Minhe, on the other hand, was surrounded by food containers like he was at a picnic instead of a Federation-sanctioned Division Combat Trial. The mountain of wrappers next to him was frankly disrespectful to the concept of exhaustion.
We'd completed our battles and were now just waiting for them to post the results and the list of contestants for the Final Stage: Battle Royale of the Class Advancement Series.
I had a good feeling. I'd tried to apply everything we'd been taught in class, making sure to hit the high-scoring areas each match. Qi control, solid form, Foundation-Tier fist techniques—nothing flashy, but I'd drilled them until they were second nature. Most of the moves came from the original host's memories, but I'd familiarized myself with as much as I could on short notice.
"Is that… your third box?" I asked, watching him stuff two spicy rice rolls into his mouth without blinking.
"Fourth," he said, mouth half full. "Glutton Panda refused to fight for a battle once. Needed food bribes."
[Beast Bond Level: Tier-2; Sync-Focused Partner Type]
"So you're enabling her."
He sipped from a nutrient broth pouch and gave a slow, unbothered nod.
I sighed and pulled out my ONI9X, the sleek obsidian phone already synced to the Federation Arena DataNet. Notifications pinged the screen in a clean grid interface. I tapped into my student profile and clicked on stats.
⸻
⚔️ Federation Class Battle Points System
———
Each student earns points per match based on performance in 3 structured rounds, aligned to foundational combat tiers:
———————–
🌀 Round Types (Federation Standard Format)
————————
• Round 1: Physical Combat Only — No qi, no weapons, no beasts
• Round 2: Qi Combat — Pure internal/external qi techniques, no physical weapons
• Round 3: Armed Combat — Weapons allowed, qi internal use only; beast techniques disabled
———
🏅 Point Sources (Instructor-Graded)
——————————
Action Points
Round Win +2 pts
KO Win +3 bonus
Opponent Forfeit +2 bonus
Draw 0 pts
Technique Quality (Qi Control, Spell & Rune Use) Up to +2 pts/round (6 max per match)
🔺 Maximum Possible per Match: ~10–14 pts
⸻
✅ Fan Yumei – Final Score Summary
📘 Student ID: A6-011
📊 Matches Completed: 30
🧾 Combat Record: 29 Wins | 0 Losses | 1 Draw
Category Total
Round Wins 30 R1, 29 R2, 30 R3
KO Wins 18
Opponent Forfeits 5
Draws 1
Avg Technique Bonus +2 pts per match
🧮 Points Calculation:
Wins (29 Matches)
• Round Wins: 29 × 3 × 2 = 174 pts
• KO Bonus: 18 × 3 = 54 pts
• Forfeit Bonus: 5 × 2 = 10 pts
• Technique Bonus: 29 × 2 = 58 pts
➡️ Subtotal (Wins): 296 pts
Draw (1 Match)
• No round wins; awarded +2 pts for technique
➡️ Subtotal (Draw): 2 pts
✅ 🏁 Final Total: 298 Points
⸻
✅ Jin Minhe – Final Score Summary
📘 Student ID: A6-012
📊 Matches Completed: 30
🧾 Combat Record: 30 Wins | 0 Losses | 0 Draws
Category Total
Round Wins 30 R1
KO Wins 17
Opponent Forfeits 3
Avg Technique Bonus +2 pts per match
🧮 Points Calculation:
Wins (30 Matches)
• Round Wins: 86 × 2 = 172 pts
• KO Bonus: 17 × 3 = 51 pts
• Forfeit Bonus: 3 × 2 = 6 pts
• Technique Bonus: 30 × 2 = 60 pts
✅ 🏁 Final Total: 289 Points
⸻
"Good," I muttered, zooming in on my scores. "We must try harder next time."
Jin squinted at the screen between bites of fried pepper bun. "You just finished two rounds and you're still wearing weights."
"Maybe because I want better results and to know I'm doing well to get stronger," I replied, teasing him by taking his bun and giving it to his panda.
[Federation Combat Rule: Weighted Combat Training – Allowed up to 15% base strength resistance]
He pointed his chopsticks at me, glaring. "You distracted two opponents into self-disqualification."
"Verbal warfare is a legitimate tactical method."
He nodded, halfway through a jellyfruit skewer now. The Glutton Panda's influence was real.
Just then, my phone pinged again. A crimson-phase alert banner slid across the screen:
⸻
📣 ⚔️ CLASS BATTLE DAY – FINAL PHASE UNLOCKED
🎯 DIVISION BATTLE ROYALE – INITIATED
🛡️ Top 6 Students in Each Star-Rank Division Advance
🏆 Goal: Last 7 Standing Will Advance
✅ All Gear & Techniques Unlocked
• Qi | Weapons | Spells | Beasts | Runes | Curses
🔺 Victory Condition:
— First to submit, tap out, or be rendered unconscious = Eliminated
⸻
I lifted the screen again. Jin finally paused mid-chew. "Did we pass?" I shrug.
"I don't know," I said, already cracking my knuckles. "Looks like they're keeping us hanging like a beef skewer over a fire."
He stared at the screen for a beat. Then quietly opened a new section of his meal box—pepper-glazed fish cubes and dried dragon fruit.
"You're going to eat through it, aren't you?"
"If I might fight half of all Divisions and then some. I probably might even get jumped by three people. I need protein."
"Bold of you to assume they'll team up. I bet they go straight for you."
He paused, slowly chewing. "I'll still need dessert."
My phone pinged—the Finalist List for the Royale updated.
⸻
🧱 Top 6 Finalists per Star Rank Division
🗂️ Division IDs match Federation Sorting System – 1★ (Beginner) to 8★ (Elite/Special)
⭐ Division 1 (1★ Rank)
1. Bao Lei — B1-019
2. Li Xia — D1-004
3. Chen Rui — F1-031
4. Sun Mei — A1-006
5. Gao Feng — E1-014
6. Qian Yu — C1-012
⭐ Division 2 (2★ Rank)
…
⭐ Division 6 (6★ Rank)
1. Fan Yumei — A6-011
2. Jin Minhe — A6-012
…
⭐ Division 8 (Elite & Special Advancement Students)
(Mixed Classes SA–SE | Must be 6★–7★ rank to qualify)
3. Hei Rou — SA-2
4. Yan Luo — SE-1
…
⸻
I nearly jumped for joy when I saw my name on the Battle Royale Qualifier List. This was it.
Now the real trial begins.
No time to waste.
I tightened the wraps around my wrists, rolled my shoulders, and dropped into a few pre-match flexibility forms. My legs were sore, my knuckles raw, but none of that mattered now. This was the final stretch. I needed to stay sharp, fast, and relentless.
Beside me, Jin Minhe was staring at his result on the display panel, eyes glossy with betrayal.
"Thirty matches… Thirty wins… and I still have to fight again?" he muttered, voice cracking like a tired old spirit beast. "I just… I just wanted snacks and a nap…"
"You're literally holding a half-eaten bun."
"That's comfort food. Emotional regulation," he sniffed, wiping a tear that may or may not have been from exhaustion. "Yumei, I'm not built for this many consecutive social interactions. Or punches. Or sweating."
"You barely broke a sweat."
"My heart did."
I snorted, adjusting my boots and twisting my hair into a tighter tie. "You'll survive."
He slumped against the prep bench like he'd been personally wronged by the Federation. "I should be in bed. Or the snack road. Or a soft corner of a dome house with a hot drink and a steamed bun."
"Well," I said, cracking my knuckles and grinning as the pre-battle countdown ticked down, "win the battle royal, beat the elites, and you'll have more coins than you'll know what to do with. You could buy a corner of snack road."
He paused.
His eyes slowly narrowed with a level of determination I hadn't seen since someone told him the cafeteria was out of extra dipping sauce.
"…I could build a snack fortress."
"There we go."