After the girl's captivating introduction, the student sitting next to her stood up. A handsome boy with black hair and creepy black eyes that resembled that of a dead fish.
"Kaiser Solace. Nice to meet you."
His introduction, although better than Hazel's, was even more plain—coupled with his detached tone, made him slightly unfriendly.
Eventually, the introduction of 40 students ended, turning their attention back to Instructor Itou who had been diligently listening.
"Very well, since you're done. Let's begin the formal procedures. For the next three years, your freedom would be restricted including communication with the outside world except for a few instances. Also, to ensure the comfort of the students, the school provides every student with a currency of 100,000 private points. Each point equivalent to one dollar in the outside world."
"One hundred thousand dollars?!"
"Wow! Are you for real?!"
At first, the students were perplexed, but when Instructor Itou calmly assured them, that emotion quickly shifted into elation. This was a very luxurious expense. Some parents couldn't even afford giving that to them in a year.
However, a few were still skeptical.
'100,000 dollars. This is too generous for a no-tution school. Hmm, except they have ways to extort us later, it isn't feasible.'
The more Kaiser thought about it, the more absurd he found the idea. The school had less than five hundred students in total, so funding all the students with 100,000 per month seemed unreasonable.
'Interesting development.'
Ignoring the class's joy, Instructor Itou continued.
"The school ensures to deliver points at the beginning of a new month. Also, you're free to spend the points as you see fit."
With this piece of information, every student were quickly engrossed in their own discussions—eagerly chatting about how to spend the points.
After the bell rang, Instructor Itou packed her things and exited the class. Immediately, the whole place was abuzz with chatter and small talk, people making friends and all.
Kaiser sat in his quiet corner, glanced around lazily, his eyes betraying little to no emotions.
"Socially detached, aren't you?"
A voice cut through the background chatter.
Kaiser turned his head slightly. Hazel Kane. Sharp eyes, sharp voice, always watching.
He ignored her—looked away.
"Indeed, you're a cold one, huh?" she murmured, slight disdain in her voice.
"Unpleasant," he replied flatly.
"You reek of boredom," she teased, resting her chin on her hand. "But you hide it well. Almost too well."
That caught his attention.
He turned fully this time, giving her a proper look.
"You're interesting," he said, eyes flicking to Sebastian. "And so is he."
Sebastian turned just in time, catching the glance.
He winked at Hazel.
Hazel turned away. Her voice quieter now.
"Is that so... ?"
...
Hours passed like seconds.
Lunch came and went. Then, they were herded into the training facility like cattle being led to battle.
The whole Class-D gathered at a white building which looked exquisite from the outside and even more on the inside.
The inside was wide with few pieces of equipments carefully hung around.
A middle aged male instructor walked ahead as he spoke.
"This is the general training facility. Beyond the common room are the personal training rooms you can access at any given period. According to the school's custom, you all, are to be evaluated by the school to determine your combat worth."
"Now we will be testing your fighting abilities by allowing you to fight against prepared robots." He suddenly smiled mockingly and added "And don't expect to win against them. You are far too weak as starters."
His words seemed to light a fire of rebellion in some cadets especially Liam whose eyes shone brighter with determination.
Soon, the first ten people were called out, none of them remotely remarkable.
They faced the white robots with grim faces, their grip tightening on their weapons.
"Let's see if the academy's 'freshmen' are any better."
"START"
Immediately, the robots moved with blinding speed attacking with precise and sharp intent.
One cadet froze. A second later, he was sprawled on the ground, a smoking dent in his chest plate.
Others with more combat awareness also attacked, crossing blades with the robots only to be pushed back in the clash of strength. Learning their lesson, each cadet activated their Awakened Abilities, turning the stage into a flurry of sparks and colors. The fight dragged on and on for a while until they ran out of essence, unable to maintain their abilities
"Lackluster"
Mr Natusalene commented with a snort as the kids stepped off the stage.
Calling onto the next ten, the cadets began their own battle, lasting slightly longer than the previous group.
"Mundane"
The man said dryly, causing the group to feel depressed except an oddball with rising odd excitement.
"The last five"
Sebastian, Hazel, Liam, Kiera and Kaiser stepped onto the stage—the tension thickened.
A whirlwind of sparks gathered in Sebastian's hand, forming a black gun. With a devilish grin, he fired a series of shots at his opponent, denting the robot's armor.
The robot, now alert, shot forward and slashed horizontally only to see that Sebastian had ducked underneath the blade and retaliated with a shot to the knee. The robot staggered slightly, leaving an opening for it's opponent as the boy kicked it's head and shot it in the neck.
Distancing himself from the robot, Sebastian's expression turned grim as he realized his fatal shot had caused little to no damage.
On the other side, Hazel dodged a spear stabbing at her face and counterattacked with a swing of her axe, smashing it into the shield of her opponent. The robot shifted slightly as it swung the spear again, almost bashing her side but thankfully, she had activated her Ability [Body Clairvoyance].
Her body twisted to the extreme, narrowly dodging the blade by an inch. Before she could recover, the shield smashed towards her. She barely blocked with the flat of her axe, tumbling backward. This subtly infuriated her as her grip tightened.
She wasn't going to lose in the second clash.
Mr Natusalene's eyes narrowed slightly at the performance of this group—subtly impressed.
'This year's Class-D might not be so boring.' He chuckled internally.