The students all received a test paper and started working on it, they were all taken aback to how difficult the questions were, they could only pass over it to the next question so they wouldn't waste time. The test had seventy questions in total and each one was more difficult than the one before. The test wasn't base on a single subject either, it had questions from all categories, like Math, English, History, Engineering and so on. They all sat in frustration silently as they tried to answer the questions. After the fifty minutes ended they were told to send their papers to the front row. When the papers were collected Mr. Hexon told them they would receive the results tomorrow.
"Now I want you all to get changed into your training gear and head over to training ground 1A3". The students only nodded in response getting up and walked to the door. The girls then split with the boys and went to their changing room. When they were finally in the changing room they heaved in relief and spoke.
"Man I couldn't even feel my heart"
"It was surprising the way he teaches though, very unusual but it makes excellent impact and also very knowledgeable" Tyxin the boy in the glasses added as he adjusted his glasses.
"What do you think Asvil and Lane?" Zen asked looking at Ash and Lynx who were quiet as he placed a leg into his suit.
"My name is Ash and it was only common sense that something like this would have happen" Ash answered and Lynx dryly said he didn't know. A few boys hissed at Ash's response and muttered ill words under their breath, but Ash didn't care and ignored them.
"Does the suit feel ok?" Ash asked Lynx who was looking at his suit in an uncertain way.
"Mhmm" Lynx said while nodding his head.
Everyone left the room and then they were later joined by the girls on training grounds. They all wore a thin tight black suit that had white lines running across their chest for decoration. The suit was from their neck and covered their entire body. They all gathered at the entrance feeling thrilled, before they entered Mr. Hexon explained that he wanted to see what they could do to have a proper evaluation and to see their combat skills amongst other things. He could have simply gotten the files when they took the entrance exam from the school board, but he wanted to see it upfront, and he also wanted everyone to see the potential of their classmates and it was also good warmup as they hadn't done so for a week.
Mr. Hexon typed a password on the dial pad that opened a very large thick metal door. They walked in where they saw other students fighting and a man on the side lines watching. The students who were fighting stopped upon seeing them and wondered why they were on the same training ground as them since there was another training ground. The students from 1R gathered in one area as the other students gathered on the other side, none of the students knew why they were on the same training ground, but they were sure their teachers had something to do with it.
"Mr. Hexon!" A man shouted walking closer.
The man then told his students to follow him and they stood opposite to the other students. It could be easily felt that both classes had differences as they looked at one another with strain.
"My name is Mr. Henry. Now Mr. Hexon thought it would be a great idea for both our classes to have a little combat session and I thought it's a great opportunity for you all to get the feel of fighting those from the stronger class. So you could see the gap for yourself and understand how to fill it", the man Mr. Henry said with a bit excitement. The students of 1R were surprised that Mr. Henry was the teacher of 1O. He was a man of talents and was in the top twenty rankings, while their teacher was a nobody. Class 1O was the second ranking class from 1R, while 1R was occupied by students who passed the entrance exam with remarkable scores or had recommended students, 1O had students who did fairly well. Some only fell short of a single point, while others had the full points but was still out ranked by those in 1R.
"I expect the students of 1O to do well since 1R hasn't done any training since the school year and even if you can't beat them I advise you to learn from them until your next encounter" Mr. Henry added.
"Just a bunch of egoistic bastards" a girl said from the other class
"Slacking off simply because they're into the top class is something assholes do, thinking they're better than us, how funny" another student added and others laughed. Everyone from 1R remained quiet as their teacher was the cause of everything.
"Since there's forty of you in total you'll be pinned against someone from the opposing class" Mr. Henry said.
"This will be a simple exercise, no manifesting your weapon, no using your abilities, no transforming or using your robotic power in any manner"
"Well this shouldn't be hard we've been practicing our combat without Robotic power since Monday"
"If you're wondering why we aren't doing anything with Core power is simply because exercising your physical body strengthens your core power. Using Core power or abilities takes a toll on the physical body and so you get super exhausted after using your Core power and to bring forth the weapon you possess drains the body four times faster and so that's why using your core power could also kill you or slowly kill you. Take Taron for example he called fourth his weapon with a draw back during his match, but many of you didn't know he has to be hospitalized the next day, some experts even think he might have shortened his life span or he might suffer from a core leak, or maybe he is lucky and nothing will happen" Mr. Hexon explained and Taron scoffed looking to the side as the class paid close attention not breaking eye contact not even once. They didn't understand everything, but they had to at least try to understand now.
"So we'll train our body's to adapt to a greater strain and in that way we can use Core power longer. Sometimes in battle you can't always depend on super strength, the best strength to rely on is physical strength" Mr. Hexon continued as the students listened, they had finally learnt something important.
"Wait they didn't know that" a student outburst while giggling and other students joined in.
"That's like the first thing we learnt and they're just learning that now"
"There must have been some mix up when selecting students for the classes" another student added.
Everyone from 1R was getting very irritated and angry at the other class but they said nothing, simply waiting to let their fist do the talking. Mr. Hexon didn't say anything either since it might push them to strive more. Class 1R was given a minute to stretch and then the students were pinned against someone from the opposing class as they spread across the training ground. The teachers went to a corner and told the students they could start fighting.
"It's going to be a hassle watching this fight" Hexon said to himself before sighing.
"Simply pin your opponent down, nothing more" Mr. Henry shouted.
All the students engaged in combat as 1O was ready to wipe the floor with 1R since they had the upper hand with training, but to their surprised 1R was putting up a great challenge and the simple win they were expecting turned out wrong. They had to put a lot more effort if they wanted to beat them.
Zen was enjoying his battle against his opponent as he dodged with ease and had a hand behind his back as if he was giving himself and extra challenge; neither was he going on an attack stance. After a few minute he was told to take down his opponent to give the others space. He immediately did so in a split second and stood to the side giving the others room. Quil also went up against a student and won without much effort, standing to the side to create extra fighting ground for the others also.
Ash was also fighting his own battle and as usual he took a few hits and when he understood his opponent fighting style he immediately switched to the offensive. A student got Lynx as his opponent and was glad, because he had heard the rumors and thought the win was in his favor. While fighting Lynx the student realized that all the rumors he had been hearing were wrong. Unlike in the exam where he needed to use Core power this match was easier.
Lynx was already used to the terrifying battles in life and everyday was another luck used for living, so he was good at dodging and timing attacks. His entire life he hid from the monsters and waited for the perfect moments to make his move and he also had to fight people for his survival, he wasn't a very upfront fighter so he mostly stayed in hiding, analyzing and waiting to make a move.
Lynx read the student moves he was up against as if his opponent was one of the creatures. The boy could only remain on the defensive and took small steps backwards. They're fight was quiet since the boy didn't want his classmates to know that he was losing against the joke of the Academy. Other fights were louder and had more action so no one was really watching them except for Hexon. Hexon was watching Lynx's battle to the best of his abilities and he could see Lynx's fighting style was a bit off, and very different from the others. He fought as if it was something he did very often. Also the way he fought didn't look much human it seemed wild and different from everyone else's, expect Zen who also had a strange fighting pattern. Out of all the forty student Lynx and Zen had a fighting style of their own.
"Something is very wrong about this kid" Hexon said looking at Lynx as if he saw something no one else could. He the pulled his attention to the other students and quietly took some notes and Mr. Henry was shouting words of encouragement to his students who were losing. After about fifty minutes the teachers called an end to the battles and the students stopped abruptly. It was obvious that 1R had beaten 1O as most of the students who won were from 1R and the others who were on the battlefield didn't look as if the were struggling. Mr. Henry congratulated his students for doing well and told then they put up a good fight, but none of his students thought so.
"Maybe we would have done better with core power" someone mumbled quietly from the back allowing only their classmates to hear.
"Guess when they were choosing the students for 1R they did so perfectly" a boy from 1R commented, answering the comments from earlier. Everyone in 1O heard him clearly and gritted their teeth in irritation. The students thought they could beat 1R easily since they had the upper hand in training, but even a week of training proved useless against them and they weren't even close to beating one of them.