--
TJ arrived at school five minutes before the class started.
It's the start of his final semester here at this school. If he's lucky, then a few months later, he'd graduate. If not, then he would repeat a year.
Either way, it's a new beginning, which also means new challenges for him.
They were told to gather at the gymnasium, so that's where he's headed.
The gymnasium of the Gale Phantom Preparatory School was large; it could easily cater to tens of thousands of people at once with its size. It's also equipped with all sorts of modern technology that makes it way better compared to those that don't have it.
When he got there, TJ noticed that there were people in there already. He easily spotted Sieg and Lily, who were already here, and he unhesitatingly approached them.
"Hey," he called out to get their attention. "I'm not late, am I?"
"No." Lily shook her head; she then looked at the podium and saw Mr. Eden walking towards it. "You're just in time."
As if to prove her words correct, Mr. Eden stepped onto the podium and spoke.
"Settle down, brats." Mr. Eden's rough and gritty voice echoed on the walls of the gymnasium.
Silence descended on the area for a bit; all eyes were on the old man right now. He wasn't alone, though; there were two people standing behind him. One was female, the other was male.
"Welcome back to school, I suppose. The majority of you here are repeaters; only a few aren't, but regardless, it's all the same. This is, hopefully, your last and final semester here in this school."
TJ was briefly surprised. He looked around and saw a few people having ugly expressions upon hearing the word 'repeaters,' as if they're offended by those words.
Most of the people here were repeaters? Aren't there at least more than a hundred people here? Is it really that harsh?
Inevitably, TJ began feeling nervous. Even Lily and Sieg looked uncomfortable.
"My message is for those who are new here. For you repeaters, just drone me out for a bit since you've already heard this before."
For some reason, TJ thinks that Mr. Eden was deliberately mocking the repeaters by repeatedly calling them repeaters. He just can't prove it.
"For those who are new here, listen up."
"Welcome to the final semester of your prep school, or not, because whether you graduate in a few months or not depends on your effort, not us."
"You've experienced two months in your respective training camps, Warriors and Casters, and some of you are probably wondering where the rest of your batchmates are."
Mr. Eden then sighed tiredly and said, "Well, the simple answer to that is they're unqualified to be here."
"We have been observing your performances since the camp started. I believe all of you have been made aware of that. We gave you instructions on what to train and how to train, and the rest was up to you."
"You can say that we're hands-off when it comes to this, and you wouldn't be wrong because we certainly were."
"Simply put, we wanted to see initiative from you. We wanted to see who truly were the serious ones about their future careers. We saw who worked hard, who did just enough to sail along, and those who did not exert any effort at all."
"The two-month training camp had another purpose, and that is to filter trash. The reason why you can't see the rest of your batchmates is simply because they're trash, plain and simple."
'Trash.' What an uncomfortable word to be called. This old man simply doesn't filter his words and doesn't cushion them either. So long as it lands, even if it's painful to hear, then he'd deliver.
"Don't think too highly of yourselves, either." Mr. Eden, seemingly eager to douse any good feeling they might feel about themselves, ruthlessly poured a cold bucket directly over their heads with his next words.
"Don't think that just because you were called here, you're the hardworking ones. The largest part of your group are repeaters, and the second largest part are those who put in the bare minimum effort."
"The true hardworking ones here could be counted on one hand, and all of them are at least 2☆ Novice Rank already because they were given privileges. Still, at least two of those from the same group were also forced to stay for another year due to complications."
"Yes, you can be both hardworking and a repeater. It's quite possible. In fact, it's not rare at all."
TJ felt dizzy there for a moment. The hardworking group he's referring to should include them. He, Sieg, and Lily are all 2☆ Novices, so it applies. However, there were also two more who are apparently repeaters, too? That doesn't make sense! How did that happen?
"Anyways, the second semester is just a larger and more serious filtering system like the camp." Mr. Eden didn't bother explaining his previous revelation. He instead jumped to his next point, much to TJ's dismay.
"This time though, it wouldn't just be us who would monitor you anymore. University staff will also be included."
TJ wasn't surprised by this anymore since Mr. Eden had already revealed this to them back then.
"After all, that's the point, isn't it? For you to graduate and enroll in universities for greener pastures. This is, after all, a prep school. We can't support you beyond the novice rank. Only universities could do so, and they're picky, trust me."
"But see, the thing is, our school is the only professional preparatory school in this entire district. This means that every professional you see outside, unless they're immigrants from other districts, came out of the same gates you entered."
"Because of this, our standards and regulations for those who could actually graduate and join the universities are much stricter. We can't afford to slack off; we are the main source of future pros, after all. And because of that, our school also faces high demands from the universities."
"Since all of you have come this far, we're no longer the only ones who are expecting you to step up; the academics and pros of the universities now also have their eyes on you. And whether you graduate from here and manage to enter their gates will be decided by your performance in the next few months."
"Simply put, your fate is no longer solely in our hands. It's also in the hands of the pros who're watching you from behind the scenes."
"Being consistent is good. In fact, if you can impress us, even better. You'd graduate just fine and be one step closer to the real professional ladder. Disappoint us, on the other hand, and you'd find yourself repeating a year here, wasting yours and our time. Again, it's all up to you at this point. We won't hold your hand anymore."
Whether it's the newcomers or the repeaters, everyone felt the pressure now. This was no longer just a matter of performing well or competing with each other; it's for the sake of their future careers as well.
"Now that you know the stakes, I trust that you already know what to do. It's very unlikely that I'd remind you again of this for the rest of the semester; that duty falls on your shoulders. We want to see the makings of a real professional, not some clowns with delusions of grandeur."
"With that out of the way, follow me; I'll take you to the site where you'll train for the rest of this sem."
Mr. Eden stepped away from the podium and began walking in large strides. The two people behind him followed resolutely. They didn't slow down for the students; they're inspecting them to keep up.
The repeaters already knew this, so they reacted faster than the rest. As for others, they too picked up their speeds to catch up, not wanting to be left behind.
This pace wasn't a problem for TJ, Sieg, and Lily, who all had reached the intermediate level in footwork. To others, though, more specifically those who only did the bare minimum training to pass, it was harsh and panic-inducing because they could hardly keep up.
Some cried out and pleaded for others to wait for them. Alas, their requests fell on deaf ears; they're on their own here. That's the rule unless it was said otherwise.
Mr. Eden and his colleagues led through a series of winding paths, leading closer to the core area of the school, one that's usually off-limits to students.
After a couple of minutes, they arrived. The majority of the students managed to keep up because they're mostly repeaters at this point and were already used to this. A few, though, were left behind and certainly delayed the group.
Mr. Eden and his colleagues didn't say anything. Instead, they waited for those who were late.
They arrived one by one, panting and already showing signs of exhaustion. Some felt resentful for being left behind, but none dared to voice out any complaints because they didn't want to be scolded.
It was their fault that they fell behind anyway.