When the sun rose on the morning of the eighth day, the seven-day assessment finally drew to its conclusion.
This wilderness combat assessment determined results and rankings based on real-time points accumulation, eliminating the need to wait for grading like a traditional written examination.
The moment the assessment officially concluded, David, as anticipated, directly secured first place.
Simultaneously, the notification of mission completion resonated in his mind.
By the end of the assessment, factoring in the substantial points gained from defeating the formidable Druddigon and thoroughly plundering its nest, David's score had steadily surpassed the remarkable 10,000-point threshold.
This score exceeded the second-place participant's total by more than three times, making his claim to first place utterly indisputable.
He couldn't help but sigh wistfully, wishing that system points were equally effortless to obtain.
Thanks to this comprehensive assessment, David's accumulated system points had reached 8,000, and if circumstances proceeded favorably, he would soon be able to initiate another prize draw.
However, the results of this assessment proved quite unexpected to outside observers. Despite being secretly targeted by rival institutions, First High achieved surprisingly impressive results.
Not only did David secure first place with an overwhelming advantage, but in the overall assessment rankings, First High accounted for three of the top ten positions, seven of the top twenty, and an impressive eighteen of the top fifty.
Among the top ten participants, besides David himself, the other two representatives were Emma and Luke.
Emma, guided by her fortunate little Togepi—no, it should be called Togetic now after its evolution—had experienced incredibly good luck throughout the entire assessment. All sorts of valuable items appeared in clusters before her, allowing her to easily secure third place.
It was almost as if she had been out for a leisurely picnic rather than a rigorous wilderness assessment.
As for Luke, his second Pokémon, Aron, possessed the natural ability to locate various ores and metallic deposits.
Consequently, he simply emulated a certain fanatical rock collector—he did have a Metang, after all, so the characterization wasn't remotely out of place!
Transforming himself into a dedicated Pokémon miner, he followed his Aron directly into the wilderness, spending the full seven days exploring various caves and mining tunnels. After considerable hard work, he also achieved an excellent sixth-place finish.
As for the remaining students from First High, Willow claimed eleventh place, Miles secured sixteenth, while Emery took twenty-first... In summary, in this mid-term joint examination, at least concerning the practical combat assessment section, First High could confidently be said to have achieved a resounding victory.
In stark contrast, the schools that had secretly coordinated to target First High did not fare nearly as well.
Speaking candidly, David's contribution to this outcome was absolutely indispensable.
Previously, while waiting for unsuspecting prey at the temporary encampment, David, with invaluable assistance from the "native" Pokémon inhabitants, eliminated at least nearly a hundred students from these rival schools.
Adding the additional eliminations that occurred later in the dangerous core area, the combined total number of participants from these conspiring schools in this assessment was only approximately one thousand students.
David alone eliminated over a hundred individuals, directly accounting for nearly one-sixth of their entire collective force.
David's aggressive actions caused their carefully coordinated joint plan to target First High to be stillborn before it could even take meaningful effect.
Instead, those students from rival schools who happened to be in the same general direction as David spent their time terrified, perpetually fearing they might accidentally encounter him.
The most unfortunate institution was undoubtedly Wyvern Academy. Not only did they suffer the greatest number of eliminations due to David's deliberate targeting, but to compound their misfortune, even the expensive reinforcements they had hired at considerable expense were conveniently eliminated by David as well.
This catastrophic result caused their overall assessment performance to plummet directly out of the first tier of schools.
Now, rather than replacing First High as they had ambitiously planned, they themselves had become vulnerable targets for replacement by other ambitious institutions—truly a case of losing both the wife and the army, as the old saying went.
Currently, only the rankings of the practical combat assessment had been officially announced. This wasn't a formal mid-term assessment awards ceremony yet.
Naturally, there were no cumbersome procedural formalities to endure. After a brief explanation session, the already prepared buses directly transported the exhausted students back to their respective schools.
Upon arriving back at school, David climbed into his family's waiting car and, after courteously greeting the butler who had come to retrieve him, he collapsed gratefully onto the luxurious leather sofa.
Although this assessment hadn't been particularly challenging for him personally, it represented his first extended experience living in genuine wilderness conditions, leaving him mentally exhausted despite his physical capabilities.
Because everyone had spent an arduous full seven days in the wilderness for this practical combat assessment, the students were already thoroughly exhausted. Combined with First High's exceptional results, when they had assembled at school earlier, the principal had simply waved his hand magnanimously and announced a well-deserved three-day holiday for everyone to rest and recover properly.
This generous announcement drew enthusiastic cheers from the assembled crowd below.
With an unexpected three-day holiday suddenly available, David chose not to return to his modest independent residence. Instead, the butler drove the vehicle directly back to the Moore family's expansive estate.
Upon returning home, David proceeded straight to the private bathroom in his personal bedroom, casually tossed off his dirt-stained clothes, and directly settled into the bathtub, luxuriously soaking himself in comfort.
"Hoo~"
During these past several days in the wilderness, for practical convenience reasons, he had only managed to shower once at the temporary encampment. After being continuously active in the wilderness environment for such an extended period, he had become thoroughly dirty, and now that he was finally home, he could properly take a relaxing bath.
After all, bathing in the wilderness proved significantly more troublesome than at home. In November's chilly weather, if you didn't heat the water adequately, you could easily catch a cold. Moreover, heating sufficient water consumed considerable firewood resources—in short, the entire process was simply very troublesome and impractical.
After washing himself thoroughly clean, David didn't forget about his little companions. After carefully cleaning each of them one by one, meticulously attending to their grooming needs, he finally allowed himself to collapse onto his comfortable bed.
After all, Pokémon bathing, Pokémon fur care and maintenance—these responsibilities were fundamental aspects of a Trainer's duties, and David naturally wouldn't neglect this essential obligation.
However, with only three Pokémon currently under his care, he could still manage these tasks adequately by himself. When his team expanded to include more Pokémon in the future, he would inevitably need specialized professional breeders to handle their care properly.
This reality explained why powerful Trainers almost universally maintained their own exclusive breeding and care teams.
Unless someone only caught and trained a few select Pokémon throughout their entire lifetime, it was simply impossible for a single Trainer to manage every aspect of care alone.
Lying comfortably on his bed, David released a long, satisfied sigh, appreciating the softness of the mattress against his body. Indeed, the spacious bed at home was infinitely more comfortable—vastly superior to that uncomfortable broken sleeping bag he'd endured in the wilderness.
At this moment, he finally had proper time to examine his system rewards.
"System, settle mission rewards," David murmured quietly in his mind.
[Ding~ Host request detected. Mission rewards are currently being calculated and settled...]
[Ding! Host detected to have eliminated 136 individuals, including 121 Ordinary-tier targets, 14 Veteran-tier targets, and 1 Superior-tier target. System comprehensive rating: A+]
[Based on the settlement results, rewards have been issued. Please check them at your earliest convenience.]
"This still isn't even an S-rank!"
Observing the A+ grade displayed before him, David frowned slightly in disappointment. He hadn't expected that after eliminating such a substantial number of opponents, his rating still fell short of S-rank. It seemed he would need to push himself even harder next time to achieve that coveted top rating!
He gently clicked to claim his rewards, genuinely curious to discover what rewards this A+ rating would provide him.
As David activated the claim function, the scene before his eyes instantly shattered like breaking glass, and the entire screen erupted into brilliant, cascading light...