'A monster huh! I want to be more than that. I must surpass everyone. However, before that I must win, I must come to the top in this competition. Doesn't matter who my opponent will be, doesn't matter if it's a Rank 8.' Alex thought with shining eyes.
Shaking his head he decided to focus his attention on the stage, it was now the turn of Lilith, the demon princess to go.
Everybody stopped talked, their eyes were fixed on the walking princess. Even though most of the students here still held some grudges against the demon race due to their past deeds, it was not intense as they had not experienced how vicious the war was, how vicious the demons were. So, most of them were curious about this brave demon princess, as one must be bold to do what she had done, enroll into a human's institution.
Unbothered by all the curious gazes mixed with a little bit of hate she was receiving, Lilith stepped on the stage and touched the assessment stone,
''Lilith E. Astaroth, Age 18, Level 72, Rank 8, Triple Elementalist: Dark, Wind, and Lightning.''
*Uproar
Whispers were sounding from the crowd as they started to discuss who would win between Artemia and Lilith.
''Eh? Another monster.''
''To think she'd be like the Hero.''
''She mustn't be underestimated. Between our princess and the demon princess who do you think will win?''
''Obviously our princess.''
''No, I bet on the demon princess.''
This became a heated topic, meanwhile,
''Another monster, huh! Seriously I misjudged her, I knew she's strong but not this strong. I wonder what type of Lightning she can use?"
Leon said while observing Lilith leave the stage to join Artemia.
''You'll find out soon,'' Alex said while thinking that he must have a discussion with this princess soon.
A pleased smile of approval was revealed on Chris's face as he nodded at Lilith, it would be a lie if he said he was not surprised and as Lilith's teacher, he was happy to have such a talented student, it doesn't matter if she's demon or devil, she's just his student.
Gazes of awe and envy landed on Lilith when the others saw Chris's behavior. Lilith's expression didn't show any signs of smugness or haughtiness. Her expression remains cold as if there was nothing that could affect her.
Leonardo was shocked as he had not expected to see another person capable of using three elements like him. He chuckled, his eyes shined and he looked at Lilith strangely, it was unknown what he was thinking about at the moment, Camilla observed him before shaking her head.
After the remaining students passed, Chris cleared his throat and spoke in a clear voice,
"Now that the first part of the assessment is over, we will move on to the next part - Team Combat Assessment. You will form a team of three-person for this assessment. The team will be randomly selected. You all will be put on a field where there would be three flags. Two teams will compete against each other to capture as many flags as they can within twenty-five minutes. The flags would be spread around the map, and you would also be given their location through the wrist bands we would give you. Don't worry, from the wristband given to you, you'll know when the other team captured one of the flags, to put it simply it would transmit the movement of the flags directly to your mind and even the cultivation level of the person holding the flag so that you would know whether to deal with that person alone or as a team. Your team member's location would also be made known to you. But know that you can't pass the flags you had captured to your teammates. After clearing your field you can choose to move to another field, I say choose but each team must at least complete two fields."
''What if my team win in the 1st field and lost in the second?" A student questioned.
''Well, you can go try your luck on the next field. Only once, whether you lose or not, you can't continue. For your information, clearing a field gives you 5 pts, is to say if you clear two fields you'll gain 10 pts. What use these points have you may wonder but with them, you can buy a pass to use one of the special dungeons, 5 pts for the pass of 4 hours, 10 pts= 10 hours, 20 pts= 24 hours.'' Chris explained.
*Uproar
Alex was confused as he did not know why the others were behaving so unusually after hearing about the special dungeons.
''What's a special dungeon?" He questioned Leon, the latter was laughing, he stopped and explained.
''As a newcomer, you don't know but the Imperial Magic Academy has special dungeons, nobody knows how they acquired those dungeons, these special dungeons have only a few floors, however, the experience you gain by killing their monsters is huge plus killed monsters span faster inside these special dungeons. For example, goblin gives you 150 XP when first killed right?"
To Leon's question Alex nodded, smiling Leon continued, ''In this special dungeon, a goblin killed will give you 200 XP. Just imagine.''
Finally, Alex was able to understand why the others students were agitated at the mention of points and special dungeons. Starting from a higher Rank, it became harder to level up as you'll need to kill stronger monsters to gain a sufficient amount of XP to level up. If you can use this special dungeon where the amount of XP gained was huge, you may be able to level, it doesn't matter if it's 4 hours, one can do a lot in 4 hours.
''I must acquire at least 20 pts.'' Alex decided.
''Hahaha, I like your current look. Look forward to how many points you'll get.'' Leon said while slapping Alex on the shoulder.
By now, Alex was used to such gestures, he was not surprised anymore and doesn't hurt as it used to. He smiled not saying anything as no word was needed.
Chris, their teacher continued after he saw that they became calm again, ''As I said clearing a field gives you 5 pts, 5 pts to your team, however, if among you three there's someone who did nothing and at the end expected to receive the same points as the others then this person is gravely mistaken as this will not happen, his/her points will be different from others. So, do work with your teammates. Do note that we will be watching everything that happens, we would judge every action you make through a live screen where we can see what you all are doing. Also, if you win in the first field and gained 5 pts and lose in the next field you'll lose the 5 pts previously gained.''
Nobody said anything when they heard as they expected such a rule to exist.
''Teacher, I understand the rules, however, what if we lose because the other group had powerful team members ?" A student questioned while looking in the direction of the second princess and Lilith.
Some of the students present nodded their heads as they also wanted to know how the teachers planned to deal with situations like this.
Chris chuckled before saying, ''If you lose, then you lose. Life is unfair. From your loss you can gain insight, in the future you won't be scared facing stronger opponents. Think of it as a way to train yourself and pray to not encounter a team you can't handle. And you're forgetting an essential point, a team might have a very powerful team member, but the rest of their team members might be relatively weak, or sometimes it might be a balanced team. You can't be sure unless you are in the field and compete as level doesn't mean everything, Level 60 can win against Level 65, don't be afraid because the other party level is a bit higher than yours, try, if the opponent is stronger than you then use your wits.''
Alex and others nodded at Chris's words.
Clapping his hands, Chris took out some blue wristbands which floated in the air, he was using the Wind element to make them float.
Looking at his students, he said, ''These are the wristbands you will put on your wrists and should not be removed for any reason till the assessment is over. And remember, purposefully injuring others without any reason will result in instant disqualification, and obviously, no killings or serious injuries would be tolerated. If you want to eliminate someone, you can simply remove, damage, or destroy their wristband, and they would be instantly teleported out of the field."
Leonardo and Damien both simultaneously clicked their tongues as they were planning to gravely injure Alex if they were to face him in this Team Battle Assessment.
'To bad, I'll teach them a lesson in the individual battle assessment.' Alex thought while putting the wristband on his wrist as another teacher distributed them around. Just as he put it around him, he felt a faint connection with it. He understood that it was to transmit his location and level.
''Ah! It seems we are in the same team.'' Someone said gloomily.
''Roman, huh?!" Alex said after turning around, Roman was one of his teammates, how ironic.
His last teammate was a frail-looking boy named Cyril Fels.
''I- I'll be in your care.'' He said timidly while doing his best to look at Alex and Roman in the eyes. Roman clicked his tongue in annoyance while Alex,
''Well, I guess we would be sticking together for a while." He faintly smiled.
On the three wristbands was inscribed the number 3.