"I would have loved to mention how disappointed I am in most of you, especially the 2nd year teams, but the look on your faces already shows you are aware that you are a disappointment." Major Reeves said with a deadpan expression.
"It would be very wrong of me to call you all disappointments without explaining where you went wrong. So let's do some analysis." Major Reeves said as he began pacing up and down.
"As a team, you should know the strengths and weaknesses of each of your members and try to complement them. So in a situation where a horde of beasts is charging towards your team, you should do everything in your power to prevent them from reaching your mages or supports.
"Even though beasts below the king rank weren't as smart as humans, they still had their instincts to guard their actions. In a situation where they were up against a team of humans, it was very natural for them to go after the mages who were bad at close-quarter combat.
This would cause those at the frontline to turn their attention to the backline, creating an opening that would cause the team to be overrun by beasts.
This was exactly what the beasts had done, and since the teams couldn't distance themselves because of the barriers their plans had worked to a certain degree.
"This could be prevented using formations and most importantly battle arrays." Major Reeves never thought he would be teaching something so obvious to the students.
"From what I have seen, the 1st year students seem to have a little bit of knowledge about these 2 things, causing them to outperform you lot."
The reason why the ash corps were able to defend the city even though they were outnumbered more than 30 to 1 was because of their formations and battle arrays.
Formations and defensive battle arrays made it very hard to pick off any member from the group, while offensive battle arrays amplified their attacks using the least amount of mana.
During the exercise, what confused Major Reeves was that it was more natural for the 1st year teams to make use of formations and battle arrays more than the 2nd year teams, instead of it being the other way.
He felt that the only reason the 1st year reams found it hard was because they hadn't had enough experience to develop a team synergy.
Major Reeves had no idea that this was the product of the school reforming Blake's set. Although there had been some deaths, from a logical standpoint it has been successful so far. This was because, from the test that involved both years, it was clear that Blake's set wasn't too far off from the 2nd year students especially when it came to strength, experience, and knowledge.
After mentioning the bad parts, Major Reeves proceeded to grade them. "For the team that keeps impressing, that would be a 10/10." He pointed to Blake's team. "Not only did they protect the mage by placing her in the middle of the formation, but they controlled the tempo of the battle and made perfect use of both battle arrays and their environment."
"As for the other teams that passed the exercise, 6/10. I would have given you all a 5 because although you were fighting for lives, you weren't doing it effectively." Major Reeves said.
"The reason you got the extra point was that you all made the right decision of trying to destroy the ramp. When the main event starts you will constantly need to destroy them because they would always be repaired by the beasts." He explained as he turned to the 2 teams that had failed the exercise.
"The 6 lessons shouldn't only be seen as lessons, they are more of tests to check if you are ready for what is to come. So failing means you are not ready for the beast tide, and since we don't have the time to repeat exercises, you will be sent back to the school." Major Reeves said, shocking everyone.
They had thought he would have shouted or cursed them for being useless, but no one had expected the 2 teams to be sent back to the school
[Although he might sound unreasonable he made the right decision. The lesson would ensure the safety of the entire team if beasts were to make it to the top. So if they were unable to complete it, they would be nothing but a burden to everyone if they were brought into battle." The system explained.
'I feel sorry for them, the exam is 50% of this semester's result, meaning they would only have 50%v to determine if they would pass or fail.' Brian said through the mind link.
'Not that I care.' Castiel said bluntly.
'I don't feel shit for any of them. The more teams that get sent back, the lesser the chances of something going wrong.' Blake said.
The 2 teams that had failed the exercise were escorted out of the wall by ash corps and Major Reeves turned to the rest of the teams.
"There would be 6 lessons in total, meaning 60 points. By the end of the lessons you are meant to have at least 30 points, if not you will be sent back to the magic school." Major Reeves stopped at the center and said. "See you all at the night shift. Dismissed."
The students were about to leave, but that was when Serhan raised his hand to ask a question.
Reeves was surprised but he gestured for him to continue.
"After listening to your analysis on our performance, I realized that we needed battle arrays. So I wanted to ask if we can go back to the school to get some battle arrays to practice?" Serhan asked.
The top of the wall was as quiet as a graveyard, as the teams held their breath waiting for an answer, while Major Reeves stared at them with an unchanging expression.
This went on for a few second before Reeves finally spoke.. "As long it improves your performance you are free to go, but make sure you appear here for your night shift, if not you should remain there."