Chapter 56 Top 5

Icarus, Stewart, and Phillips stood on the stage. The lights dimmed across the gym. A screen appeared behind the three teachers. The examinees quieted down as Phillips took a step forward. He smiled and waved at everyone.

"Hello and welcome back everyone. I hope the field test in the Tall Forest gave you a challenge. Every year, this is one of the few parts of the exam that, you, the students look forward to the most. I'm happy to say that everyone came back safe and sound. If you don't know who I am, my name is James Phillips and I'm the Head Third Year Tank teacher. To my left is Mobius Icarus, the Head Third Year Fighter teacher. To my right is John Stewart, a Fourth Year Glass teacher." Phillips introduced.

"We have been watching you throughout the tall forest for the last three hours." Icarus said. "A lot of you have the capability to defend yourself and fight against low-ranking monsters. I'm glad you are able to do such a thing."

"But simply fighting low-ranking monsters isn't going to put you ahead." Stewart continued. He motioned over at the screen and with that, everyone's watches lit up. "If you look at the information being sent to your watches, that is your ranking in the field test." Lee Seng glanced down.

[RANK 5 | TOTAL POINTS: 125 (98)]

'125 points? How did my points go up?' Lee Seng thought. Stewart cleared his throat and Lee Seng looked back up.

"If you see up here, these five people have made it to the top 5." Stewart spoke. "These five have either destroyed many low-ranking monsters at a fast rate, encountered one of the surprises, and/or found a material gift."

"Each of the top 5 managed to encounter at least one surprise and find at least one material gift." Phillips continued with the explanation. Lee Seng narrowed his eyes and noticed the other top 5 participants.

RANK 1: EVAN T. | POINTS: 199 (187)

RANK 2: OLIVIA O. | POINTS: 195 (182)

RANK 3: RITSUKA Y. | POINTS: 151 (142)

RANK 4: SARAH F. | POINTS: 137 (125)

RANK 5: LEE SENG C. | POINTS: 125 (98)

'The gap in points from rank 3 to rank 2 is 44 points.' Lee Seng observed. 'I guess I did better than what I planned on doing. If I honestly didn't see that Blood Puppet, I would've been very behind.'

"Can Evan, Olivia, Ritsuka, Sarah and Lee Seng come up?" Phillips asked. Lee Seng looked around and noticed others were looking at him. He awkwardly nodded and pushed towards the left side of the stairs.

"Oh, you did make it onto the top 5!" Olivia exclaimed. She tapped Lee Seng who looked behind him as he climbed the stairs.

"Yeah, I guess you're Rank 2?" Lee Seng asked. Olivia nodded and the two made it to the stage.

"Stand over here, please." Stewart motioned. Olivia and Lee Seng stood next to each other. Lee Seng glanced over and noticed two more guys and another girl on the stage.

"Top 5 of the Singles portion of the field test, ladies and gentlemen!" Phillips exclaimed. Everyone began clapping and Lee Seng's eyes moved around the gym room. "When I call your name, please raise your hand. Evan Trainor."

The guy at the end raised his hand. Everyone began clapping and it seemed like the other Top 5 scorers were checking out who was who. Evan had a rich boy look to him. He was neat and proper. He had dirt marks and some of his clothing had ripped, but he still made it look good. He seemed like a model of sorts.

"Alright, Olivia Ok!" Phillips called. Olivia raised her hand and everyone began clapping. Olivia cheerfully waved around. Lee Seng turned to look at her and smile. "Alright, Ritsuka Yamada!"

The guy to Lee Seng's left raised his hand and waved. Everyone began to clap. Ritsuka was a couple of inches taller than Lee Seng. Ritsuka wore a black t-shirt, black unbuttoned button-up over it, black pants and black casual sneakers. He didn't look like he got any injuries from what Lee Seng watched.

'He likes black.' Lee Seng observed.

"Alright, next up is Sarah Foster!" Phillips exclaimed. The girl between Evan and Ritsuka stepped out and waved her hand at everyone. Sarah had pink hair tied into a messy bun. She glowed with energy. She wore a blue plaid skirt, white vest and button-up collar shirt that was slightly dirtied, stockings that were ripped and black shoes.

"And lastly, Lee Seng Chang!" Phillips clapped. Lee Seng put his arm up and waved. He awkwardly smiled at everyone and tried to ignore the stares he was getting. He forced himself to not swing his tail and left it lowered in place. "With that, that's the top 5 participants of the Singles exam portion! Good job everyone."

Everyone clapped and the teachers told Lee Seng and the four students to stay up on stage. Lee Seng awkwardly cleared his throat as the room quieted down. Icarus stepped forward and in front of the five students.

"The next portion of the exam will be the last one," Icarus began. People began to cheer and he began to wave at everyone to quiet down. "I know, I know, you've exhausted yourselves, but let's get through the last portion and you may all go home.

"Now, the last portion of the exam involves pairing up with someone. Before you do," Icarus waved his hand to hush the excitement in the crowd. "Before you do, please listen to my instructions. I don't want to say it more than once. The last portion of the test will be mock battles. You and your partner will have a total of three fights. Everyone will get to fight three times.

"This portion of the exam is to see if you can work well with another person. I know some of you decided to work in groups in the Singles portion and that's fine. This is where your real potential shines and where the real test begins as Academy students. If you can't work well with other people then you will struggle to work with other people in whatever field you decide to go into.

"The Police, Army, and Adventurer's Guild uses teamwork on a daily basis to different extents. If you cannot coordinate well in this test then you will struggle with what the Academy offers during your time here as transfer students. Like your exam teachers have said, we have limited spots, so you must do your best to rise above and beyond. Choose your partner. It doesn't matter who it is, but choose wisely." Icarus finished the explanation with a wave.

The lights came on and students began to scramble around and choose their partners. Evan, Ritsuka, and Sarah started off the stage and into the crowd. Lee Seng looked at Olivia who was looking at him, already.

"You wanna be my partner?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng nodded.

"Sure, I don't think anyone will want to be my partner anyways." Lee Seng awkwardly smiled. Olivia gave him an odd look and shook her head.

"Why's that?" Olivia asked.

"I'm the Creator's Son, so I feel like that alone would scare a lot of people."

"Oh, that." Olivia nodded. She turned to look at Lee Seng and smiled. "You're blunt about these things. I didn't expect that."

"You... didn't expect that?"

"Mmm." Olivia nodded. "I will say I had ideas of what you would be like with all the articles and stuff floating on the Net, but... I got a feeling you're something more than what they say online." She patted him on the arm and smiled. Lee Seng could feel his awkwardness oozing out of him. He didn't know how he should take her comment.

"Ahh," Lee Seng said a bit louder than he intended. "T-thanks. Let's do our best."

"Mmm, let's do our best!" Olivia cheered. "Oh, I guess we should get an idea of what our powers are."

Lee Seng nodded. She wasn't wrong with that. It would help a lot if they knew each other's powers, so they could navigate around it better.

"Well, mine is gravity. I can push, pull and sometimes create gravity bubbles that can slow the space around me." Lee Seng started. "But I'm not really experienced as I just got my powers a couple weeks ago... I guess most people would know that from the rumors online."

"But you managed to rank fifth place, so you must have a strong power." Olivia swept in for a compliment before Lee Seng could sit in his shame. "Does your tail have any reason of being like that though? Is it linked to your power at all?"

"Uhh," Lee Seng pondered. "Sometimes the gravity bubble pops out from my tail, but other than that... I'm not quite sure. I have this white aura that comes off me, sometimes. It just makes me heal faster, become stronger, and quicker. I think that covers me. What about you?"

"I call it dismantle. I can touch any infused Dark Matter and non-living object and I can dismantle it and control each part. I basically take whatever I touch, infuse it with my own Dark Matter and mess with the non-living object and use it in battle. My power is weaker but thankfully I can make up for it in close combat." Olivia explained.

"Hmmm, you can dismantle anything?" Lee Seng repeated. Olivia nodded.

"If I touch it, it has a quicker dismantle time versus seeing it. I'm an Observer because of my power."

"Ah, okay. I'm a Specialist. A Fighter/Glass specialist. This'll work in our favor." Lee Seng smiled.

"It'll work?"

"Mmmhm." Lee Seng smiled. "If we can use the material gifts in battle, I got an infinite way to help you." Lee Seng tapped the bow.