A Failure's hopeful Journey

The door opened and a well proportionate figure clad in a fennel skirt and a white satin blouse entered the classroom; she was wearing flat sole gypsy sandals. Her blonde hair was tied neatly in a ponytail which was swaying with every step she took. She had a round shape, slender eyebrows curving downwards forming a perfect arc, big sparkly eyes, tender lips, the cherry on the top was the cute small nose. She was a beauty without a doubt.

This woman was Maddison Midnight, the teacher responsible for class A, and she taught battle formations. She achieved all this with her own hard work and belonged to a rather normal family. Her family was not from Silica City, but she came here to work and earn better so she could provide her family with a better standard of living. She looked perfect, her mind was sharp, her heart was pure yet there was only one flaw which acted as a repellent in her love life, her clumsiness. She could kill beasts without batting an eye as she was in core formation-level, but she would trip on pebbles.

She was about to step on the podium but she slipped and fell down. All the students shook their heads. A girl quickly got up and said, "Teacher Midnight, why do you never ask us students to help you with this? See, the knee is scrapped again." she helped the lady get to her chair and cast a spiritual energy spell and healed the scrap wound on her knee. 

"Thank you, Claire." the injured teacher thanked her student Claire after she was done casting the spell. Claire only shook her head, showing that it was unnecessary, and left to take her seat. Midnight sorted her clothes and stood up. She gazed across the classroom and her eyes stopped at You Xi Wang. She spoke, "You Xi Wang, I am very sorry about what happened to your parents. You have my condolences and if you need any help, please tell me."

You Xi Wang stood up and said, "Thank you for the concern." after that, he sat back down in his chair. 

Teacher Midnight continued after nodding her head, "You all are aware of the assessment coming over in a couple of days. So just like you have done in the past assessments, take a strength test and then go register your team. This time, however, there will be a competition with other city academies in the solo category."

Her words started a sequence of whispers and some even looked for the details in other academies. Midnight snapped her fingers and the whole class descended into silence. Allan raised his hand to ask a question. The teacher nodded, and the student asked, "Teacher, may I ask which teams will come here? Also, is this Solo category free for all or will there be an internal selection?"

"Good Question, Allan, and to answer this. You will all be shortlisted to represent the academy based on your score in the team assessment." Midnight replied to Allan with praise. Just then, another hand raised, this guy was called Alester Brown. 

He asked, "Ma'am, will there be rewards?"

Midnight nodded and said, "There will be rewards, but it will depend on your performance. As for what they are? I am not aware."

The class started making speculations regarding rewards. Midnight again snapped her fingers, and they all fell silent. Despite being clumsy, Maddison Midnight had her own charm and dominance in the class which was undisputable.

She asked all the students to go to the strength test field to get their skills noted and then get registered. Fenny was the last in the queue to leave as she held onto one hand of midnight to escort her to the strength testing field. 

The strength testing field was actually a big room with some equipment inside. This room was as big as two basketball courts lined up together. Overall rank was decided after average marks in three different categories. Despite being in the same realm, strength was a variable factor. Element one was good at influencing this a lot. For example, earth element was stronger than wind, while the wind was faster than earth. 

The three categories were;

Brute strength. That was calculated using the force pole. The pole comprised high integrity carbon fiber and titanium webbing wrapped together to form the shell containing some micro-sensors and a lithical iron pillar. When the examinee punched or kicked the pole, the sensors will calculate the power exerted and then display the result.

Speed. Along the walls of the room was an area designated for the examinees to run their best. This area was a two-meter wide strip, similar to the track lanes in stadiums on earth. The turf of this lane comprised Elast-chrome, a rubbery substance produced by a plant called Chrombber. This plant had a shiny surface like a chrome painted grill and secretes juices when cut, which is called rubber. This substance was said to be fireproof, waterproof, and once it cools down after being heated, it is uncuttable too. So, no issues regarding durability. Just like the pole, this lane also had sensors fitted inside for evaluation.

Weapon prowess. This was a test where the examinee is asked to used weapons and display some of their skills on a dummy, the destruction of their skills was counted as the criteria of marking. The examinee should be capable of at least using two weapons.

These tests were called Power Pole, Speed Lane, and Weapons Master.

Maddison Midnight was about to start the test for her class when another class entered the room, turning the whole atmosphere rowdy with their indiscipline behavior. This was Class D of the first year. Even though the students looked like delinquents, they also had some powerhouses amongst them. 

Midnight frowned because she hated indiscipline the most. Just when she was about to make a move a woman came inside. She wore bright red jeans and a black t-shirt paired with black calf-high boots. This woman was known as Daina Carter. She was also an undisciplined person, but at least she knew how to act when she was inside the school. She had her hair falling loosely on her shoulders, they were dyed red in some spots, her tender lips were covered with dark ash black lip color, a sharp nose adorned with a nose ring, smokey eye makeup around her gray colored eyes, her eyebrows were raised sharply before curving downwards. She looked like a feline ready to hunt.

She whistled and her class turned quiet. Despite being opposite personalities she and Maddison were very good friends. Can you believe it? But it was the truth. It was said that once Midnight saved Daina on a mission in college and to return the favor, Daina rushed inside a dark dweller squad who kidnapped Midnight once. After that, they became sworn sisters and took up the teacher's job together.

Daina came forward and greeted Maddison with a hug. She said, "Yo, clumsy woman, you also here for the test and registration?" she had a soft voice but her vocabulary was boorish. 

Midnight only shook her head and said, "Yes."

Daina smiled and said, "How about a friendly game between our classes."

Midnight never better and Daina was aware of it so she did not state any stakes. Midnight nodded, she turned to Fenny who stood on her side.

"Fenny, dear, tell everyone about the arrangement okay?"

"Yes, miss. I will be back" Fenny sounded very polite and replied to her before she told her classmates about this. She like Maddison as a person and thus was very docile in front of her. 

The competition started, the classes formed two queues and got ready to take all three tests one by one. The order was simple: Class A examinee will take Power Pole, Speed Lane, and Weapons Master first, then Class D examinee, then Class A examinee will repeat and Class D examinee will follow. This cycle will follow until everyone was done taking the test.

Just when everyone was about to start a guy from Class D moved towards Ushijima Yuki who was talking to another girl from her class.

This guy shoved the other girl away and before anyone could say anything he spoke, "Yo baby, want to hang out with me after this test?"

The whole of Class A did nothing and just looked up to You Xi Wang, who was sitting in the back of the queue. He watched the whole scene with a calm face. His calm face gave Allan and Neo a bad feeling. Maddison spoke to her friend, "Daina, please calling him back before things mess up."

Daina chuckled and said, "I would treat you if anyone can tame this guy for me."

Fenny came by and stood beside Yuki, who had a cold and apathetic face. Fenny spoke, "Oye, ball sack with a mohawk. Do you want to take out Yuki? If yes, then you have to do something first."

The guy had an enraged expression, but when he heard the second half, he smirked and said, "Say it, this daddy can do anything. But you must stay true to your word."

Fenny smiled and said, "You see that guy in the back of the queue?" the boy nodded as Fenny continued, "Beat his test results and then you can take this girl away."

The boy looked up and saw You Xi Wang gazing at him with a calm gaze. He was excited and said, "Just you wait. I will beat him"

You Xi Wang smiled and Fenny said, "We are on."

The bet was set.