At the Pagna Academy, the same assessment was still ongoing for the students, and now there was no doubt in their minds as every single one of them was aware of what the real assessment was.
It had come as quite a shock to several of the Red Headband students, and a change was slowly starting to occur. Those that had teamed up before were slowly starting to break away and split apart, feeling as if they could trust no one, and this was also true for the main disciples as well.
No longer did the main disciples stay together bunched up in a group toward the back; instead, they were still observing the ongoings, away from each other.
Mada was leaning up against the wall, away from the others, and he still couldn't get out of his head what he had seen that day.
'That Blue Headband student, he managed to defeat Ossep,' Mada thought. 'A student that was put in the lowest group possible was able to outmatch us main disciples. It had only been one week down here, right? Maybe a few more days at most, yet a student was able to improve that much?'
Mada was wondering what had just gone down in the other assessment areas for that to happen. From what he had seen so far in the current space, their strength wasn't improving but deteriorating, so it made him think, wonder if he could improve like that.
'I have to find a way to get stronger. It's no longer just for the sake of this assessment but for my life as well. If that's how strong a Blue Headband first-year student can get, then those from the second years might become unstoppable monsters.'
It wasn't just Mada that thought this, but many of the Red Headbands and main disciples were trying to figure out if there was some type of secret to growing stronger, or if it only happened when things got desperate.
Although there were some holding out, Tinson, Violet, and a student named Joe had stuck together for a while now. Originally, Tinson had attacked and accused Raze, hoping to beat him and join one of the other groups, but the situation had turned.
Now, for Tinson, he was relying on Raze. 'He will give us food, right?' Tinson thought. 'If he doesn't, then what will happen to me, what will happen to my friends?'
No one had seen Raze since the teachers had descended from above, but no one dared to ask. They all assumed that he was in the dark space somewhere alone. If they were to enter it or try to disturb the others, they would lose their lives.
Not a single person felt like they could best him anymore, and instead, they were thinking about themselves. As their hunger was starting to grow, their resentment was growing toward the teachers, the academy, and their clans that had placed them here.
In one of the seclusion rooms, heavy deep grunts were heard, and a loud smack that would echo through the hall filled the area. It was consistent, with the smack coming off every once in a while.
"Again!" Dame stated.
The wooden sword was chucked in the air, and immediately grabbing onto the handle of the sword was Liam. He then gathered his Qi as he swung it down, smashing it right against the back of Simyon.
He gritted his teeth, wanting to scream in pain, but instead, a deep grunt was heard. Not being able to take it anymore, Simyon fell to his knees, and blood spilled from his mouth.
"Simyon!" Safa said, as she rushed to his side and started to place both her hands on his back. A faint glow of white light shined, and he could feel his sore body recovering.
"Once you healed up, we need to go through this again," Dame ordered.
"Again," Liam said, sitting on the floor, his eyelids heavy. He was glad that Simyon had fallen because it was the only time he could get some rest as well.
"Do you not remember what happened? One of the main disciples was defeated," Dame explained. "That means if you want to survive, you need to get even stronger than the main disciples. So you have to act like every moment your life is on the line."
"You are quite lucky, Simyon, that you have the perfect situation that will allow you to refine your body to the next strength. With Safa's powers, she can heal your body, allowing it to recover quicker, and each time you recover, it will come back stronger."
"At the same time, Liam, you can focus on increasing your strength. As Simyon's body gets stronger, you need to focus on refining your Qi so you can continue to hurt or punish him in some way. The both of you need to get as strong as you can."
While the two would rest, Dame would also then do some personal training with Safa one on one. They tended to go into the dark space to do that, where there was more room.
Just as Dame promised, he was doing his best to get the three of them up to scratch, up to a strength where they could be useful for Raze and somewhat useful in taking down the main Clans.
'I don't expect them to individually be able to take on a clan master. That is something that not even I would be able to do, even with the item that Raze has given me. However, if they combine all their strength, they should at least be able to put up a good fight.'
Dame started to look at his own hands as he saw Simyon standing up from the ground, ready to go again. One thing Simyon never did was complain about the training, and he showed strong will in all of this.
'Me as well, I've been stuck at the 6th stage for a while now. If I want to get in all of this, I need to break through to the middle stage as well. Raze, we will all be strong enough to help you when you get back.'
