Almost three weeks went by, and first-year students were preparing for their Assessment Test. The first part of the test was a practical test where the several limitations of each student were measured, and a rough estimate of their strengths was done.
This physical test would be considered late when your rankings and teams were being formed.
Unless you teamed up with someone, one of your teammates would have low practical scores. Although it was not advantageous for some students, it was better for them to fight F Rank monsters and hunt an E Rank Boss, rather than go to a D Rank Dungeon where there would be normal E Rank monsters and a D Rank Boss.
They were told that starting from D Rank, the boss of the dungeons became extremely powerful, and it was impossible for Hunters to clear the dungeon alone. Even a talented D Rank Hunter would not be able to clear a D Rank dungeon without any artifacts. As no artifacts were allowed, they could not take external help, and this made the challenge quite difficult for normal students.
But there were some students who still wanted to try and team up together. It was obvious that slaying E Rank Beasts would give them more points than F Rank beasts, and they would still accumulate more points than others even if they didn't kill the Boss of the dungeon.
For safety reasons, C Rank Senior Students would accompany the first years inside the dungeon and take them out if they could not go any further.
Inside Class 1, "Sir, is there a reason why monsters are more powerful than the hunters of the same rank?" a boy asked Gilson as he was teaching about some of the beasts to the class.
Including Asher, many students were not present in this class as this was an extra class that was done to help students prepare for the Assessment Test.
"Although it is because of their anatomy and the way monsters use mana, which is quite different from humans, or that's what we have assumed," Gilson replied.
"As you know, monsters can use mana, and till to this day, we are not able to replicate the way they use their abilities, which is far different, or to say more crude than humans."
"The second reason is Mana gem, but it is only found in Rank C and above monsters. But above Rank D, the monsters become far more powerful and vicious, and multiple hunters are needed to clear a single dungeon," Gilson said as he brought multiple holograms of different monsters.
"The third reason is the climate inside the Dungeon. It is found that every dungeon above Rank D, and some Rank D as well, has a very unique climate or environment inside them which is almost unbearable for hunters without proper defense armors and artifacts," Gilson said.
"And the occurrence of Dungeon Defects increases as well, but you don't have to worry about them in Rank D dungeons. Only some Rank C dungeons have shown defects, but the occurrence of such defects increases as the Rank of the Dungeon increases," his words made students a bit anxious.
Defects inside Dungeon were known as the phenomenon when a Blue Gate would change into a Yellow Gate or a Red Gate. Although it only happened with new Blue Gate dungeons, throughout the records, the stats had shown that the Dungeons that had remained stable for at least a week would not show such defects.
The class went on, and the stress around the first-year students was increasing. Rankings were everything inside World Academy, and having low rankings meant low resources. This was the time for them to show their talents and secure a good rank to have a smoother life.
But not all students shared the same idea. Some of the first years that were from a richer background were quite laid back. They only joined World Academy because it was the best place to study. Having a low rank initially would not set them back as they could still use money to buy GP a few times and have a smoother life.
And later in the end term examinations, they would try harder and get a good rank.
But those with such mindsets were people that were never going to make it.
At the Ranker's Dorm,
Alyssa was sitting in the common lobby area still wearing the World Academy uniform.
Ping
She received a text and saw a message from Venessa Baker.
<Do you want to team up with me?>
She was a bit surprised that Venessa wanted to team up with her, but she immediately denied her help.
"Friends," she muttered as she clenched her fists.
It was a sour topic for Alyssa. She had seen the face her mother made in front of her 'friend' and begged for her life. Although betrayed, her mother still prioritized Alyssa's life more than revenge.
Alyssa didn't hate Venessa, but she didn't wanted to be betrayed like her mother. But a part of her accepted Venessa because she was from a common background.
'She is different than those elite families,' a small thought went through her head.
Alyssa heard a step and turned to see Asher, who was wearing a casual outfit. Asher's charm was enough to make girls worship him secretly, but Alyssa wanted to know the reason why Asher had called her downstairs.
Although she found him attractive, except when she remembered her mother and did her paintings, the rest of the world looked dull to her.
Asher walked and sat down in front of her and brought out a golden vial from his spatial ring.
"Do you remember the contract?" Asher asked.
They had signed a contract before coming to the World Academy, and one of the clauses had mentioned that Alyssa would get potions for herself from Asher, but she needed to become part of his faction that he would create inside and outside World Academy.
One of the reasons Alyssa wanted to join Student Council was to earn enough GP to buy healing potions for herself. Her father had never bothered to get any sort of healing material for her, leading her to become a disabled person for the rest of her life.
But Alyssa believed that she could fix her issue if she earned enough to buy a high-level potion or get some sort of medicines that could help her last long enough to carry her motives.
"Yes, I do," Alyssa nodded.
"Good, you will be teaming up with me for the assessment test, and I will give you this potion," Asher said.
"All I want is 2500 GP from you," he added, giving her a deal.
Alyssa agreed almost immediately. She didn't care if the potion worked or not, but she didn't want to lose Asher's support. From what she had observed, he had garnered hate from many Elite families, and by siding with him, she might complete her revenge.
"Drink it in your room and practice your mana circulation," Asher instructed as Alyssa took the small vial.
"And take this," Asher handed her a spatial ring.
"Use the item inside after you drink it," he said as he stood up and left.
"I will go then," Alyssa said as she used her wheelchair to go back to the lift which would take her to Floor 6, where she was currently residing.
She entered her room, which was full of half-finished paintings. Alyssa had started making money for herself by selling her art online under an alias from a year ago. This was her way of escaping from her cruel reality and immersing herself in art.
She went straight into the meditation room, which was similar to the one Asher had in his room.
She took out the small golden vial, although she had never seen such potion on the market. She expected it to be quite expensive. But what she didn't know was that this potion was not something anyone could buy with money at all.
As Alyssa drank the small amount of liquid inside the vial, the intense mana hit her mouth with a burning sensation. The liquid felt like it was on fire, and the heat quickly spread to her throat, causing her to gasp for air.
Livia had taken this elixir as an unawakened person but Alyssa was an awakened being.
Alyssa's skin began to feel like it was melting, and she clutched her throat as the burning sensation intensified. She tried to scream, but no sound came out, and she felt like she was suffocating.
As the darkness began to creep into the corners of her vision, Alyssa felt like she was losing control of her body. Her muscles began to spasm, and she convulsed on the ground, writhing in agony.
The pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, and she could feel every nerve ending in her body on fire. It was as if every part of her was being consumed by the burning sensation, and she couldn't escape it.
She wanted to beg for help, but her throat was too raw to form words. All she could do was endure the pain and hope that it would eventually subside. But in that moment, she didn't know if it ever would.
****************************
A week later, Class 1 was present to have their practical test done and everyone was waiting to see what the rankings would look like.
There was a meeting happening inside the faculty block.
"I don't think we need to push that girl down anymore," a professor said, looking at various test scores.
"With these results, she would barely place in the top 10," another professor spoke out.
"She is teaming up with Asher Greville, though," a third professor said.
"Well, even if they beat the D Rank Boss, we can still give the credit to Asher Greville. He is confirmed for Rank 1 anyway," the second professor laughed.
They had achieved their goals, and it was almost settled that Alyssa would have to leave the Student Council. This would calm down the public image of World Academy, and even other influential families who were not happy with Alyssa studying at World Academy.
