Chapter 12: School Exam
The loud bell spread around the school and the school was immediately filled with commotion and tension. The students have been so tense that some people broke under this pressure.
It was the bell signifying the practical aspect of the exam would begin very soon and students should start heading towards the Combat hall.
Wren ignored the glances that were thrown his way and the increased voices as he passed.
"Wren, Wren." A loud voice called.
Wren turned to see his friend, John. He was about 175 cm tall with broad shoulders and a large waist. His height and weight intimidated quite a lot of students as they took another path.
"John." He felt a little pressure emitting from his friend. His eyes widened, "You broke through."
"I broke through this morning." John reported with a little pride as he pumped his chest even further.
"You are amazing." Wren raised his thumb, he was not even near the threshold of the middle stage, but he was happy for his friend.
John squinted, "Don't worry about Chris, I am also in the Late Stage, I would take care of him for you."
Wren laughed, patting John's shoulder. Perhaps his life was not that ordinary, after all, having this friend was enough.
"Don't worry, the pairing is random." Wren lowered his head, what a load of hogwash. The Salvatores are one of the top families in Tempest Town, what was fixing an ordinary exam?
John nodded, he had forgotten that. He suddenly had a thought and nudged Wren playfully. He was shocked when Wren stumbled and apologized,
"Sorry, I couldn't control my strength well. Why didn't you tell me, your best buddy, that you were dating Iris? Is that all our friendship is to you?"
Wren was even more shocked than John. He knew John's brain was made of cotton, but he had no idea it was made up of air.
"I am not dating Iris." He dragged him even faster to the Combat hall.
John looked at him sadly, "You don't need to lie to me. I can handle it. I just don't know why she chose you over me. You better take care of her."
Wren wanted to pick up a microphone and shout, "I don't even know her." He ended up saying it in a slightly louder voice.
He noticed John giving him a weird look, so he turned back. Sure enough, Iris Campbell was standing behind him.
John whistled, "I will be going on."
Iris was a top-quality beauty, she had jet-black shoulder-length hair and pretty pitch-black eyes that made her look innocent and pure. With her flawless skin and moderate chest, it was no wonder guys followed her like bees.
"Campbell…" He called out before shifting to maintain an appropriate distance between boys and girls.
Her eyes flashed with something Wren could not decipher, "I came to apologize. Yesterday, I did not know how to reject so..I thought of your name. Hope it won't cause you any trouble."
Wren just looked at her and left moving to the Combat hall. A known saying entered his mind, 'If sorry could solve all issues, when what is the need for police.'
Iris watched him leave and gritted her teeth. He has always been like this, avoiding her like something was wrong with her. A vicious light flashed in her eyes.
She lowered her eyes before raising them, a sweet smile on her face.
The combat hall was a very important place in every school, especially one that had cultivators as students.
The combat hall had five stages, each of which had a surface area of about fifty meters. It was singularly the largest hall in the school. Students were scattered about the combat hall as they waited for the external examiners and scouts to arrive.
Half an hour later in loud voice echoed around the hall, "The practical exam starts now, students you have five minutes each round."
Under the teacher's control, the students were called out and paired.
Actually, rather than a battle, this was a chance to showcase your skills to the examiner. Your combat ability, your reaction speed were all calculated.
"Number 88, Number 103, third stage"
Wren moved towards the stage and stood.
Sure enough, number 103 was Chris Salvatore who stood opposite him with a mocking sneer on his face.
"Begin." The examiner called out while hovering close to ensure that no accident would occur. He has a reputation to uphold.
"Since I was born, what is mine, nobody has even touched. You are the first."
If Wren was part of the crowd, he would secretly roll his eyes at that sentence, but unfortunately, he was not. He took a deep breath, "You are mistaken. I am not dating Campbell."
Chris snarled, "you dare call her name. Do you think I am a fool?"
Wren just stared at him, then said, "Of course not."
"Stop dragging out time, I will make you regret touching what's mine."
Wren collected himself, raising up both of his hands and rushed towards Chris. He might as take the first blow.
Chris did not just stand there. He might be arrogant, but he was trained by the best fighters the Salvatore family could provide. The two figures clash together and exchanged blows.
Pah!
Wren hurriedly retaliated against the grey coloured fists that rained down on him, the speed and strength was above him and he was soon reduced to a punching bag.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Wren drew back leaving so space between them. As he repeatedly got punched, he felt like he could not hold on for long.
He winced. The ghost fists were underrated, they inflicted an eerie kind of pain.
Chris was so in front of him raining blows with a vengeance, Wren tried his best to defend his vital areas as he parried with him.
The people in the spectator seat could not sit still anymore.
"Ah! Chris is really going all out, he turned Wren into a sandbag."
"Seeing their battle, you will not know Ween is in the middle stage. There is too much difference. He cannot win."
"Win? He should pray he gets up from the bed in two months."
Three minutes have passed, Wren activated the talisman. As it burnt up, his entire body was covered with stone.
"A stone amour! How unfortunate, the person he is facing is Chris." A teacher said. He knew that Chris had learnt the fourth move of Ghost Fists.
Chris laughed loudly, "External help, as expected of someone like you."
He was not bothered at all, rather he just changed his form of attack. Power emanated from his fists, this was his strongest move. His body contracted and like a ball, he shot off.
Wren was shocked to feel the lightness of the amour, it was stirring the spiritual energy within him. Wren smiled, he let his energy merge with the stone amour and leapt up.
They met and exchanged blows.
"Pah! Pah!"
One of the figures was pushed back.
What happened? Everybody was shocked because the one that was pushed back was Chris Salvatore! Chris steadied himself, his eyes were bright with anger.
His arm felt numb and an eerie pain stung his body. Wasn't this his technique? Did Wren know it too?
"Boom!"
The two figures intercepted each other and Chris was blasted back again. The pain in these arms was increasing.
"Was it his talisman?" Talismans were not banned and neither were weapons but he was a fist cultivator.
They were regulated though, so this must be a tier-1 or tier-2 talisman.
Chris rushed forward, determined to tear down the talisman, his attacks got more frenzied.
No matter what, Wren was never harmed. Instead, the recoil hurt Chris the more he made contact.
"Deng!" The timer rung.
"Enough! Return to your seats." There was no loser or winner in the common entrance exam but there was no doubt that the winners often had higher marks.
The entire arena remained silent. What just happened?
Raizel watched the book curiously. Why haven't the book ticked it yet? His eyes were staring at a passage.
'Today is the last day I am allowed to stay in the Tempest Mountain Range. I have been roasting meat all day. Where is the hungry old man that is meant to be my fortuitous encounter? I need to win the Inner Sect Contest. Ah! I can't wait to be stronger and parade around the forest and help a desperate young man when he needs it the most. Wouldn't it be so cool?'
Raizel was already desensitized to this kind of thing. He had helped that desperate young boy this morning, or was the boy not desperate enough?
Out of all activities on the To-do list, this was one of the easiest. He needed to finish this before he moved to harder ones.
How should he know which young man needs his help the most? Should he ask the Internet?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone