"Some of the greatest battles you will ever have, are those fought within the silent chambers of your own soul."
*****
"Okay, class. I have some news for you," Mr. Wang, our class teacher, announced.
It was the day after Feng Mian, Qing Yue, Yu An Xue, Yu An Yan, and I had ate at Grange Grill, and the sisters had their fateful reunion. Class 2-D, Shenzhen Magic High School. My name is Xuan Kai, and I am in my 2nd year at this school, Class D - meaning we ranked last out of the 4 classes of each year.
Yu An Yan had decided to remain at this school, unsurprisingly. She now sat at her own seat, and I got to have my seat back to myself, fortunately.
Since a class consisted of 25 students, we were organized into a seating arrangement of 5 x 5 (five rows, each row having five seats in it). Our class just happened to be short 3 people before Qing Yue transferred in, so it goes without saying that Feng Mian and Yu An Yan who transferred in later were automatically placed into Class D.
And therefore, the entire back row was now filled with people who knew my secret - the 4 girls, and myself. Though since Feng Mian had her seat in between Qing Yue and I's, there was technically still a vacant spot for a desk to be placed. From right to left (my perspective), the order was as follows:
Yu An Xue, Yu An Yan, Qing Yue, Feng Mian, and I.
Before, people would only look back here to humiliate me, but now most of the boys' eyes were constantly glued to the back of the class, in admiration of the beauties. Even the other girls were curious.
In any case - Mr. Wang sure got everyone's attention with that announcement. My fellow students of Class 2-D all settled down to listen to what our teacher had to say.
Seeing everyone focused on him, Mr. Wang continued. "As you know, the Advancement Exams are coming up."
The students all nodded, while Yu An Yan and I raised an eyebrow. Yu An Yan since she was still new, and me because I never really cared about such things. Mr. Wang, as if having seen through the two of us, explained what he meant.
"It is the end of your 2nd year at Shenzhen Magic High School. Thus, by regulations, you are required to take an examination in December - that is, one week from now - in order to advance to the next level of mages."
Ah...the Advancement Exams. I see. Every two years at any high school, students were required to take a test to see if you were able to advance to the next level. Currently, all of us were Novice Mages, meaning we could only cast Level One spells (without the use of Conjoined Release, of course). Once we have proven we could use Level Two spells with proficiency through this exam, we would be awarded the title of Intermediate Mage, thus advancing to the next level.
This came with its benefits, of course. For one, you were respected more in society - the more powerful you were, the higher your rank was, after all. You also gained access to more advanced lessons, better equipment provided by the school, and basically unlocked everything you need to advance to the next level. Rank skipping wasn't allowed, so in order to study the necessary information to become an Advanced Mage, you had to first become an Intermediate one. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that if you wanted to continue improving on the path of magic, you had to take and pass this Advancement Exam.
The student sitting directly in front of me raised her hand. What was her name again? Ah...forget it.
Mr. Wang saw this, and pointed at her, giving her permission to speak. "What is it, Ai Yao?"
Ai Yao...eh, probably not going to remember it anyway.
The girl then asked her question after confirming she had been given permission. "Yes! What will be the exact date of the examination, Mr. Wang?"
Mr. Wang adjusted his glasses slightly and replied in a calm tone. "I will get to that eventually, just sit tight."
Ai Yao or whatever her name is nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.
"Now then, where was I..." Mr. Wang muttered, going through some papers laid out on the table. "...Ah, right! I would like to inform you that this year's Advancement Exams are not like any of the past ones."
The students were all even more curious now, and kept quiet in order to listen clearly. Seeing this, Mr. Wang was pleased, and continued.
"This year's Advancement Exams will be battle-focused."
"Battle focused?" someone echoed.
"What does that mean?" another asked.
Mr. Wang motioned for everyone to calm down, and after a short silence he carried on.
"Allow me to explain. This year, every Year Two class will be divided into teams of five, and engage in a single elimination battle tournament within the class itself. After that, the winning team of each class will compete against each other, and the 5 members of the champion team that comes out on top in that 4-way tournament will be automatically promoted to an Intermediate Mage. Each member will also receive a prize that will help them greatly in their cultivation, and in addition - the class that the team belongs to will automatically become the new Class A, pushing all the other classes down a rank."
A bunch of 'oohs' and 'woahs' filled the classroom at the rewards for winning. Not only do the team members get amazing prizes, the entire class gets to benefit from it as well.
"What about the others? How will they be assessed for passing?" a boy in the front row asked. Once again, I didn't know his name. No matter.
"Those apart from the winning team will be evaluated based on their performance in the fights," Mr. Wang answered. "We will be inviting several powerhouses on the day of the examination, and they will be the ones to act as our judges."
Powerhouses? Hm...there were countless big-shots in Shenzhen. It was a nice city, and close to the Magic Capital Shanghai as well. The Coastal Metropolis is a huge attraction for tourists, making it a popular hotspot for business owners as well. Just how many judges were there going to be...? Of course, it depended on just how much of a 'powerhouse' they were, but...
Zhang Zhe Rui, one of Li Yi Fei's two lackeys, spoke up. "Mr. Wang, why are the exams like so this year? In previous years, the tests were simple - show that you can cast 5 Level Two Spells over a course of 2 hours, and you would pass."
"Hm...you heard that from your elder brother, yes?" Mr. Wang asked.
Zhang Zhe Rui had an older brother...? Ah...I remember now. Ranked 6th on the Magus Rankings of our school, 4th year - Zhang Yu.
"Yes. That is also precisely why I am curious as to why the system has been changed."
"Well...to be honest, I do not know either," Mr. Wang replied, sighing slightly. "The principal decided on this in a staff meeting, and the other teachers didn't do much to veto the idea, since they each want to use this chance to advance their own class rank..."
That made sense. If a class got promoted in rank (for example, from D to C), then the teacher that taught this class would receive a raise in pay and resources accordingly. This system motivated the teachers to put their all into teaching the students, both to promote their own class and prevent your class from being overtaken (since no class could share one rank - if Class D became Class C, then Class C would drop to Class D).
Zhang Zhe Rui, realizing he wasn't going to get any useful information here, nodded and retreated.
Mr. Wang then scanned the classroom for a while, and after seeing there weren't any more questions, he concluded, "Very well. Since there are no more further inquiries, you may begin forming your teams."
Then, as a friendly reminder, he added, "Ah, remember - teams of 5, no more, no less. You must finish organizing and reporting your team roster to me by the end of today."
And finally, after seeing all of us acknowledging his announcement, he sighed and ended the class.
"That's all. Class - dismissed!"
Heya guys! Cyclxne here.
So - here we are! After over 50 chapters, we have arrived at the beginning of Volume 4: The Advancement Exams.
This volume is pretty straight forward - exactly what the title entails. But this year's exams are completely different from the previous ones: a single-elimination teamfight tournament.
What caused this change, and what hardships will Xuan Kai and crew encounter? Find out later on in this volume.
That's all from me!
And as always, I'll see you guys in the next chapter~
- Cyclxne <3
Check out my new novel for WSA 2022 & support with power stones!
Mr. Wang dismissed our class, and it was lunchtime already. I went to the cafeteria as usual, and the four girls followed.
"Hey, you know you don't have to eat in the cafeteria with me, right?" I said as I walked down the (mostly) empty hallway leading to my destination.
"It's okay, we don't mind," Feng Mian replied.
"But still...this is going to attract a lot of unnecessary attention for me..." I muttered inaudibly.
Qing Yue heard it, however, and pulled on my right ear.
"Ow! Q-Qing Yue!" I cried, begging her to let go.
"Heheh...you are secretly happy that we are together with you, aren't you, Big Brother Xuan Kai?" she asked, having completely seen through my farce.
Okay...fine. I admit that I was a little happy deep down they were coming with me, but hey - who wouldn't be? These four were all goddess-level beauties, each having their own aura and attractive characteristics. I'm a boy, can you blame me for being slightly excited?
"U-Uh...f-fine, I am," I reluctantly responded, in order to make Qing Yue let go of my ear, which was really starting to hurt.
With a decisive "hmph", she let go and I sighed in relief.
*****
- Inside the Cafeteria -
All five of us had just gotten our foods, and after searching for a good place to eat for a while, I settled on a table in the top left corner of the cafeteria.
Once we sat down, Yu An Xue began the conversation. "Xuan Kai, what is with you and corners...?"
Her sister, Yu An Yan, also joined in. "Right? It's like he can't sit anywhere else."
However, just as I opened my mouth to respond, Qing Yue interrupted. "That's because he feels more secure in corners."
Feng Mian raised an eyebrow as she put a chunk of meat into her mouth. "Secure?
"Yep!" Qing Yue responded excitedly. "You see, when he's sitting in a corner, he doesn't have to worry about someone coming up behind him."
That caused the three other girls to all laugh. "That sounds like him alright," Yu An Yan said, covering her cute laugh with her hand in a ladylike manner.
"Always the careful one..." Feng Mian murmured, sighing exasperatedly.
Even Yu An Xue was trying her best to hide a smile. I figured she would relate to me since she didn't have much interaction with others either, but...
I just liked corners. I also liked having my hood up, since it gave me a sense of protection. Was this really that weird?
But my thoughts were quickly interrupted by a bunch of boys in our class, now all of a sudden crowded around our table. The girls seemed to notice this as well, and blinked in surprise.
"Uh...do you guys need something from us?" Feng Mian prompted.
Then, all of the boys bowed down towards us suddenly, which caught all of us off guard.
"E-Eh?" Feng Mian was taken aback.
"Please join my team for the Advancement Exams, Goddess Feng Mian!" the boy in front said.
"G-Goddess?!" Feng Mian echoed, even more shocked than before.
"No, join mine!" another male voice shouted.
"Mine! I promise to bring you victory!"
...Ah. I see what this was. The boys all saw the advancement exams this year as an opportunity to impress the girls, and so obviously every one of them would want one of the top beauties of Shenzhen join their team. Feng Mian wasn't the only one receiving requests either, many of the boys were trying their luck with every single one of the girls - Qing Yue, Feng Mian, Yu An Xue, and even the newly transferred Yu An Yan.
Seeing as how there was nothing to do with me here and it was getting really loud (which I hated when I was eating), I attempted to discretely leave the scene, when suddenly-
"Okay, that's enough!" Qing Yue jumped atop the table, her bright voice yelled above all the boys' commotion. "Stop, and listen to me."
The boys obediently turned silent to glance up at the angelic white-haired beauty. Was this the power of love and admiration? Or perhaps - worship would be a better word, at this point. In fact, I also stopped to see how she was going to deal with this.
Qing Yue cleared her throat, and began her declaration.
"The truth is, the four of us have already formed a team!"
"You mean all four of you are together in one team?" Li Yi Fei asked. He was among the group of boys to get the beauties to join their team as well.
"That is correct!" Qing Yue answered.
"Then...there's one spot remaining! I see! You will only accept one boy into your team!" a boy in the crowd shouted, which caused all the other boys to erupt in excitement once more.
"Woah!! One of us will be able to be in a team with all four of these beauties?! It's a damn harem!"
"Kekeke....I am the strongest boy in this class by magic power, and also the smartest by intelligence," Li Yi Fei boasted, which caused all the other boys to look at him in disdain. But he paid them no mind and continued. "My goddesses, I will surely lead us to victory. Now then - let us begin discussing our strate-"
"Hey! Why are you talking like we are already in the same team?!" Feng Mian interrupted.
"Huh? But there's no other boy better than me here," Li Yi Fei replied, narrowing his eyes.
"There sure is," Yu An Yan refuted.
The entire crowd went dizzy with confusion, and all asked in sync, "Who?"
The four girls all smiled devilishly, and pointed their fingers at me, who was already half-way successful in my escape from the scene.
All of a sudden, 14 pairs of eyes turned to stare at me with killing intent, and I couldn't do anything except mutter under my breath.
"Ah, shit."
*****
- Later That Day -
I managed to escape from the other boys by a hair's breadth, dashing through the hallways and staircases, and at last stalled until the afternoon lessons. I currently sat in the classroom of Class 2-D, while waiting for Mr. Wang to come in. The boys still eyed me with venom from time to time, but they wouldn't do anything since our teacher could enter the room at any time now. But even then, there was another problem...
"Hey...what did you mean by that?" I asked, reaching over Feng Mian to lightly tap Qing Yue on the head.
"Whatever do you mean, Big Brother Xuan Kai?" Qing Yue responded innocently, getting out of her chair and walking around to come up behind me and threw her arms around my neck gently.
"I mean, what you said earlier in the cafeteria," I clarified. "Are you four sure you want to form a team with me...?"
"Of course." It was Feng Mian that responded instead. "There are no other boys we can trust in this class."
"Couldn't you just choose a girl to be your final member then...?" I muttered.
"What's done is done," Yu An Yan joined in the conversation. She also got out of her seat and came closer to me. Then, to my surprise, she leaned in to my ear and whispered softly, which caused my heart to begin pounding rapidly against my chest. "These three girls say they're only forming a team with you because there are no other boys they can trust in this class...but the truth is, they just want to be together with you. Especially my sister. Teehee~!"
I blushed slightly and looked away. There was no way that was true...was it?
Yu An Xue, seeing my reaction, stood up immediately, and narrowed her eyes at her sister. "H-Hold on! What did you tell Xuan Kai, sis?!"
"Nothing~" Yu An Yan replied, then turned her head slightly to give me a wink before returning to her own seat.
Meanwhile, Feng Mian was staring down at her lap, face flustered.
"Uh...Feng Mian, y-you alright?"
"W-What she s-said just now, t-that isn't true, okay?!" she replied, pointing at Yu An Yan, now back in her own seat calmly reading a book while her sister, blushing similarly to how Feng Mian was, was yelling at her about something.
"You...heard that?" I asked.
"I-I did! So what?!"
"I heard it too, Big Brother Xuan Kai," Qing Yue added, arms still around my neck gently. "And everything she said was true. But she left one part out - she actually wants to be together with you too, just doesn't want to admit it."
Uh...so many bombs are getting dropped at once that I didn't know how to handle this situation. I decided to just accept reality and figure out my next steps.
To be honest, I didn't want to compete in this exam at all. But the principal, Song Qian Long, must've had some reason to suddenly change the system this year - that was the type of man he was, always calculating and planning ahead. We had a lot alike in that sense.
Thus, I decided I would have to pay him a visit, and figure out his true intentions.
...But for now, I would work just work on managing my relationships with the girls properly, and not getting chased by an angry mob again.
Heya guys! Cyclxne here.
This chapter was mainly about how Xuan Kai's team was formed. Pretty casual, yes, but this team is certainly going to have good synergy, and continue developing the relationships between Xuan Kai and his harem.
But this volume isn't just going to be all cute and romantic. What was the reason behind Song Qian Long suddenly changing this system? And what kind of rivals will Xuan Kai meet during the tournament?
This volume is an important step in Xuan Kai's cultivation journey, and he will grow in strength and learn a lot through this exam.
By the way, this may sound like news but in fact, Volumes 1-5 will all be a part of one giant arc called the 'Shenzhen Arc'. Starting Volume 6, Xuan Kai and crew will be in a new place.
Volume 5...should I reveal the title right now? Hm...nah, that would be too early of a spoiler, since the title says a lot about what the volume is going to be about.
Anyway! That's all from me for now!
And as always, I'll see you guys in the next chapter~
- Cyclxne <3
Check out my new novel for WSA 2022 & support with power stones!
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