A few hours after I changed directions, I encountered a feline beast. From it's aura, it was a two stared rank three, which means I'll have to be extremely careful around it.
And judging from the way it was sizing me up like I murdered it's kin, I'm gonna have a hell of a battle.
As if determining I wasn't a threat to it, It charged at me at a speed I almost couldn't react to. I barely managed to roll to my left to avoid it's paw which was about to smack my chest.
I swiftly delivered a strike to it's side with my newly acquired dagger the moment I regained my bearings, but it didn't do much only managing to graze it a little.
"Oh shit" I couldn't help but mutter. The dagger didn't do shit apart from parting some of the beast's hair.
We got engaged in attacking and dodging, well I was mostly doing the dodging cause I knew if it hit me once, it'll hurt like hell and I was right, a slight calculation lead me to dodge slower and it got me square on my right side.
"BAM" I shot back and hit a tree. I blacked out for a moment but the thought that the beast was still around bought me back instantly. Intense pain was racking through my side but I pushed through and managed to dodge it's next attack. 'my ribs' I thought as I felt my bones puncturing into my flesh.
'Think think think' I thought to myself. 'It's hide was incredibly tough or maybe it's the dagger that's not good enough. That means I just have to attack where the dagger can penetrate.
'Repulse' raising my arm at the beast. It shot back a couple of meters back. 'There goes my essence, I only have enough for one more attack' I thought. But it was enough, now that there were a few meters between us, it charged at me again after it got rid of the disorientation from my repulse, but this time I had different plans.
The beast which was charging with all it's might suddenly lost it's balance. It was because I had suddenly increased the gravity around us to staggering levels.
The feline went from moving like a raging bull to losing it's balance completely, but.....the bastard was resisting, it was slowly regaining balance and struggled to stand. But I didn't wait any longer, I only had so much essence left, so I dashed to it's side and plunged my dagger in it's eye before it could even react. It only let out a little whimper before dying.
That was the toughest fight I've ever been in, not that I've fought anything until today, but still.
I decided to climb up a tree to rest a little because I was out of essence and my right side hurt like there's no tomorrow. I definitely broke a few ribs....i think. But before I could even settle down another announcement came from my smart bracelet.
**3rd person POV**
New announcement: 2,152 participants have been eliminated, 1,000 participants remaining.Check your smart bracelet for your rankings. In five minutes you will be teleported out of the forest".
Ranking of nebula academy's batch 5,006 first year.
1. Aurora De Silva - 12,500 points
2. Quinn Darkheart - 5,200
3. Lily Greatwoods - 4,950
4. Damien Ashbourne - 4,800
5. Victor Crimson - 4,780
6. Ashley Wellington - 4,760
7. Owen Hargreaves - 4,730
8. Hori Tokito - 4,500
...
..
..
178. Adam walker - 700
'So am rank 178 huh' thought Adam. At least I managed to rank in the top one hundred and rank doesn't necessarily mean the ones ranked above you are definitely stronger.
It depends on the number of beasts and participants you encounterer.
And I also think I've figured out who massacred those beasts. It was the first ranker. I mean even the number of corpses split in two that I have seen alone, are enough to for her to take the first rank.
Not long after, a bright light emerged from my smart bracelet forcing me to close my eyes and when I opened them again I was in a completely different environment.
Opening my eyes I found myself in a hall, a very large one to be precise, but I wasn't the only one.
There were about 1,000 young people both males and females around my age or to be precise the entire participants who passed the entrance test were here, which was exactly 1,000.
Looking around I could see everyone also appeared the same time as I did. But humans were social creatures, and some had already started bonding. I stood silent for a while, observing everyone. I saw different types of people, but then I saw her.
She had purple hair and amethyst eyes, she was so out of this world that I couldn't help but stare and so did others. I didn't know who she was but my instincts were telling me she was extremely dangerous, undeniably so.
I was bought out of my thoughts when a few older people walked into the hall with a golden haired man at the lead.
The hall grew silent the moment he was sighted. With grace filled steps he walked towards the edge of the hall which looked like a stage. After climbing the stage he turned and faced the participants.
"Congratulations everyone for passing the entrance exam he began with a deep voice. I am Armen Whitemore, the vice principal of Nebula Academy. It is said that since the founding of this academy this is the most talented and outstanding batch yet but I say it's bullshit" he said without pausing.
"So prove me wrong, show me I thought wrong". "From now on everyone of you is a first year cadet of this academy. I won't bore you about rules and other stuff, you can know that in your digital academy handbook, which is already in your smart bracelet" he paused to take in the expressions of the cadets.
"Your dorm number will be sent to your smart bracelet and classes start on Monday which is in three days. Credits are useless in the academy, here your points are the currency. Have a fruitful academic year" and with that he disappeared.
Following the principal's surprising exit someone else took the mantle of speech.
It was a familiar face, the same man who briefed us about the second part of the entrance exam.
"My name is David Blake but you may address me as instructor blake", he started. As the vice principal had stated, your dorm room number will be sent to your smart bracelet in a few minutes, that's where you'll stay during your entire first year" he said.
"You all are free to go tour the academy there is a map feature on each of your smart bracelets. But beware the places indicated red on the map are restricted areas, and if trespassed, there will be consequences", he declared.
"Your uniforms will be in your room and your belongings will also be sent there. Also curfew is at 11 pm, so make sure you're in your room before that and for those of you that are injured, pick a healing potion on your way out".
"And remember one thing, your smart bracelet is your everything, in here it's your ID, your password and your money. Credits have no value here, the points you earned in the exam is the money used in this academy".
"You can use it for various things like ordering food to your dorm room or buying any of your other needs".
"There are ways to earn more points but you can find that also in your academy handbook. You're all free to go" he finished before also disappearing.
Some of the cadets grouped up and decided to tour while some decided to directly go to their dorm room which was sent just a minute ago.
The dorm were divided into three. Normal, elite and special.
Normal dorms were for the cadets of rank 501 to 1,000. Elite dorms were for cadets of rank 201 to 500 while Special dorms were for cadets of rank 1 to 200.
Where you end up depends on your ranking, oh and by the way I'm in the special dorms and also decided to go straight to my room, though not before picking a few extra healing potions. 'They could come in handy' I thought.
Following the map on my bracelet I arrived at the foot of the building. There were many other buildings around it, especially two of which were way taller than the special dorms. Without hesitation I walked to the elevator to get to my room which was the same number as my rank which is 178.
The building had 68 floors excluding the ground floor. The top ten floors 68 to 59 are for the top ten rank cadets with each floor being a single room for each cadet.
The next 20 floors are for the cadets ranked 11 to 50 with two rooms on each floor for two cadets.
The remaining 38 floors for cadets ranked 51 to 200 with four rooms on each floor for four cadets.
With rank one being on the 65th floor, my room was on the 9th floor. I soon arrived on the floor there was no need to even search there were four rooms on the floor with 177 and 178 to the left and 179 and 180 to the right.
I went towards my room, 178, and placed my bracelet against the scanner.
A small beep confirmed my identity.
The door slid open.
With a sigh, I stepped inside.
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