Races: Online (VR Smartphone App)

That confidence had been enough to annoy Han Jing—did the person really think that they were that easy to defeat? He opened his mouth but Timothy beat him to it.

He approached the young man with his head raised, a righteous anger evident in his steps. "There is no need to look down upon us by offering a handicap; let's take the exams fairly, sir."

The earlier trepidation seemingly had vanished, instead the same man who bantered at him at the cliffs was now back.

"I don't mean anything like that—" Sir Harrington raised his hands up placatingly.

Timothy shook his head. "Of course you didn't, but give us some respect and treat us as much as your classmate or else you may underestimate us."

When Timothy was chewing off somebody's else head and not Han's… it was a little amusing. Han tried not to stifle back his laughter.

Miss Orléans cleared her throat, "Settle down children. Please take a seat and perhaps get on with the lesso—"

"Harrington is definitely going to ace this test." One of the students said.

Another shrugged. "Those two are going to get crushed, I swear."

"Er, we have her as another participant… those two might get in here by virtue of her."

"Do you want to bet on that?"

The teacher frowned and snapped her fingers. "[ Silence ]."

Even though Han hadn't been talking, he could feel his lips getting zipped together and soon found others at the same position. He blinked and tried to open his mouth to no avail and glanced at the crowd of students. Everybody else wasn't talking too?! This was… a Mass Spell?

Was that how powerful a teacher here was?

She cleared her throat and clasped her hands together. "Alright. Now that everybody is ready to listen, I suppose we can talk about the previous exams." She smiled and eyed Han and Timothy before her gaze returned to the class in session. "All of you here managed to stay at Kraelonia Academy whether by passing that exam or perhaps paying our lovely [ Secretary ] the dues. Do any of you recall your difficulties?"

Was she helping them out by dropping hints?

A hand was raised and as Miss Orléans pointed over to the student, they were able to speak.

"I was able to do the fundamentals of my [ Class ] quite well, I was in the top ten as [ Mage ]." It was the young woman who had praised Sir Harrington earlier. 

Miss Orléans simply nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"However, I found that the combat portion of the test was quite biased to the [ Fighter ] based [ Classes ]." A frown appeared on her face. "Before we could even utter a [ Spell ] they already had a sword or knife to our throats."

If the other people could speak, they probably would have raised their voices—instead only muffled cries could be heard. Either in agreement or disagreement, Han wasn't so sure.

A hand was raised and after a quick gesture, the person began to speak. "It's not our fault that you guys have lousy reflexes—" And the guy's mouth was zipped again.

Han wondered if it would have been better to wait outside than here, he sighed. "This is a drag."

[ Congratulations! The Spell [ Silence ] Has Worn Off! ]

[ Ability: Will of The Player Activated! ]

Everybody looked his way. Han Jing silently cursed himself. It had been so long since that popup appeared and it was a second late!  Han scratched his cheek, "Oops."

Instead of alarm, the teacher simply smiled. "What's your name? The two of you?"

"I'm Han, Miss." He did a brief bow.

Timothy did a better one, he remembered her name. "Timothy Cook, Miss Orléans."

"Do the two of you perchance hold the skill [ Indomitable Will ]?"

"Wouldn't it be better if we keep that to ourselves, Miss? Speaking about our [ Skill ] can be disadvantageous." Timothy spoke up before Han said no.

His companion had common sense, Han nodded. "Agreed."

Somebody rushed into the room, "Excuse me, a message from Headmaster Pierce. Please head to Azalea's Chambers for the test!" 

"That quick." Miss Orléans frowned but nodded towards her two students. "The two of you are free to leave." With a wave of a hand, the [ Spell ] was removed.

"Miss, we want to watch the test!"

"Please!"

.

.

.

.

.

Thankfully for Han and Timothy, spectating meant viewing it from the comforts of their seat in the classroom instead of people hurdling over the chambers to watch."

It was a chance to watch their fellow competitors.

Sir I Can Do This With My Eyes Closed was standing calmly over, waiting for the test to begin. Miss I Cannot Reveal My Face Because I'm Wearing A Cloak was slightly fidgeting at the corner, he noticed that she was twiddling with her cloak.

Finally he glanced at Timothy and felt a little relieved. What the guy said earlier was not a bravado with the fire in his eyes. Han Jing stretched his body, from his arms to his legs and even did jumping jacks to do behest and surprise of people around him.

The people who were scrying via mirror were probably having a good laugh as he twisted his hips from side to side.

But he was ready to sprint, jump and move without the risk of his body overexerting itself.

The knowledge he learned in Physical Education class some years ago would surely prove itself useful in this test.

Han cracked a grin at Timothy, ignoring the man's slightly resigned look.  "Let's do what Old Man Joe Light told us."

People may stab each other in the back… but they also protected each one's back.

They could do this together.

"Please pick your weapons if you choose to bring any."

Like a very familiar scene in a movie, a table and a rack held an assortment of weapons from swords, knives, daggers and even a fishing net. There were spears and staves.

It was a little disappointing that there weren't any slingshots.

He couldn't do archery either.

In the end, Han chose a dagger. He couldn't go lugging around something heavy like an axe or mace.

Timothy settled on a double-edged sword.

"Can you use that?" He whispered at Timothy.

The man frowned at him. "Shut up." Han wasn't sure if that was a yes or no.

"What about you, sir Harrington?"

The young man motioned to an elaborate holster at his side, a rapier.

Headmaster Pierce sighed at the cloaked person. "Girl?"

She shook her head.

"We shall be measuring speed, ability to maneuver through the chambers with speed and efficiency." Headmaster Pierce nodded and moved out of the way, the doors swung open and the stone corridors revealed itself to them.

Han bolted towards the entrance.

Nobody immediately  followed after him.