Just as the hour hand of the clock touched 10, runes inscribed on the doors lit up. And the doors closed automatically. All of the noises also quieted down as it was a little sudden. And the students who were still outside, they couldn't get in anymore.

'Those were Magnetism runes! A highly complicated subcategory of Metal runes. And these rare runes were used as a replacement for watchmen, huh? Why am I not surprised anymore.'

Ten figures arrived on the stage equipped with their unique style and persona. I discovered a familiar figure was also among them. Except for one, all of them took their seats. The one standing was a short chunky man with long brown beards.

He spoke loudly in a husky voice,

"You folks turned this place into a marketplace full of noises in only 10 minutes. It's also disappointing that everyone didn't gather here in time even though we sent messages to everyone. You have been living a lazy delightful life here, Aren't ya?"

Like me, others also kept their silence at his remark. He didn't mind our lack of response and continued, "You may have already guessed, the ten of us are Newbie Instructors from all departments. I am KraxGludin from the Craftsman department. This lady here is Edna Malavic from the Healing department, that boyish guy…"

He introduced the newbie instructors from Warrior, Caster, Rune, Alchemy, Battle tactics, Weapon master, and other departments one by one.

Half of these departments were not related to direct battles. But, battle academies were smart enough not to ignore their values. These supporting roles have proved their worth many times already.

For example, the Alchemist department created a new type of metal that was sturdier than others, the Craftsman department produced a great sword from it and, the Runic arts department imbued runes in it, making this sword suitable for Elementalist. If a genius student from the Weapon Master department uses this sword, he can produce stunning results. So, these departments also complemented each other, creating a stacking effect.

After the introduction, he glanced at us, "So, where were we? Uhh, yeah. You guys are living in such a peaceful time that it doesn't feel like a battle academy anymore, right?"

Students still kept their stillness. But some of them smiled while nodding their heads.

"Have you ever wondered why the battle academies take students just based on unique property and PT score, not entrance exams like Normal and Military Academy? Have you ever wondered, even after staying on this Academy campus for such a long time, why can you find seniors from only second and third-year classes?"

This chunky instructor succeeded in picking our interest. Most of us looked at him with curiosity.

Krax continued, "About the entrance exam, it's just our headstrong concept of building up qualified elementalists. Unlike military academies, battle academies don't take diamonds and call them jewelry. We take the coals and produce diamonds from them. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Stolen story; please report.

"But, even coals have grades. Not all coals can become diamonds. No matter how much pressure and heat you give them. That just means they aren't worthy of studying here. And, to eliminate these unworthy coals from the future diamonds, we hereby announce - the Elimination Tournament of Krieger Academy,3528 AD will be held six months afterward."

I was scared to death by the word Elimination. So, the battle academy eliminates the weak students step by step by competition. The question was, what happens after we fail? Will we apply again next year?

And the authority sent him to quench our thirst for information.

"Becoming a Core Development Stage is the lowest criteria for joining this tournament. If you can't reach there in six months, we will exclude you from the tournament without any question. Academy will also give you ranking and corresponding rewards based on your performance. The Higher your ranking is, the better the resources you get. After the tournament, you all will receive a Battle Report. If you fail to show us a satisfactory performance, you will be sent out. But, don't panic. That Report will help you get into other low-ranking battle academies. You guys are here in Krieger- at least, that means all of you have unique and useful properties. So, I believe no one will be stupid enough to slack in these important months."

"Don't panic, my ass."

I lamented over my thoughts a few days ago. The Academy has poured a bucket of cold water on me for my unnecessary worries.

'You need competition, right? Leelee, here is an Elimination Tournament for you. BonAppetit.'

"Don't be surprised yet. That's the talk of the future. At present, I have some more unpleasant news for you guys."

This guy…. is he our Black Cat? He has been spouting bad news nonstop.

"It has been four months. For four months, we worked on building your basics on non-combat subjects. Most of you haven't studied these subjects in 16 years. Now that you have finalized your subjects, two weeks later, there will be exams on everything you learned till now."

We weren't surprised as this was written in the booklet. But Krax's following words shook us to the core.

"So, from today, we will also stop providing the free origin crystal, elemental crystal, and other resources you have been receiving from us. From now on, you can buy them by using Academy Credits(AC). The first-year students can earn Academy points(AP) only via Exams and the Annual tournament. The value ratio of AC and AP is 100:1. For example, if you get 100 points in Crafting, you can use these 100 points to get 10,000 AC. Then use these to buy 20 elemental crystals as they cost roughly 500AC. For your information, this price is negligible compared to the outside world. Not to mention, their availability is also scarce."

'No Origin crystals? No resources for the whole 2 weeks! How am I gonna cultivate these days? Do I need to ask others for it? Never. Don't get this idea of begging for resources, Aryan. Maybe they did this so that we could study more these days instead of cultivating. Yep, that's right. They are doing this for us. These exams must impact comprehensively on students' survival in the tournament. '

~ Well, unbeknownst to Aryan, the nobles were abusing this situation to recruit talents from various academies. Not all students can get good results in these subjects and are forced to join a faction to get resources. The authorities also turned a blind eye as it didn't break any rules and also paved their path to the future carrier. Moreover, it didn't concern them anyway.

After all the necessary information was shared, he announced the ending of today's gathering.

But, he reminded us of today's other special event before leaving.

"If you want to know more about tournaments, you should head to the Battle Arena. As of today, the Elimination Tournament of Second-year students will begin. This tournament will give you a rough idea about what you will be facing, I think."