AN: If you like what you are reading, you can help by giving my novel Rating.

I was brought to an auditorium with a high ceiling, but the special thing that stood out about this auditorium was the armor-plated walls that were covered with arrays inlaid into them. It was only when I was issued a familiar-looking bracelet that I realized what this auditorium was. It was a scaled-down version of the Arena’s defensive array.

“Now, as you know, knowing and doing are two very different things. The five seconds you were allowed in the theory test are an eternity compared to what you will get in real-life combat, where things can change in a split second, and you will need to react to that change.” Greyham said as his assistant instructors stood behind him.

“I already know that your fighting skills are up to par, but I have yet to see how well you do in a team battle when pushed to the limit. In this practical part of the exam, you will be assigned four instructors, making you the leader of a five-man team. The rest of the instructors will be your opponents.” Greyham explained and pointed to the four closest instructors to stand beside me.

Ha! Little does he know that I indeed have experience in leading 5v5 tournaments in my previous life. Granted, we did not have fancy mana shield bracelets that freeze you when you take a certain amount of damage, we went by the knockdown system… Crap! Now that I think about it, it is going to be more complicated if we turn on our aura and go Super Saiyan all over the place.

Greyham was then passed a cloth bag that he stuck his hand in and rummaged in before pulling out a piece of paper, “First scenario, Escort Mission, your objective is to start from one end of the auditorium and reach the other end while under attack.” he then pointed at one of the assistant instructors who was supposed to be my enemy, “You will be acting as the VIP.”

We were then issued armbands of different shades between our teams and the VIP and separated to our respective sides of the auditorium. While we were walking, I discussed formations with my team and the VIP. It was nothing complicated, just a star formation with the VIP in the middle. I instructed the VIP to set the pace because there was no point in running ahead while leaving the VIP behind.

Instructor Greyham gave the signal to start. The VIP burst forward with a… slow jog? I am sure he could go a lot faster, but I guess this was part of the test? I mean, I can never expect every VIP to be able to flare their aura and dash as fast as a horse.

The VIP was not ten steps from the starting line before the opposing assistant instructors were almost upon us. I was tempted to leave two of my teammates to guard the VIP while me and the other two charged ahead to blunt their charge, but with opponents of the caliber, i thought it to be a poor choice.

In an effort to break up their formation so they do not hit us at the same time, i fired off some Earth Spikes and Wind Blades to break up their formation, and it worked… somewhat. I managed to stagger them as they adjusted their position, and even managed to hit one of the assistant instructors, or more accurately, he ran face-first into an Earth Spike that one of his friends jumped out of the way of, and he could not cease his momentum before running into the Earth Spike.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The end result was that I slowed them down enough that they came in a still rather tightly packed staggered line that we had an easier time fending off instead of them dogpiling us all at the same time.

But unlike all the other fighting tests, duels, and exams, I had to pull out all the stops this time. I put my trust in the bracelets we were all wearing and went all out with the intention of killing.

I knew I could not outperform the instructors in strength, so I had to play dirty. I manipulated the stone floor beneath my back foot to turn the surface layer into fine dirt, and I cast a simple gust spell through the same foot when I kicked the dirt toward the tight line of opponents.

The first three in line ate a face full of powdered floor before they could react, while those behind the unlucky three were fast enough to close their eyes or cast a wind spell to blow away the debris.

Keeping a bubble of air around my head so I don't fall prey to my own dirty tactics, I charged in to deal three lethal strikes to, one for each blinded assistant instructor. With three opponents down in the opening clash, we were now 5v5, excluding the VIP of course.

Not wanting to waste a good opportunity, I turned to one of my teammates and shouted “Follow me!” before I sent three of the ‘slain’ opponents flying towards the other assistant instructors with a few kicks.

Together, me and my teammate surged forward to attack whoever got hit by their ‘dead’ flying teammate. Unfortunately we only managed to catch and ‘kill’ one of our opponents, the rest of them dodged the flying bodies and decided to bypass us and head straight for the VIP.

When I turned around, I saw that the three remaining teammates closed ranks around the VIP and were doing a good job fending off the last four attackers.

I signaled to the teammate I was with to attack the same target, and we moved as one to take out one of the opponents who was double-teaming one of my teammates.

Now, with us outnumbering the opponents almost two to one, we mopped up the last three attackers in under a minute. We did not need to reach the other end of the auditorium before Instructor Greyham called our victory.

I was given a few minutes' break before Instructor Greyham reached into his bag of scenarios again, fishing out the next task I was to accomplish.

That day, I completed four other practical scenarios, which ranged from protecting a borderline suicidal VIP who wades into battle with little regard for his surroundings, all the way to a straight-up team deathmatch. When the last practical test was done, Instructor Greyham sent me away and said that I would be notified of the results tomorrow.

As I trudged my way back to the dorm, I felt so tired that I did not want to eat even though I was hungry. However, Emma could not ignore my rumbling stomach and dragged me to the canteen, where she attempted to spoon-feed me. This forced me to summon the energy to take the spoon from her and feed myself.

With this display of care and affection from Emma, I felt many eyes focusing on us as whispers grew louder, especially from the lunch ladies who gave Emma a thumbs up, to which Emma returned the thumbs up… I am not sure she knows what she is thumbs upping to.