At these times, the class would see everyone as their classmate. They would unite and cheer on the three with sincerity, and as the rank of the class increased, the students would be treated better. For example, with every increment in ranking, their tuition fee would be discounted by ten percent. Hence their ranking would affect their tuition fee. If they were ranked third, then they only had to pay for thirty percent of the original tuition fee. If they were ranked first, then they only had to fork out ten percent of the original tuition fee and also receive permission to use the privileged facilities in the academy. These unique facilities were only opened to the talented students and hence were used as a means to intensify the competition among the students.
The strong would become stronger and the weak would become mediocre if they didn’t put in more effort.
As Fervale walked on the aisle, he looked very calm and casual. On the other hand, Sara felt a little uncomfortable; after all this was her first time in this situation. As for Garen, he acted in such a way that he was slightly uncomfortable as this would suit his identity and family background.
Compared to the cheers towards Merseus, the three of them didn’t stand out and the only ones cheering were their classmates. The cheers could only heard from their back as they walked past.
The crowds on both sidelines were like boiling water as they started to release their negative emotions.
“Arello! Arello! Arello!”
“Bally! Bally! Bally!! Shred him!!”
Their supporters started cheering loudly.
The areas that spanned less than two hundred meters on both sides were spacious black fields, which was filled with students shouting everywhere.
Two teams walked on the black carpet.
The leader in front of the team in front of them was a muscular man with yellow spiky hair. He had a scar that propagated from his right lips as if someone had tried to slit open his mouth to the right and it looked rather brutal.
The team in the middle was lead by a blue-haired man who had a pair of silver earrings. With a faint smile on his face, he looked very seductive with his fit body, He too had a faint scar on the side of his face, giving off a wild vibe.
Fervale turned his head around and looked at his team members behind him.
“Caus Arello should be ranked number three in terms of strength for our year. He’s better than me and his strength is currently unknown. Rumor has it that he’s the strongest challenger against Bally. As one of the first seat that appeared out of nowhere, he basically has no reputation.”
He looked at the two of them by his side. Sara’s fear could be seen in her eyes and while Garen looked very calm, his fist was clenched ever so slightly, which was a sign of him losing his cool.
“Nono, you have to be careful. Arello is the brother of the trial member you’ve injured. He will most likely target you during the competition.”
Garen nodded without saying a word.
As the contestants entered the arena, they entered into their designated sections.
The whole arena was separated into sections by huge amounts of Source Mechs and the schedule of the match was decided by the previous ranking.
Garen and the other two were in class C5. After their previous class’ seniors were promoted to class B, they had left them the rank of thirteen, which was neither low nor high. However, only those who were in the top ten were able to enjoy the tuition fee reduction and special facilities.
There were a total of fifty-six classes in their year and it was undoubtedly difficult to be in the top ten while competing against these elites.
The sweet sounding female broadcaster started to arrange the schedule for all the elites.
All classes would be arranged according to their previous rankings during this qualifier match. Two teams would go against each other and the winner would proceed to the next match. This elimination process would continue until the final match.
After broadcasting the rules, while waiting for their opponents to arrive in the arena, each competitor was put under their respective coaches’ care and arrangement, who escorted them before the competition started.
Instructor Hamm stood together with the Mech battle class’s teacher Wesson as they talked to the three of them one last time. They were standing by the wall that separated the arena into a square box. Instructor Hamm didn’t seem to be fazed by the loud noises and staff walking past them as he patted Fervale’s shoulder firmly.
“Fervale. Remember your key moment! Your attack is smooth enough but as a melee Mech, the only thing you have to take note of is to get close to them. Since your marksmanship isn’t bad as well, I suggest you can fight in both close and long range so that you can fully utilize your advantages. If needed, you can throw the gun away and focus on melee combat.”
Fervale nodded.
“I understand.”
Hamms softened his grip and turned to Sara.
“Sara, you’re best at shooting a moving target while moving. You will be fine as long as you do this. I know you couldn’t utilize your full strength during the trial, but I hope you can give it your all now as this isn’t just for the class, it’s for you yourself!”
“I understand,” Sara nodded her head as she tried to calm herself down.
“Lastly, Nono,” Instructor Hamm stood in front of Garen. “I know that your body hasn’t fully recovered yet and you’re not at your best. Don’t feel burdened by this. You have a lot of potential and you’re as good as Sara when it comes to shooting. Perhaps you can fight in a style similar to hers.”
“I understand, Instructor,” Garen nodded as well to show that he was prepared.
“Come have a drink!” the nutritionist behind Instructor Hamm came forward as he passed the nutritional drinks to them. He then pulled Fervale, who was about to drink the water to a side as he personally coached him. It was very obvious that he had placed all hopes onto Fervale.
Garen and Sara then sat quietly in their seats as they waited for their schedule to be broadcasted.
Soon the schedule was released.
“Class C6 will fight against class C5. the opponents will be chosen freely and the time of the competition is…”
Soon it was their time to fight. While the schedule was slightly delayed, C5 was still a class that ranked at the front.
After finishing the schedule announcement, the first match had officially begun.
A lot of huge monitors appeared in front of the crowd, which were at least ten meters tall. They were placed in all directions so that the spectators knew of the situation inside. What was shown on the screen were the minute details of the situation and the scene within the arena. Everything could be clearly seen as the protective barrier was transparent.
The whole setting was similar to the ancient Colosseum as the nobles, students, instructors, and even family members shouted passionately. As if it was a concert, some people had even created huge banners with some students’ names on them.
Bam!
The first gunshot was fired and the battle had begun.
Suddenly, the whole arena was filled with excitement as countless pink light effect petals slowly descended. A levitating metal stage, which was the referee’s seat, was placed underneath the battleship. There were dozens of referees and they were all designated to their respective battles.
The first match of the students had officially begun.
Garen listened quietly to the loud cheers which came in waves as he looked at the two black and white Mechs on the big screen.
“Every Mech is the same and the only difference between them is their colors,” Sara, who was sitting beside Garen whispered.
“Now that we know who our opponents are. What plans do you have to fight against Class C6?” she seemed rather anxious as she tried to find a topic to talk about.
“There’s none,” Garen shook his head. “We just need to perform as usual.” What he said was the truth. Although his Willpower was much stronger as compared to the original Nonosiva, his strength was dramatically reduced without the Moonfang.
The most important thing to him for this qualifier match was the hefty monetary reward and the qualification to be enlisted as an elite student, which was the ticket for him to enter the core of the academy. Once he had enter successfully, he would be able to know the academy’s true strength.
Furthermore, he wouldn’t be able to obtain upper-level training methods without being a part of the strong ones. As a precaution, the highest training method that could be bought in the market was only level 3. One would require solid backgrounds to obtain a level 4 training method, which could only be bought by the military. This meant that this world’s strongest power was monopolized by the strong ones.
“If we can be ranked in the top three individually, then we will be able to be of great help to Mina by reducing the tuition fee and I would be able to repay Instructor Hamm for paying my surgical fee,” deep down, Garen understood. “In addition, I will be able to become an elite student by placing in the top three. I will gain support from the academy’s higher-ups and become a disciple of a professor inside the academy. My social status will definitely change instantly and my family’s condition will improve greatly. Rumor has it that the family members of the elite students are so well taken care of that they get to enjoy a huge bonus annually. In addition, they would definitely become a Field Level Officer if they were to enroll in the military. According to the Blackboard’s arrangement, the elite’s family members will be continued to be taken care of even if the elites have passed away.”
Everyone who lived in Blackboard district would want this kind of valuable resources.
However, Blackboard was very strict towards this as they would choose their candidate through an elimination process. They even had a system to calculate the mortality rate of the elite students and at the same time, there was absolutely no loophole for favoritism and fraud.
During the past few days, Garen had done his research on the family background of the student that he’d injured. They’d bought out all the faculty instructors and a few general instructors to dismiss the application for surgical expenses at the regular meeting. One of the instructor’s identity was an elite student alumnus.
Boom!
Suddenly a huge explosion forced Garen back into his senses.
The victor was already announced between the battles of two Mechs in the huge screen as the Black Mech raised up his Long Rifle and bowed in all directions.
The other white Mech was lying on the ground as smoke oozed out from its body. The pilot was dragged out of the Mech by the personnel and placed onto the rescuing machine as it sent him away. His condition was unknown.
The screen then clearly gave out a headline, detailing the condition of the injured.
Broken bones on both legs, a hole pierced through the abdomen and a portion of the intestines were plunged out. His head was drenched in blood and was currently in a coma. No one knew if he’s dead or alive and he looked seriously injured. Perhaps his life would be in danger if he wasn’t treated properly.
The students who didn’t study in Blackboard gasped as if they’d seen the cruel side of the Blackboard Academy.
Garen understood well that it wouldn’t be weird to have a few dozens heavily injured elites when thousands of elites were participating in the competition. Afterall, there even were injury incidents from the other academies. The Academy believed that one could only release their true potential when they were placed in a life-threatening condition.