Testing

The Elf Academy's training ground was crowded with young elves, all of them new students entering the academy this year.

Everyone was full of curiosity about the introductory Martial Arts course.

Hearing Instructor Abbott. Nora's call, everyone gathered around.

The elves in the training ground were divided into two distinct groups.

Surrounding Instructor Abbott. Nora, the shape of the group resembled the upper and lower lips.

They were completely separated, with passages at both ends wide enough for only one person to pass through.

The larger group was made up of Silver Moon Elves. These young members of the Silver Moon Elf clan gathered together, with some young noble students standing at the front of the group.

The other group was made up of Half-Elves. In Castleton City, the number of Half-Elves living in the Lower District was increasing year by year. Young Half-Elves would also save money systematically after finding work to complete their studies at the Elf Academy.

Roy stood in the Half-Elf group.

However, because he still wanted to chat with Klayr for a few more words, the two stood at the gap separating the two groups.

Klayr stood on the Silver Moon Elf side, and Roy stood on the Half-Elf side.

There were many new students like them. Some Silver Moon Elves didn't care about bloodline inheritance and had made some Half-Elf friends...

"This Instructor Nora is the best instructor in the academy for teaching introductory Martial Arts. There should be a physical fitness test later."

Klayr whispered to Roy.

It was a bit noisy around them, and everyone hadn't calmed down from the excitement of entering the academy.

Instructor Abbott. Nora was a Silver Moon Elf woman, her silver hair just reaching her shoulders.

She stood patiently in the center of the open space, waiting for the surrounding noise to subside before she began to speak: "Since no one is prepared to withdraw, then let me see what your physical fitness, flexibility, and balance are like! Everyone needs to take a physical fitness test before enrollment. I hope everyone here meets my standards."

She rested one hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist, and the thumb of her other hand rested on the quiver, looking heroic and sàshuǎng [spirited and heroic].

"How did you know she would have us do a physical fitness test?" Roy asked Klayr in a low voice.

Klayr said casually:

"I heard it from my sister. She was worried that I wouldn't be able to pass this test, so she had me do some training a year in advance..."

"..."

Roy was speechless.

He had spent almost all of his time this year on dream-breaking and fishing.

"Then do you know what the test items are?" Roy asked.

Klayr raised his light golden eyebrows and said déyì [smugly]:

"Of course, it's an obstacle course. You need to pass various obstacle facilities on the grass field over there within a certain time limit."

After speaking, he pointed to the other side of the training ground.

Roy looked in the direction he was pointing, and through the crowd, he saw a row of obstacles on the west side of the field, including water pits, stone walls, tǔduī [earth mounds], and so on. The grass clearly showed signs of being trampled by countless people.

Instructor Abbott. Nora walked in front.

The two groups were on her left and right sides, following her towards that side.

Roy was a little nervous. He hadn't prepared anything before the class.

This section of obstacles included a single-plank bridge jià [spanning] on a water pit, a stone wall qì [built] on a pile of rocks, and it also extended into the woods, which looked very difficult.

Roy even saw a stone cliff several meters high in the woods...

The path extended from the other side of the forest, connecting to a narrow, longitudinal low wall and returning to the starting point.

Instructor Abbott. Nora stood in front, explaining the rules.

Roy planned to squeeze to the front to listen.

At this moment, several Silver Moon Elves suddenly squeezed out of the crowd, and several people surrounded Klayr and Roy.

There were many small groups among these elf students. Roy hadn't seen any conflicts between these small groups, and he didn't expect to encounter trouble himself.

Two elves wearing light leather armor walked up to Klayr, staring at Klayr with a playful look.

Klayr glared back, not to be outdone.

"Klayr, what a coincidence, I didn't expect to see you in the Martial Arts training class."

One of the Silver Moon Elves, wearing light armor and a delicate dagger on his waist, greeted Klayr, his words laced with a strong smell of gunpowder.

He reached out and patted Klayr's shoulder, leaned in close to Klayr's ear, and said playfully, "When we're grouping up later, don't rush to team up with others. We have such a good relationship, we should naturally take care of each other."

Klayr pushed his hand away and coldly replied, "Steve, I don't need your concern. We don't have any relationship."

The elf named Steve raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "You're breaking my heart with those words. If it weren't for your sister, I wouldn't be standing here today..."

His gaze swept across Roy's face, a mocking smile on his lips. "And this is?"

"Roy."

Roy answered.

He didn't expect to encounter something like this on his first day of school.

He just wanted to study quietly in the academy and wasn't planning on causing trouble...

But since he had already become friends with Klayr, if he backed down now, he might be seen as a 'coward' in the eyes of others.

He didn't want to get such a bad reputation for being friendless just after entering the Elf Academy.

Although he had a headache, Roy still chose to stand firmly by Klayr's side.

The two of them coldly looked at the Silver Moon Elves opposite them...

Klayr gave Roy a grateful look.

Although Roy didn't know what the campus atmosphere of the Elf Academy was like, he didn't think these elves would openly cause trouble in class.

Sure enough, the stalemate only lasted a few seconds before it attracted the attention of the surrounding elves.

The young elf called Steve just laughed awkwardly and said, "Klayr, has your taste changed? Do you like making friends with Half-Elves?"

"Watch your mouth." Klayr lowered his voice and scolded.

"Everyone, the test is about to begin, everyone prepare yourselves, and the students in the back, please don't gather in groups..."

Abbott. Nora's voice came from across the crowd.

The elves gathered here scattered with a bang.

Without the obstruction of the crowd, they wouldn't dare to confront each other in front of Instructor Abbott. Nora.

Steve turned around, looked back at Klayr, and walked out of the crowd with a smile.

Roy felt that Steve's glance back was directed at him. Thinking about Klayr's various actions when school started, paying attention to the students in the beginner Martial Arts training class on the first day of reporting, it was clear that he had anticipated today's conflict...

"Sorry, I got you involved."

Klayr said with an embarrassed expression.

What else could Roy say? He couldn't directly say, 'Let's break up our friendship!'

He could only pat Klayr on the shoulder and say to him:

"No matter what, I will stand by your side."

Klayr was a little touched and said to Roy:

"That guy is Steve. He's not exactly a freshman this year. He's been deliberately failing the beginner Martial Arts training class exam just to come and block me."

Roy asked him, "Why does he want to block you?"

Klayr laughed heartlessly: "It's kind of a family feud. When my sister was attending the academy, she also blocked people from their family like this. This Steve was beaten badly by my sister for half a semester last year. Every time he went to class, she would beat him up like a pig's head."

"...So this year, they came to your door, ready to deal with you?" Roy was speechless.

Klayr also tapped his forehead with some frustration and said with distress, "I didn't expect my sister to go to some Elf Academy exchange program at this time..."

Roy glanced at him and unceremoniously exposed him:

"Even if she didn't participate in the exchange program, she wouldn't choose to take the beginner Martial Arts training class again, would she?"

Klayr smiled awkwardly, "That's true."

"So no matter what, you're the unlucky guy who's going to get beat up," Roy concluded.

Klayr laughed even harder, "It's not like that. Usually, the people I spar with in class are fixed, so I chose you."

"..."

Faced with Klayr's straightforward explanation, Roy was speechless.

"If I don't pass this test, what do you think will happen?"

Klayr suddenly shuddered, grabbed Roy's shoulders, and said with a pleading look, "We're friends, right?"

Roy nodded...

"You haven't done this kind of test before, have you?" Klayr suddenly asked.

Roy nodded without thinking.

"Then just stick close to me later. This kind of test is usually run by two people at the same time. Pay attention to my movements. There are certain techniques to it. Even the number of steps is fixed when climbing over the wall. Also, pay attention to the speed and rhythm," Klayr explained to Roy as they walked.

"Okay."

The two walked to the front, where some elves had already started running.

As Klayr said, the test was indeed conducted by two people at the same time.

There were Silver Moon Elves and Half-Elves. Roy and Klayr lined up in the queue.

There were about two hundred students in this training class, so it was bound to take some time for everyone to finish running.

Finally, it was Roy and Klayr's turn.

The two stood at the starting line, Klayr looking like he knew what he was doing.

Roy seemed much more nervous, even sweating in his palms.

"Ready, start!"

It wasn't Instructor Abbott. Nora who gave the command.

This instructor stood on a high platform in the middle of the track to observe the students' specific performances.

Roy followed Klayr's pace, starting with a slow jog.

The two weren't moving very fast. The first obstacle was a puddle with two logs placed on top as bridges. To pass the puddle smoothly, they had to go over the bridges.

The logs were thin and long, obviously testing their balance while running.

Klayr rushed onto the logs with almost no deceleration, his arms outstretched, and he rushed past with light steps.

It looked simple. Klayr stretched out his arms and could pass the logs across the puddle in a few steps, but when it came to Roy, he ran into a dangerous situation...

When climbing over the first wooden wall, Roy ran too fast, and the position of his first foot on the wooden board was a bit too high, which caused his second foot to not keep up when stepping on the wooden wall.

His body bounced out. Fortunately, Roy grabbed the upper edge of the wooden wall with quick eyes and hands, barely managing to flip over.

Clearly, as long as he grabbed the edge of the wall with both hands and jumped up with force, he could straddle the wall.

But when it came to Roy, it seemed very clumsy...

The next few obstacle walls were higher than the previous ones, and they changed from wooden to stone. If Klayr, who was running in front, hadn't slowed down and pulled him back, he might have stopped in front of the second stone wall.

"Adjust your breathing rhythm..."

Klayr stayed by his side, constantly reminding him in a low voice.

"Don't worry about running speed, that's not the main deduction item."

"Remember, you have to step on the wall at least twice to reach the top edge of the wall."

"Wait, look at the center and grab the most worn part of the wall, there will always be a place to borrow strength..."

It took some effort to get through the first stone wall.

Roy was almost stopped at the second wall, but fortunately, Klayr helped him.

When he encountered the highest stone wall, Roy passed it in one go, and his movements became much smoother...

Roy felt that he was best at running, and he always jogged on the beach in the morning.

He rarely saw elves running. To maintain their elegance and composure, elves usually moved with graceful steps. Even when they encountered urgent matters, they would only walk quickly.

But now, seeing those elves nimbly vaulting over the wooden walls, Roy felt a sense of frustration.

After finally finishing the run with stumbles and scrapes, Roy and Klayr stood before Instructor Abbott. Nora at the same time.

The female elf held a white parchment booklet in her hand, found Klayr's name on the list, and wrote the words 'passed' after the name.

When she saw Roy, she gave him a deep look: "Your speed is acceptable, but your body isn't flexible enough."

This was her first evaluation of Roy.

Roy nodded with a slightly guilty conscience.

Instructor Abbott. Nora continued, "Your body's flexibility is also far behind, and your joints appear very stiff. In this case, you will encounter more difficulties than others when learning basic Martial Arts..."

"Your physical coordination is the worst."

"So you must improve your physical abilities as soon as possible, otherwise you won't be able to do the subsequent exercises at all, let alone pass the final exam."

"Consider it. Otherwise, you can do some basic exercises this year and choose to come back a year later."

Roy hesitated slightly before saying to Instructor Abbott. Nora, "Teacher, what can I do to catch up in terms of physical fitness?"

Instructor Abbott. Nora said to Roy, "Strengthen your daily exercise, including gymnastics to improve flexibility. It's best to do some exercises to enhance balance while running..."

"I will improve my physical fitness as soon as possible. I want to attend classes!"

Roy said stubbornly.

He didn't want to give up the opportunity to learn basic Martial Arts so easily. Abbott. Nora frowned, seriously lowered her head and thought for a while, and finally agreed to Roy's request, saying, "Alright, but you must remember that I won't give you any preferential treatment during the final exam."

Klayr stood aside, and upon hearing Instructor Abbott. Nora's words, immediately pulled Roy away.

"I thought you would choose to give up," Klayr said, breathing a long sigh of relief.

"What's the point of giving up? I'll still have to sign up next year anyway."

Roy said casually.

After saying that, he saw Steve also complete the physical test, and it seemed he had passed smoothly.

He even had a strange smile on his face when he looked over here