Academy, ceremony hall.
Students kept entering the ceremony hall one after another, and many of them were already gossiping among each other while sitting on the seats with their friends.
Today, the students of the whole academy have gathered here in the ceremony hall.
"Sigh~ they really made us take exams two months earlier than usual, ugh… I had to study so much…"
Hearing the complaints of his friend, the other student said,
"Yeah… Thankfully, they still decided to give us a whole month of vacation as compensation… I went to my hometown in the past month and slept all day long…"
The other students were also having similar discussions.
"You see, they took the exams earlier because 'Team Astra' that won the tournament of supreme talents had already reached the graduation criteria… They are hurrying because of them…"
"Ugh… Didn't they say that only their team would have to take exams early? Why did they make the whole academy take exams early?"
"Who knows, man… They even increased our class timing for that…"
"I heard all of the students were forced to go through high-intensity training, no matter if they were first, second, or third years… Everyone had to train hard…"
"But that one-month vacation was an amazing idea, though… It seems they took exams early to give us more vacations this time…"
Amidst the endless chatter of the students, the ceremony hall's door closed as all of the students finally arrived.
Raji came on the stage, and everyone went quiet in an instant.
"Greetings everyone, Today is the annual ceremony, and although it's being conducted two months earlier than usual, the process remains the same…"
Three months have passed since the day Team Astra came back from the Elven Empire.
In one and a half months time, the academy used its professors to thoroughly train the students, and then they conducted the final exams in the next 15 days or so.
Lastly, they gave a whole month for vacation, and today is the opening ceremony.
"The academy welcomes all the new first-year students and wishes good luck to all the students that have moved to the second year from today onwards…"
In other words, QI Meng and others have now become 2nd year students, while the members of team Astra have become 3rd year students from this day on.
The third-year students who were studying alongside Zach and Riko completed their graduation ceremony a few days ago.
Riko hasn't come back to the academy since the day she left with a determined expression on her face in Oaklum.
Thus, her graduation certificates and documents are still in the academy; she can claim them whenever she wants.
Zach may have died, but he was already an A-ranker by that time.
Technically, he had already met the graduation requirements, so his family received his graduation certificate as a memento of him.
Raji glanced at all the students and continued her speech for a few more minutes before she finally came to the next topic.
"Now, without further ado, let's move on to the 'Awakener's Badge' rewarding ceremony…"
'Awakener's Badge' is given to all third-year students on the first day of the academy, but unlike usual, they are doing it at the opening ceremony this year as they want to reward Team Astra for their efforts.
It acts as a free pass to enter dungeons across the nation, and it also has the function of receiving missions.
All veteran awakeners that are affiliated with guilds or not have these 'Awakener's Badge', they can project a hologram screen and show you the list of missions that you can accept.
For veteran awakeners, these missions are like side hustles that they can do besides conquering dungeons.
With these badges, the academy assigns missions to the third-year students, and a third-year student must complete at least five missions in a year before they can finally graduate.
Third-year students don't need to take classes or anything anymore; they can just train freely and focus on completing missions.
Once they have reached rank A and completed all five rank A missions, they can take the final exam and graduate.
It's a complicated and strict process; most third-year students only reach rank A after six months in their third year, so they only have six months to complete five A-rank missions.
This forces them to improve quickly.
In the third year, it's not compulsory to attend any classes, but you still have to study because there is still a written exam as the final test.
The reputation of the great Freya Academy is no joke; they are serious when they say that the students that graduate from their academy are all pillars of support for the human empire.
Originally, there were still many students in the second year, but after this final exam, only twenty students are left in the third year.
This is just how strict the academy is with its students.
Those who failed the exams either had to retake them a few months later or, if they were less talented, faced immediate expulsion.
…
Raji called the students to the stage according to the ranks that they got with their grades.
Riya got rank 7 because she was not very good at studying, and the only reason she hadn't failed was because Link had forced her to study by saying, "If you do well in exams, I will give you more candies!"
Also, her healing magic is very good, so she got a lot of marks for that too.
Kira got Rank 6, as she is excellent at studying but not that strong in combat.
Fade got rank 5 as he cheated with 'Appraisal' and used it to score full marks in the written exams, but as his combat capabilities are lacking, his rank was lowered.
Lia got rank 4, Liam got rank 3, Rio got rank 2, and finally Link got full marks in both written and combat exams, so he maintained position 1 for the third consecutive year.
Link has been at rank 1 for three consecutive years now, which is a very impressive feat.
Rio doesn't have 'appraisal' like Fade to cheat, so he can only study by himself; thus, he got a few marks less in written exams compared to Link.
Due to this, he got Rank 2, even though Link and he both got full marks in combat.
But Rio didn't seem to care much about that.
Raji put the badges on the student's shirts with her own hands to show her appreciation for them.
Fade was so excited that he felt like he was dreaming.
Once the ceremony was over, everyone left for their classrooms, and most of the third-year students went to the training grounds.
…
Walking slowly, Rio glanced at the badge and felt quite happy in his mind.
'Nearly two years have gone by since I came to this world… Time sure does move fast…'
Rio glanced at Lia and the others who were walking ahead of him with happy smiles on their faces as they talked with each other,
'Sigh… The me from the previous life could have never thought that I would one day end up having so many close friends… It seems I am blessed in this life…'
Just when Rio was contemplating his life in his mind, Lia held his hand and said, with a smile on her face,
"Hoho, you seem quite happy today… Did you like the badge that much?"
Rio nodded his head in response to those words.
"We earned it with two years of hard work, and of course I like it a lot…"
Hearing Rio's words, Liam shrugged his shoulders and said,
"Sigh~, I am not sure if we can call this thing a reward or not… After all, it's going to give us a lot of work in the form of missions from now on…"
Link also nodded his head and spoke.
"Yeah, we might even have to go on some solo missions, which means that we won't be able to work as a team too many times…"
Riya's eyes widened at those words,
"Eh!? But I don't think I can conquer a dungeon alone! What do I do!?"
Link smiled at Riya's panicked look and said,
"Haha, you are a healer; they obviously won't give you a mission to conquer a dungeon… Everyone receives a mission according to their skills and capabilities…"
"They will likely only give you a mission to heal someone or do other similar things…"
Hearing Link's words of assurance, Riya calmed down and went back to her usual activity of nibbling on candies without any care in the world.
Rio glanced at Link and Liam before speaking.
"Well, if that's the case, then let's see who will complete all five missions first… The one who finishes them at last will have to treat the others to a meal…"
Link smiled at those words and spoke in an excited tone.
"Hoho, it's quite rare for you to bring a challenge out of nowhere; okay, I am in!"
Liam also nodded his head at Rio's words,
"I am in! Don't pull back once you have lost, though… With my summoned beasts help, I will be the first to get them done…"
Lia was obviously not going to just watch from the sidelines; she also nodded her head.
"I am in too! Let's compete fair and square; I won't lose to Rio this time!"
Only Riya remained oblivious to the fact that they were all competing with each other, as she was busy nibbling on her candies.
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
It seems new adventures await Team Astra from here onwards. Let's see what happens next…
Question of the day:
Whom would you rather want to team up with to complete a mission?
1. Rio
23:23
2. Link
3. Riya
4. Lia
5. Liam
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.