"Huff.... huff.... huff....."

Three elven boys stood before an elven man, out of breath.

"I came first, right? You caught it, right?"

"Are you kidding me? I was the one who came in first! Isn't that right?"

"What are you two talking about? It was obviously me who came in first. Don't you think, Sir?"

The boys begun to assess their own victory, eager to be rewarded.

Glaring at one another with discomfort, sparks flew between the three.

"First place? Why are you arguing over such a thing? I think you three have misunderstood something."

The man standing at a stand outside the dormitories merely smiled as he replied to the three.

"Eh? You mean the exam wasn't a race?"

"A race? Haha.... while promptness and speed are certainly qualities which should be rewarded, quick wit is also critical to a soldier. The fact that you three came to the simplest possible answer without giving it even a second of thought shows the lack thereof."

Slammed by the harsh words of the man, the three were taken aback with surprise.

"Then... the exam was something else?"

"Indeed. Of course, making it here first means that you all are able to take the exam before the others, however I must also punish you for failing in such a basic test. Therefore.... there will be a penalty applied to your scores. Minus 1 for each of you."

"EH!?"

"Sir, that isn't fair!"

"I don't think you should deduct points from us so quickly without proper reason."

The three immediately begun to protest the decision of the man, yet he stood firm without flinching in the face of their cries.

"Ah, but I do have proper reason. You three were just arguing among one another. You threw everything to the wind and dashed here without even bothering to think things through. Quick reactions are a good thing, and relying on those instincts perhaps will save your life in battle- however the point remains that you failed to even consider the possibility of your logic being incorrect."

Opening his eyes slightly, the man smiled as he corrected the boys.

"Furthermore, your own protests and the way you carry yourselves is unacceptable. If you are to become an adult, you must first act like one. Carry yourselves with pride. Do not speak casually. Do not argue among others. Your voices must be kept without emotion at all times, and you are not to show even the slightest hint of personal opinion when speaking with others."

This elven man who had white hair which was parted in uneven manner continued to lecture, informing the three boys of every last action they had performed which was incorrect.

"In order to become an adult, you first must be able to do at least this much. Regardless of age, if you are unwilling to listen to others, and merely shout over them in an attempt to be heard and seen above them, then are you not anything more than a grown child?"

The three boys were quieted at this, at which the man nodded lightly with satisfaction.

"Very good. It looks like you three are at least capable of learning. Now then, it is time you are to receive your keys."

The man reached underneath the table before him, taking out three orbs of different colors.

"I will allow you three to choose which of these three keys you receive."

"Keys? Those things are keys?"

"They are not just keys. These orbs serve many functions, the ability to unlock a specific door being one of them. They are your companions, so to speak. Each student will be granted an orb. This orb will register with your being, and it will be used to store all sorts of data on a student. Their points, their grades, their magical abilities and potential, and so much more. Everything about you will be recorded."

"How does that work?", one child asked while looking at the orb with curiosity.

"It is a simple process. The orb absorbs the mana exerted by the students, and by doing so it can determine not only the type of magic, but also the level of energy contained, and the specifics with each spell the student performs. With physical abilities, it can do the same by reading body heat, levels of fatigue, and effectiveness of movements. Of course, it cannot process spells and movements which are beyond the 8th tier in magnitude, as those are within the realms of heroes and legends."

The boys looked to one another before one spoke up.

"Then..... I'll choose the blue one."

"Making a decision for yourself without consulting those next to you for their own desires. Minus 1."

The blue orb then floated over to the boy who spoke, and a number appeared above his head.

[-2]

"Wha-"

Looking up with surprise, the boy was both confused and irritated.

"Why did I get another point deducted? All I did was choose one like you said to!"

"Talking back to an instructor. Minus 1"

[-3]

"Is deducting points all you know how to do!?"

[-4]

At having so many points deducted so drastically, the boy quickly decided to shut his own mouth. The other two merely watched, lightly shocked as they looked back and forth between themselves and the man before him.

"You.... are an instructor?"

"Of course I am. Why would I have been assigned to perform this examination if I was not an instructor?"

The boy who had so many points deducted so quickly looked to the man with displeasure, yet he held his tongue for fear of further punishment.

He was already at a significant disadvantage, being four points below all of the other students who hadn't arrived. In this school where score determined your entire lifestyle, losing so many points this early was nothing less than a death sentence.

"Ah, I suppose I should state my name then. To you students, you may refer to me as Mr. Ronaldo. I am a first year instructor, and there is a certain nickname which has been given to me by the many students who have attempted to take my class. I am known by them as 'the hurdle'."

With a paper thin smile, the man who had a sly demeanor spoke thus, introducing himself.

"Because none have ever been able to surpass my expectations."

With haughty statement, the three shivered at their own situation.

These three, among many of the other students, had been thrown away by their parents.

Thrown into Yulen Academy, the frying pan of the Alliance.

Rumors had spread about the methods used by the Academy- reaching the ears of many students who were now in attendance.

If one reached [-10] at any point within their time at the Academy, they would be deemed as incapable.

Those deemed as incapable were to go through reconstructive training, of which the contents were confidential.

However, the fact that not a single person knew of the contents spoke volumes.

With instructors who were brutal on their evaluations of students, a few mistakes could cost these students their entire lives, throwing them into an inescapable pit of failure.

"Ah, and to you students who have been hiding while watching this scene play out.... why don't you all come forth and join in the discussion. After all, it is not every day which I get to meet so many new students. Speaking of which..... minus one to everyone who was merely standing by and watching. On the battlefield, to stand by and watch as a fellow soldier is in a pinch..... is nothing less than unacceptable."

As if they were termites having been exposed to the light, the students begun to come out of the woodwork from locations all over.

Bushes, buildings, all sorts of places. Including the three who were already present, There were roughly 15 students.

"Hmm... it would seem that at least this many were able to find this place. I suppose I will deduct 2 points from all who are not currently present. Therefore.... you all are at least above the rest, the talkative boy aside. Very well. Everyone present will be my students. Following this examination I will have no control over the points of the other students, therefore I should deduct their points while it is within my control."

"You sure like to give people a lot of negatives."

Among the students, a certain baggy eyed girl spoke without care, not even so much as facing the instructor as her eyelids drooped down, covering half of her green eyes.

"Speaking out of turn, to an instructor without respect, failure to take care of ones own appearance, interruption of my lecture, and not addressing me with eye contact. Although, with eyes as ugly as yours, I'm not quite sure I would even want to maintain eye contact with you. This places your score at [-6]. Do you have anything else to say, Ally?"

"Oh? You know my name? Did you study each and every one of us for this?"

Completely ignoring the mood and everything which had happened thus far, the demeanor of the girl didn't change in the least.

Gasps of shock were heard as the girl said this, as she ignored everything which they had been taught thus far.

"Responding to a question with a question, and one which borders an insult at that, questioning the knowledge of an instructor, ignoring of the failures of your classmates and of yourself, demonstrating an inability to learn-"

"Yatta yatta yatta. You know what I hear? I hear yapping and yapping, but I don't hear any actual words. I hear a whole lot of complaints, I hear a whole lot of accusations, I hear a whole lot of bullshit, but I don't hear a single good thing. Let me ask you something, instructor. Do you ever award points?"

Faced with the questioning of the girl, the people nearby could do nothing more than stare in shock at her rudeness.

The smile which adorned the face of the instructor vanished, and he slowly walked forward, approaching the girl.

"Blatant insulting of the instructor after cutting him off, use of foul language, questioning of the methods of the instructor, and many.... many more offenses. Ally, your point total is now [-28]. You have already surpassed the limit of punishment, which will come in time. Should we continue?"

"What's the worst thing you can do to me? Expel me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know. You'll find out soon enough. I expect to see you after class tomorrow. That's enough. I'm no longer in the mood to proctor this exam. Because of this girl, everyone else receives another [-2] points, putting most of you at [-3] and the boy who I spoke with earlier at [-6]. Everyone who couldn't make it here remains at [-2], making everyone present below all others. That is all."

With the wave of his hand, a number of orbs flew out from underneath the table, each assigning themselves to one student.

Hundreds began to fly out in all directions, heading towards the students who were not present in this place.

And then, above the heads of each student as they received their orbs, a number was inscribed.

Permanently residing above the students, these numbers would remind them over and over of their position within this academy.

The orbs then changed colors, a dark spot forming on each of them and pointing a certain direction.

[Compass feature activated. Please head this way to find your housing.]

Simultaneously, a computerized voice exited each of the orbs, to which the spiritual girl smiled.

"Hey, this is kinda cool. Wonder how they came up with technology such as this?"

The instructor merely looked back in surprise at the girl who seemed to know nothing of this place, completely ignoring everything around her.

'What on earth is wrong with that one? She is perhaps the worst student I've ever had. I'll have to straighten her out. And she is first on the list for the field trip. That much is certain.'

Walking off, Mr. Ronaldo thinned his eyes, heading back towards the center of campus.

'Did something happen with the batch of students this year?'

----

Ashley found herself surrounded by the glares of many.

'Ah.'

Looking around with dead eyes to see the frustrated looks on all those around her, she smiled lightly and spoke up.

"Something wrong? Don't tell me you're all mad at me about what that teacher just did to you."

With a light chuckle, the girl merely grinned.

Whispering to herself so nobody else could hear, she looked up at the skies, ignoring the hostility which surrounded her.

"School is just like I remember it."

Standing up, Ashley walked off before the boy who had been berated more than the others stood before her.

"Hey. What the hell were you thinking? You saw how many points he deducted from me, so why did you go and pull something like that? It should've been obvious that he'd take a ton of points from you. And now we all have to deal with those consequences!"

"What's wrong, minus 6? Are you scared that you'll lose even more points? If you wanna complain, why don't you go talk to the teacher who took points from you because of MY behavior. Ah, wait. I suppose if you did that, you wouldn't get anywhere."

'It's not scary anymore.'

With a grin, Ashley spoke to the kid before her in a way that she never would have been able to do before.

'I'm fine talking to people now.'

"So basically.... since you can't take it out on him, you resort to me.... because you're not as scared of me?"

"Wha- how can you take this so lightly!? Don't you understand!? We're all worth nothing!! And if we fail here, then it's really all over for us!!!"

"Hmm..... so this thing acts as a compass, as an ability reader, as a key, as an ID, and as a location tracker. And a whole lot more. Interesting. This school is pretty rich."

"Oi!! Listen to people when they're talking to you!!"

The boy shouted out in anguish as Ashley ignored him, walking straight past him.

Looking back at the child, Ashley merely thinned her eyes.

"You said you're scared of failure? Then, hold onto that fear. I'm the result of failing so much that I've lost any fear of failure."

----

"We are to become mediocre in all manners. We are not to stand out. Tell me, is there something in this statement which you failed to understand?"

"Eh? I didn't do anything that would compromise our position. My intuition said so. And I'm always right."

With a sigh, Trevor walked alongside Ashley through the line of buildings, harshly criticizing her actions.

"Even so, you've now made an enemy not only of the instructor, but of the entire class. There are 11 other students within what is to become our class, and you've now incurred the hatred of all of them."

"Yeah, that's what I do best. Nobody's ever liked me before, and I don't really intend to get along with anyone now."

"I'm going to develop a tumor if you continue pulling stunts like this. Although I will agree that the instructor was a bit..... eccentric."

"Eccentric? He was a complete dick. He's lucky I didn't blast his head off right there. I could've just blamed it on a spontaneous black hole that formed you know."

As Ashley made this statement, Trevor chuckled lightly.

"Well, I suppose no harm has been done. So long as our identities are not found out, and so long as we remain in this nation as students, we will be in a position to act."

"You know, I was wondering. Wouldn't it have been easier to just take over this nation before the Indeterminant got here?", Garett asked from behind.

"That possibility did exist, however it would spur the Indeterminant into action far too quickly. The Determined needed time to organize the forces of the monster realm, for unity is no trivial matter. Even so, she has done exceptionally well thus far. Truly, even without our assistance she has been able to take control of the entire Dictatorship. It is because of her competency that I am able to come to a place like this on assignment."

"So are we going to do something about that instructor? Or are we going to let him live for now?", Samantha asked.

"There is no point killing him, as a new one similar to him will be appointed. However, that doesn't mean we have to deal with his bullshit. I'm sure you understand, Ally?", Garett stated.

"Heh heh....."

The girl giggled to herself with a creepy smile, to which she then looked to the side.

"Ah, looks like we're at our dorm. Since we're all in the same class I guess we're all right next to each other?"

"It looks that way.", Samantha said as the four approached the building.

Following far behind the four, the other students within this class were heading in the same direction, confirming this hypothesis.

The three approached a stairway, heading up to a hallway with entrances to the rooms on the side. The place itself was dingy and dirty, and appeared as if it was nothing more than an abandoned building.

As they walked up, the four soon came to their rooms, which were directly next to one another. As the three stood in front of their doors, the compass function would point directly inside the rooms, indicating that they had arrived.

All except one.

"Ah, looks like mine is over here."

Ashley walked over to the side, where her compass pointed to a trash dumpster.

"Hahaha! Looks like this was his little prank on me since I had such low points compared to the others? Pfft. These teachers are kinda idiots, you know that? They really don't understand what it means to inflict pain on people. Everyone seems so scared like their life is gonna become hell if they don't obey."

Placing the orb onto the handle, a clicking sound was heard as the bin unlocked.

Opening the lid, Ashley jumped in and laid in the pile of garbage while closing her eyes.

"Little did they know that the hell we've been through is something far worse than anything they could imagine. And the hell we'll put them through... hahaha..."

"Are you really alright with that? You don't really have to follow the rules of this school. We can just head back to the Dictatorship for the night if you want."

Looking over to her in concern, Garett stood before Ashley.

"This is what I've been assigned, right? Hehehe...."

"You really aren't mad right now?"

"Why would I be? The teacher was annoying, and if I was powerless then I guess I'd be pretty pissed. If I was just a regular person, then I'd probably want to kill him. But somehow..... I don't really care right now. Although.... I'm kinda interested to see what he'll do during this detention."

With a smile, Garett walked off.

"Suit yourself."

Heading into his own room, he opened the door for a moment before stopping himself.

"You know, this is the first time since we've entered this world that we've slept in a different room."

Even after having been released of the limitation, the four were almost inseparable.

Having become so accustomed to living by one another, they had continued to sleep within the same room together.

"What? You miss my company?", Trevor joked.

"Haha...."

With a trailing off laugh, Garett entered the room alone.

"I guess I just realize now how close we were forced to become."

"Close? Don't be silly. We were partners in crime. If we didn't understand one another inside and out, how could we have ever survived?", Samantha stated.

Looking back, Garett noticed that many of the other students were now approaching the building.

"Well, time to head to sleep before anything else. After all, we've got our first actual day of class tomorrow."

Walking into the room and closing the door, he noticed that the room was nothing more than a straw bed inside an area no larger than a closet.

"Haha.... so this is what negative 3 gets me?"

With a smirk, Garett laid in the bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

"I wonder what happens if we get to negative 100? Haha..... well, I guess we'd have to break a few people to find out."

----