"Ah, I'm stuffed!" Wan burped as the group was walking to the station. 

Rider rolled his eyes. 

"I've never heard a girl burp before..." 

"Hey, I won't do it in a more formal setting. I actually trust you people!" Wan retorted sticking out her tongue at Rider. 

"I don't really mind." Elias shrugged fixing his parka's hood. "We're all friends here so nothing should really be surprising." 

Drew let out a small laugh. 

"Well, you know what is?" 

"What?" 

"The fact that Wan could wolf down ten plates of crab meat in one sitting on top of eating a hundred raw oysters." 

Wan pouted. 

"Excuse me, you don't pay hundreds of Kalas just to eat rabbit food. You gotta eat the expensive stuff. Oysters are hella expensive no matter where you go in the galaxy. The ones here are imported from Sierra and Earth! I'm not going to fill my stomach with salad. That would be a waste." 

"I like your policy, Wan." Sylvia clicked, wrapping her arm around Wan's neck as the group walked down the stairs to the station. 

"Is your stomach a black hole?" Brix joked as Wan punched her in the shoulder blade. 

"Shut up." Wan scowled. 

Drew smirked. 

"Oh Wan, how you have to suffer such abuse."

"This is a perfectly acceptable group conversation. There is no abuse here." Wan replied defensively.

"Forget about that, let's head back to the dorms. Don't forget, we got homework to do as well as our monthly exams." 

"Ugh, thanks, Mom Elias. Way to ruin the mood." Brix snorted. 

Elias scoffed. 

"I'm actually concerned about my 'children' here!" 

"Whatever you say, Mom." Rider mocked with his gloved hands as puppets. 

The veins could be seen popping out of Elias's forehead. 

"Anyone says that again and I'll make sure you'll see your life flash before your eyes." 

"I'd like to see you try." Drew teased as he felt his body being pulled by a rather strong force. It was Elias dragging him by the hood. 

"That's it you green-haired bird! Come on, we'll settle this here and now!" 

"Woah, chill man!" Drew screamed as he was being dragged across the station floor, his hood choking him. "I can't breathe, Elias!" 

>>>

With the weekend gone, it was time for another week of school. There were no lectures being taught by any of the teachers as it was time for the monthly exams which would take place over the course of two days. Today, all the academic exams would be held in the same arena where the Entrance Exam was held. There was a sort of deja vu when Drew entered the arena full of rows and columns of steel desks with a teacher, who served as a proctor, right next to each row. Funny enough, Drew was placed at the same desk he was at for the Entrance Exam with Elias sitting directly in front of him.

The exams would cover all subject matters taught at the academy within the past month; however, the passing expectation on the exam for each class was different. For Low-Class A, the passing mark was around sixty percent which may be considered pretty low but it's actually quite difficult to accomplish, for your average Low-Class A student, of course. Drew had done well on the weekly exams, scoring high eighties to low nineties which placed him in the fifty out of all the Low-Class A students, although he could've scored higher if he didn't make some dumb errors, he wasn't sure how that would translate on the monthly exams. Since this would be the first one he would take in the school year, he was a bit nervous but less in comparison to when he took the Entrance Exam. 

With the sound of the clock going off, the monthly exam had begun. It was comprised of four sections like the Entrance Exam but shorter in length. In contrast, the difficulty of the questions was bumped up a couple of notches and the time allocated for the entire exam was an hour more than the Entrance Exam but there was a thirty-minute intermission at the two-hour mark. Star was sure generous. 

After skimming through the questions for approximately five minutes, Drew determined that he could only spend an hour max on each section but if he were to account for the fact that he was good at Science since it was just Alchemy basics and History since it was pure memorization, he could allocate an hour and twenty to the other sections. With no hesitation, Drew began with Science and started filling in the blanks to the questions. Time passed and before he knew it, the exams were over.

"Finally," A student slumped in his chair. "It's over." 

"How do think you did?" Elias asked in a sleepy voice, craning his head back. His hair was oily and the dark circles under his eyes were quite evident. 

Unlike Drew and Rider, Elias was a heavy procrastinator. Despite knowing that monthly exams were coming up, Elias decided to pull an all-nighter last night to cram for the exam. When Drew awoke the next morning, Elias had drunk ten cups of black coffee and five energy drinks and only slept for a good half an hour before the exam. He was extremely exhausted. 

"I think I did okay," Drew replied scratching the back of his head. "Luckily, I studied over the weekend." 

Elias groaned, crossing his arms behind his head. 

"You know, I wish I had your mindset. I'm jealous." 

"And you know," Drew followed up as he removed his bag from behind his chair. "I wish I had your good looks." 

"Okay, that's just flattery." Elias scoffed lightly. 

"But it's true. Your looks could kill more than you could with your guns." 

"I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult but I'll just brush it off and take it that you're being funny. I'm too sleepy to even bother with retorting." 

Drew smiled.

"You should get some rest. It's a good thing that the physical exams don't require you to memorize anything."  

"Thanks, doc." Elias chuckled. "I'll be sure to do that immediately. I'm dying from sleep deprivation." 

>>>

The next day, the group had been separated into their respective Positions and taken to different buildings for their physical exams. Drew, obviously, was grouped with the Scouts and it just so happened that the Scouts, Casters, and Swordsmen were going to be tested in the same building so that meant Drew would see Wan. It was nice knowing that there was someone he knew that was going to be in the same location as him. As the groups walked to their testing site, Drew saw some familiar faces. Amongst them, one of them approached Wan. It was Thomas Nevassuare. 

If it was him, that could only spell one thing, trouble. Contrary, to Drew's surprise, Thomas bowed his head down to Wan. Using his sharp sense, Drew eavesdropped on the conversation. 

"I'm sorry for what happened to your brother Ms. Louis." He apologized. There were traces of guilt and sincerity in his voice. 

Wan looked at him emotionlessly. 

"Do you think a simple apology like that will make up for what your family did to mine? Do you understand the pain I felt when my brother was convicted for something he didn't do? Do you?" 

Her voice rose two octaves yet she tried to remain calm. 

"Listen, I know you will never forgive my family for what they did to yours..." Thomas trailed. "I was terrible and what I am doing now is shaming the entire Nevassuare family but you deserve the apology. My family is too prideful to understand that and I was like that too but after considering things and placing myself in your shoes, I understood." 

Wan clenched her fist. She could no longer contain the anger that she has withheld for years. Her emotions erupted like a volcano as her palm made solid contact with Thomas's check. Bitterness. Anger. Rage. Sadness. Resentment. All of it was contained in that one crisp slap. The mark remained red on Thomas's cheek which he accepted. His eyes pointed towards the ground. He was truly afraid to look Wan in the eyes.  

"For four years!" Wan screamed, dragging the attention of nearby students. "For four years! My family had to suffer the consequences of your family. We took the blame! You fucking rich people can just get away with everything! You have the power, the means to do it! But..." She grit.

"You are careless and because of your family's carelessness, mine had to suffer. Do you know how hard it was for us the bear the pain of your consequences for so long?! Do you? Do you understand the humiliation our family had to experience? I don't care whether you want to 'reimburse' my family as an 'apology' like you rich families always do to shut us up but nothing will make me satisfied until your family admits the truth. The truth behind your despicable crime! I want to see that man behind bars for the rest of his life! That will be your way of paying back my family and getting rid of your own guilt. You have to suffer those consequences and I will not rest until I see it with my very eyes on the big screen!" 

"I knew you would say that so consider it done," Thomas said in defeat. "The family member who committed that heinous crime is actually going to be expelled from our family in a few days. Police have already found evidence of him getting involved in illegal dealings and other sexually-based offenses. It's gotten to the point where the Nevassuare family can no longer cover up his tracks so our only solution is to expel him from the family-" 

"All for the sake of reputation..." Wan interjected. "That's always how you rich people work. Trying to minimize the damages to retain your reputation..." 

Drew had never seen Wan this pissed in the time he's known her but it's understandable and for a thirteen-year-old girl, the events that had unfolded before her very eyes would've been extremely traumatizing. Because of the Nevassuare family, Wan had lost her brother and suffered immense humiliation from her peers. She was ostracized for so long for something that was not even remotely her fault. Drew could help but feel pity for her but as time passed, the guilt crawled up the backs of the Nevassuare family. It haunted them for so long and it was a black spot to their reputation. The Nevassuare's were weak and it played in Wan's favor but the way they came across to remove this black spot made Drew feel a little bitter. 

Despite the Nevassuare family being considerably powerful, they were one of the few families who had obtained their power fairly recently due to being affiliated with Heartman. Even though Heartman himself was an egotistical man, he knew how to keep people around him and in his favor. The Nevassuares were one of them. To be more exact, they were the largest butt-kissers to Heartman but Heartman never kicked them away because they provided an essential service, they were the major provider of information and physical security for Heartman. Without their extensive network, Heartman wouldn't be as powerful as he is today. However, while the Nevassuares may seem powerful to the public, the family itself was especially weak.

Before Heartman came into the picture, they were a declining third-rate family but Heartman found value in their services and took them to the top of the food chain. As time passed, their reputation grew but it also caused them to become arrogant and blind to the things around them but that arrogance became a way for them to cover their own weakness. Clearly, their weakness overtook their arrogance and shattered their pride so the only way for them to get rid of it was to get rid of the cause itself. What a vicious method but they wouldn't have been stuck in this situation if they came out and admitted it earlier...four years earlier. If they did, the repercussions to both the victims and themself would've been kept to a bare minimum and nothing would've happened afterward except for a couple of financial setbacks which they could easily recover from within a year. Regardless, there would be damages but since it has reached this point, they would have to suffer a harder blow. 

They deserve whatever is coming for them. Drew thought to himself. 

This was Wan's matter and it was up to her to settle it. 

"Ms. Louis," Thomas grit, "this is the most I can do with my current position in the family. All I can do is convey an apology from my family to yours and hope to settle this as soon as possible. I wish you a good rest of your school year."

"Fine," Wan said with exasperation as she walked past Thomas, "it's better than nothing however, you must keep your promise. I don't want anything to do with you or your damn family once this is over." 

Thomas was at a loss. 

"Ms. Louis-" But Wan ignored him. 

As Wan walked past Thomas, all he could do was bow his head down in shame. He relinquished his pride to apologize to that commoner girl because his family forced him to in order to save their reputation as much as possible before it takes a heavy nose dive with the news that was going to be released to the public in a few days. Now, looking at that commoner girl, Wan Louis, Thomas realized how many lives his family had ruined. How many lives they trampled on to rise in power.

Originally, he shared the same mindset as his family, he believed that power was necessary to be happy, to have everything he ever wanted. Now, he wasn't so sure if that was true. Being at Star for the past month, there were those more powerful than him and much weaker than himself. Those who were weaker couldn't retaliate against those more powerful yet they weren't discouraged they didn't surrender to those more powerful but they had something that could help them push through the pain. They had something that he thought he had but at the same time didn't it made him envious yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it. 

With the conversation over, Drew decided to approach Wan. Her head had tilted down towards the snow-covered concrete ground. The crystals crunching under her feet with every step she took as she trailed behind the other students. They were almost at the test venue. 

"Hey, Wan!" Drew hollered as he jogged over to her side. "You okay?" 

Hearing his voice, Wan shifted her eyes so he was in the corner of her view. The aqua sparkle in them had faded into a deep blue as dark as the bottomless ocean. 

She sniffled. 

"Yeah, I'll be okay. I just need some time alone to gather my thoughts but I think I'll be okay to take the physical exam. Do you mind telling others that I won't be there for lunch? I'm worried about Elias...he'll be panicking if I don't say anything, what a worrywart." 

Drew nodded. A trace of concern appeared on his face.  

"Of course. Take all the time you need. Once you feel better, feel free to talk about it with us."

"Thanks a lot, Drew." She smiled softly. "Good luck on the exam." 

"You too."  

>>>

The testing venue was one of the smaller arenas on Star's campus. It used to be Star's main arena when the school was first constructed on Kraus but it serves as an auxiliary arena reserved for the Elite-Class students. Today, students from all classes would be using the facilities the arena had to offer. 

"Okay!" A female voice called from the middle of the arena as the lights in the dark arena flashed on one by one. "Welcome first-years to your first physical exam of the semester!" 

As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, Drew caught a small glimpse of the female figure as well as two other figures standing right beside her. The female figure had long black hair that went down to her waist. She wore rounded glasses, with the lenses encompassed by a golden rim which enlarged her golden eyes, and the standard professor attire offered by Star which consisted of a black suit, a white collared shirt, and a blue long coat with Star's emblem stitched onto it in a silver thread. She wasn't tall neither was she short but it was probably the heels that made her look taller than she was. 

With all the students' eyes on her, she resumed her speech. 

"Greetings students! For those who don't already know me, I'm Lauren Varias but most of you know me as Ms. Vairas or the Caster Position Teacher and I will be the proctor of today's physical exam. Besides me, are two of Star's most promising Medics who will ensure that all students will make it out with minimal injuries today. If you two could," she gestured, "please introduce yourselves to the students." 

"Ah yes." the female, brown-haired Medic's bowed as she stepped forward. She wore a gray turtleneck sweatshirt with a dark blue Medics coat that went down to her hips, which were covered by her black leggings, with Star's emblem etched on its breast in the same silver thread as the professor's coat. A lanyard with her ID hung from her neck and a briefcase was clutched tightly in both of her hands.

"Nice to meet everyone," She greeted with a slight Earth accent. "I'm Rika Tseng and I'll be one of the Medics attending you all today. Please treat me well." 

She stepped back while the other Medic came forward. He was blond, though it was clear that his hair was dyed, and a head taller than Rika. He wore similar attire to her and held a briefcase in his right hand but what was really striking was his eyes. One of his eyes was blood-red while the other was emerald green each with its own little world circulating within them.

"Hello," He spoke his voice obviously indicated that he was from Kraus. "I'm Keith Flemming and I'll be the other Medic for today's exam." 

As he stepped back to his original position, Ms. Varias stepped forward. "Now that introductions are complete I will be getting on with the details for the physical exam."

From her coat pocket, Ms. Varias pulled out a small remote. With the click of a button, a holographic screen appeared in front of her. On the screen were the names of all the students in the venue classified by their Position. Below each name was an object of some sort. 

"In front of you," She resumed, "is a screen with all your names categorized by Position. Below each name is a weapon you will be using during the exam and I will be randomizing it in a moment so then you know who is your opponent. In combat, one must know how to use whatever is around them in order to defeat their opponent. How you use your weapon is up to you as long as you win. Anything can become a weapon as long as one knows how to utilize it. This physical exam will be utilized to test your adeptness and the student who defeats their opponent in the most creative way possible will receive a High D-Rank Core of their choice to enhance their weapon while anyone who makes it into the top ten, including first place, will be rewarded with free titanium allow weapon of their choice." 

"Holy crap a Core!" One student exclaimed beside Drew.

"A High D-Rank Core! Did I hear that right?" Another student exclaimed. 

"Tch, peasants." An Elite-Class student spat. "I could easily afford a High D-Rank Core if I wanted." 

"No way, a titanium alloy weapon?! Most students can only afford Iron-reinforced tin weapons!" 

Cores are basically condensed spheres of Otrio (the Snowstone Core is a good example) which can enhance a weapon's qualities, used in creating Genetic Regiments, enhancing the Genetic Warrior themselves. This is different than a person's Otrio Core which is inside the person themselves and cannot be removed until their death. Like all other rankings, Cores were classified by power, the same way as Genetic Warriors, from F to L and from Low to High in each Class. A High D-Rank core could cost several tens of millions of Kalas in the normal market but depending on the rarity of the Core, it could cost a lot more. Core had different effects, some specific towards a specific Attribute while others were not. Since Ms. Varias was offering a High D-Rank Core to the student who defeats their opponent in the most creative way possible, no doubt that all students would be clawing at this opportunity. Drew doubted that he could make it into first place but if he could make it into the top ten, it would be a golden opportunity for him to replace his current weapon. The current shortsword he had was about to break at any time since it was old and it's about time for him to get a new one but if he made it into the top ten, he could get one for free!

With that, a devious plan had begun to form in Drew's mind.