"…we are?" I asked in disbelief. It wasn't that I didn't have any confidence in the strength of my group, but I thought the strongest Holy Saints or the renowned Black Rose would accomplish the mission ahead of us.

"Yeah, you are," Feng Hai a.s.sured us with a smile. "Which is quite the surprise, considering that the five of you are from four different societies. Seems like it didn't really hinder your teamwork. I'm heartened to see you cooperating with each other as if you're from the same society."

Craig snorted. "Who cares about societies? Out here, we're a team. We have to rely on each other and cooperate if we want to survive and achieve the objective. This isn't the time for petty rivalries and politics."

"I'm so glad you think that way." There was something about Feng Hai's tone that bothered me, as if he was critical of the other groups. At least, that was what I concluded when I saw him glance back at the forest, his eyes taking on a faraway look. I was aware that he had been monitoring our progress, using the same surveillance technology that Jing Tian Academy used to watch us while we conducted our missions outside. "However, some people still fall prey to political infighting and backstab each other even though they are from the same society."

I didn't know if he was referring to Holy Saints or Black Rose, and it didn't seem appropriate to ask, but as usual I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me.

"Who are you talking about?"

Feng Hai smiled slyly at me. "None of your business."

"Sorry," I muttered as I shrank back, intimidated by his expression. The graduate and our senior was really terrifying. I knew that he was on a completely different level, when compared to us.

"But I saw you guys defeat a Rank C monster," Feng Hai said, returning to the topic at hand. "Great job! Even I would have trouble defeating a Rank C monster alone." He glanced at the other instructors. "I would have to work together with my colleagues. That's how good your teamwork was, covering each other and making use of everyone's strengths."

We glanced at each other, not sure what to say. I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at the praise, and I was sure the others were experiencing the same thing.

"Oh, well…we did our best."

Craig rubbed the back of his head as he grinned, but he was evidently taken in by Feng Hai's flattery.

"I didn't do much," Theodore murmured bitterly as he glanced down at his feet. "I only got in the way."

"No, you didn't," I a.s.sured him. "Your attack helped to crack the Crimson Spider King's carapace and weakened his defenses. If you didn't hurt him with your Mjolnir, it would have been a lot more difficult to destroy him."

"Yeah," Dong Fang Yue Chu agreed whole-heartedly. "I can confirm that the Crimson Spider King's movements grew a lot more sluggish and slower after both you and Craig delivered a ma.s.sive amount of damage to him. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to dodge all of his attacks."

"Your team displayed the right amount of aggressiveness, while tempering it with adequate caution," Feng Hai continued with a sagely nod. He had been listening to our exchange, and waited until we were finished before speaking. "Holy Saints was overly aggressive, and focused too much on hunting monsters to raise their score as high as possible to the point they still have yet to achieve the objective. They are close, but they have suffered quite a few casualties and injuries in the process, and thus aren't quite able to make that final push to grab the mission token…yet. In contrast, Black Rose is overly cautious. The group is made almost entirely of girls, which might or might not be a factor, but they overly focused on avoiding combat to the point where their progress has slowed down to a crawl."

Nodding excitedly, Feng Hai seemed pretty pleased.

"You guys will definitely get my seal of approval for the upcoming national tournament. I'm sure the five of you will make it into the representative team."

"Well, we've to see how the others perform first," I mumbled, trying to stay modest. Even though Feng Hai's declaration sent a thrill throughout my spine, I was aware that nothing was set in stone. If the other teams put on a more impressive performance, then they would get selected over us. Our part was done. There was nothing more we could do to improve our score.

Given how Holy Saints went around hunting monsters, I was certain that they would get pretty high scores, especially when compared to us. In contrast, I was worried about Black Rose. I hoped their members, especially Alicia, were able to get into the team. Alicia, in particular, would be devastated if she didn't become a representative. And having seen the skills and abilities of everyone in the academy, I felt that it would be a total loss to exclude her from the representative team.

"Well, you guys can go rest now!" Feng Hai clapped his hands and gestured for us to return to our bunks. We glanced at each other, a little taken aback, and then nodded.

"Yes, sir!"

Tramping off, we went to get some rest.

*

As it turned out, we were graded as individuals, and not as a team. According to Feng Hai, every member in my team did well, and we were selected as representatives.

Just as he said we would. Then again, Feng Hai was the one deciding everything, he probably already made his mind up long ago. However, I knew him to be a fair and impartial instructor, so I was sure he gave everyone a chance to impress him.

Therefore, a good number of Holy Saints made it with us. To my complete lack of surprise, Cody and Lily, and as everyone antic.i.p.ated, so was Harrison Reed. There was no way the president of Holy Saints wouldn't be selected. I had seen him fight in the arena before. His ability was the real deal.

Unfortunately, Feng Hai remarked something about his leaders.h.i.+p skills being lacking.

"I'm sorry. I know you were aiming for the position, but I don't think you can be the captain for the representatives."

"Can I know why?" Harrison asked calmly. He didn't seem offended, but I was sure he was bitterly disappointed inside.

"The decisions you made in Sen Lin Forest…" Feng Hai gave him a hard stare. "I think they are questionable. Sure, you racked up a huge kill tally and scored a lot of points. But in return, your team suffered the most casualties, and you put your members in danger most of the time." He shook his head, not exactly disgusted, but still highly critical of Harrison's choices. "Tell me, is that what a captain should be doing? Shouldn't you place the wellbeing and safety of your members and teammates above everything else? What's the point of scoring the highest if the majority of your team gets killed?"

"I understand Instructor's point, and you are right to criticize me about that," Harrison conceded with a nod. "But I would like to raise that my team survived."

"With horrible injuries. And make no mistake, you didn't survive on your own abilities." Feng Hai glowered at the Holy Saints president. "Teams of instructors had been following you, to ensure you didn't get accidentally killed by monsters in the forest. They had to eliminate a few stray monsters that would have gotten in your path while your team's healer was busily treating your wounded. And speaking of wounded, the injuries your members sustained weren't light."

Compared to Theodore's injuries, the wounds Holy Saints suffered were pretty grim and severe. Theodore survived with a few serious burns, but they weren't life-threatening, and a healing spell from Pearl allowed him to walk again. Thanks to that, we didn't spend too much time exiting the forest after claiming the mission token.

However, the injuries that Holy Saints suffered were often debilitating. While Harrison usually got off lightly because of his natural skill and strength, his other members were not so fortunate. They had to spend hours staying stationary, trying to recover from their frequent, vicious battles, and their poor healer had exhausted herself.

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Ironically, the healer was from another society, and not from Holy Saints. She was the last member of their group, a survivor from one of the smaller societies who were largely eliminated by now. She still looked pale in the aftermath of the tests. I heard that she botched several of her healing spells in panic during the final test.

That might explain why she didn't look so good.

Harrison glanced at her apologetically, realizing the strain he had placed on her.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Learn from your mistakes." Feng Hai then proceeded to name the final two members. He glanced toward Black Rose.

Alicia, Miranda and the two other girls in the team, were waiting anxiously. The fifth and last member, a guy (a very lucky one, come to think of it, since he got to spend almost a week with a team of girls), was a little more relaxed.

"Alicia and Miranda. You're both in the team."

Well, can't say I didn't expect that. Alicia was too skilled and powerful to exclude, and there was a reason why Miranda attained the rank of vice-president in Black Rose. All in all, there weren't many surprises.

"This is unfair!" Terence bellowed. "How did I not get chosen? Why were those losers…" he glared viciously in the direction of me and Dong Fang Yue Chu. "…selected over me instead?! There must be some mistake!"

"I a.s.sure you, there is no mistake." Feng Hai gave him a stern look. "I originally didn't intend to say this right here, in front of everybody, but I guess I should. Terence, your performance was the most disappointing by far. Instead of cooperating with the rest of your team, you focused on elevating your own status and succ.u.mbed to political backstabbing. Not to mention, it was due to your actions against the Amber Ape that got your teammates hurt. Even though you're outside, in a dangerous forest, trying to survive against monsters, you still have the cheek to raise dissent and undermine Harrison's authority. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I guarantee that you won't be selected for any representative team if you continue to play those games."

"Ah, that…that's only a misunderstanding…"

Terence turned pale, but he lowered his head and fell silent instead of arguing.

"And that's it. Congratulations to all those who have been selected as representatives. For the rest of you, you have worked extremely well and performed well…" His glance at Terence seemed to imply, "with exceptions." But he wisely didn't say that out. "Even if you didn't get chosen, you should still be proud of yourselves. You survived almost a week in Sen Lin Forest and acquitted yourselves well in the face of adversary. As your instructor, I am very proud of you."

Everyone, except Terence, puffed their chests out, or looked elated, exchanging delighted looks with each other.

So the team of representatives was basically comprised of Harrison, Cody, Lily, Alicia, Miranda, Craig, Theodore, Pearl, Dong Fang Yue Chu and me. Yay, I guess?

"It's not over yet." Feng Hai grinned at us. "The ten of you, had best prepare for some training from h.e.l.l. I'm going to whip you into shape for this year's tournament. But before that…"

He waved his hands to dismiss us.

"Go get some rest. The training camp is over! You've all graduated and can raise your heads high!"

With that, we stepped into our one-week break after the training camp.