Ring! Ring!

Ring! Ring!

Sophie's barrier device bleeped twice as multiple lines of text appeared on a holographic projection.

[Attention candidates. the examination has now ended!]

[Please wait for a transport vessel to arrive]

[You will be taken back to the camp base shortly]

"We did it!" Cleo yelled in excitement as she ran towards Sophie and flung herself into the hybrid girl's arms.

Mwah!

Sophie's eyes widened in shock as Cleo stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips tightly against her girlfriend's.

The princess was feeling quite mischievous as she slipped her tongue inside of Sophie's mouth and flirtatiously teased and poked.

"Can you two get a room?" Qiana muttered in disapproval as she carefully wiped the blood off her dagger.

The two lovebirds in front of her seemed to be in their own separate world as Qiana's suggestion was completely ignored.

In fact, Sophie's hand was roaming dangerously close to Cleo's ass as the kissing intensified with passion.

Luckily, the hybrid girl managed to calm down her urges as it was neither the time nor the place to act on her instincts.

"I could use some food," Astrid whined as she rubbed her belly mournfully.

There was nothing to eat in the desert and this Mendolesa girl was starving.

At this point the bland nutrition vials in the base camp's cafeteria seemed as appetizing as a five-star meal.

"Same! I could eat an entire year's worth of nutrient solution," Sophie broke away from the kiss and replied.

Cleo was not pleased that her make out session had been interrupted and shot a fierce glare towards Astrid when Sophie was not looking.

"We have one week before the semester begins. I just plan on relaxing and spending most of my time reading," Qiana yawned as she stretched her arms out.

"Don't you want to join a club and have an awesome campus life?" Sophie asked curiously.

"No," came the prompt reply from the quiet girl.

Qiana only enjoyed a few simple pleasures in life such as reading and gardening.

Honestly if it weren't for Astrid's tendency to drag her around she would be in her room all day.

"Have you all gotten your timetables yet? I just got a rough outline sent to my communicator but none of the times are final," Cleo joined in on the conversation as it seemed that her intimate moment with Sophie had passed.

"At least you got sent some information. I swear they just like to keep us in the dark on purpose," Sophie scowled as she recalled inquiring about the upcoming semester and not getting a response.

All majors required that first years had to take a core set of courses so the girls would be spending most of the year together.

Sophie had chosen to specialise in poison and beast cultivation, Cleo had selected the mech controller field and Qiana had enrolled in the assassination major.

Astrid's situation was a bit special as she was being privately taught by Archmage Hollystorm so all the classes for her were optional.

The girls laughed and complained but there was an undercurrent of relief.

They had survived the intense training camp!

Although the results were not based solely on the final exam alone. Sophie was confident that they would all pass with flying colours.

Buzz! Buzz!

A sleek transport pod arrived near Sophie and her friends while making soft hums.

The transport pod was shaped like a boat, but the anti gravity rings attached to its bottom side allowed it to float a few meters off the ground.

"Alright girls let's go back!" Sophie smiled as she lifted up Cleo in a princess carry and jumped onboard the vessel in one smooth motion.

Astrid and Qiana followed shortly after and the pod hummed as it sped across the desert back to the camp.

It was a testament to how advanced the vehicles were in this era as the distance travelled during two days of walking was easily covered in about five minutes.

"Oh, look at the crowd," Astrid bared her fangs as she spotted the cluster of students huddled in the center of the camp.

The transport pod stopped at the entrance with a loud hum.

The girls disembarked and joined the sea of students as they waited for the announcement by the head instructor.

There were various emotions present on the faces of the students.

Some were laughing and joking, others hung their heads anxiously while quite a few winced as their injuries had yet to properly recover.

Sophie and her friends were by no means the last group to arrive and it took fifteen more minutes until all the students who took part in the exam were accounted for.

Instructor Selvon emerged from one of the tents and slowly walked towards the front of the crowd with the other instructors and teachers in tow.

Sophie spotted Professor Macabre in her usual white coat and couldn't resist giving a small wave.

Instructor Selvon cleared his throat and to the utter confusion of the students.

He begun his speech in a calm voice.

"My dear students. It has been a great honour and privilege to have taught you all during these two weeks."

"You are simply the most talented, courageous and amazing students that I have ever seen, and your performance reflects that," Instructor Selvon continued to speak as he wiped tears from the corner of his eyes.

Some students could not help but tear up.

Maybe they had misunderstood this kind and gentle teacher who had a hard personality on the outside but was secretly warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Instructor Selvon paused for a moment to observe the reactions of his students before pouring cold water on their inflated egos.

"Now that is what I would be saying."

"IF YOU SORRY EXCUSES FOR MAGGOTS HAD LEARNT A SINGLE FUCKING THING IN THIS TRAINING CAMP!" he loudly bellowed.

"Make stupid mistakes like that on the battlefield and don't worry about the Insectoids because I WILL KILL YOU ALL MYSELF!"

"Yep that's the instructor I know," Sophie giggled as she whispered in Cleo's ear.

"Some of the common mistakes during this exam were not checking the surrounding areas for enemies and engaging in fights while being outnumbered rather than running away," Instructor Selvon frowned as he berated the students.

"Also, some of the groups did not establish a lookout during the night and ate strange fruits without checking for poison."

The students selected for the elite class did put on strong performances and demonstrate some of the skills they had learnt during the training camp but Instructor Selvon was still not pleased.

Each student at one point during the course of the exam had made a careless error that could have cost them their life on the battlefield.

All it took was one mistake for it to be your final one.

Instructor Selvon demanded perfection because perfection would mean the difference between life and death.

He talked for an additional twenty minutes before one of the assistants interrupted to hand him a tablet.

"I will now announce the names of those who qualified for the elite class," Instructor Selvon tightly gripped the tablet he started to read off the names.

"Celestia Wildflight."

"Ethan Kneyre."

"Terrance Phillips."

"Sophie Peterlor."

"Astrid Lockhart"

"Cleopatra Sisrelis."

"

"And finally. Qiana Abazin."

Astrid pulled the girls into a group hug as they cheered softly. The other students whose names had been called were also in a celebratory mood.

Sophie felt her heart fill with warmth as she saw the happy expressions on the faces of her friends.

Her life had changed ever since that fateful day when a mysterious consciousness had entered her body and took control for a few months.

But considering everything that had happened.

Sophie wouldn't change a damn thing.