Path of light

Chapter 18 18. Testing

There are many young elves gathered in the training ground of the Elf Academy. These elves are all freshmen entering the academy this year.

Everyone is full of curiosity about the elementary martial arts training course.

Hearing instructor Abbott Nora's shout, everyone gathered around.

The elves at the training ground were clearly divided into two teams.

Surrounding Instructor Abbott Nora, the shape of the team is like an upper lip and a lower lip.

They are completely separated from each other, with aisles at both ends allowing only one person to pass.

The large team was composed of Silver Moon elves. These young people from the Silver Moon elves gathered together, and some young noble students stood at the front of the group.

Another group is made up of mixed-blood elves. The number of mixed-blood elves living in the lower town of Castleton City is increasing year by year. Young mixed-blood elves will also save money in a planned way after finding a job. Completed studies at Elf Academy.

Roy stood in the group of mixed elves.

But because he wanted to chat more with Claire, the two stood at the gap that separated the two groups.

Claire stood on the side of the silver moon elves, and Roy stood on the side of the mixed-blood elves.

There are many new students in the same situation as the two of them. Some Silver Moon elves don't care about blood inheritance, and they have made friends with some mixed-blood elves...

"This instructor Nora is the best instructor in the academy for teaching elementary martial arts. There should be a physical fitness test later."

Claire whispered to Roy.

There was some noise around, and everyone had not yet calmed down from the excitement of enrolling.

Instructor Abbot Nora is a silver moon elf woman with silver hair that just hangs down to her shoulders.

She stood in the middle of the empty field and looked very patient. She waited until the sounds around her began to subside before she began to say:

"Since no one is ready to quit, let me see how your physical fitness, body flexibility, and balance are! You need to take a physical fitness test before admission. I hope everyone present will agree with my standards."

She held the hilt of the sword at her waist with one hand, and rested the thumb of the other hand on the arrow pot, looking heroic.

"How did you know she would let us take a physical test?" Roy asked Claire in a low voice.

Claire said casually:

"I heard from my sister that she was worried that I wouldn't be able to pass this test, so she asked me to do some training a year in advance..."

"..."

Roy was speechless.

During this year, he spent almost all his time on dreaming and fishing.

"Then do you know what the test project is?" Roy asked.

Claire raised her light golden eyebrows and said proudly:

"Of course, it's an obstacle course. You need to pass the various obstacles on the grassland over there within a certain time limit."

After speaking, he pointed to the other side of the training ground.

Roy looked in the direction of his finger, and through the crowd he saw a row of obstacles including puddles, stone walls, mounds of dirt, etc. on the west side of the field. There were obvious traces of being trampled by countless people on the grass.

Instructor Abbott Nora walked in front.

Two groups were on her left and right sides, following her towards that direction.

Roy was a little nervous. He had no preparation before class.

This obstacle included a single-plank bridge over a puddle, a stone wall built on piles of rocks, and it also extended into the woods, which seemed difficult.

Roy even saw a stone cliff several meters high in the woods...

The corridor extends from the other side of the forest, connecting a long and narrow wall back to the starting point.

Instructor Abbott Nora stood in front and explained the rules.

Roy planned to squeeze to the front to listen.

At this time, several Silver Moon elves suddenly squeezed through the crowd, and several people surrounded Claire and Roy.

There were many small groups among this group of elf students. Roy did not see any conflicts between these small groups, and he did not expect that he would be in trouble.

Two elves wearing light leather armor walked up to Claire and stared at Claire with playful expressions.

Claire stared back not to be outdone.

"Claire, what a coincidence. I didn't expect that you are also in the martial arts training class."

One of them, a silver-haired elf wearing light armor with an exquisite dagger on his waist, greeted Claire, his words carrying a strong smell of gunpowder.

He reached out and patted Claire on the shoulder, leaned into Claire's ear, and said jokingly: "When we are divided into groups, don't be in a hurry to form a team with others. We have such a good relationship, so we naturally have to take care of each other."

Claire pushed his hand away and responded coldly: "Steve, if you don't care, we have no friendship."

The elf named Steve raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "What you said is really chilling. If it weren't for your sister's blessing, I wouldn't be standing here today..."

His eyes flashed across Roy's face, with a mocking smile on his lips: "Who is this?"

"Roy."

Roy replied.

He didn't expect to encounter such a thing on his first day of school.

He just wants to study quietly in the academy and is not planning to cause trouble...

But now that he has become friends with Claire, if he backs off now, he may be seen as a ‘coward’ in the eyes of others in the future.

He didn't want to have such a bad reputation as a friendless person just after entering the Elf Academy.

Although he was a little overconfident, Roy still chose to stand firmly by Claire's side.

The two of them looked at the Silver Moon elves opposite them coldly...

Claire glanced at Roy gratefully.

Although Roy didn't know what the campus atmosphere of the Elf Academy was like, he felt that this group of elves would not blatantly cause trouble in class.

Sure enough, the two sides were only in a stalemate for a few seconds, and they had already attracted the attention of the surrounding elves.

The young elf named Steve just laughed and said, "Claire, have your tastes changed? Do you like to make friends with half-elves?"

"Keep your mouth clean." Claire scolded in a low voice.

"Everyone, the test has begun. Everyone, please prepare. Please don't gather in groups later..."

Through the crowd, instructor Abbott Nola's voice came over.

The elves surrounding here dispersed with a bang.

Without the barrier of the crowd, he would not dare to confront instructor Abbott Nora.

Steve turned around, glanced back at Claire, and walked out of the crowd first with a smile.

Roy felt that Steve was looking back at him just now. Thinking of Claire's various behaviors at the beginning of school, he began to pay attention to the students in the junior martial arts training class on the first day of reporting. Obviously, he should have expected today's conflict... …

"Sorry for bringing you into this."

Claire said with a stern expression.

What else could Roy say, but he couldn't just say, 'Let's break off our relationship right now! ’

I could only pat Claire on the shoulder and say to him:

"No matter what, I will stand by you."

Claire was a little moved and said to Roy:

"That guy is Steve. He is not a freshman this year. He has deliberately failed to pass the exam in the junior martial arts training class just to come and block me."

Roy asked him: "Why did he block you?"

Claire smiled heartlessly:

"It's a family feud, I guess. When my sister was in class at the college, she also blocked people in her family. This Steve was beaten severely by my sister for half a semester last year. She would beat him like a pig's head every time in class."

"...So people are coming to your door this year and are planning to deal with you?" Roy was simply speechless.

Claire also knocked her forehead a little depressed and said distressedly:

"I didn't expect that my sister would attend some exchange activities at the Elf Academy at this time..."

Roy glanced at him and exposed him unceremoniously:

"Even if she doesn't participate in the exchange activities, she won't choose to take another elementary martial arts training class."

Claire sneered and said: "That's true."

"So no matter what, you are the unlucky guy who is waiting to be beaten." Roy concluded.

Claire smiled even more:

"You can't say that. The people we usually spar with in class are usually the same, so I chose you."

"..."

Faced with Claire's straightforward explanation, Roy had nothing to say.

"What do you think will happen to you if I fail this test?"

Claire shook violently, hugged Roy's shoulders, and said pleadingly: "We are friends, right?"

Roy nodded...

"Have you never done this kind of test?" Claire suddenly asked.

Roy nodded without thinking.

"Then you can follow me later. This kind of test is usually done by two people running at the same time. Pay attention to my movements. There are certain skills in this thing. Even the number of steps is fixed when climbing over the wall. Pay attention to speed and rhythm." Claire explained to Roy as she walked.

"good."

When the two of them walked to the front, some elves had already started running.

Sure enough, just like Claire said, a group of two people were testing at the same time.

There were Silver Moon elves and mixed-blood elves, Roy and Claire lined up.

There are almost more than two hundred students in this training class. It will definitely take some time for everyone to finish.

Finally it was Roy and Claire's turn.

The two stood in front of the starting line, and Claire looked like she was familiar with the road.

Roy seemed much more nervous, and even his palms were sweating.

"Get ready, start!"

It was not Instructor Abbott Nora who gave the orders.

In order to observe the specific performance of the students, the instructor stood on a high platform in the middle of the track.

Roy followed Claire's pace and started jogging in small steps.

The speed of the two of them was not fast. The first obstacle was a puddle with two logs placed on it as a bridge. If they wanted to pass the puddle smoothly, they had to cross the bridge.

This log is thin and long, obviously testing the balance ability when running.

Claire rushed onto the log with almost no slowdown, his hands stretched out flat and his steps light as he rushed over.

It seems very simple. Claire can clearly pass the logs lying on the puddle in a few steps with her hands stretched out, but when she gets to Roy, she runs in danger...

When he climbed over the first wooden wall, Roy took off too hard and his first foot hit the wooden board a little too high. As a result, he couldn't keep up when he stepped on the second wooden wall.

The body bounced back. Fortunately, Roy's quick hands and eyes caught the edge of the wooden wall, and he almost flipped over.

Obviously, as long as you grab the edge of the wall with both hands and push up hard, you can straddle the wall.

But when it comes to Roy, he seems very clumsy...

There were several obstacle walls at the back, one higher than the other, and they changed from wooden to stone. If Claire, who was running in front, hadn't turned around quickly and pulled him, he might have stopped at the second stone wall. Front.

"Adjust your breathing rhythm..."

Claire followed him and kept whispering reminders.

"Don't worry about running speed, it's not a major deduction."

"Remember, you need to step on the wall at least twice to reach the top edge of the wall."

"Later, look at the center and grab the most severely worn parts of the wall. There will always be easy places to borrow strength there..."

It took some effort to get through the first stone wall.

Roy was almost stopped here at the second wall, but luckily Claire helped him.

When he encountered the highest stone wall, Roy rushed over in one go, and his movements became much smoother...

Roy feels that he is best at running, and he always goes for morning jogs on the beach.

He rarely saw elves running. In order to maintain elegance and calmness, elves usually walked with graceful steps. Even if they were in an emergency, they would walk around quickly.

But now, seeing those elves climbing over the wooden wall with agility, Roy felt a sense of frustration in his heart.

Finally, after the stumbling run, Roy and Claire stood in front of instructor Abbott Nora.

The female elf held a white parchment book in her hand, found Claire's name on the list, and wrote the word 'passed' behind the name.

When she saw Roy, she gave him a deep look:

"The speed is okay, but your body isn't flexible enough."

This was her first evaluation of Roy.

Roy nodded guiltily.

Instructor Abbott Nora continued:

"Your body's flexibility is also much poorer, and your joints are also very stiff. In this case, you will encounter more difficulties than others when learning primary martial arts..."

"You have the worst physical coordination."

"So you must improve your body's various abilities as soon as possible, otherwise you won't be able to do the subsequent exercises at all, let alone whether you will pass the final test."

"Think about it, or if you do some basic exercises this year, you can choose to come back a year later."

Roy hesitated for a moment before saying to instructor Abbott Nora:

"Teacher, what can I do to catch up with my physique?"

Instructor Abbott Nora said to Roy: "Strengthen daily exercise, including gymnastics to enhance flexibility. It is best to do some exercises to enhance balance when running..."

"I will improve my physical fitness as soon as possible. I want to take classes!"

Roy said a little stubbornly.

He didn't want to just give up the opportunity to learn basic martial arts.

Abbott Nora frowned, lowered his head seriously and thought for a while, and finally agreed to Roy's request and said:

"Okay, but you have to remember that I won't give you any preferential treatment during the final test."

Claire was standing aside. When she heard what instructor Abbott Nora said, she immediately pulled Roy and ran out.

"I thought you would choose to give up." Claire took a long breath and said.

"There's nothing to give up. You still have to sign up next year."

Roy said casually.

After saying that, he saw that Steve had also completed the physical test, and it seemed that he had passed it successfully.

There was a weird smile on his face when he looked over here...