I will save you in this 5th Life

“Wait what do you mean we will have a mock battle between the three of us, I thought you guys said that we would not be treated like exhibits or experiment targets? Isn’t this kind of go against what you are preaching to us about?”

I said angrily as I stood up and slammed the table while glaring at the principal

The other two tried to make me sit down because I was currently disrespecting the principal by glaring at him and slamming his table
But I could not stop my anger because I remembered what the others such as Rei’s lover had to go through just because she was different from the rest of her people, and I did not want Aika and Yuuna to go through at any stage of their life

After a few seconds, I calmed down and thought that I might be too hasty In labelling him as someone who would treat his students as experiment targets, and it was at that moment when the adrenaline wore off and I felt the pressure of the principal pressing down on me
I poked awake something I should have never awoken

I saw the principal look at me with a smile on his face and the three staves behind him glowing an eerie red colour

He then stopped his pressure and continued to smile while the staves behind him lost their eerie glow and turned inactive

“I hope you have calmed down now and will hear me out fully before going about your outburst”

“Sorry sir, I will be more cool-headed next time and hear you out properly.”

“It’s fine if you understand, life is always about learning from your mistakes and not making them again, I know where you are coming from and why you are worried, but rest assured as the staff member said earlier, we would never treat our students as experiment targets or exhibitions. There is actually a few reasons why we wanted you three to fight in a mock battle in front of the school, and to be honest this lineup was also a complete coincidence.”

Aika than said

“You mean that you were going to call for all three of us no matter the class we were chosen as was going to be?”

“Yes, that is correct, you know for each school year we chose a year captain or commander as some people say, based on their academic and combat score. But this year, the three of you had such comparable results that all the teachers on the board had tough time choosing one, so we instead thought of having a three-way battle with the winner being selected the team leader of this year.”

Due to our academy being much more akin to a military institute, there is a much lower amount of students in each of the school years, with each year having about 35 to 40 students, it would be simpler for the teachers to just elect one year representative who can serve as a bridge between the teachers and the students.

In addition to that, most of the students will be joining the military as adventurers or soldiers after graduation.

Thus, this school and its system of having a commander would also allow them to have an early experience of working as a team and under a commander.

It is said that students who are chosen to be commanders or leaders of each year are the best of the best due to their ability to excel in both practical exams and academic written tests, this is to ensure that the commanders are not just physically strong but also well versed in different knowledge allowing them to lead their team correctly and without much trouble.

Although, if I remember correctly, we would be doing more squad-based combat than large-scale team combats in our first year. Thus, making the year leaders more like class representatives in the first year, their actual test of commanding would only come starting the second year.

The principal then continued

“Although, I will be frank with you we are going to be recording the fights to further our research on this situation and the classes, but that’s all we will be doing. I promise on the honor of the principal of this academy that we would not capture you and treat you as experimental targets, so please don’t worry.”

“If you are fine with it and don’t have intention of withdrawing from the competition then we will be holding the competition a month later so that you could have some lessons to allow you to get used to your classes and also give you enough time to mentally and physically prepare.”

As the principal was talking about the rules of the competition, the door opened, and one of the staff members brought in a black crystal on a trolley

The principal said that the competition would be a battle royale with the last person standing who would be crowned the winner, and we are allowed to use all our abilities and Armaments to win. The only restriction is we are not allowed to kill and cheat during the competition, and although the principal knows we likely won’t do it, he still had to explain the rules entirely just in case.

After he finished explaining the rules to us and made sure to wait for our enquiries, he told us to stand up and go towards the newly brought in crystal in black

“So, this is the high-level appraisal crystal known as the Genesis, we are going to use this to get your full status so that there won’t be a need to bring you back to this room again in case something unexpected happens again when you are doing appraisals in the main hall.”
I couldn’t control my excitement as I blurted out

“Woah, I have only heard that this were in use in the military or high-level government organizations, it’s the first time I am seeing one in the flesh.”

Although, it seems like the others weren’t as excited to see it compared to me

“Alright, you can take a longer look at it after we are done, now let’s get down to business. Aika you are up first.”

Aika went up to the crystal and said the familiar phrase

“Appraisal”

And with a slight flash, a full status card appeared in front of her

Aika Gozen

Lancer (Mutation: Dragoon)

Rank 7

Mana: Good

Armaments: None

Woah, although she does not have a personal armament, the fact that she is already recognized as a rank 7 lancer already shows the level of her proficiency and power as a Lancer

To put that in perspective, students of this academy graduate as a Rank 5 on average and most rank 7s are company leaders in the military

Both me and Yuuna looked at each other and back at Aika in shock

The principal also looked pleased and said

“Excellent, it seems even the appraisal crystal recognizes your talent and hardwork toward being a lancer, I look forward to seeing your continuous growth at our academy Miss Gozen.”

“Thank you, sir, I will give it my all and continue to improve.”

“Next up is Miss Narukami, please go forward.”

Yuuna looked a bit nervous as she went forward towards the still glowing Genesis and put her hand on it

She then spoke aloud

“Appraisal”

The all too familiar flash happened again and then it showed her status card out for us to see

Yuuna Narukami

Priestess/Monk

Rank 4/3

Mana: Excellent

Armaments: Guardian Dragons (Equipment)

Oh wow, although she does not have as high of a rank compared to Aika, she still has above average rank compared to her peer near her age. Still, the main thing that stands out is her Armament which is labelled as equipment instead of a specific gear which means that the Armament can change depending on the class of the user. This allows her to have plenty of flexibility even if it is the only Armament.

“Having an Armament is already rare enough but having one that is flexible like yours is even much rarer, congratulations on that Miss Narukami.”

“Thank you, sir”

“Now finally it’s your turn, Miss Tida. I wonder what surprises you will bring to us.”

I will bring some surprises that is for sure

I thought as I walked up to the Genesis

I then put my hand on the Genesis and spoke out the words

“Appraisal”

The same bright glow appeared as my status appeared

Itsuki Tida

Freelancer (Job Deck: Paladin/Lancer/Swordsman/Assassin)

Rank 3 (Job Deck: 5/2/4/1)

Mana: Low

Armaments:

Clarent (Sword)

Pridwen (Shield)

Rhongomiant (Lance)

Carnwenhau (Dagger)

I heard some more gasps as I finished appraising. Two things caught my eyes the most. One was something that I knew already, but it still kind of hurt to see, and that was my low mana capacity displayed on the status screen. Having that kind of mana would be fatal for a magic user, but luckily, I am a physical fighter and the only magic I want and probably will need to learn is the manipulation magic.

The other thing I noticed was that the rank of my Freelancer class is calculated by combining the rank of the classes in my job deck and then dividing by the number of classes I have in it. But it seems Dual Classes are calculated individually and do not have a combined rank, which makes sense since both are permanent classes, unlike my temporary classes from my job deck

After I finished musing, I turned back and looked at the shocked faces of the three people in the room

The first one to recover was the principal and he asked me

“You do not look surprised at all, does this mean that you knew all along that you had 4 Armaments?”

“Ahaha, yeah I had known about this since I was a kid because of the Appraisal test I went through when I was a kid. But I never really had the chance to use them much since I was only focusing on using the shield, which is a vital part of a Paladin’s equipment.”

“Although, I wish to learn to use them more as time goes, due to my Freelancer class providing me with classes that can use those four Armaments.”

The principal nodded and spoke

“Do you think that there might be a chance that your Freelancer class happened due to the four Armaments embedded in your body?”

“Yeah, I had that thought as I was also worried that my Armaments might affect my class appraisal and looks like my fears were right. But what can we do about that now, so instead I am gonna see what I will do from now on using my class and weapons.”

“Thats a good mindset to have, if there is anything you need help with I would be glad to help. The same goes for you two, if there is anything you advice you need, just come to the principal’s office and I wuld be glad to help.”

“My door is open to any students that needs advice from me.”

Aika then spoke up

“Sir, how often do people come to your office asking for help?”

The principal thought for a while and replied

“Probably like half a dozen per day? That’s not much but I feel like there are students who are either intimdated by the people standing outside the door or by my prescense. I hope more students will find it easier to come and find me for advice.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you sir and I hope the same as well.”

“Alright if there is nothing else then I think it’s time for you to return to your peers and see if you make it in time to talk with them about your appraisal results.

Oh and good luck to all three of you in the match next month, I will look forward to seeing what you will bring to the table.”

We all said our thank yous and bid farewell to the principal

We talked about our Armaments and Ranks while on the way back to our classmates

We also expressed some degree of anxiety towards the competition since it is our first match since becoming academy students, but we acknowledged the fact that there will be more competitions and even practical training such as dungeon clearing, so we thought that it would serve as a good start

Before we reached our area, we settled on a date to have a mock battle to gauge the strength of each other

We made it to the appraisal area and we waved as we approached our classmates