Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 56: Special Evaluations

"This Special Evaluation is called the Raid Evaluation. The duration starts from when you were transported to the Nirad Realm, and ends as soon as you’re brought back. Three factors are used in judging each class for this evaluation."

With everyone paying rapt attention, Instructor Rina’s voice was loud and clear.

"First is cooperation. How well does each class work together? How well is the coordination between you lot?"

"Each class can choose different strategic methods. Like Class-B which split into three groups of ten. Or Class-A which moved as a single body. As for your class..."

She shook her head in disappointment, then continued. There was no need to talk about how unorganized Class-E was during the raid.

"Second is Kill-Count. In general, how many Nirad Creatures were you all able to kill as a class? This is also used to determine how efficiently your class can work."

’Even though Kaiser had the highest individual kill count, it didn’t place us on top?’

Hazel sighed exasperatedly, realizing some of her classmates had probably slacked off.

Beside her, Ariel shrank slightly and avoided her gaze, refocusing on Instructor Rina.

"Last but not least is performance. This is somewhat related to combat evaluation. Unfortunately, this class is filled with lots of weaklings. There’s no way you can compete with the other classes at this point."

Several faces turned ugly at the words, but they couldn’t refute her at all. By now, even they had noticed the difference in skill and ability. Most people in Class-E only had utility abilities which had little use in actual combat.

A peak example was Kim, Kiera’s friend. Her ability only allowed her to create a streaming interface that could be connected to the internet.

Basically, her ability only qualified her for the job of cameraman. In guilds, only the weakest members of the team took this role.

"That’s all I can tell you about the Raid Evaluation. Well, it’s not like there would be any other Raid Evaluation until you graduate. Oh, and in addition, Class-A gained 70 points from this."

’70 points. So it seems Class-B lost their chance to heavily narrow the gap.’

Kaiser thought, his eyes fixated on the Class Rank Points for Class-E.

’It seems they’ve forgotten an interesting information.’

"Wait a minute." Hazel’s brows furrowed. "We borrowed from the Student Council to purchase the cameras. How come they haven’t deducted it from our balance?"

"Heh." Sebastian snickered, "Why don’t you check again?"

At his words, everyone immediately checked their balance, only to be shocked.

"Fuck! Half of it is gone!" Eric let out an hysterical cry, his expression contorting in pain.

The original 65,000 credits they had received from the academy had been reduced to 32,500 credits.

"Ugh... this is quite disheartening." Jose shook his head, his expression downcast.

’Damnit! I no longer have enough to keep up with my expenses.’ Kiera thought with a scowl, though she only complained inwardly. ’Liam should be able to lend me some credits, right?’

Everyone had their own thoughts, but no one could really do anything about it. In the end, they were the debtors, and the Student Council was their creditor.

"As for your second question, Hazel. The future Special Evaluations would be announced before they take place. None will occur without the academy informing you."

Hazel relaxed slightly, while Liam stood up to address the others.

"You guys shouldn’t worry too much. We just have to manage. As our Instructor has said, we’ll be aware whenever a Special Evaluation is going to come up, and we’re going to be prepared for it." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

He gave a reassuring smile.

"Let’s get prepared. We still have a lot of chances to increase our Class Rank Points in the next three years!"

His words improved their mood, and smiles of hope appeared on their faces.

Instructor Rina watched this with an indifferent expression, though she was anything but indifferent. ’Can they really do it? I hope so.’

...

After the classes and training for the day ended, Kaiser made his way to the library.

He exchanged nods with the dull-looking librarian, then proceeded to take a seat at the far end of the room. There, Maya was already waiting with her schoolbag.

"Kaiser. How was classes today?"

As soon as she saw him, her green eyes lit up, and she greeted with a warm smile.

"It was quite bland. Yours?"

He replied, then sat opposite her. A faint smile appeared on his face, and a hint of curiosity appeared in his indifferent eyes.

"Well, it was interesting. I created my fourth node today, and learned a lot about the origin of Nirad Creatures."

Seeing as she chatted happily, Kaiser felt a bit of anticipation at seeing her getting her own color. Her potential was high, and she only needed some more time and a catalyst for the change.

’How joyous would it be? I don’t think I’d be able to control my possessiveness.’

"Oh? Mind informing me?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"Although I know you already know, I’ll still explain." Maya chuckled, adjusting her glasses. "Nirad Realm Creatures are produced from The Source. The realm originated from combining several old worlds, while the creatures populating it are born from The Source. They’re innately aggressive towards humans, and lack the ability to communicate. At most, they can only create groups of similar species."

Kaiser listened patiently, comparing her information to that which he had learned from the clan.

’Although not as detailed as what I know, it’s in essence, the same thing. The Source is the origin of all creation, though no one has really found it anyway.’

Well, it wasn’t like humans could even find the location of the Nirad Realm without travelling through a Nexus. As for going outside to space, Hemsworth Technology Worldwide was still working on it, especially since space itself now contained horrific monsters from the Nirad Realm.

’As more and more Nirad Gates open here on Earth, the battle between Nirad Creatures and we humans can never cease. Unless there’s a catalyst that can totally overturn the stalemate.’

"You’re zoning out again."

Maya tapped his forehead with a book, then handed him the book.

"Here. I recommend you read this book. It’s very interesting. A mystery work by Chatelier. One of his peak books."

Kaiser collected the book, then checked the title.

"Life after Death."