The Unexpected Starseed
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"...We're really getting 2 high school students passing within a single exam. Unbelievable." Inside the VIP box seat, Reginald was looking down on the field with disbelieving eyes.
"It's truly great, isn't it!" To his side, even Sandy had started speaking in a higher pitch ever since the Rangers category exam had concluded.
After Medea's great display of accuracy during her first test, the rest of her exam also hadn't disappointed the audience in terms of the average records being held.
Which had made her total records even easier for the exam committee to convert into scores.
"So the scores are out right? What of the rest of the high school students still around?"
"None of them had chosen the Solvers category so their scores are already out too. However, the best among them had barely breached the 200 points with his total score." Sandy replied dutifully.
"Well, what do we expect...?" Reginald just smiled wryly at the report before continuing,
"So what about Irvine Lang's and Medea Dormer's scores?"
"It's all in here."
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After the Rangers category exam had finished, the Solvers hadn't taken up that much time to complete theirs either. Mostly because the total number of people registering for the Solvers category had been less than 10 people overall.
And so, for the rest of the License Exam, there hadn't been anything else of note happening.
Following the same scheduling as yesterday, at around 5:00 PM in the afternoon, every participants still hadn't been eliminated after Day 1's Written and Physical Exams were all called to gather on the center field of the Z Stadium.
*DING* *DING*
The digital sounds of bells echoed loudly as the speakers and main monitor of the stadium both got turned on simultaneously.
*BZZZT*
[Good evening everyone.]
Not long after, the dignified voice of Reginald's usual outer persona also resounded from the stadium's speaker following his gigantic figure appearing on the main screen of the monitor.
[I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to everyone who have managed to complete the entirety of our Arena Athlete License Exam for this month of April! The feats performed by all the...]
[...]
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Speeches filled with formalities started to take up a good amount of time in his opening remarks.
Every examinee on the field were listening patiently as they had no other choice but to wait for the information they craved the most to be delivered.
And after another couple minutes of it, finally,
[...And now, without further ado! We would like to call out front the names and scores of all the examinees who managed to pass this eventful exam with their total scores reaching up to the minimum of 220 points or beyond!]
*clap* *clap* *clap*
A round of applause quickly followed the ending of his statement.
Hearing the final main event of the day about to begin, the ears of many examinees perked up together at the same time.
Some had shown a lackluster expression while others were showing a face that was desperately gripping to their last hope of passing through the coming announcement.
A small number of participants had even started to actively look at the figure of Medea from afar.
Unlike Irvine who many people didn't know was a high school student, Medea was relatively popular in the field.
Coupled with her beautiful outer appearance, there had always been some upperclassmen from different colleges who had taken notice of her from the start.
And now, most of these people had also pretty much guessed that Medea would more than likely pass this License Exam and become a Starseed based on her test records.
'We'll have a new super rookie today!' Was what many people had thought of in their minds at this very moment.
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Just like last evening's procedure, the reporting for the passing of participants was promptly handed over to Reginald's assistant, Sandy, to carry out after the opening had been completed.
Sandy opened her mouth with a straight look on her face as she started reading the scrolling messages faithfully from the teleprompter in front of her,
[Everyone, we will now begin the main announcement. First off...]
[Number #009, North Dam College, Mark Robert. 227 points.]
[Come to the front, please.]
*clap* *clap* *clap*
And as per tradition, the names being called out were in the same ordering as the participants' exam numbers, going from low to high.
The person that was called out would walk forward and stop at the designated line in front of them, slowly forming a new row of people ahead of the initial group on the center field.
All the people on that front line would then be licensed together as a proper Battle Arena Athlete.
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[Number #023, West Vine College... 232 points. Come to the front.]
*clap* *clap*
One-by-one after that, with Sandy's announcement, the passing participants were slowly getting sent off into the front line with numerous applause resounding from the rest of the people on the center field.
[Number #027, North Dam College... 240 points.]
*clap* *clap*
[Number...]
[...]
As the numbers were getting closer and closer to him, Irvine's breath had also started to quicken with nervousness and anticipation.
'I've been feeling confident and sure all this time, but it's still very nerve-wracking huh...'
This moment would be his first step. But at the same time, this would also be the first time in Irvine's life that the spotlight would fall onto him from many different directions.
And it would be very much different from the time his face would occasionally appear for a couple seconds in the casual interviews for his pro team back in the days.
This time, from prestigious colleges to other prospectively strong players, his name would be put on a map with brewing interests after today.
At the very least, even some pro teams' scouts would start jotting down his name on one of their files somewhere for future references.
That level of recognition, In this aspect, he must admit that he was a bit behind in experience compared to Medea even at this age.
'But still...'
The more Irvine thought about it, the more those initial nervousness got turned into a sort of excitement within him.
'Isn't this the plan? Fighting at the top of the food chain from the start, up until my next come back into the pro scene!' His eyes began to light up.
Irvine slowly calmed his fighting spirit down when he suddenly noticed that the next announcement had had a longer pause than usual.
It was as if the reporter, Sandy, was also subconsciously trying the emphasize the next announcement for herself and for everyone.
[Next up,]
[Number #038, Greenwood High School, Irvine Lang. 239 points.]
""......""
[Come to the front please.]
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For a couple seconds after, the center field of the stadium experienced being enveloped by a pindrop silence moment.
Nothing could be heard except for the movement of a single person, slowly shuffling forward passing through the rest of the participants to get to the front.
"That's..." Until eventually, a single voice broke out from amongst one of the crowd, dispelling the ongoing silence.
"A High school student!!"
"A Starseed?? Not Medea?"
"Greenwood High...? Which school is that?"
"The 4th Starseed!"
*HUSTLE* *BUSTLE*
When one person had finally exclaimed in surprise, the rest of the people had also followed through with their own voices, quickly changing the previously tense atmosphere into a rowdy one.
"Irvine Lang... Oh, he's one of the Fielders in the exam."
"Yeah, I've noticed him before too. He's a high school student...?"
Beside her, Medea had also overheard some of the people talking about Irvine who, at this point, had already arrived at the front and started lining-up together with the rest of the passing examinees.
Most of them were trying to remember his performances in the exam today.
Some of the Fielders had a rather vivid impressions of him while others from different categories and positions had a harder time trying to recall anything.
However,
'So it's 79 points... Can I beat him this time?' For Medea, the only thought in her head right now was whether or not her Practical score could beat Irvine on this day.
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On the audience seats.
When the announcement calling out Irvine's name had resounded through the surrounding speakers, an uncharacteristically loud yell was also reverberated from one of the seats nearby.
"WAAAA!!"
Althea was shouting up at the top of her lungs with raised hands without minding any of her surroundings.
'A Starseed! Brother actually become a Starseed!'
This moment was significantly different from listening to the praises of the scouts around her when the exam had still been ongoing.
This time, her brother had officially become one of the acknowledged prodigies within Olympus.
This had been the best news she'd heard this weekend! Topping even the two letters of invitations he had received the other day.
At this time, even the scouts around her couldn't help but to give her congratulatory smiles from afar.
Throughout these 2 days, most of them had gotten acquainted with this little agent ever since she had first started promoting her brother to all of them.
Some of them were feeling rather regretful with their lukewarm responds during those moments. But most of these feelings were quickly washed away when they'd realized that a Starseed wouldn't voluntarily choose to go to a less than Tier-1 college anyway.
Contrary to the large reactions on the center field, this time, it was the scouts' turn to look on the rest of the closing ceremony with an 'As expected.' look on their faces.
For the people who had already received the participants list from the start, the surprises of Irvine's performance had been a gradual reveal from the start of the Physical Exam until now.
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With the rise of a new Starseed getting announced even before Medea's turn, the tense atmosphere at the start of the closing ceremony had also lessened quite considerably.
Most of the people confident in their passing were already quietly discussing with each other the significance of Irvine's rise on this day.
This was especially true for the Tier-1 colleges' freshmen amongst the crowd. To them, such an unexpected reveal of outcome was a very fresh and interesting experience.
And with Irvine being from Zeta City, some of them might even have the chance to meet each other on a competition field as either a teammate or an enemy within this coming year.
Both Derrick Wallace and Greg Clayton were exactly two of such people.
The two of them were currently talking to each other regarding this subject with a low voice from each of their rows,
"This is the first time I see a Starseed getting announced! And I also remember the guy!" Derrick spoke in excitement.
"Yeah? How'd he do." Greg, of course, weren't really paying much attention to the exam after he'd finished his own part.
"He's great. His score is pretty much on-par with mine for the Following-the-Solver test!"
"!?"
"Wait, he's as fast as you? What a monster..."
"Hm, I don't think it's his speed as much as his... Um, strategy?" Derrick himself wasn't really sure on how to explain Irvine's performance on that test.
"Hey, you're both Fielders. One way or another, you're most likely gonna play each other within the next couple seasons."
"That's right... I can hardly wait."
"...Want to greet him after this?"
"And say what exactly?"
"I dunno, things like: 'I look forward to seeing you in action, young Starseed!'"
"...You've been watching too many dramas Greg. And we're only 1 year apart!"
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As they were both chatting energetically, the announcement for the passing examinees didn't stop or even miss a single beat.
Sandy continued to announce each and every players who had gotten a score of 220 points and above.
As time went on, the amount of people standing side-by-side in the front of the line were slowly rising as the tag numbers getting called out also inching ever so closely to the triple-digit.
In one of the rows on the center field, Medea was waiting expectantly for her turn to get called with clenched fists.