Who will be disqualified?

When Liu Yang took the sword out of the sheath, some rust stains could be seen on various parts of the blade, but these stains were a bit strange.

Instead of orange-brown spots, the spots were light black that looked dark gray.

"Liu Yang, I don't know much about these rust stains. My father just said that he forged this sword using some materials he found in some forest when he was younger. According to him, the forging was difficult, and took three months to make this sword. At first, these spots were lighter and barely noticeable, but as time passed, they started to turn this color." Liu Yang's father didn't know much about the short sword either.

His father just forged it and gave it to him as a gift before the Coming of Age Challenge.

"Ohh… Does this sword have any special effects? These rust stains don't look like it is just for decoration." Liu Yang had learned in school that weapons can have effects when forged or refined using special items.

"I do not know. Whenever I used this sword, nothing special happened. The only good thing is that the blade is quite hard and sharp. These rust stains don't get in the way of cutting."

slash!!!

The sword cut through a piece of wood without much difficulty, but it took a lot of strength from the user.

"Liu Yang, have you seen it? The sword is still very strong, unfortunately, the blade is not as sharp as before. But I think it's enough to deal with the low-level creatures around the village."

"Dad, thanks for the gift." He was excited to be able to hold a real sword.

Before, he always trained in the simulation room and had no way of using real weapons.

Only a few students at the school had this type of weapon.

"Liu Yang, for the next few days, I want you to practice a little with the short sword to get used to it. The weight is different from the weapons in the simulation room. So you need to adapt to using this short sword."

"OK. I will do this"

The sword was stowed away in the sheath before Liu Yang ran back and forth while holding the sword.

Before he could attack with the sword, he needed to support its weight.

A fifteen-year-old like him had more strength than usual from physical training, but it was still tiring to run with a sword in hand for a long time.

…

In class the next day...

"My dear students, in a week the Coming of Age Challenge will take place and you will have the chance to prove to the evaluators that you have talent. As every year, a group from the Combat School will appear and evaluate you, the top five students will be chosen as new students and will be able to enroll in the school. My dear students, this is a great opportunity for you to have a bright future." The teacher happily commented. He's taken the test before but failed.

So he wanted his students to have a better life.

"The subjects of the last classes will be about adventures in the forest and unknown places. None of you have left this village in the last sixteen years, so you don't know anything about what's on the other side of the mud wall. As this will be the first time, I will teach you how to survive inside a dangerous forest."

All the children were not allowed to leave the village because they would be easily killed by the creatures, even if they were only level 1. None of them were strong enough to defend themselves and the adults couldn't keep protecting them.

So it was decided that they couldn't leave until they turned sixteen.

"The news I had to give has already been given. Now, I'm going to start the survival class. Afterward, I'll talk about setting up camp and finding food." The teacher would teach everything he knew about the subject.

Inside the classroom, there were only about seven or eight students. All of them were sixteen, meaning only five of them would pass the test and the other two would fail.

…

"What are you going to do now? After the Coming of Age Challenge, many of us will be separated. These last few days might be the last times we see each other" A fat young man asked.

His clothes were like other young people's, old but clean. The only difference is that he was a little fatter than the rest.

"Lin Hai, you can speak for yourself because I will pass this challenge and go to the Combat School" One of the girls in the group commented haughtily. She wouldn't want to fail the challenge.

Her goal is to get out of the village and explore the outside world to make a good life for her parents.

"That's right. Lin Hai, you should speak for yourself. I too will pass this challenge and leave this village" Another commented.

"We are seven, but only five can pass the challenge and the other two will be disqualified. Liu Yang is the first to be disqualified, he doesn't even need to take the test to find out about it. It remains to be seen who will be the second disqualified"

"That's true. Liu Yang, you do not want to go to the Combat School, right?"

Someone asked to confirm. They knew that Liu Yang's big dream was to travel the world and explore dangerous places as his father did in his youth.

But with the birth of his first child, he had to stop traveling and stay with his family.

"Yea. I'd rather explore the world and venture out there." Liu Yang replied in an excited tone.

Even if he is disqualified in the test, his dream is still alive.

A traveler would be free to explore any place in the world.