Chapter 13: You have failed

Chapter 13: You have failed

Date: 4 January 2557

Location: Planet Solomon, The Celestine continent. Celestial Academy, Examination district.

In a large building, a large gathering of young people can be seen going in and out of various rooms. They were led by well-dressed teachers who explained to them their tasks and how to pass them. This is the Celestial Academy entrance exam. Each person can apply once a year to enter their academy as long as they are 18 and below and can pass their exams.

The exams were separated into 3 parts. One was the academic tests. If one achieved at least 70% or above then they can go into any scientific faculty. Then came the Karna assessment those with 5 stars and above would be automatically accepted. Then came the combat test. This one required the examinees to fight against powerful and skilled combat robots that are at least 2 times stronger than humans in every stat.

They are a total of 5 robots that progressively get stronger. All one has to do is beat one of these robots to pass and qualify to enter the F tire classes in the academy. It might seem easy but it's not. 70% of all examinees fail this exam. With less than 1% making it to their A-tier classes. The major reason behind their failure is the skill difference between the examinees and the robots. When the academy receives over a million examinees but can only accept 50000 of them. So even passing the exam doesn't guarantee admission. You have to outperform all your other competitors and make it to the top 50000.

Right now an odd scene could be witnessed throughout the examination hall. Whether they were teachers or examinees. From the waiting area to the monitoring rooms. Most people had their eyes focused on a particular battle taking place on their screens.

The screens showed a young man around 17 years of age fighting a level-one combat robot. The fight was intense it was clear for all to see that the boy was skilled. But his reactions were slow. He would trade blow for blow with the robot and would outmaneuver it on multiple occasions. Yet the boy kept his eyes closed throughout the whole fight. People at first thought he was doing this to show off. But they soon found out that the boy was blind.

The boy was neither some well-known figure nor a genius. He was just a blind kid from a regular family. Who wouldn't be interested in such an event? Watching an underdog try their best always made people interested.

Within the exam combat room, Samuel ducked as a metallic first went over his head. He had some blood on his face from being hit a few times. Sweat purred down from his face as he launched 2 quick punches to the robot's abdomen. "Bang! Bang" The punches landed with a loud noise. The robot was momentarily stunned. Samuel took the chance to go for an uppercut. His fist went through empty air as the robot dodged by tilting its head backward. Samuel knew he was open to a counter. The problem was that he didn't know where the attack would come from.

Through his year of trying he had made great progress to the point he could beat Sasha in their sparing matches. But the problem is that this robot wasn't a person. His vision was black with nothing in sight. "Swoosh!" he heard the sound of something going through the air toward him. He couldn't pinpoint the exact location where the strike was coming. So all he could do was predict its path. He crossed his arms by his chest and instantly a kick landed on them sending him skidding back.

But the moment the robot made contact with him its figure appeared in his senses. 'Got you' Samuel thought. Although he couldn't sense it like people. Once the robot makes physical contact with him he will see it for around 3 seconds. It rushed towards him and threw a punch. Samuel dodged the first then blocked the second. Further extending the time he could sense it.

As soon as he blocked the second punch. He locked the robot's arm with one arm and struck its joint where the elbow would be located. The arm went limp but a metal knee struck him in the gut. "Grunt!" Samuel grunted in pain. The robot made some distance keeping out of Samuel's reach. After a few seconds, Samuel lost the robot's presence.

The battle kept going for another minute. For Samuel to sense the robot he had to take a hit or block them. Even with only one arm the robot still didn't go down easy. Punches and kicks were exchanged between to two. Until finally Samuel got a proper hold of the robot and pinned it. While on top of it, he struck its head "Bang! Bang! Crack!": again and again, until it couldn't move. As soon as Samuel won he held his stomach as he struggled to leave the room. The teacher in charge of his room came to help him.

When Samuel got outside he was welcomed by looks of surprise. Most people did not believe he could beat the robot. For one he only had a 1-star Karna and his blind, but there he was victorious." Wow he did it" said someone in the crowd. "Even a blind guy got through the first robot. I'm sure I'll pass" said another "The kids got skill," said a person.

Samuel couldn't see their expressions but he heard some of their words. It brought a smile to his face. Some medical staff members came and took him away to an infirmary. Samuel was soon brought to a room with a couple of other youths being treated. His injuries weren't too bad. After a few minutes of treatment, he was all good to go.

The room door opened and 5 Celestial Academy students walked in. The uniforms they wore made them instantly catch everyone's attention. Samuel couldn't sense anyone at the moment due to using too much energy in his battle. He was resting to recover his energy. But he heard the arrival of the newcomers and the commotion they caused. "Damn man, you look like you got your ass handed to you," Billy said. Samuel instantly recognized his voice and smiled. " Well, it's kind of hard to fight properly when you can't see. So in all honesty I think I did pretty well." Samuel said.

"He got a point man," Blessed said " I know if it was me in his shoes, I wouldn't last a minute," said Tina. The room was then filled with their laughter. Samuel activated his ability. He instantly sensed their wispy figures. The wispy figures he saw were much clearer than before and had solid human forms with outlines of their clothes.

The group of friends hugged each other. "It's good to see you man," Rick said after hugging Samuel. "It's good to be with you guys again," Samuel said. He then turned his attention to the last figure that had not participated in the reunion hugs. Samuel turned towards her. Although she didn't say a single thing, he knew it was her.

The wisps that made up her form were brighter than everyone else's. "Hey, Jennifer. How have you been?" Samuel asked awkwardly. Jennifer said nothing. If Samuel could see her he would notice that she had changed a lot. She was taller now almost reaching his height.

Her hair was now a mixture of black and gold. Jennifer did not reply to him and walked towards him with an angry expression. Everyone made way for her not wanting to get involved in this. Samuel had royally screwed up. Jennifer then grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him towards her. She stared right at Samuel's face and said "You said you were coming to take the exam on the 15th. Why are you here already done taking it"

Samuel lowered his head in shame. For the past few weeks, Jennifer and he had been talking about meeting up at the entrance exam. She made it clear that she wanted to cheer him on. The others had also said they wanted to be there to support him. But Samuel couldn't bring himself to let his friends watch him take the exam, especially Jennifer. That's why he lied to her and told the others to not let her find out.

"Answer me, Sam? You think because you told the others to hide it from me, I wouldn't find out" Jennifer said, her eyes practically glowed with fury. The others lowered their heads after hearing her words. "Don't get angry at them I told them. It's my fault " Samuel said only to be quickly interrupted " Of course it's your fault. But I just don't understand why. Why didn't you want me to be here for you" Jennifer said.

Samuel gritted his teeth he wanted to tell her but the words felt stuck in his throat. "Tell me!" Jennifer yelled. "I couldn't let you see me. I just couldn't" Samuel said clear frustration in his voice. The others realized this was going to be a long conversation so they left them alone "We are going to get soon food. We'll be back in a while." Billy said as they all left.

Samuel then continued "I know that even if I somehow pass the test by beating one robot my chances of being accepted are low. It's fine if I fail but…" Samuel couldn't finish his sentence. Jennifer let go of him and asked "But what?"

Samuel then mustered his courage and said "If you were there to see me fail it would hurt so much more" Jennifer didn't reply and sat down on his bed. She then pulled him close to her and placed his head on her lap. " Hey I don't know why but I get it. You didn't want me to see you fail. But we're best friends aren't we." She said.

"Yeah we are," Samuel said he didn't know why but being held by her like this felt so good. Her image in his senses got clearer by the second. "Good, so never do this again. No matter what you go through. Whether good or bad I will always be there for you…ok"

Samuel felt comforted by her word " Yeah, I won't do this again" he said "You better" Jennifer said with a smile. At that moment Samuel saw her clearly in his senses only for about 2 seconds. She was much more beautiful than he remembered and that smile on her face made his heartbeat quicken. "You are beautiful you know that. And I like the gold in your hair it looks cool." Samuel said with a smile. Jennifer blushed a little and she flicked his forehead "Stupid, flattery won't save you from my anger. Wait a second how can you see my hair?" Jennifer said.

The two spent some time alone even though they were in an infirmary. The others soon returned as they waited for Samuel to get his results. After a few hours, Samuel got a notification on his wristwatch. Using his sensory ability on his wristwatch allowed him to read what was written on it. He didn't quite understand it but his ability allowed him to do that.

After reading the message he sighed and turned to his friends "I guess this year isn't the one for me." Samuel said as he showed his friends the notification and they all saw it. It read "You have failed"