Erlan and I met up after classes to look over the trend of the previous years' final exams for the first years. I realized most of these goals had something to with teamwork and live combat. However, there were unpredictable parts of it that didn't really jive with one another, which made it seem so random and inconsistent when it came to some parts.

I took note of it, but decided not to overthink. Since this was very random, I had a feeling this exam would cater to the individuals taking it—not like the typical standardized test that I was used to back in my world. This was most probably the reason why they took only a very few students every year, because the education would always be catered to the individual.

I was usually not so bothered, but for some reason I slept a little uneasily tonight. I seemed to be forgetting something.

Feeling more antsy as time went on, I got out of bed and pulled out the moon calendar.

Surprise, surprise. There was going to be no moon after tonight.

"F*ck," I whispered.

No wonder.

I was going to have some trouble during the test tomorrow. How shameful it was of me to have forgotten!

I probably should have declined the election as leader of the group. There was no turning back now that I agreed, though. This should be a challenge for me. However...considering the fact that I would be working together with others, there was no way I couldn't tell them. They had to get a heads up just in case.

But I would have to make up a different reason why.

Or maybe I could just play it off in my bad mood.

Ah, as the gods will it, let it be. I'm damned tired, anyway. I'm just gonna wing it tomorrow. I should at least get some decent sleep.

"Amber, watch over me tonight. Just in case I unconsciously summon my powers again when I'm asleep," I said. "Tomorrow's a really important day."

There was silence on the other side.

"Amber?"

"My name's not Amber," he said.

"Well, I can't just keep calling you you."

I waited for his reply, but never really got anything back. Taking his silence as his answer, I decided to sleep off the awkwardness of it all. Although I was not comfortable, I managed to catch a wink of sleep, then promptly woke up a tad bit uncomfortable the next morning.

My body clock automatically made me rise from sleep, and as I checked the time, I realized the bells didn't really go off like usual.

"Wait...it's that time already?! Sh*t."

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. I barely had five minutes to check on the entire group and gather them to the training grounds to pull them up for the exam.

It should have already started.

"Damn, those smart monks," I whispered.

I dressed in haste, taking barely half a minute, then dashed outside while my buttons were still loose. I hopped out as I pulled on my boots, then tracked down the residence of each member of the team and broke down their doors.

The nearest one to me was Erlan, who was still huddled tightly under the blankets. I kicked him out and shouted in his ear, making him hop off the ground like a startled cat.

"Wake up!" I yelled. "We're going to be late. The damn bells didn't go off!"

"Damn that..."

He rose like a horse on stimulants and, as he was getting dressed, I made my way over to Maun.

I couldn't bear to be harsh on the boy, so I gently pulled him upright and tapped his cheek. "Wake up, sleepyhead. We're going to be late. Head down the training grounds immediately."

He nodded while rubbing his eyes, and I left to go find Miles.

Miles was nearly the same as Erlan, except that he threw a ridiculous fit upon waking up—as I expected he would. So I hit him upside the head and kicked him out the door while he was still pulling up his pants. I wanted to give him some more privacy, but if he talked back like this, I couldn't be blamed for being harsh.

The last one I sought out was Arondite.

Unlike the other three, I didn't bust into their room. I simply knocked on the door.

As expected, it opened—and a pristine-looking Arondite stood before me in his full get-up.

"You're up," I said, unsurprised.

"Let's go," he replied, then proceeded to walk past me.

We both rushed to the designated training grounds and arrived just before we were considered late. The monks were all there, waiting while in lotus position, their eyes closed as they hummed in sync.

All five of us stood there panting, wondering what the hell was going on.

The training grounds were modified a little—and I assumed for a purpose.

Judging by the state of things, there would no longer be any orientation to tell us or instruct us what we needed to do—the test had already begun.

"What's happening?" Miles asked, dumbfounded.

"It's already started," I said. "We have to figure out the goal for this. Go around and observe. Tell me what you find. Go with a partner."

"What about the one person left?"

"One group will have three people," I supplied. "I will go with Maun and Miles. Erlan and Arondite, you go together."

The group dispersed as per my instruction and went around to investigate the training grounds. The monks were sitting around a circle—four of them, to be exact. At the very middle was a very blatant red flag. Obviously, that was the main goal.

Aside from this red flag, there were several blue flags interspersed around the training ground—four of them, to be exact. They were at the tail end of different obstacles inlaid with a variety of traps. According to the instructions found, these obstacles could only be attempted twice each. If we failed in those two tries, we would have to give up on that particular obstacle and move on to the next.

The blue flags had two points each, rounding up to a total of eight points all in all. The red flag in the middle of the meditating monks, on the other hand, was worth seven points.

We would be evaluated under two scores—team and individual. The team score had the upper limit of fifteen points. And the individual scores would be graded out of five points. The final score, all in all, team and individual, was twenty points.

A score lesser than twelve points meant irrevocable expulsion.

Under this arrangement, we absolutely could not disregard the teamwork. We could ignore individual points in favor of the team, but we could not do the reverse. Fifteen points guaranteed our stay in the Temple.

Seeing this, although I felt a little cold inside due to the fact that tonight was a new moon, I rounded up everyone to form a plan. Thankfully, there was no time limit to the course—we could take our time. However, I suppose we ought to be done by the usual hour that classes ended. Otherwise, we would be inconveniencing the poor monks.

"Alright, everyone. It's time to move," I said.

After hearing everyone's affirmation, we moved on to the first obstacle.

Each obstacle was well-suited for one member of the team, so I arranged for everyone to become support and boosted that particular person, making up for the weaknesses. These obstacles tested the strengths while, at the same time, poked at the weaknesses. It was also engineered in such a way that success would not be possible if there was no help from someone else.

"Alright, Miles, you're up," I said.

"Me? Already?"

"We can go to other obstacles first if you're not prepared."

"No! No! I'm good, let's go—" he jumped forward and tried to make a quick run towards the blue flag at the end and got taken out by a trap that pulled him waist deep to the ground.

"Idiot," I said. "What part of team don't you understand? Get back in here. If this was the battlefield, you'd be dead!"

Thankfully, it was easy enough to determine what the most suitable process was in order to secure the goal. Upon each second try, we were able to properly obtain the blue flags and secure all those eight points.

I was grateful that my group members weren't hard to work with. Although they were on the naïve side since they were kids, they knew how to fully respect my election as leader and followed what I said unconditionally. Of course, like Miles, sometimes they had their own ideas. But after proving to them time and again how better my decisions were, they stopped contesting what I was telling them to do.

Eventually, we came to the last part of the team obstacle—the monks meditating around the red flag.

"I've been staring at this obstacle for the longest time, and I still don't understand what we're supposed to do."

"Should we just go in and take it?" Erlan asked.

"You can't," I said.

"Why not?"

"You can't see it with your eyes," I told them. "Whenever you're meditating, you draw in the world's energies towards you. They're using those very same energies to form a sort of barrier around that red flag. I'm not sure what'll happen if you just walk in like you said you would. You might not be able to take a single step in at all."

"Master mentioned that," Erlan said.

"What did he mention?" I asked.

"You have the best affinity with the world energies. You're a very favored person. Even before, you didn't need to focus as hard to will the energies to do your bidding—the masters had praised you repeatedly for it."

"Did they ever really praise me?" I raised a brow, trying to recall what they said. "All I heard was contempt."

Yeah, especially from that Master Sun...I think. He kept saying how arrogant I was when I was really doing nothing. Was I arrogant? Or did I come off that way? People frequently seemed to point out my unlikeable qualities.

"They don't tell you directly. They're afraid you'll get arrogant and carried away," Erlan said.

Did I give off that vibe?

Well, I did have the resting bitch face.

"It's okay. Let's get this finished with, soon. If we're going to break this circle, we're going to have to match the frequency of energies these monks are giving off. Then, Miles, it's your time to shine," I said.

"What am I going to do?"

"Quite simple. You go in to take the flag."

I just wasn't sure of myself today, calling upon the energies like this. Just in case, I pulled over Maun, and signed to him, "You have to watch over me. It's the new moon tonight and I'm not sure if I have the best control."

Maun smiled at me and took my hand. "Okay! Don't worry. I'm here."

I was glad I had Maun beside me. He was the perfect anchor. Aside from the fact that I could practically entrust my life to him, he was also a very reliable one to have my back on.