Chapter 120 - 119 - Disturbing

Let's rewind a bit, shall we? Back during the morning when I went over to Ruby's to get my replacement X-Blade handle and then ran into Suri on the way back, she asked me if everyone in our class had messaged me, to which I responded that there's no way a certain handful of our classmates would ever congratulate me. 

But out of curiosity, I decided to check anyway, to see if I'd received any messages from someone who wasn't saved in my contact list. And to my surprise...there was one. The sender had texted me several messages, the first one reading...

'Dear Kilzachs, I apologize for everything I've done. Oh, this is like the best day ever, I'm so excited to be classmates with an Anomaly that's so powerful! I hope this message finds you well, and I hope we can be friends. Again, I'm sorry for everything I've done in the past, but it was only because I thought you were a Dud. If I'd known you were an Anomaly, I'd have done my best to be your greatest friend ever! And it hope it's not to late to do so now...love you!'

That's the entire message, word for word...and I received a few more afterwards that were very much along the same lines as that first paragraph of nightmare fuel. 

I already knew that he was an Anomaly fanboy, given his reaction to Sakura when she first introduced herself to our class, but still, I didn't expect it to run this deep...he's straight up obsessed with Anomalies. 

Anyway, the whole thing was so damn disturbing to me that I just blocked it out for the past several days and pretended that it never even happened...and now, getting back to the present, I was being forced to face it head on and way up close...this is literally the most horrifying thing that has ever happened to me. 

Could he just be messing with me or something? No, I doubt that...he's way too egotistical to do that, he's been completely serious right now. How the hell do I deal with this!? 

"Are you alright, Kilzachs? Shall I get you some water or something?" He inquired with a look of concern. 

I...I never thought I'd say this, but...I think I miss the way he used to treat me. Because this shit is just straight up disturbing. Okay, you know what, screw this, I'm not going to play nice with this asshole just because his attitude towards me has flipped, it doesn't undo any of this shit he's put me through. 

"Fuck off."

"Oh...okay, I understand. Sorry for bothering you," He replied, looking crestfallen as he headed to his seat. 

That meek reaction just makes this even more disturbing than it already is. Bytra was staring at him with a look of bewilderment, as was everyone else. 

"That was really creepy," Muttered Kiran, his usually drowsy eyes a lot wider than usual. 

"That's an understatement," Added Suri, looking disturbed, "I thought the messages he sent you were bad, but face to face is so much worse."

"You don't have to tell me, I literally just experienced it," I sighed in exasperation. 

"I'm super glad to not be you right now, man," Chimed in Mitchell wryly. 

"Um, hang in there," Seila patted my shoulder sympathetically. 

"Good luck with it," Said Katie, giving me a half-hearted thumbs up...well, at least, it looked half-hearted thanks to her blank expression. 

"Okay, stop, you guys are making it worse," I groaned, burying my head in my arms on the desk. 

Fortunately, Kumar showed up a few seconds later, for the first class of the day...I usually find these theory lessons really boring, but right now, I was willing to accept any and all distractions from this current situation. 

The first hour and a half or so went by pretty well, nothing of note happened, which is exactly what I wanted right now. And then, as we got into the last thirty minutes of the session, Kumar had an announcement to make... 

"Okay, we've finished today's topic early, so you guys can have the remainder of the session off-...oh, wait, I almost forgot. Before that, I have an announcement to make, this is regarding your second set of bi-monthly exams for Level Q." 

During Level J, we had exams every month for the six month course, but it was different in Level Q, the exams would be conducted every two months instead, so three sets of exams instead of six. The first set had been last month, and the exams had been pretty simple and easy, thanks to the scrutiny that the X-Warrior Zone was under, following all the incidents against the Wights. 

But giving us easily passable exams was a counterproductive move, so I doubt they'll do so again. And thanks to the recently-concluded and highly eventful X-Warrior Championship, the attention of the general public was still on the results of the tournament, it was starting to die down now but it'd still be a little while before everyone's totally over it. 

Alright, let's see what Kumar has to say about the exams next month... 

"Okay, so first off, there's nothing to say about the theory exam...it'll be a written test as always, obviously. The combat and teamwork exams are going to be pretty tough this time around, let's start with the latter first...the teamwork exam will be conducted last, and will consist of each team heading outside the Sanctuary and eliminating Mutants. Oh, except that unlike the previous times, this time it'll be an overnight assignment," Explained Kumar. 

"Excuse me, instructor, but isn't that too risky?" Inquired Zoya uneasily. 

"Not to worry, it's actually fairly safe...each team will be accompanied by an Ace, our surveillance drones will scope out the areas to make sure no Wights or overly powerful Mutants are around, and all that aside, the Sanctuary has begun a project to expand, so secure bases are being built on the outside. This'll mean that the areas immediately outside of the Sanctuary will be a lot safer than they used to be."

Director Silva had brought this up once before, she was concerned by the fact that if the Wights surround the Sanctuary, we'd be at a disadvantage...I then suggested that they build a massive fence or wall around the area surrounding the Sanctuary and post guards and security cameras and stuff. 

She mulled it over but I never followed up on it, so I completely forgot about it till Kumar just mentioned it now. Well, it's not exactly what I suggested, but it's close enough...and considering how easily the Wights infiltrated last time, it's a necessary measure as far as I'm concerned. 

Speaking of security, I'd heard from the director that her technical team had finally figured out how to go about implementing a vacuum layer into the Sanctuary dome, and in addition to the airless, zero-gravity feature, it was also going to have sharp spikes all over which would be coated in poison, along with heat, motion and a bunch of other sensors. 

Anyway, even with Kumar pointing out the safety measures that'd be taken for the exam, most of the others looked pretty unconvinced about an overnight assignment on the outside. But he certainly didn't care about what they think, as he moved on to the combat exam... 

"Now, then, usually the combat exams are either mock battles against classmates, fighting captured Mutants, or a combination of both. Not this time...no, this time things will be different. You'll each be divided into four groups, one group of four and the rest of three each. The group of four will consist of the four bottom ranking students, and the rest have been divided evenly."

Wait, what!? So, then...the combat exam is going to be like a second, worse teamwork exam this time!? That sounds horrible. And based on the concerned murmurs ringing out all around me, my classmates felt the same way...

"Does that mean that the teams for the combat exam have already been decided?" Inquired Andre with a frown. 

"That's right, and during the month or so leading up to the exams, you will all train with both your permanent and temporary teams...or don't, I can't force you, but unless you do, you'll almost definitely fail," Remarked Kumar indifferently, "Now, for the exam itself, it'll take place a couple of days after the teamwork exam, and will consist of slaying Mutants for the whole day...it won't be overnight like the teamwork exam, but will still be the longest assignment you've been given on the outside...after the upcoming teamwork exam, of course."

"This seems somewhat extreme, instructor," Spoke up Makoto with a frown. 

"Yeah, well, I'm just the messenger, if you've got complaints, go to X-Warrior HQ and take it up with them. Anyway, I'll now announce the temporary teams for the combat exam next month...first, the team of four consisting of the four bottom students includes Makoto Amano, Taayin Sharma, Mitchell Jones and Suri Patel."

Makoto was by far, the worst student in class, with low scores in all subjects. But with Mitchell and Suri, they had good scores in combat and teamwork, but they were both terrible when it came to the written exams. 

As for Taayin, while he was among the top of the class when it came to combat, he had low scores in the written exams as well as in teamwork assessments, he had a tendency to get carried away and do his own thing during team assignments. 

Kumar then continued... 

"Since after the group of four was formed, each permanent team had three members left, the remaining three teams will consist of one member from each. The second team includes Katie, Tairo and Lin. Next, the-." 

"I object, instructor!" Protested Tairo immediately, "Put me on the same team as Kilzachs, I'll do anything! Please!" 

Huh? 

"Wha...? I, uh...I have no idea what's going on, but, uh, the teams have already been finalized...and again, I'm just the messenger, so take your complaints to HQ and-." 

"Okay, I will!" Responded Asshole with a look of determination. 

"Uh...r-right," Replied a bewildered Kumar, before shaking his head and continuing, "Well, uh, anyway, getting to the third team...Seila, Zoya and Andre."

Wait a sec, that means...! Oh, no...

"And the fourth and final team will be...Kilzachs, Kiran and Bytra." 

Shit. 

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP