The final test took place in the gym, and this time, it would stay in the gym.
Jin understood why everyone wanted to work with him. The final test was a combat test. A girl and a boy would work together, like Vanguards and Guardians do on the field, and fight against each other.
All of the girls who wanted Jin to work with him didn’t even know his combat level or expierence. They simply wanted him for his brain. A smart partner who couldn’t fight was better than a dumb partner who could.
After Addison demanded that Jin work with her, Angela started an argument with her, and this allowed Jin to run away to safety. At least that’s what he hoped.
Currently, he was standing between Angela and Addison, their breasts pressed against his arms as they glared at each other with sparks of electricity coming from both of their eyes.
"What’s your problem, Angela? You don’t even like Jin. Why are you stopping me from working with him?"
"Because I know working with him is an easy win. I’ve known the little rat since daycare. Sabotaging his chances is the best way to make sure he stays behind me! Also, didn’t you threaten him yesterday? Why the sudden change of heart?"
The two of them got even closer, not that Jin minded. He still wanted his personal space, but pillows were good to have when you relax.
"Wow. Angela must really hate Jin for her to openly admit to wanting to sabotage him."
"But what about Addison? Doesn’t she simply want an easy win by pairing up with Jin?"
"Do you know who Angela is? She’ll beat anyone in this combat test."
"Yeah, true. But why want Jin?"
"Yeah, I have no idea. Maybe because he’s the best out of the boys."
"That makes sense."
While people whispered about the chaos—and Angela and Addison kept arguing over Jin—Mrs. Horton arrived with two instructors. One was the familiar Miss Lockman, and the other, an unfamiliar man, looked like the one in charge of training the future Guardians.
’He’s pretty skinny. Well, I guess that’s normal in this world.’ Jin thought to himself.
"Quiet down, you rats! It’s time to go over the final test!" Mrs Horton’s voice boomed, forcing everyone to shut their mouths.
"I’m sure you noticed what the test will be about on the board you saw this morning, and are scrambling to find a partner to work with. Normally, I’d tell you to choose your partner, but I know that a lot of you are antisocial losers, so I decided to pair you up myself."
"Yes!"
"Let’s go!"
"Are we going to gloss over her calling us antisocial losers?"
Jin didn’t know how to feel about this one. On one hand, this could be great, and on the other, it could be horrible.
"Just letting you know, these pair-ups were NOT made with fairness in mind. Nothing is fair in life, so deal with it."
’I have a bad feeling about this.’
Mrs Horton cleared her throat. "Now, for our first pair up. Since I know all of you are eager to know who will be pairing up with Jin, I’ll just tell you the pairing up first."
’Fuck!’
"Jin and A-A-A-A-CHOOOOOOO!!!"
"Oh come on!"
Each ’A’ made everyone anxious since they didn’t know who she would say. When Mrs Horton sneezed, it just made everyone even more anxious.
"Heh, my bad, you fuckups. Anyway, Jin, you’ll be paired up with Addison."
"Yes."
"Noo!"
’Not bad, but damn, I kind of wanted someone unknown so I could blame my loss on them. I’m already getting more attention than I wanted.’
"You’d better be prepared, princess, because I’m taking you down!"
"Thank you for telling me that, Angela."
"Whatever."
Mrs Horton went over the parings for the next five minutes until everyone had a partner. After she gave everyone a color. Blue for team 1 and Red for team 2. Both teams would have 2 minutes to prepare a plan. Once that was done, the final test started.
"Okay, Carl and Carla, you two are facing off against Karmen and Karamel. Take the stage."
The four of them stood in the center of the gym, and a center stage rose up, creating an arena for them to fight in. Four walls of holographic light beamed into the ceiling, acting as a barrier to prevent the abilities of the contestants from harming the onlookers.
On one side, the floor was blue for team one, and on the other, it was red for team two.
"Ready yourselves...." Mrs Horton shouted, giving each team their 2 minutes to plan.
"It’s going to be over soon if she plays her cards right," Jin said on instinct.
"How so?" Since Addison was Jin’s partner, she decided to listen to his reasoning.
"You see the girl on team 2? She’s bouncing on her toes. She’s a speedster. My mother was one, and she was always on her toes like that. Constantly moving around."
Addison watched the girl, and she could see what Jin was talking about.
"What about the other girl? Do you know anything about her?"
"She has earth elemental powers. Pretty good for defense, but if the speedster can take her out before she has a chance to activate her powers, then the fight is over."
"BEGIN!"
Just as Jin predicted, the speedster charged straight for the earth elementalist. But to his surprise, she grabbed her partner and hurled him into the opposing fighter before the speedster could even reach her.
The boy on team two quickly activated his power kit as he slammed into the guy on team one, and the speedster punched the elementalist in the face before she could even react.
It was an instant knockout.
"Wow. You were right." Addison applauded Jin’s awareness.
’Dammit! I wanted to team up with Jin!’ Angela sulked but didn’t let it ruin her attitude. She was looking forward to her opponent and hoped it was Addison so she could beat her up for stealing her partner.
"Okay! Next up..."