That particular year was definitely a massive gathering of dragons and phoenixes. Their names still resound with glory unmatched, even until now.

Among all the great warriors that the National Mecha Pilot Academy produced and whom I consider my brothers and sisters, they are definitely my most bosom ones.

However, that day, they were not yet my brothers and sisters. Oh no, especially not the ones that came in fourth, fifth and sixth.

"Victor Long! Hailey Long! Gerald Long! Congratulations for coming in fourth, fifth and sixth!" Veronica Wu warmly congratulated them.

I have to say, I was extremely impressed. They managed to complete their hike so quickly and in near record time even with the heavy injuries that I had infli- ehm, I mean, that they had inflicted upon themselves!

The three of them were in a subdued mood and merely nodded at Veronica Wu.

However, when they saw me, they immediately bristled with anger.historical

"YOU!" Victor Long snarled and took a menacing step towards me.

However, his relatives seemed to have grown a pretty decent set of brains in the hours after they ah, inflicted those injuries on themselves and during the hike. They held Victor Long back and whispered some things in his ear urgently.

Probably reminding him of the pain and agony he felt when he broke his hands against my steel-like body.

Whatever it was, it worked.

Victor Long merely glowered at me after that and completely ignored me.

I gave a light chuckle and glanced at Veronica Wu to check her reaction. Apparently she had the same idea as me and our eyes met. She grinned. I grinned.

All hail the Whitefrost Clan. Haha.

However, Veronica Wu had to keep up appearances. "AH look at you guys! You're injured! Let me heal you!" Veronica Wu fussed over them and quickly injected a fast-acting serum which quickly mended their broken bones.

"There! As good as new!" She beamed at the Longs who muttered their thanks and quickly sat down near the white mecha.

After the arrival of the Longs, we had to wait for another hour before hundreds, then thousands of kids came rushing into the plateau. After ninety minutes, twenty thousand panting and half dead ten year olds were finally gathered at the peak.

When that happened, Veronica Wu got on her mecha and made an announcement.

"Sorry everyone, I have just finished my lunch. As of this moment, if you do not have any part of your body touching the peak of the mountain, you're officially disqualified. Feel free to remain on the mountain side to enjoy the view. However, you have to leave the premises of the National Mecha Pilot Academy within 3 hours. If you're found anywhere within the premises after 3 hours, you will be treated as a hostile enemy and will be dealt with appropriately. See you guys next time. Bye!"

After that, Veronica Wu opened her cockpit hatch and stood on it while gazing down at the groaning bunch of kids all around her. They had given their all to rush up the mountain and were utterly exhausted.

She kindly gave them a few minutes to rest and recover a little bit of their strength.

I quickly took that time to scour the peak for Andrew, Kenny, Fey, Sera and Tes. After several minutes of looking around, just as I was about to give up finding them, I heard an excited but exhausted voice cry out.

"Justin! Over here!"

It was Fey! Beside her were the other four kids who were lying on the ground, totally spent. Strangely, although Fey looked tired as well, she was in a much better condition compared to the other four.

"Fey! Andrew Kenny Sera and Tes!" I said warmly as I made my way towards them. "It's good to see you all here!"

"Yeah, we were one of the last ones to make it here, thank God we gave all we had and sprinted the final hundred meters!" Fey said excitedly and began to tell me in brief what happened along the way. The rest were too tired to even say hi to me.

"Good! Good! Let's stick together from now on!" I said to them with a smile.

However before Fey could reply, Veronica Wu's voice thundered out once more from her white mecha.

"Well done all of you. You have passed our physical fitness test! There are now only twenty thousand of you and after this next segment, less than ten thousand of you will remain. Before we begin, please take out your entrance exam tokens and raise them high.

Come on, I don't have all day! Right. Okay. That's it.

All of your tokens are now updated with points according to how fast you made it here. Your next assignment is very simple. See that mountain over there? Get there with two updated tokens before I finish my midday snack. Ready? Go!"

What a vicious test!

Immediately after Veronica Wu finished her announcement, the entire peak exploded into a mess of shouts, screams and fighting.

Many of the late comers who were lying on the ground exhausted were especially unfortunate. They were set upon by vicious kids who sought easy prey. Even after their tokens were robbed, they were attacked again and again as the attackers had no idea whether they still had their tokens or not.

Some of the smarter ones immediately dashed off the peak and prepared to ambush those who left the peak later on with their tokens.

Others launched surprise attacks on their buddies, friends and anyone close enough to be attacked.

It was pure chaos, made much worse by the fact that those who managed to reach earlier were much more well rested and were generally fitter to begin with.

The second segment was clearly designed to weed out the weak by doubling down on testing their fitness and adding a test on their ability to fight and make crucial decisions in times of massive pressure..

"HIYAAAA!!!" A fancy roundhouse kick by a tall boy came flying my way. I dodged it easily and countered with a quick jab to his head.

BAM!

He fell down heavily onto the ground and fainted.

I was about to lean down to free him of his exam token, when suddenly, I was attacked by two girls!