Calista Elise Medley

  Beginning Fighter

  Level 2

  XP: 15/100

  HP: 100/100

  EP: 76/100

  RP Status: Unknown- 0 RP

  Weakness Lvl 15

  The Air-Car crossed over to the Travel District, which was miles worth of empty land with various small buildings scattered around. Teleporters required a lot of energy, with huge generators buried deep underground to prevent radiation from reaching the surface.

  Calista had woken up a couple of days after her big outburst. Her room had been speedily repaired, but the micro-cameras were gone, according to the AIDA. She’d stayed in her sleep capsule, being treated with nutritional supplements. According to the medical report, she was severely malnourished and the outburst had taken almost all of her remaining energy, putting her in a life-threatening state, but the family paid for the top-quality medical treatments for her at-home care, restoring her in time for Katelyn to show her the Academy’s message.

  That outburst had ruined any chances of Calista getting back into their loyal fans’ good graces. Her Reputation Level had gone down to the trenches and all the stats she’d built over the years were gone. Now her UI was adjusted to her fighting persona, displaying the low stats she had so far.

  As a result, the stress was getting much worse. Her whole future and livelihood was now running on this pressure exam. If she failed this, she had nowhere to go. No career, no school, no friends, no family… nothing. Her room didn’t have any micro-cameras anymore, but the rest of the house did, and eventually, her mother would turn them back on and try to refocus the fans’ attention. She would have to hide from everyone.

  What if she got sent away and disowned? What if she was doomed to live by herself in a space station with only a few digits? She’d have to get a job like Katelyn’s, risking herself among criminals, intruders, and raiders just to have enough digits to survive.

  Calista and Katelyn had traveled alone to the TelePort. The rest of the family stayed home; Quinlan was the only one to say goodbye to her properly before she left. Inside the port, the queue was fast, sending out five people at a time; the energy levels were likely incremented to accommodate more people. The hovering signs changed intermittently from ‘TELEPORT 3: FISTBORN ACADEMY, WASHINGTON D.C.’ to ‘VERSUS PRESSURE EXAM TAKERS ONLY’.

  She looked around at all the people waiting. Some were travelling alone; others were with their families. They varied in terms of age— between 15 and 30—, height, and size, some looking stronger and bulkier, others weaker and leaner.

  And yet, there weren’t a lot of full Earthians. Most were half, sharing with Martians, Mercurians, and the like.

  How did she get there? They’d sent her the grades; they weren’t impressive. Did they really qualify her just because it was a passing grade? It was no wonder Earth’s schools were rumored to be lackluster compared to the other planets’.

  When it came time for the sisters to teleport to Washington D.C., the AIDA scanned and counted them. “Please proceed to your respective indicator. Do not step outside the boundary, nor insert any object within the teleportation laser line. Failure to comply may result in malfunction, injury, loss of limbs, or death.” The silhouette indicators had their names hovering over them.

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  The girls stepped into the silhouettes. “Preparing to teleport.” The machine whirred as a blue protective barrier separated them from the rest of the waiting crowd. “We ask again for you to keep limbs and objects inside your circle to prevent malfunction, injury, loss of limbs, and/or death. Other waiting travelers must keep a safe distance from the teleporter behind the yellow indicator line. Do not move away from your foot indicators during teleportation, do not speak, and stand with proper posture to avoid intense nausea, dizziness, or other discomfort and/or side effects.”

  The machine whirred so loudly that Calista’s ears pinched. Protective spheres were activated to shield their eardrums and eyes. “Teleporting to: TelePort 16, #16 West, Travel District, Washington D.C.” A bright light flashed around them, swirling around them like a blue flame. Calista closed her eyes, waiting to reach the other side.

  After a few seconds, they arrived, the blue flames disappearing. The protectors deactivated and they stepped out into the empty room. “Teleportation complete. Welcome to Washington D.C. Please proceed to the security scanners before meeting your transportation.”

  They walked out to meet the rest of the families and test-takers, who boarded triple-decked Air-Buses in groups. The buses were blue with a red-white ribbons across the sides, with ‘Fistborn Academy’ glowing across the white stripes in blue. The words changed periodically to ‘Welcome to D.C!’.

  She was really here. She’d actually done it. She was now about to go to her childhood dream school to fight someone.

  What in the glitch was she thinking?

  Calista and Katelyn went up to the second level and sat at one of the circular tables next to the window. Calista wished she’d had more time to study and train. She barely got her strength up after her two-day sleep.

  It was indeed a pressure exam. She could feel the pressure since Katelyn told her the message. Mistakes weren’t permitted if she wanted a spot in the freshman class. Everyone else taking the test would be going in with the same attitude.

  The pressure exam was the last stage before being accepted or rejected. Every prospective student would battle the ten last-ranked members of the latest country team— ranks 140 to 150— in front of all the upperclassmen, who started two weeks earlier than new students. The pressure exams had been going on for over a week now, and they would finish in two days, followed by the board’s decisions being announced on the Versus News channels all over the country.

  The bus sped off so smoothly that they didn’t even feel it move. Calista swallowed to try and dry her throat, her sweaty palms wringing together. Now that they were actually going to the school, her nerves had skyrocketed along with her heartbeat.

  “Calista, calm down,” Katelyn said softly, covering her hand.

  “I can’t.” She shook her head, breathing in deeply. “I… I think I’m starting to… panic.” She paled when she realized she wasn’t breathing at all.

  -1 EP

  -1 EP

  -1 EP

  Everything she had just done caught up to her. Her future. Her life. Her siblings’ lives. Everything was at stake. If she failed, she would be… nothing. What would happen to her siblings? The viewers hated them as much for pushing her to do this. What would they do to them?

  Katelyn leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Cali, listen,” she said. “All these people here? They’re just as scared as you. Who knows, maybe they bugged up worse on their other tests, but they still got a chance. A lot of people are going to embarrass themselves today. Most of them are gonna be crushed the second their fight starts.”

  “And that could be me,” Calista countered. She looked around at the other tags, seeing Levels that were all higher than hers, ranging from five to as high as 190. If there was anyone with a Level like hers, she couldn’t see them.

  “Stop it. Look, you’ve trained and studied more than ever, and I’ve risked my code a lot, too. It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth it.”

  Calista nodded and sighed. She wished with all her heart that she could reason with her mother, maybe desperately beg the SociaLights to take her back. She knew, though, that she’d never be forgiven.

  She didn’t think her life was so empty. The realization was like being doused in ice-cold water. Did she really center her whole life on appeasing her mother? Was she really good at nothing else other than dancing and looking pretty?

  After driving through a line of trees, the academy was revealed. Calista’s anxiety instantly grew when she saw the campus, but at the same time, awe and exhilaration washed over her.

  The buildings were all colored in different shades of blue and red. The main building in the center towered over all the others with a sky-blue domed ceiling. The FBA crest hovered over the top spire, circling slowly.

  She was actually at Fistborn Academy. A school that held not only talented and famous fighters, but all sorts of respected scholars and professionals in all lines of work for the planetary militia.

  And Calista was about to fight one of the best fighters in front of everyone. Their whole first impression of her would be based off of this match.

  No pressure, though.