*NOTE: I changed a small detail in the last chapter. Instead of the lessons taking place at the town hall, he takes a test gauging his knowledge there and is then assigned to a classroom in the building next-door. I thought that made more sense than putting all those kids in the town hall everyday.

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Chapter 4: Lets take a Test

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The village of Rakshata was a relatively small community when compared to the kingdom of Vale. In total, there are about 1000 residents. And although the buildings are stationary now, they are able retract their front steps and be ready to move in a moments notice.

Larger buildings like the library or the townhall actually consist of multiple tall trailers. They line up next to each other and then transfrom. One side's wall would lift up and form the ceiling, and the other would shift down to form the floor. After connecting, residents can move collapsible pillars and walls into certain areas to support the building and create rooms as they saw fit. After extending and snapping them into place, you have a building capable of holding a meeting with a couple hundred people easily.

As he was growing up, the village has already moved twice. Thus he was able to witness this transformation. The first time it occurred, he had stared in awe, being the fan of technology he was.

= They already have transforming trailers. What's next? A transforming robot? =

Contemplating the idea, Robin stepped into the townhall. The first thing he noticed was all the trophies on the wall. Hanging there were plaques; each one had a model of the head of a Grimm. In the large room were ten rows of desks, all facing the whiteboard in the front of the room. Above it was a clock, indicating that it was 9:45. Lined up against the windows on right side of the room were more desks and tables that would be used during meetings. However, since they weren't being used at the moment, they were stacked and put to the side. On the other side were cabinets and shelves filled with books.

Walking towards the front, he noticed a woman with thin, white antlers sitting at a desk in a corner of the room. Noticing his presence, she looked up from the book she was reading and her dark brown eyes looked him up and down.

"What's your name?" the brunette questioned him.

"Robin S. Wolfheart ma'am." She checked his name off on a clipboard.

"Well Mr.Wolfheart, find a seat. As soon as all of the students arrive, we will begin testing.”

Nodding, Robin walked to a seat in the middle of the second row and waited. Soon, more faunus entered and also greeted the woman in a similar fashion. The rows were quickly filled with young faunus. Surprisingly, the village of Rakshata was comprised of only faunus. In his four years in this world, he had yet to see a regular human. Not that he was complaining.

Unlike his experiences with humans, faunus didn't tease him for having a hobby for spending a lot of time in the library; generally, they treated him kindly if he did the same. In addition, the residents were much more accepting of other faunus species which can range anywhere from rats and hawks to mermaids and lizardmen.

“Alright students, you've been sent here to learn how to survive. First, we'll take a small test for how much knowledge you already possess. You will be tested on mathematics, history, and English. Depending on the results, you will be separated into different classes next-door.

Classes are separated by year and pace. If you score well, you will be put in higher level classes. Score low, and you'll be put in lower level classes. However, regardless of your results, you will be starting off at the very first levels of Aura, D&G, Mechanics, and survival classes. Are there any questions?”

Scanning the room, there were no response. She grabbed a bundle of pencils and a stack of papers, and proceeded to pass them out.

“I will provide you a pencil if you need something to write with. If yours breaks I will hand you a new one, and one more very important thing to remember during this test.” She paused and a brown aura briefly covered her body. “If you cheat, I WILL catch you, so don't even think about it.

“You will be given 1 hour to complete this test. Testing will end at 11. Watch the clock. Begin.”

Quickly flipping the test packet over, Robin began filling out answers at lightning speed. He might have the body of a 4 year old, but had the mind of a 16-year old. He was naturally smart in his previous life, so math and english wasn't a problem. This was the same for history, thanks to the amount of time he spent reading in the library, as soon as his parents had allowed him to. The test was finished before 30 minutes had passed. Bored out of his mind, Robin decided to take a nap.

“Stop. Put your pencils down. I will now collect all of your materials.” After the said materials were collected, she bundled them up and another woman walked into the townhall. This one had light blue scales covering the sides of her face and back of her neck. She wore a red scrunchie tying her blue hair into a ponytail and a black cloak that had blue wavy markings along the borders. Underneath, a torquoise blouse and jeans could be seen. Walking up to the front of the room, she turned and faced the students.

“My name is Liss Kertenkela. You will refer to me as Mrs. Kertenkela from this moment on. While Mrs. Gera here grades your tests, I will begin introductory lessons. Before we begin I want all of you to head over to the cabinet over there and grab a notebook and a textbook. These contain basic information on Dust and the creatures of Grimm that we will be using all year.”

After everyone gathered their materials, she continued. “You do not need to take notes. This is just a basic overview while we wait for Mrs. Gera to finish.

“ As you all know, all races refer to the planet as Remnant. On Remnant there are five continents. However, only three of them are inhabited by mankind, and on these continents there exist only 4 known kingdoms: Atlas in the north continent, Mistral in the east continent, Vacuo and Vale in the middle continent. The other two regions are officially unexplored. Any attempts to immigrate over and establish a foothold has been halted by extremely high Grimm concentrations. It is known that there are no obvious evidence of human civilizations due to extended investigations done by airships. To this day, 500 years after the most ancient records of history, only our four kingdoms still exist.

All of this is possible, thanks to the existence of Dust. But what is Dust? Dust is a naturally occurring energy propellant, that forms underground in the earth beneath us. We mine Dust and then process it to use it in more diverse and practical ways. Its most natural form is a crystal. As we dig underground, veins of crystal Dust can be seen and mined. But this is not the only form which we can have Dust in.

While Dust can only be found naturally as crystals, mankind has developed ways of creating other forms, such as powdered Dust. This form, when mixed with a specific amount of other materials, creates gunpowder which we use in our weapons. Furthermore, this form is extremely efficient. One small bottle of powdered Dust can be used to create a crater 3 meters wide. The other form is liquid form. This form is flammable and is used in our vehicles as gasoline, and in flamethrowers as oil.

Now who gets us these huge amounts of Dust? All of our Dust is gathered through companies whose job is to go work the mines, gather the Dust and sell it to people like you and me. The most prominent Dust production company is the Schnee Dust company. They hold the monopoly of all Dust that we purchase and use in everyday life. Now if they just fix their bad habits of forming alliances with questionable business partners as well as they unjustified hatred for---”

“LISA!” Abruptly interrupting Mrs. Kertenkela was Mrs. Gera, who was glaring at her with her glowing brown eyes.

“Fine, fine. Well, it seems like Mrs. Gera is finished grading, so we'll move on to the next topic.”

= Huh? There has to be about a hundred kids here. Taking in the fact that some of those were short answer questions, how did she finish grading so quickly? Were there a lot of unanswered questions? =

Robin was confused. Either Mrs. Gera was a super fast reader or he was missing something. Robin seriously doubted all 99 other students skipped the 25 short answer questions, so he was confused as to how she had finished grading during that short lecture--- but that would have to be on hold for later. Mrs. Kertenkela was not finished.

“ The other topic I wish to speak about today was Aura. All living beings, with the exception of the creatures of Grimm, possess aura. Each person's aura is unique and acts as protection, keeping you out of harm's way. Who here has activated their status card already?

Only a few hands were raised.

“Your status cards are activated by you inserting your aura into the device. It registers your aura and thus shows information about yourself that you will use to gauge your ability in combat. If you haven't activated your status card, you probably haven't activated your aura yet. But that's a small problem. Today all of you will activate your aura and learn about your own abilities. You will learn more specifics about both Dust and auras in your classes.

Now, will all of those who have already activated their cards get their tests from Mrs. Gera? Everyone else who have not, make two lines. One in front of me and the other in front of Mrs. Gera. A stamp has been put on each of your test. This will tell you what schedule you have. Once you get them back, head over to the other building and find your schedule.”

The exceptions got their scores and left the building. Then, both teachers placed their hand on the head of the student in the front of their respective lines. As they stood there silently, their bodies glowed softly emanating a blue and white glow respectively. Not too soon after, each of the students also starting glowing faintly, then the glow gradually died.

“Now, remember that feeling and put your aura into the card. Then press the button. That will activate your card.”

The students closed their eyes and did as they were told. Soft noises were heard.

*beep* *beep*

They were then handed their test back and sent on their way. Slowly but surely, the line got shorter and then it was eventually Robin's turn.

Mrs.Kertenkela placed her hand on his head and he closed his eyes. Suddenly he heard her soft voice resonating through his skull.

= For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee. =

A warm sensation filled his chest --it spread to his limbs -- then his fingers and toes, vitalizing his body. Opening his eyes, he found his body glowing a bright silver aura. Evidently, it was much brighter than the other students.

“..interesting. You seem to possess a large amount of aura. Go ahead and activate your card.”

Grasping the metal popsicle stick in his hand, Robin felt and sent the sensation to his fingers and pressed the button.

*beep* *beep*

Schedule is pretty much established. Still working on a status that would make sense. I'm still trying to decide how much I will go into Virtual Reality genre. Fighting scenes will be a new experience for me. Let me know what you guys think. Do you want to see some skills (or my failure at naming them)? Combos? or very detailed combat? or maybe both?

Yo Give your thoughts like always. I appreciate any and all advice. I may or may not use them though so no promises. I haven't gotten around to editing last chapter yet but i'll get to it soon. I'm gonna be busy for next few days. Tests suck. So no chapters. However, that means extra time for planning. So I'll get right back on it as soon as I can. Updates should be expected to be every two days from now on. If you see stuff every day it's cuz I made some free time that shouldn't be free time >.>

Office of Grimm inspiration. Credit goes to ZeroSenPie