Chapter 9: Testing

The large gates of Holster Academy were opened after the Spade made a loud honk. They drove into the Academy and were stopped by a guard dressed in dark blue light armour. The side window of the Spade was rolled down and Gavin showed the guard a pass card. After that, they took a left turn before coming to a stop.

"Listen up!" Gavin said.

"Those of you who were recruited through the Selection will need to be registered before being accepted into your new status as official students of Holster Academy. One of the students here will lead you to the Administrative block to be registered."

"I'll lead them, Instructor Gavin!" one of the students volunteered. It was the boy who kept stealing glances at Alex during their ride to the Academy.

"Good. Now leave, I'll also be coming to the Administrative block soon." Gavin said, and pressed on one of the control buttons and the doors of the Spade opened up.

Alex, the other two teenagers, and the student, Tang, alighted from the vehicle. Alex was surprised by the sheer size of the Academy. It was almost as big as a university campus, with several tall, massive and large buildings.

He could see some students moving around and carrying out various activities. Alex took in a deep fresh breath with a broad smile on his face.

"Wow, this is so nice" Alex blurted out.

He turned and saw the boy and girl also twisting and turning their necks to take in the view of the Academy.

"Alright. We will be going to the Administrative block now. Do well to stay close by so you don't get lost," Tang said with a friendly smile.

The three of them nodded and followed after Tang. Their excitement was palpable and made evident with each step they took. After walking for a while, they got to a two-storey building that had a plaque at the top with the words 'Administrative Block' written on it.

"We're here. There would be a small test to place you on your ability level, ready your mind for it," Tang said.

"Another test? I hope it's not like the last," Tom, the newly recruited teen said out of panic.

"It shouldn't be that hard. Thanks for bringing us here," Alex said to Tang before walking into the building. The other two rushed and followed behind.

'Let's see what level you'd be placed on. With no ability, you'd probably be at rock bottom. I wonder, how can someone such as you have something as precious as a storage ring?' Tang thought with a devious smile on his face.

The trio walked into a building and were greeted by a wide space. In the far left corner, a lady in glasses sat behind a counter, and on the counter were some computer gadgets and bundles of paper. Several chairs were arranged to her right and were occupied by teenagers who seemed to also be new student recruits.

Alex walked up to the lady wanting to ask for directions with the other two following along.

"You must be new students of the Academy, right?" The lady spoke after noticing them.

"Yes, ma'am." They spoke in unison.

After that, the lady asked for their names and ages before they were asked to take a seat and fill out a form. The form required details on their ability, the division they would like to be in, classes they want to partake in and much more.

There are three divisions in Holster Academy; Combat, Support, and Research divisions.

Occasionally, five new students would come from the floor above to meet the lady, and then they would be handed a metal wristband and an ID card, after which the lady would send a set of five new students to the top floor of the building.

'I think the tests are taken at the top floor. I wonder what it would be,' Alex thought as he sat in anticipation. They had been waiting for some minutes and had seen different sets of new students come and go.

After waiting for what seemed like a century to Alex, it was finally time to take the test. He and the other four who were to take the test with him walked into the elevator in the building.

It was the first time Alex had seen such a thing, and it filled him with fascination. The lift was tense and Alex could see Tom fidgeting a bit. He, too, couldn't deny the fact that the thought of the test made him nervous.

Some seconds later, the five of them, Alex and Tom being the only guys in the group of five, stepped out of the elevator.

They were welcomed to a wide open space with different training equipment littered around. In front of them stood a young man who looked to be in his thirties with a build that resembled that of a veteran fighter.

He smiled cordially at them, his smile exploding forth with a wave of charisma.

"I can see you are all tense, you shouldn't be. It's just a minor test, so the Academy can match you up properly during physical events."

"By the way, my name is Blake. Instructor Blake is to be official. Now let's get over with this test. Shall we?" He asked and turned already even before they answered.

The five of them hurriedly followed after him, their hearts racing in anticipation. It seemed like Instructor Blake had managed to calm their nerves a bit.

They came to a halt before a rectangular machine that was five meters wide with a black screen at the top of it.

"Okay, let's begin. Your task is to hit that mention with all your might. The force exerted will be interpreted into figures and the figures will appear on the screen."

"Just that? It's a piece of cake then. I'll go first." One of the girls in the group said. Her long violet hair swayed in the air and her blue eyes emanated such confidence that surprised Instructor Blake.

"That's the spirit! You can go ahead. But first, let me explain further."

"After the first task, there are two more and their purpose is to test your agility and endurance respectively. The figures you get from the three tests will be added together to place you on an ability level."

"If your total score ranges from 0 to 50, it means your ability level is one. From 50 to 100, your ability level is 2 and so it goes all the way up to level 8. Any questions before we commence?" Instructor Blake asked.

"Um...sir, I mean Instructor. Can we use our ability for the test?" Tom asked, still a bit nervous.

"Of course, you can. It's called an ability test. Its purpose is to see the limit of your abilities, whether physical or not."

The rest of the new students heaved in relief. If it was just their physical prowess, they weren't sure of coming out with a good score, but now that they heard their powers could be used, they felt more confident.

"Alright, you can now go ahead," Instructor Blake said to the violet-haired girl.

She stepped in front, readied her fist for a punch and suddenly charged at the rectangle machine. Her fist slammed the red circle at its center with a slight banging sound making the screen of the machine come alive.

Numbers appeared on the screen as it ticked up. 1..2..3...until it finally stopped at 7. The others looked in exasperation, wondering if it was a good score until Instructor Blake spoke.

"You didn't use your ability. Do you not plan on getting a good score? Or you forgot you are allowed to?"

"My ability isn't offensive, so it could not be helpful in this scenario." She spoke with the same unusual confidence.

Instructor Blake then looked down at the screen of the device in his hands.

"You should be...Zelah?" Instructor Blake asked with uncertainty.

"Yes, that's me" she giggled.

Instructor Blake gave her a weird look, wondering if she was happy with such a low score.

'Her ability stated here is super intelligence, which is quite good, it's rare but only thrives in the research division, yet she is enlisted in the combat division.' Instructor Blake said to himself, baffled at the thought of someone having super intelligence and yet making dumb decisions.