Test

"Did I do that bad?" I asked the test administrator.

He looked at me, but didn't answer. The last test looked irritating. It was just one big cylinder with a bunch of holes in it.

"Don't get hit," the test administrator hit a button, and it started spinning slowly.

The first few were easy to dodge, but it was going faster each time it rotated. It beeped loudly when I was finally hit. I was sweating pretty badly at the end as my exhaustion had slowly piled up. I looked at the timer at the bottom. I'd only lasted twenty seconds.

I felt almost guilty as he wrote on the clipboard one last time. Then our numbers popped up on our watches. My watch only said two. Then one last kid went after me. Afterward we were lined up.

The test administrator stood in front of us, and glanced at his own watch.

"Do you see the numbers on your watches?" he let us all look, "There are ten levels of combat ability in each year of the academy. One through ten for first years, and eleven through twenty for second years." he paused for effect, "Plus the normal A through D ability ranks. F ranked being those of you who do not have abilities. Now your level at the end of your second year determines your rank at graduation. Higher level naturally means higher rank. Most F rankers never make it past private. He gave me a pointed look."

I was both low level, and an F ranker. Apparently the only F ranker in our group. I looked at the numbers on the other watches quickly. The other two guys were levels three, and six. While the two girls were one, and three.

I guess I should have paid better attention. One of the guys here were pretty strong. We were ushered through another teleportation portal right into the reception area of the academy. After that all the other kids in my group rushed off to see if any of their friends were sent to the same Academy. I went straight up to the desk to check in.

System my mana level.

4/30 mana

-2 mana

2/30 mana

Did those tests really take that long? I got into line for reception, and was making good progress towards the desk when a hand came flying at my head from the left. I flinched away only getting grazed by the slap Conrad had been trying to catch me off guard with. He looked confused for a second, and then that feeling of wanted to punch him boiled up into my gut again. He used his sparker to light a good sized flame as he looked right at my face where he planned to plant it, but he made the mistake of looking me in the eye.

He paled, and his fireball almost went out as I knocked his hand to the side. I used to much strength though so his hand snapped away turned his body away from me slightly. Time slowed for a second as my eyes widened. Someone dangerous had seen us. I stepped back into my space in line which was now a big gap since Conrad had been throwing fire around, and dropped my eyes.

A hand grabbed the back of my head, and then the same man grabbed Conrad.

"Let's get these two checked in first since they've got enough energy to cause trouble on day one," a man's voice boomed behind me.

The line between us, and the front desk vanished. The guy behind us drug us both up to the desk as we were quickly checked in, and he grabbed a pile of uniforms in each hand. Since he'd let go of me I turned my head to look at the mountain of a man behind me. G.Hernandez his identification badge read, and right below that there was a upper case D. He had some sort of strength enhancement ability.

He was built like a mountain without his ability. I couldn't begin to imagine how powerful he could be when using it.

"Sir," I needed an excuse to get to my room, "I'm too hungry to fight properly."

My stomach growled almost as if on cue.

"We'll have to get that fixed first," the giant man leaned down to smile at me as he gestured with one hand where to go.

We both walked in complete silence. Neither one of us wanted to challenge the giant behind us. We walked into the cafeteria, and a few sniggers could be heard from the second years in the room. Apparently this had happened before. Up to the counter to order.

I remembered my quest from earlier, and that fact that I was starving so I grabbed something from almost every meat dish I saw. My plate was heaping by the time we got to a table. The big guy sent our clothes off to our rooms. At least I think he did. I scarfed down every last morsel in record time.

The big guy actually whistled.

Quest complete. 5xp rewarded.

5/100 until level 3.

Conrad actually looked surprised. Everybody nearby was staring at me. Crazy part was, I could still eat more.

"Well you're not a vegetarian," G.Hernandez chuckled as he pointed at a kid behind me, "You're going to take care of mister big eaters plate."

-2 mana 0/30 mana

59 minutes until Physical camouflage ability is forcibly disabled.

I felt the blood drain from my face as a big hand clamped onto my head again, but it wasn't the fight that was bothering me. I was yanked to my feet as we were paraded to the double doors on the other end of the cafeteria, and into some sort of gym. I was left in one side of the circle while Conrad was walked to the other. Several kids followed us in to see how it ended after watching me eat four times as much as I usually did. They started making verbal bets on what abilities we had, and who would win.

"That level two would only win in an eating contest," One kid yelled out.

A bunch of kids in the crowd actually agreed. I glared at Conrad angrily.

"Begin," the giant man yelled.

Conrad lit his spark, and form five fireballs right in front of him. He launched them at me quickly. I tried to dodge them all, but I was already tired to start with, and now my almost full belly made me feel almost lethargic. Three hit me. At first it was one, but Conrad turned two to hit me right after the first.

9/15 hp

My sleeve went from smoldering to a full fledged fire. I tried putting it out, but Conrad just spread it all the way up my arm. I looked him right in the eye, and this time I really did want to kill him. Conrad paled, and the flames lost some of their intensity.

3/15 hp passive skill activated. All stats returned to normal.

My vision went red as I walked forward. Completely ignoring the fact that I was on fire now.

Damage resistance is higher than attack power. No damage taken.

I continued forward as Conrad started to panic. He made the flames spread to my whole shirt.

Damage resistance is higher than attack power. No damage taken.

I kept going as if nothing had happened. Conrad stumbled back out of the ring, and the flames on my shirt died down. Slowly going out now that Conrad wasn't fueling them. I grabbed Conrad's shirt yanking him closer as I drew my arm back to punch him. I went to punch him, but my arm stopped short.

I tried forcing my punch forward as the vague sense of someone grabbing my arm was almost completely ignored. An arm wrapped around my middle, and pulled me away. Conrad was dragged along with since my hand was attached to his shirt. His shirt tore, and I was pulled away from the main focus of my rage. Someone was trying to say something into my ear, but it didn't even register to me as I flailed in his grip.

Then my rage began to fade slowly, and my exhausted body slowly went limp.

"It's OK kid," the giant man's voice was right in my ear, "You won."