章 11: Test

The writings on the walls featured a one-minute countdown that started as soon as the mechanical voice completed its line.

The boys and girls immediately panicked, and only a few of them managed to remain calm. Khan, a short girl with long dark hair, and a tall, slender boy with short grey hair didn't let that news alter their mood and began to study the situation.

'The Global Army accepts everyone,' Khan thought while inspecting the weapons. 'This test must influence part of our life in the army. Maybe its purpose is to assign us to different platoons.'

The answer to his doubts arrived after the slender boy clapped his hands and claimed everyone's attention.

"Calm down!" The boy shouted. "My name is Luke Cobsend, and my family has served in the Global Army for generations. This test will make the higher-ups understand our starting point and potential."

His words didn't have the expected effect. Those who had begun to panic became even more anxious. They didn't want a surprise test to determine their entire life in the army.

"Don't worry," Luke continued. "As I already said, this is only for our starting point. They have to understand who knows how to fight and how they behave in front of danger. The higher-ups will decide our mandatory courses according to our results."

The boys and girls finally began to calm down, but the countdown had never stopped nearing zero. Luke had to do something quickly if he wanted his group to be ready.

"There is no time to exchange names," Luke quickly explained. "Which one of you already has a mana core?"

A few hands rose. Luke, the black-haired girl, Khan, and the skinny boy announced that they owned a mana core.

Evident disappointment appeared on Luke's face, but he quickly steeled his determination.

"That will be enough!" Luke exclaimed. "Those without mana core should choose long weapons or shields. The four of us must handle the frontlines. Pick swords or anything that you are comfortable with."

Khan didn't mind following those directives. Luke seemed to know something about the test and the mana cores, so it was better to listen to him in that situation.

Still, a problem soon appeared. Khan didn't receive any training, and the hall didn't offer even a single firearm.

'Do I have to pick a sword and improvise?' Khan wondered until he found something familiar hidden behind a shield.

Luke had quickly grabbed a sword and had turned to inspect his companions. A satisfied smile appeared on his face when he saw that they had all followed his instructions, but his expression froze at some point.

"Where did you even find a shovel?!" Luke asked when he noticed Khan in the corner of the hall.

"It was behind this old shield," Khan explained, purposely ignoring the real meaning behind Luke's words.

"How do you even plan to fight with that?!" Luke questioned him.

"It's better than picking a weapon that I can't use," Khan replied plainly. "These things are really sharp. I might end up hurting someone due to my inexperience."

Luke remained speechless. Khan's words made sense, but they still didn't justify his choice in that situation.

"Who do we have to fight?" The black-haired girl asked while rotating her hammer.

The scene was quite peculiar. The black-haired girl was barely one hundred and sixty centimeters tall, but her hammer was as big as a man's chest. Yet, she could wield it at ease.

'Physical enhancement!' Khan thought while inspecting the girl. 'I guess mana cores do that for everyone.'

Luke sighed before explaining what he knew. "Our opponent should be a Tainted animal. The creature won't be able to infect anyone, and the army must have also affected its overall aggression. No one can die in this test, but we still have to do our best."

Luke's words had almost made his companions anxious again, but he had been smart enough to add those last details. The boys and girls could finally realize that they didn't have to fear for their lives.

The countdown eventually hit zero, and the weapons quickly disappeared into the walls. A door opened on the side of the hall, and the writings transformed into a large picture.

The picture depicted a tall boar with shining azure eyes. Azure fur also covered its body, and long tusks grew from the corners of its mouth.

"It doesn't seem dangerous!"

"There are ten of us here! How can a simple animal defeat us?"

"We will ace this test!"

Cheers resounded among the group, but Khan, Luke, the black-haired girl, and the skinny body remained silent. Khan even ended up exchanging a meaningful gaze with those three.

'They have also faced a Tainted animal before,' Khan concluded in his mind.

Only idiots would rejoice in front of a Tainted boar. Khan had seen a Tainted rat killing grown-up men with a few bites. He didn't know what that animal would be capable of after the Nak's mana tainted it.

"Let's go out!" Luke suddenly shouted. "Remember. The six of you must remain behind us and provide support. Let those who have a mana core take risks."

The six nodded, and Luke took the group's lead while gesturing to Khan and the other two to follow him in the frontlines.

A green field unfolded in the group's view once they exited the hall. The sun shone high in the sky and revealed every detail about that environment.

A few trees occupied a small spot in the distance. Everyone in the group guessed that the boar was there since they couldn't see it in the prairie.

"I guess that you have faced Tainted animals before," Luke whispered to his three companions.

Khan, the girl, and the skinny boy nodded without adding details. It was clear that they didn't want to talk about that during the test.

"The folks behind us will be useless," Luke continued. "It's up to us to kill the animal. What's the tier of your mana core? My family managed to get me a synthetic A-tier."

Both the girl and the boy showed surprised expressions at that revelation, and Khan imitated them. He didn't even know that mana cores had tiers, but he decided to play along.

"Organic B-tier," The girl explained. "My grandfather died serving on Istrone, so the army compensated my family with it. I am Martha Weesso, by the way."

"I'm Jay," The skinny body replied while tightening his grasp on his shortsword. "Synthetic C-tier."

Luke whistled when he heard Martha, but his expression froze after Jay spoke. Khan studied the changes in his behavior and developed a theory about the differences among mana cores.

'Organic should be better,' Khan concluded in his mind. 'Does mine count as organic since it comes from a Nak?'

Khan had to focus on the real world when he saw his three companions looking in his direction.

"I'm Khan," Khan said while wearing a naïve smile. "I don't really know the quality of my mana core. I had the chance to obtain it, and I didn't refuse."

"It must be synthetic," Luke explained. "Organic cores are quite rare, and they have compatibility issues. Maybe you had luck and got your hands on a B-tier. It will be less of a pain to upgrade it."

Khan limited himself to nod and feign ignorance, and Luke soon lost interest in him. Instead, he gave voice to polite compliments directed at Martha, but she ignored them.

An awkward silence fell among the four in the group's lead, and Khan almost felt saved when they reached the trees. He preferred to fight than seeing Luke hitting on Martha.

Luke made a hand gesture that no one behind him understood. Even Khan and Jay ignored the meaning behind that, so they simply imitated him.

"The four of us ahead," Luke eventually decided to whisper. "You follow closely but slowly."

Everyone nodded, but a tall figure suddenly appeared among the trees. It resembled an azure shadow that was running at high speed toward the group.

"Shields!" Luke shouted before jumping to the side.

Khan and Jay did the same, but Martha tried to swing her hammer toward the creature. Still, the boar ignored her and crashed on the six in the backlines.

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章 12: Evaluation

The Tainted boar didn't hesitate to show how fast it was. It was even quite nimble for its size since it managed to avoid Martha to focus on the weaker part of the group.

Khan turned to inspect the outcome of the impact. Two of his coreless companions were on the ground. Their shields and weapons had shattered after the clash with the boar, but they appeared to be fine. Their bodies only featured a few bruises.

Two among the other four had dropped their weapons and were running away as fast as they could. The boar had scared them to the point that they wanted to drop out of the Global Army.

The other two were doing their best to suppress their fear. Khan could see their fingers becoming white due to their tight grasp on their weapons.

'How are they even alive?' Khan wondered when he looked in the distance.

The boar didn't stop its charge after the impact. The beast had continued to run through the field without minding its opponents. Still, it eventually stopped and turned.

Khan could see the Tainted boar in its entirety now. The creature was almost two meters tall. It had a massive body and wore metal collars on its tusks.

A red light flashed from those collars, and the boar squealed whenever that glow reached its eyes. The creature seemed angry at those items.

"That's restraining gear," Jay commented after he straightened his position. "They must control the force that it's able to generate in the impact. I bet that they activate whenever the boar nears human skin."

Jay's explanation made sense. The Global Army would never put kids without training and mana cores against a Tainted animal unless it took precautions.

"It can't hurt us then!" Luke exclaimed before taking his position near Jay.

Martha had also turned to stand next to the trio. She seemed almost excited about the fight, but a foul smell soon reached her nostrils and suppressed her feelings.

Khan and the other three turned toward the boy lying on the ground. A wet patch had appeared on his trousers, but that didn't seem the only thing happening in his pants.

No one dared to joke about that event. Khan even believed it to be a normal reaction after a two-meters tall animal threatened to kill you.

'I wonder how strong I have become,' Khan thought while inspecting his shovel. 'This doesn't have wood in its structure. It won't break so easily.'

Khan had no idea how strong he had become after his training. That unclear feature about his own body annoyed him, so he wanted to use the boar to test himself.

'I killed a Tainted animal before obtaining the mana,' Khan thought. 'How hard can it be now?'

The Tainted boar didn't let the group reassemble or prepare a strategy. It ran toward the two escaping kids, and Luke almost shot ahead to help them.

"No!" Khan promptly shouted while placing the shovel on Luke's chest to stop him. "They have decided to leave us. Let's use this time to prepare a plan."

"But-," Luke tried to say something and push away the shovel, but Khan's arm didn't move.

"They have abandoned their position and put us in danger," Khan said before Luke could continue speaking. "You don't help those who backstab you."

"How sure are you about the collars?" Martha asked once Luke accepted Khan's reprimand.

"I'm rarely wrong about tech stuff," Jay said without showing any emotion.

"Perfect," Martha replied. "You two act as baits. Khan, Luke, and Jay will focus on its legs. I'll keep the hammer ready."

No one dared to reject her idea. Even the two kids with no mana core soon started to slam their weapons on their shields.

The Tainted boar quickly caught up with the two fleeting opponents. The creature slammed its tusks on their back and flung them away without managing to leave severe injuries.

Then, the beast heard the noise caused by the rest of the group and began to change in its direction.

Having that boulder of muscles and fur running toward them didn't cause the best feelings. However, Khan and the others didn't let their fears take control of their minds and remained in their position.

"Jump!" Martha shouted when the boar was about to reach the two without mana cores.

The duo jumped on the side and dodged the charge of the animal. The boar was almost about to hit Khan and the others, but they quickly activated their plan.

Khan ducked, Jay imitated him, and Luke tried to side-step the attack. Only Martha remained still since she had to wait for her opportunity.

Jay wasn't fast enough. The boar slammed its tusk on his chest and flung him away. The beast also turned and hit Luke's side with its head, but the boy managed to stab its neck before flying away.

Khan slammed his shovel on the beast's front leg. A massive force ran through his arms and landed on his shoulders, but Khan did his best to fight it.

The Tainted boar was stronger than Khan, but he stabbed the shovel on the ground. The beast stumbled when its rear leg hit that tool, but it seemed about to recover its balance in the following instant.

'It won't fall like this,' Khan thought while watching the scene from the ground.

Khan didn't have the time to stand up and reach the boar, but his legs were still in its range. A kick landed on the beast's rear end and destabilized its charge other than preventing it from recovering its balance.

The boar slammed on the ground and slid on the terrain due to the momentum accumulated in its charge. Martha was waiting for the creature, and she promptly swung her hammer toward the center of its head.

Blood immediately came out from the boar's eyes, ears, and mouth. The creature had definitely felt that blow, and Martha gave voice to a happy cry at that sight.

Yet, the boar suddenly moved again and tried to jump toward her chest. Martha couldn't dodge that attack. She was too close to the beast, and her hammer was still on its head.

Then, a sword flashed in her vision and stabbed the beast in the back of its head. When Martha raised her head, she found Khan sitting on the creature and wielding Luke's weapon.

Khan saw blood coming out of the creature's head and tainting his trousers, but he ignored that. He quickly raised the blade and stabbed the beast again.

"Can you take away that hammer?" Khan asked before attacking again.

"I think it's dead," Martha said while pulling her weapon back.

"I don't take chances with the Tainted animals," Khan replied before stabbing his sword again and again.

Khan stopped only after he felt sure that the boar had died. His clothes had transformed into a gory mess, but he felt happy about that achievement anyway.

"Thank you," Martha said while a tinge of shame seeped into her voice.

"No problem," Khan replied while raising the sword. "This wasn't so hard to use in the end."

"Killing is rather easy once you obtain the mana," An unfamiliar voice suddenly resounded through the area.

Khan and Martha immediately turned toward the source of that voice. A hologram depicting a middle-aged man wearing the military uniform had appeared next to them.

"I'm Lieutenant Rupert Unchai," The hologram said. "I'm here to evaluate your performance."

A few small drones flew over the field and brought away the two who had fainted after the first attack. Jay and Luke simply stood up and reunited with Khan and Martha when they saw what was happening.

"The two up there will get a C," Rupert announced. "Rough and bad reflexes. You don't need a mana core to jump away from an imminent threat."

"The two who ran away will get a D," Rupert continued. "The Global Army forbids me from giving an F in this test. They would get it otherwise."

"You two without mana cores get an A," Rupert said after pointing at the two baits. "You are weak, but you are brave. Work hard, and you'll become someone in the army."

"The skinny one will get a B-plus," Rupert announced while pointing at Jay. "Nice catch on the collars, but I have never thought that someone with a mana core could be so clumsy."

"The tall one there will get A-minus," Rupert evaluated Luke. "You did well calming down the others. You also have a good heart, but that isn't always a good thing during wars."

"The girl will also get an A-minus," Rupert moved on to Martha. "Nice guts, but way too reckless."

"Now you, shovel kid," Rupert sighed while fixing his eyes on Khan. "I'm really tempted to give you a D for being stupid enough to bring a shovel into a battlefield."

"I have a sword now," Khan announced while wearing a broad smile and waving Luke's weapon.

"And also a loose screw," Rupert sighed again before wearing a professional expression. "Incredible reflexes and instincts. Good decision-making in the middle of the battle. You show your worth when it matters. Time will tell whether you are a natural-born fighter or not. A-plus."

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