RANKING TEST

"Alright, once I call your name you are to move forward and carry out the test". Kennedy said looking serious

"First on the list is John Jordan. Please step forward and proceed to take the first test" Kennedy said calmly.

The student named John was a timid looking boy with brown hair and had an oval shaped face, he stood about 5'4 tall and had a poor body figure. He was skinny with a pale skin and the eye bags under his eyes were clearly visible.

He walked up to the power machine and tried to compose himself, his hands were shaking by his side and he was visibly shivering. Why? No one knew.

He took in shallow breathes, then held out his right hand before striking the machine.

'vruunm'

The power machine resounded briefly before displaying a series of number and ended on '610'.

"Proceed to the next" Kennedy ordered him almost immediately, stiil wearing a calm expression on his face.

John went ahead and stood on the secluded area. A second later, the machine began firing holograms of sharp iron spikes at him, just like how Frank explained.

For the first 30 seconds the spikes were shot at him at an almost normal pace, and John easily evaded them. But after that, the pace at which the spikes were being shot quickened and it became an enormous challenge for him to evade them. He ended up being hit by a spike on his stomach shortly after and had lasted for a total of 40 seconds.

He approached the next machine and stood still as instructed.

A beam of light from the machine scanned him from head to toe.

In the next moment, a series of beeping sound echoed across the room.

[Perception waves detected.]

[Perception: average class]

[Internal force detected.]

[Internal force: average class]

The different classes of ability users were, respectively from the bottom:

Low class, Average class, Elite class and Hero class.

One could say that for John current abilities, the chances of him advancing to a higher tier in the near future was pretty high.

At that moment, Kennedy walked in front of the group and announced

"John Jordan, low E rank, power level: 1."

He then added

"For your understanding, the 'power level' is only applicable to students in the military school and are as follows:

01 to 1.9

02 to 2.9

03 to 3.9

04 to 9.9

10 to 20

While the 'power ranks' is used globally for all ability users, and range from the:

E rank to X rank. Both the E and X rank have five consecutive tiers each, that is, from E1 to E5 tiers, and D1 to D5 tiers. While the number of tier is doubled in value from the C rank onward. That is from C1 to C9, B1 to B9, A1 to A9, S1 to S9 and X to XX and finally the immortal rank. They are ranked according to the number of layers of internal strength they have" Kennedy explained further.

From there onward, the test went by really quickly. Four students had already completed the test, and from the group of five, two got a power level of 03, one had 02, and the other 3.9.

Marian Sunray, the student who had a power level of 3.9 and belonged to the Elite class, was especially strong. She had a long blonde hair tied into a ponytail that went down to her mid back. She wore an expensive looking red dress with a long black cape that covered her back. She seemed like the talented and confident rich Noble type that thought she was better than everyone else. She was really pretty compared to most girls and that only boosted her ego further. She was from the 'Sunray founding family' and had already possessed the fire ability.

Out of all the elemental abilities, fire was considered the strongest and least common, due to the fact that not many newly gifted had been blessed with the fire ability.

Marian being classified as a high power level 3 user in the starting test was a big deal. She got 5000 points on the power machine, and lasted 5 minutes on the speed test. This gave her a power level of 3.9. To put this into perspective on the power test, the standard score were as follows:

Power Ranks:

E rank: 500 to 1000

D rank: 1000 to 3000

C rank: 3000 to 6000

B rank: 6000 to 12000

A rank: 12000 to 24000

S rank: 24000 to 48000

X rank: 48000 to 96000

XX rank: 96000 to 192000

Immortal rank: 192000+

Christian was the last student to take the test.

He could hear the other students whispering about him amongst themselves as he walked up to the power machine.

"Hey, do any of you recognize him?" A short plump girl wearing a purple gown with a bow tie on her dark hair asked

"Nope haven't seen him around before" another boy that had spiky orange coloured hair and a big pair of eyes standing close to the girl on purple dress answered

"But he does look cute though, think I might have a chance with him?" the plump girl asked

"Dunno" the boy replied shrugging his shoulders.

Christian ignored all the chattering about him and headed straight for the power machine.

'Kelsia said my physical capabilities are poor, makes me wonder what rank I'll get, now that it's not been measured by the number of ability runes I have. Well time to find out!' Christian thought as he struck the machine with all his might.

'vruunm'

The numbers went up gradually, until it finally settled on '1506'

'not bad' he thought as he walked over to the next machine for the speed test and stood still for it to begin.

And just as it was with John and the others, the spikes were easily avoidable for the first 30 seconds. But after that it was near impossible for him.

He concentrated and pushed his perception to the max, and it felt to him as though the speed of the spikes were reduced to a bare minimum, allowing him to last for another minute and 30 seconds.

At the end of the second test he had lasted for a total of 2 minutes before being hit on his shoulder by a spike.

He moved on to the next, and the machine scanned him from head to toe.

The regular sound of multiple beeping echoed in the hall before announcing

[Perception waves detected]

[Perception: Hero class]

[Internal force detected]

[Internal force: Hero class]

"What the f*ck"

Kennedy couldn't refrain himself from cursing out loud.

'a newly gifted belonging to the hero class already? That's unheard of' he thought as he stared wide eyed at the result displaying on the screen.

He quickly recomposed himself and apologized to the students

"I apologise for my indiscriminate behavior just now. Well anyways, the result of your test is: Christian Major Alfred, average D rank, power level: 2.6."

"And to remind you, the military school only measures your fighting ability to put you in the ranks, and not use your gifted power level ability. The type of ability you awaken later on will determine the division you will be placed. There are currently three divisions:

The combat division

The weaponry development division, and

The combat support division.

Each has their own importance and are not to be disregarded."

"Also your dorm number will be displayed on your communicators shortly, aside from that it also acts as a tracker that will activate only when you stay out late past the curfew hour which is at 12 am, and when you're severely injured or in the worst possible case scenario, dead." Kennedy deadpanned

"Classes start on Monday, so you have the rest of the weekend off. You can all leave now" Kennedy said dismissing them.

Outside the room Christian's communicator suddenly displayed a different number: '102'

'that must be my dorm number, well I think it's best to head there first'

Finding his way towards the dorm area, his communicator suddenly rang out again. But this time around it was a voice message

"This is the chancellor speaking. You are been summoned to my office and I expect to see you in here within the next five minutes" a cold chilly voice void of emotion spoke out.

"What the hell, I haven't even been here long enough and am already getting into trouble. I guess it's time to deal with the Kelsia problem." He muttered as he changed his directions and start heading straight for the chancellor's office.

*****

Back in the test room Christian just came out from, Kennedy stood still in the middle and dialed a number on his communicator.

"Sir, he just tested and he belongs to the hero's class"

"Is that so? then he must have woken his ability now hasn't he?"

"No sir, he didn't use any form of ability during the test"

"He's hiding his ability, it's hard enough to get to the hero class and one cannot do so without unlocking his ability knowledge. Find out what his ability his and report back to me immediately and how it will affect our plans from now on."

"Yes sir" Kennedy replied and ended the call

"Well, you just keep surprising me little one. I just hope you learn your place soon and know where you stand in all of this" the mysterious man Kennedy called, said with an eerie smile on his lips.