The Test Before the Test

Realizing that he's been staring for far too long Kai looked down and finally noticed the words written on the notepad "Can I join you?" it read

He nodded scooting closer towards the window even though there was more than enough room for her small frame. The minute she walked into the room all eyes immediately zeroed in on her, like a moth to a flame her presence attracted the attention of everyone including the Commander inside the control room who thought back to a few days ago

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"Now that the weak have left, it is time to see if you are worthy"

This sentence rang through the ears of the confused children, Lee who was standing at the center of the crescent that the crowd had made around the podium smirked having guessed that it wasn't going to be that simple; a girl near the front of the pack voiced out the question that was on everyone's mind "What do you mean worthy? I though the assesment was going to take place outside of Xodale?"

Before the commander could answer, a smug voice filled the ears of those near enough to the front "You thought that they would let us just waltz out of Xodale just because we want to?" the person who had spoken was a neatly dressed girl with tight leather pants and a blazer formed to fit her athletic figure. The blazer was midnight blue with a coat of arms embedded onto her left breast.

Noticing that she had gained the attention she wanted especially of the commander the girl stepped up, her gold shoulder plates matched the sword on her hip attracting the attention of many soldiers because the crest that shinned in those plates and on the hilt of the sword was the crest of the Montenegro family. The soldiers weren't the only ones to recognize the crest,

"Isn't that the crest that his family belongs to!"

"You mean him?" a child asked

One of the soldiers guarding the very back who could not see as well as his partner beside him asked: "Who is that?". His partner beside him looked at the crest again "Remember three years ago, the incident at the cursed forest?"

"You mean the Fox case?" he asked

"Yes, then I'm sure you also remember the squad that was sent there by the King himself to deal with it before anyone knew of its mutation, that girl right there belongs to the family of Captain Randell the man who single-handedly fought that monster while also managing to get his whole crew to safety"

The nearby children who overheard their conversation relayed it to others until nearly everyone in the square was buzzing with excitement, others trying to push through to the front to see a member of the legendary Montenegro family. Back at the front, the girl ignored the commotion behind her and made a perfect bow towards the person standing on the podium; she remembered that her father had told her before she had started her journey here "If you want to survive then you must gain the attention of the Commander because the minute you leave this Country, you life is no longer yours but hers."

Inwardly she was smiling ear to ear, now all she had to do was keep the commander's eyes on her, "Commander, I am Ria Montenegro, if I may be so bold to ask can I answer in your stead?"

Her smile was charming, to say the least, perfectly white teeth lined up nicely with her thin rosey lips, her skin tone was the lightest chocolate you could think of, glowing in a beautiful hue in conflict with her blue eyes. Her dark brown shortly cut hair was tied in a ponytail at the back with a white ribbon, slicked back away from her face to show the obvious natural beauty that she had. The girls who were standing next to her couldn't help but blush and stare at the handsome yet beautiful princesses

The Commander maintaining her neutral face looked at the bowing girl and saw the resemblance to a certain idiot she used to teach, Ria taking her silence as an affirmation turned and addressed the girl who had asked the question, even though she was speaking directly to the girl her voice rang all over, which finally managed to raise a reaction from the Commander, "So she knows how to control it huh" the commander thought, maybe she wasn't like her idiot brother after all

"This test decides who represents Xodale, who the county can rely upon to show the other races that we are not weak. Anyone who thought that they can choose the Academy only shows how ignorant you are, you do not choose the Academy, the Academy chooses you."

Turning to face a smiling Commander made her feel ecstatic, but having been taught at an early age, she decided that it was enough for today, the Commander knew her name, and she also knew that she was diffrent from all the other trash in this square so that was enough. With a bow, Ria went back to her possition.

"Nicley said Miss Montenegro, as you have heard to be permitted into the Academy's Test you have to prove that you are worthy of our time" as she was talking the sound of metal footstep approaching could be heard "The test is simple, an artifact will be placed at a certain distance from the starting point, you will try to get as close as you can to the artifact and if by any chance you manage to touch it the testing rules will no longer apply to you and you will be immediately admitted as a student at the Academy, Not a bad sounding deal right! "

Behind the crowd a gruff "Move!" parted the bodies like Moses parting the red sea. A giant man carrying a long wooden trunk walked to the center and placed the long thick stick into the ground, making the cement crack out of pressure. "This is the artifact that will be used for this examination, as explained before getting as close as you can to it will determine your standing in the rankings, I'm sure you all know the ranking system associated with the academy"

Ria scoffed as the rest nodded, of course, they knew about the ranking system. Your rank is determined during your examination starting from A-F if you manage to come out alive and in the top-ranking letter a hoard of minor kingdom recruits will be waiting for you at the gates, and if you manage to get into a strong Kingdom in the school your chances of participating at the end of the year tournament between races and becoming a champion will increase

"Anytime you are ready, you may begin" said the Commander

Inside a very annoyed Lee was a hackling toad, his non-stop giggles started when he first saw the 'Artifact' being escorted by the large human, no one else had noticed but with Lee's and Theo's superhuman eyesight they had seen the beads of sweat and the struggle the large man that had carried the stick was going through, the artifact on display was a drainer, like a vacuum for soul power.

This drainer was a method used by human assassins to suck power from your opponents leaving them weak and drained making it easy to go get the kill, normally the object is on a smaller scale, hiding in a bracelet or a necklace, but this one was the biggest one even someone like Ria had ever seen