The Test Of Speed and Advice

As the participants arrived back at the training facility, many were glad to be back in the fresh air and pleasant environment of Planet Tyber.

"Alright, follow me to the chow hall for some food, and then we will head to the barracks and assign rooms to everyone to sleep in," Garrick said as he tapped the ash from his cigar.

Arriving at the chow hall, the participants were met with quite an assortment of food. There were two different meals one could eat. There was a greasy meal with plenty of dairy in it. It consisted of pizza, a burger, fries, and a glass of milk. The other meal was grilled chicken, rice, vegetables with peanut butter for dipping, and a glass of water.

As Aston and Kayla lined up to get food. Aston was about to grab the greasy meal. I mean, who wouldn't want some tasty food after just running all day. But Kayla grabbed his arm and pointed at the other plate while holding one herself before heading to a table.

Aston grabbed the plate and went and sat down next to her. "What was that about?" Aston asked as he sat down. Kayla leaned in and whispered, "This is part of the next test." she said as they ate their food.

"How so?" Aston said while eating his chicken which was very well made and flavorful. "When we start the test, we probably won't be given food tomorrow morning. That way, we will be hungry when we begin the survival test in the afternoon. Also, we don't know what kind of test will happen in the morning. Still, assuming we have to get physical with the test, those who eat such a greasy and dairy-full meal will likely end up sick during the test and fail." Kayla said as she dipped a piece of celery in peanut butter and smiled as it made a satisfying crunch when she bit it.

"I see. Now that you point it out, that makes sense. Also, this meal is very carb heavy and has a lot of protein. If this is all we will have to eat until the survival test, this kind of meal would give us a lot of slow-burning energy reserves, so even if we don't eat the first night of the survival test, we shouldn't be too hungry the following morning." Aston said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

As they sat and ate, Aston finally thought they should check their holowatches for their test scores. "I scored 1-Star in the Strength Test and 3-Star in the Endurance Test," Aston said as he smiled while looking at Kayla. "I also got first place!" Aston grinned as he stuck his hand out in a thumb-up position.

"I knew you could do it. If only you took a second to think about things more deeply than they appear, you wouldn't need my help in everything." Kayla said as she smiled and hit Aston's shoulder lightly.

Aston thought back to it, and Kayla truly had helped him a lot. First, with the clothes he wore for the exam, then she encouraged him to actually win the race, and just now, she stopped him from eating the wrong food.

"I scored 2-Stars on the Strength Test and 2-Stars on the Endurance Test," Kayla said. "You're quite balanced in your test scores. Did you train before the exam as well?" Aston asked her.

"My family has a training facility where I trained for many years," Kayla said as she nodded proudly while thinking of her family's trading company. "How about you?" Kayla asked.

"Well, we didn't have our own training facility. Our house had a gym and a park my brother, and I would train at. My brother focused mainly on endurance because he believed that having the energy to fight was more important than simply being strong." Aston said as he thanked his brother in his heart.

"There is some truth in that statement. You would be out of breath if you were only strong after a few minutes of fighting" Kayla nodded.

After finishing their food, the participants were assigned rooms to sleep in for the night. It didn't take long for anyone to fall asleep. The barracks were full of snoring sounds when their heads hit their pillows after a shower.

Early in the morning, just as the sun rose, the announcement system woke everyone up with a reverie song. As the participants woke up and got dressed, so did the soldiers stationed at the base. But the soldiers were very used to this schedule, and some were already dressed by the time the announcement was started.

Going about their duties. They eat before relieving the late-night watch guards and the patrols. General Garrick and Lieutenant Dan stood outside the barracks waiting for the participants. After about 10 minutes, most participants were already outside, lined up before General Garrick.

Lieutenant Dan held his trusty watch in his hand. After 10 minutes, he snapped it shut before nodding at General Garrick. "Although you guys are not soldiers, everyone should have respect. Those who still haven't arrived here and are still sleeping or getting ready will be left behind and sent home. The rest of you will come with me to the next test. Lieutenant Dan, you know what to do." Garrick said as he looked at Dan, who saluted him and then proceeded to enter the barracks.

Yelling could be heard as cries of surprise were heard from the barracks. Not long after, Lieutenant Dan could be seen escorting disheveled participants toward the teleportation pad. As the group walked away, many couldn't help but be glad they had woken up in time.

Ever since the first test, many were scared of Lieutenant Dan. As the participants arrived back at the training grounds, they were led to a different hall next to where they took the first test.

"Today's test is not simple like the last 2 were. There are about 500 of you left who have made it this far. Today would be great if at least half of you could pass this next test. There are 10 rooms here where you will do an agility test. Once you enter the room, you must stand in a square painted on the floor," Garrick pointed inside the room.

"You will have only a few feet of room to maneuver around, leave the square and fail. The test will have machines hidden throughout the room that launch rubber balls at you at increasing speeds and angles. It will start slow and simple and eventually be firing at you from high speeds and all around you. Your goal is to last as long as you can without being hit. The longer you last, the higher your rank." Garrick then had them divided into groups of fifty and spread out amongst the rooms.

"The goal is to last at least 30 seconds to pass, 60 seconds and pass as a 1-Star, 90 seconds as a 2-Star, and 120 seconds as a 3-Star. That might not seem long until the test actually begins." Garrick said as he left for an observation room upstairs.

Not long after, everyone was lined up and began testing. Most did not make it past 30 seconds. Many participants left the room with tears and welts on their bodies from being hit. At first, many thought this test would be easy.

But upon entering the square, the room would have slits open on the walls and ceiling that would fire rubber balls. At first, it was slow, but it quickly picked up speed. Most failed due to not seeing a ball fire at them from a weird angle, while others simply lacked a good reaction time and left with a black eye.

In the group Aston and Kayla were in, there was nobody they knew other than the monk, who was a few people ahead of them. Suddenly from some of the rooms, people could be heard throwing up as they were dodging around.

These must be those who chose wrongly during yesterday's meal. In the observation room, Garrick laughed as he slapped his leg "Sir, that nasty sense of humor of yours always comes out in one way or another. When we first started training, I remember you gave us lots of ice cream one day, saying it was a surprise. Then after we were full to the brim, you made us run until we threw up." Lieutenant Dan shivered as he remembered that day.

"I can't help it. It's just too funny watching someone doing something serious and then proceeding to vomit their guts out. The smart ones know better." Garrick said as he patted Lieutenant Dan's shoulder. "I remember when you used to be a fresh recruit arriving with doe-like eyes. Now, look at you on the straight and narrow and with a sharp mind on you." Garrick said.

"Well, it wasn't easily gained," Lieutenant Dan said as he shook his head and pushed his glasses up.

Back down at the testing rooms, the nanobots quickly cleaned up the messes before the next examinee entered. Surprisingly not a smell remained. Soon it was the monk's turn, and Aston and Kayla paid close attention to him.

So far, he is the only participant they have seen score 3 stars on every exam. He was strong, and maybe they could glean something from his actions. As the monk entered the room, he stood in the square and adopted a natural stance, with his entire body loose and springy. His arms hung lightly at his side, and his legs shoulder length apart.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he exhaled. Then the rubber balls started launching at him. At first, many watching him were confused. At first, the balls seemed to miss him as he just stood there.

But to the more perspective, he did, in fact, move, but he barely did so, just allowing the balls to brush past his clothes without touching them. His eyes remained closed, so many were confused about how he knew where the balls were coming from.

As the speed and number of balls increased, the monk's movements became more visible to the eye. Yet, at the same time, many were confused. It was almost like a serene dance of tranquility.

The monk slowly moved around, taking steps forward, backward, and sideways. His movements became more and more like a dance, and he moved slowly throughout the space in the square, never leaving it and never being hit.

Whenever it seemed he would be hit, the balls would pass harmlessly through a gap in his legs or just under his arm. This proceeded until the room stopped firing. As the balls stopped, the monk came to a standstill and clapped his arms together in a prayer stance. "Amitabha, it seems last night's meditation helped calm my heart and mind." the monk said as he exited the room.

As the monk walked out, he noticed Aston was there. He walked over and said, "I have advice for you. Since you were able to beat me yesterday, I will tell you a trick to beat this test. Sometimes there is more to see than what the eyes can hold." Then the monk bowed and left.

Aston thought about what he had said but didn't understand it. Aston proceeded to step into the room and into the square. As the balls launched at him, Aston did his best to dodge them but struggled to keep track of all the balls being launched toward him.

The monk outside was watching and shook his head. "Amitabha, it seems that he did not understand my advice" At this rate, Aston wasn't going to make it 30 seconds. For the people that had passed so far, it was mainly people who combined their vision with a good sense of hearing.

But none did better than 2-Stars; only the monk got 3-Stars. As Aston dodged, he recalled the monk's strange advice "More than the eyes can see?" Aston thought back to the monk's test.

Suddenly he figured it out. Aston then closed his eyes and focused on dodging with just sound. It was risky, but it paid off. Aston made it past the 30-second mark. But right as he hit the 60-second mark and the patterns and speed of the balls changed.

He instantly got hit, and he was confused. "I thought the sound was the trick?" Aston asked himself but shook his head as he left the room. Kayla copied Aston, but she, too, got taken out at the 60-second mark.

The monk walked over and spoke to them, "Amitabha, you only grasped part of the truth of my advice," The monk spoke as he walked over to them.

"You must abandon your sight when your eyes cannot keep up with the speed of what you are seeing, but you cannot just rely on your ears to hear where attacks are coming from. The human body is one large sensory organ combined with many smaller ones," he waved at his body.

"You must rely on all your senses to beat something stronger than yourself. You must feel the changes in the air on your skin, hear the directions from which they come, smell the air and what shouldn't be there, and sense the vibrations from the ground in your feet. Do that, and you can fight enemies and battles above your strength." The monk said as he bowed and left.

Following the end of the test, the participants were led to the base's only exit gate, while the race's winners in the last test were led to the armory.

There the winners were given their prizes. "Aston Hersch, step into this scanner, and a custom armor set will be made to your size. It will perfectly fit you and offer good protection in the next test." Lieutenant Dan said as he entered some commands in, and the scanner began to scan Aston from head to toe.

Then from a machine to the side, a suit came out of a machine with a pair of boots. The suit was a light green combat suit and brown boots. The suit added extra protection to the wrists, legs, and chest area.

"This suit is stab, cut, and blunt force resistant. In the areas with extra layers, you will be afforded extra protection in those areas. As long as you're not careless, this suit will protect you from most minor injuries and some moderate ones. It is made from an advanced nanofiber tough as iron and light as a feather." Lieutenant Dan said as he handed it to him.

"Now, what kind of weapon do you want?" Lieutenant Dan asked as he looked at Aston, who was admiring the suit. Aston thought for a moment before deciding on a short sword. The machine then made a short sword perfectly fitting Aston's hands.

"This sword is made with a highly dense metal slightly heavier than iron but tougher. It will not break easily and will hold a shard edge for a long time."

Lieutenant Dan then handed out a suit of armor to the monk, "Fang Han, this a standard issue combat suit. It offers similar protection levels to Aston's but might not wear as comfortably. What kind of weapon do you want?" Lieutenant Dan asked.

"Amitabha, I ask for a staff the length of both my arms held out." Fang Han said as he held his arms and stepped into the scanner. Not long after, a silver staff was handed to him.

The nobleman asked for a spear. "Alright, you guys, follow me to the gate, and you will begin the survival test, good luck." Lieutenant Dan said as they followed him outside.