Examination

The recruitment station was a large complex of buildings built out of large stone bricks. Although its sole purpose, as its name states, is for recruiting people for the army, it was almost as large as an entire school. That just made me wonder how large the barracks and training grounds could be.

Standing to the right of the palace, the recruitment center was already pretty close to where the inn was. We had only taken a short walk before arriving at the large brick walls that towered over the castle walls and stood almost as tall as the palace.

In the walls was a gate leading into a courtyard. It was like this center was its own little mini castle. Near the gate, a sign was nailed into the wall, displaying some text digitally onto a screen.

[Recruiting Year-Round!]

[Join the Kronoan Army!]

[Open Daily at Hour 8]

As we walked in, two guards standing at each side of the gate bowed politely. They wore thick, shining, silver metal armor with a few gold patterns carved in. Their outfit was definitely more for show than for actual practicality. It was as if the two people were some sort of advertisement, standing in front of the gates like mannequins posing behind glass doors at the front of a shop. An annoying voice of an infomercial guy played inside my head.

*Join the Army and you'll be like these guys! Big, strong, tough, heroic, and covered in shiny armor! Get your position today!*

Inside the courtyard, a few people were already waiting. A large, muscular woman with a large sword to her side was leaning on a thick stone pillar in deep thought. A young man with long, black hair in a ponytail was sitting at the rim of the fountain at the center of the court with his eyes closed as if he were meditating. A slim but tall woman was kneeling beside a patch of flowers, examining them.

A few other people stood around as well, with some in a quiet conversation. I wasn't able to look at them closely, though, as a soldier walked in and gathered everybody. This soldier wore golden armor with pleasing patterns of blue. I could tell that he was a higher-ranking officer.

"Welcome to the recruitment center, everybody! Now, let's all come stand around me as I'll be telling you all how this is going to work!" Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the officer.

"My name is Nathaniel Goldsfield, and I will be guiding you all in today's examination as your examiner. So of course, I would suggest you leave a better first impression on me." He eyed each and every person around him, as if he was telling everybody he was personally watching them. Or he was probably just counting the number of heads. I couldn't tell.

"So, how many of you all here today is going to be signing up? I'd like to do a quick hand count."

Most of everybody around me raised their hands, but like me, Abby, and Em, a few kept their hands down.

Nathaniel made some notes on a small device he took out and then continued. "Those of you not taking the examination, don't worry. I'll be explaining what we are, and then you will be able to watch the examination later from the sidelines. Now, if you all may follow me."

The officer walked through a doorway at the side of the courtyard, and everybody followed in like a herd of sheep. Now we were walking through a long, wide corridor. A row of lights on the walls basked the hallway in a light that faded into a dark, high ceiling. Every once in a while, a set of bulky, polished armor stood with its back to the wall. They were probably there just for show, but it looked like any one of the armor stands could come to life and swing their weapon at me right then and there.

"So as you all may or may not know," Nathaniel spoke as we walked, "our military system is split into two main sections. The first, the Imperial Guards, is a stationary army, while the second, the Imperial Forces, is involved in temporal interregional affairs.

"As for which one you want to join, you should probably save that for after you actually pass the examination. The skillsets we look for in you all are pretty much the same for the guards and forces anyway. However, it is a very important decision, since the choice stays for life.

"But what's probably more relevant to you right now is our ranking levels, which do depend on what you all are capable of. The highest honor you can possibly achieve in the Imperial Guards would be protecting the palace, as I do." The man motioned to himself proudly.

"There are other positions, though, such as serving under the Royal Guards to protect the central time-point or serving as a time-point overseer. And as for the Imperial Forces, the highest-ranking position would definitely be serving as part of the special task forces, but it is highly selective as it engages in rigorous world-hopping missions. Other than that, you may be placed in a part of the army."

"You see?" Ari nudged me as the officer explained. "That's where I'm getting into. The Imperial Task Force!"

The group, which, to be honest, now looked more like a group of tourists following a tour guide, exited a door at the other side of the corridor and into another large field with a dirt ground. This field was probably as large as a standard football field, though with the simple vertical walls at each side without any place for an audience to sit, it was apparent it was never used as a stadium. To the immediate left and right of where we entered the field from, however, there were a couple of rows of spectator seats.

Our guide motioned for us to take a seat at the spectator area as he stayed on the ground. "Okay, everybody. As you all can see, we are currently in the recruitment center's examination field. As the name suggests, I will be testing your different capabilities in a short while. Although the area is protected by a barrier and the walls are physically enhanced, please do know that any damage to this property will result in a fine. If you do think you need a larger place to show your strength, just proving you need it is enough."

Nathaniel took out a device that I recognized as the same object the guard at the border checkpoint used to scan my companions' cards. "Now, who would like to go first?" He asked everyone.

A few people raised their hands like a group of little kids answering the teacher's question. Nathaniel selected one of them, and as that person—the large, bulky woman from earlier—walked down from the seats, Abby gave Ari a nudge.

"Why don't you go first? I want to get over with this quickly," she told him.

"Ha! Don't you know how to make a lasting impression? In the end, I'm sure this proctor'll be starting to get bored, and that's when I come out and blow his mind away!"

Abby leaned back and sighed. "Are you seriously planning to go last? Who knows how long that'll take, man. And this is totally gonna backfire if he finds you to be average, you know."

We watched closely as person after person went through the officer's trials. Each test went by fairly smoothly, though it got quite dull very fast. But we had nothing else to do, so all we could do was watch.

Well, at least I found out how each examination consisted of three parts. First, Nathaniel would ask the examinee a couple of questions that were answered orally. Next, there would be a couple of trials where the person would show some of their combat skills and moves. And finally, the test would end with a one-sided duel between Nathaniel and the other person, which Nathaniel one every single time without even using a weapon.

Of course, the dueling was the only part that made the examination a bit fun to watch, and I found myself looking forward to the next duel each time a person walked down from the stands. It seemed as if the proctor was *trying* to keep the duels interesting. For all I knew, he could probably finish any of his opponents off in less than ten seconds.

But as I watched everybody fail one by one to beat the officer, I began to worry for Ari. Yeah, all of them were accepted to either the guards or the forces, but none of them received a position higher than a regular guard or soldier. I looked at Ari nervously, but he only looked more confident each time I checked on him.

Then came the final, fateful moment. The seats were all empty except for us four. Ari raised his hand as the last person left the examination field. The proctor called to him, and he stood up and stepped down.

Now was Ari's moment.