Chapter Seventeen: A Unique Mentor

The lieutenants quickly began to organize their groups and lead them out of the auditorium.

Lieutenant Lance however waited on the stage patiently, until all the other groups left alongside their lieutenants.

He then walked to the edge of the stage and took a seat, his legs gently swinging back and forth. He looked around the auditorium, seemingly lost in thought.

Eventually, none other than Sang-hee herself spoke up. "What the hell are we waiting for?" She asked frustratedly.

Lance looked down at Sang-Hee with a blank expression, he then sighed. "Are you always this loud?" He asked dryly.

Sang-Hee's frustration seemed to boil over. "Are you always this lazy?" She asked in annoyance.

Marcus and Luna watched the interaction with silent yet curious gazes. Marcus's earlier nervousness was now replaced by a deep curiosity.

Lance seemed to ignore Sang-Hee as he continued to look over the rest of the cadets in Group E. After a moment he sighed heavily.

"There are sixty cadets in this group, and in two weeks that number will drop to just fifteen, what do you guys think about that?" He asked curiously crossing his arms as he did so.

"I think it's a little unfair." One cadet answered softly.

Lance nodded. "You think it's unfair, can I ask why?"

"Well, we worked hard to get here." Another cadet answered, his voice a little more confident than the previous one, "It's not fair to make us train for so long, just to send us home packing after one exam."

"I see," Lance said in a reflective voice. "But what if I told you that it's actually more considerate than you would think."

"How?" Another cadet asked curiously.

"I'm sure you've heard about Ether implants, right?" Lance asked.

Almost everyone nodded in unison.

Lance nodded. "Good, now here is something you need to understand. Ether implants are implanted into officers as the name suggests, which means surgery."

Some of the cadets shifted in their seats uncomfortably, while others didn't look surprised in the slightest.

Marcus among them.

"But that's not all, implants are extremely power-hungry little things. They require a body at its peak, otherwise, health issues may arise, perhaps even death."

Lance sighed as he continued. "That's why the first round of exams exists. To weed out the weak from the strong, it's the second exam where the real tests begin."

Marcus felt slightly relieved at Lance's words. 

He knew for a fact that he was set, not because he was better than the other cadets, but because he had something far more powerful than an implant already; Luna's core.

At least that's what Dr. Fletcher told him.

Marcus unknowingly had a wide grin on his face, causing Lance to look over in his direction with a curious expression.

"What are you grinning about?" Lance asked.

Marcus quickly stopped smiling and slumped down on his seat. Attempting to avoid attention, however, he failed miserably.

Sang-Hee turned to look down at him with a perplexed expression. "Is he talking about you boss?"

"I hope not," Marcus whispered.

Lance narrowed his eyes as he stood up from his perch at the edge of the stage. 

What happened next would have almost been unbelievable if Marcus hadn't seen similar things before.

He dispersed into a swarm of black liquid droplets.

The droplets flew in unison towards the area where Marcus was sitting. 

They began clumping up behind Marcus until they reformed into Lance.

"I asked you a question, cadet." He said in a calm yet oddly threatening tone.

Marcus looked up to see Lance leaning over him.

Marcus felt their heart skip a beat as he grinned nervously. "I uhm, my mentors prepared me for these exams, so I'm confident about victory, heh." Marcus chuckled nervously as he lowered himself further into his seat.

"Another overconfident fool." Lance said with a sigh as he straightened up, "Listen up cadets, because I'm only going to say this once, confidence will not help you in these next two weeks, only results and luck."

Marcus felt a tinge of embarrassment at Lance's words, it wasn't that he was overconfident, it was more that he was guaranteed to pass the first exam.

"Any questions?" Lance asked as he sat behind Marcus.

Sang-Hee turned around to face Lance. "Yeah I got one boss, you keep saying these tests will be physical, but what exactly are we talking about here?"

Lance grinned as he leaned back in his seat. "Run a 100-meter dash in 11 seconds minimum, 100 pushups within a minute, things of that nature."

"That's it?" Sang-Hee asked in disbelief. "That's easy."

Lance nodded. "As it should, because you'll be doing it every single day starting tomorrow."

Sang-Hee's eyes widened. "Every day?" She asked hesitantly.

Lance nodded, "Exactly, and you need to score within the acceptable range every, single, day."

A hushed wave of silent murmuring washed over the group of cadets, some were deeply concerned while others seemingly weren't impressed.

Lance continued. "But only one part of this exam, there's also the psychological aspect of it, where after each day, you'll be tested on memory, stress, knowledge, and so forth, fail even once and you'll be dismissed."

Suddenly the students who weren't impressed with the physical aspect, awoke in an uproar. "That's bullshit!" One cadet exclaimed angrily.

"You can't be serious!" Another said me said in disbelief.

Lance grinned as he spread his arms wide, "oh? What happened to your earlier confidence, children?" He said with a chuckle.

"If you thought becoming an ACO would be easy then allow me to assure you, it isn't."

With those stern words, all of Group E fell silent. The stakes had been laid out and they proved to be challenging. They had to be at their peak both mentally and physically day in and day out for the next fourteen days.

Lance watched everyone fall into deep thought with a stoic expression. "You all are dismissed." He said with a clap of his hands, "We will meet in the training room echo at 0600 hours."

And with that, Lance strolled out of the auditorium with his hands in his pockets and a cheerful step in his stride.

The cadets slowly began to stand up and file out of the auditorium. Most cadets face a mix of dread and concern. Marcus and Luna stayed behind momentarily.

He felt a mixture of anxiety and confidence. 

He knew it was bad to feel this way, but he couldn't help it, with Luna's core he knew he'd be fine for the first part of the exams.

Maybe Felix's confidence rubbed off on him.

Standing, Marcus turned to look at Sang-Hee, who had similarly stayed behind.

Her expression was one of genuine concern and worry. 

Marcus reached a hand towards her.

He didn't know why he had done it, but it just felt natural.

Sang-Hee noticed Marcus's hand reaching towards her, she paused for a moment, turning to look up at Marcus, her expression turned vexed.

"Boss, I don't need ya fucking hand, I'm trying to think in peace." She said with frustration in her voice.

Marcus hurriedly retracted his hand in embarrassment. Holding it close to his chest. 

"My bad," Marcus said with a nervous smile. "I'll be heading out then."

Sang-Hee rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her seat. "Yeah, you do that."

With a nervous laugh, Marcus turned his attention back to Luna, who sat in her seat with a grin on her face.

Marcus rolled his eyes as he reached out his hand toward Luna. "Come on, if what Lance said is true, we need to visit the training center.

Luna nodded as she accepted Marcus's hand.

Exiting the auditorium, Luna and Marcus began to walk towards the entrance. When suddenly Marcus began to hear a familiar rhythm of footsteps approaching behind him.

Turning around Marcus was greeted by the sight of Dr. Fletcher approaching him.

"Dr. Fletcher," Marcus said with a wave. "What's up?"

Dr. Fletcher smiled briefly in response. "Marcus, do you have any plans for today?" She asked in a familiar tone as she stopped before Marcus.

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, I plan on visiting the training center for a bit, just to get a feel for it before tomorrow."

"Good, then you won't mind me accompanying you, right?"

Marcus shook his head. "No, I don't mind."

"Good, because I think I have something that can help you with the exams." Dr. Fletcher said as she began to navigate her way to the entrance.

Marcus raised an eyebrow in surprise as he walked alongside Dr. Fletcher. "Seriously, what's kind of help?"

Dr. Fletcher smiled as she exited the building. "Be patient Marcus, I'll tell you soon enough."

Stepping outside Marcus reached a hand to cover his face due to the sunlight beaming down on him.

"Is it just me, or has the sun decided to get brighter for no apparent reason," Marcus muttered as he blinked his eyes several times.

Dr. Fletcher chuckled. "That's funny, given that your birthday is in May, I'd assume you'd like the sun."

Marcus scoffed playfully. "Hell no." He said with a chuckle, he then paused for a moment. His curiosity kicked in as he wondered how Dr. Fletcher knew his birthday.

"How'd you know I was born in May?" Marcus asked curiously.

"Did you forget I have access to all of your files?" She asked with a challenging grin. 

"By the way, I've looked over your report cards from your 11th-grade year back, and I was wondering, why did your grades drop so sharply a few months ago?"

Dr. Fletcher turned to look back at Marcus, who was now averting his gaze. 

"Well…" Marcus stammered, "because I was bored."

Dr. Fletcher raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You allowed your grades to drop… because you were bored?" She asked in disbelief.

Marcus grinned nervously, he didn't know how to word his feelings better. 

The school felt meaningless for what it offered. Day in and day out, solving equations, reading textbooks, learning history.

It all seemed so… pointless.

With a heavy sigh, Marcus turned to look at Dr. Fletcher with genuine honesty in his eyes. "If I had to explain it, I guess it's the fact that school didn't seem worth my effort. Soon I'll be in the 12th grade and I still haven't figured out what I want to do." 

Marcus then paused, turning his head to study the various buildings that made up the complex, "but when I became a cadet things became fun, challenging even."

Dr. Fletcher fell silent, her eyes slowly shifting left to right, seemingly in deep thought.

Eventually, she broke her silence as they approached a large dome-like building. 

"Marcus?" She said softly as she glanced back at him. 

"Yeah?" Marcus replied.

"You surprise me." She said with a grin.

Marcus grinned in response, his attitude perking up slightly. "Oh yeah?"

Dr. Fletcher nodded. "Mhmm, I assumed you were just lazy, or perhaps academically challenged but now, I know you're just an idiot."

Marcus sighed in disbelief. "I thought you were above such insults," Marcus said with a fake pout, causing Dr. Fletcher to chuckle.

"Usually I am." She replied. "But there's just something about you that makes me smile."

Marcus felt his heart skip a beat and his cheeks turned hot.

He knew Dr. Fletcher most likely didn't mean those words in a romantic sense, but he was still a teenage boy.

Luna looked up to Marcus with a teasing grin. "I see an idiot who doesn't make me smile."

Marcus looked down at Luna with a glare. "Silence you little gremlin!" Marcus shot back playfully.

"We're here." Dr. Fletcher said as she gestured towards a dome-like building. It was made entirely of hexagonal-shaped glass, separated by white steel beams.

"Looks like a giant soccer ball," Marcus said in amazement.

Dr. Fletcher chuckled softly. "Might wanna be careful what you call it around the locals, we aren't in America anymore."

Marcus smirked. "Was that a joke?" 

Dr. Fletcher shrugged. "Maybe." She replied as she pushed open the doors that led into the building.