The girl didn't say a word. She simply began picking at her nails with a bored look on her face.
Jelo found it amusing. If someone entered the room at this moment, they wouldn't know she was the main reason for the commotion.
*She thinks the whole thing isn't worth her time,* he thought.
Which meant the girl was either someone very important and powerful, or someone with very poor social skills.
Jelo's eyes flicked to the boy who'd been knocked down. He looked ready to burst, His face was red as beet and his fists clenched tight like he was barely restraining himself.
But Jelo felt it was pointless. If the boy had been powerful enough to stand against the girl, he wouldn't have been knocked off like that. If anything, the officers' interruption had saved him from a proper beating.
A few other recruits seemed to agree and were fighting hard not to laugh. The boy noticed, and it only made his embarrassment grow hotter.
Danny sighed in an irritated voice. "Come with me. The testing hall is ready."
The group fell into line immediately. As they turned into a wider corridor, Jelo suddenly felt cold. The walls, the bright ceiling lights, the chilling air, it all had a way of making one feel small and insignificant. He sudddnly felt angry.
"I'm not insignificant," he muttered.
Danny spoke again. "To make this as fast as possible, there are six test stations. Each of you will be grouped into five people and assigned a number between one and six. You'll head into the room with your corresponding number. Is that understood?"
Jelo joined the recruits in nodding.
After a while, the corridor opened into a large hall lined with heavy doors, each marked with a glowing number from one to six.
Danny stopped at the center. "Line up."
The recruits obeyed quickly. He scanned their faces before looking down at his tablet. "Separate yourselves into five each. Don't waste time."
Feet shuffled as the recruits began dividing. Some had made friendships earlier and went to each other naturally, but most of them divided randomly.
When it was finally done, Jelo realized he'd been grouped with very familiar faces, the hot girl who'd blown someone into the wall, the green-haired handsome boy, the short nerdy boy who'd spoken first, and the hot nerdy girl.
*Ahh, what are the odds?* Jelo thought. He found his group slightly interesting, but not interesting enough to actually talk to.
Thankfully, they seemed to share the same feeling.
Almost.
The green-haired boy suddenly leaned closer and elbowed him lightly, grinning. "We're with the hottie, isn't that neat?"
Jelo blinked in confusion before sighing quietly. So much for keeping to himself.
More than anything, Jelo was surprised. Normally, He wouldn't expect the boy to initiate conversation with him. In fact, he'd expect the boy to avoid him entirely or bully him. But here he was, smiling, waiting for a response.
Just then, Danny's voice rang sharply through the hall. "Enter your stations!"
Jelo was never so glad to hear an order in his life.
Inside the station was not too different from the rest of the academy, it was white, clean, and shiny. A few machines stood at the edge, One of them resembled a treadmill, its belt was made of strange black material that glowed like liquid, and blue lights lined its sides.
The other machines were unfamiliar, they had smooth curves and soft blue glows, unlike the squarer, rougher technology Jelo was used to.
"Woah," the green-haired boy muttered.
Jelo turned, surprised. With the boy's radiant confident look, he had expected him to be from a powerful family. And someone from a family like that shouldn't be impressed by a training room; Yet here he was, mouth gaped open.
*Maybe he wasn't from a powerful family after all,* Jelo thought. *Or maybe the military's technology is just that advanced enough to surprise even wealthy people.*
In any case, I should stooo thinking about him.' Jelo thought.
He didn't know it yet, but he was envious of the tall, good-looking boy who had been born into a life of ease and power.
At the far end of the room stood a single machine. It rose like a smooth white column and was two and a half feet tall. The top was flat with a glowing blue screen. Seated behind it was a woman in a standard officer's uniform, brown hair tied into a tight bun.
She wasn't particularly good looking and Jelo caught himself wondering if her looks reflected her rank. If his theory was correct, the more powerful a super was, the more good looking they'd become.
She looked up and offered a faint smile. "Please, come closer."
The group shuffled forward.
"The test will be in three phases," the woman began. "We'll measure your strength, your speed, and your stamina. Feel free to use any abilities you have to enhance yourself during the test."
With that, she tapped the screen in front of her and a giant circle appeared before them like a hologram, except it didn't look like a hologram at all, It looked solid
"Eric," the woman called out.
The nerdy boy stepped forward slowly, as if unsure of himself.
Jelo watched him and couldn't help but think, *How can such a weak boy be named Eric?* The name seemed more suited to a bully or at least someone powerful.
"This stage is for measuring strength," the officer said. "Hit the circle as hard as you can. Remember, you can use any abilities."
Eric sighed. Then, without another word, he crouched slightly and touched his fist to the ground.
Suddenly, earth covered his arm.
Jelo's eyes widened just slightly as dirt and stone crawled up Eric's skin like living armor, hardening around his knuckles and forearm until his entire hand looked like it was carved from rock.
*So he's an earth user,* Jelo thought.
Eric planted his feet deeply into the floor. He widened his stance and Then he twisted his torso and swung a punch.
The fist slammed straight into the center of the circle and it rippled like water. It glowed for a moment before becoming still and dark once again.
Jelo had to admit, he was impressed, the punch had real force behind it.
"Strength, 20," the woman announced.
Other than Eric using his earth ability to reinforce his arm, Jelo had noticed something else. The stance the boy had taken, The way the punch came from his core, not just his arm like most people would do, that wasn't instinct, That was training.
Perhaps there was more to Eric than meets the eye.
The test for speed was next. The woman pressed her screen and the circle disappeared. A large rectangular structure rose up in its place, with multiple circular holes on its surface.
"The wall will shoot out several balls," the officer explained. "You have to catch each one. The speed will increase until you fail to catch one."
Eric grimaced when he heard this. His earth ability wouldn't help him much with speed. He was all alone on this one.
The machine hummed softly, then *thunk* the first ball shot out.
Eric caught it easily and dropped it, waiting for the next one. Another ball and another and Eric caught them both
But the level started to rise and the machine began shooting faster. Eric began to breathe heavily as he strained to catch them all, then one ball whizzed just above his hand and slipped past his fingers. It hit the ground with a dull *thud*
The machine stopped.
"Speed, 5," the woman said.
Eric sighed, visibly disappointed.
The last test was for stamina. The woman pointed toward the treadmill. "Run until you can't anymore."
As Eric climbed the treadmill, it came to life with a soft whir. It's belt began to move, increasing until it matched Eric's top speed, then it maintained it.
Eric kept running, pushing himself to the limit but soon he couldn't keep up anymore. His legs had turned to jelly and he could barely stand.
His legs gave way completely and he fell on the moving belt. The treadmill threw him off and he landed on his back with a grunt.
"Stamina, 5," the woman announced. She tapped her screen once, and Eric's badge let out a soft beep. The letter **F** appeared on it, glowing faintly.
Jelo stared at the badge for a moment. He wondered if the attributes measured by the machine would correspond to the stats his system displayed. If they did, he already knew his rank, F.
He sighed.
"Mira." The woman called next.
The hot nerdy girl stepped forward with an eager look on her face.
*See, that's a fitting name,* Jelo thought. It made sense for a serious-looking girl to be called Mira.
The circle appeared once again, and Mira didn't hesitate. She immediately drew her arm back and struck it.
"Strength, 20," the woman said.
Jelo was a little shocked. This was because Mira didn't use an ability, that was raw strength.
The next test was for speed and she moved quickly, catching the balls at increasing speed until one of them slipped just below her hand and hit the ground.
"Speed, 20."
The next was stamina, and she finished with a stamina of 20 as well. There was a beep, and her badge showed rank **E**.
Not bad.' Jelo thought.
"Ken," the woman called.
The green-haired guy stepped forward and Jelo straightened.
'Alright, Kenny,' he thought. 'Let's see what you can do.'
Ken stepped in front of the circle. However when the woman gave him the go ahead to start, Ken closed his eyes for a moment and then reopened them.
At first, it seemed like nothing had changed about Ken and Jelo frowned, wondering what the point of his gesture was if nothing was going to happen.
Then Jelo noticed a slight difference.
His eyes widened in shock.