“We have no clue what the evaluations are, all we know is that we have to show up.” Liv says. The others nod. “Best guess is they are gonna test what we are capable of to assign us skills and stuff. Considering the message said for our entire squad to come as one, we will get to see what everyone can do.”

  “That sounds like fun, let's hope it's nothing too serious and that we all can get good skills.” I say, “We gotta get strong if we are going to destroy those monsters.”

  “Hell yeah, those monsters will regret ever messing with humanity!” Stephen cheers. Even Moxie gives a nod at the idea. It's good to see that the four of us all have a hatred of monsters in common.

  “So uh, what should we do while we wait?” Everyone just looks at me, expecting me to figure out something. So, I deflect, “Stephen, you got any ideas?”

  “We could do some pre-evaluation exercises. Some more strength is always good.” He suggests.

  “Hmm, that doesn't sound so bad, your on, big guy.” Liv says.

  Moxie shakes her head no, and points to a data book in her hand.

  “I agree with Moxie, getting some reading in would do well to freshen our brains up. Really prepare us for anything they throw at us.” Moxie looks at me, surprised that I agreed with her.

  “Eww, nerd alert.” Liv scrunches up her face in mock disgust, “Come on big fella, lets go do some real work while these wimps look at tablets.”

  “Books are important! Building the mind is just as important as the body.” I call to them, Stephen merely waves me off.

  Moxie and I head back into the study and sink into some of the comfy chairs. It's much more enjoyable than whatever physical exercise routine those two think up. I load up a book titled ‘The History of The Dragon Guard (Extended Ver.)’. It's quite an interesting read, talking about how The Dragon Guard was formed one hundred and seventy two years ago.

  Spearheaded by the fifty two heroes of the great shattering, the Guard sought to train more recruits how to bond with dragons. It was a great success, as we are now proof of.

  Ever since the academy formed, every year, fifty two squadrons – one named after each of the heroes – of five cadets each have been formed from the best of the best. Thus, The Academy was born and here we are today.

  Of course, that is just the first chapter of the book, the thing is nearly three hundred chapters long. Turns out a lot can happen in one hundred and seventy two years.

  After about twenty minutes of our reading, Violet enters the room. She looks around and picks up a data book, before sinking into a chair on the other side of the room. She doesn't even spare the two of us a glance.

  We read for the remainder of time until Liv and Stephen barge into the room. “It’s time for us to head out, folks.” Stephen says.

  With a sigh, I get up from the chair and stretch a bit. Moxie, by some power gained by sheer dedication to reading, pops up and doesn't even stretch, ready to go. “Well then, Mr. Commander, lead the way.”

  “Dont get lost you guys. Yes Liv, I am looking at you.” Stephen says, staring pointedly at Liv.

  “Hey, why are you assuming I am going to get lost!? I have been here the longest out of all of you. No way I'm getting lost.” We all laugh at her declaration, even Violet lets out a chuckle before she catches herself.

  “Hey, why are you all laughing! It's the truth!” Liv protests.

  With the mood suitably lightened, we depart for the evaluation. It's not too far away and we arrive in about half an hour. We would've made it in ten minutes if Liv didn't confidently say she knew a shortcut and then got us lost.

  We skirt into the gym where the evaluations are taking place with only three minutes to spare.

  “Ah, you kiddos must be the Asteria Squadron, right?” An older man says. “Looks like we have a commander, tank, scout, healer and a front-liner. You guys have been blessed with a pretty balanced line-up. If you are all ready, we shall begin immediately.” The man looks at us, perhaps whoever steps forward first is a part of the evaluation.

  Stephen looks around at all of us, seeing the fire blazing in our eyes. “We are all ready, Proctor.”

  “Alright then, Asteria Squadron, good luck. You’ll be given a simulated environment tailored based on your test scores. If at any point any of you feel like you have a skill that is not being showcased properly, please let me know immediately.” The proctor motions to the environment around us. I now realize this entire gym is some sort of real-world simulation chamber. These Dragon Guard folks really don't mess around with their facilities.

  “Now, begin.”

  In the space of about fifteen seconds, the entire room shifts.

  What was once a training room is now a forest. Scattered on the floor next to us is an assortment of weapons; swords, staves, daggers, and various rifles. All made out of a blue form of aetherium that I’ve never seen before.

  “Those weapons are made out of a type of aetherium that should be wieldable by unawakened cadets. Do be aware, they can be a bit unwieldy at first. You have one minute to get your bearings before the first wave arrives.”

  “Wave of what?” I ask, only to be met with silence.

  “Well then, find a weapon everyone.” Stephen commands.

  I grab a pair of daggers. I spin them around, they are a bit heavier than what I’ve trained with before, but not horribly so. It's not like I’ve ever been very good with weapons. But for some reason, daggers just seemed to fit better than everything else.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I also grab a stave that says it has Fireball inside and hook it onto my belt, just in case. Not that I have any clue how to use the damn thing.

  Stephen grabs a sniper rifle and a big box of magazines, slinging them over his shoulder. Then, he starts to climb a tree.

  Moxie grabs two staves, one with Heal and the other with Barrier.

  Violet makes a beeline for a rapier. She picks it up and twirls it around on her finger like a master. Such a showoff. She turns around and notices me looking at her, then she quickly turns back around.

  Liv grabs a large shield and a heavy broadsword. She really looks the part of a tank, that's for sure.

  Right on the one minute mark, three tears open up in front of us. A simulated version of course. From them emerge ten monsters, some sort of hound variant. They are quite small, can't be more than a meter tall.

  I ready my daggers and charge in, taking the long way so I come up behind one, just as it prepares to lunge at Moxie.

  I manage to sink my dagger into its side, aiming for its core. I know at least that much, you've gotta aim right for the core, anything else is just superficial damage to these things.

  I manage to find its core pretty easily, they are usually located right where a heart would be. I can thank Tien for leaking that nice piece of info. The monster disintegrates after I drive my dagger deep into its core. I still black blood getting all over my uniform though. Perhaps we should've changed into something else, this is quite messy work.

  “Maka, duck!” Stephen shouts.

  I duck not a moment too soon as a monster goes flying over my head and crashes into the ground. Moments later, several bullets from Stephen’s rifle sink into it, one manages to hit its core and it disintegrates as well.

  I spot Liv surrounded by three of the hounds, she seems to be frozen in place, her legs are shaking quite a bit. To the side, Moxie is casting Barrier to keep the hounds from reaching her, but it seems to be straining her quite heavily.

  I rush in, drawing the stave from my belt. I point it at one of the hounds and think really hard about it forming a Fireball. I feel a bit of weakness and the stave lights up with a ton of red runes. After a few moments, a blue glow appears at the end of the stave. The runes flow into the ball of mana and it ignites into a ball of flame in front of me and then flies towards the hound.

  It impacts with a whoosh of fire and incinerates the monster. Magic is awesome!

  Violet, moving like she is some sort of maniac, charges in and stabs one monster right in its core. She quickly pulls back and then launches herself at a tree and kicks off it towards the last monster. Her rapier pierces its core easily. It didn't stand a chance.

  I guess that's the power of one of the best fencers of this age. Without stopping, she quickly finishes off two more of the monsters with some crazy acrobatic moves.

  A few well placed shots from Stephen two more go down in quick order.

  I spot the last one hiding behind a tree, trying to sneak up behind Liv. I dash in and give it a good ol’ stab.

  “Good work cadets, you have cleared the first stage. Stage two starts right now.”

  The tears immediately grow wider. Out steps three larger demon type monsters, they are about three meters tall and have mouths full of teeth that look hungry.

  Violet wastes no time and immediately dashes in, quickly stabbing one of the monsters and ending its existence.

  I sneak up behind one of them and stab it in the side. But, it reaches around and grabs me in its claws. Its razor sharp claws dig deep into my side and I scream. I repeatedly stab my daggers into its side, but do nothing.

  I grab my stave and cast Fireball, the monster gets incinerated, but I also get pretty badly burned.

  Moxie drops her barrier and rushes over to me, casting Heal. I can slowly start to feel my body repair itself, and thirty seconds later I am back up and running, good as new.

  “Thanks Moxie! Damn, this simulation is quite realistic, they even have pretty good pain simulators.” I shout back at her as I dash for the last monster. Just as I am about to hit it, a bullet from Stephen goes right through its core and it dies.

  I fall forward and end up running right into Violet, who was coming in from the other side. Our foreheads impact with a nice thwack, reverberating through the forest.

  “Watch where you are going, you fool!” Violet shouts at me, holding her forehead which is now bleeding.

  I reach up and find that my own forehead is also bleeding, and I've got a slight headache. “I could say the same to you, Ms. Solo’s all the monsters!”

  “What type of insult is that supposed to be?” She says, matter-of-factly, laughing briefly.

  “It sounded a heck of a lot better in my head. Must have a concussion, usually I do a bit better than that.”

  “It really was pathetic, hopefully they have an insulting 101 class for you to take.” She says, standing up and offering her hand to me.

  “You don’t have to rub it in, ya know. Once was enough!” I casually grab her hand and she helps me stand up. I try not to think about anything else.

  We both burst into a fit of laughter.

  “Hey, you two! This evaluation isn't over, get your asses back in the game!” Stephen shouts. Surely enough, it seems that the tear opened up again and now a large monster is currently busy trying to break through Moxie’s Barrier. She cowers beneath it, her hand holding the stave above her head very shakily.

  Violet doesn't even wait for me as she dashes and jumps right onto the monster’s back. It looks to be some ogre type, towering over us at a whopping five meters tall, and with the bulk to match. It swings its giant hand that is shaped like a club down repeatedly.

  Violet’s rapier pierces deep into the monster, infuriating it. It tries to swing its hand at her, but is unable to hit her the way she is positioned on its back.

  She quickly finds the core with a few more stabs and the monster disintegrates in a big shower of black blood.

  I walk up next to her and knock gently on Moxie’s barrier. “It's safe to come out now. Violet fucked up that big bad monster in epic fashion.”

  Moxie looks up and realizes everything is fine and drops the barrier. “I. need. Weapon.” I bet she won't make that mistake again.

  “That you do.” Stephen says as he climbs down from his tree. “Seems like the evaluation is over, right?”

  “That is correct, please give us a second. You weren't expected to survive through that and the simulation seems to be a bit freaked out by your survival.”

  “Hear that? We did so well, we broke the damn machine.” I raise my hand as if to give Violet a high five. She looks at my hand but then proceeds to ignore it. For some reason, I feel a pang of sadness. I really thought we had made progress towards being friends, bonding over combat and all.

  After a few seconds, the simulation deactivates. All of the blood and weapons vanish, it's as though none of it ever happened.

  “Congraulations, Asteria Squadron. Your evaluation is now completed and you are free to go. You will receive your results tomorrow at noon.”

  After a brief bit of celebration – to which Violet still refuses to participate, much to my disappointment – we depart the training room and head back to our quarters.

  The moment I get back, I immediately grab a nutrient bar from the kitchen. I practically inhale it. I retreat to my room and take a quick shower, and then I collapse onto my bed.

  Liv was right, it's absolutely divine. It feels like I am sleeping on a cloud that is also massaging all of my sore muscles. Just what one needs after a day like this. I slip into a dreamless sleep, resting in my new home.

  Next Chapter: The Results

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