“Only seven minutes to spare, Akani! Could you not be any slower?” This stupid uniform took me way too long to get ready. From the dark blazer to this stupid tie gave me… I didn’t even have time to eat a fucking thing!

“If you hadn’t completely destroyed my intestines, I would’ve gotten some time to actually get ready!” Panting and sweating, I finally reached up to her at the front gate. She was leaning against a light pole, staring me down. Thank god that the climate here isn’t as hot as hawaii. I would’ve started to burn up in these clothes.

“Say, what are we doing here again? I thought sessions start officially tomorrow?” I started to catch my breath, quickly recovering from the run from the station.

“Wow, you actually read the papers?” I immediately became annoyed.

“I only skimmed some of the papers, just so happened that I saw the dates and all that… But seriously what are we doing here?” We both start walking to the main plaza of the Academy. It was still busy as usual, as if nothing happened yesterday. Though, I started to feel like some stares were being placed on us. Not that I noticed people doing so, it just felt weird now I was part of the community with these clothes.

“I am bringing your examination site, where you will be evaluated for your acceptance here. It’s just the usual things that every first year has to go through.” We entered into a huge building, a spacious gym-like interior, set up for today’s exam. There was already a crowd, almost fifty people present, standing and lined up in front of one person.

“What about you? What are you going to be doing?” She took out a piece of paper and quickly read it.

“Me? I am going to finish up some personal business before tomorrow. Just some other things that you don’t need to know about.” As we kept walking, everyone in the crowd, even the man looked at us. He was talking initially, but whatever he was saying, he stopped and looked at us.

“Who are you? And why are you so late?” The man yelled at us, specifically at me. He looked like he was in his twenties and was lean as hell. Everyone in the crowd started to talk quietly as what was going on. Everyone was from different ethnicities to an even amount of women and men.

“My fault sir, just had to show him the routes here!” Jasper waved her hands signalling to him.

“Well I already started the briefing, anyways finish up what you are doing. We have a strict time schedule to follow… ”

“Well, this is where I part. Good luck on your exams! And don’t try to kill yourself!!” She turned around and walked back to the doors we entered. I was now standing in front of almost over twenty people here, staring at me. I slowly but surely made my way to the group and stood there.

“Well then, I guess I have to repeat myself…” He sighs and begins to talk.

“My name is agent Altoric, and I'll be your instructor for today. Before all that, I would like to congratulate all of you for being selected to this institution. As you may or may not know, all of you have some talent that otherwise could be useful for not yourself, but to the well being of this world and beyond…” I don’t think I am happy with the fact that I am selected by force… that got me thinking, everyone else here has gone through the same thing as I have.

“Today is your exams and evaluations. All of you, specifically, were chosen to join our institution with certain skills that can be used. We just need to know what you are capable of. First, comes in a written exam. Just a standard test that covers everything from math, linguistics, the whole thing. Think of it as your standard entrance exam for any school...” Ugh, this is stupid.

“Once done, we will process your results then test you on your physical tolerance. And yes, I get it. Some of you may not have worked out or have done so in a while, maybe years. That's why we need to know where you are. Once that is done, I will brief the next set of instructions later on...” So a test and then a fucking physical. This seems like way too much.

“Eventually, after everything has concluded, you will be assigned a rank and division. These classifications represent your talent and skills that you may possess. Comes in the form of combat, medical, agility, etcetera. You will get a better understanding when you get your results. ” Chatter started to build up around the group

“Combat? I don’t even fight…”

“I hope whatever I get placed in, it better be good. I don’t even know why I am here anyways…” A person suddenly spoke up in the most cockiest manner out of the group.

“Mr. Altoids sir! I believe that I shouldn’t be here! Maybe you should send me back home! You are wasting your time!” Small laughter was heard afterwards. His face instantly jolted towards the voice.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me right!” There was some laughter and some gasps. I looked over to find who said it. He looked cocky by just seeing his face. someone with blonde hair and the most douchiest hairstyle and face that I couldn’t even describe. I started to feel tense, the atmosphere started to change.

“We don’t waste time in this institution. I don’t see why you should as well...” Out of nowhere, a robotic voice sounded from behind the agent. The steadfast director came behind him, which the unknowing agent immediately was startled.

“Director! Sir! I didn’t expect you to be here.” He patted the agent on his shoulder.

“My apologies for the short notice captain. I just wanted to see the final batch before the start of this year.” The agent finally relaxed. He then put his attention to us.

“The reason why you are here is for your own benefit. All of you don’t see it yet, but sooner or later it will make sense. As I had said to some other students recently, there is always a reason for every action, especially right now.” He quickly turned and faced me. Even though he didn’t have any eyes, I could tell by what he was referencing to. The same guy spoke out again.

“And what is this benefit for? You abducted us from our homes and what do you expect us to do?” The director slowly moved his head towards the voice. He slowly stepped closer to the person, almost towering over him.

“Say, would you mind stepping out of the line and standing right here?” He pointed to a spot on the ground. Rolling his eyes, the dude walked and stood in front of him, with his hands in his pockets. While standing in front of the dude, the director reached inside his coat, taking out a revolver. The man’s eyes widened, the air growing tense. He flipped his gun handing it to the man by the grip, which he hesitated.

“Go on, take it. I want you to do something for me.” He slowly takes the pristine revolver from him.

“So, what would you do if I started to attack you? Threaten to kill you?”

“Wait… what-”

“Answer the question.” He hesitated, but yet tried to keep his cool.

“I would defend myself, obviously.” The director then pulled out a knife and started to play with the blade. He then pointed the tip towards the man.

“Okay then, If you manage to land a shot, you can go home free with some incentives along with it, better yet, maybe even kill me. But I doubt you’ll do either way…” The director took several steps back and held the blade underhandedly. He signalled to the man by presenting himself as the target. The man was still uncertain, at which the director laughed softly.

“What, do you want me to attack you? Go ahead, kill me.” His face turned into a stern demeanor, carrying through the director’s words.

“I don’t know what you are doing but, you asked for it…” He quickly aimed towards the head of the director. Everyone else covered their ears before he took a shot. The loud bang from the gun echoed throughout the gym followed by some whimpers and frightened murmurs from the crowd. I looked up to him still smiling, only then to see it fade away.

“Let me rephrase that for you. Hit me.” The director was holding up his hand, smoke coming from his palm. Opening his hand, the very bullet that had just left the barrel fell to the ground.

“Nghhh…!” Man aimed the gun again, and fired a second shot, only to have the bullet sliced by the knife from the director. His movements were as fast as the bullets that flew through the air at him, yet he looked graceful as he walked towards himTwo more shots followed with both being either blocked, sliced, or dodged.

“AGH!!!” He fired his two last shots, only to have the rest of the chambers empty. He was visibly angry, with sweat already dripping from his head as he huffed heavily.

“Alright, my turn…” The director ran towards the man, prompting him to drop the gun and with his hands drawn back, knife ready to slash As the distance grew smaller, the once smug guy attempted to land a hit directly on his head but missed as the director quickly dodged the attack. The director grabbed his entire arm, aggressively throwing him up in the air and slamming him back on the ground, apprehending him with the cold metal of the knife against his throat. Grunting and struggling against the hold, he yields.

“If you want to speak up again, by all means do so. Just make sure you can put up a fight, because that was child’s play…” He lets go of the man and grabs the revolver from the man’s hands, putting both weapons back into his coat.

“Now if anyone else wants to rudely speak up, you may do so now, but other than that, please don’t waste anymore time.” The crowd grew silent.

“Alright good. Speaking of being sent home, if the results deemed that you were incompatible, you will be sent back to your home with amnestics and have a secondary plan set up for you, and you will be back to your normal lives. Otherwise don’t bother trying to do bad in the test, as we will monitor your brain activity while taking it. And if you manage to keep up for the rest of the year, you will be given a choice to go back to your homes, with the same thing as I had said before. This island and institution is kept under a strong secrecy program. We must keep it that way.” Well, there goes my idea of trying to get out. Sighing, the director spoke again.

“I understand that all of you are confused. Ask any of your higher ups here, they have been in your shoes before. I think I might as well bring this up,” He takes out his revolver again, but unloads the empty casing and places them on his hand.

“Your talents are not intellectual or physical, rather internal.” The bullet casings start to float above his hands. Oohhs and awws were heard.

“Everyone here is able to possess a type of power, unique to you. You already possess it, all you need is to activate it.” The casings suddenly disappear as the director closes his hand. He then brings out a cyan blue crystal from a box that was placed beside him. It pulsed in his grasp like a heartbeat.

“This is a Seishin Crystal, this will enable you to be able to use your powers and unlock your abilities. However, before we do that, we still have to get you evaluated and make sure you are compatible with this. We don’t want any accidents to happen.” He then puts back into the box and holds it in his hands.

“On behalf of the academy, welcome to Heiwa and may you do well on your exams.” He walks off and stops right next to the agent.

“Captain, the floor is all yours.” After a few more briefings about what was to happen for the day, we were escorted to a lecture hall like room, and promptly seated with testing material in place. We were also told to wear a wristband like device to measure our brain activity so we don’t end up completely bullshitting the exam. Two hours of answering over one hundred questions over several different topics from math, to linguistics, and even to history? Is this some IQ test or what? And there was an essay? HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO FINISH THIS?

------ 2 HOURS LATER -----

“Alright everyone, you have completed your first part of your examination. Now, in a few minutes, I need men on the right side of the room and women on the left side, as we are about to do your physical evaluation.” My brain was completely burnt out, some topics that I haven’t even covered in my highschool and an essay about bugs and what benefits they bring, now a fucking physical. I was already dragging myself towards the men's side. Everyone looked brain dead.

“I hope you all had a good breakfast this morning, this will take a while. My assistants here will guide you all to an assigned locker room, with bags that have some clothes inside and some water pouches. You will have fifteen minutes until we start our first course.” We were directed out the doors and led into the locker room. It felt very clean and nice and not like the “prison” that my school had. Bags were lined up alphabetically, which made it easy to find my own. Dry fit shirt and shorts, knee and elbow pads, and gloves? The hell is this stuff for?

---------

We were gathered back inside the large gym, with workout machines set up and some obstacles as well. Thank god I am somewhat in shape.

“Alright, welcome to the second part of your examination. This will help us evaluate where you are physically and what we can do to help you. If you can’t meet the minimum requirement, it's okay, however you will have a harder time down the road, so I hope you all are ready.” We were lined up by name and separated by gender. There are several higher ups helping examine our performance in the physical. If I had to explain everything that happened during this time, I might as well create a whole essay, just because there was so many fucking things that we needed to do. But just to get the gist of it...

Weight lifting: I feel like my muscles are going to explode.

Endurance: I now have asthma, and I think I ripped a hamstring.

Obstacle course: Everything hurts.

It also does not help the fact that I didn’t eat, in which I actually collapsed during one of the stages that we were doing. I completely ate shit when I fell, but hey at least i got something in my mouth… right… I’ll just keep going then…

-------

“Ten minute break, and then I will brief you all on your next agenda…” Everyone was either laying on the ground tired as hell, or grouped up with people, talking about their life back home. We were all exhausted. I was sitting down by myself, drinking the water pack I brought with me. I felt like my stomach collapsed and my muscles were completely torn up. I laid down on my back, looking up at the black ceiling of the gym with the white lights beaming down on us. It felt good staying in this position… for once getting some relaxing time to myself. I looked around again, with everyone still minding their own business, talking to strangers and introducing themselves. I should probably do that too, but I was too exhausted to even try. God damn do I want to eat something right now.

After a few minutes, I sat back up and quickly headed to one of the water stations that was nearby to fill my half full water pouch. I looked away to open up my water pouch, which was still somewhat full. I didn’t fully pay attention to my surroundings, which consequently I bumped into something, splashing water all over my face and everywhere around me.

“GYA!!!” Everyone’s eyes turned towards the commotion.

“I’m so sorry!” I was now wet from spilling my water.

“Agh! Watch where you are going next time, God damn it...” I looked at the thing I hit, showing a girl with water splattered all over her face and droplets on her shirt. I looked around to find something to dry us off.

“Here… I am really so sorry.” I found some rags hanging from beside the water dispenser, grabbed them, and handed them to her. She immediately wiped herself off and I did the same.

“It’s fine-” As I finished up wiping, she stared at me for a second, squinting her eyes at me.

“Uh… is there something on my face?” Her eyes widened.

“Say, are you that boy that was in that whole incident yesterday?” Oh not this again.

“Ah… yeah. How did you hear about that?” She pointed at the crowd, laughing and conversing with each other.

“And I did catch a glimpse of your chase, you all passed me on the bridge shouting and yelling. I didn’t even know what was going on.”

“I guess word does spread fast.”

“Ah don’t worry about it…” She softly chuckled, “Are you American?”

“Yeah. you?”

She shook her head no, pointing up in the air. “Nope, the country above ya.” She laughed as I softly joined her as well. She offered a handshake, which I accepted.

“I really haven’t made any friends here yet but, the name’s Hana.”

“Akani. Say how did you end up here?” She scratched her head.

“Ah well, some sketchy people came up to my house and explained some things to me, showed me proof of said things, and the rest is history. I don’t know but they kind of offered a lot when they came to my door. Free studies, amenities, the whole thing.” Well, if that wasn’t a very peaceful extraction, I don’t know what is.

“What about you?” I chuckled to tell her my whole experience from start to finish from the chase to the rooftop experience and that whole thing being threatened by gunpoint. She burst out laughing.

“What the? I mean I don’t know if everyone is different, but they had the same experience as me!” I might want to have a talk with the director after this. As we continued to converse, the agent got the entire crowd’s attention.

“Alright everyone line up in your sections again.” I quickly filled up my water pouch.

“Well, let's see what he’s got for us in store. I’ll see you soon!” She hurried off to her group and I quickly headed back to mine. Everyone got back into their order, and awaited for instructions.

“Alright, so from here this is where people will be put to the side for several reasons. One, this is now going to be combat based testing, which depending on how you did in your previous evaluations, will either be chosen to do this part.” An assistant comes up to him and hands him a tablet.

“When I call your name, take one step in front of you. This is in no particular order… Arima, Newkart, Alder…” He kept on going with the list as each name is called out, the corresponding person took one step.

“Buteisa, Martinez, Richardson…” Ten names have been called… fifteen… twenty…

“Larkin, Nueta, and Kizuato…” The names stopped. I took one step in front of me and looked around. Over half of the people were standing out the line, including Hana.

“Everyone who’s name I called, you will be moving on to the next part. For the rest of you, all of you are done for the day. You will be briefed by one of my assistants in what you all will do from here. As for the rest of you, please follow me.” We lined up again, now separated by two groups. The people that didn’t move on went ahead with some assistance as they led them back to the lockers. As for us, we walked to another portion of the gymnasium. We stopped in front of four large square floor mats. The instructor also pulled out a rack of mock weapons, from a bo staff to a baton. He also laid out some protective gear, like the things you wear in a martial arts class.

“So... I kind of lied that we separated you all by your scores in the physical. We actually had some prior knowledge of what you all can really do, and combat is one of them. Don’t blame me, blame the intelligence department if you really don’t like this.” Everyone groaned.

“Alright, alright. What we are doing here is basically just seeing what you can do and by that, just how well you can fight. Not everyone is going to have the same skill so we set up some bots.” There were some students bringing out the robots that he had mentioned by a trolly, three of them. They were five and a half feet tall and had a humanoid like physique. They were padded as well, thank god.

“Your goal is to take down the threat by any means necessary, as of right now we have different types of melee weapons for your disposal. The robot will fight back, so do be careful in how you take down your enemy… Yuma, please come here...”

“Yes sir.” Out of the background, he came to the front of the crowd. I didn’t even expect him to be here. He was fully kitted out with some gear, different in what he wore at my extraction. It fit him much better, as if it was personalized by him. I was right in front of him. I didn’t know if I should make eye contact with him or just stare something else. I took a glimpse and he did take a good look at me, glaring and giving me such a cold eye, then looked away.

“Show us an example for the crowd… and try not to damage it as badly as last time please?” He walked to the rack.

“You said any means necessary, so I’ll take my own methods.” The agent groaned as he grabbed the bo-staff from the weapons rack and walked onto the floor. He didn’t even bother to put on any protective gear, only using what he has. He stood there, positioned himself to fight. The robot came alive and started to speak out.

“User ready?” His grip tightened and then he took a deep breath.

“Ready!” The floor stood silent, waiting for the first one to attack. Seconds passed, tensions fell high. Suddenly, the bot ran at full force to Yuma, in which he followed afterwards.

As the distance grew closer, the robot immediately started to kick and punch Yuma, but he was too fast. Dodging and blocking, Yuma’s movement’s were swift and smooth. The hits of the staff cracking and clanging to the padding were almost like gunshots— sheer raw power.

“Damn, that thing is getting destroyed...” Whispers and talking started to form into cheers as they watched in awe at the skills that Yuma had. Several times, Yuma did manage to get hit on his shoulder to his head, slowly making him agitated.

“AGH!!” His grunts and scattered breaths became more aggressive, as he was giving the final hits. The robot tried to fight back by completely ignoring the hits and going for Yuma, but even that was not enough. Immediately, the bot managed to grab hold of the staff and stop Yuma’s streak. He was shaking as he tried to pull away the staff, but was quickly pushed down and thrown back by the bot. He landed on his feet, with his weapon in hand. Sweat was dripping from his forehead, with immense anger glaring in his eyes.

“Hey Yuma what is taking you so long?” The agent softly laughed. Yuma grinned.

“That's how you want to play…” Suddenly, within a blink of an eye, a quick blinding flash of light from Yuma was emitted. When we looked, he was not to be seen, but in the air falling. He aimed his staff on the head of the robot, but followed with a flame trailing behind his feet. As soon as he hits, a loud bang and mini explosion can be seen from the point of impact. The robot was face down on the floor, immobilized. Yuma still had his staff pointed towards the head, breathing heavy.

“You did that on purpose didn’t you…” The agent laughed.

“I knew you would completely annihilate the trainer if it didn’t put up a fight, damaging it and making me do all that stupid paperwork to clean that up. And you were not allowed to use your elemental!”

As he walked off the floor, throwing the staff back on the rack, he turned to the agent walking backwards with his hands swayed, smug faced.

“You said by any means necessary, sir…” He turns and walks back to the other group of assistants and students. The agent clears his throat, setting back up the staff that was sloppily placed.

“What you saw there was a difficulty level eight out ten, facing off one of our highest ranking student here. All of you will be facing off a difficulty level one enemy so don’t worry. It’s almost like fighting a child… well um, a child that can at least hurt you… You get the idea.” I don’t think that was a good analogy sir… Everyone chuckled and we were soon assigned to our respective arena. I stayed in the same one as the one Yuma fought in. Eventually the fighting began, with three people sparring with a single robot. Everyone started to pile on and show their strength to the assistants and he was right, the robots were pretty toned down compared to Yuma’s opponent. It was just more like the robots were putting up a fight, but had no form or strategy whatsoever, but it was enough to put up a challenge for those who really can’t fight.

Take for example one of the boys. He was fit and at first looked like he could take down the bot. Well, he immediately was kicked down and even had his baton taken from him and yielded to the bot. It was the same cocky dude from earlier. I don’t know how much of his ego is left but everyone was laughing at him. The agent did let him have a second chance, which he did manage to do a take down but it was already too late for his embarrassment.

Maybe another example would be Hana on the other hand. She did have good technique and form as she was using her bare hands, and was able to put up a good fight compared to that kid. But she did get completely swept off the floor when the robot kicked her ankles, making her fall to the ground. Apparently, one of the assistants accidentally set the difficulty to three instead of one, but with her performance, she was able to pass.

Eventually everyone got their chance to spar, either using a baton, a bo staff, or even nun-chucks, which only one person did ever use… That person did exceptionally well. I was now the last one, as there were twenty eight of us.

“Alright, the last one is Kizuato Akani. Sorry that you have the spotlight but they should be an easy opponent.” I laughed nervously and made my way to the floor. I geared up and thought about if I should even use a weapon. I never had hand weapons combat before, but I did have good knowledge of hand to hand combat and some martial arts. I just entered the arena empty with just some handguards to protect myself from injuring my fists.

“No pressure Akani!” Hana called out from the crowd. Everyone was observing me, including Yuma. He was off to the distance, hands behind his back. The robot came to life, entering a stance.

“User rea-” The voice suddenly cut off. I waited for a few seconds confused, then looked to the agent.

“Ah, just give me one sec… There!” He clicked on the tablet, making the robot reboot itself.

“User ready?” I started to feel a little unsettled. Maybe because I was being watched by all angles? I don’t know, I just know that I can’t be bothered by something like that.

“Ready!” As soon as I responded, the bot started to malfunction, which then started to run at me, fully like it did to Yuma.

“What the-” As it came close, it drew its fist behind its head. I jumped out of the way, as the robot forcefully hit the ground, leaving a gash on the padding. The floor was made of rubber pads… No person can physically tear open that type of material, especially when it is made to take a beating. I looked at the agent, in which he was quickly stressing as he tried to do something to the robot.

“What is going on!?” I shouted as the robot ran to me again, this time punching me and knocking me back several feet. The immense pain was there but my adrenaline was pumping, keeping me going.

“Threat det- Erro-” It started to speak out random words estactically.

“I can’t turn it off!” It then ran again.

“SHOOT IT! DO SOMETHING FOR FUCKS SAKE!” It suddenly pushed me back against the weapons rack, and knocked me outside the ring. It was still tracking me. Everyone started to get away from the arena and gain some distance from the fiasco. Some of the assistants brought out their weapons and took aim to the robot.

“Get down!” I covered my face as the barrage of bullets started to impact the bot. It was still standing. The robot took some of the weapons and started to run towards the assistants, knocking them out or even throwing them back far. The agent immediately took his phone out and started to call for backup. The robot then looked at the group of students at the other side of the building and started to walk towards them. Everyone tried to run somewhere else but they were all cornered. I looked around trying to do something and stop the robot. Against the wall, one of the assistants was knocked out, bleeding from his nose and right beside him was a rifle. Ignoring the pain, I got up and ran to the gun. I carefully took aim for the head, trying not to hit anyone ahead of him, which it's attention was now aimed at me. I kept on firing as it slowly but then quickly gained on me. I looked around to see if there was anyone. Most of the assistants were injured or trying to reload their weapons. I tried to find Yuma but he was nowhere to be found. The robot charged at me, which I dodged for the third time. It hit the wall hard, damaging itself. It was on all fours, as it tried to get up from the impact.

“Kid!” The agent called out to me as he had a pistol aimed towards the back of the bot. He reluctantly fired towards something behind the bot’s back.

“The cell! Destroy it!” The back was exposed, revealing a power cell which was popping out from the impact. I had a chance. I took aim and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. I looked at the chamber, and it was fully open and completely empty.

“Shit shit shit!” I looked like the pack, loosely hanging on. It was still struggling to get up with whatever power it had left. I grabbed a baton and dashed to the downed robot.

“AGH!” I bashed the back of the neck of the robot, knocking it back down more and making the pack more loose. I grabbed the sides of the power cell and violently pried it away from the back of the robot. It tried to reach and grab my arms to stop me from pulling away. Few seconds later, I flew back from my own force as I pulled the cell away, falling on my back breathing heavily.

“I… I did it!” The battery cell was sparking and smoking from the wires that ended up detached. I felt relieved, so relieved.

“Err- Targ-get Elim- Na-” A distorted robotic voice kept on repeating eliminate. The sound of scratching and servos moving were aggressive and loud. It was standing in front of me with whatever power it had left, making it almost zombie like.

“Oh you gotta be joking…” It walked towards me, until another volley of gunfire was shot at the robot. Each impact resulted in sparks flying and parts falling. After it stopped, a big blast of heat and flames were spewing out of the chest immobilizing the robot and falling to the ground. I looked back…

“Yuma…” He unloaded his gun and holstered it back on to his person as he walked towards the wreckage.

“I had a feeling that this would happen…” He looked at me, glaring at the energy cell in my hand.

“Not bad for being a shrimp like you… but not enough...” He scoffed and walked away to help the injured. I stayed there laying on the ground staring at the white lights on the ceiling. I grew tired, slowly closing my eyes, with the bruises and pains slowly growing on my body. The faint echoes of talking and commotion grew to a near silent.

“Man… when am I going to ever get a break...”