The recruits watching on were silent. Their faces showed a mix of jealousy and anger. A lot of them were under the impression that Wren was already able to use his abilities as they thought he had used them during the speed test, so they were not surprised when he was able to produce the wind slice. They were just angry that Wren could do what they could not. He had a step up on them in the early days of the academy.

Only one of the recruits had a different reaction. It was Liam. He was clapping along with Anastasia and Lops. Wren locked eyes with him and the taller boy gave a wry smile and a little nod. As if to say he never doubted him in the first place.

Things were complicated between the two boys. Wren wasn’t sure if Liam was on his side. He hadn’t refuted the idea that Wren had cheated in the speed test, and they came from two completely different social worlds. But the boy was still there, giving him praise and encouragement when the rest of his ilk stood on silent and envious.

Wren nodded back in acknowledgement and turned to find out his score.

It didn’t take long for his score to be revealed. The numbers on top of the target turned from a zero to a one and stopped.

He’d scored low, but he had still done better than the rest of his class. They hadn’t even scored.

Anastasia noted down his score on her clipboard, and he joined the rest of the recruits who had completed the test. There were only two more recruits left to take the test, it wouldn’t be long until they moved on.

Curious what the effects of using the wind slice were, Wren opened up the system and clicked on the status screen.

[Status]

[Name: Wren Spectre]

[Race: Human Level 1]

[XP 10/100]

[HP 15/20]

[EP 18/20]

[Strength: 5]

[Speed: 14]

[Stamina: 7]

There hadn’t been much change. His health had gone up by one point, but he had put that down to the gradual natural healing of his body. It wouldn’t be too long before he was back up to full health. The bruises on his face had gone down a lot but he could still feel them throbbing.

The only other change had been to his EP. It had gone down by two points. He still had no idea what EP stood for, but from looking at the skill screen he had worked out it was what was needed to use his abilities. Perhaps the total amount of green energy that he’d felt in his core equalled his total amount of EP. He didn’t really know what was going on with his body so he could only assume. It would make sense that the two were connected, it was the green energy that fed his ability as he was using it.

Satisfied with what he had learnt he closed the status screen and opened the skill page.

[Skills]

[Wind]

[Wind Slice: Level 1]

[???]

[???]

[???]

[???]

Once again, repeating what he had done at the cafeteria he focused on the one skill he had unlocked.

[Wind Slice (Common): Level 1]

[A horizontal blade of air shoots out from the users palm and continues for a set distance. Power and distance of slice varies on skill level]

[Skill cost: 2 EP]

The skill was at level 1, he wondered if that was the reason he had scored a one in the test. If that was the reason then that would have to mean that Liam’s skill was at level 3. An even more daunting thought was that Anastasia’s skill was at least level 45. He wondered how long and how hard she had to practice to get it up to that level.

By the time he’d closed the screen and roused himself from his thoughts, the last two recruits had taken their turns. Neither of them had been able to produce the skill. That meant that at the end of the test, out of the class of thirty, only eight of them had been able to use the wind slice. Xiao and Liam were at the top of the class with a score of three each, whereas Wren was at the bottom with only a score of one. Luckily the other five recruits hadn’t done much better, with only one recruit scoring a two.

With the first test over, Anastasia called over the class and they gathered around her in a semi-circle.

“First of all I’d just like to say a big well done to all of you, I know how daunting it can be coming to a completely new planet and being made to use abilities you’ve never even heard of, all on your second day. With that said, I would also like to give a special congratulations to those of you who were able to perform the wind slice, it certainly is an impressive feat. Those of you who weren’t able to, please, please don’t be disheartened, your time will come and it will not be long before you’re all shooting blasts of air out of your palms yourselves.” She said.

Lops chose this moment to chime in.

“She’s right. It may come as a shock to you all but I myself was not able to do the wind slice during my first test. And look at me now, I’m an instructor.”

The recruits all looked at Lops with shock. To think that an instructor who was able to get a score over thirty on the target used to be where they were now, it gave them a bit of hope.

“Now those of you who weren’t able to use the wind slice will be returning to the main campus with Instructor Lops. The eight of you who were, will continue on to the next two tests with me.” Anastasia said. “Is that everything?” She said looking at Lops in askance.

He nodded back a reply.

“Well, dismissed.” She shouted.