So far, Wren had only hit the first two targets. He’d hit them both on his first try but the third target was proving to be a bit more difficult. It was fifteen metres away from him, standing tall against the soft grass of the meadow. The black dot of the centre of the target was highly visible in the light of the twin suns, it was calling to him, almost goading him. He’d already shot off two wind slices, both of them missing. He was preparing himself for the third shot when he reached inside himself and noticed something different.

The green energy he’d used to fuel the wind slices he’d been producing was dwindling down. It was still there, bright and shining against the dark abyss of wherever it was stored, but it was decreasing. He didn’t know how long he could keep them up. He assumed that the dwindling energy was connected to the decrease of his EP that the system screen showed him, but he didn’t have time to open up the screen and check it. Everyone would get suspicious if he suddenly stopped in the middle of the test. Either way, he would have to take more care when firing the wind slice, he didn’t know what would happen when his EP reached zero, nor did he want to find out.

“Okay there Wren?” Anastasia asked.

“Yep, just aiming properly.” Wren replied.

Pushing past his worries, he once more guided the green energy through his body and into his palm. His wind slice collided with the target, producing a loud clang and making it light up. He’d hit it.

Wren breathed a sigh of relief. He only had two more to go.

The next target was twenty metres away. He had struggled with fifteen metres, he didn’t know how many shots he’d spend on trying to hit the twenty metre target.

“Next.” Anastasia said.

He focused his eyes on the target. He was getting the hang of summoning the green energy after a few times of doing it. He wasn’t surprised. The energy felt natural, like it was a part of him, as if it had always been there. He knew how to use it instinctively, so he was able to call on it without closing his eyes this time.

He fired. It sailed past the first target, shimmering through the air like a fast-moving mirage. Past the second target. Past the third. It seemed to be on target. Wren had gotten lucky on this one, he hadn’t needed to adjust his aim at all. He had closed his eyes to get a feel of how much of the green energy he had left, waiting for the clang that would signal that the target had been hit. Only it didn’t come.

He opened his eyes, and studied the target twenty metres for him. He was sure he would have hit it. Did it hit it softer than usual? If so then surely the target would have lit up.

“Did I miss?” He asked, turning to Anastasia.

She didn’t answer him, instead she started making notes on her clipboard.

“Try again.” She said.

He fired off the wind slice again. His aim wasn’t as true as it had been the last time, it veered off slightly to the left, he would miss the target completely. But that didn’t matter. As soon as the wind sliced flew past the third target it just disappeared. The slight shimmering in the air that indicated the presence of the skill was nowhere to be seen. There was no sound of impact, not even a thud on the ground if he missed. Just the sound of the breeze rolling across the meadow.

“Looks like fifteen metres is your limit.” Anastasia said.

“Oh, is that what it was.” He asked.

She nodded in response.

“When the skill has reached its limit, it will simply fade from existence. But don’t worry, with training you can extend the distance.” She explained. “A good score nonetheless, step to the side for the next recruit.”

With that the second test was over for Wren. He’d scored somewhere in the middle. He didn’t do it on purpose, but it couldn’t have worked out better if he tried. He was trying to blend in as much as possible, but even with getting perfectly average scores, the fact that he was able to use his abilities earlier than most of his class made him stick out like a sore thumb.

“Lars Erikson. You’re up.”

~

Wren had watched both Lars and Steven take part in the test. They weren’t exactly naturals. Their actions throughout the test showed them to be awkward and disjointed. They both ended up only being able to reach the ten metre target. Steven in particular took about five tries to finally hit his mark. It seemed that accuracy was not the hulking lug of a boy’s strong suit. Wren imagined he excelled better at grinding bones into bread and smelling the blood of English men.

The next to go was Xiao. As always she was a natural. She hit every target on her first try, letting off each wind slice with cool and calm efficiency. She’d just hit the fourth target when she suddenly stopped.

“That’s my limit. I can feel it.” She told Anastasia.

“Are you sure? You don’t want to try for the last target?” The instructor looked at her questioningly, wondering if what the girl was saying was true.

“No. I’m sure.” Xiao replied.

Anastasia shrugged and began making notes on her clipboard. The girl had no reason to lie or hide her true potential so she took her word for it.

“I’m next.” Said the boy named Scott. “Time to show you all how it’s done.”