Wren was exhausted. He’d just used his last two wind slices and completely depleted the new green energy that he’d discovered. Every part of his body ached. His feet, his arms, his head, even his butt. But an achy ass wasn’t his biggest concern, that position was reserved for the glowing green band around his arm that was severely lacking in glow. He didn’t know why he was so shocked. He’d only had the band for a couple days but like the green energy it felt like a part of him, as if it had always been there, only he didn’t know it. The logical explanation was that the glow and the green energy were connected, so when the energy was rejuvenated, so would the glow. That was with fingers crossed that the energy would return; he had no idea what he was doing.

Wren looked over at Natalie who had claimed that she had reached her limit on the previous test. She didn’t seem anywhere near as worn out as Wren felt but that didn’t mean that she’d been lying. She could have been really good at covering it, or she could have not completely used up all of her energy and still had a tiny bit left. However, there was one sure fire way to check if she’d been telling the truth. If Wren’s hypothesis was correct and the glow of the bands was connected to their EP or skill consumption, then her band should be just as greyed out as his was.

Both Lars and Xiao were stood between Wren and Natalie, the former still slumped on the floor, so he had to crane his head up and round to see her. She was talking to Nina about Scott who was currently taking the test after Wren. She was pointing at Scott when he saw it. Her band was greyed out too. It still had a faint glow, she obviously had a small amount of EP left, but still it was nowhere near as bright as all of the recruits’ had been at the start of the day.

Just then, Scott finished the test, having fired off another eight wind slices he stumbled back to the group looking drained. The band around his forearm was looking as grey as Wren’s.

That settled it. He was right.

Their bands would be drained of more and more colour the more EP they used.

He didn’t know if this was common knowledge to the Legacies or what, but he was proud of himself for figuring it out. It would make sense if they knew; none of them had the panicked expression that Wren wore when he first noticed the greyness of his band.

With the panic gone, Wren rested easy. He settled into the warm grass of the meadow, allowing it to sooth his aching body. It was soft beneath him and smelt fresh. He was about ready to fall asleep. But he knew he couldn’t, he had to watch the rest of the recruits. He needed to know what kind of level his classmates were at.

~

Wren was laid up in bed, resting his exhausted body. He’d thought about going to the cafeteria for food but he chose the comfort of his thin mattress and scratchy duvet instead. As much as he was curious about what was on the dinner menu for that day, he didn’t think he could muster the energy to eat, even if it was as good as the sweet and sticky Dusk Vulture wings he’d had at lunch. There was also the fact that he didn’t want to see his classmates and the rest of the recruits, he didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with them at that moment.

Instead, he chose to lay on his bed and play with the system screen. It felt like all he’d done over the past couple days was look at the mysterious screen, but what was a boy to do when he was presented with a shiny new toy.

[Status]

[Name: Wren Spectre]

[Race: Human Level 1]

[XP 10/100]

[HP 16/20]

[EP 1/20]

[Strength: 5]

[Speed: 14]

[Stamina: 7]

His health was slowly recovering, within a few more hours his HP would probably be back up to full and he’d feel right as rain. The image of the body next to the stats had also been changing over time. Where yesterday the head and torso areas had been covered in amber patches, they were now looking more and more green as his body healed. He knew that he was healing at a faster pace than usual, bruises like the ones he had would usually take days maybe weeks to heal, but he would be back to normal in just over twenty-four hours. It seemed the rumours were true and that elementals did heal faster than regular human beings.

The other thing he focused on when looking at the system screen was his EP. When he released his final wind slice and felt his EP drop to zero, it had crippled him. The feeling of absolute exhaustion had taken him fully by surprise. Even in all his years as an orphan, working two jobs after school just so he could afford something to eat, having to be paid cash in hand because he was too young to officially have a job, he’d never felt the level of fatigue that he did on the meadow.

He was feeling better now though. Not a lot better, but a little bit. That single point of EP must have done a lot for him and was probably why the other recruits didn’t have the same reaction after the final test. He would have to be careful in the future, if his EP dropped to zero in the middle of a fight he would be a sitting duck. He wouldn’t be able to move at all, and that’s assuming that he’d be able to stay conscious.

All of a sudden he heard two sets of footsteps approaching his door. It was Carlos and Liam, they’d just returned from dinner.