Quinn considered this entire charade to be ridiculous. It was quite clear to him that the tablet Jane held already had all the information on him from his previous school. They should know that he had never possessed any ability and that his financial status would never allow him to buy one… and yet he struggled with the answer to her question.
Before coming to military school Quinn had done a bit of research himself. Unlike Peter, he already knew that the military freely gave all students who had no ability their very own ability book. Everyone would receive a level 1 Earth ability book.
This way, all those students like Peter would suddenly become indebted to the military. Not only that, but the military also had a hold on nearly all of the Earth type ability books and the corresponding skill books. In other words, if you ever wanted to increase your strength, you would have to stay loyal to the military, and in return, they would give you more power.
Before Quinn had been granted that system from his book, he had made up his mind to accept it. Even if he didn't join the military after two years, an Earth ability was handy to have. With it, one should be able to find quick employment since the Earth ability was useful in construction.
And this was exactly where the problem came in. Quinn already seemed to have an ability, which meant he was unable to learn a new one. The ability book they would give him was practically useless. He was also pretty sure they would keep tabs on every student they had given the ability book to, meaning the teachers would expect him to use earth powers one of these days.
Quinn took a deep breath and answered, "I don't have an ability."
Just like before the hooded man standing by Jane's side plucked a book from thin air and handed her the book. Her eyes were cold and emotionless as she handed it to Quinn.
Quinn took the book from Jane, but suddenly another screen appeared before him.
[Unable to learn this ability]
[Would you like to convert the book into 10 Exp?]
Quinn had somewhat expected the system to display the first message but the second one truly surprised him. He was really tempted to take the book and use it as a form of Exp but he knew there would be questions asked later on.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want it," Quinn said as he handed the book back to Jane.
The instructor looked at him with raised eyebrows, the first sign of her being able to actually display any sort of emotion. In her five years working as an instructor, this was the first time someone with no ability had rejected the book.
"Please give me one moment." Jane walked away from the group of students who all looked at Quinn as if he was some sort of freak. Once she was far enough away from them, her hand went to her ear to activate the electronic piece inside.
"A student by the name of Quinn Talen doesn't want to accept the ability book. I await instructions on how to deal with this outlier," Jane asked, speaking into her earpiece.
"No need to force him. Just let him take the test and report back if he shows promise," the mysterious man on the other side instructed her.
****
As the man hung up, he couldn't help but think that this Quinn seemed like an interesting student. He began to check on the corresponding file, which left him puzzled. The student had no ability and according to their research, he also should not have any relations with the group Pure either.
"Let's see how long you can survive in this cruel world, Quinn," the man said to himself, leaning back into his seat.
****
Jane adjusted her suit and headed back to the group of students.
"Apologies, for keeping you all waiting," Jane noted stiffly. Then she turned to Quinn. "Although you don't wish to accept the ability book, you're still required to take the test."
He found this to be quite the bizarre request. Was there really a need for him to take the test as someone without an ability? It felt like the only reason they wanted Quinn to continue was to humiliate him for refusing their 'help'. Making him feel small and insignificant might lead to him approaching the military on his own and eventually beg for the ability book they were handing out.
"Please follow me."
Jane took Quinn a little further out onto the field where Quinn noticed that there were huge craters in the ground, burn marks, patches of the ground scorched and burned like there had been some fire. This was all done during the previous testing of contestants.
"Please proceed to destroy the targets in front of you as quickly as you can," Jane instructed him, "The test will begin immediately."
As soon as Jane finished talking, three targets popped out of the ground at random locations around the wasteland. They were metal round targets with a red dot in the centre.
The problem was when Quinn tried to look for the targets, everything appeared like a blur in the distance. He noticed that his 'perfect' eyesight suddenly wasn't so perfect anymore.
'Is this because I'm out in the sunlight?' Quinn thought.
Quinn had no choice but to slowly run-up to each of the targets and hit them with his fist one by one. Unsurprisingly, his time ended up being incredibly slow.
After this Jane asked him to complete two other tests. The second one was in regards to this Strength test. All he needed to do was punch into a huge drum-like machine. Quinn gave it his best shot and hit the drum as hard as he could. The drum vibrated and made a small sound eventually displaying a digital number in the centre.
"Strength 5," Jane announced and noted it down on her tablet.
For the final test, there was a big circular machine with many holes on its front. It hovered over the ground without touching it. Once the test started the machine fired holographic spikes at the examinee. All Quinn needed to do was avoid being hit by the spikes for as long as possible.
The machine went up in levels and eventually got faster and shot out more spikes. It was a torturous process, and Quinn soon got tired of dodging and was hit. The machine whirred and ceased working.
"Agility 5," Jane announced this time and once again noted it down.
Quinn had heard the words from Jane's mouth and it started to make him wonder if there was some kind of link between the scores she had given him. This test focused on Agility and he had scored a 5, which was the same as his system. The same was true for the test before, which had revealed his 5 in Strength.
Quinn sighed internally. If only he could have taken these tests at night, he would have most likely doubled his scores. However, if his ability was indeed one allowing him to evolve, he could always try to take that test again.
"Quinn Talen, your overall current power level is that of a level 1 ability user," Jane informed him.
Quinn clenched his fist and went back to stand with the others. He knew that the days ahead of him as a level 1 user would be harsh, but hopefully, that would change in due time.