.
.
Late morning.
Claude entered the 2nd Division administration cabin carrying his harvest for the test.
As the door opened, he quickly noticed a crowd of people looking at him from all around the hall.
He even saw both Rex and Rita standing to the side seemingly examining him from head-to-toe.
"...I'm back." He said plainly.
*whispers* *whispers*
Even as he said his greeting, the crowd of people only talked between themselves while looking at him from afar.
Not knowing what to make of the situation, Claude simply walked towards Scarface's desk at the back-end of the hall to report.
*step*
"I'd like to report my completion of the exam." He spoke plainly, no longer minding the stares around him.
*nod*
"...Here's your Division Tag, don't lose them or you'll be charged some credits for it." Scarface simply handed him a dog tag-shaped item that was made from some unidentifiable metals to Claude.
"Oh, you're not checking my yields?" Claude took it off his hands as he asked.
At the question, Scarface only shook his head and pointed his thumb at the monitor on his back which actually was no longer showing any recordings of him.
However, Claude quickly deduced the meaning behind his gesture from looking at the screen and the crowd behind him.
He had been observed throughout his exam in some ways.
'Makes sense... They wouldn't risk any big accidents happening because of an exam, but.' Claude creased his eyebrows after arriving at his next thought.
He actually didn't notice any surveillance on him!
'This is... Rather troubling.'
He didn't like the feeling of not being in control of his own safety. It brought up some unpleasant memories from his past.
"You did the test excellently from a newcomer's standpoint." Scarface started giving him an on-the-spot review of his exam without minding the audience around, "However,"
"..."
*sigh*
"You should've already known your own shortcomings in this exam right?"
Claude nodded, but still prompted him to continue nonetheless.
"I have nothing to say for your plants gathering, but you caused your animals' materials to be damaged beyond its ideal state."
"Your way of hunting was too intrusive to the surrounding area. And while you still managed to contain them in the end, 2nd Division Rangers shouldn't take such unconventional risk unless it is absolutely required of them."
Scarface was referring to missions that specifically tasked the Rangers with inducing such chaotic activities towards the native inhabitants.
"Your dismantling was way too sloppy but, well... That one's to be expected, I should think."
"Now! With all that being said, every action you've done in this test is still in-line with our Division's values to some extent, and that includes even your riskier antics..."
"As such, I officially welcome you to the 2nd Procurement Division!" He raised his arms in a welcoming gesture all the while thinking to himself,
'I'd be damned if I failed a record-breaker...'
*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*
Following his speech, the observing crowds and audience suddenly burst into a cheery mood the moment Scarface finished his piece.
All of them clapped their hands at the same time to welcome their new comrade-in-arms who had been officially recruited as of today.
Rex and Rita also clapped in the back of the crowd, with Rita showing a mischievous glint in her eyes.
'They're a simple bunch aren't they...' Claude thought to himself as he looked at the scene.
.
.
After the commotion died down a little, Claude finally went on to ask the important questions.
"...What about the Bio-Contact procedure and my new living arrangement?"
"I'll have some staff member show you to your new cabin after this. As for your Bio-Contact..."
"WAIT!"
From amongst the crowd, Rita suddenly raised her hand up high in the air interrupting the conversation out front.
"OBJECTIO..."
*THUNK*
But before anyone could react, a blunt hitting sound also resounded from the same area of her yelling.
"OW!"
"Don't mind her, please continue over there." Rex quickly controlled the situation before Rita's actions got out of hand.
"..."
'What are they doing?'
*COUGH*
"As I was saying..." Scarface cleared his throat before continuing,
"Every application for Bio-Contact procedure goes straight to our Sector Commander so it will take a little bit more time. But I'll make sure that you will be ready to go by tomorrow."
"Alright. Thank you very much." Claude nodded his head in appreciation.
"Great, after you are properly initiated with your Bio-Contact, you will become our new probationary officer and get partnered up with a senior Ranger for a period of time. Learn well what it means to be a 2nd Division Ranger during this opportunity hm?"
"Understood."
"I think that should be all. Hey you, take him to his new cabin." Scarface ordered one of the staff members around him, "You need any help moving?"
"No, I shouldn't impose on the people of 2nd Division any more than this." Claude rejected the offer.
"...Learn to speak more casually from now on as well."
"Haha, I'll try."
.
"Dammit! Why do you keep hitting me!!?"
In the back, Rita cried out with muffled voice as she rubbed the back of her head in pain.
"Why do you keep acting stupid?" Rex countered with his own question.
"Oh come on! This isn't about the bet anymore, you saw the recordings!"
"...Are you sure it's not about the bet anymore?"
"..."
"The guy's free to choose his own path, I would think that someone like him wouldn't pick his Division arbitrarily."
"Erg..."
'This stubborn old man... If you won't help me, I have other ways!'
.
.
A while after Claude went in, the youths outside of the administration cabin slowly saw the gate being opened from the inside.
'They're finished?' Rudy was the first to notice as he felt himself becoming tense once again.
Before long, a 2nd Division Ranger carrying a tablet with a list of names came out of the gate to address the people out front.
"Alright, trainees! The briefing for your exam will begin momentarily, line up and come inside one person at a time as I check your IDs!"
Almost immediately, the 8 people started to fall in line one-by-one with Rudy being at the very front.
Just as he was about to walk past the Ranger keeping the attendance record, he tried to ask hesitantly,
"That, um, Claude guy, did he... Pass?"
"Hn?"
"Of course he passed, how could a record-breaker not pass the exam?" The Ranger gave him an incredulous look.
'So he really broke the record!' Rudy was stunned.
He could already guess Claude's time when he had said that he attended the exam the afternoon of the day they'd met. But it was still unbelievable!
'He broke the exam record! Alone!'
The most unfortunate part for him was that it would be hard to get an outstanding result NOW after such a thing had happened.
'Damn...'
.
After he had been debriefed by Scarface and given a rough schedule for the next few days, Claude went back to his first cabin in the Trainee District to get his sets of clothes given by Gill previously.
Those were his only belongings at the present.
He had also returned his borrowed equipment to one of the staff members in the admin cabin before going to the location of his new home to learn of its general location.
As he was passing the Trainees' activity area, he suddenly saw a familiar silhouette on the distance running through a paved trails of road that encircled the whole area.
The small figure was running with all her might while carrying sacks of weight on her shoulders. She was panting loudly with a pained expression on her face as she ran.
Even in the spans of a couple seconds that Claude had spent watching the figure, she had already tripped and fallen a couple of times with exhaustion evident on her swollen tear-filled eyes.
However, she somehow kept getting back up every single time.
'Odette...'
Seeing this, Claude of course knew what her decision was for her future path.
He simply smiled in admiration of her tenacity that was hidden underneath those clumsiness, he didn't stay too long and continued to walk slowly towards the 2nd Division's Living District.
Claude hadn't felt any sympathy towards Odette's struggle, such level of hard work and dedication was something to be admired and respected about, not sympathized.
If anything he was rather envious of her.
'Passion is truly the luxury of the young...'
.
.
The next morning.
Claude took a quick shower after getting up from his soft bed in the morning. He waited quietly inside his new cabin without going outside even once.
Scarface had told him yesterday that he would be summoned to the Central District for his procedure when they were ready for him.
He calmly meditated on the floor of his cabin's living room as he patiently waited for the call. This had been a habit of him since a long time ago whenever he had nothing to do.
Unlike the Trainees' cabins which were all single-rooms, The official Ranger's cabin, even the unranked one, had another separate space for both the living room and kitchen area.
As one moved up in rank, they would be able to apply for better living conditions each time. Of course, cabins like the one Claude was currently living in were considered rented and not truly a private property.
Request to have a private cabin built would require quite a huge sum of credit which normal Rangers shouldn't be able to afford without a long time saving.
.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
Not long after he had started his meditation, Claude heard a rhythmic knocking sound coming from outside his cabin door.
He stood up and opened the door to find a big and tall 5th Division Ranger standing outside on his front porch in full armour.
Unlike the friendly Gill, the man in front of him had a stern-looking face that showed no other emotions except vigilance.
"Mister Claude?" The man asked.
"I am."
"The Sector Commander requested your presence in the Main Tower."
The Main Tower was the only proper building within Sector-07 located in the center of Central District, which was pretty much right in the middle of the whole Sector-07 area.
"Is this the normal procedure to follow for receiving Bio-Contact?" Claude asked curiously.
"...No."
"Anything I should know about before meeting our Commander?"
"Mind your manners."
"Right, noted. Please lead the way."
Claude didn't really mind the stiff responses, in his opinion people like this were easier to ask questions about since their answers were always straightforward.
The two of them walked at a brisk pace in total silence from the 2nd Division Area to the Central Area's Main Tower.
From up close, the tower had a very modern feel to it in contrast to the wooden housings in the surroundings.
Its shape was not unlike a futuristic version of an airport's command tower with the top floors having a slightly wider area than the rest.
Upon entering, the two of them even had to take an elevator with glass panels that led them to the highest floor of the tower.
The modern architecture was very eye-catching and stood out amongst the natural forest and mountainous region of the surrounding landscape.
'As always, a very mismatched design between futuristic and traditional...'
.
Just as the elevator door opened to the main room of the tower, Claude saw a large and robust-looking man standing firmly in front of a large desk directly facing the elevator.
Rows of transparent glass walls were lined up behind him showing the view overlooking Sector-07.
The man had a thick long blonde hair that grew wildly towards the back, adorning his head like a lion's mane with a few locks on the side being braided in tribal style.
He was wearing a more intricate variation to the usual Ranger's clothing with more pieces of metallic parts, and a long white fur that was tied around his waist..
Even with a single glance, Claude could clearly feel that the man carried himself with a dominating aura about him.
'Controlled pressure...'
The two of them slowly approached forward, passing the boundary of the elevator and into the room with him.
"Commander." The 5th Division Ranger escorting Claude gave a deep bow to him when they reached just a couple paces away from his position.
"Commander." Claude swiftly followed suit with a lighter bow of his own.
"Good work Ranger. You may leave us now."
"Sir."
With a low voice, the Sector Commander ordered the Ranger to exit the room. An order that was promptly executed, leaving the two of them alone inside the enclosed space on top of the tower.
The atmosphere was stifling.
"Ranger... Claude, is it?"