The bus stopped, and everyone got out. A scary man was waiting for them. He had the Stragorn uniform and a scar on his right eye. The man was bulky, and judging by the number of stars he had on his uniform, he had a good ranking inside the military.
"Hello, everyone. My name's Jackson, and I'm one of the teachers here in the academy. I'll be conducting the entrance tests, so please, follow me. And don't forget to keep quiet, or else yall be expelled."
Inside the bus, they were all playful and mocked Arthur without thinking. But in front of that man, they were as quiet as the desert.
Heather looked towards Arthur, but hold her eager to talk to him. She knew that the man was talking seriously and she was not in school anymore to be playing.
"My name's John. You can call me John, professor, or Sargent John," the man led them through the academy, giving them some information about the entrance test.
"The entrance test is quite simple. I'll call you, one at the time, and then you'll fight me using your ability. You don't need to defeat me to pass the test, as we all know none of you are capable of. I'll be judging your performance and decide if you're in or out.
Every student's mouth went wide open after hearing what the Sargent had said. That man was scary as hell, and they would need to fight against him. Terrifying.
John led them to an arena just outside the academy's main building.
"Here's where the test will happen. It's an arena designed to hold the entrance test and other fights between students," he then looked towards the group of students and said, "now, who's first?"
Of course, no one volunteered. John had to choose them randomly to fight against him, and Arthur carefully watched all the fights.
Arthur got lucky as he stood among the few remaining students to yet face the Sargent. Heather faced him, and for Arthur's joy, she passed the test. He didn't know her that much, but she had been kind to him, and he thought that maybe they could be friends. He also knew that everything would be lost if he didn't manage to pass the test in the first place.
"Now, let me see who's next," Sargent John moved right to left with his hands behind his back. Only about 10 students remained, and Arthur was one of them. The difficulty of the test far surpassed Arthur's imagination, and he could notice that the majority of the people who came with him didn't pass the test.
"You," Sargent John pointed towards Arthur. He was expecting his turn, but still, it made him nervous. The ability he had copied was unknown to him, as he never used it. The only thing was that Arthur practiced a lot of fighting since he was little, due to the lack of ability.
Arthur stepped inside the ring, facing John. He felt his body tingling. The tension pre-battle made Arthur's breath irregular. He was not only afraid of losing and get beaten. But also to not be able to pass the test. He trained hard all his life. The fact that he didn't have an ability never stopped him from doing so. And all of his efforts would be put to prove in that moment.
"Now, show me what you got, boy," John didn't wait and rushed towards Arthur. He wielded a wooden sword to not hurt his students that badly, but still, it hurt a lot.
From what Arthur had watched, John didn't use his ability at all. The man was fast, and that could be related to his ability, but Arthur thought otherwise. Everyone inside the military trained their body every day, and some were capable of doing inhuman things with their body alone. And it also didn't make sense for a Sargent to use his ability against a bunch of kids who couldn't even fight.
Arthur only saw a shadow coming towards him. John slashed his wooden sword horizontally, aiming for Arthur's shoulders. The remaining students thought it was over, but to everyone's surprise, Arthur dodged. He didn't stop there, as he entered a fighting stance right after, twisting his body and delivering a left kick towards John.
John used his right arm to deflect the kick. It didn't hurt him, but his body did move some inches, stopping his advance.
"Not bad at all, boy. Now, shall we speed things up?" John made another attack, but this time, faster. It was no surprise that he was holding back against the students, and for him to show a little more strength just proved that Arthur wasn't that bad after all.
The first attack didn't hit Arthur, but the second one did. Sargent John was so fast that Arthur's eyes couldn't follow, and he got hit on his left shoulder by the wooden sword.
"Aaaagrr," Arthur screamed in pain. Sargent John exerted an amount of strength to hurt him, but not too much, as it could break his bones.
The fight between them continued, and Arthur slowly was getting beaten. He had bruises all over his body, and he didn't manage to hurt John once.
"You're quite good at close-combat," John said.
"I train it since I was little," Arthur said, cleaning up the blood that dripped from his mouth.
"I see. Now, please show me your ability, as it is a requirement to enter the academy." That was the moment Arthur was waiting. He didn't know if Heather's ability would work, as he never used it since he copied.
Arthur wasn't afraid anymore. He now had an ability, and he finally had a real chance of entering the academy.
"What weapon should I create?" he remembered what Heather had told him. The weapon would be useless with the wielder didn't know how to use it, and he didn't have any prior knowledge.
He thought it was over, but the mysterious system once again came to his rescue.
[Do you wish to activate True Vision?]