The metallic floor started to form a runway going around in a circle .. and infront of all the soldiers who were partaking in the test .. materialized a red short rod .. "Now take your places .. we will start in 5 minutes .." the other partners were now busy deciding on who should take the first run and who should finish it .. and whilst Theo was busy with the test .. Simon had already told him that he would be on the first run to give Theo a chance of winning ...
"Alright then .. first runners .. take your places .. and finishers take your places" after being in all of their places .. the announcer did a countdown from 5 to 1 ...
*Bang*
The gun shot out .. and the first runners took off at full speed .. all but only one soldier was still tugging from behind .. trying to catch up and grasp for air .. he took out his air pump .. and gushed in the gas inside to give him some more breath .. he didn't notice that he was already far behind and few soldiers were starting to near their last runners 'Damn it .. I've made us lose' without even thinking he ran fast like the wind .. at least that's what he thought .. 'Just a little bit further' he held his hand out to Theo who seemed to be calm about everything so far .. "Here!!" Simon shouted landing the red rod on Theo's hand "Took you longer that had expected" he smiled taking off at great speed .. 'I hope I didn't mess .. this up' Simon thought as he watched Theo take off ..
Although he was too far behind .. Theo ran past 33 soldiers who were in their outmatched speed .. 'Eh? this guy has caught up to us so fast .. what the hell' they exclaimed inwardly as they watched Theo run past them without breaking sweat .. not even huffing or panting .. he was just solemn .. with the rod in his hand held tightly without falling .. he went out of his line when he saw the Soldiers who were running infront of him .. he ran on the wall and made a spin in the air before appearing infront of the 14 more soldiers who were dumbfounded to how Theo got to catch up with them so fast .. and it wasn't that long till Theo almost caught up with the 3 .. "Hmph just pure luck" one of the commanders said as he was watching the stunts Theo had done so far .. and the other commanders looked in commander Britt's direction who widened her eyes ... when she saw how ridiculously his speed was ..
"They're now reaching the finish line ... and Theo is tailing on them .." the announcer said when Theo had caught up with the third place runner .. immediately replacing him and making him number four .. and just infront of him was a guy who he had heard talking with Cynthia about him .. .. now that they were a few metres away from the finish line .. the two infront of Theo blocked the path .. and started running in every direction Theo would want to run in .. "Would you look at that .. it looks like your stupid soldier was having luck after all" a female commander said pointing at Theo who didn't even seem to be struggling with running forward ..
When he saw what the two were doing .. he waited until they have reached the finish line .. and when they were getting close .. Theo leapt in the air dumbfounding them .. when he landed .. he rushed forward and took the first place .... "Damnit!!" the two were now on the finish line .. finishing as second and third ... "How'd that happen .."
Just when they were waiting .. 47 more soldiers were running in their direction stopping only after crossing the finish line .. "The first place goes to Theo ... and Simon" the others looked at Theo with disgust and some with rivalry glances ..
"Now that the first test has been finished .. let's just hop on the second test ... now all you have to do .. is have a duel with another pair .. a number will appear infront of you .. and if I call that number .. say 'here' ... then the other person who has the same number as you will be your opponent" ... as soon as he said this .. holographic numbers started appearing infront of each soldier .. '10 I wonder who's 10 .. I hope they don't give me a girl ' he then looked in Simon's direction show as fidgeting with beads of sweat on his forehead ..
"Hey what number did you get"
"50" he said with his hands trembling .. wondering who'll be going up against him .. "All right ... now .. number 50 ..." a girl at the back raised her hand the same time Simon did
"Here"
"Here"
then Simon looked at the back and the girl who was going up against him .. waved at him .. with a friendly smile ..
'Oh my god .. I hope she doesn't hurt me so 'kindly' '
he thought
"Walk to the front and take your stances .. I'll tell you when you're supposed to fight" Simon and the girl went to the front .. and the girl waved at him again dumbfounding everyone .. she had short blades on her back .. and a tall steel spear .. Simon kept gulping .."Fight" the girl rushed forward .. at Simon ... although he looked a little bit confident when he was standing there facing her .. this time he was really freaking out .. he even put his hands infront of his face making an x shaped arm shield .. the girl went up behind him and pointed the blade on his neck .. before the announcer had announced that she was the winner 'Woah .. easier than I thought' she thought .. tugging on Simon's sleeves .. "Hey I'm Mei .. I'm sorry I made you lose like that .. I hope there are no hard feelings .." she made an apologetic smile before Simon had accepted her hand .. not caring for the embarassment ..
The numbers went from 49 downwards .. until it had reached an interesting fight between Cynthia and a boy who was super strong .. and had great speed .. Cynthia was fairing well against him but she couldn't fight him off .. but so far this has been the most interesting fight .. and finally after a strong kick was sent to her .. she held her club in the air and blocked the kick .. and when she saw an opening she tripped the boy and pointed the club's pointy end close to his throat "Cynthia wins .. and Brad loses" and now everyone was starting to get impatient because they all had their eyes on one person .. "Number 10 .." after the announcer said a fairly large bulky dude from the back raised his hand
"Here" but surprisingly no one else had raised their hands ... "Oh sorry .. I thought it was one .. the way I took a look at it .. Here!!" he shouted and walked to the front ..
"Do your best man" Simon said with Mei on his side .. "Is that your friend ? I saw him getting friendly with you earlier .." Simon shook his head and said "I just met him today .. and even though I'm losing .. he hasn't even shouted at me like the other pairs would at those who had lost .. " Mei then looked at Theo briefly ... "Now fight"
the bulky dude rushed forward first .. with a giant sword on his back .. he threw the sword at Theo .. and rushed forward behind it .. planning another attack if he manages to block .. but surprisingly to him Theo didn't move from his spot .. that was until he twisted his body slightly to the left .. held the dude's sword by its hilt .. and hit the guy very hard on his back with the flat part .. 'Damn' the guy rolled a few metres before he stopped .. he stood up and looked at Theo for a while with his sword in his hand .
"Here's your sword" he threw it in the air and let the guy catch it .. but because he was cautious the guy kept his eyes on Theo .. once he caught his sword he rushed forward again .. and this time Theo moved as well .. running side to side "Take this" Theo dodged the strike and leapt in the air kicking him straight in the face .. causing his to bleed a bit .. the guy didn't take much time and turned around fast enough attempting to hit Theo when he was not looking .. but surprisingly Theo had caught the sword with his bare hands ..
The guy sulked as he looked at his sword being disrespected .. before he could take action against this .. Theo punched right in the face .. sending him flying into the steel walls ..
The other soldiers looked at Theo with disbelief and others with smiles on their faces .. "Theo wins and Lucas loses" .. Theo raised an eyebrow with his mouth slightly opened .. "Uh ..?¿¿ I thought this was going to be a two sided fight .. what are these guys trying to do . .. this is no fun at all" he dropped the large sword on the floor before heading back in Simon's direction .. "Good job man .." Simon's said with a smile on his face .. "I told you we can do this" he smiled back with his eyes closed .. "Congrats" Mei said with her cheeks reddening ..
"Thanks" and so on .. the fights continued reaching number 1 ... and ending it there ... "It's time for the third test ... the most important test of all" guns materialized infront of the soldiers .. "In this accuracy test .. you're going to shoot things from far .. and this does not depend only with the gun .. your eyesight is the best in this test" red to tiny dots the size of a bullet's front .. materialized at the end of the Arena .. and from where they were . they looked at the announcer with frowns "I didn't make these tests you know .." he continued afterwards "In this test only one person from a pair will take part in this .." Simon then looked at Theo .. "You want me to take part .. don't you want to have fun first ..?" Mei looked at Theo with disbelief .. 'What's this guy saying .. this is not about fun ..'
"Stand on the red lines to make it more .. fair .. hehe" the announcer said looking at the little dots .. 'Only a few are going to pass this test .. but I don't think they're going to be able to shoot 2 more red dots of those size' he chuckled inwardly ...
Theo took a sniper for his option on this .. 'There's nothing better than sniper in this kinds of situations ..' he aimed the gun at the red dot .. and shot one bullet hitting the dot perfectly .. "Uh ..." the other soldiers looked at Theo with dumbfounded expressions .. another red dot materialized a few metres back away from the spot it was on when Theo shot at it ... it didn't take him that long to shoot the dot again .. .. although most of the people weren't paying attention to how he managed to shoot those dots .. one person in the spectators seats .. saw everything and it looked like Theo wasn't even using the day scope ..
After the second dot .. Theo shot the last dot .. even surprising .. the announcer .. "Theo manages to shoot all the three dots .. that means he passes this test" and now that the others saw how useful the sniper was . they changed their weapons and took the snipers ....
But unfortunately for them .. only 14 were able to hit two dots .. and only 3 had managed to hit the third dot .. and the rest only reached the first one ..
"Now that we've finished the third test .. let's move on to the fourth one .. in this test .. one of the commanders from up there is going to come down here and ask a few questions about being a soldier .. and I'll be with them as they question you" ..
He then started calling name after name .. eventually reaching the last person .. and now that everyone was done being asked questions .. he sent them back to where they ere standing .. "In this test .. all of you had passed" .. he then smiled .. and 30 gold medals appeared before him .. with a few 30 silver medals and lastly bronze medals .. "The fifth test has already been done .. although some of you didn't know .. the whole soldier ranking test .. was about endurance .. and that's the requirements for a soldier .. and now I'm going to hand out these medals to each and everyone of you" he stared calling out names of those who have achieved the most .. and those were the ones who deserved the gold medals .. and that included Theo .. he then went to the silver medals .. and surprisingly enough .. Simon received a silver medal .. "I know this may not look fair but .. this test was all about teamwork as well ... and most of the soldiers who have recieved silver medals are the soldiers who have been giving it their best with their partners .. " lastly he handed out the bronze medals .. "Now that's all .. you journey starts from here .. I hope you climb the ranking ladders .. in the future .." he said with a smile before disappearing from everyone's sight ..
Theo was the first one to walk away after the announcer had finished with his speech .. "Hey Theo .. where do you live .. I live in block 5 room 16009" he looked at him and responded "Room 16000" Simon put on a bright smile .. "I know this may sound like I'm desperate . and well I am ... can you please train me when you have the time .." he bowed down a bit .. "Of course anything for a friend .."
They then headed for their dorms and the first thing that appeared to everyone of them was the window interface that congratulated then for completing the test .. "Oh now you get friendly when I pass this test huh"