As the line was decreasing, Kye was approaching more and more toward the test zone. However, every time he was taking a step forward, his anxiety was increasing. Since he now knew that his life in the military would be the same as his life after his parents died, he wondered if it was a good thing for him to even come here in the first place.
'Why? Why?' He thought. 'Why do I have to keep enduring these things? I'm tired of all the bullying I'm receiving. I want all of it to end.'
He didn't remark it, but the more he had those thoughts in his head, the more he bit his lips. And at some point, he felt blood in his mouth and came back to reality.
He then looked toward the ground and took another step. In just five students, it will be his turn.
He didn't want to do the test, because he knew that his life would be another hell once again.
And as if someone saw his distress, they come to him. He was taller than Kye, 176 centimeters maybe, and had dark purple hair and purple eyes. He was someone who was in the same position as Kye in the lines, but in the one just to his right.
"Excuse me, are you okay?" He asked with a gentle voice. "Your lips are bleeding."
Kye didn't answer at first. Why would he? This boy would just act the same as the other when he will see his level. So he didn't see any reason to talk to him.
Alas, he had asked this for his well-being, so even though he would be a tr*sh later, he wasn't now.
"... Yes, I'm good, thank you for your concern." He finally said after some moment.
"You don't need to talk that respectfully, you know?" He chuckled a little. "My name is Yugo Pendora by the way"
"Thanks for saying that. I'm Kye Vermillion, glad to meet you." He answered, but only looked down. He didn't face Yugo even once this entire time.
"Pfft, haha, Are you?" He asked while laughing a little. "I mean, I don't want to be the guy who's picky about those things, but you didn't even look at me once since I talked to you."
"So-sorry," Kye lifted his head and look at him. He was quite handsome, unlike him. "I didn't mean to be rude."
"What I see isn't rudeness, but fear." He said once he saw his eyes. It was clear that Kye was afraid. Why? He didn't know. "I won't do anything to you, even if you're a low level."
'They all say that at first,' Kye thought and look back at the ground again. "Su-sure," He then said.
Seeing him like this, Yugo could only pity him. It was clear that he had lived some traumatizing things, and that was why he was acting like that.
However, he couldn't think about Kye's situation for long because it was finally his turn and the three others that were in the same position as him, but on the others lines.
Every test was done with four professors and a group of four students. The professors were passing the test to the students one by one, whereas the remaining students were looking at the one who was doing the test.
So in the end, since Kye and Yugo were on the same vertical line, they were in the same group. There was also another boy who looked quite grumpy, and a girl with a bored expression.
The tests that they needed to take were in this order: Strength, Agility, and last but not least, Endurance.
"Okay, you four, follow me." A military woman said and the group complied. They went somewhere where those who were waiting for their turn couldn't see them anymore.
After a moment, they finally came to the test area. There were multiple machines and three professors who were discussing on the side.
The woman then stopped suddenly and did a 180 degrees turn. She then said, "We will begin with Ambry Joan. Please step forward."
Ambry was the grumpy boy. He had black hair and eyes and didn't have any pretty features, be it on his face or body.
"Age, Seventeen years old. Height, 172 centimeters. Ability, earth. Is it correct?" The woman read out loud her data about him as Ambry answered 'Yes' every time she said something.
"Good, then, please, we will begin with the test on the left and finish with the one that is on the right."
Ambry then went where the strength test was taking place.
To test him, they were using something that looked like a punching ball. He needed to punch it as strongly as possible to mark as many points as possible. Of course, everyone could see him, be it his group or the professors.
"Does ability is allowed?" He asked.
"Yes, you can use it in every single test."
"Good," Ambry made a fist and punch them together. Then, rocks began to form around them until they were fully covered by rocks.
He then stepped back a little and ran to take as much momentum as possible. Then, once he was at a good range, he swung his fist and punched the ball. Upon impact, a little 'boom' was heard.
'Wow, he looks strong,' Kye thought seeing him.
The numbers above the punching ball that was supposed to evaluate the students' performance then began to increase. And after a moment, it reached 20 points.
"What? Only 20 points? This is bullsh*t." He didn't know if it was actually a lot or not, but he just wanted to annoy people, so he shouted as much as he could.
"Please, continue with the next test," The military woman said with a calm tone, not reacting to this rude student.
"Tch," Ambry then went to the next area, where he needed to take the agility test.
For this test, Ambry needed to avoid as many discs as possible. Alas, he wasn't as brilliant as the last one since he just got 12 points.
After that, he went to the endurance test, where he needed to run as fast and as long as possible. For this one, he did a little better than the last one because he managed to score 13 points.
"Good, you can now go to your place. Kathia Volsy, please step forward." Kathia, who was the girl with a bored expression on her face had blue hair and green eyes.
"Age, Seventeen years old. Height, 165 centimeters. Ability, wood. Is it correct?" Kathia also nodded every time she asked a data about her.
She then went to the test area and scored 18 points for the strength test, 15 points for the agility test, and 10 points for the endurance one.
And just before she came back to the group, Yugo said to Kye, "Too bad she's taller than you, you would have done a great couple together." He joked as Kye's ears went red.
Seeing that, Yugo chuckled once more and stepped forward since it was his turn.
"Age, Seventeen years old. Height, 177 centimeters. Ability, confidential. Is it correct?" He said 'yes' at every single data.
Hearing that, Kye was perplexed. He expected to hear an ability, not something confidential. And because of that, his curiosity about Yugo went up from one stage.
Though, Ambry's constant bad comments just irritated him. He was looking down on everyone, even when they had good scores. For Kathia for example, he keep saying that she was bad and that she was a b*tch.
Kathia didn't answer, but it was clear that she was beginning to be irritated.
And when he was thinking about all of that, Yugo had finally finished his test. He got 14 points on each test, and without using his ability even once.
Since Yugo was quite friendly, Kye wanted to congratulate him.
"You were aweso-..." He tried to say, but Ambry just pushed him to the side and went to Yugo. He even put his arm around Yugo's neck.
"Hey, buddy, you did great. How about we hang out together to see some girls after all of this?" When he said that, Kye was rubbing his arms. He had pushed him violently, and it was hurting a little.
Looking at Ambry, Yugo had a disgusted expression on his face. First, he was detestable, and second, he just hurt the one who wanted to genuinely praise him. But he still tried to act as friendly as possible.
"Thanks for the offer, but I must decline," Yugo then put off Ambry's arm from his neck and went toward Kye. He then asked him. "Are you okay? It must have hurt a lot. First your lips, and now your arms."
"No, it's okay, thanks to your concern, it's a lot better now." Kye smiled and looked directly at Yugo's face. He was really happy that he didn't do anything with Ambry and went to him instead to ask if he was okay.
However, they couldn't stay like this any longer because the military woman called for Kye.
"Age, Seventeen years old. Height, 160 centimeters. Ability, none. Is it correct?"