'It's like the gym is chasing me even in a parallel reality.' Chrome couldn't help ridiculing himself as soon as he caught sight of the room full of training machines. Other than the addition of some Sci-Fi spice, the place looked no different from a body-building gym!
As a lazy procrastinator, this sight shouldn't have been familiar to him. However, similar to most youngsters around his age, Chrome had his own spur of the moment where he would pay for a monthly subscription at the closest gym to his home, only to quit the very next day after his body loses the ability to move from fatigue…
Like other poorly planned moves, such counterproductive decisions only made him hate the idea of working out even more. Nevertheless, Chrome decided to use this opportunity as a fresh start after his recent mental shock. If he could prevent it, he didn't want to end up with an even more miserable future than his counterpart.
"Explaining everything that you should already know would be troublesome, so I will just get into the details of the test itself," the Supervisor spoke up to gather the attention that dispersed all over the room.
"The Physical Aspect test is a very direct test of fitness. The main values that will be under measurement are Strength and Endurance, Agility will also be measured as a secondary value. In general, this test could be considered the easiest to pass as it isn't too demanding. Just relax so you wouldn't mess up due to stress and do your best!"
Some of the students exchanged glances, nodding to reconfirm their confidence. The physical prowess required of a trainee Extra was the easiest hurdle to cross!
"All participants will have to get on each of these machines. The instruction panel on how to use it is always at the front. Don't worry about the results as they will only appear collectively at the end… What are you waiting for? Go for it!" The Supervisor took a seat on the metal chair prepared for him after performing his role.
Chrome watched as the other students raced to try the machines out. Most of them looked simple enough like treadmills, and punch strength machines, while some required more effort to use like complex orbits, and jumping gauges… All the way to machines that even measured the strength of a person's finger.
'This looks fairly simple,' Chrome contemplated as he waited for one of the machines to be free.
Through his observation, he confirmed that none of the machines caused too much exhaustion or required the performance of impossible feats. In conclusion, the whole set was nothing more than a slightly intense warming-up routine.
As each machine had two additional duplicates by its side, there was no queue to consider after the initial rush. With only 31 students taking the test, Chrome took his turn fairly quickly. Even with the great variety of machines, one uninterrupted cycle only seemed to take from 20 to 30 minutes on average.
'Let's see…'
The instructions themselves were also relatively simple, mostly requiring the machine's user to repeat an action thrice. Three punches, three jumps, three kicks, and so on…
In this fashion, Chrome found himself standing before the last machine in just 15 minutes. Knowing his physical status the most through the scroll's appraisal, he could only give his best and hope for the better. Let alone an Excellence mark, he wasn't even sure if he would pass or not. After all, while his counterpart's endless labor had built up his stamina, it had also considerably worn down his body.
As for the last machine, it was none other than the advanced-looking treadmill, and also the one chosen as the last dish by many. Rather than requiring a set amount, the instructions entailed that the participant was to get on and continue running until they couldn't catch their breath any longer!
'It will be tough, but stamina is the least of my worries.'
Considering that the speed accelerated as soon as a certain amount of time had passed, the effort required rivaled that of the entire machine collection. However, Alter Chrome's body was already used to toiling around for long hours.
Beep.
"Hah… Hah…"
Even then, Chrome could only click the 'stop' button as soon as he started running out of oxygen, receiving the only result shown throughout the whole test. 11 minutes and 14 seconds, about half a minute higher than the average displayed on the machine.
'Not bad.' The not so gym savvy Chrome felt that he didn't perform too badly. However…
"What monster…?"
"Is he a Physical Aspect Awakened?!"
"Woah!"
Right next to Chrome, a commotion broke out as everyone gathered to watch a slim, tall student who had been using the treadmill for over 20 minutes without even appearing to break any sweat!
Due to being focused on his own task, Chrome didn't notice till now, but the tall student ran as if it was nothing. It was only when all of the students had finished that he started to show some signs of exhaustion. It looked like he could go on, but he willingly stepped down in order not to drag the test any longer.
"Good." The Supervisor suddenly opened his eyes as soon as everything came to an end, snapping his fingers in response.
Reacting to the aged man's snap, a thin passage opened in the empty ceiling as a thin screen slid out of it, displaying what seemed to be some sort of mark roll.
___________________
1. Pass 2. Pass
3. Pass 4. Pass
5. ...
…
25. Excellence
26. Fail 27. Pass
28. Pass 29. Pass
30. Pass 31. Pass
___________________
Instant marking! Not only were all the results recorded automatically for each student without any extra procedures, but the results came out the very next second!
"As Excellence!"
"It can only be him, right?"
"Of course! No other person came closer to his monstrous performance…"
Similar to everyone's expectations, only one awkward failure stood out from the rest, but almost all of the attention was directed at the owner of the Excellence mark!
For someone whose body looked so normal with no bulging or defined muscles, he could only be a Physical Aspect Awakened who didn't have to go by the rules. It was just the first round, but a student from Crow's group had more or less passed.
'Mhm…' Chrome barely glanced at the center of attention, his heart skipping a beat as he checked his result. The number assigned to him by the treadmill was 27, so he almost thought he was the unlucky one. Fortunately, it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.
Regardless, it wasn't time to worry about something like this now. After all, his guaranteed 'Fail' could only be neutralized by the last test…
"Excellent indeed, old Crow sure knows how to groom talents," the Supervisor complimented Crow before turning to the lucky student, "An Excellence mark equals a full pass. You can still choose to continue the test if you so wish to, but you are free to go back to the waiting room."
"I want to go back and rest," the 'Excellent' student chose to spare himself the trouble.
"Very well, you know what to do. We will send someone for you at the very end for the final evaluation." The Supervisor nodded, pointing towards the door.
The tall student wasted no time, bowing to both the aged man and Crow before walking out of the room.
"As for the rest of you, follow me," the Supervisor ordered, walking towards the door at the other end of the room. It was finally time for the test that Chrome dreaded the most, the Exos rating test!