A long line of people stood within a large hall.
Next to the hall lay a training dummy and a training arena.
"Next." The old examiner called out. His hair had long gone gray and his eyes sunk deep.
"Name,age,power."
"Deylor,13,body enhancement."
Deylor called out with a serious gaze in his eyes.
"I like your attitude young man, show me what you can do."
Deylor braced himself as he coated his fists in a dense red energy.
He hit the training dummy fast as he quickly continued relentlessly with a barrage of punches.
He ended it with a high kick as he looked at the examiner.
"Pass."
The old man wrote slowly.
Potential to be a special recruit.
Energy seems to be very dense and powerful.
Potential to be a catalyst for long range attacks."
"Next."
"Na-"
"Jack,13,Sword energy manipulation."
"Alright, show me." The old man spoke unbothered.
Jack braced his dagger as he lifted it high and slashed it down with a streak of blue.
He continued his attacks until the energy ran out.
"Pass."
The man wrote fast:
Potential to be a special recruit but energy runs out too fast and control is weak.
"Next,"
As the two boys walked away solemnly they quickly scurried of to hide their excitement.
"We got in!" Deylor spoke with sparkles in his eyes.
Jack smiled widely.
"Then there's only one thing to then right?"
Deylor looked at him in confusion.
Jack clenched his fists.
"Pack!"
Now that I think about it..." Deylor said in a trance.
"We don't really have that much to pack do we?" Deylor crossed his hands.
"i see your point." Jack replied after putting the last of his belongings in his bag.
Their combined assets had filled half a small suitcase even after putting in their most useless items.
The two boys talked as they ambled to the taxi--point.
"Would you rather... save the world but everyone thinks you destroyed it or destroy the world but everyone thinks you saved it." Deylor asked as he gazed at the endless sky.
Jack put his hand on his chin.
"Option 1, right?"
Deylor nodded.
"I wonder if that's how two sides of a war see each other." He spoke cautiously.
"Maybe the war against the Demons 7 years ago was a calamity for both sides."
"Maybe the Demons were equal victims."
"What if the Demons wer-"
"Deylor." Jack spoke calmly.
"You went past the taxi, come on." Jack urged Deylor in.
The two sat in silence as the car shook.
"Classes?" Deylor asked boredness visible on his face.
"Weapon mastery, Ability control and Physical, you?"
"Ability control, Physical and Martial arts."
"Neat." Jack replied a hand on his cheek.
Silence continued.
Deylor sighed.
"How's your dorm?"
Jack grimaced.
"Awful, 3 people and 2 beds. The academy is packed this year."
"Weird, my dorm has 5 beds but only me and some other guy." Deylor replied as he scratched the back of his head.
"Does that not sound dangerous?" Jack furrowed his eyebrows..
Deylor wore a question mark on his face.
"Think about it, that much room and only 2 guys. We're from the slums so we don't know famous names among our generation. You might of gotten paired with a psychopath..."
"Let's talk about something else." Deylor hid his look of worry but it resurface in his words anyways.
"Let's have a competition." Deylor smirked villanously.
"First to make 10 friends wins deal?"
"It's a deal!" Jack grinned,
"Sorry I don't talk to poor people."
"I No hablo English."
"Are you trying to sell me drugs?
"I'm a minor."
"Scram."
A sigh resounded as two boys sat side by side at a table.
"Make any friends?" Deylor said as his eyes gazed into the distance.
"Haha, no." Jack replied as he too gazed into the distance.
The first day was for making connections.
They were not doing great.
Until.
A heavy hand placed on both their backs.
Jack and Deylor looked at each other in realization.
Was this the start of a friendship.
Deylor cleared his throat and spoke.
"Are you by any chance trying to be our friend?"
Jack spoke next.
"No pressure, we welcome all ethnicities, races and minds."
Until the well-built teenager replied awkwardly.
"Uh, not really I was trying to bully you."
He raised a fist.
And proceeded to eat a red fist. Sent flying back down the auditorium all eyes were on Deylor.
"Deylor, you're meant to get hit first so it's self defense! Jack chided.
"My bad, guys." Deylor apologised sheepishly.
And so Deylor became the Kid to not mess with.
And Jack became his shady friend.
Reputations, acquired.
Day 1 Complete.