Tae said, "Hm?"
Shiyu replied, "…."
"Oh."
Shiyu walked to a locker, and she put some of her pocket belongings in there, such as a phone, earbuds, and wallet, and she closed it, locking it up, and she grabbed a tight black outfit from there, and she took her jacket and hoodie off, revealing her wearing a black tank top.
Tae thought, 'I came in here early to change so the females wouldn't swarm me while I had no clothes on. Why is she in so early..? And she doesn't mind changing in front of me? How should I act?'
Shiyu was minding her own business, taking off her shirt and pants, exposing her black underwear and bra.
It was silent in the room, and Tae was just tightening his black sneakers that matched with his tight black outfit, that were given to him by the ZBA.
Tae said to himself, "This shit..is so damn tight…my sack feels like it's going to pop."
From behind, Shiyu said, "….Hold still."
Tae responded, "Huh?"
"You fucked it up…"
"Oi…"
Shiyu put her hands on Tae's back, and she touched a tied cord, and she loosened the cord that was on Tae's back.
Tae thought, 'It's not tight? My junk is feeling actual air? I ignored the cords at first, because I didn't know what they did..'
Tae thanked her, "Um, I appreciate..it?"
Shiyu was walking out of the room, saying, "…Good luck. Hybrid."
"Yuh..you too."
The door closed behind her, and Tae sighed, saying, "How awkward."
(Minutes later)
(Exam arena)
The arena was insanely big, aboht the size of 3 football fields, and as wide as football stadiums. It was placed with female recruits, all wearing the same tight black outfits with the initials ZBA in big white letters on the back, with a symbol of a gun, sword, and tank under them.
There was a lot of chatter among them, saying:
"I've been waiting for this moment finally!"
"Me too!"
"This is gonna be too easy."
"I'm nervous.."
"The zombie boy hybrid is going to try and outshine us."
"Then we outshine him."
Tae was off to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, with most of the females staring and fawning over him, wanting to touch him just once. Tae had ZBA female soldiers guarding him, just for his protection.
Tae thought, 'I feel like a celebrity. I'd be even more talked about if I blew this exam out of the water. Do I want that much more attention? It's already crazy enough because I'm the first male they've seen in almost two years. Should I just go crazy here, or slack off in these exams? The attention and fame is nice, but every second is tiring.'
A few feet away beside Tae, was Shiyu, and she was stretching on the ground.
Shiyu thought, 'I have to pass this exams…for my family..I have to.'
Tae looked over at Shiyu, thinking, 'She's odd. Pretty silent. Good looking too. Wasn't ashamed of changing in front of me, and didn't act starstruck when she saw me in the locker room as well..'
In an airship in the sky, sat the Captains, along with Commander Esther and Commander Salan, they were in the main section of the airship, with monitors of the arena surrounding them, so they could see everything. In another section, sat Vice Captain Big Mertha, Aria, Cupid, and some other ZBA soldiers in the Captains Division, they could also see everything. Kharma was there also.
Captain Yura said, "That girl..near Tae…"
Captain Yayan replied, "That's Shiyu. Daughter of the ones who created the Partned Life Program, it was a counselor program for married couples-."
"-That girl near Tae…."
"Hm?"
Vivienne said with a yawn, "Yura…is…angry it seems…"
Miriam just looked with her arms folded and eyes closed, meditating while just standing there.
Captain Yura said, "That girl near Tae. That bitch is standing too close to Tae. She might do something. Send more soldiers to protect Tae."
Commander Esther laughed, "Haha! That's funny."
Commander Salan took a drink of her wine, saying, "SHE SOUNDS JEALOUS AS HELL!"
Captain Yura replied, "Tch. Jealous? Me? Do I seem like the type of woman to be jealous?"
Salan, Esther, Yayan, Vivienne, Kharma, and the rest of the women there all said In unison, "Yes."
Yura answered, "I'm not."
Salan asked, "So Is the General watching or what? I didn't check my emails this morning."
Yayan replied to Salan, "Hell yeah she is. Doesn't she always?"
"Oi, you gettin' smart with me?"
"Duh."
"Just because we're cousins doesn't mean I won't boop you, Yayan."
"Oh yeah? You wanna go?"
Salan took another gulp of her wine, wiped her mouth, and grinned, "Yeah!"
Vivienne said, "Ahh…family matters…always a sight to see…"
Miriam said in sign language, "Unhealthy."
Vivienne whined to Miriam, tugging her arm sleeve a little, "Can you please…talk? I miss…your voice."
Mirim shook her head.
Kharma pushed her glasses up, saying, "M-Maybe she doesn't wanna t-talk at this moment. We ne-need to give her ti-."
Vivienne interrupted, "Huhh…are you…talking to me?"
Kharma got scared, and she hid behind Captain Yayan.
Yayan said, "
Commander Esther walked forward and she walked towards a microphone, saying into it, "Hello."
Everyone down in the arena heard her, and they got silent. Tae and Shiyu looked up at the same time too.
Tae thought, 'That's Esther..are we finally starting? HAHA! ABOUT TIME!'
Shiyu thought, 'Commander Esther, one of the people I have to impress mostly here. Even though there are two commanders, she's considered to be more respected and trusted than Commander Salan I heard. I can't mess this up. For the sake of my family. Mom…dad..I'll find you both.'
Esther said into the mic, "Thank you all for attending the ZBA exams. I know all of you are determined to score high in these tests, fight zombies, and save lives, and that is the exact determination we need from each and every one of you. Your strength, speed, willpower, and overall weapon skill will be tested; the highest score you get in each test will determine which Division you will be assigned to. I myself, Commander Salan, the Division Captains, and the General, and half of the ZBA soldiers will be watching. Please do your best. The first selection of the exams will be the weapons test. The second selection is hidden for now. The ones with the lowest scores will not proceed to the second selection and will be sent home."
The recruits in the arena said:
"Sent home?!"
"I didn't think it would be like this.."
Tae thought, 'Do I have anything to worry about?'
Tae asked one of the soldiers that were guarding him, "Oi, I already got approved by that cougar commander lady and stuff, so why do I still have to take exams?"
The female soldier answered, "Although you proved your wit to her, your overall skill in different areas have yet to be tested I assume."
"Ah. Ah. Okay whatever."
"Wanna have a baby?"
"WHAT?!"
Shiyu just watched Tae, still stretching, not saying or thinking anything.
Commander Esther continued, "Good luck to you all. We will now begin."
(10 minutes later)
Everyone was standing in a circle, and there was a large 30 red robot dog standing there. It was inside of a cage, and its eyes glowed red.
From the microphone, Esther said, "This is a training bot. You all will be timed individually on how long it takes you to destroy it. Captain Yura currently holds the record for 2 seconds, with Captain Yayan sitting in second place with 2.7 seconds."
The crowd of recruits said:
"2 seconds?!"
"To beat that thing?!"
"As expected of the Commander's daughter!"
Tae thought, 'I'm so hungry. I want some of the Rizza Yura cooked last night and slapped me in the face with.'
Shiyu, staring up at the bot, thought, 'I need to get under 5 seconds. That's probably pro level.'
Tae said to Shiyu, "I know what you're thinking."
Shiyu looked at him, "…"
"You want to get a high score. I know I know."
"….I was not informed it was an issue to want to score well. I apologize."
Tae nervously waved his hands, saying, "Wait! Wait! Wait! I didn't mean it like that!"
Up in the airship, Yura was choking a soldier with one hand, gritting her teeth, saying, "I'm gonna kill that pervert Tae!"
Everyone laughed at her.
Commander Esther said to everyone, "Let's begin. You all will take turns in the order you registered. Inside of the cage, there are non-mana weapons from the Sword and Blade Division. Use those to kill the bot. The bot will not start attacking you until you pick up a weapon. Focus and insert your mana into the weapon. The bigger the output of your mana, the more effective the weapon becomes."
The test began, and one recruit after another took turns walking into the cage, grabbing a bladed weapon, and fighting the giant robot dog.
Some recruits picked up giant blades, and went for the attack, dodging the giant robot dogs chomps, and slashing away.
Some failed, and got bashed into the cage wall, bitten, or slung around like a rag doll.
The times so far were:
40 seconds
5 minutes
3 minutes
8 minutes
50 seconds
27 seconds
In the airship, Big Mertha exclaimed, "Ahh, these aren't so bad, but some are awful! I remember my record being 25 seconds max!"
Aria said, "Mmmmm, mine was 18 seconds!"
"Show off! Battle me now to prove who's stronger!"
"Noooo! You know I'm stronger anyway, I should be vice captain! Hahaha!"
Cupid says silently, "Hehe…my score was 20 seconds…hehe..".
Aria and Big Mertha looked at Cupid, saying at the same time, "Show off."
A soldier stood up, saying, "Tae's going next!"
Everyone on that airship was paying close attention now. And in the main room, the captains, Commanders, and Kharma were paying close attention too.
Down in the arena, Tae stretched, saying, "Alright, time to kill something!"
Tae started walking to the cage, and Shiyu just watched him.
'He's confident…as he should.'
A split second later, Captain Yura was standing beside Shiyu.
Yura said to her, "Were you sent by Mura Carmine to seduce Tae? To lure him into her trap? If you tell me now, I won't behead you."
Shiyu looked at her, and replied, "Uh…no."
"Mm. I'll be watching closely."
Yura vanished in speed.
Shiyu thought, 'What was that about? She scared the shit out of me.'
Yura was back in the airship, and everyone was looking at her, smirking, saying:
"Yeah she's jealous."
"It's all over her face."
"HAHAHA!"
Captain Yura blushed, saying, "Damn all you! I'll kill you quick!"
Down in the arena, the robot dog roared, and it pummeled its way towards Tae.
The bell rang for the test to begin.
Tae said with a grin, "Hereeeee doggy doggy doggy! I got something for you! A nice fucking treat!"
In the blink of an eye, Tae was already on the other side of the robot dog, and the dog was sliced in half. And fell to the ground.
The time was .07 seconds.
Tae's fingers were sharp, and there was steam coming from them.
He said, "Does that count? I didn't use a weapon or anything. I mean, I really messed him up."
Everyone's jaw dropped, they've never seen that type of speed before.
Everyone in the airship was in shock too, besides Commander Esther, she was just smiling. Everyone else was speechless.
Miriam was even shocked, and she was shocked that she herself was shocked.
Vivienne was shocked even more, clutching onto Yayan's arm, and squishing it.
"Did you…see that?"
Yayan said, "Y-Yeah, I saw. What the hell…"
Salan exclaimed, "THE FUCK?! HE'S A MONSTER! HE DID THAT WITH HIS FINGERS ONLY! AND GOT THE BEST RECORD!"
Kharma then said, "W-W-What?! That was I-impossible!"
Captain Yura thought, 'I'm going to kill that pervert for breaking my record. Just you wait. But even I didn't know you could move that fast, Tae. You really are interesting. But still a pervert that deserves to die.'
"What the…"
"That speed!"
"It was faster than I could blink!"
"What the hell?!"
"INCREDIBLE!"
"WHOA!"
"He looked hot as hell when he did that…"
Tae bowed over and over, grinning, "Thank you, thank you. I accept all of this. I'm super duper strong and fast, did I mention handsome? I'm starting to like the attention again, haha!"
Shiyu thought, 'There were clips of his fight against Big Mertha, but he never displayed that speed in the clip. What..is he?'
Tae walked out of the cage, and next was Shiyu.
Shiyu thinks, 'Tae outclasses me in speed and strength, so as long as I'm second to him, then I'm sure to be accepted by the ZBA. Trying to beat him would just distract me. I do not need distractions.'
Female recruits were trying to hug up on Tae, but soldiers came and protected him.
Tae smiled, "Ladies! Ladies! I'm not all that! Maybe I am."
Shiyu entered the cage, and a new robot dog appeared, and people were watching.
Shiyu sighed, and she grabbed a black spear from the cage wall.
She closed her eyes, thinking, 'Insert my mana…feel it…grip the blade..like It's my heart. Melee weapons are my specialty…I do not regret.'
The black staff began to grow bright white lines on it, and she dashed towards the big robot dog.
The recruits said:
"She inserted mana so fast!"
"Is she famous too?"
In the airship, Vivienne said, "That Shiyu girl…"
Esther added, "It usually takes a normal human to implant mana into a weapon in 15 seconds. But It took her less than 7 to do so."
Yayan said, "Yah, this shitty exam is going to be interesting."
The robot dog bit towards Shiyu, but Shiyu threw the spear straight through its mouth, and it came out the other side.
Shiyu dashed behind the robot dog, grabbed the staff, leaped in the air, spun the staff above her head and behind her back, flipped in the air, fell, and stabbed the blade of the spear down the head of the robot dog, crushing its head into the floor, destroying it.
Time : 7 seconds.
The recruiters clapped, saying:
"Cool!"
"She's fast too!"
"Could her and Tae be competing for the top spot?!"
"Is she trying to beat him?!"
"She's strong!"
Everyone in the airship was impressed as well, besides Yura. Yura acted like she wasn't watching it.
Salan whistled, saying, "Sheesh, that girls going places."
Captain Yayan replied, "Finally something I can agree with you on."
"Hehh? We always agree on stuff, brat!"
"We literally don't. Shut up."
Miriam said nothing, but she was focused on everything.
Vivienne said, "…She…has potential…."
Captain Yura said nothing, but thought, '..She's doing this, like she's trained her entire life. Tch, whatever.'
Tae twitched, gritting his teeth, saying, "I'd be damned if she tried to take my glory."
Shiyu looked at Tae, and they both locked eyes.