Chapter 3
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"Will Jake Lucas step forward to take the test." Lee said.
Jake's heart kept thumping louder and louder as he got closer to the drum. His hand kept trembling, he even almost stumbled down.
Finally he got in front of the drum and he stood waiting for Lee's signal anxiously. And then Lee nodded signalling to him to begin.
And then Jake readied his hand and swinging it fast and hard. And then his hand connected with the drum. It just rang out lower than everyone else.
After shuffling for a few seconds, the drum stopped at a number.
"Huh! I kind of expected more from him after seeing the rest. But what could I have expected from a kid that looked more on the lean side." Lee thought disappointed.
"Alright, Jake, strength 20." Lee said.
"That was a little better than I expected. I hope I do well on the next test so that I can get admitted into the academy." Jake hopefully thought.
"Onto the next test now." Lee ordered.
To which Jake responded by going to the treadmill machine. He got onto the machine awaiting Lee's signal again. To which Lee nodded and started the machine.
Jake's heart was racing now much faster than before because this was it. What will determine if he will go onto the last test or not.
After steadily jogging on the treadmill for the one minute time. The timer was stopped and Jake got down from the machine awaiting his result.
"Jake Lucas, speed, 15. Congratulations on moving onto the next round." Lee said.
To which Jake excitedly moved towards the rest of his temporary team.
"Yoo man, I thought you were gonna be knocked out at the initials but even though your results were not that impressive, at least you manged to make it through to the next round." Peter said approaching Jake, his voice laced with a mix of curiosity and friendliness.
"Thanks." Jake's response was laced with caution, unsure if he was ready to trust others. Who knows maybe he might be a bully.
After an hour-long of testing, the recruit pool had dwindled from 200 to 150, leaving only the most determined candidates standing.
"Okay. So now gather up for the last and final test that will determine if you're Aurora Academy (AA) material." Lee said once more. "Now you will still need to be in your team for now."
"I wonder what this test is going to be about." Peter wondered aloud.
"Alright listen up." Lee's voice echoed through the room once more. "Today's ultimate challenge: a test of unyielding Endurance." when Lee just finished saying that, a mysterious bowl shrouded in a black velvet cloth was been wheeled towards Lee's side.
"I have beside me a bowl full of sand and beneath it, a hot inferno that's being fueled by a specialized ignition system making it 10 times hotter." Lee explained.
"The challenge is simple yet daunting: you will have to submerge your hand into the scorching bowl. Endure the agony for a full excruciating minute." "So let the test begin."
As usual, they were grouped into a group of five, everyone stuck with their earlier group. Another group was called to take the test first.
Out of the members of the group, only 2 out of 5 passed the test. That was how most of the group members didn't make the test.
Some of the groups didn't even get to the 20 second mark before they gave up. Then finally it got to Jake's group.
The first to take the test was as usual Sophia. She confidently strode towards the bowl and waited for the the timer to start and then she dipped her hand into the bowl till time was up without making a sound.
Then the second to take the test was Vynn, who dipped his hand into the bowl after the timer started. But when he got to the 30 second, he started feeling the burn. He was squealing but he managed to hold it in until the time was up therefore passing the test.
Then Peter was next to take the test. He also confidently went towards the bowl, dipped his hand didn't even wait for the timer to start. And then after the time was up he went towards Sophia's side but not without giving Jake a thumbs up and smiling.
"What is wrong with that guy getting all friendly with me?" Jake thought avoiding Peter's gaze.
Kate was the next who was to take the test, she also passed the test but not without squealing and squinting in pain.
And now last but not the least to take test for today was Jake. Lee didn't expect much from him after he failed the previous tests. Some recruits didn't even bother watching him, they rather were talking with each other.
Meanwhile Jake walked confidently and more determined than ever towards the bowl. He blocked out all form of distraction and negativity from his mind so he could focus.
"This is the only hurdle standing in my way of getting my revenge from those filthy werewolves." Jake thought much more determined.
Then Jake got in front of the bowl and waited for the timer to start. When the timer started, Jake dipped his hand into the bowl. When he got to 35seconds, he felt the heat and burn that he was tempted to take his hand out of the bowl.
But just when he was about to take his hand out, the memory of that dreaded day flashed in front of him. The memory of seeing his family being killed by the werewolves and him unable to do anything about it.
This Caused Jake to endure the pain without making a sound till the time was up which greatly surprised Lee. He congratulated Jake and showed him where to get his hands treated like the others.
"Congratulations all of you." Lee's voice echoed stopping any form of chattering or noise. "Out of the initial 200 of you lot, am glad to know that at least 100 of you managed to endure and persevered to get to this stage. So am proud to personally welcome you into the academy. Soldiers."
The whole students were so excited, some screamed or danced for joy.
"Alright someone will come and fetch all of you and show you towards your dorms." Lee informed them.
And just then a soldier came to take them to their dorms. On the way going, the soldier decided to clear something up.
"So, I have to tell you guys about your room arrangements." The soldier said. "You will share rooms with other people. Just know that the names of you and your roommates will be pasted on the door. And one more thing, you can't change your roommates. Whether you like them or not, you are stuck with them. Also, your uniforms are laid out on your bed. And all of you would be expected to be at the dining hall by 2pm, it's very important."
"Oh man, I wish we get put in the same room." Peter hopefully said.
Just then Peter noticed that Vynn was all on his own.
"Hey, will you get over here. What are you doing all by yourself? Join us." Peter said.
"Who? Me?" Vynn asked pointing to himself.
"Yes, you. Who else is here? Or isn't your name Vynn?" Peter asked chuckling.
Vynn excitedly came over to join the duo and then they shared their history and backstory. It turns out Vynn and Jake both have the same issues with their family being killed by werewolves.
While Peter had it a little bit easy than the others. Where the rest were left on the streets after their family were killed, Peter was thrown into an orphanage.
By the time they were done with their sob stories, the soldier finally brought them to the building that was gonna be their dorm.
The trio started looking at all the doors trying to spot their names. That's when Peter spotted his name and he was so excited.
"Yes yes yes!." Peter excitedly said. "We are roomies."
Vynn and Jake smiled at Peter because he was behaving like a Kid and it didn't really fit his stature. Peter was 6ft 4 inches tall, with a good athletic body build and a handsome face that will make girls chase after him.
Meanwhile Jake was the opposite of Peter, Jake didn't really have a good athletic build and he was 6ft 2 inches tall but he wasn't lacking in the looks department but it wasn't up to Peter's.
"Hey look, we are not the only ones in this room." Vynn said pulling Jake out of his thoughts. "Just like that soldier said, we are sharing the room with three others."
"Huh!?! I recognize two out of the three names here. I know Sophia and Kate because we took the test together but who is Jack?" Peter asked confused.