Frode got into the chamber, still maintaining that optimistic smile as he gave Kai a wink.
"Send forth the target markers!" Sergeant Valkyrie ordered.
Frode steadied himself, took in a deep breath, and with his palms formed a golden magical ball. Then with speed, he sent them blasting into all the markers, hitting the targets one by one.
'He has magic powers,' Kai thought. 'I expected ice, seeing the white hair but magic makes a lot of sense too.'
"Precision, 87 out of a hundred!"
Next was speed, and Frode was placed on the velocity matrix and began his run. He seemed fast, but not fast enough as he wasn't even able to beat Annika's number.
"Speed, 79 out of a hundred!"
Strength was also poor from Frode. He started failing from the very second the first heavy hologram was dropped for him to carry.
"Strength, 20 out of a hundred!"
But surprisingly, Frode completely aced the agility and reflex test. Dodging every single gormocker attack without them even laying a hand on him as he used his golden magic to send power balls and blast them into oblivion.
"Agility and reflex, 100 out of a hundred."
Even the Essence Chair gave him a power rating of 90! This surprised everyone and Kai even more. 'He's very in touch with his mana,' Kai thought. 'I'm not surprised, most magic-powered hunters are.'
"Your average is 83.0 and you are ranked Blue as well."
"Yeah! That's right!" Frode exclaimed and some of the recruits laughed. Kai felt proud of Frode and also a bit jealous, he wished his powers were as strong as his.
When Frode returned, the team congratulated him and he gave Kai a fist bump. "I didn't know you were that strong," Kai said.
"Well buckle up for the ride 'cause you're going to find out more about me," Frode joked.
Next was Ingrid and she wasn't very good at the assessment. She had sound powers and she could tell so loud that everyone thought the chamber would burst. Even though her powers seemed cool, Ingrid wasn't skilled in using them. She got a 62 in precision, a 40 in speed, a 12 in strength, and a 56 in agility and reflex. The Essence Chair measured her power to 68. And her average overall was 52.0, meaning she was ranked in black for poor.
"Hmph!" Erik scoffed. "It's a good thing we're starting to know who are the worthless weaklings in the team."
Kai couldn't stand him insulting Ingrid. "Don't call her worthless," he said.
Erik turned to him, eyeing him angrily. "Are you talking to me, slaveboy? What makes you think you can t— "
"Next! Erik Esben, 141?" Sergeant Valkyrie called.
Erik eyed Kai with contempt. "I'll deal with you later. As for now, let me show you what it means to be an elite alien hunter!"
Erik entered the chamber with all the swag and confidence in the entire world and he completely delivered.
During the precision assessment, he powered up an impressive ball of lightning and got each of them just as perfect as Annika had. Kai frowned at this, realizing that Erik had lightning powers; one of the most powerful and brutal power nodes.
"Precision, 98 out of a hundred!" Sergeant Valkyrie said.
"What? I got it all!" Erik cried.
"Your score is 98, recruit," Sergeant Valkyrie repeated. "Now move on to speed."
Erik got on the velocity matrix and boy, was he fast. As he ran, lightning bolts blazed from behind him. His speed was unbelievable.
"Speed, 100 out of a hundred!"
"Yes!" Erik bragged.
The strength assessment, which was usually harder than the rest was also impressively done by Erik and he came out with a 75 out of hundred score.
And then in agility and reflex, he showed his speed skills mixed with his lightning powers, dodging the attacks and firing fist full of lightning balls at the holograms. Ending the session with another 100 out of a hundred. But what Kai found surprising was that the Essence Chair measured Erik's power at 83, which was lower than Annika and Frode's. "Well done, recruit. You are our top student with an average of 94 and that means you're ranked Yellow."
A round of applause was given to Erik as he got down from the assessment chamber.
"That's how it's done, slaveboy!" Erik said cockily as he stood proudly, ignoring the rest of the team.
"Wow, he's already so powerful," Frode said. "He doesn't even need to train here. I'm sure he's only here to get his clearance to be an Alien Hunter."
Kai didn't reply or say anything, he just stayed quiet, wondering if he would ever be as strong as a yellow rank.
"Next! Kai Halsten, 142!"
Silence filled everywhere.
Kai felt his heart drop with anxiety and nervousness. He looked around the crowd and everyone was staring at him, murmuring things to one another.
"Kai Halsten, 142," Sergeant Valkyrie repeated. "Come forth."
Kai gulped, trying to find courage wherever he could. He braced himself and started to walk towards the P.A.C.
"Go on, champ," Frode urged him forward.
"Ha," Erik laughed. "This dumb slave is about to prove why the elites are better than the poor slaves."
This statement made Annika roll her eyes. Erik sounded just like her twin brother, and she hated her brother a lot.
When Kai entered the chamber, it closed and started to hum as the assessment began. He decided not to look around the crowd and focus solely on his test.
"P.A.C. is activated," Sergeant Valkyrie said. "Precision assessment has started, recruit. You know what to do."
But Kai didn't. He had no powers, and even if he did, he didn't know how to conjure them. And so he just stood there, while the target markers circulated him in the chamber. He knew the recruits were laughing and gossiping but he didn't care.
Sergeant Valkyrie paused the precision assessment. "What are you doing?" she asked him. "Why aren't you hitting the targets?"
"Can I punch them?"
"Punch them? They are meters away from you. Don't you know how to use your powers?"
Kai frowned. "I don't even know if I have any powers."
The recruits immediately started to laugh, Erik and Ake especially. Kai tried not to let their jest get to him, but the sounds of their laughter were a bit annoying and dehumanizing.
"Shut your mouths!" Colonel Skai shot his plasma rifle in the air. Then everyone was quiet. Kai, on the other hand, was trying not to get angry, or even sad. He maintained his composure.
One way or the other, he would prove he was not a failure.