Kross Bendel, one of the recruits, came down from the Power Assessment Chamber with a disappointed look on his face after he had been given the power level of green. The boy knew that he would be bullied by recruits ranked at higher levels.
Kai bit his lip. If he was Kross, he would be happy and satisfied. Green rank is much better than gray rank and he feared that that was the rank he was going to get.
"Next is Annika Randi, 143." Sergeant Valkyrie announced.
Everyone turned their heads at the president's daughter, who smiled warmly as she walked into the P.A.C. The Chamber was very intimidating. It was a huge transparent spherical cube radiating an ethereal bluish light. It was an otherworldly artifact composed of advanced crystalline material and was used to create holograms and deep assessment training to help determine a person's power level.
Kai's heart pounded at the thought of his turn in that giant round cube, but he watched with curiosity as Annika braced herself to start her assessment.
"Activating P.A.C.," Sergeant Valkyrie said as she tapped on a red button on the command unit. The P.A.C. responded with a luminous hum as the device booted and the blue glow intensified, covering Annika as she waited.
"Send forth the target markers," Sergeant Valkyrie announced. Holographic targets flickered into existence and materialized themselves around Annika. "Your evaluation starts now, recruit. Precision assessment. Hit the targets on the precise target points positioned on their bodies."
As easy as it sounded, the holographic targets were moving around her, so this made it even more difficult to target them. Annika was focused though. With a precise movement of her hands, she summoned her latent water powers, eyeing the targets as they weaved around her in the chamber.
"Did she just draw water out of thin air?" Frode asked with a surprised look on his face.
"That was awesome," someone in the crowd said and everyone started murmuring.
"Water isn't just liquid," Kai replied. "It exists in solid, liquid, and gaseous states. She didn't draw water out of thin air, she just changed the state from gaseous to liquid."
"It still is pretty cool though," Frode shrugged.
"Yeah," Kai agreed, unable to take his eyes off Annika. "It is."
Annika quickly created smaller particles of the water and made them sharper as she unleashed a wave of torrent and squarely hit all targets perfectly.
"Precision, 98 out of a hundred," Sergeant Valkyrie said. "Now, speed assessment."
Annika was placed on the velocity matrix, a high-tech apparatus designed for determining speed. As the matrix turned on, Annika began to run as fast as she could, using the gaseous water around her to make her movement more seamless.
The velocity matrix had embedded sensors to measure her speed and a holographic interface that displayed real-time data on her velocity, acceleration, and other related metrics.
"Speed, 84 out of a hundred," Sergeant Valkyrie said. "Now, strength assessment."
Kai knew that the strength assessment would be quite difficult for Annika and he was not wrong. The PowerGauge, which was used to assess strength was so tough on her. First, it was tyres, then drums, then giant bags filled with concrete. The device measures their ability to carry heavy objects and when they fail, the holographic objects disintegrate rather than squash them. It also measured their exert force in various motions and when Annika punched the measurer, her highest score was 7, out of 20.
"Strength, 40 out of a hundred," Sergeant Valkyrie declared. "Now, agility and reflex assessment."
The Rapidreflexor was what was used for this measurement. It presents recruits with holographic stimuli that require split-second responses. As Annika waited, without knowing where danger was coming from, a holographic gormocker would appear out of nowhere and attack. But she was swift and reflexive and dodged every single attack. She then used her water powers to engulf the gormockers and render them powerless against her aquatic prowess.
"Perfect score. Agility and reflex, 100 out of a hundred," Sergeant Valkyrie said. "Now time to measure your true power potential. Take a seat on the Essence Chair."
The Essence Chair was what worried Kai the most about everything. He knew he could try in the other assessments, but only the Essence Chair could go into his core and find out just how powerful his mana was. He watched as Annika bravely walked to the Essence Chair and sat. Electric wirings were connected to her chest to get a straight connection to her mana.
"Activating the chair," Sergeant Valkyrie said as she pressed on some keys. "Take a deep breath, recruit. Do not tense your core and allow the chair to seep into your mana so we can perfectly depict your power level."
Annika obeyed. The air began to crackle with electrolytes as the chair established a profound connection with Annika's mana, and a bluish ball surrounded her and the chair, pulsating with power. Kai wondered if it was hurting her, but Annika looked calm and determined on the chair.
After a few seconds, the Essence Chair calmed down and released Annika from its wiring. Then several 86 appeared on the top of the chair.
"Impressive score, recruit," Sergeant Valkyrie praised. "Your mana is strong. A power score of 86 is very good. That means your average is 86.4 and you are ranked Blue. One of our top ranks in the academy. You were very close to ranking yellow."
Annika came down from the chamber with her usual smile on her face again as she joined the team.
"That was so wicked, Annika," Frode praised her.
"Congratulations," Ingrid added.
"Thanks." She then turned to Kai, who didn't say anything or even look her way, he just continued to stare at the chamber, awaiting his turn.
"Frode Sigurd, 144?" Sergeant Valkyrie called. "You're up!"
"Alright, guys," Frode said as he walked away. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck!" everyone said.
"Hmph!" Erik snorted insultingly as he watched Frode walk into the P.A.C. "Clown."
Although hearing Erik say that annoyed him, Kai decided to ignore him and concentrate on Frode. He was curious to find out what the white-haired boy's powers were.