"Tch come on...".
In the training room if the 76 division, Zach stared at the monitor in stationed at the far end of the training room with intensity, the ar a was lively as cadets were anxiously moving about, it was to be expected though, this was the moment they had been training for all their life, the astryx trial would start in the next ten minutes.
As the cadet were being called by their numbers the training hall to undergo the trail test.
The trail test was placed in order to gauget the survival rate of the cadets in the astryx trail.
"Cadet 616 come fourth", a loud mechanical voice echoed throughout the room filled with cadets, it was finally Zach's turn.
Zach sighed..
He lazyily stood up and walked up to the test area.
Zach was standing in the center of a wide indoor field with black obsidian tiles and walls.
A system screen appeared on the air showing all Zach's details.
[Name: Zachariah ______]
[Age: 19]
[Current rank: mortal]
[Evaluation status: marine]
Zach sighed...
"I guess the blank space is for my family name" Zach mumbled, it was not as if Zach didn't have a family, he just didn't feel like it would be necessary to drag his family into anything.
When he was being taken away as a child by the government because he had the mark of fading one thought was in his mind, my family doesn't want this.
Zach immediately grabbed the training longsword from his waist and unsheathed it.
Test trial will begin in.. 3.... 2....1.... start.
****
IT all started a few years back, when the astryx appeared.
The astryx is a black hole that appears every now and then, but anytime the astryx appears it wreaks havoc like no other. Angels, demons, evil spirits, all the things you would normally only see in horror movies would emerge to cause devastation.
But that's when humanity's hope was found, "the mark of fading" a special mark that only appears on those individuals chosen by the astryx itself, those individuals go through the astryx trial, and would become weavers—individuals that uses the cheat codes (which are called weaves) of the universe to battle the extraterrestrial beings.
Weavers are the last line of defense for humanity a monument of hope and power, and are valuable commodities to have in a nation. That's why any individual gifted with the mark of fading gets taken away to a secret training facility to prepare them for the horrors of the astryx.
Humanity retreated to live in the icy glaciers of Antarctica, and there they built one of the two standing main empires in the world... The Phoenix empire.
****
Zach's body was battered and bruised, his battle suit was torn as blood dripped from the would on his shoulder.
Lying around him were different machine parts, scattered around, sparks of electricity were emanating from a few of the scrap metals.
[Congratulations cadet 616 for passing the qualification, good luck in the astryx trial]
Zach was greeted by the same mechanical voice.
"Ah Damm.." Zach grumbled.
Zach was gifted the mark of fading at the age of five, and since then he'd been training non-stop for the past 14 years for this moment.
Zach panted as he stepped out of the test chamber, all the cuts on his body simultaneously disappeared, not even his battle suit showed signs of ever being damaged.
'I guess the simulation was designed to be as real as possible.'
[ Simulation ended ].
Zach sat back down on his seat as the scores were being analyzed, whispers filled the whole room as the machine calculated everyone's score.
"I heard that even people that got a 67 percent survival rate still died in the astryx trial last year"
"Yeah the drake clan was devastated they lost a genius"
"I guess even talent can't help you in the astryx, it all depends on luck"
"Tch* luck?" Zach mumbled..
The scores appeared on a large holographic screen.
All cadets instantly rushed to check the scores..
"What!, did she really clear the simulation under 76 seconds..."
" whoa! She really is a beast"
"Damm he cleared the simulation so fast a whopping 129 seconds"
Zach rolled his eyes, people are so busy checking other people's scores instead of their own.
Zach's eyes skimmed the entire board and he managed to find his name .
• Zachariah cleared 420 seconds.. survival rate 57%
Zach sighed ...
"My survival rate is 57 percent, how is that even possible, I've trained my whole life for this but still got 57 percent" Zach clenched his teeth.
"No matter, even people with a high survival rate still died in the trial anyways... it's based on luck to succeed" Zach tried to console himself.
All 616 cadets all gathered in the main field geared up and ready.
Zach armed himself with a longsword as he stood with the fellow cadets.
Today the grand marshal was supposed to address them with his speech.
***
Above the assembly of cadet atop a tall building a grey-haired young man looked down upon every single cadet chosen to go this year.
"Ragnar just address them and send them off, the stench of weaklings is really making the back of my throat hurt.."
Ragnar looked too the side to see a blonde-haired woman dressed in a Champaign gold silk robe elegantly sipping a cup of tea in the distance.
"Cocky bi*ch"
"What did you say"
"Nothing", Ragnar said as he scratched the back of his neck smiling.
He looked down once again and sighed..
"I did this speech to the 700 cadets last year and only 82 if them made it back alive.
And also the 700 cadets last two years and 56 of them survived".
He looked at the cadet down there with a glint if frustration flashed across his purple amber eyes.
" I'm Tired"
***
Below..
In the assembly of cadet Zach waited patiently for the grand marshal to appear, the assembly was already filled with people's whispers.
A voice suddenly echoed all throughout the assembly startling some students in the process.
"I have nothing to say to weaklings, survive the trial and then we'll talk".
A black hole immediately appeared in front of the field, pulling all the cadets into it with such speed that the screams of the startled cadets came after everyone had been sucked in and the hole closed.
<[The astryx acknowledges your arrival]>
<[Welcome to the inner circle]>
[Authors note: I hope you guys support me on my amazing journey, if you have any thoughts on how I could better my story or any mistakes please let me know.]