Each and every student received an Identification number, they were to take the test only if their ID number was called. The procedure carried on smoothly until a certain ID was called.
"Applicant 1528, please step forward."
A blonde male student stood up and came forward, the female students were all in awe. His light skin complexion, his narrow face, perfect jawline and good build. It was as if he was created to meet every woman's fantasy, even the female soldiers fell victim to his charms.
"Your full name please." asked the female supervisor in charge of the selection process.
"The name is Jackson Storm." said the blonde student.
"Are you by any chance related to lord Balthazar, the head of the house of Storm?" asked the supervisor.
"Yes, he is my father."replied Storm. Everyone in the hall from students to military personnels and even the supervisor herself was terrified. The house of Storm was a member of the legislative houses of Artemis, they weren't a royal house, but Lord Balthazar was one of the most powerful persons on the planet, his ability to control lightning was unrivaled and very few could lay a finger on him in battle. He was feared even among the heads of the seven royal houses.
A soldier led Jackson Storm out of the hall and took him to the training grounds. "Applicant 1529, please step forward." Adrian stood up and was led out of the hall after the supervisor confirmed his name.
The testing ground looked like a stadium and was quite large, it was about twice the size of a standard football pitch. Various students could be seen displaying their elemental prowess to their individual invigilators.
" Hi I am Mr Leonard, but you can call me Mr Leo." said the soldier that led Adrian out of the hall.
"I'll be your personal invigilator for every test. I would score you on a scale of hundred for each individual test, your cumulative average would be taken to get your overall score. Any questions?"
Adrian glanced at him for a few moments and said nothing in reply."I'll take that as a No."
"To what kingdom do you belong?"
"I am a Phoneix, by birth sir." replied Adrian
"A fire wielder, oh interesting! Let see what you've got." Mr Leo said.
Adrian created a red flame on his right palm and did nothing more.
"Is that it? can't you make use of any technique to utilize this power?"
"No." Adrian blatantly replied.
"In that case, I am afraid you scored just a 20 on this test. This is quite a bad start Mr Adrian Kane. I hope you do better in the subsequent tests."
"On to the next stage. Like Major Anna said, this round is going to be a physical test. You will have to fight me for five minutes Mr Kane. I hope you do well."
Mr Leo took his stance, ready to engage in battle. Adrian on the other hand, took no stance and even seemed bored.
"Your time starts now." Mr Leo roared as he charged at Adrian with incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye Mr Leo appeared above Adrian with a kick aimed to the head. Adrian casually dodged the kick and jumped back to put some space between Mr leo and himself. Once again Mr Leo charged at Adrian, letting out a decoy left fist before unleashing his right fist. Still, Adrian saw through his attack and blocked it.
"Interesting."Mr leo smiled
"My turn." Adrian sternly said.
*Booom!!!*
The sound of Adrian's punch resonated in the ears of Mr Leo and the observers around. His movements were so quick that the onlookers could not follow, although Mr Leo could keep up with his movements, he was caught off guard, never expecting Adrian to attack with such monstrous power.
The force behind that punch was tremendous. It Knocked Mr leo a few meters back even making him cough out a few drops of blood.
"Your strength is something else boy, but it's time to get serious."
In mere seconds Mr Leo was already behind Adrian, knocking him unconscious with a palm strike to the chest. Adrian could not even comprehend Mr Leo's speed, he was but a sloth compared to this man. The last image he had in mind before passing out was Mr Leo's smile.
. . .
*Gasps*
"Where am I?"
"You are at the intensive Care unit."A nurse replied.
*Creak*
The room's door flew wide open.
"How are you feeling?" Mr Leo asked
.
"Am okay." Adrian replied trying to get up from the hospital bed.
"Ouch!" He exclaimed in pain
"You have to rest you have a few broken ribs." The nurse said.
"Am sorry." Mr Leo smiled awkwardly.
"Just so you know I scored you an 80 on the physical test as a sign of my condolence, but someone else would take the interview, and Nurse Joan please heal the lad. He has to take the interview soon." Mr Leo walked out holding a writing pad on his right arm.
"Alright!! Sit back and let me do my thing."
Nurse Joan's palms began to glow green before she placed her palms on his chest. In a few minutes Adrian was restored to peak condition.
"How do you feel?" She asked.
"I feel okay." Adrian replied, stretching his limbs.
"You need to hurry, your interview begins shortly ." Nurse Joan said.
"Thank you ma."
"There's no need to thank me, it's my job." She chuckled.
Adrian wore his shirt and left the room, once he got outside he was directed to an office.
*Knock, knock*
He opened the door without obtaining her consent to enter.
" Good afternoon Major Anna." Adrian greeted as he entered the room.
"Take a seat." She ordered, her murderous gaze scanning every inch of Adrian's face.
"Let's just skip the introduction. This is my question.
As a military general, what would be the best formation to deal with an opposing army larger than yours." She asked while playing a game of chess.
"How does the terrain look if I may ask ?" Adrian asked as he joined her in playing the game of chess, without her consent.
"Let say it is at a forest."
"Well there are so many things consider besides numbers in Warfare." Adrian said, tactfully avoiding the question.
" The experience, unit of command, simplicity, element of surprise, precise timing, strategy, terrain and morale of an army are things to consider. If I can utilize the terrain to my advantage, it would give me a higher probability of defeating the opposing army. As for your question there is no particular strategy to apply to this scenario. A strategy is potent only when you have considered your enemies strength and weaknesses. A general should be able to predict his opponents plans and counter them effectively. Checkmate!!"
Major Anna was in awe, not only did this young boy before her display a high degree of intelligence, he also beat her in a game of Chess while voicing his thoughts.
"You may leave." She said.
Adrian left her office only to find Mr Leo waiting outside.
"What do you want? Are you here to break what is left of my ribs?"Adrian said.
"Hahaha, very funny. Go back to the hall, the list of qualified candidates will be announced soon."
Adrian got into the hall and realized he was the last candidate to arrive. Most people ignored him but others who witnessed his battle with Mr Leo looked at him intently.
"Listen up rats. This year we would take only a hundred students out of the five thousand and twenty candidates, if you are fortunate you might be called, if you aren't it's bye bye Arachis, besides there are other schools in the kingdom."
"The list of qualified students are Contestants number 7, 15, 22 , 79, 105....1067, 1155, 1436, 1528,1529, 1678,... and finally contestant number 5020. All of you mentioned are qualifed. Au revior to the rest." Miss Anna grinned.