Erik and Benedict ran to the elevator, but it took them ten minutes to reach it. Once there, the two took the elevator down and arrived at the first floor.
"We must go to room number 5," Erik said.
"I know. It is the room where they tested me yesterday," Benedict replied.
"About that, what is this test about?"
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "Well, it is explained in the email, but since you didn't read it yet, I will explain it to you. The first thing they will do is test your strength, speed, and reflexes. After that, they will test your fighting skills. There is no need to test your brain crystal's mana capacity since this is already tested at age four."
Erik nodded. He too, had been tested at age four and was deemed an almost manaless F trash on Ferebitz. Then he was also tested at school a month and a half ago, and they assessed he was an E-ranked. Since the system still described his mana capacity as being at the E level, it was clear that he was still in this rank.
"The strength test is simple; you will have to punch a machine with all your strength, and you will get a result. As for the speed test, you simply have to run on a treadmill where they will measure your max speed and how much time you can maintain it. Things get complicated on the third test, where you will have to avoid some projectiles being shot at you by a device. The speed at which these will be shot will increase until you get hit for the first time. Don't worry; it is not painful. The last test is the hardest; you will have to fight a teacher, and he or she will judge your fighting skills," Benedict concluded. "Pretty simple, eh?"
However, Erik wasn't so calm. He knew he would get good scores on the physical tests, but it would be different on the martial art test. After all, he started training a month and a half ago only.
"Yeah..." he said to Benedict, who looked at him with a huge smile.
After a while, they arrived in front of room number five, where all the other students from New Alexandria's high school arrived. Obviously, they saw Amber, Floyd, and Gwen.
"Hey, Erik!" Amber shouted, waving at the young man.
The awakener replied in kind by waiving his hand. The trio quickly noticed that there was a person beside Erik and wondered who he was. At the same time, Benedict carefully observed the three in front of him. However, his heart skipped a beat once his eyes landed on the red-haired woman. He could swear she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. His mind went blank when he realized she was looking at him.
"Who is the guy with you?" Floyd asked his friend.
"Ah, right. He is Benedict, my roommate; we just came from a tour of the first floor," Erik said. However, Benedict wasn't saying anything, and once he turned to look at him, he noticed he was gawking at Amber. The awakener gave him a light nudge on the side, and the young man snapped out of his stupor.
"Ehm... Yes... I'm Benedict Goldstein, a pleasure to meet you!" he said with his face blooming in the warmest smile Erik had ever seen.
"Yo bro, I'm Floyd. Nice to meet you!"
"Gwen."
"Hi," Amber said smiling, "I'm Amber!" She too, smiled.
Benedict could not reply further, so he only proceeded to make a series of discombobulated sounds and laugh like a fool. Erik watched this man make a fool of himself, only for him to then wonder if he was like him the first time he saw her or, worst, the first time he saw Emily.
"Have you also been called to take the tests?" Erik asked.
"Yes," Gwen replied.
"Good, because Benedict took the tests yesterday and told me what they consisted of..."
The young man then explained to their friends how the tests were meant to see how strong, fast, reactive, and good at fighting they were. Obviously, they grew concerned for Erik since it was clear that his fighting skills were not that refined. In a match where he and his opponent had equal strength, the young man was too inexperienced to win.
"Don't worry about me," Erik said, looking at his friends' faces. "Whatever the test result will be, I will still be part of the Red Palace."
With that words, Erik ensured his friends relaxed a bit. Amber was surprised by Erik's sudden change of attitude. When he lost against Nathaniel, he was furious, and in general, his behavior had never been very stable. So, seeing him like that was a good thing.
"Let's go in," the young man said.
"Yes," Gwen said, and with that, the five students entered in. Once there, they saw a small desk and a man working on some papers while the students already in were, one by one, filling in some documents.
Amber, Gwen, Erik, and Floyd quickly approached the desk and stood in line. As they did, they observed the other students take the tests.
The strength test was the fastest, with many having already taken it. However, at the second, the treadmill, things started to slow down since it was also a sort of endurance test.
Nathaniel was currently on the treadmill. He had been running at an insane speed for over ten minutes without any sign of stopping. Behind him was Anderson waiting. The young man glanced in Erik's direction and winked at him. The awakener replied, nodding, and then they each minded their business.
As the crowd progressed, more and more students began taking the test. Soon enough, Nathaniel started fighting against the teacher, and once the fight ended, the teacher he fought with said something.
"Mhmm... you are already a good fighter at such a young age, I think that number 373 would be an appropriate number for you. Hey Dano!" he said, turning to the man at the desk. "Update the rank!"
Dano nodded, and a notification appeared on Nathaniel's phone. However, the young man was displeased. He was used to being the best everywhere he went, so he didn't accept this low score.
"With all due respect, sir, I don't think that's an appropriate number..."
The man looked at Nathaniel with a curious look. "Why do you think so, young man?" the man asked.
"Well, sir, given my performance, I think that 373 is a very low score. Shouldn't I have at least gained, I don't know, a thousand points at least?" Nathaniel asked, trying to sound as humble as possible, only for the people hearing him saying those words to be embarrassed by his blatant boasting.
"HA!" the teacher replied.
"Ha?"
"Yes. HA! You understood nothing, kid. Here at the Red Palace, the inner ranks work in descending order, meaning that the lower the number and the better the rank is. Me giving you 373 means that I gave you rank 373. If you work hard, you could jump up to the Squire rank in a month. That would be the fastest rank up of the entire Red Palace history," the teacher said. However, he looked again at Dano, only for him to say, "DANO, I WANT TO CORRECT MYSELF GIVE HIM RANK 500 FOR HAVING QUESTIONED MY JUDGMENT!"
"WHAT?!" Nathaniel said, "BUT SIR?!"
"Are you still talking?!" the man yelled, but Nathaniel didn't reply. He just lost a bunch of positions because of this stupid prick here.
"NEXT!"
It was now Anderson's turn to fight against the teacher, and everyone but the people coming here as spectators knew that the young man would get a fantastic score.
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