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"Well, don't get too comfortable. Most of you won't be here by nightfall!" Anna stated as she walked past him, leading the way once more.
Aria didn't reply, but followed after her. Her words had woken him up. He hadn't really thought of what to expect from the entrance exam, but based on the way she spoke, he knew it wasn't going to be easy.
"Don't walk too far behind, or you might end up getting lost!" She said once more as she made a sharp turn with Aria following closely behind.
After walking for about another ten minutes, he could finally see a glimpse of a large hall, with lots of people his age gathered in front of the large doors that sealed the hall.
"Well, we're here! Join the rest of the students, an instructor will fill you in on further instructions." She gave a light smile as she pointed in the direction of the hall.
He nodded as a reply before walking off.
"By the way!" She called out, making Aria pause. "Make sure you get in, let's get coffee sometime." She smirked, before walking away while yawning.
'Of course i'm going to get in.' he thought, as a small smile crawled its way to his face as he joined the crowd.
While walking through the applicants though, he kept receiving disgusted and annoyed looks from the other applicants.
"Hey! Who let this outskirts rat in here?"
"Look at his clothes! Hahahahaha." Another whispered.
"What a sad existence, how was he even scouted to take part in this exams."
Aria was already used to such harsh comments from others so he simply brushed it off and found an empty bench, far from the other students before sitting down on it while yawning. "This is getting tiring! And the instructor is not here either, I guess I will just take a nap.' he thought, closing his eyes slowly.
Another thirty minutes passed by quickly with no sign of the instructor. The applicants began carrying worried expressions. It wasn't normal for an instructor to be this late. Loud murmurs had already begun echoing on the clearing. Each one of the applicants were getting impatient. But what was one to expect from those of noble birth, who had been spoiled rotten since they were born.
"Do you think it's normal that the instructor is this late? We were supposed to start an hour ago."
"I heard the entrance examination doesn't even last up to two hours, meaning we were supposed to be halfway through by now."
Suddenly a large domineering voice echoed,"Okay everyone, Shut the fuck up!"
The clearing in front of the hall doors became dead silent, all heads turned at the one who had caught their attention. It was a middle aged man with sharp features and an attractive face with a scar on his left eye. What really made him standout though was the fact that he was— bald.
It was very hard to find young people who had no hair, not even a single strand. The aura radiating from him spoke volumes and instantly made the students shiver.
Aria's eyes opened slowly while yawning,'Hmmmm! What are they all looking at?' He looked in the direction all their focus was on. "Ohh! I see, the instructor is here!" He smiled lightly.
"You all can call me Sergeant Harrison during your time here." He stated as he began making his way to the front of the crowd, the applicants gave a clear path for him to the front, none of them uttering even a single word.
"We will be holding a simple entrance exam of three phases. First of all, we will start off with a strength test, we want to see how physically strong each one of you are.
Next will be a speed test, which is basically nothing short of testing how fast each of you are.
And lastly, a combat evaluation. We want to test how each one of you deals with situations while in combat. Do you all understand?" He questioned, which all of the answered with a simple nod.
"Good! Since there are no questions I will move on.
"In this academy, once you all pass the entrance exams, you will be referred to as trainees. The lowest rank.
You all have six years to graduate, but to do that you will have to meet these special conditions. First off, you will each have to reach lieutenant rank to be able to graduate.
To move up the ranks, you will have to get army points which can be awarded after completing assignments or special missions." He paused for a breather, awaiting any questions.
"Excuse me, sir!" A voice suddenly called out.
"Yes, what's your question!" He pointed at the girl who asked the question. She hesitated for a while, but still asked anyway.
"What are the ranks in the academy?"
Harrison's gaze stayed on her for a while, before he spoke up, "I knew one of you idiots would ask a stupid question. So you came to an army school, without even knowing the ranks or researching anything on it?"
The girl's face went red from embarrassment as she heard the question. Some of the applicants even began chuckling making her face grow a deeper shade of red.
"Anyway!" Harrison sighed, "To answer your question, ther are Eleven ranks in total. This is the general ranks the army uses.
They are; Trainee, cadet, corporal, officer, lieutenant, sergeant, commissioner, general, supreme general, commander, and supreme commander."
Murmurs began to echo on the clearing as he finished listing the ranks. The applicants had faces scrunched up in confusion.
"I know what you all must be thinking, lieutenant isn't a high rank to graduate with," his eyes squinted. "But trust me, it's not easy to get to that rank.
To rank up from trainee to cadet, one needs at least, 5000 army points, from cadet to corporal you will need at least 25000 points, the gap between points grows larger with each rank, and believe me, those army points are not easy to get."
The murmurs gre larger once more. The atmosphere became tense. The gap between the ranks where just to large. At first it felt small, but after considering how hard each mission or assignments were going to be. Realization dawned on them heavily.
"Quiet!" Harrison's voice boomed out once more, "Enough complaints from all of you!" His words instantly hushed the crowd once more.
"Good! Now for the second condition, one would need to be at least a Knight tier specialist. While I trust you all know the ranking, I will just list them to avoid stupid question!" He stated looking over at the girl from before making her go red once more.
Aria sighed slightly, 'This guy just keeps wasting time. Lest just start the exam.'
"So first of is the Initiate Tier, which is the lowest, followed by Adept Tier, Sentinel Tier, Knight Tier, Emperor Tier, Eminent Tier, Transcendent Tier, Mythic Tier, Legendary Tier, Paragon Tier and Archon Tier."
While Knight tier sounded like a low and easy rank to reach, it was going to be quite hard on the applicants who were just at the Initiate rank. To them, it felt like it would take decades to reach that rank.
"Now that is over with! It's time we start this entrance exams. Follow me!" He ordered as he placed his palm on a screen beside the large metallic doors prompting the doors to open.
He walked into the hall with the students following closely behind him. Aria also stood up and joined the rest of the applicants.
The hall was large, at least large enough to fit hundreds of students and still give them enough breathing space. In front of the hall stood a large stage which Harrison climbed on.
On the stage stood a large metallic machine in the shape of a circle sitted on heavy rods that held it upward.
Cameras were also scattered round the hall as the even was usually broadcasted live.
"It's time—" Harrison smiled lightly, "—for the Entrance exams to begin!"
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