"To begin with, what is a Bolitch?" Oliver turo look at An as he asked.
"Shit… it 't be. What are they teag in schools?!” An's face went through a range of emotions all at once, but mostly disbelief at the question. “Hey, you’ve used a Ranger Armor. How didn’t you see it?"
"I don’t know. The first time, I was focused on not dying. The sed time… well, I wasn’t paying attention." Oliver scratched his head, trying to remember the Ranger Armor.
“How do I expin this?” An spoke softly as he tried to think of how to expin it to his friend. “After wearing a crystal, each body receives some kind of ‘evolution.’” An used his hands to make air quotes as he expined.
"Evolution? How does that work?" Oliver asked.
"I have no idea. I didn't study that; it's just what they taught us in school," An replied.
"What I do know is that each evolution is lieic material. So, your family has a high ce of having the same type of evolution," An tihe two boys resumed walking as they discussed.
The cold night wind pushed them to qui their pad return to the barracks.
"Normally, evolutions give us uraits, which we call Boons. However, sometimes they bring limitations or even mutations, which people usually call a Glitch," An cluded the expnation.
"Aaaah…" Oliver felt that all the events from earlier started to clid make more sense. Even what he had already seen of the Rangers seemed more natural, but it also sparked several new questions.
"You don’t need a Ranger Armor to discover your Bolitch; you just o e into tact with a Z-Crystal. Of course, the easiest way is to use an Artificial Armor." An tinued.
"I get it. I think…" Oliver ented. "But why did you avoid talking about yours at the table?"
"Do you really think that wasn’t pnned?" An looked seriously at Oliver. "Some people there might not have thought about it, but sooner or ter, we’re going to have to pete."
"Only 0.001% of you will be able to bee Rangers, bh bh bh," An tinued in his best impression of Major Five. "Think of it this way. What's the hardest eo face? The one you 't prepare for. Keeping your Boon a secret could be the differeween victory or failure."
Oliver tio pohe versation, recalling the boy who had started the discussion. Stopping to reflect, the boy hadn’t mentioned a st name. But he also hadn’t said if he was Nameless.
The two kept walking and discussing after returning to the dormitory.
---
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e was once again in the Major's office. Every year, the same versation took pce betweewo of them. However, this time, he was sure of his decision.
He waited until the Major lifted his eyes from the stack of holograms scattered across his desk. "Major, this will be my st year. I’m letting you know so you prepare for the batch."
"e… we ’t lose one of our best trainers,” Major answered with a tired voice. “Not at this moment."
"Major, I’ve already stayed too long; I was supposed to leave the army when I returned from the front. I stayed to give these kids a better ce of survival, but I ’t agree with what we’re doing here." e was resolute in his decision. If it weren't for his desire to help and repay his debt to the Academy, he would never have returo work with NEA.
The Major was careful about ving e. Five knew he was one of the most skilled teachers, one of the few Nameless who had advanced so quickly in rank. Plus, his Boon was essential for the army.
"e, we have no other way to train them. If you want them to survive, you o take them to hell. They o be strengtheo face the front." Five was mentle in his speech than st time, but the tent was still the same.
"Major, do they really o go to the front?" Others had also raised the question e posed. The tenth wave had ended without much effort. The Orks seemed exhausted from the war; except for some skirmishes, they were no longer superior to humanity's power.
Major Five looked over his round gsses before expining. "Captain, there is information that doesn’t reach you. Don’t let yuard down because of the tenth wave; that’s all I say."
The Captain uood the versation was over ahe Major’s office. His desire to leave the army hadn’t ged, but for now, he o start preparing for yet another css.
---
---
"Could you all shut up for a sed?! I couldn't sleep all night," An argued with another boy in the adjat bunk who had been sn the entire night.
With all the shouting, Oliver woke up just in time to dodge one of the boots being throwween the bunks.
The first night in the dormitory caused many cadets to have mixed feelings. Having gohrough the previous day's challenges, several boys formed bonds, making the dormitory feel like a camp full of friends. At the same time, there were fifty boys in one room. The noise and smell prevented many of them from getting a wink of sleep.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the case for Oliver. He was used to sleeping in noisy pces. In his apartment in New San Francisco, he had shared with as many people as possible to lower the rent. The same couldn’t be said for An, whose face showed all the exhaustion of someone who had stayed up all night.
Early in the m, the boys headed back to the cafeteria; they didn’t have much time between breakfast and csses. They were finally going to meet the professor in charge of the sed battalion. The entire group seemed excited, shoving food dowhroats as dozens of different versations occurred in the hall.
Oliver and An were among the first to finish eating and decided to head to the training room early. Sihey were still o the isnd, finding the right path among the dozens of buildings sometimes took hours.
Fortunately for the boys, they didn’t take long to find it. All the training buildings were located in the northern area of the isnd, one of the few areas shared by both battalions. The basic training building had just two floors, but it was covered in dark gss, allowing little of what happened io be seen by those walking around the base.
They passed several rooms, each with a hologram fixed to its door describing the css. The entire building was dedicated to the sed battalion, but ea beloo a different barrack. After a few minutes of walking through the corridors, the boys finally found the correct css.
The room had a semi-circur bleacher where the cadets could always see the podium in the ter. The boys sat in the front row, which was still empty. Gradually, the room was filled with new cadets who had fiheir breakfast.
Among the newers was someone slightly older than the rest. His uniform was already worn and adorned with several medals. Uhe recruits, he had dark, straight hair, cut short like other officers. A deep scar adorned his cheek.
However, the feature that shocked everyone was his gsses. They looked like a pletely dark visor that encircled the officer's head.
As the young officer approached the podium, various discussions began to arise amid the whispers. Some boys already khe officer, making him almost a star to many. Yet Oliver still didn’t reize him. I days, Oliver has begun to bme himself for not studying more to get to know the famous people he saw on TV, especially now that he o learhing in front of him.
Oliver looked around, notig that many of the students had sparkling eyes at the sight of the captain. Even An, who had a personal grudge against the NEA, seemed impressed by the professor.
"Who is he?" Oliver whispered to his friend.
"Sometimes I’m amazed at how you don’t know anything," An replied. "He’s a legend. One of the few Nameless known by almost everyone."
The young officer tapped the podium to get the css's attention. "Wele. Cadets of the sed battalion, my name is e, and I will be the Major responsible for this css over the hree months."
Lights began to project from the floor and ceiling in front of the podium, creating a 3D dispy in the room’s ter.
"Over the hree months, you will be taught, trained, and evaluated in various aspects. Many of you will bee officers; however, the main focus is on a select group that will be chosen to bee Rangers.” e paused slightly before pleting his expnation.
“Pay attention! You will have to pass three of the followis..."
GCLopes
