Oliver's eyes were struggling against the impending exhaustion that had accumuted in his body. Although there was a Major making annous and gratutions, his brain could only pick up on a few scattered words.

  "Each of you has been evaluated in four aspects, which are sidered the foundation of NEA's assessment. Less than 20% of those who arrived on this isnd will remain. However, uand that this is only the first step of a long journey," the Majan to expin. "Each of you will be called and assigo your battalion based on your performance."

  The cadets were called up to the stage one by one, where their battalion was annouhe other officers then pointed out where the newly assigned cadet should go for the stage.

  “An Aqui!”

  The boy o Oliver quickly stood up, startled to be called so early. He gave a quice at Isabe and Oliver before tinuing down the aisle. As he approached the stage, he waited for the officer to read his battalion assig.

  "You will be assigo the sed battalion," the first officer informed.

  When his battalion was announced, whispers started spreading among the cadets. Even Oliver noticed that they were talking about An's result.

  Until that moment, Oliver had no way of judging whether An deserved to be in the sed battalion or not. However, he recalled that An had a Bishop-level performan Energy, even earning the attention of their evaluating officer.

  Oliver scratched his head, uo uand how An ended up in the sed battalion, which was supposed to shelter the "weaker" talents. Oliver cursed under his breath; if only he had paid more attention to the versations around him, maybe he would have had a better grasp of what was happening. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to shake off the drowsiness.

  After listening to a few more annous, Oliver noticed a particur pattern. It was much more on for Nameless recruits to be assigo the sed battalion rather than the first.

  "Could the differen training create such a rge gap between Nameless and non-Nameless?" Oliver woo himself.

  But with a ratio of 20 to 1, he couldn't imagine what kind of training would make the non-Nameless so much better in parison. The disparity seemed too signifit to be expined by that alone.

  “Isabe de Luca”

  Isabe was sitting in the row in front of Oliver. She stood up with all her energy, ready to receive her result. She gnced back at Oliver and gave him a thumbs up.

  "Good luck!" she mouthed to him before walking.

  She joihe line when she reached the ptform, sloroag the officer.

  "You will be assigo the first battalion," the officer informed.

  The girl with brown hair was hopping with joy until she disappeared on the left side of the hall. Although Oliver was rooting for her and An, his gaze was now sing the room, searg for the golden-haired girl. She had ehe hall with the same group, but he couldn't find her among the nearby seats.

  “Katherine of York.”

  "There she is!" the boy thought. When her name was announced, Katheriood amidst the group and slowly walked towards the stage.

  "You will be assigo the first battalion," the officer informed.

  “It suits her.” Oliver thought after finally learning the girl’s name.

  “Oliver Nameless”.

  Finally, Oliver was called. Although tired from waiting so long, he was happy to see where his colleagues would be pced. Additionally, he got a bonus: he learned Katherine’s name.

  As he approached the front of the official, he received his result: "You will be assigo the sed battalion." The result was not surprising; except for a few rare exceptions, the vast majority of Nameless were beio the sed battalion.

  One of the officials he stage pointed out where Oliver should go. Exiting through the right side of the hall, Oliver followed one of the paths along with several other boys and girls.

  The path led out of the hall and inte warehouse. At the entrance, a sign read "Cadet Processing." This was one of the smaller and seemingly older buildings in the isnd's tral area, yet it acked with new cadets and a line wound around the building.

  “Enter and wait your turn!” an older officer shouted at the newer cadets at the building's entrance.

  “Pay attention! You are here to receive processing. You will be analyzed, sed, and receive basic equipment. After that, you will be taken to your barracks, where you will join your ptoon.” The officer tinued shouting at the new cadets. His voice was so loud that Oliver could feel a buzzing in his ear.

  They moved through the line one by oil the cadets reached smaller rooms. Finally, it was Oliver's turn.

  He found himself in a small, utterly white room with only a seat and a dispy that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. Soon after entering, another officer in a white uniform ehe room and quickly sat down. On the front of the officer's uniform was aification card that read: "Medical Officer - Processing."

  “I'll start with a health check. Stand before the dispy while I duct the analysis.” the medical officer informed.

  Before Oliver could firm, the medical officer pulled out a tablet. Lasers and sers emitted from it, sweeping over every part of the boy’s body. The officer made small hums and ahs with eaew information that appeared oablet’s s.

  “Okay, no major issues. Your energy levels are quite high for someone who hasn't used Z Crystals regurly, but nothing out of the ordinary.” The medic expined.

  Oliver tried to g the exams on the doctor's tablet, but before he could read anything, a noise of gears aal began to echo from above. Where there had once been a ceiling, now there was a small opening, from which a metal arm extended, with a mask attached to its end.

  The medic quickly instructed, “Put it on your fad wait three seds with your eyes closed."

  Oliver used both hands to pull the mask onto his face. “What is this mask for?” the boy asked.

  “You'll find out soon enough. Wait for the fsh.” The doctor responded impatiently to the cadet.

  ‘3… 2… 1…’

  "Fsh!"

  The room briefly went pletely white, and when it returo normal, the boy felt a slight headache.

  The doctor spoke softly after the boy recovered from the fsh, "It's the most effit way to ensure no iions or biological ons are brought into the battalion. You don't want to deal with ohey almost wiped out our forces during the third wave."

  As he removed the mask, Oliver felt his face lighten. With his head lowered, he saw strands of hair falling to the floor.

  "Ah! This is one of the side effects. All new cadets are required to trim their hair after processing. It's standard procedure," the doctor expined quickly.

  Oliver ran his hand over his head, and the rest of his hair fell to the ground. He turo the dispy on the wall. He was pletely bald, with some tufts still falling over his shoulders.

  “We're done. Proceed to the room.” the doctor poio the exit.

  Before he could protest or fully process what had happened, Oliver found himself ushered out of the room. Moving down the corridor, two officers handed him a duffle bag.

  “Here, you'll find your equipment and clothing. Head to your ptoon.” The new officer expined quickly, giving Oliver no ce to ask anything.

  After being shuffled from room to room, the “process” finally cluded. He was supposed to head to his quarters, but the biggest surprise was yet to e. His room erhaps worse than when he lived in New San Francisco.

  The building resembled a green der lying on the ground. The metal walls were worn, and the green paint eeling off in several spots. At the entrahere was a clear sign that read "Sed Battalion - 3rd Quarter."

  Oliver re-read his instrus, firming that he was in the right pce. The boy scratched his head, but there was no doubt. He had been assigned a room in the 3rd Quarter. His only "fort" was that the other Quarters were just as bad as this one.

  Upoering, Oliver spotted over fifty bunk beds. Eae had the name of its oct. Some were already occupied, with others sound asleep.

  Oliver tinued walking down each aisle until he finally saw his name on one of the beds. Approag it, he saw a boy lying on the lower bunk.

  “An?!” Oliver asked.

  Oliver's surprise was only outmatched by the ical sight of An's now bald head. His white scalp gleamed uhe dormitory light.

  “Finally, you made it! Wele to our five-star hotel. What do you think of our aodations?” An replied with his characteristic sarcasm.

  “…surprising. I'm gd your sense of humor didn't fall out with your hair.” Oliver teased his suddenly bald friend.

  “No, no, my friend. It's still standing strong. But if this shocked you, brace yourself. It's only just beginning…”

  GCLopes