- Oliver -

  "So let's talk about how your evaluations will proceed," the General started.

  “Starting tomorrow, yaus will call you to ehe testing area. There are a total of thirty-six testing areas—six per floor.” The hologram stopped dispying the General for a few minutes as it showed the map of the gigantic facility and where the testing areas would be located.

  “The moment you receive the notification, you must immediately proceed to the testing location, with a maximum dey of fifteen minutes,” he emphasized, his tone making it clear that punctuality would be crucial.

  The trio exged gnces, aware of the importance of that information. The silen the room was broken only by the subtle hum of the holographic projectors.

  “Throughout this week, you will undergo three tests. The first one will be a defense operation,” the General announced, pausing momentarily to allow everyoo absorb the information.

  “You will be pced in the ter of an arena with sixty divisions.” The hologram transformed again, this time dispying a circur arena of colossal proportions. Sixty separate divisions appeared, each with a metal pilr rising behind a marked spa the ground. “Your mission is simple: defend your pilrs against the oppos that will be released into the area. With each successful deferonger enemies will be sent.”

  The hologram images illustrated bat robots emerging from the entrances around the arena, advang toward the recruits. , they showed intetles, with challengers fighting increasingly powerful maes.

  “In the first waves, we will start with training bat robots, and as the rounds progress, we may even send Mechas,” the General expined.

  A murmur spread through the dormitory. The idea of fag Mechas, even in simution, was intimidating. Oliver felt a chill down his spine and a spark of excitement. This was the type of challenge he had been preparing for.

  Suddenly, his gau vibrated gently, emitting a soft beep. He looked at the devi his wrist, which was fshing with new notifications.

  | New achievements created

  | ■■■■■ | Destroy 100 bat robots

  | ■■■■■ | Be the st one remaining iower Defense

  | ■■■■■ | Destroy a Mecha

  Oliver reflected for a moment, his eyes fixed on the holographiterface of his gau. ‘Wait, I receive new achievements?’ he wondered. ‘Are they uo me, or are they also offered to others at the Knight level?’

  Athena, the serene voice of his artificial intelligence, responded in his mind:

  “They are created acc to your experie also be offered to others.”

  As he absorbed this information, the imposing figure of the General tinued his spee the hologram before him.

  “You will be evaluated based on the quality of your tower defehe number of oppos defeated, and your survival time. The first-pce winner will automatically qualify for the stage, while the others will be pared with the other recruits until we reach the quota for the sed phase.” The General expined.

  Oliver expected more details about the rules, but it seemed there would be no additional information. A feeling of uook hold of him. ‘Does this mean there are no more rules? Will it be like the introductory test at the Academy?’ the boy pondered, remembering the exam.

  “You will find more information about the position of each wave in yaus,” Sebastian ented.

  At that moment, the recruits' gaus vibrated gently, indig the arrival of new data. Detailed holograms began to float above their wrists, dispying statistics, tactical schemes, and profiles of potential adversaries.

  “This initial evaluation will take pce throughout this first week,” the General tinued, while the surrounding hologram showed images of the thirty-six facilities being modified and enhanced. “After pleting all evaluations, you will be called for the sed test, which will aim to assess your ability in offensive and assault operations.”

  “In this sed test, you will enter a basic example of an assault operation. Your objective will be to retrieve an item located at the end of a byrinth. However, you will have a five-miime limit. You must enter, find the item, a within this time.”

  The hologram began to dispy the byrinth iail, highlighting possible routes, traps, and points of i. Mini mechas were shown patrolling the corridors, their metallic silhouettes refleg the ambient light.

  “All of you will have access to the byrinth’s pns and the specifications of the oppos you will enter,” the General cluded.

  Some mini mechas were presented by the hologram, allowing them to gauge the size and aggressiveness of their oppos.

  “Your evaluation will be based oime required to plete the test and the iy of the recovered item,” the Ranger expined.

  Oliver reflected on the information. ‘There’s no specified number of oppos. So the focus will be oering aing as quickly as possible,’ he thought, already devising strategies in his mind.

  “All of you will be ranked, and based on the number of avaible slots, you will be taken to the final test,” the General expined.

  Again, his gau vibrated gently, emitting a soft beep.

  | New achievements created

  | ■■■■■ | Eliminate 100 oppos within the byrinth

  | ■■■■■ | plete your byrinth challenge in under 3 minutes

  | ■■■■■ | plete your byrinth challenge in under 1 minute

  ‘Maybe these rewards help me in the exam?’ Oliver sidered the possibility as he saw new achievements being added to his Traits menu.

  “After the sed exam, all who achieve the minimum score will be automatically approved as Officers and attend the officer academy of their choice. However, those who wish to bee Rangers must participate in a final test.”

  Oliver g Isabe, sitting on one of the beds beside him, her eyes fixed on the hologram, and at Katherine, who had stood up, trying to hold back the ay rising ihroat. He imagihe uping challenge would be even more plex and possibly risky.

  “Each of you must gh the Evaluation Crystal,” the General expined.

  This time, the hologram dispyed a massive transparent crystal floating in a chamber illuminated by ethereal lights. The crystal emanated an enigmatic aura, and its surface was pletely polished.

  Oliver remembered havihe item before; it was the same one used in their Energy capacity evaluation.

  “All of you have already been exposed to this evaluation process; however, this one is a bit special. Instead of assessing your Energy level, it will evaluate your e with the Z Crystal and the efficy you have with each type of crystal,” the General ented as he walked toward the crystal and pced his hand on the object.

  The General walked up to the holographic representation of the crystal aended his hand, toug its shimmering surface. Immediately, the crystal began to glow in various colors, from deep blue to intense red, passing through shades of green and gold. Symbols and data started to projeto the air around it, dispying their information.

  | ? Yellow - 81%

  | ? Blue - 3%

  | ? Red - 1%

  | ??Bck - 0%

  | ?Pink - 0%

  “This efficy level will indicate your ability to extract power from yer Armor acc to the type of crystal you are using,” Sebastian expined, his firm voice eg through the dormitory.

  Oliver didn’t know, but that information had not previously been disclosed to civilians or lower-ranking military personnel. Only officers who had undergohe evaluation and attempted to bee Rangers ks existence. However, as more officers sought to join the Rangers each year, information gradually began to leak. It reached a point where it was more beneficial for the o make it publid earn additional goodwill from the popution.

  “The sum of your points will be used to qualify you; however, you will o have at least 60 points to be approved, and you only choose a division where you have at least one efficy point,” the Ranger expined.

  As Oliver was still digesting the information, the General turned his gaze to someo of sight, probably an assistant backstage. After a brief nod, he tinued speaking.

  “Ah! We have received some questions on our el about the quotas for each evaluation level,” the General announced, pausing for a moment while sulting a dot on his personal hologram. “Currently, we have approximately 600,000 students taking this exam. Only 60,000 will pass the first test, and just 6,000 of them will be able to participate ihird exam. Finally, we expect approximately 3,000 of these will be io join a Ranger division.”

  ‘It’s a bit more than they had informed us at the academy,’ Oliver thought, feeling a chill run down his spine. ‘Only 0.5% will have access to a division.’

  The General raised his gaze, his expression serious but determined.

  “I wish you all good luck. Let the exams begin!”

  GCLopes