- Oliver -

  "I wish you all good luck. Let the exams begin!" As soon as the General finished speaking, all the monitors and holograms turned off simultaneously, plunging the enviro into an almost tangible silence.

  The air seemed charged with electrision, and one could almost feel the recruits' collective nervousness. No one wao stay idle in the dormitory; every moment now could make the differeween approval or reje.

  Isabe suddenly rose from the bed, her eyes shining with determination.

  "I'm going to meet a friend," the girl expined. "Astrid is also taking the exam; she's in another sector."

  Oliver nodded, an encing smile. "Wish her good lue."

  "I will do that," replied Isabe before quickly leaving the room. Her boots emitted a slight echo oallic floor.

  Although the dormitory was huge, it was almost entirely empty. Only a few people remained, exhausted from long journeys, trying to rest before the exams began. The soft lights projected elongated shadows on the walls, creating a quiet and uling enviro.

  Oliver looked around, feeling the restlessness growing inside him. He turo Katherine, sitting on the edge of the bed, focused on writing on her personal hologram. The luminous lines reflected on her face, highlighting her sereures.

  "Kath, let's take a walk?" he suggested, not wanting to stay trapped in the room, ed by ay.

  Katherine raised her gaze, surprised by the invitation. Unlike Isabe or Oliver, she didn't feel nervous about the exam. Even so, just staying there and taking notes was being monotonous.

  "Sure," she replied, closing the hologram with a smooth gesture and standing up. "A bit of fresh air will do us good."

  The two left the dormitory and began walking through the first floor of Base 45. The facility was colossal, an actual city erected in the middle of the desert. Wide corridors extended in all dires, illuminated by neon lights and floating advertising holograms. They walked for hours, expl the various ercial and leisure areas, but few things caught their attention.

  Oliver was still ied in the Mechas dispyed in some shop windows. The gigantic maes gleamed uhe lights, their shining armor refleg the vibrant colors of the surrounding advertisements. But the prices were astronomical, far beyond what he could imagine.

  "I'll pilot one of these someday," the boy ented with a dreamy smile.

  Katherine ughed softly. "You'll have your ce during Raraining. But we still have a good way to go."

  "I didn't imagihere would be so many different ons being offered," Oliver observed, stopping in front of an ArmsTech dispy window. A state-of-the-art rifle, its structure elegant ahal, was on dispy.

  "They're not as strong as a Ranger on, but it's a good backup on. If your energy level is low, you use it. It also be a good option for those with a Ranger on inpatible with their preferred fighting style," she ented.

  Oliver uood. He remembered not being able to use his Energy Pistol irial Tower, and having a backup on in such cases could be very useful.

  They tinued walking until they reached a rge square in the ter of the base. Aed ptform dispyed several ons inside showcases in the middle of it. Thousands of recruits crowded around, some filming, others doing live broadcasts about the presentation.

  "What the heck is that on?" Oliver tried to see what kind of ons they were to be attrag so much attention. One of them seemed to be aremely sharp sword, with a scarlet color c the entire bde.

  "A Crystal on. It's quite rare. Not even I have access to one of them," Katherine responded with wide eyes.

  "Really? I thought your family had everything," joked Oliver.

  "Maybe John has something like that in the family vault," she smiled. "But I've never seen one in person."

  They approached to observe better, fasated by the beauty and the powerful aura the on emanated.

  "How much do you think it costs?" Oliver guessed. "One millios?"

  Katherine shook her head. "Not even close. I don't know the price, but to make a on like that, you need a huge Z Crystal and aremely skilled on Maker."

  "Five million?" Oliver tried again.

  "Perhaps closer to fifty million," Katheriimated.

  "Wow!" Oliver responded, impressed.

  They tinued expl the square, but soon, the shop windows became repetitive. They then decided to go up to the third floor, where the training areas were located.

  "Do you think there's araining at this hour?" Oliver asked as they climbed the escators, which glowed under blue lights.

  "There's always someoraining, especially when they're nervous," Katherine replied.

  Ohird floor, the sounds of simuted bats and physical exercises echoed through the corridors. Training rooms with transparent walls showed recruits practig various skills, from hand-to-hand bat to energy trol.

  The two walked while watg the battles taking pce from room to room. Every now and then, some notification appeared due to Oliver's left eye.

  | Left Eye of Learning| Unknown bat Style - Learning| [0.00%]

  'Too bad I don't know enough to learn. Otherwise, I could just sit and absorb their teique,' the boy thought.

  They were walking down the corridor, which was almost pletely empty except for a specific area crowded with a few dozen recruits, almost shouting at each other.

  "What level did they reach? Eleven? Twelve?" asked one of the recruits, his eyes fixed on the room.

  "There was a girl earlier who reached level fourteen," replied another, shaking his head in disbelief.

  "Fourteen? Impossible. It's almost impossible to see."

  Intrigued, Oliver and Katherine approached to see what was happening. Several people were gathered in front of one of the agility training rooms' windows. The meism was the same as he had used at the beginning of the academy wheook the first agility test.

  "I bet 200 credits he 't get past level ten," challenged a recruit with a ing smile.

  Ihe room, a boy was agilely dodging shots from multiple maes. He was tall and muscur but moved swiftly, avoiding every projectile the four training ons unched. His movements were fluid, almost superhuman.

  From the outside, the spectators could only hear the stant rhythm of shots ricocheting off the walls while the petitor tio dodge eaew threat. The lights fshed, indig the gradual increase in difficulty.

  "You mao reach level eight, didn't you?" Oliver asked Katherihout taking his eyes off the a.

  "Yes," she firmed, nodding. "But with the training we've had retly, I think we reach his level, maybe even surpass it."

  Katheriried to speak in a low voice, but apparently, it was enough to attract the attention of some nearby recruits. A girl with short hair and a challenging expression turo them.

  "You think you get past that level?" she asked loudly, doubting their abilities.

  Oliver was surprised by the abrupt intervention. He didn't expect a strao intrude on their private versation. Before he could respond, a sharp sound interrupted his thoughts—the characteristic beep indig that the petitor had been eliminated.

  Unfortunately, Oliver's surprises didhere.

  The training room doors slid open, releasing a cloud of vapor. From it emerged an imposing boy with a pletely shaved head and muscles sculpted like steel. His eyes met Oliver's, and an ironic smile appeared on his face.

  "Who would have thought," the boy said upon seeing Oliver.

  "Kyle," Oliver responded. "You survived the first exam."

  The air around them seemed to grow dehe nearby recruits fell silent, sensing the growing tensioweewo. There was a history there, and unresolved matters were now surfag.

  "Surprised?" Kyle taunted, crossing his arms. "It wasn't me who ended up being taken and spending six months on vacation while in prison."

  Katheriepped forward, holding Oliver's shoulder. She had traiensively with the boy to know his mannerisms, and she could feel he was a step away from exploding.

  "I owe you si time. It's a pity we won't have a ce to settle this during the exams," Oliver ehrough gritted teeth.

  "Don't worry; you wouldn't ma anyway. Think of it as extra time to try to catch up to me," Kyle replied.

  Kyle began walking through the crowd, moving away from Oliver. However, before leaving, he threw one more provocation. "Oh! And where's the boy who protected you? Do you now need a prio protect you?"

  Oliver was red with anger. He had to trate inteo avoid activating his armor and going after Kyle.

  To calm his anger, he walked impatiently to the agility training room.

  ‘Let's take the opportunity to test this,’ the boy mao think amidst the fog e.

  Seeing one of the ons appear, he tried to activate his boon.

  [Observation]

  He had never used it against a mae, so he didn't know if it would work.

  As soon as his vision turned bd white and he could see the maes' attack lines, he gained fidence.

  His game only ended when he heard the AI speaking. "Level 15 pleted."

  GCLopes