The recruits were stood in a row on a line in the dead grass made of white chalk. A hundred yards in front of them was another white line, running in parallel to the one they were stood on. This was the second test. The whole ordeal reminded Wren a lot of gym class, but apparently this version was a lot more important, the results they received today would mark their standing within Ventus Academy for the foreseeable future.

“The second test, is quite simple.” Lops told the class. “A speed test. You will all have one opportunity to run as fast as you can from the line you are stood on, to the line you can see in front of you. As soon as you cross the line the timer will stop automatically. There will be no second tries, the time that is recorded will be your final score.”

Lops stood with his clipboard and stopwatch completing his look as the gym coach. Similarly to the clipboard, Wren had no clue as to where the instructor had got the stopwatch, it was is if he had pulled it out of thin air, or worse places that Wren didn’t deign to think about.

The numbers on the field were dwindling down, a couple of the other classes had finished their third test and were moving on to another location. Where that location was, Wren did not know.

“Any volunteers to go first?” Lops asked.

The whole class turned to Liam, expecting him to raise a hand. But it seemed that the boys confidence only extended towards the weight set that lay a few yards behind them. He stood sheepishly waiting for someone else to take the attention from him.

“I will go first.”

Wren was surprised to hear the voice coming from beside him. It was Xiao.

“Very well Miss Peters, when you are ready.” Lops said.

The recruits stepped back, giving the girl room to get a good start. She bent down and placed two hands on the floor, in the typical runners position with her head held high, focused on her target.

“GO.” Lops shouted.

She was off. Xiao wasn’t what you would call petite, but she had an athletic build. In contrast to Liam’s stockiness that was mainly suited for strength tasks, she was more of an all-rounder, not quite excelling in each field, but doing well enough to make an impact. This athletic build meant that she strode across the ground in good time, her legs lithe and powerful, delivering her to her destination in a time that impressed the whole group.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Wren heard a beep as Lops pressed a button on his stopwatch and noted down the time.

“Who’s next?”

Wren once again pulled up his stats screen.

[Status]

[Name: Wren Spectre]

[Race: Human Level 1]

[XP 10/100]

[HP 14/20]

[EP 20/20]

[Strength: 5]

[Speed: 14]

[Stamina: 7]

He was sure that he could do a whole lot better on this test in comparison to his last. His speed stat was almost triple that of his strength and he hope it would reflect that in real life.

“Me next.” He found himself saying.

He’d had a rest watching the rest of the other recruits perform the strength test. One of them had managed to get to the fifth round, meaning that Liam had beaten him by only one set of weights. However although he had lifted the weights, he had done it with nowhere near as much ease and pace as Liam had. The lack of pace, meant that Wren could sit back and let himself rest, slowly regaining strength, and by the time Lops had introduced the second test, he was healthy and ready to go.

“Very well Mr Spectre, good luck.” Lops said.

The recruits once again backed up to give him space to start his run. They may have not had high expectations of him, but it was not their intention to sabotage Wren. In their eyes, he was not worth the time.

Wren was not an athlete, and he did not have the running experience that Xiao clearly had to start off in the proper form. He simply stood on the line, one foot in front of the other, nimble on his toes, waiting for the mark.

“GO.” Lops shouted.

Wren pushed off as hard as he could. He was surprised to find how swiftly he moved. His legs felt light, as if he was stood on clouds as he ran. His arms pumped up and down, propelling him forward and before he could even feel a hint of fatigue he crossed the line. Coming to a stop by Xiao.

He wasn’t sure how well he’d done, but it certainly felt like he’d moved fast. He felt as if he’d just run the fastest he’d ever run in his life.

“Impressive. I thought you weren’t trying to stand out.” Xiao said to him.

“I’m not. I figured with how bad I did in that last test, I might even it out a little.” He replied.

She only smiled in return.

Back over with the rest of the class, Wren could hear them all murmuring amongst themselves. They were surprised that the weak boy that they had all laughed at lifting the weights could move so fast. It would be a struggle for the rest of them to beat his time.

Lops on the other hand stood completely silent, looking over the two scores in front of him. Xiao had done well. Really well, on any other day it would have been the highest score in the class. With that score she could well have boosted herself into the highest group when all of the scores were counted up. She might still. But what had completely stunned Lops, was the score just below it. It was a whole second faster than Xiao’s.

If Lops hadn’t seen the boy run himself, and didn’t hold the timer in his hands, he would have hardly believed it. How could such a small weak boy, move so fast. Had he already unlocked a second wind ability? One that aided in movement? Or was it simply natural ability?

He would have to keep an eye on Wren.