Despite Brendan having shown to not be able to use his powers, the vast majority of the recruits had not been discouraged. Wren watched as his classmates barge each other to get in front so that they could be picked next. He didn’t know why they were so eager. It must have had something to do with the fact that teenagers were being given the opportunity to use the elemental powers that they’d just been given for the first time.

“Pick me.” One said.

“No, I wanna go next.” Another shouted.

“Please, please.” Another begged,

Anastasia chuckled, she was hoping that the recruits would want to do the test, but the scene before her wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. She raised her hands in a placating manner trying to calm the crowd.

“Form an orderly line and we’ll get through each of you one by one.” She called out.

The class paid her no mind. They continued to jostle about, trying to be picked before anyone else. Anastasia tried to call out to them, to get them to calm down, but they wouldn’t listen, her voice was lost in the din of all the shouting.

Wren felt bad for her. He could see her struggling to maintain control, her face turning red, distorting her pretty features as she got angrier. She looked pretty scary and he made a note to not get on her bad side.

“QUIEEEEEEETTTTT!” Lops shouted.

He had watched as the recruits slowly became more and more boisterous. He knew it was a mix of nerves and excitement. All of them wanted to try out the wind slice, and none of them wanted to find out they couldn’t use their powers yet. He got it. But that was no excuse for their behaviour.

“You will all remain silent. Gather up in a straight line and wait for Instructor Penn to call you up to do the test. If I hear a single peep out of you when you’re not being spoken to I swear to the Enoi I will feed you to Dusk Vultures. Do I make myself clear?” Lops said.

The class was silent.

“I said, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR.” Lops repeated.

“Yes Instructor Lops.” The class said in unison.

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“Very good. Instructor Penn.” He said, gesturing for Anastasia to once again take over.

“Thank you Instructor Lops.” Anastasia replied, giving him a grateful nod. She was an impressive elemental, by far one of the strongest at the academy, but she had a long way to go as a teacher. “You, you’re next, what’s your name?” She said, gesturing at the girl at the front of the queue.

“Effie Shields.” The girl replied.

Anastasia once again looked to her clipboard and found the name. She motioned for the girl to step up to the mark and begin the test.

Effie, like Brandon, was not able to use her powers yet. Disappointed she stepped to the side and stood with Liam and Brandon.

Wren studied their faces. Both Brandon and Effie looked dejected, even a little embarrassed, they were ashamed of their lack of ability, while Liam stood proud, still feeling the rush of using the wind slice for the first time. He wondered what his face would look like when the time came, would he be sad and downcast like Brandon and Effie, or would he join Liam in looking pleased with himself. He was placed towards the end of the queue like he had been for the physical tests. He wanted to watch the other recruits.

One by one they were tested. Most of the recruits had been turned away, marked down with a cross, not able to use their powers. However, there were a good handful that were able to use the wind slice. Most of them registering a power level of one, a few were lucky enough to register a two, but no one had come close to Liam’s score. Wren remarked how Liam really was in a different league to everyone else, he was a legacy, it was almost an unfair advantage.

The line was dwindling down and the group of people who had completed the test was growing bigger. There were five people in front of Wren in the queue and only two behind him. It wouldn’t be long until this part of the test was over. At front the of the queue was Xiao. Wren had heard her tell her name to Anastasia so she knew who she was marking.

Xiao stepped forward, cool and calm as ever and raised her hand. Her glowing green band on display. She didn’t even stop to concentrate before the wind slice flew from her hand, impacting on the large metal target.

She waited for her score to appear, a three, before nodding in acknowledgement to Anastasia and joining the side that had finished.

Wren looked on in awe. She’s scored a three, the joint highest in the class with Liam, and she looked like she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Even Liam had to stop and concentrate to produce a wind slice that powerful, Xiao just did it on the fly. She had to be a natural born genius he thought.

As soon as she had joined the other side of the class, recruits flocked to her. They were congratulating her on getting such a high score, asking her to give them some tips, Wren even heard one recruit begging for Xiao to tutor him. It sounded a lot like Brendan but he was sure someone who hung around with Chadwick wouldn’t stoop to begging.

The rest of the recruits after Xiao were all duds. None of them were able to produce the wind slice. Anastasia placed a cross next to each of their names and sent them over to join their classmates. Each recruit had the same look of disappointment and embarrassment.

It was finally Wren’s turn. He stepped up to the front, ready call out his name and take the test. But before he could say anything, Anastasia had already spoken.

“Wren Spectre. Good luck.” She said.