Wren was sat in homeroom, waiting for his class group to be announced. The instructors had tallied up all of the scores from the tests of the previous day and had used the results to place the recruits in the class that would best fit their current capabilities and would also allow them to grow at the best possible rate. Wren estimated that most of his class would be placed in the lower groups for elemental ability training as most of them weren’t even able to use their abilities. He had no clue about martial arts training or armament training however; he assumed that those classes would be decided based on the results of the physical tests so the likelihood was that those classes would be more varied.
“Before I begin, I must reiterate that these allocations are not set in stone, if you show great promise, impress your instructors and pass the transfer test then you will be able to move up groups. The same goes for the reverse, if we feel as if you’re not right for your current group, you will be moved down, and unfortunately you don’t have to take a test for that. So let that be a warning to you.” Lops said to the class.
Wren looked about the class, studying the nervous faces of his fellow recruits. His eyes found Carlos, who simply gave him a nod in acknowledgment. His roommate didn’t seem as apprehensive as the rest of the class, he only wore a look of acceptance, as if he was ready for whatever result he would get and he would take it gratefully.
“Now, listen carefully as I call out your name because I will only say it once. I don’t want to be repeating myself.” Lops said. “Liam Cacas, class 4 for martial arts and armament training, class 5 for elemental ability training.”
Wren chuckled as he watched Liam give a pump of his fist in the air in celebration. He was sat at the front so everyone could see how happy he was. It was expected of a Legacy to be in the top classes straight off the bat, but Liam didn’t let that affect him, he was proud of his achievements and he didn’t care who saw.
Lops cycled off a few other names of Wren’s classmates, all of them being placed in class 1 for elemental ability training and a mixture of classes 2, 3 and 4 for martial arts and armament training.
“Carlos Fuentes, class 2 for martial arts and armament training, class 1 for elemental ability training.”
Carlos nodded, as if he’d been expecting it all along, not a hint of emotion escaping the tight smile he kept plastered to his face.
“Nina Shell, class 2 for martial arts and armament training, class 2 for elemental ability training.”
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The class lit up in whispers, Nina had been one of the few out of the class who were actually able to produce the wind slice and yet she’d been placed in class 2, only a single class above those that hadn’t been able to use their abilities. The class was in shock. Of course this hadn’t come as a surprise to Wren and the others, they had all witnessed how Nina was only able to hit the first target on the distance test and was also not able to produce many more wind slice’s after that.
“Natalie Prince, class 2 for martial arts and armament training, class 3 for elemental ability training.”
“Steven Stone, class 4 for martial arts and armament training, class 3 for elemental ability training.”
“Xiao Peters, class 5 for martial arts and armament training, class 5 for elemental ability training.” Lops read out.
The class erupted with applause, they had not been there to see Xia’s performance in the rest of the ability tests so they had not seen how well she had done. The class beamed with smiles full of pride, claiming the achievements of their classmate as their own. It was as if just being around the prodigy lifted them up, making them feel better about their own meagre scores.
Wren clapped along with the rest of his class, congratulating his classmate. Lops let them celebrate for a little while, it really was an impressive feat being placed in all top classes in their first year, only a few could claim that honour.
Lops called the class to silence again before continuing on, listing one name after another. Wren hoped his name would come up soon, he wanted to find out what classes he was in. When taking the tests he had wanted to get perfectly average scores, not stand out too much and do what he could to get by, the absolute opposite of what Xiao and Liam had done, but things hadn’t gone to plan. He’d shown an impressive display of speed that he hadn’t even known he was capable of, and he’d somehow been able to use his abilities when the rest of his class couldn’t.
“Scott St Clair—”
“It’s pronounced Sinclair.” He interrupted much to everyone’s amusement.
“Right, my bad, I really need to get that right.” Lops apologised. “Anyway, class 2 for martial arts and armament training, class 5 for elemental ability training.”
“Wren Spectre.”
The moment had finally come, he would find out what classes he was in. He was sure that he’d average somewhere in the middle for the physical classes, his speed had been the highest in the class but his strength had been very poor, hopefully they would balance out with his stamina and he would be placed slap bang in the middle. He could only hope for the best regarding his elemental classes, he had no clue whether he had done well or not, he was still practically clueless about the whole thing.
“Class 3 for martial arts and armament training, class 4 for elemental ability training.”
That wasn’t too bad, he could live with that. He had gotten what he wanted for the physical tests and had been placed in the middle class. But he’d been placed in class 4 for elemental abilities. He would have preferred to again be placed in the middle class but he had to make do with what he had. Only time would tell if it worked out for better or for worse.