The training grounds Lucas was instructed to go to were located right beyond the gate, and at an eye’s glance, Lucas could tell that there were more than 1,500 recruits, all hoping to join Yijun Military Academy. The training grounds itself was enormous, easily able to fit all 1500 recruits comfortably.
Some recruits had already started to form their own groups, idly chatting away.
In fact, everyone around Lucas was already in their own groups, leaving Lucas standing there like a sitting duck.
“Ah! I finally found someone!”
A figure moved through the crowd.
“Are you already in a group? If you’re not can you join me?”
The chatterbox was a young boy with a freckled face. The number on his badge read 324, indicating that he had entered much earlier than Lucas.
“Ah! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Arun!”
“My name is Lucas, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Lucas put on his fake smile that had been ingrained onto his face over the years.
He reached out his hand for a handshake. Arun enthusiastically shook Lucas’ hand up and down multiple times.
“It’s so big here, isn’t it? It’s even bigger than I imagined! I hope the examiner this time is a nice person.”
Arun's mouth moved so fast that Lucas was left overwhelmed and baffled by how one's mouth could move that quickly. Arun's voice became a rush of noise to Lucas, drowning out all his other thoughts and sensations.
“What do you mean the examiner this time? Sorry, I’m not very familiar with the exam procedures.”
Lucas had come to the academy with little to no information. It would be a great help to him if he could get all the necessary information from the person in front of him.
“Haha, it’s alright! Well, I only know because my older brother took the entrance exam and told me. The exam consists of three sections: the written exam, the practical exam, and the physical exam. The first exam is fairly easy if you study and practice enough, but it becomes increasingly more difficult with each exam. For the common people like me, it’s recommended that you attend at least 2 years of the Yijun Military Education Foundation before applying for the exam- after all, you can only take the entrance exam once in your lifetime.”
Arun chattered away like all his words were going to disappear if he did not. Lucas feared that if he did not stop him now, he would continue chatter for who knows how long.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Arun’s mention of the Yijun Military Education Foundation did pique a little bit of interest from Lucas though.
“The Yijun Military Education Foundation? I haven’t heard of that before, what kind of education do they offer?”
“Oh, that. It’s a program funded by the Yijun military for people who aren’t able to afford an education. It teaches you how to read and write, and also practical survival skills, though they make you run and exercise all the time. You run when you don’t do your homework, run when you’re caught sleeping in class. Run run run! Can you believe it? My legs were going to fall off from all that running! The instructors are mostly retired veterans or injured soldiers, but they yell at you all the time! How those old and battered folks still have so much energy is beyond me. But the program is pretty famous; everyone knows about it. Are you new here?”
‘Has he figured me out already? It doesn't seem that he has. I must be more careful about my identity.’
Lucas made sure to keep up his smile to mask his uneasiness.
“Yes, I am. I recently arrived.”
At a convenient time, a loud voice spoke over the bustling crowd. The voice filled the air and silenced the chattering crowd.
The spokesperson stood at the academy’s entrance.
“The written exam will now begin. Numbers 1-500, go to the west wing, numbers 501-1000, go to the north wing, and numbers 1001-1500 go to the east wing.”
Arun’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“It’s finally starting! Ahhh I’m so excited! I’m going to go now, good luck with your exam as well!”
Arun patted Lucas’ back enthusiastically.
Lucas replied, “Yeah, you too!”
Lucas waved Arun goodbye and watched him enter the west wing.
He began to walk towards the east wing alongside the crowd of examinees.
The inside of the east wing was a simple-looking, two-story lecture hall with a large number of seats, yet the layout was meticulously planned so that cheating was nearly impossible. The lecture hall had two floors, making use of the limited floor space.
Clack, clang
The entirety of the second floor suddenly started to extend outwards with the sound of motomum-powered rods moving, the rods had thick metal sheets coiled around them. The rods extended, moving forward slowly to cover all the seats below, the metal sheets also uncoiled to fill in the gap the extended second floor made. This made it so that no one was able to cheat on the person below.
As the rods moved and the metal sheets uncoiled, it created a sort of tunnel, covering the seats on the first floor.
It was an engineering marvel, and many of the examinees were in awe, especially those who had never seen anything like it before.
‘How awesome…Yijun Academy is something else.’
“The exam will start in 3 minutes. Quickly choose where you wish to sit.”
The examiner, a middle-aged man, stood at the front of the lecture hall and warned the examinees.
The examinees quickly found their seats, some choosing to sit on the top floor and others choosing to sit on the bottom.
Lucas looked around, trying to find a seat that would give him a good view of the exam while also allowing him to focus.
After some pondering Lucas decided to sit on the second floor, as he, along with many other examinees, became amazed by the moving second floor.
He sat near the middle sections to blend in with the crowd of examinees.
The examiner quickly began passing out the exam as soon as he saw that all the examinees were seated.
Lucas gulped in anticipation and nervousness.
After the examiner had finished passing out the tests, he returned to the front of the room.
Suddenly, the examiner yelled out loud in a strict and stern voice that shocked everyone in the room.
“Disqualified!”