An indoor Olympics-tier jungle gym. Without a thorough essay, that was the only way to describe it. It was tall and low, extremely convoluted, and, well… if the outline was laid out on the ground, it would look like a multi-level Nascar-designed racetrack.
“Everyone, I know you were expecting something different, but our testing facilities are identical to our training facilities. Work hard and play hard. There is no path to follow, but there are various contraptions triggered by a complex array of sensors.
|———|
It’s simple. The test is to follow the natural curvature and make it to the end.
|———|
All the parts are exchangeable, so we can rotate them to set up different difficulties. Military, Hell, Nightmare, and General. For the purpose of this test, your difficulty is Military.
|———|
To make it fair, an instructor will go through the Military and Hell difficulty once.”
An instructor stepped up to the crowd, saluting everyone. She gave a brief introduction before standing at ease. When the lead instructor gave her the go-ahead, she dashed into the jungle gym. To her astonishment, someone flashed past her, April. This girl didn’t follow the curvature but was rather playful, ‘jumping’ up and ‘leaping’ down. There was spinning, cartwheeling, and many other acts you would find in a circus. The instructor took a deep breath before hopping, jumping, ducking, and nimbly climbing up a pole.
“The difference is so vast….”
“Where did April come from? Sikhail will be personally trained by her? I’m envious. Won’t his gains be explosive?”
“It must be an agreement set up by the Military. Didn’t you see her University emblem?”
“Right, the military and academics rarely mix with each other.”
“That’s just the opinions of a few brats. Some individuals separate the politics.”
After reaching the last bar, April turned and ran back through the jungle gym, passing by the instructor. She flashed a mischievous smile, reaching the crowd long before the instructor was even close to the end. Flustered, the instructor almost tripped, grabbing a nearby bar to save herself. She maintained a poker face, but there was unwillingness in her eyes.
‘Is this what it means to be a monster,’ she wondered before finishing the obstacle course.
As the instructor neared the crowd, she heard April talk about how easy the obstacle course was, explaining tips and tricks to get through it. Her eyes twitched. She made it sound easier than it seemed! She was aware of all these things, but this young lady’s execution exceeded her ability. Her only consolation was that she knew the Cadets would do worse.
Just as she was about to ask the lead instructor to set it to Hell difficulty…
“Can you set it to Hell difficulty and let me and Sikhail run it first?” April asked, shocking everyone.
“We don’t know if Cadet Sikhail GodFiend can even get through Military difficulty. Let’s put Hell difficulty off to the side for now.”
“Hey… did you forget earlier? Although you didn’t lose to me, Sikhail not only avoided two sneak attacks, he also put me at a disadvantage on his first counter-move. He went on the offensive, compared to a turtle like you!” April refuted.
The lead instructor grew embarrassed after hearing the last part. Every time this young lady opened her mouth, he was dealt a vicious blow. Even the other instructors were beginning to laugh.
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“Alright. The Military won’t be liable then.”
April nodded, then gestured to Sikhail.
“Based on this, I’ll know roughly where to start with our training,” April said with a smile, to which Sikhail merely nodded.
The instructor hit a button, only for April to see a flash beside her. Her eyes narrowed as she trembled a bit. The parts were currently whirring like a blender. She would get minced walking in, but Sikhail rushed right in.
“WAIT, IT’S TOO DANGEROUS RIGHT NOW”
The yell didn’t faze Sikhail, but he was honestly shocked. Loud laughter reverberated inside his mind, sending chills down his spine. He felt adrenaline-induced excitement coming from within the depths of his soul. It was a ghost-like voice that compelled him to run into danger. Thankfully the world around him slowed to a crawl.
His finger missed the back of the metal bar by a millimeter, after which his head, shoulders, back, and legs dove through. Some moved slower, and others faster, but without fail, his finger would always barely miss them.
He didn’t go through the natural curvature or play around. He simply looked straight at the end and rushed there. The height, the gap, and the dangers between each contraption were ignored by him. His jumps and landings flowed to a discordant rhythm.
He bent, twist, spun, and blazed through the oddest openings. After landing on the last bar, he calmly stepped off as though he were walking. As he walked back into the crowd, he nodded at April, who shuddered, disregarding the shocked expressions.
(Gasp)
(Gasp)
(Gasp)
“You… you… how did you do that?”
The lead instructor was dumbfounded. That wasn’t even a difficulty when the parts were spinning into position. It was reckless endangerment, yet Cadet Sikhail GodFiend rushed through it like it was nothing. He felt like the worldview he grew up in was crumbling right in front of his eyes. *Is this what it feels like to be in the presence of an abnormality?* consumed his thoughts.
“Although you were fast, you lacked flexibility. It was a race against time, and the gaps you chose to jump through are considered *normal*... Although I can’t react as fast as you did, your movements contained plenty of flaws. Regardless, an impressive performance!” April gave her analysis, breaking the silence.
The Cadets felt as though they had no hope left. Just the Military level difficulty put a ton of pressure on them. The scene earlier felt like they were waving their finger through a spinning blade in a bender. They looked very constipated.
“The instructor will now show you the Hell difficulty level.”
The instructor didn’t really feel like demonstrating it after what just happened. Was there a point?
“Instructor, Cadet Sikhail GodFiend was too quick, meaning the Cadets didn’t get a proper demonstration.”
When put that way, she felt slightly better. After the metal bars reset into position, she nodded to the crowd and dashed right in. In contrast to the first run, she was faster, more flexible, and put in additional effort on the second run.
In the crowd, Sikhail watched rather casually. He blitzed through it, albeit without knowing what he was doing, but he was aware of the most optimal path. What if he had a different skill level and had to choose a different approach? How do you optimize an unoptimized path? How do you bridge that gap? Having more than one perspective was always good. April stood next to him, not saying anything.
When the jungle gym reset to Military difficulty, the Cadets rushed in. Their decisions factored in their size and speed, risk, reward, and complexity of the obstacles. Should they scale a shortcut, or was it better to take the longer route? Unlike the punching assessment or the sprint, the jungle gym demanded full body coordination.
(BAM)
It was impressive that only a single Cadet crashed due to exhaustion. He was neither fat, skinny, tall, short, or any other bodily extreme. He was simply below average. There were moments when he excelled, but that confidence tumbled the next moment as his weakness was exploited. The others barely held on. Some were bitter based on past experiences, but this humbled them. The lead instructor stepped up as the injured Cadets dragged themselves back to the crowd.
“Everyone, great job. I understand the jungle gym was out of your expectations. In fact, many expected to excel in it. If this was a real war, you would’ve been dead or critically injured by now. You never know what to expect out there, so hopefully, this was a reminder that the opponent will always try to catch you off guard.
|———|
Now, I DO have one surprise for you. You have the rest of the day off. Next month, next week, we’ll split into squads and platoons; do real training. I’ve been told a few of you have been scouted by the Light Coalition. The rest of you will stick with us.
|———|
I’ll see all of you again for the next assessment. Dismissed!”
The lead instructor left, leaving the other instructors to manage the crowd.
“Where are we going?” Sikhail asked as he turned to look at April.
“Staying here! I want to eventually go to the dojo, but we’ll learn techniques there. We need fundamentals before we practice techniques!” April said happily.