CHAPTER 13: THE EXAMINATIONS
Viktor took a minute to organize his thoughts. This was the first time he was proctoring the Guardian Regiments Recruitment Examinations. It wasn't that he was nervous to take on the role, but quite the opposite. After witnessing Hermes' abilities to adapt to abrupt combat situations, he had already formulated a form of interest in him.
However, this was only the interest you see when witnessing a dog doing a trick you never expected it to do, he wasn't utterly shocked or awed by his performance. All of that changed however once he learned of Hermes' medical report. Extreme malnourishment, abnormal amounts of neuromuscular fatigue, and large blisters on his feet from the scorching sand due to his shoes being damaged. Not to mention the extremely low amounts of cosmic force readings on his body that could make him seem like a corpse.
How could such a person still manage to keep their head cool and act according to a plan they only had less than a minute to formulate? How can a person even fight and defeat a mutant with such conditions? Viktor's respect for Hermes grew unimaginably. He was eager to see his performance during this examination period. At the same time, he had a suspicion that his abilities as a Celestial were more than what let on.
As the participants organized into the lines right behind him. He spoke in a bear-like voice.
"As all of you may know, this examination period will be split into three sections. Physique, Cosmic Force Affinity, and Knowledge. It will last two days."
"In the Physique section, we will be testing you on your fitness, health, and other biometric readings. There will also be a section to test your mental capacity when faced with abnormally stressful situations."
'Hopefully, there aren't any strict requirements in this section, or else I'm doomed... My body might be in shape, but that's only when you look at it from a 21st-century point of view...'
Viktor continued explaining the examination criteria:
"As for the next section, it is probably the most important. We will be checking which domain of Cosmic Force you have a natural affinity with. Most people have one or two affinities, with one being the dominant. Because we can only elevate Celestials of the Knowledge and Technology domains, those who have a higher affinity with these will naturally have a higher chance of becoming Celestials."
Noticing the nervous look of most of the participants, he continued:
"However, this is not an absolute rule. If you primarily resonate with one domain, yet we consider you worthy, you still have the opportunity to become a Celestial of either the Knowledge or Technology domain, even if your primary affinity suppresses your secondary affinities in these domains. However, if you choose to pursue a Celestial path in a domain that isn't your strongest affinity, advancing through the Celestial stages may become increasingly challenging."
'I see... So it's sort of like a video game RPG character. They may have an affinity for multiple elements or stats but only one is their strongest. If a character specializes in strength, building them into a mage might work but they will still be weaker than actual mages.'
Hermes nodded to himself silently. His knowledge about cosmic force was incomplete. He didn't even know how strong the different stages of a Celestial made you. Angelica told him most information about this subject is withheld, only those in the Guardian Regiments learned about it.
After all, this was the last bastion of humanity. If they let such information out to the public, who knows what kind of criminals with the powers of Celestials could do? It was already hard enough dealing with the constant barrage of Mutant attacks and Xulu plots. However, Hermes will soon find out that even that was not an absolute.
Viktor continued his lecture:
"The last phase of the examination will be testing your knowledge of certain subjects. This section will be all-encompassing and will cover your combat adaptability, your talent in certain martial arts or mystic arts, your abilities as a strategist as well as sections like general arithmetic, pattern recognition, memory, and computation."
"We do not need dumb soldiers who will die to the simple ploys the Xulu may enact. At times, following orders can be detrimental since Mutants can disguise themselves as humans. If you can't even find out whether your superior is really your superior, you have no right to join us!"
'It seems I have underestimated the Guardian Regiments. It makes sense why this small-scale city located inside a ravine can last this long.'
"Alright, I have finished explaining each section we will be testing for. If you have begun to question whether you can make it into the ranks, step back now and head out of the barracks immediately."
After staring at the crowd for a minute, none of them budged. They have all firmly made their resolve to try their best to make it into the Guardian Regiments; for some, this is their only ticket to a better life. Viktor smiled and nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"Good, we shall begin immediately."
Soon, Viktor brought the group to a machine. One by one, the potential cadets would step on it to measure their weight. Because of Mars' gravity, Hermes' weight was sharply less than the rest.
In contrast, the natives who were born and raised in Sanctuary City had already adapted by training more and gaining more mass which offset the lower amount of gravity. This is why everyone at Sanctuary City was so tall.
Compared to him, everyone seemed like a skyscraper that pierced through the clouds. Of course, this was not completely true for all Mars-born humans as some were around the same height as him; an example of this would be Angelica. The difference in size did not make him feel inferior, however, since he knew that in a sense, his body was roughly normal when compared to Earth's standards.
He was more afraid of the fact that such an 'abnormality' to them would affect his test results more than how he looked to others. Seeing Hermes weigh way less than even the girls, Charles looked at him and grinned.
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"Pfff, what are you, a twig? How are you so tiny..."
Hermes rolled his eyes and ignored him. There was no reason for him to engage with his childish antiques. After a bit of waiting as everyone took turns to either mock Hermes or give him odd looks, Viktor who had finished recording everyone's weight and height ordered them back into their lines and led them to a different area of the barracks that he had never seen before.
It was a large grassy field, except the grass was not as healthy as you would see on Earth. It had a yellowish and dark green color as if it was close to withering away. This did not bother Hermes however, since just being able to see life on the ground after so long relieved him a little bit.
Although Sanctuary City had foliage in the form of bushes here and there as well as vines hanging from the cliffs of the ravine, the City still looked somewhat lifeless.
Most of the bushes had already withered due to the summer heat. Sanctuary City gets its water reserves from underground reservoirs, however, the difficult filtration process makes it hard for them to allocate enough water to feed the plants. That did not stop a couple of species who were resilient to the heat and could last long periods without any sustenance from stubbornly clinging to life; a testament that nature will always find a way.
Viktor turned to face the contestants and said in a deep voice.
"The first thing we will be testing is your Dexterity as well as your Stamina. On the field in front of me, those who are selected will run laps back and forth. When I blow the whistle, you will run to the other end of the field and wait until I blow it again; that will be your signal to run back to the starting line."
"Every sprint across the field and back to the starting line counts as a lap. If you do not make it to the other side before I blow the whistle, your exam ends and I will mark how many laps you completed. The first lap will take 12 seconds to complete. The more laps that are completed, the faster I will blow the whistle so it is important to pace yourself accordingly."
'After 18,000 years, we still conduct the PACER test?! God almighty, is this some sort of divine retribution? Why must I be subjected to the worst period of my high school career again?!'
Questioning his fate, Hermes began to ponder about the upcoming 'PACER' test. Even with his clear bias, he understood the reason why it was chosen. Not only does it test your cardiovascular abilities and stamina, but also your lower body strength and speed.
Those who burn away all their energy at the start of a fight will clearly have a quick death, so soldiers need to have the ability to manage their stamina and this test was perfect for such a scenario.
After considering it a little more, he quickly realized that the situation wasn't as bad as when he took the PACER test in high school. This was because he was currently on Mars, and the lower gravity meant there was less resistance to his movement.
In fact, his weight which is abnormally lower than the rest could be an advantage for him when it comes to speed; of course, his legs being shorter than the rest of the contestants could also offset this obvious leverage.
After organizing the contestants at the starting line, Viktor was ready to announce the start of the first examination. To Hermes' left was the annoying grin of Charles who was going to do his best to humiliate him during the sprint, but this was already within his expectations. He was more focused on whether Viktor would start announcing in a robotic voice: 'The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multi-stage aerobic...'
Soon, Viktor blew his whistle marking the start of the test as everyone began to run. To Hermes' disappointment, the Hi Rollers song he was used to didn't begin to play. Looking to his left, Charles had already begun dashing at full speed to his destination like a fool. He had completely ignored Viktor's instructions on managing his stamina and focused solely on outperforming Hermes in speed.
Hermes paid no attention to his antics and jogged leisurely to the other end of the field. He knew that what was important wasn't being faster than the other contestants, but how long you could last. As someone who had spent his entire life doing indoor activities mostly, he needed to leverage every advantage he could find to the best of his abilities.
Conserving his stamina was his main objective and he was not going to let some spoiled brat get in the way of that. There were others who had the same mindset as him, or it could be that they were just that unathletic.
-Woosh!
The whistle was heard as Hermes reached his destination and turned around to complete the lap. Seeing Hermes not bother with his competitive nature, Charles clicked his tongue and continued to speed up towards the end of the lap. During his sprint, Hermes noticed that not only did he feel lighter, but he felt that his body itself had changed. It seems that all the 'exercise' he did before arriving at the City had made him stronger, but only slightly.
The laps continued as more and more contestants couldn't reach the end before the whistle blew and had to stop their sprints. Only Hermes, Charles, and 8 other contestants continued. Seeing how long Hermes was lasting, Charles was infuriated. He was expecting him to run out of steam only after 15 or so laps, but here he is doing the 30th lap.
Soon, another contestant withdrew. The test had reached the 56th lap and Hermes was still running at the shock of not just the others, but himself. He didn't think he would have this much stamina in him. During his high school years, he only managed to make it to the 25th lap during his senior year. He was never someone who was deemed athletic.
The laps continued as another contestant dropped. It was now only Hermes against Charles who was showing signs of heavy panting, however, every time he looked over his shoulder, he would force himself to continue running. His pride wouldn't allow him to be defeated by some peasant from who knows where.
-Woosh!
The whistle blew marking the end of the 60th lap as both Hermes and Charles continued their sprint. However, unlike Charles who looked to be on the verge of collapsing, Hermes was sweating profusely and panting heavily but could still feel the stamina in him to continue. This made him curious about his limits, he wanted to see how long he could last.
After the 68th lap, Charles collapsed on the ground from exhaustion as a hint of rage could be seen in his eyes. He had been bested by a commoner. He had received martial arts training, extensive amounts of elixirs that enhanced his constitution and cosmic force quality, state-of-the-art training facilities, and chefs to prep every meal for him.
None of it mattered. He was helpless against someone who never received even a fraction of what was invested in him.
Of course, his build never encompassed speed or agility. His fighting style revolved around being a tank. Speed wasn't something he considered important to him.
However, he was still infuriated at the fact that someone he disliked was better at him in something. His pride blinded him from the fact that he had achieved the 2nd highest score on a test that didn't deal with what he specialized in.
The collapse of Charles never bothered Hermes as he continued to sprint forward. Soon, he too had reached his limit and stopped sprinting. Viktor whistled for the last time as the test ended. The other participants were shocked. They had never expected this foreigner to be this physically athletic.
Hermes was completely drenched in sweat, but the smile on his face did not reflect the state of his body. He used his arms as support on his knees. His heavy panting was overshadowed by the glimmer of confusion and joy seen in his eyes as he gazed up at the bright, Martian sky.
"78 laps..."
Using his advantages in weight, Mars' gravity, and his newly found strength, he was able to completely cement his spot in first place in the first exam. This was something that not even he predicted would happen. A scholar who spent more time pushing up his glasses than taking morning jogs was somehow able to beat all the contestants in regard to stamina.
END OF CHAPTER