Today seemed like any other day, but there was a hint of tension in the air.
Teenagers could be seen packing their gear and combat suits all around Haven City.
Why were they doing that, you may ask? For no other reason than in preparation for their respective Academy trials.
Eden was obviously active as well. With his low energy output, it would be very difficult for him to pass the test.
He had already decided to put all his effort into the earth element trial, since that was the only element in which he had a skill.
Eden had packed all he needed and was about to move out when he crossed paths with his brother.
"Where are you going, all geared up like that?" Austin asked.
"Does where I'm going matter to you?" Eden replied.
Austin didn't know why, but he felt that the relationship between him and his brother had become more and more distant for some reason.
"Well then, be safe," Austin said and left.
Eden didn't bother with his brother's strange attitude and went straight to Honors Academy.
---
Honors Academy
You couldn't really call this an academy, as it looked more like a castle from ancient times.
The people who founded the school thought it would give the school a feeling of prestige.
Eden had just arrived at the grounds and was in the middle of basking in the glory of the school when someone called him from behind.
"Eden?... What are you doing here?" a familiar voice sounded behind him.
Eden didn't need to turn back to know who the voice belonged to.
"Hello, Mia. How are you doing?" Eden asked.
Mia was both stunned and curious as to why Eden decided to come to the Academy trials.
"Are you following me?" Mia asked.
Now it was Eden's turn to be stunned.
"Why would you even think that?" Eden asked.
"I don't know, just a casual thought."
"I don't why your here but don't get in my way," Mia said as she left.
Eden just shook his head and headed for the waiting area.
In this area, there were tons of teenagers waiting, all with the hope of entering an academy.
Though Honors Academy was not as prestigious as before, it was still able to draw in a huge crowd.
Eden found a corner in the waiting room and made himself comfortable.
He then went into a state of meditation, hoping to increase his energy output before the trial, even if it was by a little.
While he was in the middle of meditation, he kept feeling like someone was tapping his shoulder.
"Why would you cut it—" Eden said as he snapped his eyes open, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw the face of his brother.
"Fuck, this just has to be my lucky day," Eden thought sarcastically.
"What are you doing here?" Austin asked.
"How does what I am doing here concern you?" Eden retorted.
"They are having a trial. You have not activated your life core yet. If you don't leave, they will think you have."
"And what makes you think I haven't activated my life core?" Eden said with a smug grin on his face.
"But you told—" Austin stopped talking as he came to a realization.
"You lied to me?" Austin asked, a hint of emotion flashed across his face.
Eden didn't bother to answer and just let him figure it out.
Austin didn't know what else to say and just walked away.
Mia happened to have seen this scene and went into thought.
"What exactly are you up to?" she asked herself.
Dong, Dong
The loud ringing of bells could be heard all over the waiting room.
Everyone already knew what those bells meant.
Without wasting much time, all the teenagers in the room left for a huge hall on the other side of the academy.
There, waiting for them, was a twenty-year-old man dressed in the robes of Honors Academy.
When he saw that everyone had arrived, he cleared his throat and began a speech.
"Welcome to Honors Academy. I am happy that you all chose this academy as the place to learn and grow. Now, enough with the long speeches."
The man paused for a while before he continued,
"The trial will consist of eight different challenges, representing the eight elements. If you feel you can handle the elements Space and Time, those two trials will also be open for you to try."
"Now before we do anything, step forward and have your energy output measured."
After he said that, there were murmurs and whispers around the crowd. No one wanted to go up first.
Energy output was measured by placing your hand on a scanner and releasing some energy into it.
The scanner would take that energy and measure the range and level.
For a normal man, his range would be 10 to 20, and his level would fall within that.
For F-rank: 20 to 30, E-rank: 30 to 40, D-rank: 40 to 50, C-rank: 50 to 60, B-rank: 60 to 70, A-rank: 70 to 80, and S-rank: 80 to 90.
These were the energy output ranges between ranks, so it meant that you and someone else might be the same rank but not have the same energy output, which could be crucial during battle.
While everyone was still hesitating, a blonde-haired dude stepped up.
He walked onto the platform and, with zero hesitation, placed his hand on the machine.
After putting in some of his power, the machine started reading.
After about three seconds, his rank, range, and level were made known to everyone.
Name: Dennis Rodman
Rank: F-rank
Range: 20 to 30
Level: 29
Hiss
There was an intake of breath. Almost everyone here was an F-rank, but this guy was at the peak of F-rank, and it was only a matter of time before he leveled up.
Dennis didn't care about the weird stares around him and just walked off the stage.