As Bill ran towards the other side to help out Mako and the others, he couldn't help but notice the significant decrease in the amount of wind aura in his body as compared to moments ago when his mutant gene was active.
He couldn't believe that Erin had been enjoying such great boosts of power for far longer than he had.
However, this also led to the realization that he had given his wind ability a lot less credit. He had been so fixated on his Earth and Sand abilities because those were his father's main abilities that he completely left out the Wind ability and hardly ever trained with, but still, when he awakened his mutant gene, somehow it was the Wind ability that awakened first.
Bill observed firsthand how versatile and strong his Wind ability actually was. It could be used as both a defensive and an offensive ability and could be used everywhere because, unlike Earth where Bill needed to always be connected to the ground in order to use his ability, Wind could be used anywhere.
Bill's Wind ability had revealed its true potential, and he vowed to further explore its capabilities. With newfound understanding, he picked up the pace as he was almost over at the other side where the other Terra Beetle King and his friends were.
*************
[At the military headquarters]
"This is absolutely absurd! Are they part of one of those secret programs that higher-ups don't bother to inform us about?!" One official on the round table voiced out in annoyance and shock as he witnessed Bill's performance.
Some of the other officials agreed with him because it was quite out of the ordinary for recruitment cadets to make a shocking feat, but each and every single cadet of a single group making shocking feat after shocking feat had never been done before by regular recruitment cadets.
The recruitment had multiple tiers that were separated in terms of background. It was a little biased in that all cadets from rich and powerful families were grouped separately from the rest of the cadets with normal backgrounds; however, it was also fair in the same way that this way the competition remains balanced for everyone.
The children from richer and more powerful families would have access to more resources such as the best ability and skill books, better equipment like full sets of power armor and a multitude of power weapons and gadgets, and strong genetics since their parents were strong ability users as well.
These factors would create an unfair advantage if everyone was grouped the same way which was these cadets were recruited separately and were given better treatment in what the military liked to "Special Recruitment Programs".
These programs were far more difficult and suited for these cadets who had rare abilities, and insane buffs from overpowered armor and weapons.
The cadets in these programs filled most of the special classes in the military schools, with very few cadets from lower tiers making it up there and even if they do, they mostly reside at the bottom rankings of the special classes because they can't keep up with all the "extra help" that the other cadets get.
The challenges that the group faced could have easily been overcome by those in the programs but the regular cadets have never been able to accomplish what Mako and his friends had accomplished in these past few days which was why the officials were labeling them as special cadets who accidentally got paired in the regular group.
Other than Leon, there was no other in the group who had the potential to be part of any program which was why it was so impressive that they were showing such great results.
Mako had a bit of a cheat as he had the system which helped him out a lot so to call him a genius would exactly be fair as even though he had worked quite hard and accomplished some incredible feats, he had the system helping him out in many different aspects and there were still so many that he hadn't even explored yet.
Bill was actually a person who could be considered a genius considering he was almost on par with Mako without having any system of his own and with him awakening his mutant gene, his strength and power had risen drastically. He had resonated his abilities right after learning the Wind ability which showed how in tune he was with himself and had gotten a lot stronger, by shadowing Mako and training exactly how he did, even though he didn't receive any attribute points.
Erin and Iris were handpicked by a sponsor that helped train them to the best of their abilities but they were still far ways away from being special class material; however, after they also awoke their mutant genes, they exploded in power and value as they proved they were nothing less than the other members of their group.
Awakening mutant genes was quite a random process as every single person had different requirements that couldn't be measured and just had to be discovered as they progressed through life.
Finally, there was Leon. Even though he had the potential to be a special class, the unique situation that he had with his father resulted in him not receiving any training, items, resources, or help from his father and that made him lack a lot behind everyone else of his caliber.
The only thing that was going for him was the good genetics that he had received as a heritage from his strong father and mother which allowed him to hold four abilities and show impressive utility that almost matched Bill but was still lacking since he didn't have any resonated abilities or mutant genes unlocked.
Due to Leon's wish, Paul didn't play any part in the recruitment test other than paying one of the privates to leak Mako's general landing location to Leon before they jumped off the planes.
"There is no mistake." The main commander said in a deep voice which quickly quietened down the whole table.
"All of these five people you see before you entered this island with almost no gear, average abilities, and skill, but what they have that is far superior to many of the cadets we see each year are determination, loyalty, and sheer will. You have seen them in action time and time again, do you honestly think, they resemble any traits with those special program cadets?" The main commander said.
The whole room felt silent as they thought about what the main commander said. Almost all of these officials were also lower ranked and a few of them had their children participate in similar recruitment tests this year too which was why they were more emotional after seeing the group's performance and comparing it to their own children, and this included the official who voiced out first.
The official's son was also participating in the same recruitment test as Mako and the others and because of this, the official had done many more shifts at the round table than other officials just so he could see his son shine in front of the others; however, that was not the case as it was only Mako's group that everyone wanted to talk about.
The official's son was still in the recruitment test and was currently finishing off the second wave of Flame Dogleos with a group of 9 other cadets which wasn't anything special that made the official jealous and he blamed Mako's group for being a special class but was quickly shut down by the main commander.
The main commander was watching the live feed of the final battle with great interest. Even he was amazed by Bill taking down an Advanced-tier beast on his own and was quite keen to learn more about the boy who succeeded his great friend, William Johnson.
'His mutant gene has grown more rapidly than many others I have seen. His wind ability must have been boosted by at least three or four levels which is quite a lot considering this is his second time using it. It also seems like he has awakened some of the perks of the mutant gene already because it looks like the aura itself was helping out and taking command over his body.' The main commander deduced as he watched the replay of Bill dodging every attack from the Beetle King.
The main holographic screen changed the camera as the scene shifted back to the main camera displaying the other battlefield where Mako and the others were fighting the second Beetle King.
The scene had drastically changed from how it looked in the beginning of the fight with the threat of defeat still very real as the group had to deal with another Advanced-tier beast and this one hadn't sacrificed its army yet.
"Sir, the cadet, Iris Jade Copper has been successfully saved and admitted to one of the recovery rooms with Commander Malik taking care of her." The Sergeant reported to the main commander.
"Hmmm... very good. Alert me when she wakes up. Malik can be a bit too direct with cadets and she would need someone to explain everything." The main commander ordered the lieutenant.
"Oh, and sir, you're guest has finally arrived and will reach the control room in a couple of minutes." The Sergeant added.
A smile appeared on the main commander's face after he heard this news. He had called for this special guest a few days back to show some promising students, but since he was on a mission at the time, he could come, but now the main commander was certain that he would love Mako and his group of talented friends.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m