Inside a hall in the large army barracks of the Obedin City Army, a group of privates stood before their Sergeant who addressed them from a podium.
"Welcome privates to Obedin City Army".
"Thank you, sir!"
Sergeant Stones stood on the podium as his bald head sparkled to the light illuminating the hall while his eyes glared at the privates like a hawk.
Amid his glare, he got inspiration on how to start his speech.
"German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel of the old era before mystic awakening once said".
"War makes extremely heavy demands on the soldier's strength and nerves. For this reason, make heavy demands on your men in peacetime exercises".
"I know a lot of you were ecstatic after getting the news that you were chosen to become soldiers of this prestigious army".
Sergeant Stones' eyes turned sharp. "You better leave that fantasy world that you brought with you behind. Entering the army gives you a nice pay and a lot of other privileges, but it also heaps a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders".
"Here in the army, we dream but we also fight, we fight for our survival!"
"We are still at war with the Mystic Beasts. To survive, we can't afford to rest on our rails, we need to keep on striving and fighting to stand a chance!"
"That is why no lazy soldier is allowed in the army".
"Once you're found lazy, you're dead!"
Sergeant Stones' eyes seemed to shoot daggers at the privates as he said this, some of them shuddered at his glare.
"Archilochos of the old era before mystic awakening said we don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training".
"I can't force any of you, but I hope you came here with high expectations".
"Those who perform the poorest will be evicted from the army every 6 months, while those who perform excellently after 6 months will get the opportunity of being promoted".
After saying this, Sergeant Stones' stony face finally relaxed as all the privates in this huge hall all seemed to heave a huge sigh of relief.
Sergeant Stone motioned at the female soldier standing beside him on the podium before he continued. "Before officially being assigned a role in the army, we first need to test your level to know your power level".
"There are 3 tests prepared to test your power level. We have the strength test, the speed and agility test, and the endurance test".
Once Sergeant Stone finished speaking, the front of the hall behind the podium opened as a massive advanced training chamber was exposed.
The soldiers working with the Sergeant went to work as they arranged the new cadets into groups where they would take the test individually.
Turan and Cassandra fell into a group far from Rex's. Of course, among the privates, Rex saw some familiar faces from his academy who graduated with him. He recognized others as seniors of the previous academy session.
Once it came to Rex's turn, alongside the other members of his group, they took the 3 tests individually.
The strength test was simple, all that Rex needed was to punch a metal block while equipping a metal glove.
Once Rex wore the gloves, he took deep breaths to regulate his internal body state before taking a step backward as all his muscles were stretched taut.
The next moment, like the recoil of a pistol, Rex threw his punch as his right fist launched straight at the metal block.
Bang!
Once both metals collided, a loud sound reverberated as figures quickly started counting on the strength gauge. After a second, the figures stabilized.
>Strength: 20<
The figures were the same as those in Rex's system.
After the strength test came the speed and agility test. This time, Rex was tasked to fight a group of swift robots with nothing but a pair of daggers.
Rex did not specialize in daggers, but every student who graduated from Obedin Mystic Academy had a basic mastery of every common weapon.
For the first time, Rex got to make use of the Death Daggers which was one of the mystic treasures that he got from the Blood Tome as a token.
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[Death Daggers!]
[Bonded Warrior: Rex Vector!]
[Quality: Upgradable!]
Rarity: Rare
- Attack: 25-37 Damage
- Durability: ???
[Mystic Effects: Ancillaen Gaze; Blood Edge.]
[Ancillaen Gaze: When activated through your bloodline connection, your opponent will be subjected to the petrifying gaze of a dead Vampire Ancillae!]
[Effects of Ancillaen gaze: +10% psychological suppression to your opponent, 10% chance to mentally petrify your opponent, and it grants +10% confidence in battle.]
[Blood Edge: When activated through your bloodline connection, the edge of the Death Daggers would be coated with blood granting them +100% penetration damage and a 20% chance to suck opponent's blood!]
[Remark: The blood-sucking Dagger!]
[NOTE: These effects can be used and maintained with mystic energy.]
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Once Rex grabbed the Death Daggers, he felt the dread of the 20 robots fading away from his mind as confidence came in waves.
Whoosh!
Once he rushed at the beasts, he put his full speed on the line as this was a speed and agility test. His main purpose was to incapacitate the robots as fast as possible while evading every move of theirs.
Clang! Clang!
The clash soon started as Rex's pair of daggers constantly found a tricky angle to dig into the metallic plating of the robots who were eager to kill him.
The clash continued for 10 minutes before the last robot finally fell, turning into scrap. Rex sustained only 2 cuts which were already far better than most of the other privates who tried their best in this test.
Once the test came to an end, the gauge read fast as the final readings were quickly displayed before everyone.
>Speed: 17<
>Agility: 15<
Compared to his system status, the speed stat was a bit different but Rex attributed this to the fact that he was not tasked to run along a track.
After completing the speed and agility test, like the others, Rex also took the endurance test. The endurance basically involved how much beating he could take and was undoubtedly the hardest test for the privates.
As soldiers though, they obeyed their superiors and took the test. After receiving a hammering from a huge robot, Rex's score came out.
>Vitality: 40<
Once this figure came out, a stunned silence dominated the hall as every soldier turned to look at Rex. Compared to the other privates, Rex's vitality score was the best and it surpassed the 2nd best by a sizeable margin of 11.
The commotion only lasted for a moment as the test continued.
Once Rex joined the line of those who already completed the test, he could not help but reminisce back on his performance and his system status.
Through his system status, he already got to understand his stats. The strength stat was basically his power, his ability to carry heavy objects, throw heavy punches, and swing powerful sword slashes.
As for his speed stat, it involved his overall speed at great distances. His agility involved short-range acceleration, reaction speed, and attack speed.
As for his mind stat, it had nothing to do with his intelligence. This stat was more related to metaphysics, it was his ability to navigate the world of his mind and his resistance against mind and soul-related mystic abilities.
As for his vitality stat, it involved his endurance, his ability to take a beating, and his health recovery speed. This was his best stat so far mostly because of his newly awakened bloodline as a Vampire.
As a Vampire, Rex's health points in a humanoid state may not be too high but his recovery speed was completely astonishing.
A few minutes later, the test finally came to an end. Rex was opportune to see the stat of some people that he was familiar with, especially Turan and Cassandra who both took the test after he was done.
…
Candidate: Cassandra Putin
>Strength: 13<
>Speed: 14<
>Agility: 13<
>Vitality: 10<
…
Candidate: Turan Elliot
>Strength: 22<
>Speed: 18<
>Agility: 16<
>Vitality: 21<
…
Once the test was over, Sergeant Stones faced the privates with his stony gaze again as he gave them his words of conclusion.
"We now have a basic understanding of your overall power".
"To be sincere, I am not impressed, I expect more from soldiers of this army".
"You won't last a minute against a strong basic mystic beast with such strength, this is the reason why you need to work hard like a maniac in the coming months of your stay here".
"Have aspirations and work hard to achieve them".
"Remember my promise of eviction from the army and promotion".
"We need leaders and warriors in the army, not lazy baboons".
"Remember this, newer generations of privates will look up to you as seniors. if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader".
"Go to the Black Camp where you'll be assigned to teams".
With that, Sergeant Stones dismissed the soldiers.
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