Erie Knew that the core wouldn't shine; he knew he didn't have an ability because his system reminded him of that several times. But he couldn't imagine why the city was publicly forcing them to undergo a test like this and projecting it on a large screen. Not only were the students watching, but students of the following year were also watching.
Before the announcement of the draft was made, Erie always read about Beachside City and its military academy. He read that people with no ability went there to gain an ability. They all had elemental choices between water, earth, fire, and air, but they were all given at the FFF ranked.
When someone with no abilities acquires an ability, they can avoid being bullied by those with abilities. This opportunity will enable them to secure a good job, whether in the military or elsewhere, and some even become strong enough to become independent travelers.
Before the Pendant merged with Erie, Erie was considering joining Beachside City Academy to gain an ability; this was a popular choice amongst mostly orphans because they didn't have a family to depend on.
But now that Erie has a system, he has second thoughts about acquiring an ability from the academy. It'll only limit him to what he can gain from the system.
Erie finally reached out and touched the core. While holding on to the core, he felt a slight pull from his stomach. Erie looked at the core, and a system notification appeared in his vision.
"Energy core detected."
"Energy attempt to pull from user."
"Energy attempt blocked."
Erie didn't know why, but everything seemed to be off to a bad start because of the system. He didn't know if it was helping him or hurting him. Private Carl looked at Erie, and he seemed almost sorry for him. "No, worried Erie! You're an orphan, correct?" Erie nodded his head. Yes, sir, I am."
He handed Erie a bronze ribbon. "Very well!" he said. "I placed this on your arm, and we will explain the significance of this ribbon on your first day of class."
Erie took a moment to catch his breath as he awaited Alex's call to the core. With a grin, Alex caught Erie's eye. "Hey, Erie, I know it's tough!" he said, lifting his arm to reveal a shiny silver ribbon tied around it. "I already completed my energy test and was in a different section. I requested to be here with you, and it's awesome they granted it!"
"Actually, people always do this to be with their friends." Gene stepped in and placed his arms around Erie and Alex. "So you have a special ability, huh?" he asked Alex. "What is it?"
Alex looked at Gene and back at Erie, scratching the back of his head; Gene's friendliness seemed to throw Alex off a little. "UGH, I'm not sure yet?" he lied to Gene. He didn't want to reveal his ability to someone he didn't know. He had to protect himself by any means, and if he revealed too much, it could be a downfall for both him and Erie.
"It's okay; I know you won't know me much! But I'm your guy when you need help, okay?" he smiled.
Alex took a step back from Gene, "Ugh, Sure?"
"Attention!" Privileged Carl announced. Sorry for the delay! We were waiting for the rest of the tests to finish their energy tests! " He then looked around in the evening outside the gates.
"Even if you do not have an energy reading yet, you are still required to take the next set of tests!" he yelled.
Erie found this strange because, from what he read, the academy told the students who didn't have abilities that they didn't have to take the test after the core test; it was only for people with abilities to measure how capable they were at using them.
"Please, you guys stand back!" he yelled. The students then backed up, and the ground of the facility started to open. Giant balls, targets, and other range target materials began to appear out of thin air.
"We never had this in my city," Erie thought. But then, Erie noticed the target was far from the starting point.
Without warning, Private Carl called out the name of the eries. "Alright, Erie, you're up first!" you have 15 seconds... Ready go." Carl gave Erie no time to set himself. But he had no choice but to run to the first target, about 5 meters from the starting line. He hit the target. And the number on the projector that hovered above the facility displayed the number 3 by eries name.
"Strength 3," Carl said out loud for everyone to hear; he jotted a few notes down and quickly had Erie move to the next test; the last test you must take, Erie, is the agility test. The test dummies popped in and out of the ground at a rapid paste. All Erie had to do was hit each dummy as fast as he could until he couldn't hit them. The first missed punch, he was out.
For every dummy he punched, the dummied would materialize and vanish faster.
"Agility and speed 8," Carl announced. The number 8 then appeared next to his name, which floated above the training facility.
After Carl announced his scores, they seemed very accurate because his system gave him the same start after being cut in half by sleep deprivation; the test showed his speed and agility as eight and his strength as 3, which was the same score as the systems.
Erie shook his head. He knew he was not going to score well, but he just wished he had gotten more sleep before his "New roommate" barged into all of his rooms, waking him up. According to the books he read, Erie knew he could retake the test during a testing day to receive a different score, so he let the storing go.
"Erie Sunheart, your overall City level is a Tripple F Ranked ability user," Carl said.
Erie closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked back behind Alex and Ghene; he knew his days at the beachside city would be challenging, but he hoped it would all change in time.