To Be A Soldier

As soon as the voice came over the loudspeaker, the group paused in their celebration over Wesley not only being able to successfully infiltrate the learning camps for the Life and Death Frameworks, but now able to Emulate just about any Skill that was present in them. That was something that hadn't been expected by any of them, least of all Wesley.

The man had figured that if he were able to Emulate the Elements as the Skill had indicated, that he'd be able to one or two Skills, likely from who he had taken them from, but it seemed like it didn't much matter at all- he was able to just adjust what he needed to in order to suit the situation.

"I am /not/ going to get disqualified after having to sit through two hours of that," Sasha spoke up as she shoved past the brothers, moving toward the door. "Come on. We need to move," she continued, not really even bothering to wait and see if the others were following along behind her as she moved, the brunette making her way out of the room.

It didn't take more than a second for the rest of them to start to follow suit, with Jay and Evie moving first, leaving Ted and Wesley to bring up the rear. As they walked, Theodore glanced to Wes, the glasses-clad young man looking him over as if he were a science experiment rather than a person. "I would... offer advice." The words weren't quiet, but all the same, with his attention focused elsewhere, Wesley almost missed the quiet, stilted speech of the other.

"Advice? On what?" Wes asked, glancing at the boy as they walked. So far, Ted had been rather on-point with most things that they'd dealt with and Wesley fully trusted his opinion on things. He'd easily say that Ted was smarter than anyone else in their group, even if Sasha might disagree based on principle of her thinking that she was the best at everything.

It took a moment for him to answer, and Wes was starting to think that he was trying to take his thoughts and convert them into a way that the rest of them could understand. The more difficult the concept, the more quick he was to talk, but when it came to simple things like advice, it seemed like he took longer to put his thoughts together.

"When you are in the... trainings. Choose... one or two Skills. Twenty-fivers... don't have many Skills... in each Elemental Framework."

At the words, Wesley couldn't help but to consider that for a moment before he realized that what Ted was saying was quite true. He would have likely figured that out right after he had mistakenly done something foolish (like use another Skill after he had shown off one as being his Skill) as a Twenty-fiver. At that point, it would have been too late without a great deal of trying to convince everyone that he had multiple skills in an element where he shouldn't have.

The young man exhaled slowly, nodding a bit at Ted. "What do you think? Restoration or Summoning for Life?"

"I think... you should use... what feels right. The Skills... tend to be... connected." He gestured forward to Jay. "All of his... focus on increasing... his hand-to-hand ability. Sasha... has a role of support. Evie can... manipulate her summons." Ted paused at that, not really saying anything further, as if that were enough to explain what was going on in his mind.

Wesley frowned for a moment, considering for a moment, before he looked at his brother. "I think it'd make the most sense if I take a page out of his book. High Impact and a Restoration," he murmured. "It makes the most sense, given that we're related, so anyone that knows either of us would see the similar Frameworks."

Ted nodded at that, and Wesley felt a bit of a rising pride in his throat. He hadn't really expected Ted to agree so easily, but it had made sense to him, and as such, it seemed like it made sense to the glasses-clad ally of his as well. "All right. I'll just have to make it work with those two."

Of course, he could still train on his own in the use of the other Skill, and he certainly would. There was no reason not to, when he could have literally any Skill that he wanted to at his fingertips at any given time. He wondered if there was somewhere that he could read up on all the different skills offered by the various Frameworks, and in that, he could really expand his repertoire of Skills.

As he was deep in thought, he very nearly stumbled into Evie, not realizing that the group had slowed down a bit to make their way outside. The girl turned, pointing her finger up at him in a warning gesture, but said nothing else before the warm afternoon air filtered in through the now-open door as they came outside.

"Wow, they're almost late."

"Weren't they one of the first groups in?"

"Man, they must suck."

These and dozens more snippets of commentary came out from the gathered groups as their crew made their way from the building. Sasha's cheeks immediately started to color red from an embarrassed anger, but it seemed like Jay knew what was going on even before she did. He set a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back before she could explode on the group, and as she was pulled backward, Wes could hear her muttering a string of curses under her breath.

"Sorry dudes," Jay called out, spreading his hands with a grin. "Didn't mean to take so long but things got a little wild in there." He didn't say exactly what had happened, of course, and the way that he had worded it definitely made it seem like there had been something that had happened in their battle, but he technically /was/ telling the truth, regarding what had happened.

"You and your group are excused," Ellen spoke, the woman standing at the head of where everyone was gathered. The Major's hands were folded behind her back and she looked at their group with a sense of interest, but said nothing more. "You've made it to the field in time, so there will be no penalties."

After she finished speaking, she looked down at her wrist, where a watch continued to tick away the time. Wesley and their group moved forward amidst the murmurings of the other groups around them. Jay and Evie kept close to Sasha, keeping her from snapping at any of the groups that were making commentary toward them before they found an open space to stand evenly without being too close to any of the others.

Granted, just as they'd found a spot, Major Ellen nodded at her watch before once more folding her arms behind her back. "Welcome, Soldiers. If you made it out here in time, you've succeeded and will be compensated accordingly for your new position within Haven as such. As we had indicated initially, the group that you have passed the trials with is your unit. The five of you will be working together in order to further establish your teamwork and strength amongst one another so that when you are called upon to fight the Beasts, you will not find yourself immediately destroyed."

A few nervous laughs came from that statement- a clear indication to Wesley that some of them didn't understand just how dangerous the Beasts could be. "With that being said, I want to remind you all that with the passing of your tests, you ARE now Soldiers. Which means, that in the event of an attack by Beasts that our standard Guard is unable to overcome, you will be called to action."

That caused all the talking that was happening within the groups to cease immediately as they turned to watch Major Ellen. The older woman's gaze moved over those gathered below. "I don't know if any of you felt this would be easy. Haven is the last bastion for Humanity. It is why all of you are required to participate. If you treat this with less respect than it deserves- if you do not give your all into every single thing that you do here, you will die."

"And if you die, you open the way for your allies to die. A break in formation may cause the other Soldiers to die, and your weakness could very well spell the demise for the entire human race. Do you understand?" she inquired, the woman's gaze sharp as she stared down at the various newly appointed Soldiers gathered before her.

A murmuring assent came from those gathered. Quiet and innocuous. Little more than a tenuous agreement to the heavy words spoken.

"YES MA'AM!" a sudden, loud call came, and several heads turned to see Evie, up on the shoulders of Mr. Woodhead, the girl's hands both in the air. "We are ready to give our lives to keep Haven safe!" she added.

Major Ellen smirked at the girl, before looking to the rest. "Well? What about the rest of you?" she asked.

Wesley could hear a collective breath being drawn by all those around him, and he realized that he was doing it as well. And then in unison, a single shout echoed out from all those gathered. "YES MA'AM!"