Chapter 10: Stellar Admission Part 2

Lucien Anderson sat among hundreds of other candidates in a vast hall that buzzed with anticipation. The room was an architectural marvel, blending sleek metallic designs with holographic panels that hovered around the perimeter, displaying important announcements and statistics. Above, a glowing dome cast a soft, ambient light, creating a blend of futuristic elegance and an atmosphere of tension.

Every seat in the hall was occupied, each filled with young aspirants from all over the region. Some whispered nervously to their neighbors, while others sat stone-faced, their gazes fixed on the massive stage at the front. Lucien adjusted his posture, feeling the weight of the moment settle in his chest. He looked to his right, Amara had a stone cold face, no longer was she the go happy girl when she was either with Lucien or Seraphina, now she seemed like a warrior ready to fight. Lucien also steeled his resolve as he focused foward

At the center of the stage, a tall man in a dark military-style uniform approached the microphone. His presence alone silenced the room. He was a commanding figure, his silver hair cropped short, with sharp eyes that seemed to pierce through the crowd. On his chest gleamed a badge marked with the insignia of Stellar Vanguard Academy, the humanity's most prestigious awakeners school.

When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of authority, amplified by the acoustics of the hall.

"Welcome, candidates," he began, his gaze sweeping over the sea of faces. "You stand here today because you aspire to join the ranks of the humanity's finest. You wish to walk the halls of Stellar Vanguard, to become warriors, scholars, and defenders of our future. But let me make one thing abundantly clear: not all of you will succeed."

A hush fell over the crowd.

"Admission is not granted lightly. You will be tested—not just in skill, but in determination, wit, and resourcefulness. Over the next three stages, we will evaluate whether you have what it takes to be among the elite. These trials will not only measure your capabilities but also test your character."

Lucien's fingers curled into a fist as the man paused, allowing his words to sink in.

"There are three tests that will be conducted. The first one will be a theoretical exam. Knowledge isn't just power; it's the key that unlocks every door to your future. Though this won't disqualify you it will surely affect your rankings when being admitted," he continued. "The second will be a basic combat test, here it is required all new comers to have knowledge in combat, it is for this reason why most of you chose this school. Remember we cannot help those wo do not choose to help themselves."

The words struck a chord with Lucien, his foundational knowledge was solid while his knowledge in combat was phenomenal. H elooked at Amara who was also looking at him and they both nodded to each other.

"The final test." He said after a brief pause." Will be a dungeon run."

The hall immediately fell into silence, who here didn't understand what he meant. A dungeon run was where awakeners rushed into newly opened gates with the aim of getting first clears, this usually happened with low ranking dungeons as high ranking ones had valuable resources that could be exploited.

"You will be going into an E rank dungeon, whether you team up or go solo I do not care what matters is you get a minimum of 500 points with no maximum, though the higher the points the higher your rankings."

The crowd began to mummur some were confident on completing this tests while others were skeptical on their chances of getting admitted while some showed no outward reaction. The instructor spoke again.

"Let us begin the first test." 

He clapped once and the hall began to move, the chairs they were sitting on immediately created considerable distance from each other.

Lucien sat at a sleek metallic desk in a brightly lit examination hall, a holographic screen flickering to life before him. The screen displayed his name and identification number alongside a timer counting down from two hours. Around him, hundreds of other candidates adjusted their seats or stared nervously at their screens. Some cracked their knuckles, while others fidgeted with the stylus provided for note-taking.

The proctor at the front of the room, a stern woman with cybernetic eyes that scanned the hall for signs of cheating, raised her voice.

"The theoretical exam begins now," she said.

The countdown started, and the room fell into tense silence.

Lucien took a deep breath and tapped the screen. The first question materialized in bold letters:

"Question 1: A Class C Void Serpent has ambushed your squad in a dense jungle. It is using its natural cloaking ability to remain hidden between attacks. How do you counter its stealth capabilities?"

The options below were detailed:

A: Activate wide-range sonar pulses to detect movement.

B: Deploy proximity mines and retreat to a safe distance.

C: Use thermal imaging to track heat signatures.

D: Split your squad to cover more ground and force the serpent to reveal itself.

Lucien's brows furrowed as he considered the question. Void Serpents were notoriously elusive, and splitting the squad was a recipe for disaster. Thermal imaging wouldn't work due to it's natural capabilites of masking both it's smell and heat. He selected A and moved on.

The next few questions delved into galactic geography, strategic decision-making, and alien biology. One particularly challenging query asked him to identify weaknesses in the exoskeleton of a Kralthan Ravager, a monstrous creature he'd only read about in his studies.

As time ticked on, the questions became increasingly complex. Midway through, Lucien encountered a scenario-based question:

"Scenario: You are leading a mission to rescue a stranded civilian group on a unrecognized dungeon spawn. Limited resources mean you can only bring one of the following tools. Which do you choose?"

The options were a reinforced shield generator, a medical supply drone, or a plasma-based cutting torch.

He tapped the medical supply drone, reasoning that saving lives would take precedence over barriers or tools.

He continued ansewring questions until one hour was up.

The last section of the exam was an essay prompt:

"Describe a strategy for managing team morale during extended operations in hostile territory."

Lucien paused, letting his thoughts settle. He began to type:

"Leadership in hostile environments relies on empathy, decisiveness, and transparency. A leader must maintain clear communication while addressing the physical and emotional needs of their team..."

He wrote until his fingers ached, focusing on every detail he'd learned from reading about great commanders. By the time the timer hit zero, Lucien had barely finished reviewing his essay.

"Time's up!" the proctor called. The screens blinked off, and a collective sigh of relief rippled through the room.

After a brief recess, the candidates were directed to the combat arena. This room was vastly different from the clinical atmosphere of the exam hall. The walls gleamed with a high-tech sheen, and the floor was lined with impact-resistant tiles. At the center stood rows of humanoid training dummies, each equipped with sensors and mobility modules to mimic real combatants.

Lucien joined a group of students as an instructor addressed them.

"Welcome to the basic combat test," the instructor said. "Here, we evaluate your ability to utilize both physical prowess and mana techniques. You will face two rounds: the first against stationary dummies, where precision and technique are key, and the second against mobile dummies designed to fight back."

Lucien clenched his fists, feeling slightly nervous.

"Samuel Blake. You're up first."

The student who was called walked up, he looked nervous as he was gripping his sword tightly and releasing shallow breaths. He walked up to the instructor.

"Make sure to hit the stationary dummy with everything you have."

Samuel nodded, he walked foward and gripped his sword with both hands as wind mana begun to surge, he swung his sword at a speed Lucien was barely able to see and the dummy was struck with a large wind slash, turning yellow with hints of orange.

"Next with a dummy that actually fights back." The instructor said 

The dummy returned back to it's grey color and a sword appeared in it's arm as it charged Samuel. He quickly defended himself and he and the dummy fought for two minutes before the dummy stopped, on it were various colors on it such as yellow, orange and red, while Samuel was breathing in deeply his body covered in small bruises.

'Take this and stand aside." The instructor threw a potion at Samuel who then went to the side.

"Alright Katie Bell your next."