CHAPTER 22

Other candidates were murmuring.

"Keira would have surely passed if she did not help Vel," Trish commented. She looked irritated at Vel.

Her eyes were accusing Vel as she said, "You keep on bullying her and yet she failed the test because she helped you!"

"I told you to leave me," Vel murmured to Keira as she bowed her head.

"Raise your head! Why would you feel like that? It's just in my nature, so don't worry. Maybe, the Academy is really not for me. So don't blame yourself because it's my own choice and I decide things on myself." Said Keira loudly, making sure that those who were murmuring and accusing Vel heard it.

Lana, Drey, and May sighed.

"What is this? We pass and the mastermind for this military thing failed?" Lana complained.

"Can you please consider, Keira Chan? She is just a minute late and there's a valid reason. She helped me so…" Vel requested to the Generals and Lieutenants watching.

"Hey, stop that!" Keira scolded Vel. However, all candidates who witnessed what happened agreed with Vel and requested the same.

"Alright, we are all aware of this commotion. But it's not for us to decide. The five Generals in charge of the tests this year… It's their sole discretion, so we will ask them." Lieutenant Long answered.

"Bro, you're one of those Generals, right?" Torin asked Zach who nodded and stood up to have a deliberation with the other Generals.

"Damn, the curiosity will kill me! I must witness this voting thing no matter what happened!" Torin hissed as he followed Zach quietly.

The five Generals had a thorough discussion while General Lei listened.

"That's the twist, right? All who have passed the second rounds were the admitted ones already? That final round was designated to test them mentally to understand if they will still be ready to continue further or quit?" General Choi said.

"Yes, but we want to avoid commotion since the person involved is Field Marshal Chan's daughter so announcing it might sound biased," General Ling said.

"Generals, let's just vote. We are five here so let's see if we get a three YES or a three NO? About the announcement, let Lieutenant Long decide on it" General Lei suggested.

Torrin was not breathing at all as he witnessed the voting…

There were two YES and there were two NO…

Only one person was left to vote and that would decide if Keira Chan would be admitted or not.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Alright, candidates, this has been a roller coaster ride for all of you and I must say you all did your best. To tell you honestly, the tests ended in the second round. If you recall my speech before we all began doing the third round, I've already called you all 'SURVIVORS', right?" Lieutenant Long announced.

His words made all the candidates murmur among themselves.

"Oh, that's why I was a bit confused when I heard the word 'survivors' from Lieutenant Long because I clearly recall that he previously said that only survivors will pass the final tests." Lana murmured.

"So, this final round thing is actually only a trial for you guys, so you can experience the basic training inside the Military Academy and in the end, we will give you the freedom to choose if you wish to continue or not. We are so glad that all of you still managed to complete the tasks in time, but then sadly, two among you were left behind and did not make it in time. As I said earlier, this course should have been treated as a real battle and all of you should have been doing everything you can to survive, right?" Lieutenant Long said.

"Aye!" All the candidates answered in chorus.

"But then to make everything fair, and because we still need to follow certain rules, our five Generals in charge of these tests still needed to vote," declared Lieutenant Long.

Then he smiled and added, "And I must say those five had a crucial opinion on the matter. I won't say who voted 'Yes' and who voted 'NO', but excitingly, each got two votes, leaving the final decision to one of the Generals."

The candidates gasped. Keira and Vel held hands, both feeling nervous as if it was the judgment day for both of them.

"So, that General has actually voted… Hmm, but wait... I should say what he said before he cast his vote and we do hope that this serves as an inspiration for you guys." Lieutenant Long elaborated.

"Soldiery is not only about surviving and saving yourselves in a battle. You are a soldier because you have to save others around you as long as you can," quoted Lieutenant Long.

Upon hearing from Lieutenant Long what the General had said, Keira jumped up and screamed as she still held Vel's hand.

"We passed!!! He voted YES! I will kiss that General!" Shouted Keira, not caring about the people around her.

Lieutenant Kang's laughter roared in the microphone, which stopped Keira.

She bit her lip and suddenly bowed and apologized for being carried away.

"That girl is really funny and adorable," most of the soldiers commented as they laughed.

"Too bad I'm not that General who can receive that kiss from our young lady. But anyway, I think I don't need to announce it since Miss Keira Chan has already shouted it to us. Yes, the last General voted for YES, so congratulations Miss Keira and Miss Vel. You two have also passed the test and congratulations, once more, to all of you because you are survivors and we welcome you all to the Military Academy. You can now go back to your tents. Go and get cleaned. We will do the Oath-Taking Ceremony and Reception Rites in the evening so rest for a while." Lieutenant Kang said with humor.

Keira quickly ran to her friends and they all hugged each other while crying. They all felt very good because their hardships finally came to success.

"We all smell muddy and yucky," Keira complained still crying tears of happiness.

"We should all go and clean up now. By the way, I owe that General a kiss. I just hope it's not the Seniors!" Keira murmured in a jest that made her friends laugh.

"Who knows… He could be General Lim," May said as she wiped her tears. It was also her fault that Keira's passing was hung like that.

"It could also be General Liu," Lana said, which made Keira's expression turn wary.

"Or one of the three Seniors since there are only two young Generals," commented Drey who laughed and pinched Keira's cheeks.

.....

"Field Marshal Chan, Miss Keira made it. She has passed!" reported John to Field Marshal who was having tea with his wife.

After a signal from Field Marshal Chan, John began to narrate everything that had happened…

"Oh, that's my daughter! I told you that we should have watched it!" Mrs. Chan exclaimed as regret crossed her face for not seeing her daughter in action.

"Don't worry, darling, it's all recorded and you can watch it now all you want. I just asked John to narrate it since I'm too excited to know what happened," said Field Marshal Chan laughing as he signaled John to play the said video on the wide screen in the living room.

"By the way, tell me who voted Yes and voted No," asked Field Marshal Chan.

John answered and Mrs. Chan smiled widely and said, "I guess your daughter's effort won't be in vain and seems to be progressing well"

"It's too early to predict, it's Zach's nature to do the right thing so it's given, however, I'm still thankful that he considered to let Keira get admitted to the Academy," Field Marshal Chan commented with a smile.

His daughter really had good eyes and chose well.

__________

"Find out who's the last General that voted." Keira sent a message to John and in a second her phone rang.

Her smile almost reach her ears when she heard the news that it was Zach's vote that let her be admitted to the Academy.

It only meant one thing for her… She's still not a stalker in his eyes.

"We are definitely destined for each other!" She whispered as she couldn't hide her excitement. She even stomped on her feet like she was running but not moving at all because of the butterflies that were rumbling in her stomach.

She did not care at all if someone might have seen her at that moment. She also wanted to scream out of joy but controlled herself of course.

Then the time came when they heard the loudspeaker as all of them were instructed to report at the Main Hall.

Keira was already walking when she felt a hand on her shoulder so she stopped.

It was Vel who seemed to be very timid and barely looked at her with her head slightly down.

Keira smiled and asked, "Yes Vel, do you need anything?"

Vel looked at her and let out a half smile before she said, "I want to say sorry for being insensitive toward you. I thought you are like others so I judged you like the same but I was wrong. Sorry, Keira. Also, thank you."

Keira winked at her and said, "Nah, it's nothing, Vel. We are good. Let bygones be bygones. So let's hurry… You know, I'm so excited to reach there that I even want to run to the Main Hall."

Vel slightly felt bashful when the smiling Keira grabbed her wrist as she energetically went back to walking to the Main Hall.

At the oath-taking ceremony and reception rites, Field Marshal Chan was present and gave an encouraging and welcoming speech to the newly admitted members of the ZMA Class.

"I heard my daughter caused a commotion, but then the Generals who voted Yes for her, I will deal with them after… because as a FATHER, I really don't want my daughter to experience hardships but of course, she is determined. As I've always said, treatment inside the Military Academy should be always fair… So treat each and everyone as comrades because we are all here for the same goal regardless of the differences." Field Marshall Chan said and a round of applause was heard, so he paused.

Then he continued, "What is important is our unity for that same goal. There's still a lot of training ahead, and I do hope all of you will learn a lot and grow at the same time while you are inside our Military Academy. The best training program in the world is absolutely worthless without the will to execute it properly, consistently, and with intensity. This four to five months training will transform you from being "boys" into "gentlemen" and "girls" into "ladies". It will instill in you the military doctrines, the Army tactics, and procedures that will mold you into reliable and responsive members of an Infantry squad, committed to accomplishing the unit's missions," Field Marshal Chan announced.

"Your new journey just began. Finish the training and prove your worth to be part of our country's Army that upholds the virtues of the Armed forces of the Z Country and perform with pride and honor in serving the people and securing our land."

"Again, I congratulate and welcome you all!" Field Marshal Chan finished his speech before he handed the stage back to Lieutenant Long.

Hoorah!!!

Hoorah!!!

All the newly admitted members shouted in answer.

"Thank you so much for the warm welcome of our honorable Field Marshal Chan who I'm sure will scold the Generals who voted Yes for his only daughter. But don't worry because one of those Generals will receive a reward from that daughter herself," Lieutenant Long teased, which made the Main Hall fill with laughter.

Meanwhile, Zach blushed so hard due to embarrassment because he knew it was him that Lieutenant Long was referring to while Jeru, who was seated next to Zach, darkened because of deep annoyance.

Lana shook her head as she looked at Keira's wicked aura...

"She will absolutely do something hilarious soon," May murmured, knowing well how her friend's mind worked.

"I agree with you. That's exactly her burning look that is about to burst out anytime soon. She'll definitely explode…" said Lana.

"Poor man, this night surely won't end without Keira accomplishing doing something wicked." May finalized

"Hmmmp… You both, stop it. I have a different plan you know. I'll make sure that I'll keep every moves low for now." Keira who was just in between the two women exclaimed.

But half of it was true of course. Some of her ways might be wicked but what could she do? She really liked him and she did not want to let the opportunity before her eyes slip away like that when she knew that she had a great chance of achieving it.

She looked at Zach but quickly looked away since she noticed that Jeru kept on staring at her.

'The heck… Why do I feel like we are in a circle?' She mused when she suddenly felt alarmed at the thought that what Jeru was doing somehow was similar to what she was doing to Zach.