Creeeeeeakkkk!
The large wooden door to the assembly hall opened up.
Victor entered first as he was just standing beside the door.
A crowd of students followed right behind him.
Gradually, the assembly hall filled with a sea of students, and murmurs echoed around.
Victor stood in the crowd, with a small space around him that remained empty. All students avoided him like the plague. He stood with a flat expression, crossing his arms and looking ahead at the stage.
On the front of the stage, two soldiers stood in camouflage army outfits, crossing their arms behind their backs and chest out, with black army hat covering their hair.
Behind them, on the chair, a girl with a blue uniform and long black hair with one golden star on either side of her shoulders sat, crossing her legs.
She appeared to be uninterested in everything going around her; her eyes were peeled inside the brown leather book she was holding in her hand.
'She looks young, how could she reach one star so early?' Victor thought, looking at the officer.
She raised her head, and her eyes drifted toward Victor.
She smiled at him and turned away. She looked around the hall, and students stole glances towards her, pointing and whispering to each other.
She sighed and went back to her book, ignoring all the surroundings.
"Please make two lines, we will check each participant separately, and they'll be ranked according to stats and levels they have." One of the two soldiers' thunder-like voice sounded in the hall. Everyone fell silent, and his every word, clear and crisp, echoed in the hall.
Two lines of students emerged in the hall, reaching to the far end of the hall.
Victor was pushed away till he reached the end of the line. He gritted his teeth, looking at the long line. His heart simmered in fury; the disregard and humiliation made him furious.
He clenched his fists, knuckles turning white in anger, but his mind remained calm, like a water gate stopping the fire inside of him.
Unbeknownst to Victor, his nature was slowly changing.
Soldiers were not looking at the status of students; one can't look at the status. People can see the color of your status panel, but not stats.
The status panel is considered a sacred secret of everyone. It's taboo for someone to even ask anyone to show the stats.
The Military let the soldiers use advanced-level assessment panels, by which they can appraise the level and strength stat of a person.
At the front line, soldiers sat across the table and students stepped toward it.
Soldiers had a blue screen open before them, as soon as students stood across the table, the blue light came out from it and scanned the student from head to toe. After that, their accurate level and strength appeared on the soldiers' panel.
After they confirmed the stages and level, they asked the student to show them the color of the panel, which is the ultimate factor for deciding the rank.
The student showed his blue panel, Goddess Gaia's blessing, Soldiers gave him the tag with light blue steel color, and the rank with their name written on it.
As the line moved slowly, Zara's turn came. She stood before the soldier.
[Zara Quinn]
[Level-6]
[Strength- 13]
[Rank- Iron]
Zara smiled happily and turned around, her blue eyes searching through the crowd. As her eyes fell on Victor, she smiled. Victor nodded with a small twitch in his lips.
Boom!
An explosion broke out in the middle of the hall. Stones went flying.
Smoke and dust spread.
Chaos ensued.
Screams of pain echoed. As the smoke decreased the visibility, only the crying sounds of students could be heard.
Students ran around like chickens without a clue.
The moment the explosion occurred, one stone flew toward Victor
Bam!
Victor's head recoiled back as the stone hit his forehead.
He clenched his forehead as the warm blood trickled through his fingers.
Swoosh!
A strong gust of air came, clearing the hall.
Victor's eyes drifted to the middle of the hall, his eyes widened, his heart thundered, and his fist clenched.
In the middle of the hall, one star officer stood, her sword out and pointed toward a being holding Zara by the neck.
Dark smoke surrounded his body, his eyes, and skin black like ink. His naked black body was only covered by black smoke.
All the students, even the ones who were hurt and bleeding, also froze.
"Chao alien!" one of the girls screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Hmmm, I love the emotion of fear". It moaned loudly, the sound felt like a human, but the intent behind it was inhumane.
A long, pointed tongue slithered out of his mouth and licked Zara's cheek. She shuddered, flinching her neck sideways. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her eyes searched for someone, anyone, to help.
'Please help.'
'I don't want to be corrupted.' She screamed in her mind.
"I love the tender flesh when it is ripe with fear, it gives the flesh the taste of…. What you humans call it." It paused, thinking with a clawed black finger on his lips.
"Ahh, yes, Umami, Hmm, it tastes like Umami," it laughed loudly, with a scary smile of sharp teeth.
Zara shuddered in fear; she wished for help and death instead of corruption.
One star officer standing before Chaos being, her face was filled with disgust, her hand clenched around her sword. Mona Amryl is the First Lieutenant. She had faced many Chaos aliens, and they always used wicked ways.
The two Soldiers came and stood behind her. She looked at them and nodded.
"You should think before attacking me? Do you even know who I'm holding in my hands?" Chaos Alien asked with a wide monster-like smile.
Mona frowned, her eyes scanned Zara, but didn't find anything different than all the other students.
"Ohh, Humans are always slow, our Great God gave us the mission, and do you know what that is?" Chaos Alien's smile widened.