In the current world, it was rare for people to live outside the cities and towns, since those were the only places one could get work. The higher tier the city or town, the higher the average pay would be. If they could afford it, people would live in the cities, yet it wasn’t rare for the majority of the workforce to commute to work from a nearby town due to the high rent cost inside the city.
Of course, the Tier-5 ‘towns’ barely deserved such a name. They were essentially just giant dumps that housed people who had nothing and lived off of the scraps of the other cities. It was to the point that their ‘houses’ consisted of whatever materials the other cities had discarded, and they could slap together.
These cities were why the AFC Academy, more commonly known as the AFA, was a unique place.
It was a school that was the most prominent gathering place for Altered all over the country, and it was the only place of its kind in the current region. Of course, there were academies abroad that trained special Altered, but this academy was more unique since, as the name suggested, it was an official part of the AFC.
It was generally considered the best place for any Altered's future, be it as an Altered fighter, or in another profession. There were many events for the students to show off to sponsors of the worldwide most watched televised sport!
The academy itself was located in a tier two city but wasn’t a part of the city itself. It was out in the countryside. It was a large building that was home to around two thousand different Altered. It might seem like a large amount, yet it was minuscule compared to the world's current population.
Despite its location, the academy boasted great wealth thanks to the students that attended it. This place was meant to be an independently run facility, away from the Tier-1 cities, although whether people believed that or not, was another thing.
Currently, five new potential students were standing inside what looked like an empty white room. Each of them was wearing a plain white uniform, and in front of them were three older gentlemen. They, too, were wearing white uniforms similar to the students, although their styling was a little different.
"Every year, facilities around the whole world succeed in making breakthrough after breakthrough." A man in the centre with giant round glasses and a tall body began to speak while pacing back and forth in front of the five teenagers.
"This has led to an increase in the appearance of Altered in general… making them more common."
Although what the professor of the academy was saying was true, 'common' seemed to be a horrible word to use in this context. After all, the statement was merely true among the upper class, and even then, less than one percent of people could afford to get their hands on Altered DNA.
"Should this trend continue, there may come a day that everyone in the world will have become an Altered. Be that as it may, our Academy HAS always and WILL always pride ourselves in one thing! We are THE place to cultivate the most elite generation of Altered!
"Naturally, that means that we don’t accept anyone. Money can’t buy everything, and it won’t buy you the right to stay here. You still have to earn that!"
Looking at the five students, they all stood up straight and tall, strong and confident, among them was Xin Clove, though she attended under a fake name. Today was supposed to be her first day at the AFA, yet from the professor's words, she understood that if she didn't show the potential, then this might also be her last.
'I'm not going back! Jayden went through all the trouble to allow me to get a chance to be free, so I need to at least be able to go through all of this!!'
The bespectacled man stepped back, allowing a bulky professor to step forward. His colleague looked a little strange, given that he had a large and round belly, yet his arms appeared to be that of a muscle builder, with next to no fat visible on them at all.
"The five of you shall now undergo a trial, which will determine your positions in the next room." The second man stated. "There are only two rules to it. Don't get hit, and remain in your human form."
"What?!" A boy shouted in frustration, his blonde spiky hair moving about due to his anger. "Some of us might have really rare Altered forms or are better at utilising it than others! If you test us without letting us go all out, how is that fair?"
"Simple." The original professor with the glasses replied. "We have done extensive research on Altered. If your Altered form is based on a genuinely strong beast, then it means your body would have changed in accordance to house it, meaning that even in your human form you will be able to display inhumane feats.
"Should that not be the case, then it simply means that the beast inside you is weak. If you dislike it, you are free to leave and apply to another academy. I can guarantee you that there won’t be a shortage of students who wish to apply, and these harsh criteria have allowed us to ensure that only the best of the best get through."
Hearing this, Xin felt confident because she trusted in her own skills even before she became an Altered. However, there was a problem. This supposed change of her body was not something she had experienced for herself.
'Maybe we shouldn't have trusted that NIRV guy. After that injection, he had assured me that everything had gone perfectly fine, but I still struggle to keep up my Altered form…' Xin thought. Fortunately, it had been enough to let her pass the Altered test they had to partake in before even getting to this stage, which proved that she was no longer human.
"Well, what do we do now?" A tired-looking kid asked, once the three professors had left the room. He had large black eyes that made him resemble a panda.
Just then, they heard a clicking sound, and in the next instant, a large black ball came hurling out from the side of the wall and struck one of the students. The ball wasn't heavy, so it didn't hurt at all, but as the student tried to pull it off from himself, the sticky substance just went onto his hand instead,
He then used his foot, but it still stuck it onto his body.
"Rick Toenail, you have been eliminated! Please stand to the side and do not interfere with the test!" A mechanical voice sounded in the room.
"That was your name?" The spiky-haired kid from before couldn't help but laugh, hearing the announcement. The next second, the one with the panda eyes jumped from his position and had nearly cleared two metres quickly.
A large black ball went straight past him, forcing the other three students to evade. Noticing the ball, Xin dodged to the left, while the loudmouth moved in the opposite direction. Soon, more and more of these black balls started coming from the walls on the side, then from above and below as well, until they were being blasted from all over the room.
The professors were watching everything through the screen. It had been a minute since the test had begun, and they were getting a clear grasp on the students' abilities.
"Looks like we have a couple of good ones with us." One of the professors noted with a smile.
"Indeed, the Panda boy has the best reflexes out of the lot. It looks like he is using next to no effort to dodge everything that is coming his way. As for Ryan, although his attitude is quite bad, he appears to have the best physical capabilities of this batch. He can outrun and see all the objects coming towards them."
"What about the other two?" Another professor asked.
"The other two… are nothing special. They appear to struggle, so it’s doubtful they will last until the end."
Xin was trying her best to avoid all the black balls. She was imagining them as fists and kicks hurling towards her, completely focusing on them. The teenager girl needed to see the balls as soon as possible to give her the most time to react, but it was proving a great struggle with the number of black balls coming towards her.
As the test continued, not only had the number of balls increased, their speed had as well. On the other hand, Xin was getting tired, mentally as well as physically.
'Panda Eyes, and Spiky Hair, are still doing fine. It was as if the first few minutes were just a warm-up for them.' Xin noticed and glanced at the tall, lanky boy close to her. 'If this goes on, the two of us aren’t going to pass this test.’
It was at that moment that three black balls came towards her. With the trajectory of the other balls, she knew that she wasn't fast enough to avoid them. There were only a few ways to get out of the current situation.
One of them was being hit by the balls in front of her, so the ones at the side wouldn't hit her, but that's when she came up with another plan, as she looked at the struggling boy to her side. Lifting her leg, she landed a blow to his temple, knocking him out cold.
Before he fell to the floor, she grabbed his body and placed it in front of her. Using her fellow candidate as a literal human shield, Xin started running forward, blocking the black balls in front of her. Eventually letting go, she was ready to dodge more, but the balls had already stopped.
The test was over. However, her actions didn't go unnoticed by the others in the room, as well as the professors who had watched everything over the cameras and were now discussing her strategy.
"The rules just stated that we had to avoid touching the balls while staying in our human forms. I didn’t break any rules, right?" Xin asked, huffing and panting.
No matter what, she was going to get accepted!
*****
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