Nero looked from the scribbles to the examiner, and found that the examiner was staring at him. Nero simply nodded, and moved to exit the room.
Looking at the scribbles, Nero did not think he was being messed with. Instead, it was clear to him that the scribbles were yet another part of the test to see his mentality and personality. Such an abrupt and unexpected surprise would easily make one break character and reveal their true expressions or thoughts, if only for a split second.
For Nero, this was hardly a test at all for he was not acting - instead he was genuinely keeping his cool. However, the sight of the scribbles cemented the idea that his exam was being secretly viewed or monitored from somewhere and that his answers were recorded in full.
Once Nero left the room, the examiner turned to look at the wall behind him, and disabled an illusion, revealing two other examiners, both of them recording and commenting on Nero’s answers.
"How was it?" asked the examiner who had been asking Nero the questions.
The two other examiners compiled their two reports and put them in a brown envelope marked with Nero’s name.
"He’s a sharp one. I suspect he either saw through the test, or has an extremely cautious nature, or both," answered one of the other two. "I’ll be keeping an eye on his performance to see which one."
All three of them came to the same conclusion. It was too soon to tell if Nero was exceptional or lucky, but his performance during this test had earned him some attention - at least from the three of them.
After the unusual exam, Nero was once again led by someone to another room, but this one did not seem to have any more tests. Instead, there were several counters with a small line of cadets in front of each and Nero was led to a random one, before being left alone.
"Not great, I’ll admit," said Jeremy, though he sounded exhausted and somewhat depressed.
Nero raised an eyebrow, studying Jeremy’s expression closely. At first, Nero thought that Jeremy was depressed because he had once again run into Nero, but it seemed that his mood had been sour since before
"What’s wrong? The questions from the interview got you down?" he asked.
Jeremy, who was frowning and was lost in his own world of thoughts, seemed to realise that he was showing all his expressions on his face.
"The questions were tough but nothing to be too concerned about," said Jeremy despondently. "It’s the morning jog. It made me realise that I’m going to have to continue my physiotherapy. I haven’t recovered fully."
Nero studied his body and could not see any signs of exhaustion, nor any signs of injury, but if he claimed that the short jog had affected him, then his sour mood made sense.
"If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly was your injury?" Nero asked.
Jeremy shook his head, and then sighed.
"My left knee and shin suffered several fractures. Since it was an injury I sustained during the ruins mission, the army paid for my treatment and the bones were healed in full, but my body hasn’t recovered fully yet. Let alone my bones aching every time I put too much weight on the leg, my muscles haven’t recovered either. I don’t want to compromise my ascension to Initiate by having a weakened leg, thereby reducing my gains, but if I don’t heal fast enough, I just might need to."
Jeremy was far more talkative now than last night, perhaps because he was too distracted to be cautious. Not to mention, if Nero had made it this far, then he was a fellow student at KMA. Considering their batch size, it would be impossible to avoid him, so it was best to build a decent relationship.
"The academy has a lauded medical program to assist in tending to any injuries or wounds sustained by cadets," Nero told Jeremy. "I’m sure if you inform them of your condition, they will have you checked out and help you get back to full health. Since you’re already made it this far, you don’t need to be worried about being dropped now due to something so minor. I’m sure your medical exam from before revealed the condition of your leg anyway."
Jeremy nodded, but he still seemed distracted. Before they could continue their conversation, the line moved forward and it was Jeremy’s turn at the counter, allowing Nero to see what was going on.
As it turned out, it wasn’t something too complicated. He was given his uniform, his documents, and assigned a battalion. Jeremy would be in the Demeter battalion, which had a great oak as its symbol.
Once Jeremy was done, he was sent to the next room, while Nero stepped up to the counter. He provided the lady there his identification card which she checked before looking for his file on her computer.
"Nero Grant, your identification number is: 1121-B2. Memorise this number, it will follow you for your entire military career. This is your Cadet Card - it will now replace your standard Identity Card, so keep it with you at all times. Your assigned battalion is Enlil, and this is reflected on the logo on your shoulder on your uniform. Please proceed to the next room for final processing, after which you will be taken to your battalion mess and assigned quarters."
Nero grabbed the Cadet Card which the lady had generated and appreciated its appearance.
It was not an Eldrim card in the traditional sense. It did, however, respond to aether. On the back of the card was a green, abstract background with a silver border while on the front was an image of a large building that Nero recognised as the main structure of KMA.
It was the most famous building, and many outside KMA recognised only it because that was what was shown to the public. He believed that was where the legendary dean of the academy had an office.
Speaking of which, Nero still didn’t know who the dean was, but he suspected that he was the one blatantly using his Dominion across the entire academy!
But how was that possible? There were only two Monarch Sages in Kolar - Donivan and Morphius Kade. Was one of them the dean of the academy? How did that work?
He did not have time to ponder such a question for now. He channeled his aether inside the card, and felt a stream of basic information enter his mind, including his name, battalion and status as a cadet.
There was also a special category mentioning the number of honours Nero had received. Surprisingly, it already stated three honours. Did that mean his performance during his previous missions gave him those honours? In that case, what were they?
He did not know, and the card didn’t mention it either.
He moved along, entering the next room, and stopped. In front of him was a relatively quick moving line of cadets, all heading to the same place: a soldier with a pair of clippers!
"Come on, do you need to be so dramatic about cutting some hair?" Nero muttered under his breath as he saw the scene.
He personally did not care. Yes, his somewhat longer hair gave him an appealing look, but shortening it wouldn’t be the end of the world. However, it seemed that to many of the cadets, the moment their hair fell off their heads was the one where it sank in that they had joined the army. There was no going back now.
The female cadets didn’t get the same buzz cut as the males, allowing them all to keep hair that barely reached their shoulders. They were, however, given strict and precise instructions on how they were meant to manage their hair. Even so, they seemed the most affected by the process.
But that was all there was to it. None of them cried or acted out, simply going pale at most as they saw their hair fall. This was Kolar. Men or women, adults or children, they all lived in a militaristic society, and so they were long ready for this process.
In a way, cutting their hair was almost ceremonial. Nero preferred his own ceremony though.
Once his hair was cut, Nero exited the room and found that the cadets had pooled into four different groups, indicating their battalions.
A glance was all it took to find the battalion with a shield symbol on their shoulders and join them. General Enlil, whom the battalion was named after, was renowned as a guardian of justice and law, hence the symbol of the battalion was a shield - or at least that’s what Nero guessed.
The Astarties battalion had a symbol of a hammer - which made sense since he was known for his Hammer of Valefor - and the Marcus battalion had the symbol of a spear, since he was known for conquest.