583: Elites and Supports

Elites and Supports

2With the conclusion of my aptitude test, I headed out of my chamber. Many other Elites had finished their tests already as well, but some were still in the process of taking them. This meant they were quite strong, as they could last very long in each of the tests.

Of the girls that were related to me, only Zhao Xiuying had come out already. The other six—namely Feng Mian, Yu An Xue, Xuan Yu, Lin Luo, Axilia, and Eve—were all still in the process of taking their exams, but not for long. Soon, Xuan Yu exited as well. She probably could've went for longer, but was similarly concealing her strength just like I was. The others soon followed, and in the matter of a few minutes, all the Elites had completed their tests and were now gathered back at the small stage where Tian Lin had initially made his entrance to us and spoke a little bit.

There, Tian Lin stood once more, waiting for each of us to get into our seats. Everyone was respectful enough to sit in the same seats they had been sitting in before taking the aptitude tests, so our spots didn't change. The girls sat down on either side of me on the last row in the back, and patiently awaited further instructions.

Said instructions soon came as Tian Lin opened his mouth, and delivered a speech announcing our formal entrances into the school.

"Congratulations on completing your aptitude tests, everyone," he began, looking around with that stern look on his face. "With this, you are now formal Elites of Counterhex Academy, and the future soldiers of mankind to protect this planet from the impending alien threat. In this journey, you will not be alone, however."

The majority of the speech was all words within expectations, stuff to boost our morale and such, but that last line made everyone present curious. No one dared to speak up and ask a question about it, though, since Tian Lin was about to explain it literally in his next senten-

"Not alone?" The gray-haired boy from earlier lifted his hand and blinked innocently. "What do you mean, Professor Tian Lin?"

I resisted the urge to facepalm, as Tian Lin stared at the boy with cold, scary eyes on the other side of the lenses of his glasses.

"… Please wait until I am finished before asking questions, student number 57. Also, it is Professor Tian to you, not Professor Tian Lin. Remember that."

He spoke politely, but his tone was as cold as ice from the northernmost parts of the world. The boy didn't seem to exactly get this hint, however, and instead smiled in the warmest, most innocent way possible.

"Okay! Sorry!"

… Conclusion? He was a bit of an idiot, EQ wise. I wasn't sure about IQ since he could be a genius, but he definitely needed to work on his ability to read emotions and atmosphere.

From beside me, however, Eve stifled a laugh and whispered into my ears.

"As if you're one to talk."

I nearly jumped out of my seat as I turned to her in surprise, to which she gave a soft chuckle. I frowned and sighed.

"Can you not read my mind all of a sudden like that without permission? Geez…"

"Fufu, my bad, my bad…"

"In any case… I was saying," Tian Lin continued, ignoring what just happened. "You all will not be alone in this journey. Each and every one of you Elites will receive two Supports to help you. The three of you will do everything together, from living to combat. In a second, you will be brought to a large auditorium, where you all will be given several hours to get to know one another and find the Supports of your choosing. Both parties must agree to the pact, and no form of forcefulness will be allowed. That is all—now, follow me."

Oh… so that's how it's gonna work. In that case… it should be pretty easy to decide who's gonna be my Support. None else than Mei Gui, of course. As for the other one… hm, Qing Yue, perhaps?

Soon, we were led to the auditorium just as said. The interior was huge, enough to accommodate thousands of people inside it—and even with that size, it was filled to the brim with people—students of the Support category, who had came here and taken the Support entrance exam. Students who weren't invited to be an Elite, but chose to come anyway.

From the loud PA system surrounding the auditorium, a message was broadcast.

"The time for you all to choose your partners has began. Remember, each Elite will have two Supports. The allotted time will be four hours—and it begins now."

Just like that, we were completely left to our own, without any form of organization or further detailed instructions. I'd imagine this was a test in and of itself—to determine whether we are able to think for ourselves or not on the battlefield, when we don't always have clear instructions to follow. The task was quite simple, however. It was easy enough to distinguish between Elite and Support, given that the Elites were already wearing uniforms of the academy while the Supports were not.

Immediately, the auditorium burst into chatter, but for some odd reason, it didn't seem 'loud' at all. After observing the air for a bit, I discovered there were, in fact, Sound Enchantment Magic at work in this room, making it so that it all sounds other than the person you're talking to would be muffled. Neat.

Without any hesitation, I sought out Mei Gui and the other girls in the Support squad. With our psychokinetic connection, that was easy. Once the group of us were all huddled in the corner of the room where no one else could bother us, we sorted out who would go with who.

Or rather… we tried to. That was the plan. None of that actually happened in reality, though. While our group and Mei Gui's did try to find and get to one another, there were many, many obstacles in our way—namely, other Elites and Supports. 

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