KINETIC

Chapter 33 Anders

'3 Ropes... He's 2 ranks above me.' Leo thought after seeing the man who shouted. Both Leo and Trent glared at each other before they stopped using their abilities.

The man was around 30 years old and 1.72 meters tall. He has long black hair that he keeps tied up in a low pony tail. The man spoke, "I am Lieutenant Anders and I demand an explanation!" he walked forward and stopped just a few meters away from Leo and the others.

One of the trainees that was standing behind Trent started speaking, "These peasants insulted a noble, they deserve to be puni..." Lieutenant Anders interrupted, "Shut up trainee, I wasn't asking you. Your words mean nothing when a higher rank is present." He turns and looks Leo in the eyes, "Private, report."

'Let's see how they like it when someone else abuses their power. Have a taste of your own medicine.' Leo takes a step forward and does the salute, "I witnessed these 3 trainees attempting to abuse their power as nobles to force other trainees into an unfavorable situation. I stepped in to put a stop to it, that's when trainee Trent Zemor activated his ability to attack me. I prepared to defend myself, but the Lieutenant walked in before a fight occurred." Leo's face may have been void of emotions, but on the inside he was smiling.

Lieutenant Anders looked over towards Trent,

"You were abusing your power as a noble while inside a military controlled area, this alone would warrant punishment, but when you were confronted by someone of a higher rank, you attempted to attack him!? Your punishment will be severe." Lieutenant Anders was furious.

"You three, follow me!" Lieutenant Anders walked away, taking Trent and the other 2 with him. Trent had given Leo a death stare after he had given the Lieutenant his report. 'I may have stretched the severity of the situation, but it was worth it. People like him need to learn their place.' Leo thought as Trent disappeared after being taken out of the room.

Leo's roommates, as well as the rest of the cafeteria were all in shock. Leo paid them no attention and went to get his food. Clay spoke up, "Leofalor... What just happened? Why did the Lieutenant say you were a higher rank than us?" Everyone in the cafeteria was silent, they were all curious about what Leo would say.

Leo got his food and then turned to face Clay before speaking, "It's as the Lieutenant said. You all hold the rank of trainee, which is the lowest rank in the military. I was awarded the rank of Private before I entered the academy, this is one rank above trainee. It seems none of you have realized yet!" Leo turned to face the entire cafeteria, addressing everyone at once.

"The more ropes someone has on their uniform, the higher their rank. All of you have no ropes, while I have 1. The Lieutenant has 3, meaning he's 2 ranks above me. This is how you can discern someone's rank." Leo pointed to the rope on his uniform.

Cain face palmed himself, "I knew I should have asked what the rope was there for when I first met you. I just figured I would eventually find out anyways." Cain said.

Clay and John both seemed to agree with Cain, none of them asked but they were all curious when they noticed Leo's uniform was different.

Leo went to sit at an empty table and soon his roommates joined him. The cafeteria went back to how it was earlier, with everyone talking and eating their food. Most of the conversations were about what just happened.

Leo ate in silence while the other 3 spoke to each other. A few minutes went by and John, who was sitting next to Leo, poked him in the arm. Leo looked at John and could see he was trying to speak so he leaned in closer.

"Th-Thank you, for helping m-me." John whispered. Leo sat back up straight, "It's no problem, I hate guys like that ." Leo replied.

Just as most people were finishing their food, the Lieutenant returned to the cafeteria, which subsequently went quiet when he walked in. He made an announcement, "All trainees are to report to the courtyard within 20 minutes for testing!" he then turned around and left.

"What testing are we going to be doing?" Leo asked. His roommates looked at each other and then Cain replied, "We have no idea, it's the first we're hearing of it." He shrugged his shoulders.

Leo's group got up and left for the courtyard. Leo was just following the others since he didn't know where they were going.

The courtyard is a large open space in the middle of the academy. It's flat and the floor is made up of dirt and grass. It's the only place in the academy, that Leo had seen, that didn't have a tiled floor.

After a few minutes of waiting, Lieutenant Anders walked out and stood in front of all the trainees. "Today we will be evaluating your combat potential. Some of you may posses abilities that are not suited to combat. While others will simply have weak abilities. You will demonstrate your attacking power and then be placed in a class accordingly. Class 1 is for the strongest students, while class 4 is for the weakest and the non combatants. There will be a ranking system for the students in class 1."

When the Lieutenant finished speaking, many of the trainees got excited, they had been waiting for a chance to show off and test their abilities strength when compared to others.

"Bring it out!" Lieutenant Anders shouted. 6 Privates brought out a large block of metal. It was about 2 meters tall and 1 meter thick. They placed it in the middle of the courtyard and then stepped away, standing on the sides.

Lieutenant Anders addressed everyone again, "You will be called up one at a time. When it is your turn, you will walk up to the block and you will strike it while producing your most powerful attack. I will then place you in a class depending on your attack power. Are there any questions?" He paused there for a moment.

Nobody said anything and so Lieutenant Anders announced, "Alright then, Let's begin!"