“Congratulations! You’ve been accepted to the imperial army!”

Ari stood there motionless. His eyes stared blankly at his card as he slowly took it from the man’s hand. Em and Abby ran down from the spectator seats with worry written all over their faces.

“Hey, that’s good, right?” Abby said, giving his shoulder a pat. “You got accepted!”

“Yes yes!” Em said. “Congratulations, Ari!”

Ari shook his head and put his card into his pocket. He looked to the door that led into the building and sighed, ignoring the other two as he took a step. However, his travel to the exit was stopped short when Abby grabbed his hand firmly.

“Ari. Why are you suddenly so down? I know you didn’t get the position you wanted to get into, but I’m sure you can get promoted later on.”

“Yes! Abby is correct! Right, Mr. Goldsfield?” Em turned to Nathaniel with hope in her eyes.

“Yes, that is true. While it is difficult to switch the two main sections, it is possible to switch positions within your section.”

“NO!” Ari turned around and flung Abby’s hand to the side, causing her to take a few steps back to regain her balance. “I can’t be fooled by this false hope! Abby! You were the one who told me how hard it was to rise up the ranks, didn’t you?! What was it?! An average of a hundred years just to rise from the lowest rank?! Do you really think I have the patience for that?! HUH!?”

Ari walked up the Abby as he yelled at her. When they were standing toe to toe, with him towering above her, he raised his hand as if preparing to strike her into hell. Abby didn’t even flinch. Instead, she simply crossed her arms and glared into Ari’s furious eyes.

“What are you gonna do? Blow out that frustration of yours by hitting me? Go ahead. What are you waiting for? Not that I think you’re even in the emotional state to do so.”

Ari hesitated, then dropped his arm in defeat. He started towards the exit again, and I followed along with the girls.

However, just as I passed the officer, he placed his hand on my shoulder, forcing me to stop. “Actually, sorry guys, but could you all just wait a moment longer?” He said.

Ari turned around. It looked as if he thought Nathaniel would give him another chance. “What is it?”

“I was just wondering…” Nathaniel started as he walked forward and turned to face me. “…if you’d like to try applying to the Imperial Army, my friend?”

I looked up at the officer in surprise. Was he recruiting me personally? Why? Was it because of how I had interfered with their duel earlier? I looked at Ari and my other friends, who seemed to be as shocked as I was. What would they think about me if I joined the army? They wouldn’t feel bitter if I were accepted to a higher rank than Ari, would they?

“So?” Nathaniel urged me again to answer his question.

“I… umm… I think Ari would be a uh… better fit than me…”

The test proctor stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder again, blocking my friends out of view. “My friend, I’m not talking about Mr. Andreas there. I’m talking about you. Let’s just leave your friend out of the picture for just a moment here. Would you like to join the Imperial Army?”

I leaned to the side to get a glance at my friends, but Nathaniel blocked my view once more. “I—I think I’m good… Sorry but… I’m not that interested…” I said, forced to face him.

The officer put his hand on his head and weaved his fingers through his blond hair. “Well, that’s a bummer. I’m sure you would be a very valuable asset if you do plan on applying.”

Nathaniel stepped out of my way to let me get back to my companions. However, they did the exact opposite. As I walked back to my friends, they stood firm in front of me. It was clear we weren’t leaving.

“Day,” Abby said first, “this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Why are you letting it go?”

“Yes yes! You know, it’s a really high honor to be requested to join the army. And by a high ranking Imperial Guard too!”

“But… Ari just got… I’m not sure if I should…” I turned to Ari, who simply looked away and crossed his arms.

“As Abby said. You can’t pass by this chance. Even I wasn’t offered something like this, so he must have found something great in you. Go try it out. Don’t worry about me.”

With my companions practically begging for me to accept the offer, I couldn’t refuse. I turned around and walked back to Nathaniel, who was still standing there as if he was expecting me to come back.

“So you changed your mind?” He said as he tried to imitate a surprised look.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The officer offered me his hand, and I shook it. “Do you have any identification?”

I shook my head. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to take the examination if I didn’t have a card? That would be such a relief. Unfortunately, though, that wasn’t the case.

“Don’t worry,” he told me. “It’s alright if you don’t have a card yet. We will issue you one if you do join us. So in the meantime, what should I call you?”

“Day. Just call me that.”

“Well then, Day, I will start with a few questions. First, could you describe any of your skills that would be useful in combat?”

“I guess I can use this knife I have,” I answered half-heartedly as I took out my violet crystal dagger.

Nathaniel nodded and took down some notes on his tablet. “Next, do you have any experience in combat?”

“Well, I mostly just have some experience in hunting wild animals… Not actual people, though.”

“Okay. That’s interesting. Why are you planning on joining our imperial army?”

I answered that question almost automatically. “’Cause my travel companions forced me to.”

Nathaniel looked at me with furrowed brows, then went back and took a few notes. “I guess that could be a valid answer…”

The physical aptitude tests went by pretty smoothly, but I definitely didn’t get as high scores as Ari had gotten. The man even tested some of my skills with knives, such as grip positions, stabbing, slicing, and even throwing knives. I went through them without much effort, hoping that I’d only get an average score. Nathaniel’s constant nodding and encouragement didn’t make me feel too good about that plan, though.

Finally, we were standing across from each other on the field, about to engage in our duel. A soft breeze blew through the enclosed space, sending a few particles of sand up into the air. The atmosphere felt like I was going against a mini-boss in a grand battle, but I didn’t care much about this fight at all. I didn’t plan on being accepted, much less being the first one to beat this officer in a duel.

“We will be engaging in a duel now, where I’ll be assessing your combat skills. The fight will last for five minutes.”

I nodded, but when I saw that he was waiting for me to get into a stance, I finally told him, “I’m ready.”

“Okay. Then the countdown starts now. Try not to die, my friend.”

Suddenly, the soldier was gone, leaving behind only a puff of dust. I stepped back and bent my knees, decelerating my temporal speed. It was just in time to see a sharp sword heading straight into my head from the side. I took another step back, released my temporal speed, and saw Nathaniel zoom past me.

Before I could think about what had just happened, I turned and came face to face with the man, who had his sword swinging right towards my neck. Again, I slowed the world around me and ducked to dodge the attack by a hair. He didn’t wait for me as he sent his next attack down from above.

Again and again, my opponent sent swing after swing at my vital spots. And again and again, I dodged each of them. I had been confident in my ability to avoid attacks, since my temporal speed is faster than his, but I was already pushing myself to my own limits, with him sending more and more strikes. Was this person trying to kill me? The only person I saw him using a weapon against was Ari. Why did he choose to take his sword out against me?

I looked for an opening to pull out my dagger and send a counter-attack, but there were none. I was forced to keep dodging every one of the man’s hits without being able to send my own. Seeing my disadvantage, I found the chance to jump back and out of the shower of sword swings.

Nathaniel stopped his rampage, and I leaned my hands onto my knees, breathing heavily from all that energy I spent going against the time flow. After I finished catching my breath, I looked up at the test examiner, who was still waiting for me.

“That was quite impressive,” he said. “Not that many people are able to keep up with my attacks like that.”

“Well,” I said between my breaths, “I’m glad I was able to.”

“Then what are you waiting for? You can’t be tired already. Why don’t we continue? We still have four minutes and forty seconds.”

“I’d much rather go against Irnoma than you,” I whispered under my breath as I bent my knees and decelerated my chronal speed again. I sprinted forward and took out my dagger, aiming for the man’s leg.

Nathaniel was quick to react, though, as he stepped to the side and used my momentum to throw my body over my head, making me land on the ground in a loud thump. I looked back to my opponent, only to see his blade flying straight to my face again. But that was when I had a plan.

I rolled over, grabbed the sword as it swung to the ground, and concentrated. In a moment, the blade turned red as it covered in rust. Wrinkles formed on the rust and peeled off. Quickly, the weapon aged until it finally broke apart into flimsy pieces of brown metal.

Shocked but still reacting quickly, Nathaniel threw what was left of his sword to the side and jumped back. I got back up and charged at him again, this time guiding my dagger through the air as fast as I could, hoping my opponent would be able to keep up with it. My attack was blocked, however, when another sword materialized in his hand and he sent the blade into mine.

I didn’t hesitate to go for my next attack, this time from behind. I was certain this would be the longest time sprint I had had in my life, but I gritted my teeth and attacked the man from all sides in quick succession. Still, he either dodged or blocked every single one of my attacks.

I went like this for almost a minute before retreating after draining my stamina. Nathaniel looked at me with disappointment.

“Are we done already? We still got three minutes and fifty seconds.”

“Just…” I started. I was having a hard time talking in my panting for breath. “…how do you react so quickly…?”

“Well I ain’t a Royal Guard for nothing. Come on. Clock’s ticking while this conversation’s—”

Before I let Nathaniel finish, I went in for another offense. But again, he was a step in front of me, as if he knew how I would attack. The man grabbed my arm, disarmed me of my knife, and threw me forward to the ground.

I turned around, grabbed the sword I was expected to be swinging at me, and tried the same chronal pushing trick. This time it didn’t work. The sword stayed with its glistening silver, finally stopping with its blade piercing my palm and the steel just a finger’s length away from my left eye. The only thing preventing my head from being sliced open was the grip I had on the sword with my hand.

“Alright. I surrender,” I said just as Nathaniel was about to push his blade down farther. He released his push and the sword disappeared, leaving me with a palm soaked with my own blood.

“Well, that was an interesting fight.”

“Whether I’m accepted or not, I don’t think I’ll be joining,” I said as I quickly healed my wound, grabbed my dagger, and went to rejoin my companions. They were sitting at their seats with dazed expressions. I waved at them, and they snapped out of themselves and came back down to greet me. As I took my first steps to leave the empty field, the proctor called back.

“By the way, Day, you are accepted. If you’re still thinking of joining, the second phase of the test will be held in four days. If you pass, then you’ll be able to choose. Royal Guard or Imperial Task Force. But I trust that you’ll pass.”