Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening

"Like I promised last time, you'd be having the last test; the combat test."

The masked instructor said, devoid of his usual lazy attitude.

The recruits stood in place, arranged as usual. Some of them looking like they had been going through hell in the past few days, but Kieran naturally knew why.

The clast wasn't being held in the sports centre this time, they had been led to an isolated, large, empty room.

The grey tone of the metal panels that covered the entire room reminded Kieran of the room he had been thrown in before being suffocated with sleeping gas.

'They aren't planning something similar, right?'

Kieran thought lightly. His last and only experience of it hadn't been something he enjoyed.

"Unlike how you've been doing the previous ones, this test will be done individually."

"The test will also be held simultaneously, I don't have the time to wait for every single one of you."

He muttered the last part which the recruits still managed to hear.

"You should get moving, it's already started."

He said, and several openings lading to an unknown destination were revealed in the large room.

"Pick one each"

Following the instruction, Kieran and the other recruits picked an opening each.

BAM!!!

Stepping into one of them, Kieran could hear the door shut behind him, leaving him in total darkness until the passage way lit up with the ceiling lamps which lead him down a long path.

'Is this really necessary?'

Kieran thought, while walking along the path.

It had already been a few minutes and he had seen no sign of an end. Walking for a few more minutes, a part of the wall moved to the side revealing the presence of a room.

Pausing in his steps and turning to the side, Kieran stepped in without hesitation, not even thinking it twice.

Like earlier, the door closed, trapping him in then slightly dark room. Even in the dark room, he was able to make out the structures in front of him.

'Is that a droid?'

He thought in slight doubt, but the lightening of the room only proved his assumptions right.

In front of him stood a droid the size of an adult human with the number 3 written boldly across its chest.

'They don't expect me to fight that, do they? I'm bare handed.'

Kieran thought and as if to answer his thoughts, a mechanical voice along with some holographic words appeared in the centre of the room.

«LEVEL ONE FIRST YEAR RECRUIT – KIERAN CALLUM»

«BASED ON ACQUIRED DATA. THE CANDIDATE IS ELIGBLE TO TAKE THE LEVEL 3 WAVE TEST»

«THE CANDIDATE IS ALLOWED TO PICK ANY WEAPON OF HIS CHOICE»

«THE TEST WILL COMMENCE IN TWENTY SECONDS»

«19… 18… 17»

The countdown started and Kieran quickly looked around for the weapons mentioned earlier. He noticed a rack at the far end of the room to his right.

Rushing up to it, he saw a bunch of weapons ranging from swords, katanas, and different blades that he wasn't familiar with. Looking for something he had experience with, his eyes came across a metal bat which he swiftly picked up.

«3… 2… 1… 0»

The countdown just happened to be completed then, the previously lifeless and hollow eyes of the droid shining with a bright red light.

Kieran didn't give it time to move as he rushed towards it and smashed its head with the metal bat, his movement lacking any skill whatsoever, just brute force.

And that happened to be effective, as the head of the droid fell of the body which came to a pause.

'It can't be that easy'

Kieran thought cautiously.

Once again, his thoughts were proved true as an opening appeared from the wall behind where the droid had stood and two droids came out.

'I really hope it's not what I'm thinking it is.'

Kieran thought in concern

...

Meanwhile, in another room, a droid similar to Kieran's had just been split into two by a light blue sword held by a smooth, delicate hand.

Tying up her long blue hair, Sabrina patiently awaited the presence of another droid with a detached expression.

On time, two more droids appeared in the room, but unlike Kieran's droids, these droids had a bold number 4 written on them.

Staring unfazed at the two level four combat droids that were rushing towards her, Sabrina slowly took a sword stance and parried the attack of the two droids with ease.

This didn't seem to be new to her as she swiftly launched a counterattack and dispatched the two droids, patiently waiting for the next batch that wave that didn't come long after.

Scenes like this were occurring with the recruits, each of them dealing with droids of different levels.

In one of the rooms, Richard could be seen dealing with six level three droids, just like Kieran. Although his skills were better than Kieran's, it was no where close to that displayed by Sabrina, showcasing their difference in background and experience. Still, he managed to handle the droids without much struggle.

"Hmm..."

The instructor who was watching all this from an unknown place, hummed to himself.

"Sabrina and the Scarlet kid are a given, but the two guys who follow her around are surprising."

He said referring to Ethan and Liam who happened to be dealing with level 4 droids.

"That kid, Jack, is terrifying"

He said, as he watched the huge guy who wielded a great sword as tall as himself duke it out with three level 5 droids.

Their battle had already dented the strong steel floors and walls of the room. What's more, the guy didn't seem to be on the losing end, he even had a wide smile on his face acting like he wasn't under any pressure.

"That red haired girl isn't bad too, but something seems to be holding her back. Either ways, she's got potential."

Looking towards Kieran's fight, the instructor said to himself with a weird look on his face,

"This one is an anomaly, he lacks skills, wastes energy and fights like a wild animal, but his stamina is insane. Fighting like that for so long, and he still hasn't shown any signs of getting tired. He even used a bat."

"Huh? There are no droids coming out anymore…. Don't tell me…"

The instructor muttered in shock, quickly turning to his watch to check somethings, before muttering in slight disbelief.

"He…. cleared it, faster than the others. That means, he's going to face it now. HAHAHAHA…hehehe"

The instructor said, letting out a deranged laughter, madness flowing within his eyes.

"This is by far the most interesting, I wonder if he'll make it."

"Huff Huff…"

Kieran panted slightly waiting for more droids to come, only to be met with silence.

Looking around, he realized why there no more droids coming out. He had completely destroyed all of them, all around him were the parts of over a hundred level 3 drones.

During the fight he fight, he noticed that simply knocking off the head wasn't enough as their bodies too started to attack him. So, he resorted to bashing them completely.

Looking at the bat in his hand that had completely deformed under the intense stress, Kieran wondered how it had even lasted so long.

'I really am lucky. This should be the end of the test.'

But contrary to Kieran's thoughts, the cold mechanical voice and holographic display appeared once again.

«LEVEL ONE FIRST YEAR RECRUIT HAS PASSED THE LEVEL 3 WAVE TEST»

«DOES THE CANDIDATE WANT TO PROCEED FURTHER?»

'I should back out while I still can'

Kieran thought, but just before he could give an answer,

«CHOICE – OVERIDDEN»

«AUTHORITY LEVEL – SUFFICIENT»

«PERMISSION GRANTED»

«LEVEL ONE FIRST YEAR RECRUIT – KIERAN CALLUM»

«CANDIDATE IS TO KILL THE LEVEL 4 GATE KEEPER»

«CANDIDATE HAS TWENTY SECONDS TO PREPARE»

«CANDIDATE HAS BEEN ADVICED TO SELECT A BETTER WEAPON»

«16… 15… 14…»

'Huh, what the hell just happened?' Kieran thought in confusion at the new mission that popped up.

"Hahahahahehe, I really want to see how he's going to survive this."

Back in the unknown space, the instructor was laughing with glee.

'I can't waste any more time.'

Kieran thought, moving to take another weapon, a bat like the one he had just used.

Unfortunately, there was no other bat there, searching through the rack to pick the next most familiar weapon to him, he almost picked a shovel, but he doubted if that would work against whatever he was about to face so he moved on, but he didn't have enough time as the countdown ended.

Grabbing anything he could, he turned to face the passage that led the droids into the room. He could feel something approach the room. Whatever it was, it wasn't a droid, it was a real, fleshy being and Kieran could feel its gaze on him.

"A scythe? That's a complicated weapon"

The instructor muttered seeing the weapon in Kieran's hand.

Despite the pressure he was feeling, not once had the cold look on Kieran's face wavered. It had become a part of him, steeling his resolve and hardening his heart, erasing any feeling of hesitation, his expression only became icier as the creature, the one the voice had called the level 4 gatekeeper appeared in front of him.