Brian was walking throught the capital, Southwold, and heading towards the army stadium. He was very anxious and excited for the branch selection tests. He hoped to get into either the Tiger or Eagle branches, as they were the strongest branches in the army. Brian hoped to rise quickly in his ranks, and make his dream of accomplishing 'peace' for his motherland come true.
The streets just outside the stadium were very busy. All the citizens had gathered to gaze upon the 10 branch leaders of the army. Each of them is said to be almost as strong as Ashok himself. Women especially wanted to see the Fox branches' leader, Reynard. He is very handsome, but one should never take his strength for granted. He is the youngest branch leader ever, and is also known as a prodigy.
The men were also thrilled to have a gaze, upon the most popular branch leader, Pavonian of the peacock branch. She is known for her beauty and anger. It is said that if Pavonian gets angry, she cannot be stopped by anyone but Ashok himself.
Brian reached the front of the stadium, but there was some sort of a ruckus there. Someone was screaming for help, and there were some soldiers standing with their suits on. On closer inspection, Brian saw that there was a man in an advanced warfare suit, holding a woman by her neck and threatening the other soldeirs for some money.
"Give me 100 thousand Ashokans and I will leave this woman free."
"That suit is a defective piece, and can explode at any time. Please don't use it." Shouted the other soldiers
"Sh...Shut up! I found this suit, and it is mine. You cannot trick me into remov... Gah!"
A man who had just flown from the sky, wearing another suit with the symbol of a tiger on it, appeared and gave the man a punch on his back. The suit broke into pieces, with just that one blow. The suits which were said to be stronger than Diamond or any other metal in the world, had just been tattered into pieces with just one blow!
"This was a faulty suit which had thrown away by the factory. Of course it's defence is just like any other scrap metal. The suit was not even half-way done by the looks of it."
It was Lynx, the branch leader of the Tiger branch. The most powerful man after Ashok, in The Land Of Ashok. He walked inside the stadium, while wearing his suit. His face was hardly seen, but the tiger symbol on his suit, and his voice was surely Lynx's. People were screaming with joy upon his arrival. Cheers and praises were given to Lynx from all of the gathered people.
Brian, too, started to walk inside of the stadium. He wondered, that the suits were to adapt to the user's body, and any damage on the suits, were to be felt by the user himself. Then why did the man inside the suit, not feel much damage after his whole suit was tattered to pieces?
Brian was asked to wear his suit, and only then proceed to the testing grounds. He changed into his suit quickly. His suit was black in colour. The pauldron region of Brian's suit was more plated than other's suits. His palm region had a better grip than a regular suit's and his tasset's were almost not visible. Brian knew that his suit was different than it was when he had recieved it. He knew that the suit had adjusted according to his way of using it.
He walked into the testing grounds. All the 10 branch leaders were sitting right in front of him. He was amazed at seeing them, and hoped that one day, he could sit on one of those 10 seats.
After waiting for some while, all the other new recruits showed up. Then one of the officers started to speak.
"Salute to the 10 branch leaders!" All of us gave them a salute.
"I know that most of you know who these great beings are, but I will still give you their introductions."
"Firstly, the leader of the Fox branch - Reynard." He had green hair, green eyes and was very handsome. Very famous and also known as a Prodigy.
"Next we have the leader of the Peacock branch - Pavonian." She has black hair, black eyes and was known for beauty. Her gaze was enough to kill all the men present there."
"Lynx, the leader of the Tiger branch." With orange hair, reddish eyes and a stern look, he was as majestic as a tiger itself.
"Dean, the leader of the Eagle branch." He was the oldest among all the branch leaders. White hair, and grey eyes, his presence was very soothing, and peaceful.
"Pachyderm, the leader of the Elephant branch." He had silver hair and cold silver eyes. Looking at him, sent a shiver down Brian's spine.
"Wallaby, the leader of the Kangaroo branch." He had yellow hair and black eyes. He was sitting very lazily, and seemed carefree.
"Joe Blake, the leader of the Snake branch." With green hair and light blue eyes, he seemed very uninterested in the selection events.
"Next is the Bull branch leader - Gendarme." He had white hair and dark blue eyes. He was constantly smiling for some reason.
"The leader of the Bear branch, Ursidae." She had pinkish-purple hair and purple eyes. She too seemed very stern and strict.
"Last, but not the least, Harpy, the leader of the Vulture branch." She had blue hair and blue eyes, and a kind of playful smile on her face."
"Now that all of the branch leaders have been introduced, we shall proceed to the 'Profession Of Honour.' All 400 of you will give 4 tests. Each test will have it's own rules. Your scores will be shown in the screens in front of all the branch leaders. At the end of all the tests, they will select the canditates they want in their branch. You will all have to choose the branch you want to go to from the available choices. If in case you don't get selected by any branch leader, then you will be placed in a branch randomly at rank 12. There are 12 ranks in each branch of the army, with 12 being the lowest and 1 being the highest. The branch leader will place the chosen ones in any rank they desire, but the ones who are not chosen, will be placed at rank 12. Just for your information, the average rank given to someone who has been chosen by a branch leader in the beginning, is rank 10. With this let us begin the first test!"
All the 400 of the new recruits were waiting in anxiety. After hearing all of this, everyone wanted to be chosen. Brian was determined to be chosen. He wanted a head start from the others. He wanted to reach his goal as fast as he could. He started with some warm up. After some stretches and some squats, he was ready to undertake the first test.
"Okay..." Deeply inhales air, and then breathes it out. "Let's go and show them what I've got. Let them also know that Brian Smith is here."
"The first test is going to be a run of 300metres. Flying is allowed for those who can fly. 20 of you will run at once. Each of your time for the run will be recorded and be sent to the branch leaders. No second attempts. No fighting during the run. All the names that I call out, please go and stand before the starting line."
The names were called out. Everyone was very nervous. Brian had closed his eyes, and was thinking hard of what he should do against those who can fly, when his name got called out. Brian suddenly stood up, and started to walk towards the starting line.
He thought while he walked, "Out of the 7 functions/modes of the suit, flying mode was one of the modes that I still did not learn. But, I did learn the Mobility mode. Let's see which is faster, flying or running."
All the 20 recruits were standing ready. Brian, and two other's suits were changing a little. Brian and one of them were going into mobility mode, and the other was going into flying mode. Brian was sweating beneath the suit with all the tension in the air.
"START!"
The race started. Brian lept towards the finish line in an instant. In mobility mode, the suit shifts some plates around the legs, and makes the suit near the legs more powerful. The body gets a boost because of the increased strength in the legs. The first 100metres, and Brian and the other two were in lead. All the three were determined to win. Everyone ran with all their might. They were running like their lifes depended on it. At 200 metres, Brian had taken a lead. The finish line was right in front of him. He used all the energy his body had, and sprinted on.
SWOOSH
The race ended. Brian had come first. The other guy, who had also used the Mobility mode came second in place. The man who was flying ended up 3rd. The others finsihed too. The race had only lasted for 35 seconds. Brian had finished in just 28 seconds, and the one who came last, finished in 35 seconds only.
"I did... I did it...." Breathing Heavily. " I came first. I won. I cleared the first test! Yes, I can do it." Brian exclaimed in joy.
