The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Test Completed.

The cheers continued for a while before the residents of the town stilled and started disintegrating into glowing pixels.

The dome created by the drones around them receded and they were back in the field. Other cadets’ test were still going on so most of the domes were still up.

Commander Ajax stood to the side, looking at the first team that completed the test. He took his note pad again and penned down a couple of things before he returned to observing the other domes.

“That was awesome wasn’t it?” Clara was the first to speak up as she walked close to Lisa.

“Yeah” Lisa replied but her eyes were kept on Reid who seemed to be in deep thoughts.

‘What was that Hydra?’ Reid continuously repeated the question in his head. Unlike all the other primals they faced, only the Hydra gave off an aura.

[I don’t think that was supposed to be part of the test] Evo guessed but that didn’t make sense either.

The dome erected ensured no external interference, meaning that whatever appeared inside was generated by the AI controlling the test. But if that was the case, why did the Hydra feel so… different?

Also, if it wasn’t part of the test, then commander Ajax would have interfered as the overseer of the test but he didn’t which meant one of two things, either the commander didn’t notice or the Hydra was part of the test.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Clara who had approached him.

“Hey, so umm, since we’ve fought together and I’ve been useful” she hesitated before saying “can I pet your forged-beasts now?”.

At this point, all of their forged beasts were in their inventories, recovering or resting.

“No” Reid simply said but she persisted.

“Please?” She made the best puppy eyes she could come up with but Reid’s answer remained the same.

“No”.

“Fine” she pouted and walked back to Lisa with the face of a child who had been wronged.

Marcus and Ethan approached him next with Marcus speaking first.

“You’re pretty strong” he said “and it was like you were born to be a leader”.

He patted Reid’s shoulder with his heavy hands.

Ethan on the other hand simply extended his hand, if it was not about tech or forged-beasts, he couldn’t come up with something to say so he opted to shake Reid’s hand as a sign of respect.

Reid took his extended hand, noticing how firm his grip was. He soon let go and they walked back to where they were standing before they moved to the center of the field.

It took a while for the participants to complete their tests but one by one, the domes began to flicker and recede, revealing the exhausted cadets within.

Some looked victorious, others completely exhausted. One could clearly see the ones who had completed or failed the test by their faces alone.

“Gather up” Commander Ajax’s command came as soon as the last team completed their test.

The cadets, no matter how exhausted they were, lined up in front of him, waiting for his next words and they soon came.

“That… was pathetic.”

Some cadets flinched. Others straightened their backs, trying to hide their exhaustion.

“I don’t care if you think you did well. I don’t care if you struggled. What I care about is results—and some of you barely survived a simulation.” His gaze locked onto a few cadets who had performed the worst. “If this had been a real battlefield, you wouldn’t be standing here. You’d be corpses rotting in the dirt.”

He was right, out of all the 60 teams, only 3 had passed the test without losing teammates, and 7 had passed the test without losing up to three teammates.

10 of the remaining cadet teams barely passed and the rest were completely wiped out.

But in some way, that was also to be expected. Not all of the cadets were gold Ranked or came from families rich enough to afford them instructors and commander Ajax also understood this so,

He exhaled, his gaze softening—just a little. “Some of you were set up to fail from the start. That is the reality of war. Not everyone is born equal. Some of you lack the training, the resources, even the raw talent. But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed.”

A few cadets perked up at that, hope flickering in their tired eyes.

“If you want to survive, you will have to work twice as hard—no, ten times as hard—as those who were born with advantages. No amount of natural talent will save you if you don’t sharpen it into a weapon.” He said before his demeanor returned to normal.

“Your next phase of training begins tomorrow at dawn. For those who failed, expect hell.” He continued.

“For the teams that made it to the top 5, you’ll have special training schedule that will be sent to you later and you’ll also have access to more facilities” Commander Ajax informed.

He then turned his attention to a tablet in his hand that the cadets hadn’t noticed he was holding.

A few seconds later, the devices strapped to each cadet’s wrist beeped as they received updated schedules.

Reid glanced down at his, scanning the details. Special training… He wasn’t surprised. If anything, he was more interested in what exactly that entailed.

Commander Ajax looked back at them, his voice cutting through the murmurs. “Dismissed. Get some rest while you can.”

The moment he finished speaking, the cadets broke formation. Some collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to move.

Others, including Reid’s team, walked toward the tower, discussing their performance.

“Hey man” someone called out. Turning in the direction of the sound, Reid spotted Dean, Damien and Tommy walking towards them.

Dean was the one who called out to him so Reid and his team waited for them to catch up but as soon as they did, both Damien and Clara pointed at each other and said.

“You?” They said in unison, causing the others to raise their brows in confusion.

“Do you guys know each other?” Dean was the one to ask.

“This is the idiot who doesn’t know how to behave like a gentleman” Clara accused

“Gentleman? I was at the seat first and besides, there were lots of empty ones” Damien defended.

So apparently, Damien and Clara had arrived in the same bus where they met. And Clara, who met Damien seated by the window seat, politely requested for them to switch seats.

But Damien who was busy paying attention to the bus Lisa was in, flatly denied her request and then one thing led to another and now they ‘hated’ each other.

The tension between Clara and Damien was palpable, but before the argument could escalate further, Reid stepped in, hoping to avoid another unnecessary scene.

“Alright, enough.” He gave Clara and Damien a pointed look. “Can we not do this? We’ve just finished a test, and there are better things to talk about.”

Clara huffed but fell silent, shooting Damien a final glare before turning her attention back to the group and walking up to Lisa. Damien rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

“That was something” Dean silently chuckled but a glare from Damien shut him up and he awkwardly cleared his throat.

“So, how was the test?” Dean changed the topic as they started walking again.

Tommy remained quiet throughout their conversation and Reid noticed but didn’t say anything.

Him, the twins and Alex had an awkward relationship at best but he had already decided to let bygones be bygones except if they did something else to annoy him again.

“You’re bronze ranked right?” Clara was the one who asked Tommy, involving him into the conversation.

It turn out that Tommy and Timmy had ranked up to Bronze-tier and Dean mentioned Tommy’s rank during his explanation so the team knew.

“Yes” he replied.

“What type of forged beast do you have?” She asked again.

“A flame hound” Tommy answered again. He didn’t seem interested in talking much so Clara stopped asking and returned back to her new friend, Lisa.

Although it was a bit uncomfortable for Lisa to have someone she barely knew stick so close to her, she was getting used to it.

“Hey” Clara whispered to her “so I see that you and idiot over there look alike, are you related?”.

Lisa chuckled hearing how Clara addressed her brother but still replied “yes, he’s my brother.”

“Being his sister must be a pain” Clara comment, almost making Lisa burst out in laughter but suppressed it.

“You have no idea” she answered “but he’s not as bad as you think though, maybe you should try getting along with him also”.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever get along with that one,” Clara said, her voice light but firm, making Lisa chuckle again.

They soon arrived at the tower and before they entered, Clara suggested.

“Why don’t we have a celebratory dinner together?” She said.

“I’m gonna have to take a raincheck ” Dean said “I can barely feel my legs right now”.

And just like that, all of them retired to their rooms in the tower, rescheduling the celebration food for the next day.

“Good work today Reid” Lisa softly said when they reached the doors that led to their rooms.

“Thank you” Reid replied with a small smile which was barely noticable.

This time she waited for his reply before walking into the room and shutting the door.

“Did you just flirt with my sister?” Damien who was also about to enter his room asked.

Reid’s lips twitched. ‘did thanking someone count as flirting these days?’ he mentally asked.

[Nope, he’s just being weird] Evo answered even though she didn’t need to.

Without giving him a reply, Reid just walked into his room and slammed the door shut, leaving Damien awkwardly standing outside his own room door.

He too decided to enter his room and prepare himself for whatever special training commander Ajax had planned for them the next day.