The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: The Survival Test

The cadets felt like they just blinked and the next day had arrived.

Reid, thanks to the habit he developed while in the Scrapyards, was already up by the time his watch alarmed, telling that they had 30 minutes before training started.

They were supposed to report to the building they had their test yesterday so he put on his combat suit and weights, that were barely noticable to him now, and headed outside.

Exiting his room, he met both Lisa and Damien standing at their doors, apparently waiting for him.

“Good morning Reid” Lisa greeted as soon as he walked out of the room.

“Good morning Lisa” he greeted back in a light tone. Today he wasn’t on edge since he didn’t get a dream of his past.

“We’ll be late if we don’t start walking soon” Damien on the other hand sounded grumpy.

They walked towards the elevator and entered it, heading to the ground floor. On the way, the elevator stopped and opened, allowing a sleepy Dean to walk in, alongside Alex.

“Yawn.. good morning” Dean greeted as he entered the elevator which closed and continued descending.

With a ding, the elevator door opened revealing the ground floor.

The tower had its own cafeteria where the cadets get their breakfast so the team walked towards it.

Since it was still so early, there were only a few cadets in the cafeteria. Some were still half asleep as they shoveled food into their mouths while others were wide awake, chatting with their friends.

Reid and the others grabbed a plate and walked up to the options available foods to serve themselves.

Most of the food were nutritious and protein heavy designed to keep them energized throughout the training.

Reid picked a plate of eggs, toast and some meat alongside some milk and walked towards an empty table in the cafeteria.

Dean, contrasting what the others did, piled up as much food as his tray can hold and walked to the table the others were at.

“Are you sure you’re gonna finish that?” Damien asked.

“Yep” Dean confidently replied and set the tray on the table before sitting down.

As the team settled at the table, Clara arrived, looking way too energetic for this early in the morning. She plopped down beside Lisa with a grin.

“Morning, everyone!” she chirped.

“How do you have that much energy?” Damien muttered, taking a sip of his drink.

“It’s a skill,” Clara replied smugly before grabbing a piece of fruit from her tray “I’m sure you wouldn’t relate.”

Ethan and Marcus joined soon after, completing their group. Ethan, was already focused on his wrist device, likely analyzing something.

Marcus, on the other hand, quietly started eating, his large frame making his tray look small in comparison.

“So does anyone have any idea what our ‘special’ training is?” Dean asked as he wolfed down his food.

Clara smirked. “I hope it’s something fun.”

“Define fun,” Dean said, raising an eyebrow.

“Something exciting! Like—” Clara paused, then waved her fork. “—I don’t know, an extreme combat simulation or something.”

Dean sighed. “You and I have very different ideas of fun.”

Reid finished his meal and stood up. “We should get going. We only have about ten minutes left.”

The team quickly wrapped up their breakfast and left the cafeteria, making their way to the training facility.

_______

Upon arrival, the atmosphere had changed completely.

The open training field from yesterday was no more, replacing it was towering structures, barricades, and artificial terrain were spread throughout the area, making it look like a battlefield straight out of a war zone.

Standing in the center was Commander Ajax, arms crossed, with several officers beside him.

As soon as the last cadet arrived, Ajax began speaking.

“Yesterday, you proved yourselves above the rest. But don’t let that get to your head.”

He scanned the faces of each cadet.

“Today’s training will be your first real challenge. We will be testing your endurance, teamwork, and survival instincts.”

A mechanical drone descended from the sky, projecting a holographic screen. The words Survival Trial flashed in bold letters.

“For the next six hours, you will be thrown into a simulated battlefield with limited supplies. Your goal is simple—survive.”

The cadets tensed at the word.

“You will maintain your teams. Hostile forces will be constantly hunting you. If you are eliminated, you fail. If your beast is eliminated, you fail.”

“These officers behind me are your seniors and they will aid with your tests today” He pointed at the officers that stood behind him “they will be hunting you down alongside their forged beasts and some simulated primals.”

“Supplies will be placed at random locations in the map and it’s your choice wether to secure them or not” he said “and don’t think you can complete this trial by staying hidden either because every 30 minutes, your locations will be revealed to all the hunters.”

“Your only objective is to survive for as long as possible,” Commander Ajax declared as the holographic screen flickered to life, displaying a countdown timer marking the time they had before the start of the test.

“Well, see you guys later” Dean said as he and Damien walked to their teams. Alex had also left to find his teammates.

This left only the members of team 7.

“So, what’s the plan boss?” Clara asked making everyone turn to Reid.

He had already proven himself capable of leading during the previous test so no one minded the fact that he would lead them again.

Reid thought about it for a while, he had to come up with a plan that ensures they lasted the entire six hours.

“The first hour is crucial,” Reid started. “We’ll secure supplies and find a position we can use to our advantage, but we avoid unnecessary fights. The more energy and resources we have later, the better.”

“Clara, you’re responsible for scouting ahead and making sure we don’t walk into a trap.” He continued.

Reid then turned to Ethan.

“Ethan, you’re responsible for making sure we don’t run out of stamina especially in the late stages, we’re gonna need every type of boost you can give Incase we get into a pinch”

Ethan nodded, understanding his role and Reid then turned to their tank.

“Marcus, you’re our front-line defense. If we get into combat, you take point and make sure no one gets through.”

Marcus cracked his knuckles, a habit as the team had come to observe. “Sounds good. I’ll keep them off our backs.”

“Lisa,” Reid concluded the plan, “you and I will act as the main combatants when we have no choice but to fight.”

“Sure” She answered.

When the time entered the final minute, Commander Ajax spoke up again.

“You have thirty minutes before the hunters start hunting you, so good luck”.

As soon as the countdown hit zero, the cadets ran into the simulated city each team looking to secure a strategic location or some supplies.

Reid’s team summoned their forged-beasts as they also ran into the simulated city. The simulation, was the size of an actual city, so the place was big.

Clara let her falcon scout ahead, in search of supply locations or a temporary base.

“Won’t you summon your wolf, boss?” Clara asked seeing as he was the only one who hadn’t summoned his forged-beast yet.

“Not this time” he said and summoned another forged beast from his inventory.

This time he decided to go with Nyx, since he went with Rusty the previous day.

The moth in its smaller form took its place on its favorite spot—Reid’s head. He noticed that the team was weirdly looking at him so he asked.

“What is it?”

“I don’t mean to pry” Clara was the one who spoke up “but how many forged-beasts do you have?”.

“4” Reid answered “3 gold tiered and 1 iron tier.”

Clara, Marcus and even Ethan’s jaw dropped since they misunderstood how he acquired them.

“How rich is the Fletcher family?” Marcus was the one who asked this time.

“Oh, I fixed 3 of them myself and created Axie by myself ” the reply was even more shocking than if they were told that the forged beasts were bought.

“You can create forged beasts?” Ethan asked, clearly interested.

“Yeah” Reid simply answered.

“Why didn’t you just become a simple forgemaster?” Clara spoke up again “at least then you won’t have to put yourself in danger but still make them sweet credits.”

“Well.. that didn’t sound appealing to me” Reid honestly answered “I’ve come to like fighting as much as creating.”

Before they could ask anymore, Reid cut them off.

“Let’s focus on the survival test for now, all questions should come later.”

The team nodded and continued forward when Clara spoke up again.

“I think I might have found one of the supply boxes” she said.

“Where and how far?” Reid asked.

“It’s just ahead of us” Clara replied and he nodded.

“Then let’s go get it.” Reid said as they increased their speed, heading towards the supply drop which it just so turns out that another team was also heading towards.

Which team will secure the supplies? That remains to be seen.