Mako and Bill both went to bed early and got some well-earned sleep. The next came by in a flash and this time, both Mako and Bill would walk to school together. They already asked for leave from Sir Derek so they won't be in trouble this time.
Everything was feeling so much more lively today as emotions were running high and the nerves were already getting to them slightly. Mako used the same route that he always uses and greeted all the shopkeepers on Bird's eye street. He even received a special fist bump and pat on the back from Gary who said that he would throw him and Bill a feast if they managed to pass the test.
They walked at a fast pace and arrived at school early. It was weird for both boys to be the only ones sitting in the classroom. Bill was always late to class while Mako barely made it on time after finishing his shift at the bakery.
Mako was playing around with his system and checking the daily items in the shop to be disappointed as usual. Mako had finally found a solution to his real-life money problem which was fighting, but now the system was making him feel poor again with the number of coins displayed in his profile tab.
Bill decided that it would be best for him to get some more sleep so that he could be as energized as possible for when the military come.
As time went on, more and more students started to come to class. Mako pretended to be asleep as well so that he won't have to repeat the same thing that happened when they came to school with Leon.
This didn't stop the students from gossiping as this was the first time in nearly two months that Bill had come to school and on top of it all he was sitting next to Mako Grey. Bill was too deep in his sleep to even be affected by all the chitter chatter, while Mako tried his best to not get pissed off at the comments that kept flying at him with no end.
Most of the students had left Mako alone, ever since Mako had defeated Bill during the duel and the few that still tried their luck were shut down quickly. The news about Mako burning the most popular kid's hair had spread like wildfire and was still the hottest topic to talk about.
*Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!*
The bell rang shortly after and after the appearance of the teacher, the gossip finally stopped. Mako thanked his lucky stars for ending the torture and he opened his eyes. Bill was still fast asleep and was even starting to snore a bit. Mako reached toward his desk and gave him a tight slap on the back of his neck.
"Zzzz..."
*Smack!*
"Uh... I up! I'm up!" Bill promptly shouted as he stood up from his seat.
The entire class started laughing to which Bill just awkwardly rubbed the back of his head while apologizing to the teacher and sitting down.
All the students and even the teacher hadn't seen Bill recently and they knew that he and Mako had become friends from the hair-burning incident, but still they were expecting Bill to lose it and start a fight right there in the classroom. Bill's actions had truly shocked everyone and it took them a couple of moments to process what just happened.
The teacher coughed to break the awkward silence and started the day with some assignments. He first announced that the military personnel would be here shortly and all the students who took part in the test would be escorted to the transport vehicle.
Secondly, he announced that if the students were able to clear the recruitment test, they won't have to appear in the final exams and instead would be moved to the military base during that time.
He had some other smaller announcements which weren't that important and ended it by wishing all the participating students good luck.
Just as the teacher was finished with the announcements a man wearing the same outfit as Brigadier Jones knocked on the door and asked for permission from the teacher before entering the classroom.
The man had very few medals on his coat compared to Brigadier Jones which meant that he was of lower status than him. He had a file in his hands from which he started to call out the names of the students that were taking part in the test.
Surprisingly, only two names were called out and the two boys proceeded to stand up from their seats and walked over to greet the man. They quickly shook hands and the man escorted them out of the school and into a bus that was parked in the parking lot. There were some students already on the bus with more arriving as well.
Mako and Bill took a seat together on the bus and waited for the bus to be full of participants.
The bus was full of students very quickly but surprisingly, there wasn't much talking going on. Everyone started to feel a bit nervous and wasn't in the best mood or environment to have a general discussion.
The same man that escorted Mako and Bill to the bus, came into the bus to address all the students.
"Okay, Everyone. The participants have all taken their seats on the bus and we will be departing shortly. Please keep in mind that the destination is quite far and will take some time to reach. For security reasons, we will administer sleeping gas so that you all remain unconscious during the journey and the location of our destination will remain anonymous." The man announced.
Before even waiting a single second, the man quickly exited the vehicle as soon as he was finished with his little speech. The door of the bus was closed soon after and a hissing sound started to come from the vents in the bus.
Immediately, the participants started falling asleep before they even got the chance to argue or retaliate. Bill was one of the first students to be knocked out by the sleeping gas while Mako was presented with a prompt in front of his eyes; one that he hadn't seen in a while.
*DING!*
[Invasive Substance Detected]
[Does the user want to nullify the effects?]
[YES/NO]
Mako couldn't select 'YES' because then the system would neutralize the sleeping gas and will make it so that he won't fall asleep which would attract a lot of unwanted attention and suspicion from the military which Mako didn't want.
'NO!' Mako commanded the system and soon he started to feel drowsy as well. He was one of the last students to fall asleep and soon the bus started to move toward the destination.
**************
Mako had no idea how much time had passed since they had been knocked out, but when they woke up, a man wearing camouflage pants and a simple green shirt was waiting for them at the front of the bus. One by one everyone started waking up and the man told them that he was their instructor and he wanted them to exit the vehicle in a single file.
Everyone listened to the instructions and exited the bus. It looked like they were in a sort of hangar or a massive warehouse judging from the design of the building they were in but they couldn't say for sure.
The instructor led them to one corner of the open building where there were many small rooms built next to each other. The instructor made the group split into two different groups, one group of boys and the other of girls. A female instructor came to lead the girls to the right while the male instructor ordered all the boys to follow him to the left.
The instructor explained that these were changing rooms. Each changing room will have a kit inside it with a uniform for them and several other things. They were instructed to change and meet back at the bus in fifteen minutes.
Mako went into the room with his name on it and found the kit placed on the bench inside. The kit had his military uniform, a backpack in which they could store all the things that were provided to them and the things they brought from home, and some basic survival supplies such as a water bottle, rope, etc.
He quickly changed into his uniform which was the same camouflage pants and a button-up camouflage shirt. He placed all his items in the back before wearing them and exiting the changing room. He made it back to the bus right on time and stood right next to Bill.
The instructor came back to the group and ordered them to form several single file lines. Once all the students were in single-file lines, he ordered them to follow him to the debriefing room. He explained that they would get debriefed about their test and that the test will begin in T-minus 2 hours.
The group was led to a giant auditorium where other participants were also present. They all got mixed in together to form a crowd and were waiting for the Brigadier to start debriefing the test.
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