Chapter 385:SOUL Pressure.

Chapter 385: 385:SOUL Pressure.

More candidates arrived, rows filled and the yard gradually became quiet. Academy personnel moved into position around its edges, and the atmosphere changed with them.

A raised platform stood at the front.

Several officers climbed onto it; one wore a darker uniform than the others. The conversation faded the moment he stopped.

Antony straightened.

The man on the platform didn’t introduce himself immediately. He looked across the candidates at thousands of eighteen-year-olds staring back at him with anticipation and glee.

Finally, he spoke, his voice carrying through the yard without needing to shout.

"Two thousand and thirty-seven candidates were approved for general-entry examination this year."

Antony glanced toward the distant rows. Hearing the number spoken aloud made it worse.

The officer continued.

"Your applications were reviewed. Your Contractor records were checked. Your Soul Capacities met the minimum requirements for consideration. Some of you arrived with nine. Some with eleven. Many with thirteen. A smaller number possess fifteen."

A slight movement passed through the crowd.

The officer paused.

"And yes, we have candidates above that."

That caused more reaction.

He heard someone whisper, "Seventeen."

Another voice answered, "There are two."

The officer didn’t care.

"Some of you have spent your entire lives being told that a high Soul Capacity makes you exceptional... Your families may believe it." He looked across them. "Your previous instructors may believe it... We do not."

Antony’s expression became serious.

The officer continued.

"Your Soul Capacity got you through the application process. It will not get you through the second gate."

Nobody whispered now.

"A high Soul Capacity represents potential. Potential is useful. Potential is valuable. Potential also means nothing if your core destabilizes under pressure, your hands shake when something tries to kill you, you exhaust half your reserves performing a task that should require one-tenth, or you lose the ability to follow instructions the moment you’re frightened."

Antony found himself standing slightly straighter. It felt as though they were clearly targeting him.

"Today, we begin determining what you can actually do."

A screen behind the officer activated and five categories appeared.

POWER CONTROL

ENDURANCE

CONCENTRATION

REACTION

CORE STABILITY

The officer turned slightly.

"Your first evaluation is the Soul Pressure and Core Control Examination."

The doors of several massive structures surrounding the yard began opening. Inside were individual lanes, target stations, moving platforms and equipment he couldn’t identify.

The officer continued.

"You will enter according to assigned candidate groups. Pressure will increase incrementally. While under pressure, you will be required to move, maintain core output, manipulate designated objects, demonstrate weapon control and respond to controlled attacks."

Someone farther back raised a hand.

The officer ignored it.

"You are not being tested on whether you can remain standing."

The raised hand slowly lowered.

"If standing were the requirement, we could save several hours and place all of you beneath a pressure generator until you collapsed."

A few nervous laughs escaped.

The officer didn’t smile.

"We want to know whether you remain useful while standing."

That silenced them.

"Pressure will begin at an equivalent load of Soul Capacity Five."

The display changed.

[PRESSURE OUTPUT - SOUL CAPACITY EQUIVALENT: 5]

"It will increase."

[7]

[9]

[11]

[13]

Antony’s eyes stopped at his number, before another appeared.

[15]

A murmur spread through the candidates.

He slowly exhaled.

Rebecca spoke quietly beside him.

"Still feeling cheerful?"

He glanced toward her.

"Ask me again when we reach eleven."

She smiled faintly.

The officer raised his voice slightly.

"If your Soul Capacity is nine, pressure equivalent to eleven does not automatically mean your core will fail. If your Soul Capacity is fifteen, reaching fifteen does not mean you automatically succeed. Your control determines how efficiently you bear the load. Your training determines how long you remain functional. Your decisions determine whether you waste what you have."

Antony remembered what the examiner had said.

Don’t confuse versatility with permission to waste energy.

His smile disappeared. He understood now why the man had told him that.

"Medical personnel are positioned throughout the examination sectors. If they remove you, you are finished. If you voluntarily surrender, you are finished. If your core reaches an unsafe instability threshold, the monitoring system will automatically terminate your evaluation."

The officer’s gaze swept across them.

"Do not attempt to conceal core instability."

A candidate somewhere laughed nervously.

The officer continued without reacting.

"Last year, someone tried." The laughter stopped. "He spent three weeks in recovery."

Antony swallowed.

Rebecca murmured, "That answers that."

The officer looked toward the personnel waiting beside the examination entrances.

"Your objective is not to prove that you’re willing to cripple yourselves." Then he looked back toward the candidates. "It is to prove that when pressure rises, you can still think."

A buzzer sounded and the first candidate blocks began moving.

Antony’s pulse increased.

The officer stepped back before another voice came through the speakers.

"Candidate Group One through Candidate Group Four, move to evaluation sectors."

Hundreds started marching toward the open structures.

"Groups Five through Eight, remain in position."

Antony checked the display for his group to find he was group fourteen, which meant he had time. That somehow made it worse.

He watched the first candidates disappear through the reinforced doors.

Several minutes passed before the giant display changed.

[SOUL PRESSURE EXAMINATION ACTIVE.]

He folded his arms, then unfolded them when he noticed everyone else standing properly.

Rebecca glanced toward him.

"Nervous?"

He considered lying.

"A little."

"Thats normal, everyone who isn’t nervous either knows exactly what they’re doing or has no idea what’s about to happen."

He looked toward the examination building.

"I definitely don’t know what’s about to happen."

"Then nervous is appropriate."

He laughed.

He didn’t know how much time passed before the first candidates began emerging. Some walked normally, while some looked exhausted.

One had to be supported by medical personnel. Another came out furious, arguing with an examiner.

"My capacity is fifteen! There’s no way I failed at nine!"

The examiner continued walking.

"Your core fluctuation exceeded permitted limits."

"But I could still stand!"

"You weren’t instructed to stand. You were instructed to maintain the barrier."

The candidate followed him.

"I can do it again."

"No."

"Give me another attempt."

"No."

"My Soul Capacity is fifteen!"

The examiner finally stopped.

"So was it five minutes ago."

The boy froze.

"Your evaluation is complete."