The gates of the Vanguard Academy were huge.
They were made of iron and sharpened at the top, with the academy logo attached in polished steel. The logo was an angry wolf leaping with its claws out.
The courtyard inside was already crowded. Dozens of people were there to take the test, and most of them looked a bit older than him.
Some were in good training gear. A few were doing warm-up stretches.
Holden just minded his business and kept walking.
Then he heard the voice.
"Well. This is sad."
He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. He had run errands for the Ashwell estate and heard that arrogant voice barking orders for three years.
Cormac Ashwell was leaning against one of the gate pillars. His training gear was new. His family logo was stitched on the chest in gold thread.
He was looking at Holden's jacket in disgust.
"I almost didn't recognize you," Cormac said, shaking his head. "I thought you were one of the support staff."
Some of the kids standing nearby laughed.
"Cormac," Holden said.
"Holden." Cormac moved away from the pillar and came closer, looking at him with a cruel, mocking smile. "Is that the coat our estate manager threw away last winter? I thought it looked familiar."
Holden felt angry, but he didn't let it show in his voice. "Do you always talk this much before a test, or are you just doing it for me?"
"I'm just doing you a favor so you can prepare to lose." He paused for a second to make it sound dramatic. "You're going to die in the first round. And the worst part is that everyone here knows it already. Even you."
Holden looked at him for a second.
Then he looked past him.
"Cool," he said. "Good talk."
Then he walked away.
He moved to a spot near the crowd and stood there, breathing slowly, until he was calm.
Maeve needs you to pass this exam. That was the only thought he had.
The examiner was a short woman with a shaved head. As soon as she walked up onto the platform, the whole crowd went silent.
No introduction. She unrolled a sheet of paper, looked at it quickly, and put it away.
"Listen once," she said. "I won't repeat myself."
"The entrance examination for the Vanguard Academy consists of one round. Each applicant will enter the combat ring individually. Inside the ring, you will face a Rank 1 Gore-Boar."
Holden had heard of Gore-Boars. They were standard exam beasts, the lowest rank on the danger scale.
"The objective is not to kill the beast," the examiner continued. "The objective is to remain alive in the ring for ten minutes. That is the test." She paused. "If you step outside the ring, you're out. If you get knocked out, you're out. And if you don't show up when it's your turn, you're out."
She folded her hands behind her back.
"You will be called in the order listed. Find a place to wait."
That was it. She stepped off the platform and walked away to speak to one of the ring officials.
The waiting area was a long stone bench under a roof at the side of the main yard. About forty people were sitting close together on the bench or standing in little groups nearby.
Holden sat down, relaxed his shoulders, and closed his eyes.
He wasn't actually calm. But he knew that being scared wouldn't help. He thought about the first lesson every kid in Crestfall learned before they even learned how to fight.
Basic Breathing. Four counts in through the nose, hold for four seconds, then breathe out through the mouth for four seconds. Repeat until your nerves finally calm down.
Holden started doing it, slow and quiet, keeping his face neutral so he didn't look like he was meditating dramatically in a crowd of panicking teenagers.
In. Two. Three. Four.
The blue screen flashed in his vision.
Hold. Two. Three. Four.
And then he felt something change inside him.
His lungs felt like they were opening up more than usual. The energy in his body became easy to control. It was happening because the system was making his breathing much more powerful.
Ten minutes of breathing had turned into ninety minutes of hard work. This was the same training that academy students spent a long time learning. It helped him breathe deeper and made his body more efficient. Now he could push himself harder for much longer before his body started to give up.
He was getting all of that sitting on a bench.
The minutes passed. The crowd got smaller as names were called. Some came back looking shaky but upright. One came back being carried by a ring official, conscious but done. Cormac went in and came out eleven minutes later with a scratch on his arm.
Holden kept breathing.
In. Two. Three. Four.
He'd lost count of his breathing cycles. His body didn't feel the same anymore. Usually, he would get tired and stop making progress, but that limit was gone. His body was capable of so much more now. He felt a deep sense of power and energy.
"Holden Voss," the examiner called.
He opened his eyes and stood up.
And then he felt a change.
Deep inside him, he heard a tiny sound.
Snap.
The blue screen appeared in his vision instantly, its words and numbers changing rapidly.
[Fighter Rank Updated.]
[Rank 1, 1-Star.]
He stood there for one second, processing what just happened.
Then he exhaled and started walking toward the door that led to the ring.