Fragments

Ch.3 - Approval

The high-pitched sound of a whistle rang through the room, catching everyone's attention immediately. "The matches are over!" Instructor Asuma yelled out in a more serious tone compared to the laid-back performance she displayed earlier, the whistle she used being dropped back into her shorts' pocket.  "Everyone take a short break, Ari and I will start discussing the acceptance of you guys." Without another word, the instructors left the room, leaving everyone in mild shock. "That's it?" Was the thought that went through everyone's head. They weren't given enough time to let the order set in. Nobody knew how long the test would last, but the 8 or so minutes they were given were too little time for most to show any creative ideas with their powers.
Most understood why it happened – Min and Reuel. With those two in the room, if the exams took any longer, it would've been hazardous. Even now, they stood face-to-face in the arena. "What, you ain't continuing? Ya finally hit me." Reuel slightly tilted his head and asked, the tense air between the two fading away slowly. "I have no reason to. I'm aiming for acceptance, I can't disobey orders." Min put a lot of emphasis on not disobeying commands, which in comparison to the bloodlust Reuel expressed, was quite the contrast. "So…" Min continued to speak while making his way to the elevated arena's edge. He sat down, letting his legs hang off of it. It was crazy how nonchalant he was about having taken such a beating. "I hit you. What's your story? Why do you want to be in Aegis?" Reuel seemed confused at first, but he then remembered the suggestion he made during the fight. "That was just meant to make you fight, moron," he thought. But, after a sigh, he came clean with an answer. "Nothin' special. I just wanna kill things, and getting paid for that is a dream come true."
"What else was I to expect," Min replied. With the earlier hostility being nowhere to be found, the two seemed to get along pretty decently, to people's surprise.

Reuel left the arena almost immediately after their little conversation, and Min paid no attention to where he went. There were some other doors presumably connecting to other rooms with symbols and signs above each doorway, but Min was too far away to make out what they said. Instead of looking around, he sat there in thought. "I would've died if I didn't have my powers… Isn't that a funny thought, my journey would've ended before even starting. But it seems I was fortunate. My forte will be defense, which is not terrible."
Nobody could afford to be relaxed, however. The atmosphere was tense, everyone impatiently awaited what results the instructors would return with. Min had to get accepted, his goal can't be achieved unless he gets recruited into Aegis' ranks.
"Heeeeey!" A cheery voice interrupted Min's thoughts, and looking around, he saw the cyan-haired boy from earlier, rushing towards Min with a nervous smile. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me with that guy..."
"Oh– you're welcome. I've always enjoyed protecting people." Feeling taken aback, he didn't know how to respond to the boy's gratitude, opting to blurt out whatever came to mind first.
"Really? That's great! You'll definitely get accepted."
"Will I? What makes you so sure?"
"You've got a great mentality. These guys take everything into account. Oh, by the way, I'm Yuu. Nice to meetcha!" The boy and Min shook hands right after. "You're energetic, Yuu," Min noted as the boy hurried him along. "Everyone says that. I've been this way since I was born, though my ability makes it even worse. Oh– Wanna see what it does? We can show them to each other here!"
"Sure." Min felt like he was being roped along wherever the overly energetic teen went, but it was a pleasant break nonetheless, which caused him to slowly soften up. Yuu took a step back and showed Min his gloved hands, out of which a sparkling, cyan matter suddenly dropped out. "I can make this stuff! It's explosive, and can also power stuff like a battery!"
Yuu: ability – Energy Solidification.
The quite intriguing ability Yuu obtained lets him harness the very essence of an ability, which turned out to be an adaptive power source and an explosive in one. It has a major drawback, though.
Upon closer inspection, Yuu's hands were faintly glowing, which was visible through the gloves. "That's from exhaustion," he noted with a sour expression once he picked up on where Min was looking. "Materialising this stuff is extremely tiring."
"That looks painful… You should rest." Min said, looking back up into Yuu's eyes. "Yup, great idea! First comes some food, though. Hopefully they have some here– anyway, I'm heading back. Again, thanks for the help!" He ran off, waving at Min, who mutely waved back.
"There's all sorts of people here, aren't there?" Something about this situation, this exam and participants felt like Min would get into more than he warranted for. His plan was simple – join Aegis, become a Guardian to gain insight into the inner workings of the country and search for clues…  That streamlined plan suddenly seemed far more complex, for some reason.