Variant: The Inception

Combat Assessment

It is 0400 hours. The rest of the recruits in his dormitory are still fast asleep, but Mark lays awake, already on the uniform assigned to the recruits in the establishment- grey shorts, white shirt, black boots, and dog tags. As he waits for them to be summoned to the central training ground, his mind drifts off to his training with Captain Stephanie...

"Wake up recruit", she yelled, hitting a pan with a metal spoon as she burst into his room. He fell off the bed terrified at the sudden clanging sound. She laughed hysterically at the result of her actions as she helped him up. "Told you it was gonna be brutal", she said as they headed out. They would train for a couple of hours before his normal training routine with the rest of the recruits began. At first, he was always exhausted as he had little sleep and had already used up most of his energy in the morning before joining up with the class. Eventually, he got accustomed to it and it became a part of him. She told him everything about vampires, how they came to be, how they survive and how to kill them. He always listened attentively, for that, she loved teaching him. She also explained to him why everyone at the establishment had on a silver wristband; it contains a microchip embedded within, which monitors body temperature and heart-rate. Everyone in the establishment is being monitored. Vampires have a low temperature, and their hearts beat at an extremely fast rate which was as a result of their metabolism which is all related to their superhuman abilities. Everyone in the establishment has a wristband unique to them. The wristband in itself is made of silver which would make it impossible to be worn by a vampire. All these precautions were because vampires could easily pass off as humans otherwise. They moved on to hand-to-hand combat. Since he was already exceptional at karate, it didn't take long for him to master advanced jujutsu, judo and Muay Thai style of fighting. Within that time, he also mastered kendo, which is a form of kenjutsu (swordsmanship) that involved martial arts. At the end of his training with her, he had also learned sojutsu (spear fighting) and kyudo (archery). The only time he was ever really happy or had a smile on his face was when he was doing renshu (practice) with his 'Sensei' as she had him call her. She was also the only person he ever really spoke to in the two years that he's been at the establishment.

The 0500 siren starts blaring. The rest of the recruits jump off their beds and begin dressing up. Mark heads out ahead of them.

The training ground is exceptionally large. Large enough to contain all two hundred and sixty of them on less than 30% of its area. It was called the central training ground and it is the largest of all the training grounds. It is located at the exact center of the establishment. There are high ranking officials, people looking like doctors, and some other undistinguished personnel seating and standing under a large decorated shaded area, facing the recruits who are all lined up perfectly. There's a podium ahead of the shaded area.

Mr. Yohanne walks towards it, checks the mic, clears his throat and speaks up. "Morning, recruits," he says, his voice resounding all over the area. "Your three-day assessment begins today. This will determine if you are worthy of the procedure and serum. It would be a huge waste of resources for someone to undergo the procedure and not be able to achieve anything for this organization. Today you will display proficiency in using your weapon or weapons of specialization. According to your number of enrollment written on your dog tags, starting from number one, step up, show us what you can do with your weapon, and if you trust your skill in more than one weapon, then so be it. By all means, dazzle us. I'd wish you good luck, but I believe you don't need it."

The recruits roar in agreement "yaaah", "yaay", "hurrah".

"Begin" Yohanne yells into the microphone.

The testing ground for weapons is also large. It has a shooting range for both guns and arrows, and also a large space for dueling. The recruits all move to the left-hand side of the shaded area directly facing the testing ground. Yohanne continues "The rules are; for both shooting tests, you get three chances, out of those three, your average is recorded and scored. If you choose to use a sword, you wait for the next person who wants to use one too and you duel. The one who gets the most out of three strikes is the winner. But be aware that your technique, composure, character, approach and skill with the sword will all be rewarded as well. You can run around as much as you want, this entire open space is your battlefield."