More. || Eric Coulter

Six.

Eric and I sat together at a dining table and waited for Freyr who couldn't attend the tests because he had to attend his own one.

When he finally arrived in the cafeteria and spotted us, he came running to us and gave me the biggest hug I have ever received, almost suffocating me in the process.

"Congrats, babe!" He shouted followed by a kiss earning several glances from people all over the dining hall. But I couldn't care less because... did he just call me babe? Yes he definitely did! Freyr called me babe! We were almost two months into the relationship and he called me babe!!! "I'm so fucking proud of you. Everyone is talking about your amazing score!" Freyr kept saying in excitement not letting me free until Eric cleared his throat.

"What's up, Eric." Freyr finally greeted him and they gave each other the fist before sitting down again both, me and Freyr grinning like two idiots. Eric was obviously happy as well but it was clearly visible that he was uncomfortable being with us two lovebirds which made us laugh at him for a couple of minutes.

Again we kept talking about the test and Freyrs score as well, getting interrupted by people who congratulated us a couple of times but other than that, everything and everyone, apart from the ones who didn't do as well, was smiling and enjoying that the first hurdle was gone.

Several more minutes passed and we ate and talked about the next months and the intense physical training we would have to go through in order to graduate. Right then another person joined our table. It was Frank and even though he had a grin on his face, I could tell that he was distressed because he avoided making eye contact with me which he rarely did when he was happy.

"They caught another one." He said while leaning in our direction as far as possible making sure to keep his voice low as well. "If I'm correct, they're taking and questioning him."

Everyone at our table seemed to know what he was talking about and kept quiet, letting that go through our head. Or at least that's what I did. Eric continued eating his noodles, unphased by that statement, and Freyr also seemed to be more interested in the food he was stealing from my plate.

But it definitely did bother me. That initiate was also divergent yet he didn't seem to know how disliked we are. The leadership will surely make the next months hard or even impossible for him to go through. The same happened to a girl only a month ago. Max eventually discovered her unusual abilities after she manipulated the simulation four times in a row. They made sure to break her mentally in hopes of making her leave the faction and become factionless but instead she took her own life. Quick and easy by jumping into the chasm. I felt bad for this initiate but at the same time I was terribly curious. Did this one pass the test? Will they make him break as well? And if yes, how will they do it this time? The only way to find out is to keep on observing and most importantly, see what the officials are doing to make myself more safe.

A wave of relief washed over me when I realized that the most risky part of initiation was done. The chances of getting caught were only getting smaller now and that means that I could allow myself to concentrate on the next hurdle even more. Physical training.

Fortunately, the benefits of having a soldier brother and a boyfriend, who was training hard to become a leader, were paying off and I soon climbed up the score ladder.

We were training day and night, making sure to cover everything from knife and gun training to hardcore combat and strength training. Of course that extra help didn't go unnoticed. All the initiates were soon talking about me, giving me glances all the time and avoiding me whenever they could. They would let me know how jealous and intrigued they were during training but as much as they wanted to beat me up, they didn't succeed.