Adaptation and Evolution (Book Two of the EDSOR Military Academy Trilogy)

Chapter 1- Self-Assessment

“It’s crazy…when you enter this school, all human rights are forgotten- it’s survival of the fittest! In Honora, we were only taught the parts of a gun but in EDSOR Military Academy, we are taught how to point a gun, aim it at our foes and to mercilessly pull the trigger” –Jamie Stark

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“Melonie Fearfright”, a thin and lanky freckled girl announced her name with a timid voice echoing across the entire auditorium. 

The Four Head camp leaders were hurriedly jotting down the names of the contenders on long parchment paper. The man at the rightmost corner was wearing a green La Salle jacket with a hoodie. His muscles were rippling while she was writing an important note down. I swear I could hear the older girls swoon.

The woman beside him was covered in black. Now this makes me think she’s on some kind of pilgrimage. I caught a glimpse of something shining beneath her dark sleeves. Probably must be knives or shurikens. 

The man seated beside her kept fixing his thick, oversized glasses. He was so insecure and I doubt that he would be able to stand a crowd of more than one hundred people. I’ve estimated the total population of children here and we’re about seventy two. 

Now the woman beside him was in an elegant light blue dress. She reminds me of Ms Primrose from my former school, prim and proper and exceptionally beautiful.

Why was I subjecting myself to this kind of awkwardness and torture? Well, it's because I want to enroll in this school. But it's not THAT simple. 

You don't pay the tuition. The Philippine government does that for you. First, you'll need to pass the grueling written entrance exams, which I've just taken. They ask you difficult questions like: name the parts of a semi-automatic carbine, or creating a smoke bomb out of nothing in the wilderness. It's a good thing my former school, Honora, had a great repository of books about those topics. To be honest, despite the academic influence we have over our counterpart, EDSOR Military Academy, the teachers don't really teach us the lessons. We, students, have to really make an effort to learn everything by ourselves.

I’ve heard a great deal about this prestigious academy although I do think that Honora would’ve been the better choice to anyone with common sense (I will talk about how foolish and brash I was later on)

There are four camps here, social stratification much. This institution was created because of the widespread reign of terror. The Militicians were the biggest army this school has ever faced with the help of other organizations. They terrorized people and wanted to eliminate freedom in the entire world. The Philippines, my homeland, was the last frontier for rebellion. The burden in which the students were carrying was immeasurable! That’s the whole community of children pitted against the entire world! Talk about kid power! 

Personally, I’d choose the La Salle Camp however they only accept male recruits since La Sallians are bulky and muscular. Sometimes my hands would just slide over my muscles and I’d fantasize about how awesome I’d be. On second thought, I don’t want to be spending the rest of my high school life with boys only. I wouldn’t have that much friends. Only ICA and Poveda are left for me. ICA’s got the brains and strategies. Poveda’s got the stealth and ninja moves. I can’t control my movements and my feet scrape the pavement when I walk…so I’ll settle for the ICA camp.

The long line diminished little by little until I am at the front of the line. My heart was beating so fast.

The four Head camp leaders were assessing my capabilities, as they looked at me from head to toe. I am not that obese but I am not that thin and pretty at all.

So I bit my lip until I could taste the saltiness of my blood gush over my tongue. The Xavier representative stared blankly at me, but I feel that he was staring right inside my soul. That ICAn leader did not even look at me. She just looked at my dirty Converse shoes. The Povedan leader bent towards the La Salle representative and whispered something to him, which he took with some hysterical fits of laughter. My life is totally over.

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Liking the story so far? :) Before you continue, I'd just like to feature illyna16's story entitled, "Same but Different". She made the cover of this story, and she's really awesome! thanks and hope to see you in the following chapters :)