New Recruits (A WangXian ff) ✔

14

Everybody was talking animatedly with each other as they discussed what the reason was for this surprise meeting with their Instructors. The seats for Lan Wangji and Xichen were empty, and as the clock ticked closer to 8am, the atmosphere became more anxious than intrigued, but the conversations continued none the less.

Despite having utmost respect for the brothers, everybody was so deep in discussion that they ignored the side door opening and the two males who walked in. They were expecting for the recruits to be waiting quietly as they usually did but presumed the talking was because of the unexpected meeting.

Xichen seemed like he was about to ask them to be quiet when another voice cut across the room:

"Shut it!" Wei Wuxian shouted.

Immediately, the recruits fell silent and followed the alpha's gaze to the brothers. Mumbles of apology echoed across the room, as the boys turned around in their seats to give full attention to the Instructors.

"Thankyou Wei Wuxian."

"Anytime." Wei Ying gave a nod and a smile to the brothers.

"Listen up. We have an announcement to make." Wangji said with absolute seriousness, making the recruits share worried looks.

"Indeed. The board has come to a conclusion about your mental assessment. These past few years the assessment has been theoretical but has proven some recruits to be good liars. So, for us to see who you really are and just how good of an agent you can be, your assessment will be practical."

"This means," Wangji continued after a nod from Xichen, "that you should not slack on your training for the next few days. Our previous room, with all equipment, will be available daily for you to use. We will not give specifics on the format of the exam but know it will be designed to test each one of you individually."

Silence followed Wangji's words as the recruits grew more worried. Majority of them had stopped any physical training, and hadn't practiced combat or weaponry, meaning they had a lot of work to do in the coming days before the exam. One of them, however, was not as worried as the rest.

Wei Ying had been back to the physical training room several times since the assessment, mostly to let off some steam after a difficult training session or just when he wanted to relax. He found that he gained this through shooting a gun mostly, or going up to the rooftop for alone time. He enjoyed spending time with everyone but even the most sociable person needs some alone time to reboot. Especially, when that person was holding back so much.

"One more thing," Xichen began, once again gaining the stares of the recruits, "this year we will be introducing something new, a little motivator you could say."

"We will only be accepting four recruits from the group. Your scores will be ranked and the highest scores will pass. Even if you complete your assessment, it won't matter if you're not good enough."

Xichen allowed this extra news to sink in before calling them to attention and announcing the day's training to begin. The group separated and went their separate ways, nobody bothering to chat as they digested the news. Some glanced at the boys next to them, wondering if they would be one of the four that passed. At least once, everyone looked at Wei Ying in envy, knowing he would definitely pass. That left only three spots.

Three spots with nine recruits.

For the first time there was competition between the recruits. For their first assessment, they were fighting for themselves, to get good scores and to pass. This time, they were competing to have higher scores than each other. The feeling of friendship they had acquired since meeting dwindled slightly, as the determination to succeed rose in everyone.

Wei Ying was walking at the front of his group, a few steps behind Wangji. Originally, he was going to ask Lan Zhan what he meant by ranking the scores and wanted to know more about how their exams would be ranked. But when they exited the meeting room and headed along the corridors, he found he couldn't ask his questions when he felt all of the other recruit's eyes on him. Usually the attention wouldn't bother him, as he liked having attention on himself to have fun or mess around, but these gazes weren't as friendly as before. They seemed envious and almost angry at him. Wei Ying could not figure out why.

"They think your spot is guaranteed." Lan Zhan spoke almost inaudibly as he fell in step with the younger.

"What? Why?" Wei Ying asked quietly, the piercing stares pickling the back of his neck.

"You're ranking has not changed. They believe you are better than them. That means you will get a spot, leaving only three left."

"They think I'm better than them?"

"Hm."

"Do you?" Wei Ying asked as he spoke to the floor, trying to not make their conversation known.

Lan Zhan took a while to answer so Wei Ying thought over it himself. In terms of ranking and abilities then physically he was far above all of them. So, when they were all reminded to work on that side of their training, they all knew he wouldn't have to work as hard, but he knew he would work as hard as any of them anyways. But what they didn't know was that when it came to mental training he was just like them. He knew how to handle hypothetical life and death situations in a more planned out and complex way but he struggled with the more personal aspects. 

Alongside Lan Zhan, he had been working on trying to let go of the past and lifting the deadly blame that had rested on his shoulders for so long. They had spent the last few nights sitting on the rooftop and talking through what he was feeling, finding ways for his heart and mind to realise he was not to blame for his mother's death. During their personal training, he had been working on figuring out ways to save everyone without risking his life or immediate self-sacrifice. His first response was always to take the shot, and when this became apparent, Lan Zhan suggested he felt that was the right way as it was a way to pay back the life he believed he stole.

After their sessions, which sometimes grew intense, Wei Ying would put back on his carefree expression and leave, making the boys believe he found the training easy and had nothing to worry about. He took Lan Zhan's words to heart- that the others looked up to him- but now realised they may not look at him so good anymore. Not when he was their most dangerous threat, and had the highest chance of taking one of the four spots.

As Wei Ying turned around to hear Lan Zhan's answer, it was too late as they had reached their training room. Walking through the familiar doors, the boys sat down on their chairs and looked over to Wangji. Jiang Cheng noticed the other boys were looking very worried at the announcement of their being only four spots available. Of course this was also worrying to him, but he saw it as more of a motivator than a threat: now he would work twice as hard to be better than the rest of the betas and gain a top spot for the ranking.

"Don't centre your training around the fact that only four people will pass. Keep it in the back of your mind and focus on yourself rather than anybody else, that is because your exam is personal. You will see that somebody is better than you at something," at these words Wei Ying felt several pairs of eyes on him, "and that is inevitable. But you should focus on improving yourself. Comparing yourselves to each other is useless in this assessment. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses; it's about accepting them and working on overcoming your weaknesses. Now, today we're going back to the original lessons to work on your mind responses. Let's begin."

The training passed quickly that day, and soon dinner passed too, and everyone could be found in the training room, working on one thing or another that evening. Wei Ying was trying out the entire gun range and was ignoring everyone else around him. The stares had lessened throughout the day as the recruits understood that he wouldn't have an impact on their assessments.

Wei Ying was shocked by their original actions once the news was revealed. They saw him as a threat, no longer someone to inspire them or help them, and their change of opinions was surprising. Words were very impacting of course- and Wangji's tone didn't made the revelation any less serious- so Wei Ying put down their initial reactions to fear. Fear did weird things to people.