It was one thing being lost during an exam and it was a whole other when info of how lost you were makes it out of the exams room.
And that was exactly what was currently happening when the girl suddenly recognized Nox.
"Oh, you were the one sitting next to me," was the first thing she said, as she looked directly at him, "you… seemed a bit lost during the exam."
"Y-yeah, thanks for the help though." Nox responded, a bit embarrassed at her mention of his struggle in the exams hall.
Seeing the embarrassment on his face, the girl immediately apologized, "I—I didn't mean it like that. Sorry! I just… noticed."
Nox waved it off. "It's fine. You weren't wrong."
She nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I'm Linda, by the way, from Aurion."
"Ain't that the industrial district?" Devon asked.
By industrial, he meant mostly the folks responsible for keeping Aureum's lifeblood running — the engineers who maintained the SE power lines, reactor grids, and conduits that kept all the cities in Aureum lit.
Linda nodded before responding, "I… suppose? My family worked in the lower reactor grids, maintaining SE lines. I've been studying Solar Energy since I was seven."
Well, that explained her knowledge during the test... at least it made Nox feel a bit better, knowing that most of the students here have been tutored since young.
They held the advantage, which meant it'd be even more satisfying if he got into the academy while most of them didn't.
"Even if I do, it wouldn't be in the Scholar division," he muttered, reminding himself of the fact that he had guessed 2/4 of the questions.
There was no miracle that'd make him pass, not unless the gods of probability decided to take pity on him, which, judging from their silence for the past decades, had an even lower probability of happening.
Nox leaned back and let out a sigh, he still had three more chances.
"Anyway, nice to meet you Linda," Devon said, "name's Devon."
"This is Cassian, but you can just call him Cass..easier to remember." He pointed at Cass who was still scrolling through the questions on his watch.
"Nox," Nox introduced himself next and Linda smiled a bit as she said, "nice to meet you all."
The conversation went on for a while before Linda spoke again, looking at Nox. "You know… for someone who claims the guessed half the test, you don't look that worried."
Nox shrugged, resting his chin on his palm. "Worry doesn't fix anything. If I fail, I fail. If I pass, good for me."
Well, that was a lie, and he just remembered that if he failed, he was going to become a lab rat and just imagining the things Astra might do to him, made him shiver.
"You good?" Devon asked.
"Yeah, just an unpleasant thought." He answered and Devon nodded, but before anymore words could be said, an announcement came from the speaker that hung on the cafeteria.
[Attention candidates. The second trial, Solar Tech Construction, begins in twenty minutes. Please proceed to your designated workshops.]
With that, a couple of dings responded in the cafeteria as new info was uploaded to their watches.
[Name: Nox]
Workshop: Bay 06, East Wing
Section: Craft (Solar Tech Construction)
Countdown: 00:19:58
"Well, there goes our break." Nox muttered as he looked at his watch.
"Ain't this your turf?" Devon said, as they all stood up...well, the three of them anyway, Cass was still deeply buried in the questions.
"You're an engineer?" Linda asked, a bit surprised.
"Not really," Nox answered, "I just know a thing or two about Solar tech."
That was just another way of saying he never hit the books for solar tech, but he knew his way around them.
"Cool," she muttered in response but asked nothing else.
"Yo Cass," Devon called out.
"Hmm?" Cassian answered absentmindedly.
"You do know we've got another test in twenty minutes right?" Devon asked again.
"..."
There was silence before Cass switched the screen on his watch
[Name: Cassian Burns]
Workshop: Bay 12, West Wing
Section: Craft (Solar Tech Construction)
Countdown: 00:15:32
He immediately stood up with the rest and with no words exchanged, they walked out of the cafeteria towards the hall that led to their various bays.
Turns out, both Cass and Devon were in the same bays this time and like before, Nox and Linda were in the same.
The two soon reached their assigned bay, and yet again, most of the students were already seated...well, standing next to their table.
Unlike where they wrote the written exam, a hall that looked like the typical lecture room, this one looked like a lab of some sorts.
The same floor light led Nox and Linda to their various tables where a white lab coat with golden patterns lay, alongside a couple of tools, some of which Nox had no idea what they were used for.
The instruction on his watch told him to put on the lab coat with the gloves and wait for further instructions from the examiner.
He took the time to look at the tools provided, yes, some looked strange and different from what he was used to using but he still couldn't see how this qualified as 'restricted conditions'.
Well, he was the only one who shared that sentiment as the faces of most of the other candidates held frowns.
They instantly identified the tools before them and therefore the type of test they were about to face.
Soon enough, the examiner walked in.
This time, it was a woman wearing the same lab coat as them and her face looked completely bored as she scanned the entire class.
Behind her, two drones followed, each carrying a box,
The woman didn't waste time with introductions. She set the boxes down on the central table and clapped her hands once which worked to quiet down the muttering students.
"Alright, candidates," she began, her voice sounded as bored as she looked. "You're here for the Solar Tech Construction Trial. I'm Examiner Ilyra Vale. Some of you might know my name, most of you won't. Either way, it won't matter if you fail."
That certainly got everyone's attention.
"The goal of this test is simple," she continued, motioning to the hovering drones. "You will each receive a damaged Solar Tech. Your task is to repair and reactivate it within one hour using only the tools provided."
"If you're familiar with the system's structure, good. If not…" She shrugged. "Then may the light guide you."
The drones split and began moving towards each row, dropping sealed cases onto each student's workstation with soft metallic thuds. The moment they touched the table, the golden seals faded, unlocking the lids.
Nox raised a brow when his case landed in front of him. "You think they got these things from a scrapyard?" he muttered under his breath.
Linda, standing beside him, had already opened hers. Inside was a half-melted Solar rifle, its internal tubing exposed, the main emitter cracked...in short, it was completely busted.
She sighed, pushing her glasses up. "A Type-4 SE rifle… this'll take some time."
Nox opened his own box next and was a bit surprised at what lay before him. The examiner's voice was heard again, "You have one hour, begin."