"Attention!"
Immediately the riot in the room fell silent. The group of boys stopped their brawling and fighting and formed rows, one behind the other with hands behind their backs.
"This is not the behaviour I expect from our recruits! Discipline and manners is at the heart of what we do!"
Commander Qiren's speech was interrupted by a small snigger which was quickly disguised as a cough. Qiren looked down the front row to find who had interrupted him and his eyes landed on a boy with styled jet black hair who was quite tall and had a glint in his eye. He had handsome features, with those bright eyes and defined jaw, and his presence stood out amongst the other recruits. The training uniform- cargo pants and vest top- highlighted his toned body and muscles.
"You! Step forwards!" Qiren demanded.
If the boy looked scared at being called out he didn't show it, he only stepped forwards and looked right ahead of him, showing respect to the Commander.
"What did you find so funny?"
"Well, many things to be honest. First, the whole thing about discipline. Dude, we are a bunch of teen slash young adult guys of course we're gonna want to let off some steam. And if I'm surrounded with morons like him," he paused and looked at an arrogant looking boy at the end of the row, "then it'll be hard not to want to throw a punch at them every so often. Second, manners being the heart of everything you do is ridiculous. What are we going to do? Walk up to the person we're about to blow up or shove a bullet into their skull and say 'Excuse me, I am going to kill you know, is that alright with you? If not I can come back tomorrow'. Don't be stupid. Then thirdly, you seem really into manners and all that so now I'm wondering why you pointed at me when calling me out? Isn't pointing at someone considered to be very rude?" he asked.
The whole time he talked he looked straight ahead, yet as he ended his speech to the commander he turned his head and gave a small grin and a raised eyebrow.
"What's your name, boy?" Qiren asked, his voice shaking to control his anger.
"Wei Wuxian, nice to meet you."
The whole room was silent. Some of the boys looked at Wei Wuxian in awe, some looked at him like he was crazy, others fearfully glanced at Qiren, and Wei Wuxian looked at the two males standing behind the Commander.
They could've been classed as twins except for the one on Qiren's left looked slightly older and had a gentler expression where as the other seemed cold and reserved. They both had short-ish hairstyles with undercuts and their piercing eyes were visible. They were both tall and very handsome, extremely interesting to look at.
"Wei Wuxian, how dare you speak to me like that!"
"Like what? I beg your pardon sir, but you asked me what I found funny and I told you. If you didn't want me to speak up then you shouldn't have asked me a question in the first place."
"Enough! Who do you think you are, boy?"
"I do believe that I am Wei Wuxian. Do you not know who you are? Is all that shaking giving you concussion? That's quite worrying, want me to call the doctor?" he asked innocently.
"Wei Wu-!"
"Uncle. Calm down." the older brother spoke softly and took a step forwards, the smallest smile of humour visible from Wuxian's cheek.
Qiren looked like he was about to run forwards and tackle Wuxian to the ground for his daring, yet he calmed at his nephew's voice.
"You are right. Xichen, we have business in the office, let us go. Wangji, you are in charge of training." Qiren spoke and, with a last glare at Wei Wuxian, who smiled and waved at him like they were good friends, he made his way to the office upstairs.
"Group formations: alpha, beta, delta. Now." Wangji spoke in a strict voice and the boys began to move quickly depending on the colour of their arm band.
The rankings were for how well the recruits performed in their physical and mental admission tests. Alpha- with a gold band- was the group with the highest scores, beta- with the silver band- was second and delta- with the bronze band- was third. Wangji knew some of the boys were unhappy with their groups but they could improve and move up ranks as training went on. That is, if they earned it.
Wangji also noticed that the mischievous boy, Wei Wuxian, was in the alpha group. And to his utmost surprise saw that this boy was the only one in the alpha group. He saw a lad who was tall and arrogant looking giving him a deathly stare as he stood in the beta group- whilst holding a bruised cheek- and a younger lad annoyed he wasn't alpha too. He assumed Wei Wuxian and the boy were good friends as they gave each other sad looks.
He looked quickly at Wei Wuxian's hands and saw that on his right hand the knuckles were red from blood rush. He realised the fighting must have been between him and the beta boy and he had mixed emotions about the scenario. He was curious as to why the boys were fighting and annoyed that they broke the rules first day in.
"Boring." he huffed to himself before turning to face the three groups.
"Good. Now, preliminary training lasts four weeks and then an assessment will be given. If you fail to pass you're gone. End of story. The assessment will be based upon your physical training only. The second assessment will be three weeks after that and will be a mental assessment: how well you cope under pressure, can you face your worst fears, how fast you think, and most importantly, do you know when to kill and when not to kill?"
As he spoke, the recruits all fell silent and stared at him in a mixture of awe and fear. Wangji was tall and built and had an expression which warned people not to mess with him. Of course, there was one person who didn't see this at all. Wuxian shot his hand into the air.
"What?"
"Ya, Lan Wangji, right? Quick question, why is there four weeks of physical training and three for mental? Surely the mind and the body need to have equal training. It is difficult to express one without the other."
Wangji didn't reply and only stared at the boy for a moment. He seemed to be sizing Wuxian up. When he came to a conclusion he spoke.
"Wei Wuxian. It is proven physical training takes a longer amount of time than mental. That is why."
"But that isn't the case for everybody. You can't generalise it."
"You believe you need less or, in fact, no physical training? Or perhaps more mental training?"
"What do you think? Wangji, you have gone through the training. Take a guess at what I think. The fact that you have already made an assumption about me should help."
With Wei Wuxian standing alone- and grinning- in the alpha group and the rest of the boys admiring him from a distance, and with Wangji standing stoically and expressionless in front of them, a tense few seconds of silence followed the conversation.
"We shall see. Come."
Wangji turned and made his way across the training room to the gun range. At the end of the wall were four targets and at the other end, now in front of Wei Wuxian, was a whole table covered in a range of different guns.
"Identify them. If you can." Wangji tested.
"Gladly." Wuxian nodded and turned to look at the array of guns. "That's a stainless steel Smith & Wesson SW1911E-series, a Daniel Defence MK18, an AR15 with Magpul CTR stock, a Chiappo Rhino 60DS, a Norinco Type 56-1, a range of machine guns and a M4A1 carbine. I think that's everything."
The room was silent as the recruits gaped with open mouths and wide eyes at Wei Wuxian. How did he know all of those types of guns and how did he recognise them so fast and how did he say all of that without stuttering under the heavy stare of Wangji?
"Correct. Now use them."
"Use them? Wangji, you trust me enough to shoot them all right here? How interesting... But unfortunately, I can't use them."
"And why not?"
"Because they're empty."
"Are you sure?" Wangji asked and took a step closer, staring right at Wuxian, trying to get him to crack under the pressure.
"Yes. They're all empty, except for this one."
As quick as a flash Wei Wuxian picked up the smallest gun on the table and, whilst maintaining the intense eye contact with Wangi, lifted his right arm up and began to shoot at the targets. Each bullet hit the centre of their designated target every time and soon the targets all had four holes straight through their bodies so you could see the damaged wall on the other side.
Once the bullets ran out, Wei Wuxian put the gun down as the echoes of each shot rang in the air.
"Nice shooting."
"I try."
Wei Wuxian grinned before bowing to Wangji then to the boys, who gave small claps, before making his way back to his position.
"Quiet. Now, after that performance from the alpha group I have my expectations for the rest of you. We will train twelve hours a day with three breaks in between. Failure to show up will mean punishment and failure to complete will also mean punishment. The rest of the day is yours to settle into your rooms. Get back here tomorrow morning at 6am for your first day. Now get out."
The recruits all saluted Wangji before quickly exiting the hall with expressions of relief that their Instructor didn't point them out. However, as the group walked back to their dorms there was one missing from the lot.