It seemed that yesterday the HQs were cleared off for the trials because there was at least three times the amount of people here than yesterday at the same hour. Later I found out that this was because all of the agents had to be here for a little ceremony for us the newbies.

I really hoped that the girl that woke me up yesterday would be here today, but it seemed that she had only the afternoon shifts since today I was received by a male agent a bit older than her, probably 25 or 26, who guided me through a maze of aisles until we reached the locker rooms where my uniform and sword awaited.

- You can leave your bag in your locker, this is your key – He said as he gave me a little silver key with a chain that said ‘trainee’ – Put on your uniform, I’ll be waiting outside. Try to do it fast.

- Thanks. I’ll try to

He left the room and only then I opened my locker. It was a two meter tall metal rectangle with a coat rack that occupied almost the entire thing, with a compartment on top for my belongings and such.

Hanging from the rack there was a long grey coat, and inside a plastic bag on a hanger my ‘uniform’ that was actually an armor. I took everything out and examined it: first, the armor was made up of two types of plates, the rigid ones that only covered the shoulders, a bit of the neck and the majority of the wrists (since they were the most important AND vulnerable part, even with the swords having a cross at the handle), and the more flexible ones, some sort of chainmail, made by a carbon fiber polymer or something like that (I don’t really know about this stuff) that covered the rest of the body pretty well and gave a lot more mobility than the rigid ones. They decided that mobility was more important than an overprotective set of armor that would restrict the agents’ movements, and they only left heavy armor where mobility wasn’t needed and where injuries could be really a problem, the neck and shoulders. I read that they also considered a helmet, but after long debates and demonstrations, they decided against it since attacks to the head where too predictable and easy to block for them to be an actual problem.

When I tried it on, every single part fit perfectly. It seems that those measurements aren’t just protocol. My body felt the extra weight on the shoulders, but the rest was actually imperceptible. I tried doing some moves and stretches to see how limited I was, and I was gladly surprised to find out that it was as if I wasn’t wearing it. Smiling, I put on the coat that also was tailor-made, and moved on to the last and most important item: the sword.

It was exactly how I had imagined it: a metallic handle, covered in some kind of thin cloth that seemed to be some anti-slip material, held a 60 or 65 cm long double edged iron blade. The design was pretty simple and generic since they gave every trainee one, and even some agents might use them as well even if they could use one made especially for themselves. I picked it up with little to no effort and swung it around for a bit. It felt well balanced and, as I had suspected, the grip was incredible, as if the sword was attached to my hand with some kind of glue.

It seemed that I got really excited and immersed because my fun was cut by the voice of the agent waiting outside

- Are you done kid? We’re gonna be late

- Yeah I’m sorry, I was testing everything a little

- There’s gonna be time for that, hurry up and get out

- On my way

With that, I put my backpack in the locker, closed it and stored the key in a pocket of my pants that had a zipper so I wouldn’t lose it.

Then I strapped the sheath of the sword to my left side and put the sword in after taking a final look at it. The sword was so new that I could see my own reflection on it, and what I saw was something I haven’t seen since before my mother passed away: a sincere happy smile on my face. It had been rough all this time, but now that I was living my dream, I swore to myself that I would grow up to be a person my mother would be proud of, and seeing that dream slowly come together made me really happy. I put away my sword and got out of the room, where the agent was waiting for me.

- About time

- Sorry, but all this new things are pretty cool

- Yeah, you’ll get used to and grow bored of them

- I hope I don’t

- Yeah whatever, let’s go

He seemed to be in a bad mood, probably because I made him wait until the last second and now we were running late.

We went through another maze until we reached a double door where we suddenly stopped

- Are you ready kid? – The agent asked without looking at me

- Not at all – I honestly answered, because I didn’t know what to expect

- Hah, they never are

With that, he opened the doors and my eyes saw so many things that I couldn’t process them. First, there were more than 100 chairs in the room, all of them occupied by an agent of this branch office; in the middle of the chairs, an aisle was left so people could come and go without having to dodge every chair in their way. At the other end of the room, a podium with a microphone stood a bit over everyone else on a little stage that was probably built just for this situation, and could be taken out easily at any moment. On the left of the podium there were 4 figures standing one besides the other, while on the right there were 5 other figures standing in the same way. Everyone stopped talking when I entered the room, and the loud voices were replaced by whispers and mutters a second after. I looked at the agent besides me, who saw the confused look on my face and said

- Go up there with the other 4, kid

- Thanks Mr…

- Aaron, I'm agent Aaron

- Thank you agent Aaron

I said and quickly started walking towards the stage.

I felt more and more nervous with every step I took because I had kept all this people waiting for God knows how much. It was embarrassing but I managed to keep my head straight until I reached the stage and climbed up a short stair. For my surprise, I already knew three of the people that I had to stand with. The two people closer to me were the last two applicants, the big guy and the tiny girl. Right after them there was a guy that I haven’t seen before, but when he looked at me he made a horrible displeasure expression as if he hated me or something. Last but not least, looking at me with those big almond eyes and a mischievous smile that said ‘I told you I’d make it’ as loud as if she were screaming it, was Pat, probably the only person who’s name I knew. I gave her an approving nod and rushed my way next to the big guy to complete the formation.

- It seems that finally we are all here, so let’s begin

A man I hadn’t seen climbed the stage from behind and dropped that scolding sentence before approaching the podium. He was a grown man of about 50 years old with grey hair and beard all over his face, but the body and physique of someone half his age. His facial traits were hard but sharp even behind all that white hair, which made his even sharper blue eyes highlight even more. He approached the podium and everyone in the room shut up almost instantly. The man tapped the mic once and then started:

- Welcome and thank you for coming. For those who don’t know me my name is Eduardo Ramos, ex-rank 7 agent and current chairman of this WP’s branch as well as part of the Director’s Board for the entire White Police agency.

Of course I knew who he was, only that I’d never seen him before. He was one of the biggest names in the White Police's world, and he was standing right before me.

- As you must know – Ramos continued - we are gathered here to introduce our newest trainees to you, and also introduce them to their trainers for this first stage of their journey. I’d like for the trainees to step up one at a time and introduce yourselves, is that okay?

We all nodded in agreement, and Pat, who was the closest to the podium, gave a step towards the front and proceeded with her introduction:

- Trainee Patricia Allen, 20 years old

Like that, we continued one at a time so at the end I knew everyone’s names

- Trainee Yuri Volkov, 21 years old

- Trainee Mercedes Wood, 20 years old

- Trainee Frank Wolf, 21 years old

- Trainee Theo Wagner, 18 years old

I heard some mumbling when I said my age since it wasn’t normal for an 18 years old to present the test and even less normal was for one to actually pass it, but Eduardo lifted his palm up and silence took over the room once again. It was obvious that they either respected or feared him, either way both served the same purpose.

- Now, the five agents to my left are also going to introduce themselves and say which trainee they were assigned to. Agents – He said turning to his left - please proceed:

I hadn’t pay that much attention to the other side of the stage since my visual was mainly blocked by the massive Frank Wolf, and because I’ve been too concentrated in not shitting myself, so I turned left, looking carefully and expectant to see who was going to be my trainer.

The first person to step forward was a guy that could easily been mistaken by a mannequin. He had no facial expression at all and his skin was white as a snow. The only thing that differentiated him from a mannequin was his long grey hair, which was a strange color since he couldn’t be more than 30 years old. With his still emotionless face, he spoke up:

- Alexei Ivanov, Rank 4 agent. I’ve been assigned as Yuri Volkov’s tutor.

Stepping back, he gave place to the next person

- Emil Meyer, Rank 4 agent. I’ll have the pleasure of being Miss Wood’s tutor.

It seemed that they matched us using some kind of logic, because both agent’s had similar complexities and presumable same fighting styles as their trainees, probably the main reason of the pairing. Emil was a short guy with a strong but not too heavily built body, with short hair and two sharp eyes that seemed capable of cutting things just by looking at them.

He gave a step back, and I was gladly surprised to see the next person in line, and actually hoped she would be assigned to me. Her long black hair fluttered as she gave a step forward, uncovering her entire face.

- Violet Armstrong, rank 5 agent and Miss Patricia Allen’s tutor.

Agent Violet looked at me right after finishing her presentation, gave me a wry smile and I could swear her lips spelled ‘I’m sorry’

I sighed in disappointment and watched while the next person stepped up. For a second, I thought I was in the presence of a giant.

Her frame was easily above two meters tall and a almost a meter wide. She had short blonde hair with a military style cut so you could see every single muscle from her neck and head. Yes, she had visibly toned muscles on her face.

- Emma Neumann, rank 4 agent assigned as Frank Wolf’s tutor.

Now I definitely knew that we were paired based on at least physical resemblance.

Everyone’s tutor had been presented, so the next one was obviously mine. I got nervous as agent Emma stepped back and the last guy, my guy, stepped forward.

I couldn’t see my own expression, but I knew that it wasn’t a pretty one. The person that showed up from behind the other four agents didn’t gave me one bit of confidence. He looked neglected, as if his physical appearance didn't matter at all. A grey, short and messy shadow of a beard covered the lower half of his face, while long greasy black bangs almost entered his eyes. As he stepped forward, I saw the facial expression of someone who didn’t want to be there at all, and when he spoke I knew for a fact that he in fact didn´t want to

- John West, rank 5, unfortunately kid Wagner’s tutor.

Unfortunately? Did he just say unfortunately?

- Come on John, don’t be like that. Well, now that everyone had been introduced, let me tell all of you something. We are going through difficult times, crime is going up and criminals are more and more skilled, that’s why we had to make a choice, we either accepted a lot of new recruits, risking their lives if they are not good enough for these criminals, or accept just a few with the skills necessary to handle them. As you know, we went with the second option since people safety is our main priority, but by doing that, we are putting a lot of pressure on the shoulders of these young kids so, I’m gonna ask you, all of you, not just their tutors, to please help them and guide them through out their journey so they can be better than us, stronger than us and wiser than us to continue ensuring the safety of our people. Now, trainees, please go with your tutors so you can know each other a bit better and you can start your training as soon as possible. Good luck to all of you.

With a big ovation, President Ramos got down of the stage, and we went to meet with our new mentors.

As I walked past Violet and Patricia, both of them smiled at me as I gesticulated ‘good luck’ with my lips and returned their smile. Before turning away, Violet gave me a complicit look, then looked at my tutor and back at me, then walked away with Pat who was already going down the stage. A little confused I walked right past everyone and that guy Volkov again looked at me with disgust on his face, but I didn’t paid him much attention as I had biggest concerns.

Agent West, my mentor, wasn’t even looking at me when he started walking down the stage. I followed him for a couple of minutes without saying anything until we were on an aisle with no one else around.

- Not the biggest fan of people, huh?

- Now hear me out kid, I’m not gonna be your friend, your buddy nor your partner. I’m gonna do my job and you are gonna learn from that, period. And if you ever interfere with my work or my affairs, I’m gonna make sure you get kicked from the WP as fast as I can. Understood?

- Why don’t you just tell them that you don’t want this so they can assign me a tutor that actually wants to do their job?

- You think I didn’t try? They didn’t let me, they say that someone told the president that for some reason I have to be your tutor. I don’t know who it was but I’m going to find out and make them pay.

- What a beautiful story. Okay, I agree to your terms, I won’t interfere, but now you hear me out, the more you teach me and the faster I grow, the earlier I’ll be able to become an agent and the earlier you’ll get rid of me. So, what do you say? I leave you do your job in peace and you train me as much as you can so we both get what we want faster?

- Hm…

If this guy isn’t as dumb as miserable, he should accept my offer and just help me become an agent fast so he can go be miserable alone.

- Okay kid, you have a deal. But I have one rule: no personal questions. As I said, I’m not your friend so you don’t care about my life and I don’t care about yours. Follow that rule and we are going to be alright.

- Yeah okay

- Good. Now let’s go, I have work to do.

So, as bad as it was, that conversation marked the beginning of my training.