As Cole helped Lancelot register his identity, he told him about the training camp.
Five minutes later, Lancelot had a basic understanding of the camp.
The Leite City government had specifically allocated funds to establish it, with the aim of training newly emerged ability users and practitioners of other professions, so they could achieve good results in the Supernatural Joint Entrance Examination.
Other cities had similar institutions.
The Supernatural Joint Entrance Examination was a major event in the Crimson Alliance and an important source of political merit for each administrative district.
If a genius transcendent from a city made a name for themselves in the Supernatural Joint Entrance Examination, the mayor and other high-ranking officials could also gain considerable political merit.
As a result, the city government had invested heavily in the special training camp.
The camp's four instructors, for example, were all members of the Leite City Transcendent Bureau's direct rapid-response force, and came from the same squad.
The Fox Hunt Squad.
The lead instructor was Tarn, captain of the Fox Hunt Squad, a sixth-rank martial artist of the Qigong Style who specialized in mid-range attacks.
The other three members were:
Jace, a fifth-rank energy manipulation ability user who specialized in control and healing.
Rosen, a fifth-rank Physical Enhancement ability user who specialized in close combat. He was tough-skinned, thick-fleshed, and could take a tremendous beating.
Bette, a fourth-rank mechanical transcendent and gunner who specialized in long-range sniping and reconnaissance, targeted demolition, and information intrusion. He was also responsible for maintaining the squad's vehicles and weapons.
The four had clearly defined roles and formed an elite transcendent squad in Leite City. Having them take time out of their valuable schedules to train the special training camp showed just how much importance the city government placed on the Supernatural Joint Entrance Examination.
The camp's members were mostly ability users, with C-grade potential being the most common. Among those with C-grade potential, Physical Enhancement types were the most numerous, with twenty-seven in total.
The Alliance broadly divided abilities into five categories: [Physical Enhancement], [Mental and Psychic], [Energy Manipulation], [Mystic], and [Composite].
Physical Enhancement abilities were the most common, followed by Energy Manipulation and Mental and Psychic abilities. Mystic abilities were the rarest.
As for Composite abilities, a single ability spanned multiple categories. Their potential varied more widely than that of any other type: some were absurdly strong, while others were painfully weak.
The Supernatural Joint Entrance Examination had three stages.
The preliminary, second, and final examinations!
The preliminary examination was the simplest. It quickly selected outstanding contestants through arena matches and took the least time.
The second examination took the form of wilderness survival and a battle royale. It primarily tested contestants' overall abilities, their ability to handle emergencies, and their organizational skills.
By the final examination, the contestants were all carefully selected elites. The competition was at its fiercest and attracted the most attention.
Those who made a name for themselves in the final examination would generally go on to become high-ranking members of the Alliance, with limitless prospects.
The special training camp had been established to prepare for the Joint Entrance Examination.
Its training was also highly targeted.
The main courses were as follows.
Academic studies: a passing grade was enough. The Joint Entrance Examination did not demand much academic knowledge from transcendents, unless they were researchers, such as alchemists, pharmacists, or practitioners of similar professions.
Combat: at the beginner stage, all ability users, regardless of their potential, had to learn fighting techniques. This could greatly improve their ability to react quickly to sudden attacks and was very useful for survival in the wilderness.
Firearms: in a technological empire like the Crimson Alliance, every transcendent equipped themselves with some number of high-tech weapons, especially before reaching the seventh rank.
Not to mention electromagnetic and energy weapons, even the most common gunpowder weapons still posed an enormous threat to transcendents of the lower and middle ranks.
Since the rise of firearms, enough transcendents had died at the guns of ordinary people to pile their bodies into a ten-thousand-meter peak.
The Joint Entrance Examination did not prohibit firearms, but it did limit their power and made specific adjustments according to profession.
Team coordination: both the second and final examinations placed great importance on assessing teamwork.
Well-rounded transcendents were extremely rare. The vast majority formed squads, with teammates' abilities complementing one another. This allowed them to carry out a variety of missions and greatly increased their survival rate.
The Joint Entrance Examination’s final test even had a dedicated team battle.
The last course was ability development.
An ability user's strength was directly linked to the level of their ability's development, so the importance of this course went without saying.
Time had to be allocated to studying all five courses.
The training camp moved at a breakneck pace. Out of twenty-four hours a day, seven were for sleep and one for meals.
The remaining sixteen hours were divided among the five courses according to their relative importance.
It was now 10:36 a.m., during firearms class. The instructor in charge was Bette, the gunner.
Lancelot arrived at the firearms training ground with Cole. Gunshots echoed in their ears, some sharp and crisp, others muffled.
Some shots were barely audible, drowned out by the others. Without listening carefully, one might not even notice them.
Those were the sounds of electromagnetic firearms. They did not require the explosive combustion of gunpowder; a magnetic field generated by electromagnetic coils propelled the bullets at high speed. Their power depended on the strength of the magnetic field, and their faint sound made them well suited to sneak attacks.
Both gunpowder and electromagnetic firearms were already quite advanced in the Alliance, and ordinary guns were not expensive.
A rifle that fired gunpowder cartridges cost around 4,000 Crimson Notes on the market, and it was even cheaper if bought directly from the factory.
One Crimson Note could buy five rifle rounds.
Electromagnetic firearms were much more expensive, but the training camp had six of them, enough for training.
By then, Cole had finished his task. After picking up an assault rifle, he found an unoccupied target and began practicing his shooting.
Instructor Bette walked over and asked, "Have you handled a gun before?"
"I've fired replica guns!" Lancelot answered honestly.
"Have you played any virtual shooting games?"
"No!"
Lancelot wasn't interested in games. He preferred watching short videos.
"I see... Then fire a few shots and let me take a look!"
Instructor Bette handed Lancelot the rifle in his hands and introduced it. "This is the Black Harrier Assault Rifle, manufactured by the Alliance. Its overall length is 988 millimeters, and the barrel is 512 millimeters long, with eight right-hand rifling grooves. It uses standard Alliance 6.32-millimeter rifle cartridges, and a standard magazine holds thirty-five rounds. It's highly accurate, with an effective range of around 700 meters and moderate recoil. With your physique, you could easily control it with one hand."
Lancelot rubbed his hand over the Black Harrier Rifle as he walked to the firing position.
Of course he knew how to use firearms. When he had been weak in his previous life, he had killed quite a few enemies with his superb marksmanship.
But according to the Alliance's information database, he definitely didn't know how to handle a gun. If he immediately showed himself to be a sharpshooter, it could very well cause problems in the future.
Background checks were extremely strict for anyone seeking a core position in any major power.
Lancelot had to reveal enough talent to make people take notice while still appearing plausible. At the very least, he couldn't go beyond the bounds of what a genius could do.
"There are three main rifle-shooting positions: prone, kneeling, and standing. The prone position is the easiest and most common. You're a beginner, so start by practicing that."
Instructor Bette crouched beside Lancelot and helped him adjust his posture.
"All right, you can fire!"
Bang!
At the instructor's command, Lancelot pulled the trigger.
The firing pin struck the base of the cartridge, detonating the primer. The propellant burned, filling the narrow chamber with a great volume of flame and gas. The pressure soared, generating a tremendous force that drove the bullet out of the barrel. With a crisp gunshot, the bullet struck the target fifty meters away a moment later.
Eight points!