After Gary’s little display the testing proceeded without a hitch. Showing off his transformation had been enough to convince the three men about him being an Altered. He wondered what excuse he would have to make if they were to suddenly ask him for a blood test but in the end, he was fine. at least for the next couple of weeks.
[25 days until the next full moon]
At the moment the teenager just had a loose plan of claiming that he was sick on that day, which would hopefully be enough to allow him to skip classes on that day. Gary intended to put some more thought into it, but first, he would have to make sure that he actually got in, though judging by the minute reaction of the three men he was at least sure to have passed this test.
Gary wasn’t big-headed but he believed that his transformation out of all of them was the most impressive.
“Alright, we’ve collected all your data now. I will now read out the names of those that are eligible for the next test!” Professor Humfree began, only to be interrupted by one of the teenagers.
“Hang on a moment! This can’t be it, right? All you did was find out whether we could transform and what type of Altered we are! Shouldn’t there at least be an assessment of our fighting ability? You can’t tell me just because I’m not that great at transforming, that I’m necessarily weaker than all those who could!”
The professor raised an eyebrow at the student, and strange energy began radiating off him. Behind Humfree there was almost a black fog of darkness and it was rising by the second. If one was to take a deep look, there was almost a pair of eyes as well. Honestly, Gary didn’t know if he was just seeing things or not but judging from the looks on the other’s faces they could at least feel it.
Following an instinct inside of them, many of the students took a step back, with only a dozen remaining where they were. This included both Gary, as well as Numba who the Werewolf had been keeping an eye on.
“Do you really think that you’re in a position to argue about OUR rules after we already graciously allowed you to even show up today? If you don’t like it, then you’re free to join one of the other academies.” After saying this, Humfree cleared his throat and began reading out the names on the list one by one, a total of twelve names.
There were groans, tears, sobbing and anger from the students, some even going so far as to stomp on the ground in frustration. Meanwhile, those whose names had been called were also showing a wide mix of emotions, ranging from some who had a smile covering their whole face, to those who were shedding tears of joy. For a second, both Gary and Numba made eye contact, both of them smiling at each other.
‘All of us are those who didn’t get intimidated by the professor just now… they seem to really know what they are doing.’ Gary realised.
“This makes no sense!” The student from before protested once more. He was better dressed than the majority, though with his hair gelled back and combed over, Gary felt like he was more suited to take part in a film rather than the assessment for an Altered Academy.
“With all due respect, Professor Humfree, I can understand your decision to pick those among them who could transform, but what about those who couldn’t?! How is it fair for you to pick them but deny those among us who at least were able to transform part of our body into our Altered form?! You have to at least explain why you picked them over us!”
It was true, three out of the twelve students hadn’t been able to transform at all, and them being Altered was only confirmed due to the blood test. Gary hated to admit it, but the loud mouth had a point.
“Here I thought that FOR ONCE we would go through this assessment without one of you popping up to cause a scene. So, do you believe that you’re wiser than us, who have been doing this job for more years than you’re alive?” Professor Hai questioned as he stood up. Given his mean looking face, many of the teenagers took a step back when he suddenly got involved.
“I’m tired of explaining those things to brats like you, so as the saying goes ‘seeing is believing’. Whoever thinks that they deserve this chance more than the ones we’ve selected, I’m willing to give you that opportunity. All you need to do, is beat one of them in a fight.”
The students looked at each other, they had never expected to fight each other this early on, at least not until they had been fully admitted into the academy. What’s more those among them who should have passed felt nervous, now that they would have to protect their place, while those who had been denied started to become confident.
“Fine!” The gelled back hair kid stepped forward throwing his blazer onto the ground, He kicked off his nicely polished shoes, and unbuttoned a few of the buttons on his white shirt.
“I want to fight that guy!” Pointing out his finger, he pointed to a calm-looking short brown-haired student, one of the three who hadn’t been able to transform. For a second, the student looked toward professor Hai who just smiled and nodded.
“You want to keep your place, don’t you? There’s no need for you to hold back, whatever happens in this fight, the academy will make sure that all of it will be taken care of.”
The others made some distance for them. Honestly, the sadness and anger from before had turned into excitement for all those that had failed. Seeing how this would go, some of them thought that they might still have a chance to prove themselves.
“Let’s do this!” The black-haired student shouted, and immediately his hands started to transform, growing to twice their size and forming into pincers.
Watching this, Gary started to think.
‘If that kid wins, then there is a good chance all of us will have to fight for our positions.’ Gary thought.
*****
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