There were only three seconds left in this round, and currently, Gary’s image was being displayed underneath the timer.
‘Who would have thought that the most talented kid from this batch would lose due to trickery.’ Professor Humfree thought as he was scratching his beard. ‘It’s truly a shame, but this should serve as a lesson for him. No matter how strong you might be, you can always lose your life if you put your trust in the wrong person.’
Tests like this one were designed with treachery in mind. Just like in the real world, each trial taker could merely control their own actions. As such, they would either have to make sure to put their trust in the right person, convince the others to work together with them or try to do everything on their own. After all, life in the AFA would be brutal. If you couldn’t make it past this stage, then only a life of hardships would await you.
Gary’s eyes turned red as he continued to stare at Vik. The teenager with the bowl cut had seemed so innocent when he had asked the Werewolf to help him out. Gary had actually been willing to help him pass this assessment since Vik had been so upfront with his request, but after this betrayal, he understood the situation for what it really was.
‘… this BASTARD came over to me, just so he could stab me in the back!!! I should have realised that something was up when the others didn’t let him join their teams. Numba was right…’
Unfortunately, the Werewolf’s realisation came a bit too late. Although Gary was faster than Vik, with the Altered already being a distance away and with just three seconds on the clock, it wasn’t enough time to change the situation.
“Wolfboy, kick the ball!!!” A voice shouted.
Numba was closing the distance between him and Vik and grabbed him by the arms, holding him in place. The traitor had been unable to react as his attention had been fully focused on Gary, afraid that the Werewolf had some more tricks up his sleeve.
Looking down, the ball was right in front of Gary. Two seconds were left, so the green haired teenager did the only thing he could do to close this distance in this short time period. Without caring for his clothes, he activated Controlled Transformation on his legs. The muscles on his calves grew in size, and he even left an indenture on the floor as he kicked himself off.
With one step, Gary was next to the ball. Now one second was left on the timer. The Werewolf had focused most of his transformation on the foot he would use to kick. His brand-new shoe exploded as large and long toenails stuck out, revealing the fur growing up.
‘I’m getting into the academy no matter what!’ Gary thought to himself, disregarding the damage he might cause to Vik.
His foot made contact with the ball, and it looked as if it was being pushed into itself for a second before it blasted through the air. A black blur was seen and the next second a loud slap could be heard.
Numba flinched as the impact made him slide a few meters back. However, Vik was far worse off. The teenager had been mid-transformation, attempting to use his hair to block, or at least partially deflect, the incoming projectile, yet he had been unsuccessful.
The Goat Altered, noticing that Vik had gone limp in his arms, let go of him. The Hair Altered dropped head first to the floor, blood pouring from his mouth and nose. A large imprint of the ball was left on his face.
‘Holy shit… just how much power did that kick pack?’ Numba wondered. ‘… the speed of that kick was even faster than my headbutt… has Wolfboy been holding back this entire time?’
*Beep*
The buzzer went off. Quickly turning his head, Gary needed to find out whether his desperate attempt had made it in time. An image appeared on the screen and an announcement was made.
“Vik Scissor has been the last person to come in contact with the ball and is thereby eliminated from this assessment. Since he is unable to move on his own, someone will come to collect him in a moment. The assessment will continue after that.”
This was music to Gary’s ears. He had been confident in his ability to pass this assessment without struggling against anyone in the room. After all, these were just applicants, and they weren’t even the ones that were scouted.
Since this was a bit of a break, the Werewolf headed over to the Goat Altered. “Thank you… thank you very much for helping me out. If it weren’t for you, then I would have been eliminated. I really, really owe you one.”
Numba looked at Gary’s face, then down to his feet that looked human again.
“I told you that you shouldn’t trust just anyone, especially those that you have just met, but you didn’t listen.” The teenager sighed. “Don’t mention it, I was just repaying you for taking out the other guy. Let’s just say we’re even.”
“No way!” Gary replied straight away. “I just helped them not gang up on you, but you seriously saved me out there. I would have been eliminated without your intervention. Not just beaten up or kicked to the head, and besides, someone with your skills should have been able to at least evade the guy until the timer went down.
“So yeah, I owe you. Unfortunately, I don’t really have something I can give you right now, so how about you get a, ummm… let’s call it Gary token. Yeah! Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I’ll help you out, no questions asked, alright?”
Numba didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t used to being around such an upbeat person, though truth be told, Gary wasn’t normally this hyped either, but something about the whole atmosphere of the AFA had led to his current mood.
“Fine.” Numba shrugged. “I don’t know when I would use it. Let’s make sure that we both pass first, and maybe after we’re both official AFA students, I will get back to you about that favour.”
The panel to the door eventually opened up, and a person they hadn’t seen before entered. It was a middle-aged man, wearing a tight fit shirt that showed off his muscles. His piercing gaze checked over each of the teenagers before he found Vik lying on the floor. With a straight gait, he came over to pick up the unconscious Altered, lifting him up with a single arm.
“That was a nice kick.” The man said on the way back, as he passed Gary. “I look forward to seeing you inside the academy. Make sure to learn from this opportunity.” And with that, he left the room.
‘The feeling he gave off…he was someone who was more suited for me to go up against than the ones here.’ Gary smiled, his blood pumping. He didn’t know what position that man held inside the AFA, but he was looking forward to meeting him again.
In the past, Gary’s mind had been filled with all kinds of thoughts concerning his family, his school life, or the Underdogs among other things. Before he got turned into a Werewolf he had never realised how much he truly enjoyed fighting. Sure, part of him had watched those Altered fights with a dream of becoming as rich as them, yet now part of him wanted to prove that he was better than any of them.
——
“You look relieved.” Professor Hai noted with a chuckle, his belly moving up and down.
“Of course. If he had lost, I had even contemplated asking the director to make an exception for the kid.” Professor Wood replied honestly. “There is a lot more to him than meets the eye. I believe that we may have the next Kirk Summerfield on our hands, perhaps even better.”
He started to chuckle to himself, which made his colleague wonder if he was all there in the head.
“Really? You rate him that highly?” Professor Humfree asked, now intrigued. “It appears you know something that we don’t. I would ask you to elaborate, but it should be more interesting to watch him prove himself even more. Hopefully, he has learned from his mistake.”
——
*BEEP*
“The next round has begun.” The speaker announced, and the picture that appeared was Gary’s once more. The ball was right next to his feet, a circumstance that made everyone else nervous.
“It looks like your plan failed, eh? Were you also the one to come up with this plan?” Gary asked, looking at Izzy.
Turning to her left and right, the teenage girl found herself isolated from the rest.
“Hey… hey, what happened to us being a team? Didn’t we agree to work together!” Izzy shouted at her former teammates.
“I think you have other things to worry about.” Gary smiled, cracking his knuckles. “You see, my plan was actually to remain on the sideline and let you sort it out amongst yourselves who deserved a place in the AFA. I thought it would be fairer for everyone that way. However, what you just did REALLY pissed me off!”
Pulling up his sleeves, Gary used Controlled Transformation on his arm. His forearms grew larger, his nails gripped tightly around the ball, and his brown fur could be seen all over.
“Now, let me personally take you and your whole group out!” Gary said as he sprinted across the floor.
‘This seems like the perfect opportunity to test out that new skill I got a while ago. Let’s see if I can end this whole assessment in this round!’
****
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