The other three behind Gary gulped as they saw why the green haired teenager had suddenly stopped. Since the day was mostly over, none of them had expected that another fight would break out. However, why else would Apollo appear right at Gary’s doorstep if he wasn’t looking to challenge the newcomer away from prying eyes?
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Apollo asked in a humorous tone to break the awkward silence.
“I think that’s a bad idea. You see, I have a terrible stomach ache. Must have been all the food I ate earlier.” Gary quickly replied, holding in his stomach. Just like everyone else, the Werewolf hadn’t even entertained the idea that trouble might come looking for him. He had thought that as long as he avoided the other, all would be good.
Alas, the rank 1 student simply entered the room before Gary could close the door in his face. “Your excuse isn’t very believable when you have three other visitors waiting inside your room, especially when your outfit clearly shows you were about to head out to train. Don’t worry, I haven’t come here to challenge you.
“Should the two of us fight, then I want you to be at your very best… and I’ve noticed in your fight against Sty that there appears to be something holding you back in here.”
Gary wasn’t sure how to react to being seen through. Apollo was right, since all their fights were being watched, the green haired teenager didn’t feel it safe to fight at his full strength.
“I’ve simply come to offer you a piece of advice before I leave.” Apollo explained. “Maybe you or your friends have already heard some rumours that your rank dictates your treatment in the AFA. That is only one half of the truth. The time it takes you to advance is also very important.
“Given your earlier performance, I don’t think I’ll have to worry about what rank you end up as. But I have one word of advice, go through at least in the top three if you wish to see me. I’ll be waiting for you in the academy then.”
Having said his piece, Apollo was already on his way out and when he finally left, Gary heard three loud breaths behind him.
“Man, I was only one second away from taking cover behind your bed.” Ian blurted out, touching his heart in an attempt to calm down his racing organ.
“Well… that wasn’t at all what I had expected, but I think this might be the best result in the end.” Izzy commented, as she got ready to leave the place and so did the others, but as the door was opened, and she turned around, she could see Gary just thinking as he stared at the floor, his fist was shaking.
‘I see…you're one of those types.’ Izzy smiled. “Earth to Gary, you promised to train us, remember?”
Inside the personal training room, the three weren’t sparing against the Werewolf, at least not together. After some intense warm-ups, he had asked each of them to use their best skills against him. It was part of the homework he had given them yesterday, when he had told them to figure out what their strengths were and come up with ideas to improve upon them.
This was the way for them to get stronger quickly in this place. The fundamentals were important, but all three already had a good set of fundamentals so rather than to try and improve those to a master level, he wanted to help them come up with something that would allow them to become top rankers like him.
Izzy, and Ian had done well in showing off, and had improved far quicker than Gary could imagine. Ian was focusing on trying to get his Altered form to come out, since it would be hard to do much in terms of improving his strength. As for Izzy, her strength came from her logical thinking and how she used her head to come up with strategies. Honestly, she was seeing a lot of improvement just by being able to fight someone at Gary’s level.
“Gary… I want to thank you.” Numba said when it was his turn. “Your words, the stress I was suffering from and the will to push through, I feel like what I have learnt to do, all of it was because of you. Which is why I'm asking you now…to be careful and brace yourself!” With that the Goat Altered started to transform and began his attack.
A few moments later, both Ian and Izzy were left with their mouths wide open, completely speechless. Numba who was on the floor, panting and sweating, yet above him stood a partially transformed Gary, whose frame had been pushed into the wall, surrounded by cracks.
“Thanks for the warning.” Gary coughed, his body a bit tensed up. “I think you’ve got this.”
——
The next day started with an announcement, informing the students that all those who had been eligible had passed on to the AFA. They were quickly escorted out of the place, as the other students had things they needed to do as well. They were then told to follow the teachers who would accompany them for today’s assessment.
According to what they had learned the assessments differed from time to time, it could be a game similar to what they had done when joining or just a simple series of tests. As it turned out, today was the latter. 100-Metre sprint, strength test, flexibility test, reflex test among others.
Everything was being done in the open, with no real surprises. One was allowed to transform during the test, yet Gary had chosen to remain as he was. Nevertheless, he gave it his all because Apollo’s ‘advice’ was still ringing in his head.
“Everyone, please pay attention!” One of the teachers called out to the students who had returned to the facility. “The screen will display the ranks of everybody. If you’re dissatisfied with your ranks, do better next time, or claim the rank you feel you deserve!”
The screen flicked as it showed them their results, starting from the bottom, going up.
Izzy’s name was the first one to show up. Her new rank was 54, and she was very satisfied with it. While some students were already eyeing her with a challenging look, she felt that after Gary’s Draconian training, there was no need to fear them. In fact, she might even try to secure a place in the top 50 after a few more days.
The next name to show up was Ian’s. His new rank was 23, a very impressive feat for someone unable to access his Altered form. Similar to Izzy, he wasn’t afraid of having to defend his rank, in fact he was looking forward to being challenged. Perhaps it would give him the needed push to allow him to transform, even if only partially.
Then there was Numba. He was by far the biggest surprise, ending up as rank 15. Meanwhile, Gary’s name showed up as the very last one, right after Sty’s.
‘I could have done even better if I had chosen to transform, yet it was enough to get me to rank 1. Did the teachers take that fact into account?’ Gary wondered as he looked up at the display. The Werewolf had already spent a while in this facility, and this morning the system had reminded him that he didn’t have time to idle.
[15 days until the next full moon]
‘I have to make sure to pass this week.’
******
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