Unfortunately, it didn’t look like Eddy had any intentions of sharing his secret. His arms were folded, and he had told the others to enjoy themselves while he had met up with Gary. The Altered students had done exactly as they had been told and tried out the equipment after a bit of catch-up.
Now that the green haired teenager was here, he decided to ask Izzy and Ian about what had happened, but before he had a chance to open his mouth, the both of them bowed their heads in unison.
“Gary, I know you hate when we do these types of things, but we don’t know how else to thank you for saving us back there!” Izzy began. “After the poison knocked us both out, we feared we might be all gonners, but the professors informed us about what you had to do…”
There was a nervous drop of sweat running down the side of the Werewolf’s face. He had been somewhat worried that they might have seen what he had done, or that the professors might have told them the entire truth, but judging by their actions and words his friends had only been informed about the result, not the aftermath.
“Hey, you don’t have to worry about that. I mean, in the first place, I’m the reason you guys got into trouble, right? And besides, we agreed to an alliance, and my part in this was helping you out with my strength. It's the only thing I can offer, after all.” Gary smiled, not at all showing any remorse about taking the lives of two adults.
The two were more than thankful. Honestly, they had feared for their lives multiple times that day. Never had either of them thought that teachers of the AFA would commit such things, and if they were willing to go so far, there was always the worry that they could have gone even further than that.
Ian and Izzy knew how Gary would act, but deep down in their hearts they also knew that they owed him a lot, and they were even more inclined to work with him to repay him for his help.
“Anyway, let's talk about some good things, ok? We managed to skip that whole facility and join you here because of everything that happened.” Ian smirked, still staring around the place in amazement.
After giving his thanks, he had wasted no time running over to one of the punching bags that were designed for Altered and gave it a few hits. Naturally, it was a lot heavier than the usual heavy bag used in boxing. A few light hits didn't move it at all.
The others went out to try some of the equipment along with Ian, his enthusiasm was quite magnetic and charming as it made them all wish they were as energised as him. However, there was one person that was left on the bench near the octagon fighting ring.
Both Sty’s and Gary’s eyes met for a second, but for Gary all he did was smile and look away.
‘You're not even worth my time, and perhaps I should thank you since you have allowed me to get even stronger, so I can protect the ones I care about. However, if you try anything funny in here, I’ll make sure that you join those two.’ The Werewolf swore to himself.
“Holy shit, you’re right. I can't get this bag to budge at all.” Numba exclaimed. “Maybe if I transformed, I could do something.”
There were several bags in a row and the others were using them to test their strength. So far they had somewhat been able to move the bags a bit as they dangled from their heavy chains, apart from the pen at the very end.
Ian, and Numba had used their full strength when punching it, yet it hadn't moved at all.
“Hey Gary, why don't you give it a go? Maybe you could make it move?” Numba suggested.
Looking at the bag, Gary touched the outside, and he could feel that it was sturdy. Perhaps it would even survive a few slashes from his claws, but a lot had changed, and he knew for a fact that his Strength was far greater than before.
‘I should try to move it without using Controlled Transformation.’ Gary looked at his fist, and readied it for a big hit. Eddy was watching carefully from the corner of his eye as well.
‘Hmm, those three fogies told me that he was special. He’s already proven himself to be a fighter but what about his raw strength. Is he on the same level as the last guy?’ Eddy wondered.
Storing up his power, Gary controlled his breathing, getting ready to swing it out at the right time. Just as he was about to throw out his fist, his concentration was broken by the sounds of the doors opening roughly.
Turning around, there was a bright light behind a group of people only allowing them to see the shadow but when they stepped forward, everyone could see the shirts that they were wearing, marking them as true AFA students.
“Alright, Eddy, please don’t berate us like last time. You know that our schedules are busy okay? If you want us to put on a good show, then we need to be well rested, don’t we?” A messy, spiky blonde haired student scratched his head and yawned a little while giving his speech.
“I understand. Now, if everyone could please gather at the octagon, I wish to introduce you all.” Eddy replied nonchalantly.
The others did as instructed, walking over to the teacher. Only Gary continued to look at the bag. It left a sour taste in his mouth to leave it just like that and be the only one who didn’t get to test out his strength. His hand wounded up again, and he was ready to throw out another punch.
“Hey, is he really trying to go for the black bag? If he can do that straight after leaving the facility, without transforming then I would be quite impressed.” The blonde student from before said.
“Gary, you’ll have all the time in the world to do that later, so get over here!” Eddy sounded slightly annoyed. Once again, the Werewolf stopped, but after taking a few steps and turning his head, he suddenly stopped completely.
“Did you say Gary… it can't be?” A soft voice asked.
Looking straight ahead, Gary's heart started to thumb.
[BPM is rising]
“Xin!!” Gary called out.
****
ANNOUNCEMENT: MWS WEBTOON IS OUT, read now on the BILI BILI COMICS APP.