Chapter 363: The final five
‘The guy might have been an idiot, but that doesn’t give me the right to kill him…’ Gary thought to himself as he looked down on the unconscious body of the Insect Altered, who clearly wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. As if taunting him to do it, the Optional Quest flashed before him, yet the Werewolf ignored it, shook the blood off his hand, and stepped back in line.
On some level, the teenager understood that the fastest way for him to grow in power through the Werewolf System would be by consuming beasts. However, since those were technically extinct, other than what NIRV was doing, he would have to eat Altered if he wanted the benefit, and that just wasn’t something socially acceptable, nor was it something he really wanted to do.
Fortunately, that wasn’t his only way to grow in power. Aside from levelling up, a task which became progressively more annoying due to the increased in EXP requirement each time, he could strengthen himself, or his Pack, through the use of Pawn Points.
Using one of them, he had evolved Kai into a Knight Grade Beta Werewolf. Gary still had no idea whether his upperclassman had simply been predestined to become a Werewolf, or whether his Alpha Bite had been the trigger, but the assigned Unique Class was something that had made even him jealous.
It was a good thing that Kai was on his side, and given his power boost, the green-haired teenager felt confident in using the ten Pawn Points he had earned as a bonus for successfully hunting the Underdogs on himself.
There were three things he could do with them. He could invest them towards reaching the next Grade, evolve his Pack members so that they would reach the Bishop Grade like him, or convert them into either Stat or Skill Points.
The first option seemed wasteful. Gary simply lacked the necessary Pawn Points to go up a Grade in one go. He needed to invest 14 more Pawn Points to do that, and no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t imagine that it made any difference whether he was 1/15 on the way, or 11/15.
The second option, while arguably more useful, also had its problem. Unlike him, neither Olivia nor Kai had any levels or stats. Even if they did, the Alpha Werewolf had yet to find a way to see them, so he would have no clue how much of an effect evolving them would have.
After the full moon, he knew for a fact that they were weaker than him, but Gary preferred not to take a risk in that regard. He didn’t need either one challenging him for his position, as unlikely as that might be.
That only left the last option, the one that would strengthen him directly. After nearly dying to the Underdogs the teenager had grown aware that even as a Werewolf he had been far from invincible. He was sure that he could have beaten each member individually, but why would his enemies do him that favour when there was strength in numbers?
Of course, the same was true for him, and the Werewolf System had tempted him more than once to increase his Pack size, but he wasn't willing to turn his friends, at least not until he found a way to remove or at least severely decrease the risk of them dying.
[Name: Gary Dem]
[Class: Warrior]
[State: Human (Alpha)]
[Grade: Bishop]
[Level 20]
[Exp 478/5302]
[Health: 160 >>> 200]
[Energy: 278/300]
[Strength 25 >>> 27]
[Dexterity 24 >>> 26]
[Endurance 20 >>> 25]
Before coming here today, he had made sure to strengthen himself, maximising his chances to become a student at the AFA. Alas, ultimately, Gary ended up with a mere 13 Stat Points after the conversion. After half an hour of cursing the system with everything he could think of, the Alpha Werewolf had assigned his points.
‘If I had known that my competition was just at this level, I should have saved up those Pawn Points. Hopefully, the real students of the AFA have more to offer, though I suppose being able to climb to the AFC in record time should also have its perk.’
Honestly, the significant boost Gary had received after consuming Kirk had been enough to put him above his opponent. With his Dexterity even higher, the Werewolf was now at a level comparable to the Cheetah Altered. Of course, that was only true with regard to speed alone, skills wise was a completely different story.
Without Olivia’s interference, the fight would have ended differently, and since it had been televised, Gary intended to refrain from transforming completely while in the AFA, and perhaps even in the AFC, if he could help him. Although the Werewolf felt in control when transforming, there was something about that form that forced out his wild side.
‘Once I’m done with the assessments, it appears that I will need to have a word with the scout leader. His men have really failed us this year.’ Professor Humfree thought, looking at Gary. ‘Someone of his talent should have been brought before us with the scouted group, especially since he should place highly even among them.
‘Not only is he great at controlling his transformation, but he was also able to precisely track a surprise attack, and used his opponent’s own force against him. A shame the fight ended so abruptly, I would have loved seeing his abilities more in depth, but the next test will be perfect for that.’
After two fights, none of the failed teenagers dared to challenge those who had passed, accepting their fate of having to apply to a different academy.
The twelve students that had passed followed the three professors into one of the academy buildings. Strangely, it was an empty hall, which lead to a long hallway, which eventually led to an even larger white empty room that had nothing inside.
“This is where the second test will take place.” Professor Humfree began to explain. “While it is remarkable that so many of you have met our standards, the AFA can only admit five of you. In a while, balls will start shooting toward you, you’re free to dodge or catch, however, the moment one of you comes into contact with a ball, we will enter the next phase.
“A 60-second timer will appear, and once it reaches zero, you will hear this sound.”
*BZZZZ*
“The last person who came into contact with that ball gets eliminated, starting a new round without that person. Any questions? No? Great! You have five minutes to talk amongst yourselves before the first round starts!”
With that, the three adults left the room. Gary was wondering why they would be given five minutes. The teenager was eager to play straight away and get it over with. However, once the timer started to count down, the Werewolf saw why they had been granted that time.
“Hey, do you want to team up with us? If there are five of us, and we agree not to hit the ball at each other, it means we will have a higher chance of passing on. We can work together to get the others out!” One of the teenagers suggested as he came up to him. It was one of the three who had been unable to transform.
As he was contemplating this offer, Gary noticed that once again, there was one individual who was being ignored by the others.
“Thanks for the offer, but I already have a team member, and I think just the two of us will do fine.” Gary apologised, as he headed towards Numba.
“How about we work together?” Gary smiled as he offered him his hand.
“No.” Came the abrupt answer, without even the hint of hesitation.
“That’s great, le- … hang on, what did you just say?”
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