CHAPTER 015: NHA provisional license exam, pt. 2

A buff 20-something year old stepped out of the crowd. He tapped his fists together, and his skin turned to metal. The young man then charged through the door, whereupon he immediately met trouble.

SQUEEK!

A "hostage" sat behind the door was sent flying by his charge. It struck the backboard opposite him at the half court line, disappearing into a puff of smoke.

"Disqualified! Next up, examinee two!"

A young woman stepped forward. She wore a simple jumpsuit style costume, and had a tail. This tail suddenly spun rapidly, acting as an improvised propeller.

She flew directly over the room dividers when an object suddenly struck her. It was long and thin, like an ice pick. The difference here was that it was barbed, and attached to a long tube.

PUMP! PUMP!

And that was it; she could do nothing more. After all, she now resembled an over-inflated balloon. The proctor quickly stepped in before a third pump could be given.

"Disqualified! Next up, examinee three!"

The next dozen or so matches proceeded in a similar fashion. The young examinees rushed forward with bold new plan after bold new plan, only to get dashed against the walls of this sidekick. One fell in a hole, another was tricked into damaging too much property, and a third forgot to tie the dinosaurs to anything after rescuing them. Those little cuties rushed right back into the scenario, causing his disqualification.

The test wasn't that hard, however, and everyone soon saw what it took to pass. The person in question was examinee 32; a fit young jock dressed in a swim cap, goggles, and speedo. When his name was called, he ran and then jumped towards the proctor. In mid air, the man assumed a diving pose, landing in the proctor's shadow. To everyone's surprise, however, he didn't break his neck on the gymnasium floor; he instead sank into the shadow, like it was the surface of a pool.

On the other side of the divider, Doug carefully monitored the scenario entrance. But, after 10 seconds of silence, he still saw nothing.

"So this one has half a brain... I wonder where he will come from? It can't be in the air or under ground, so maybe teleportation?"

Doug began spinning the tube in a coordinated fashion, occasionally waving it behind him as he waited.

SPLASH!

Unfortunately, one can't know every power under the sun. Doug's ankles were grabbed before he knew it; and while the tube did leave a nasty cut on this examinee, it was not enough.

"Examinee 32, pass! Please wait in the hall for further instruction."

The next to pass had the power to turn into mist; he seeped through the gaps in the room dividers, and grabbed Doug by the neck after reforming just a hand. The third's performance wasn't nearly as flashy; this powerless bomb user blinded everyone with a flashbang, then tackled Doug in the confusion.

"You mean we don't have to knock him out?"

"Why's he got to act so fierce, then? It ain't like they're paying him extra!"

"Tell me about it; he must be the show-off type."

Logan paid them no mind, instead focusing his attention on the next examinee.

"Examinee 64! Examinee 64... Somebody get that mutt's attention."

His curiosity and fighting spirit roused, he attempted to fulfill the proctor's request. Problem is, this feral child seemed to sense his approach; It immediately stepped out, whereupon its attention was then grabbed by an irate Drill-bit.

"Oh, you are lucky I would lose my job if I touched you... BEGIN!!!"

The feral child crouched low, and then howled in a bestial fashion. Tribal tattoos depicting various animals appeared on his skin, but the man jumped before one could get a closer view of them.

He soon reached the ceiling, but grabbed hold of a nearby truss at the last second. He twirled around it like an acrobat, swinging himself towards the floor at high speed.

Doug, seeing this, took a step back before stacking dinosaurs where the lad would land.

What he didn't expect to see was an ethereal flap of skin form on the examinee's armpits; it made him look like a flying squirrel, and gave him just as much air maneuverability as one.

Doug then chunked his pump tube at the still falling feral child; it flew towards him like a viper lunging for a strike. The wild man grinned at this, biting at the barbed blade when it neared his face.

To Doug's surprise, he was successful.

"What are those teeth made out of, diamond?"

With a fierce yank, Doug got pulled towards the feral child in mid-air; he was mauled unconscious by the time they landed.

AWOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

For some reason, it sounded like a pack of wolves had joined in on this second howl; the lesser examinees found their legs shaking when hearing it.

Meanwhile, in the plush viewing room behind the left wall of training room 12, the actual judges were busy gushing.

"Damn! The druid team really found a hidden gem with this one..."

"I know! I'm so jealous!"

"Don't get too excited now; I doubt any of those fogies can even teach the kid. Are any of them half as in tune with wild nature? Plus, could the kid even learn spells? You saw what he did with the written portion."

"As long as he can fight, who cares? That's what managers are for!"

"What should I tell Drill-bit," an assistant in the corner asked nervously.

"You need to ask? Why do you still work here? Yes!"

Seconds later, Drill sergeant Drill-bit could be seen announcing the feral child's passing grade...