"AHH Crap...!" William covered his face as splinters and shrapnel flew everywhere near his proximity.

He accidentally threw a grenade too near his area consisting of a bunch of dummy targets meant to represent terrorists.

Swiping off immediately the dirt from his face, he sprinted immediately to the next stage which consisted of small corners and hole which he has a split second to choose whether to crouch under it, hoists onto or slide under. Some of the coverings could be dragged or pushed away but it wasted too much time. With the time limit, he was only succumbed to do the aforementioned actions.

...

"I have to say he is doing pretty well for a latecomer." The Navigator said as she look at his catalog through her tablet. 

"He is, I am surprised myself too. He just somehow works greatly by himself. His behaviour patterns and his odd positionings can make a serious tide turner during ambushes." General Shriway replied back, amazed by what William was doing on the testing grounds through a CCTV.

"Well, good job for you General. You got a second prodigy in this." The Navigator commended her. 

"It's third actually... Don't forget the Phantom's Demolitionist." General Shriway smirks at her. 

As they switch cameras, they gave notice to the "Director" of the testing ground to make sure no one gets hurt. 

...

"Hah hahh~ Damn, that was F@#£ing not what I expected." He heaved out as he smashed the red button on a pad next to a mechanical gate which slowly risen up as he slowly fell from exhaustion. 

An alarm was sounded as red flashes opened.

What welcomed him was the bright sunlight and two black silhouettes which made a slight shade.

"Good job...Mr.Endicrite for managing to complete the test on time." The shadow revealed as The Navigator handed her hand to him to pull his up.

"Hah hahh~ Thanks...hnngh~" He pulled himself up with the help of The Navigator's oddly strength.

"Alright, you may change out of your Equipment Vest now and take plenty of rest. These test are purposely hard, to make sure they can withstand the hardest situations they encountered as much as possible." The Navigator said as she smacks William's back hard, causing him to stumble forward. 

"Yea yeah' thanks..." He made a grin as he slowly zombie walked his way to changing room. 

As typical, since there are no male specific rooms, he had no choice but to change Infront of the other maidens and as well they have to see him change.

However, they were pretty chill with it. I guess advancement in mentality just gives no reason to scream unreasonably or better, they just trust him as one of their own.

"So, how was your test. You look exhausted and you are filled with soot and debris. What even happened to you." One of the soldiers from the same Division but another Echelon asked him.

They were rather acquainted.

"Oh haha, I had to shoot targets, throw grenades in close proximities, squeeze through small holes, sneak from invisible lasers, using my brains to guess where they were placed and had to push and pull myself through an odd maze." He replied to her in a very exciting tone with that damn grin.

"Yikes, sounds kinda painful. Wait, you said you threw grenades in close proximity but why aren't your ears bleeding? You don't even wear an ear piece or a helmet for that matter. The girl replied as she removed her top, revealing her in her bra as she puts on a shirt and tie together with her vest. 

"Oh, I do wear an earpiece, just that it's not the bulky ones. It's the simple stick to your earlobes type." He said as he towelled his lower body as he slowly walked to the shower room. "Alright, I'm gonna shower now, good luck on your test !" He waved bye to her. 

"Yeah, I will." She snaps on her helmet and leaves the changing room.

Few Minutes Later, "Damn, the shower just made me feel weirder. My body feels sticky as if it's humid." He said to himself in his normal volume.

"Well, did you shower hot or cold?" Sherrinford asks him as she skids herself behind a locker to avoid him seeing as she changed. (Heh, makes sense for her odd personality) .

"Cold, I barely hot shower unless it's to condition my hair or anything else." He said as he puts on a Tee and squeezed his pants between the towel and his lower side. Upon removing the towel, he zipped up his pants and locks on his belt.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Meh, I guess it was probably the smoke and ashes that probably affected your skin to feel that way. Ashes tend to give am odd soapy feeling when washed with water due to its acidic nature." Sherrinford explained.

"True...true, so how was your test?" William asked her willing to know. 

"Well, I had to shoot targets, hide myself from special cameras and had to do jumps and crawls." She says as she peeked her head out.

"Heh, jumps and crawls...like Vents and stuffs?" He was having a little bit of a dirty thought meanwhile. (Sherrinford has quite an amount compared to the others so knowing about her tasks kinda feels as if she may have not fitted).

"Yes... I also was given some computers with a given usb filled in with strings of codes which could be changed to a hacking device in a press of a button." She said in a very exclamating way. 

William chuckles as he took a sit by the bench. "Sounds like you got the oddest task with a typical finale. The first few tests you say doesn't sound to befit your body if you know what I mean but the hacking part, I understand." 

"If you are trying to compliment me for my womanly figure, I guess you get an A but yeah, true. It isn't that bad if you think about it. Atleast I can know now what types of exercising activities I have to concentrate on." She smiles as she leaned next to her locker after putting a white tee. (Which took so long for her to put on because of the complicated vest she wears consisting of both Kevlar and plastics/metals?) 

"Yep, true. Hey, want to head to the mess hall? I heard today it has Yorkshire pudding for dessert." He asked as he puts on his Guardian Aegis bracelets . One consisting of Shin-ae's and the other Sae-Yongs on each arm.

"Heck, sure..." She says as she puts on her own bracelet too. 

"I have to ask , I never seen your guardian before. How does she look like?" William asked as he guides Sherrinford out as he opened the door. 

"Well, She is similar to yours, some sort of half beast. But, she's mostly based on some sort of mythical beast." Sherrinford said as she left the door open as others wanted to enter, also consisting of small wounds , soot and debris.

"For example?" William asks as he raised his eyebrow. 

"I can't remember was it a....manticore...?" She asks herself. 

Her bracelet glowed as a voice suddenly came out of it. "Im a Griffin, Miss Sher." A voice sounding of a woman in her late 20s to early 30s could be heard in a very old English accent.

"AHH, Thanks Grif. Yeah, as she said. I'm dumb sometimes, her surname literally is related to Griffin's." Sherrinford replied back to William.

"Griffin huh? Interesting... So those eagle head with lion bodies mythics I used to read all the time in Fantasy Novels." He tried mimicking the ears with his hands. 

Just as Sherrinford was about to answer , her bracelet glowed again. "Yes, that is how I would look like if I was transforming to my alternate form."

"Cool. Guess that some Guardians have forms of actual mythics. Perhaps, those mythics could have been your race of the Guardian species." William replied with a question. 

Griffin replied back. "Yes, our race were the ones who were probably revealed in the past as our elders back then were protecting the humans from the Dragonar Race who wanted to initiate war against the humans. Some guardian species had also it's own good and bad side as our males were rather, dumber than the human counterpart." She giggled.

"I can accept that." He chuckled. 

"Nowadays we Griffins just seek to do artistry and/or sing our beautiful song of grace for other people to hear. Perhaps, maybe go abit more deeper in a relationship too." The voice said in a very teasing way. 

"Grif! Come on. Don't say those stuff. I'm right here." Sherrinford scolded her bracelet. (Heh).

"Hahahaha.... I like your guardian, she's the total opposite of you. An artist too, I like it." William chuckles as he lined up and took a tray to fill with food.

"Jee, damn you Grif. You really like teasing anyone new you decide to speak to." Sherrinford was still scolding her bracelet as she was hot in embarrassment of what William said a few seconds ago. "If you keep on acting like this, I will never carry you around unless it's a mission." 

"Alright then, but, if one day I just don't summon due to lack of Mana, don't come crying for help." Grif said as the glow on the bracelet shut down.

"Grif grif!? Ughh......she turned off her Comms." She rolled her eyes as she puts on some mashed potatoes and some white meat onto her tray. 

"Hahaha, good luck. To be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing your Griffin friend personally in the near future." William chuckles as his places quite a good amount of food around his plate as he walked to a table which was empty.

"Dammit, you too." Sherrinford was being a bit too serious on the joke he made.

"You know, you should really learn to differentiate sarcasm with seriousness." William said as he slowly started to eat. 

"I know, I know. I will do my best." She smirks as she stared at him for a few minutes. 

"What?" He asks feeling weirded out as he stopped eating for a few seconds.

"Nothing." She started eating.

"You are really a strange one to admit. You're either really likeable or really punchable in the face depending on your mood." William said as he finished his food , slowly enjoying his Yorkshire pudding.

"I know Will. It's hard especially from where I was brought up in Holland. It was a harsh part of town. Robberies, kidnappings and etc. I was born to be scared due to my over protective parents. Even my mom was scared to death when I told her I wanted to join the Millitary."  She explained as she rests her hand on her chin.

"The Netherlands huh... Didn't know you were from there." He replied. 

"Are your serious right now? My uniform literally has my flag ironed onto it. Even my name originates from there." Sherrinford shakes her head in disbelief.

"You do know your name Sherrinford is a Welish name right? Also, if you are referring to your family name, I do not know that unfortunately." William made a bland look at her.

"Oh yeah, shit.its Van Der Graff, Sherrinford Van Der Graff." She says. 

"Van Der Graff?! Pfft~ you're from a 60's rock band !?" Hahahaah." He chuckled. 

"No, you retard. It's my family name  consisting way back to a scientist who created some sort of generator." She shouted at him. "Also, how the heck do you even know bands from that back, are you secretly 1000+ years old or something." 

"What no, lol. My father is a music enthusiast and likes to collect old records. I just gained knowledge from looking on them on the Wikee if I felt like it." William answered. 

"Interesting." She says. "Anyway, let's just wait for the others. Also, where's Captain? Isn't she suppose to be like here?" 

"I don't know." William shrugged. "Maybe she's in her room sleeping or something."