The next morning, Hoodisee and baby bee went to the indicated building. They looked for the person who was supposed to be in front of it, but the only one close from the entrance was a sleeping old man with a brown blanket over him.

— Is it you I'm supposed to see for the interview?

The grumpy old man stood up while mumbling to himself.

— This early in the morning? I know there's no time to join, but still... I can't sleep even for a minute. At least this one realized that I was the guide...

— I can come back later if you prefer.

— No, no. It's still my job to take care of the night and morning guests. Do you have your entry ticket?

Hoodisee took out the business card and presented it to the man in front of him.

— I suppose it's that.

He took it and nodded.

— Yes, yes! Come, follow me.

With every steps he took, the old man's appearance changed little by little.

— Why does a handsome young pal like you want to join a secret organisation like ours?

His short whit hair grew a bit and changed gradually in a flamboyant red color. The hooded one seemed like they weren't noticing the changing body of their interlocutor. It seemed like they were just listening to his words and looking where they were going.

"Handsome? Pal? Even young is weird coming from him..."

— I heard that it was a group meant to protect the weak and defeat evil.

The wrinkled face of the man became smoother and smoother, looking more like a young man himself.

— Are you sure it's not for the other benefices?

— Like what?

— Money, food, power, glory...

— Do I look like a greedy beggar to you? And if I really wanted power and glory, I would have joined the glorious knights of light instead.

The man grew a little in height, but his nonchalant posture made him look smaller than he actually was.

— An excellent answer... I guess.

Even his voice seemed younger. That's when Hoodisee seemed to realize that the appearance of the man standing next to them had changed as well.

— You're a metamorph, aren't you?

— What makes you think that?

— I was asking out of courtesy, sorry if I offended you.

— Yes, I am. But you don't need to mind or worry about it.

— I don't mind.

The metamorph was struck by the answer of the hooded one. Most people were cold against shapeshifters since they could easily fool them. So 'I don't mind what you are' was quite unusual to hear for a species capable of changing their appearance and voice. That made him almost forget why he was here.

— We... We're here!

At that exact moment, a tall and muscular man with brown hair flew out of the door.

— Oh, no! Not him!

The shapeshifter looked uneasy. The man who passed the door was knocked out on the floor.

— You might want to come back later. I can make an exception and give you back your entry ticket.

— I don't see why.

— The one... behind this door... might give you an awfully bad time.

— I can live with that.

— You should really come back in a few hours.

— How many?

— Five or six hours...

— I don't know if I could come back at that moment. It's best to take the test now before it becomes impossible for me to come again.

— But...

— I just need someone to take care of baby bee while I'm fi... taking the test.

— Baby bee?

A woman's voice came out of the room.

— If there's another competitor waiting, you may come in now.

Hoodisee gave the young child who was dissimulated underneath their cloak to the metamorph.

— Take good care of him for me, will you?

Dumfounded, the red haired boy couldn't think clearly.

— Yeah... Sure...

When he realized what the situation was, it was too late. The hooded one had already passed the door. He tried to stop them one last time.

— Wait...

The instructor, a woman with dark pink hair who looked severe, clearly the one who asked the next competitor to come in, interrupted the shapeshifter.

— Ao'ry, you know you shouldn't interfere with the evaluation of newcomers, right?

— Yes, but...

— No buts, there's no exceptions.

— But...

— Just bring the baby to a child keeper and leave.

— Okay...

— What? I haven't heard properly.

— Yes, ma'am!

That's how Aory, the shapeshifter, unwillingly left the room. The instructor started to explain how the evaluation would take place.

— So, all you need to do to pass this test is to be able to keep fighting for an hour. Or at least stay conscious during the whole fight. Your evaluator will be Kariator. If you succeed, you'll just have to take the psychological and intellectual tests, then we'll do a background check and a full medical examination.

The evaluator was a tall man bearing an axe and with absolutely no hair on his head. He fitted exactly the description of the man the blue-haired girl warned Hoodisee about, but they didn't mind. It might have looked like they were bold or overconfident, but they were just trying to get this over with.

— I'll start the timer, you may start whenever you want.

The bald man dropped his axe on the floor.

— Let's start with a fist fight first, shall we?

Hoodisee stepped forward.

— Do as you wish.

The evaluator made the first move, an attempt to punch his adverser in the face, which the hooded one dodged pretty easily. The baldy waited for his opponent to try to hit him, but they never prepared their fists or started making their move.

— You're going to play it that way?

Hoodisee didn't respond.

— All right, then I will teach you a lesson for being arrogant. I tried to be fair, but now I won't leave you any more free chances to hit me.

Kariator gave a series of punches and kicks to the hooded one who dodged most of them. Only one punch hitted them one the face. A hit from underneath. They fell on the floor then got up right away.

— I can still fight.

— I can see that. Let's level up the game, shall we? It's getting a bit boring.

Not waiting for an answer the evaluator took his axe on the ground and swinged it at Hoodisee. Once again, they dodged most of them, but took one from below. The blow broke the laces tying the cloak which fell on the floor, revealing some of the hidden features of the unhooded hooded one. Long jet-black hair falling magnificently on their shoulders and their back. Their eyes were also in a piercing black color. For a second Kariator thought that Hoodisee might be a girl. He stopped fighting out of wondering. The mask covering the bottom-half of their face hid once again their true identity. Their black clothes, thin body armor and cargo pants, weren't showing any forms that could have helped to tell their gender.

— I can still fight.

The evaluator came back to reality and continued swinging his axe.

"There's no way that guy is a girl!"

The fight continued and Hoodisee took more and more blows after which they would always respond 'I can still fight'.

— Why don't you use the stick on your back?

Kariator was referring to the sword with a wooden handle without a crossguard sealed with the scabbard, also made out of wood, by a paper with red symbols that he was bearing behind them. They did not answer at first, but after a few more shots, the unhooded one finally took the sword off of their back. The evaluator didn't notice the change of color of Hoodisee's eye. From black to a radiant blue. It was as if they were jewels or as if some sort of energy was flowing in them.

— I won't use it the way you think I will.

— Let's see how much time you can keep up without using your weapon as a weapon.

The fight kept on going and Hoodisee was blocking and dodging most of the swings. Everytime they were hit and fell on the floor, they would use their sealed sword to stand up and say 'I can still fight'. About 45 minutes of the fight had passed, Kariator was firstier because he was annoyed by the persistence of his opponent. Meanwhile, Hoodisee had more and more difficulties to keep up, but they still didn't give up. Then, another blow from below ripped their body armor from the middle and part of the bandages they were wearing beneath it.

"He was already injured?! How can an injured guy keep up with me?"

The broken pieces of cloth revealed the feminin shape of their chest.

"A woman?! A woman could keep up with me for that long?"

The mask of the newly found out woman also got ripped out of her face. It was a young face which looked around 15.

"A young girl?! I was fighting against a child woman?!"

Struck by the revealed features of the unmask unhooded hooded one, Kariator had no will to fight anymore. He looked at the instructor who waved her hands in a way meant to say 'do as you wish, there's 15 minutes left'. He cleared his throat.

— Uhum! Seeing how much injuries you sustained, I'll let you pass if you're able to stay conscious for the last 15 minutes.

— I... Pant... can... Pant... still... Pant... still... fight! Pant.

It was unclear if Hoodisee was saying that to keep the fight going, to say she understood, to give her the courage to continue or just because she couldn't say anything else at that very moment. In fact, she might not even have been able to hear anything with all her injuries. For the next 14 minutes, Hoodisee kept on repeating the same thing over and over again while supporting herself with her sword. 'I.can.still.fight.' Blood was flowing down the side of her face. Her body was covered with injuries, especially on her legs and arms. Her cargo pants were ripped at multiple places. It was dreadful for everyone to see, but no one could do anything; trying to help her would mean making her efforts vain and we would have to disqualify her from this fight. She looked like she could pass out at any moment, she could only keep herself from falling thanks to her sword. At the last minute, in the last seconds, when she was about to pass, Hoodisee's mind couldn't bear the pain anymore. It would probably have been better for her mind to keep fighting. It would have given her the stimulation she needed to stay conscious. However, the fight had stopped a while ago and she was drifting away. As she was about to pass out for good, someone stopped her from falling completely with their back. The instructor started shouting.

— No one should interfere with...

That's when she realized who stopped the fall.  She couldn't say anything anymore.

— Headmistress?! Why are you here?

It was the woman with light-blue hair who gave the 'entry ticket' to Hoodisee. Also someone who could give a membership to anyone even if they failed some of the tests.