The Exam Hall was extremely large, with about two partitions. The first section of the hall had around 30 chairs with different machines strapped to it. To Clancy it looked an awful lot like an electric chair, especially with the fact that each chair had a little flipped metal bowl and electric coils where one would place their head. Clancy had a deep suspicion that whatever was about to follow would not be fun.
Selwyn waved his hand to the chairs.
"Please, find an empty seat and sit down."
Clancy took a seat near the front again. The arms of the chair started whirring as soon as he sat down and before Clancy could react metal restraints burst out and bound him in place. The metal helmet above him also began lowering onto his head. An attendant put a rubber tube for him to bite with his teeth. When everyone was sat down Selwyn began speaking again.
"You will now be subjected to simulated waves of temporal energy. Those who become OTA agents will be subjected to such energies during every deployment. Such pressures and pain must be tolerated. Those who are unable to withstand such pain and lose consciousness before 90 seconds are over will not be able to pass onto the next stage of the application process. I bid you all good luck."
As soon as Selwyn finished speaking a bright red alarm sounded on the wall of the exam hall. At the same time, the chair activated. Immediately all 24 of the applicants began howling and screaming in pain. The pain was unlike anything ever experienced before. Every single applicant in the hall was an expert martial artist that had gone through decades of training. Most of them were special forces members, whether it be from the FBI, MI6 or SAS, and had gone through all different forms of torture. They had been trained to go through the most grueling forms of torture without leaking governmental secrets. And yet, every single one of them was crying in pain, screaming for the hurt to stop.
Clancy wasn't faring much better. He felt like all of his limbs were being organically disassembled. It felt like every atom in his body was being torn apart and mixed together into some sort of Clancy soup. If this was what it felt like to be boiled alive, he vowed to never boil live lobsters ever again. He clenched his jaw so hard the rubber tube he was biting on was nearly bitten through.
After around 30 seconds of testing nearly half of the 24 original applicants had already passed out. Clancy wanted to spit out his rubber tube but he knew if he did his teeth would shatter from the clenching. Once the 60 second mark was reached Clancy already felt like passing out. He was fighting the pain and keeping his consciousness awake. The only thought that kept him fighting was the thought of his father. He knew that if he didn't make it through this step, his likelihood of finding answers about his father would diminish drastically. His father was his closest friend. For the past four years since his disappearance from Clancy's life, he had searched for any answers on his whereabouts. This place, this hall, this organization was his closest clue to finding out what happened. And if all it took was the feeling of all his molecules being forcibly separated, then so be it.
Finally, when Clancy was nearing his limit, the pain stopped. Almost too abruptly. It felt as if there had been no pain at all.
The red light turned green and the latches on all the chairs opened.
Clancy looked down at his hands. His fingernails had dug into his palms, drawing blood. He looked around and it seemed everyone else was in a similar predicament. They all had some blood dripping out of their hands. Their bodies, although physically, were all gasping for air.
Clancy had no idea how such a machine had simulated such immense and incredible pain. If that was only the simulation, he shuddered to think of the real thing.
Selwyn took a few steps forward and spoke.
"Those of you who passed, please be escorted to the second part of the exam hall. The rest of you, please stay behind."
There were around 7 people left, including Clancy. They walked over to the second part of the hall. None of them had the sort of cockiness they were showing before when Clancy walked in. They all seemed visibly shaken. They were escorted into a closed off section of the hall.
Before them was a large sparring mat, around the size and shape of an MMA octagon. And waiting before the applicants was a huge behemoth of a man. He seemed to be over 7 feet tall. He made the bodybuilders Clancy fought with the other day seem like children.
He was shirtless and in a martial arts gi. Selwyn walked up and stood next to him, introducing the man in question.
"This is Instructor Garrick. He is the combat instructor at the OTA. He is former British SAS and has been in 430 missions during his service, including four tours in Iraq and three tours in Afghanistan. The next stage of your application will be overseen by him. I'll let him take it from here."
Garrick took a step forward and boomed.
"Thank you Director Selwyn. It is my pleasure to help with the application process. The next stage of your exam is simple. Each of you will be taking turns striking me. A body shot counts as 1 point. A headshot counts as 2 points. You are welcome to use whatever melee weapons are on the rack over there."
Garrick gestured to a rack of wooden weapons, including swords, spears, bo staffs and knives.
"If you are thrown out of the confines of this octagon, you are eliminated. Whoever is able to score the most amount of points against me will be the only applicant to pass the exam. All others will be directed to leave."
This was news to Clancy. He had no idea the application process was so rigorous. He was now even more impressed by his father. If his father was a real OTA agent, it meant he had beaten out two dozen other elite martial artists and applicants.
Before he could finish his thoughts, Garrick continued.
"Please take off your suits and change into the clothes your brought in your duffle bags."
'Duffle bags?'
The only thing Clancy had brought was a ham egg and cheese sandwich. And his lunchbox, along with the sandwich had been flattened into a panini after getting shot into the ground at ballistic missile speed. It seemed Zephyr had failed to inform him of any clothes that he should bring. He looked over in his direction, but all Zephyr could do was raise his hands in surrender. He simply mouthed the words "sorry" and continued talking to Selwyn.
Clancy sighed. While everyone else changed into martial arts uniforms and more comfortable attire, Clancy simply took off his blazer, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, took off his tie and rolled his sleeves up. Once all the applicants finished changing, Garrick stepped forward.
"Who would like to take initiative and come up first?"
Without hesitation, a blonde haired man that looked to be around the same age as Clancy stepped up onto the octagon mat and bowed his head. The man walked to the assortment of weapons and chose a wooden katana. He then clasped his hands together and shouted.
"Sir! Sergeant Ares. Former SEAL TEAM 6. I would be honored to be first."
"Good, Ares. Once the bell rings, we may begin."
All the other applicants stood in a straight line parallel to the octagon. As soon as the bell sounded, Ares rushed forward. He seemed to know that in a contest of raw strength he could not match Garrick's physical size. Instead he opted to slash at Garrick's legs, hoping to sweep them and trip him over. Ares bent his knees and readied his stance to slash. But before his wooden blade reached his target, Garrick grabbed Ares' wrist to stop him mid swing.
But it seemed Ares wasn't fazed. He immediately twisted his body and tried to side kick Garrick. His right leg snapped upwards in succession, but Garrick simply shouldered the hit, then with his left arm, wrapped it around Ares' right leg, lifted his body into the air and slammed him into the ground.
One thing perfectly clear to Clancy was that Garrick was absurdly strong. Almost without logic, he had picked up a grown man with his left hand into the air like a child and body slammed him into the mat. The air was immediately knocked out of Ares as his back rammed into the mat. But Garrick didn't let go. He lifted Ares up again and then threw out of the octagon, nearly all the way to the torture chairs they had been earlier. He crashed into the floor and crumpled his body. Immediately a group of medical professionals went to assess the man that was moaning in pain on the ground.
Garrick patted himself off, picked up the wooden sword and placed it neatly back into the weapons rack. He then turned to the rest of the 6 applicants.
"Ares has 1 point for the shoulder strike. So who's next?"
This time, people were far more hesitant to answer. They all theoretically understood why Ares lost. They had been martial artists for years. It wasn't that Ares wasn't skilled either. They all knew how skilled one had to be in the NAVY Seals, much less SEAL Team 6. And yet Garrick outclassed him in both technique, speed and strength.
Hesitantly, one of the applicants stepped forward. A woman. But she quickly dismissed her weak demeanor and put on a brave face.
Unfortunately, a brave face was not enough to save her from being thrown 30 feet into the torture chairs. After the throw, Garrick smiled a bit, which made Clancy shutter.
'Holy crap, is he trying to go for a record to see how far he can throw these guys?'
The fact that the man in front of him was not only unfazed by half a dozen of the most elite special ops personnel in the world, but actually finding joy in it made Clancy raise his eyebrows and contemplate his presence here.
'Did my dad have to fight someone like this?'
How did he even manage it?
As he was thinking all of these things, and seeing the distances that Garrick could throw a human being, the amount of people in front of him in line dwindled until he was finally up. The last man or woman that wasn't thrown like a hammer throw, yet.
What made Clancy shudder even worse was that Garrick didn't even seem tired. In fact, his 6th throw had been his farthest. The woman he threw had landed right in the middle of the chairs, around 40 feet away. As far as the amount of hits that the applicants had landed on Garrick, it wasn't even really important at that point. No one had gotten more than 3 strikes on Garrick before being thrown.
Clancy walked over to the weapons rack and chose a bo staff and walked back to the mat. He really could have chosen any weapon. After all, he had been trained by his (apparent) OTA father to wield all sorts of weapons. Clancy himself was actually most comfortable with either a sword or sniper rifle. But he chose the bo staff because it was long and offered the most versatility in controlling the distance between him and his opponent.
He walked onto the mat and bowed his body at a 45 degree angle. Garrick did the same. Each individual then prepared their stances and stared at each other. It seemed to Clancy that Garrick acted a bit more seriously towards him than he did the previous applicants. Whatever the case, it seemed like Clancy couldn't bet on taking advantage of Garrick and lowering his guard. He took a deep breath. The bell rang but neither person initiated combat. They simply circled around the octagon, waiting for the other to make the first move. Garrick had fought bare handed against each of his opponents, and this time was no different. He slowly stepped closer and closer to Clancy. Then, with lightning fast movements he reached his body in to jab at Clancy.
However, Clancy reacted in time, blocking the strike with his staff. But Garrick didn't give any chance for Clancy to breathe. He immediately followed up with a left handed cross. Clancy immediately shifted the staff to block Garrick's left hand. He twisted the staff to direct Garrick's fist into the ground, jamming his bo staff downwards into the mat. Then, using his staff as a pole, he swung his foot at Garrick's head, who blocked a direct hit to his temple. The force of the kick still rattled Garrick, who buckled backwards a few steps.
Clancy regained his footing and immediately started jabbing his staff in rapid succession, aiming for Garrick's mid section. By the third strike, Garrick grabbed the staff and pulled Clancy into him. Clancy ducked Garrick's fist that was barreling towards him and rammed his shoulder into Garrick's body, then, with him off balance, wrapped his foot around Garrick's inner thigh and using his opponent's momentum, Clancy performed an uchi mata, flipping Garrick's body and slamming his back into the ground. Garrick, stunned, couldn't react in time as Clancy proceeded to wrap his legs around Garrick's arm, performing a textbook arm bar. But before Clancy could fully straighten Garrick's arm to put pressure on it. Garrick tensed his bicep.
Clancy suddenly felt like he was being lifted up, and to his surprise, he was. Garrick had practically curled Clancy while on the ground, and before Clancy could relax his grip, he was slammed down onto the ground. Despite the wind being knocked out of Clancy's lungs, which seemed to be happening at an almost daily occurrence at this point, Clancy straightened his body as well as he could, pulling Garrick's arm as straight as he could and applying pressure on his elbow.
Despite Clancy putting excessive weight on Garrick's elbow, Garrick didn't give in. Garrick's arm was at a slight angle, unable to be fully straightened due to his immense strength. As Clancy kept pulling, Garrick repeatedly lifted him off the ground only to slam him back down.
Clancy seemed fed up, and frankly, his back felt like it was bruised all over. Garrick lifted Clancy up again, but this time, instead of bracing himself for the slam, he released his leg grip, and backflipped himself off of Garrick's chest.As Garrick staggered back, off-balance and dazed, Clancy surged forward like a bullet let loose. With a burst of explosive momentum, he launched into the air—his body coiling mid-flight like a spring wound to its limit. His waist snapped with violent torque as he spun once… then again, faster, harder. The world blurred around him. And then—
—his heel collided with Garrick's jaw in a devastating 720-degree arc, the impact echoing like a gunshot as Garrick's head whipped sideways, his body crumpling before he even hit the ground.