With These Hands

Admittedly, this was a weird scene for her to walk into. Me seated on the floor and holding the ring up and Artemis standing in front of me. 

As soon as her eyes caught sight of the ring, I immediately spoke up. "Hold up, don't get any ideas. I was just trying something out." 

"Uh huh. And what would that be?" She asked with clear sarcasm, a hand on her hip.

I flicked the ring towards her which she deftly caught, examining it carefully. "Put it on and find out." I said, watching her eye the ring with skepticism. 

"Okay..?" It came out as more of a question but she still put it on, still confused. "I don't get it."

Pretending to search through my pocket, I pulled out a pencil from my inventory. Grabbing her hand, I gently prodded it with the pointed side of the pencil. Before she could voice her thoughts, she paused as the pencil stopped barely two centimeters from her skin. 

This time, she grabbed the pencil from me, jabbing it harder but it had the same result. A few tries had her turning to me in even further confusion. 

"Okay I have to ask. What are your powers in the first place? First you survived a hole in your chest like it was nothing now you're giving me magic rings?" She asked with no small amount of intrigue. 

As for why I didn't tell her about it yet, it really just hadn't come up. 

"Power, singular." I lied, getting an even more confused look. "I can process items and materials into other things but I need to understand what I'm working with for it to come out right. As for your other question, it took a little while but I managed to turn myself into this."

That is a severely watered down version of it but I can't leave out too much. I'll eventually have to merge with something else and unless I want to start messing with her mind, it's better to get it out of the way now.

I still left out my appraisal skill and inventory but I'll be able to explain the latter when it eventually comes up. 

"So basically you cheat." She said after a while. 

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Out of everything I said, that's what you got?"

"I mean now it makes sense how you were able to make all this stuff from scratch without equipment. You have an ointment that actually gets rid of scars in your bathroom." She fired back, now admiring the ring on her finger.

I just wanted to see if I could make it and I could do that's one thing added to my supernatural résumé. 

"Yeah well that ring on your finger is just a little added protection in case you run into any trouble." I said, pushing myself to my feet. 

"You know, you give the best gifts." Artemis said, hooking her arms around my neck and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before going into the bedroom. "Let me quickly change, then we can head out for lunch."

Ah yes, the woes of a high school schedule which I would soon be free of. Not that I'd been attending this week either way. 

Xx-Xx-Xx

A few days had passed and it was time for the exam. The venue is Gotham University and I can't help but feel a bit excited. High school just wasn't doing it for me and studying for the past few days was more interesting than the weeks I'd spent in the local high school. 

Sure I'd garner some attention with this but I don't plan on spending this life hiding in a corner.

Walking through the halls, I drew some eyes, looking younger than the average student as I navigated my way to the exam hall. Were it not for the campus map in my hands I'd have gotten lost at least five times already. It's that confusing but I eventually manage to find my way. 

Surprisingly, there's a larger number of people than I expected. Randomly appraising a few people sates my curiosity. The guy seated in the corner mumbling to himself had taken the tests once before and failed. 

Another one had applied for it and hadn't shown up out of nervousness. I also realized that my appraisal skill works like my merging in that it works based on intent and displays that information. 

As I moved to my seat, I heard a low curse of 'smug brat' from one of the others amongst other similar words. There wasn't an age limit for the exams so it wasn't a surprise to see a bitter man seated for it, angry that much younger people thought they could pass. But I can and I will. 

It takes a whole twenty minutes for the official to show up, holding a stack of papers in his hands. He was followed by two others who also carried similar stacks. 

"Alright settle down everyone." The official, a elderly man with slowly graying hair but still standing tall, said, his eyes scanning the crowd who quickly arranged themselves. 

Gothamites are a rowdy bunch but to be here, you must have something you wanted to achieve and nobody is stupid enough to sabotage their own chances. 

"You know the rules. You have 90 minutes per exam and no cheating. If you're caught, you'll be barred from ever taking the test again. Am I clear?" The man, Edward whose name I learnt from his appraisal, said, getting a silence which he took as a yes. "Good."

He and his two assistants began distributing the exam papers around the center. Those who were among the first to get the questions looked determined for a moment before slumping a bit in either nervousness or fear. 

Tough luck. Drugs for the win. 

As the question paper was placed in front of me, I observed both sides of it. It had a multiple choice section of eighty questions and an essay portion as well. The questions themselves brought a smile to my face. 

I know I shouldn't get overconfident but I can't help it. This is going to be so easy. Biochemistry degree here I come!