Sam was in a rush. He picked up and dressed the first set of gym clothes in his wardrobe while taking off the bandages in his body and started to understand what was happening. He always hated to wake up late for anything. While seeing himself in the mirror, Sam saw multiple scars where there was none. He was shocked and almost panicked by the gruesome vision, but the exam was way too important for him to miss. He would deal with the body marks after entering the academy.

He wasn't the boy with no connection. Not anymore.

But, what was that cute puppy by his side? That small, black and white sleepy thing? Sam smiled, knowing he did the right thing by saving the creature. Although he didn't know who and how they got home, not even who treated their wounds, he was pretty grateful for that. His mom used to work with natural materials to treat their injuries after some long combat training sessions. The mysterious person used some well-known herbs.

"Oh no, MOM". Sam said out loud, worried as hell.

The puppy was still asleep, with no signs of waking up, especially for a physical exam. Sam tried to awake the lovely creature, with no success. The dog only opened an eye, grunted, and lay down on the other side of the bed. "That won't be easy", Sam thought, while grabbing the dog with an arm and starting to call mom with the other hand.

She picked the phone. It was in the middle of a train with Sam's sister, Lilly. "SAMUEL, are you still alive, kid?" Her sweaty and mad face said it all. Sam started the improvised explanations "Well, some things happened, I needed to focus on some stuff here. You know, mom, new places, new friends...and I got an Anilink!" Sam showed the puppy, and his mother's face changed entirely. "WHAT A LOVELY CUTE THING, Sammy! But wait, how the kid who wanted a saber-tooth as an animal ended with such a cute creature like that?". She was grabbing her chin with the question.

"Well, mom, I'll explain later, we're already late for the physical exam, wish me luck, Love you both!". Sam was in a hurry, and the exam was going to start in less than 10 minutes. The dorm was pretty close to the academy, so he made it in time, but lost the Academy yearly opening events, with all the celebrities and amazing combat demonstrations.

He followed the arrow's directions and could easily find the changing rooms. He was so excited with a locker of his own and felt for the first time as a student at the academy when finished wearing the black and orange training gear. He was ready. The puppy was still asleep. That's life. He arrived at the colossal gymnasium at the right moment when the dean was about to start explaining the rules:

"Welcome, students, to our annual physical exam! The rules are simple. In the city that will appear, we have plenty of different scenarios for you folks to show your skills. Our training robots will provide you with air/water/ground salvation tasks, combat simulations, and criminal prevention assignments. Each situation solved will count points for you, which will make your initial points in the academy. Let's all remember the top of the whole academy will receive special training for the next years in our exchange program." All the kids and their animals were really happy hearing the news, and a sense of excitement was present with everyone.

"You have 15 minutes to finish as many tasks as you can, and the number of points will put all of you 45 students in one of your 3 classes, from A to C. According to your animal specifics, you should proceed to the gate marked in your suit. You can go now, we're about to start!"

Sam's was designated to the gate #5, with all the ground-types. He saw so many interesting and diverse young people and their animals: A determined girl with a majestic tiger, the blonde douche with his gorilla, a small girl with a fluffy sheep and so many more. Sam tried to put the puppy down, but it was pretty comfy in his arms. Even if the dog wasn't that light, Sam was pretty confident about his running and kicking skills. He could do this.

The siren song marked the start. All the young folks and their companions ran through the buildings. Some thug robots appeared, and some fights started. The girl with the tiger was luring and destroying a couple of them with her amazing Guan Dao. On the other side, a tall and strong guy with a long-hair guy was destroying a wall that was collapsing above a robot with his leg stuck in rubble. He was using his own fists. Sam was thinking about how many badasses the academy was having that year, and he glanced at the sleeping thing in his arms with a tired smile.

Then, a huge boulder was tossed in his direction. He barely dodged the first, when the next ones kept coming. A familiar and annoying voice was shouting "Hey, loser! What is that ridiculous thing in your arm? Is that a freaking PUPPY? HAHAHA, what a joke! Just give up, man!" It was the blonde guy, again, tossing rocks with his war hammer. "Great time, douche", Sam thought. The rocks kept coming, as Sam was trying to summon a weapon with the puppy help, but nothing was working. Then, something fell from the sky, tearing a big boulder in half. "Again, dude? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We're in the middle of a test, and there are almost 5 minutes for this to finish, and you're doing THIS?" Ellie was saving Sam's ass again. The stupid started to provoke: "No, WE'RE DOING THIS", and tossed another big boulder in their direction. Before he started to laugh stupidly, a punch hit his face, launching the big body meters away, unconscious.

A strong, big robot appeared, carrying the body of the girl with the sheep. He tossed the injured lady in the duo direction, the body fell right at Sam's feet, defeated. Then, another two robots appeared, ready to fight. Ellie was ready to brawl with her cutlass, and Sam was starting to get pissed and confident when something in the robot's bodies did a "click". Then, the second pair of arms appeared on their torso. Sam and Ellie were screwed. The robots jumped in their direction.

The metallic fist was an inch close to Sam's face when the puppy opened its eyes.

A bright light was shining in Sam's hand, wielding a black katana. Finally, they were connected to the first level of anilink: Tool.

Sam was already deflecting the attack and could send the first robot flying into the nearest building. The impact was loud, as the machine went by a couple of walls. The other robots started to flank the duo, with Ellie guarding with her blue cutlass. Their attention was distracted by an angry wolf guy that grabbed the robot head and dunked into the ground. He was already covered in blood and exhausted. He fell at the small girl's side, unconscious. Sam was kinda terrified but could deflect the fast punches being thrown by the last machine. Ellie ran in the opposite direction, walked on the wall, jumping behind the enemy, and slashed its head off.

The final siren indicated the end of the exam.

"That was WAY MORE dangerous than I expected, Ellie." Sam was a bit shocked and too tired to panic. Ellie was panting while her blue macaw was flying and checking if everything was ok with her companion. The black and white puppy was in Sam's shoulder, taking a nap. Sam was glad to be linked to a creature that he could count on. "Thanks, little friend. That sword was really cool, right?"