Chapter 8 - Test

Leo and Loki fought Gerald for a week. The improvement in their cooperation skyrocketed, which astonished even the unbothered instructor himself. Although the two kids still failed to land a single hit, the fact that their fighting time against the instructor lengthened by the day was proof enough of their skills.

on the training ground.

I will definitely hit you today.

Loki was so occupied with himself that he didn't notice Gerald's arrival.

"Listen, you two." Gerald clapped his hands. "Today is a special day."

Loki turned his head toward the instructor and immediately noticed the woman beside the handsome man. She had short black hair that only reached her neck. Her face was small, making her blue eyes shine even brighter. The woman wasn't the most beautiful he had ever seen, but perhaps second only to his mother—no one could reach his mother's beauty. Her height was short—maybe a few inches taller than his. She wore a white long sleeve that refused to show a glimpse of her skin, and paired with it were black fitted pants that enhanced the curves of her body.

"Let me introduce Elaine. She is a 2-Star Crawler and one of the qualified people in DCG who have the authority to test individuals to see if they have the right to become a Crawler."

Loki's eyes widened. "Wait, don't tell me…?"

"You caught on quick, midget. That's right, today is your test," Gerald smugly said.

"Wait, really?" Leo shouted in disbelief. "But we haven't paid the test fee yet?"

Gerald wickedly grinned and spoke. "Don't worry about the fee; just think of it as my gift to my students. But let me warn you. If you fail this test, I will never let you retake another one, and you two will stay civilian for the rest of your lives. So, you better surpass your best, because this is your only chance."

"What? How is that fair?" Loki complained.

"Nothing in this world is fair; you better get used to it. Also, why are you worried? You just need to make sure you pass; is that hard? Or don't tell me, you're not confident? If so, don't ever think of becoming a Crawler."

Loki was confident, but that didn't mean he was 100 percent sure. Accidents could always happen. He should have been excited about the test, but due to Gerald's condition, he couldn't help but be nervous.

Is this one of his schemes?

"Anyway, get ready; we're starting as soon as possible," Gerald remarked.

Leo and Loki had no choice but to prepare.

Loki with his wooden dagger.

Leo with a combination of a wooden shield and a mace.

The two kids stood side by side like usual and readied themselves.

"Usually, Crawlers take tests one by one, but considering you two are forbidden to use your abilities, we let both of you cooperate."

"What? Are we still not allowed to use our abilities?" Loki exclaimed.

Gerald looked at Loki with disappointment. "Why do you think I train you without your ability? To build your foundation. Also, do you really think it's smart to use your skills suddenly? Not only will it not help you pass, but your abilities can even hinder you without experience in using them in real battle. And why the hell am I explaining this again? Just do what I say!"

After reprimanding Loki, Gerald turned his attention to the woman and asked. "Elaine, can you begin? Just follow what I told you."

Elaine nodded. She moved to the weaponry and took two wooden daggers.

"The test is simple. Land a single blow to Elaine and you two will pass. Time limit: 10 minutes. Start!" Gerald announced.

Elaine swiftly ran toward the two kids the moment the test began.

"Leo, don't be nervous and just do what we always do. You be the defense, and I'll be the offense," Loki shouted.

"Okay!" Leo shouted back and ran to intercept Elaine.

As for their training, Loki followed behind Leo, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

However, they miscalculated something. Elaine was an entirely different enemy from Gerald. While Gerald liked to wait around and counter-attack, Elaine's fighting style was more of an aggressive type.

When Leo and Elaine were about to clash, Elaine jumped over the kid and launched an attack on Loki.

Thankfully, Loki had already anticipated the situation based on Elaine's weapon of choice. As a dagger wielder himself, he should focus on the weak spot, and between him and Leo, he was the weakest link. He threw a stone—which he picked up while running—the moment his and Elaine's eyes met. If he were the previous Loki, he would never stoop so low as to toss a stone. But thanks to his unmannered instructor, he assimilated things that he didn't like.

However, Loki's eyes widened when Elaine also hurled another stone that hit his stone, dividing it into small pieces.

Upon Elaine's landing, she immediately pounced on Loki with her two daggers, like the fang of a ferocious beast.

Loki woke from his daze and responded by jumping back. But it was futile, as the beast was already locked on her prey.

With one push of her foot, Elaine reached Loki's side in a blink of an eye.

Loki was caught off guard this time. He had no idea someone could move like that. No, in his eyes, Elaine teleported. When the thought of evading rose within him, his opponent had already stroked him with her daggers. The only reaction he could make was to endure. Loki quickly placed both his hands in front of him, blocking the cross slash.

Loki groaned as he felt a stinging pain in his arms. But when he checked, there was no blood, only gashes left by the attack. He had no time to examine himself; the beast didn't let go of her bite and continued assaulting him. Luckily, he had composed himself; thus, he avoided most of the attacks.

When he thought the barrage of blows would never end, Elaine jumped to the side as if she were dodging something. And true enough, she was indeed. While Elaine bombarded him, Leo took the opportunity to sneak in an attack. Unfortunately, it failed.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked in concern. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit late."

"No worries, let's focus on how we can land a blow."

Loki said that, but in truth, he took quite a hit from the encounter. Both his hands hurt like hell, and he had a hard time moving them.

"Leo, let's do it."

"What? Are you sure? We have yet to use it in a fight."

"We can't do this without taking some risk, and I think we can do it. After all, we practice that move for a week."

"Okay, let's do it."

Like they always did, Leo and Loki ran.

Seeing this, Elaine did the same and intercepted them. But instead of jumping over, she did a sweep kick, bringing Leo to the ground.

Loki grasped the chance and commenced his attack, not wanting to give time for Elaine to injure Leo. With simultaneous slashes, he made sure not to give Elaine a breather. However, after a few exchanges, he was the one who started losing air.

When he saw Leo back on his feet, he recalled the plan they had. Realizing he wouldn't last if he kept going, he decided to move around Elaine.

Upon placing Elaine between them, Loki nodded to Leo and then charged forward.

Leo did the same.

Elaine noticed this. But she let the two kids approach her without moving.

Loki found it odd, but he had no plan to stop. He just needed to brace himself for any possibility.

Leo raised his shield, wanting to bash himself against Elaine.

When Loki reached a certain distance, he jumped and used both feet to kick.

Seeing she was being pincer attacked, Elaine waited for the right moment and evaded to her left.

However, this was what Loki and Leo wanted. When Elaine dodged, Loki utilized Leo's shield as a footing and launched himself towards Elaine.

The woman instructor raised her eyebrows; she clearly didn't expect the combination of the two kids. Nevertheless, she reacted quickly. Before Loki's dagger touched her, she was already flipping her body, avoiding the slash targeting her throat.

Loki had seen the movement before. He had a premonition that there was going to be a counterattack heading his way. Sure enough, he saw Elaine's right foot heading towards his stomach. He immediately covered his stomach with his hands. The blow made him fly back in Leo's direction.

Leo reacted and caught Loki.

"And that's it." Gerald clapped his hands, stopping the test.

"Is it 10 minutes already? Did we fail?" Leo asked in concern.

Elaine calmly walked beside Gerald and stood there without saying anything.

"You both made a lot of mistakes, especially you, pretty face. But your performance is satisfactory. Unfortunately… you two pass the test. Barely."

Leo's mouth lengthened from ear to ear. Even though it was clear, he had no clue how they passed. "But how? I clearly see with my two eyes that Loki missed. So how?"

Loki smugly grinned while placing both his hands on his hips. "Let me explain it. You're correct, my dagger never touches Instructor Elaine. But the rule stated that we only need to land a blow. Therefore, it means anything we did to cause damage. Look at her clothes on her hips."

Leo followed Loki's finger and saw a smudge of brown on Elaine's white long sleeve. "So? She got dirty, so how can that help us pass the test?"

"That's because that mark isn't only a speck of dirt, but a spot left behind by the stone I threw the time she kicked me."

"Wait…?" Leo lingered; he seemed to be absorbing all the things he learned. "That counts as landing a strike?"

"That took a while, but at least you still got there." Loki gave a thumbs up to Leo, showing his confirmation.

"Are you two idiots done?" Gerald finally lost his patience and interrupted the two kids. "Even though Elaine only used a small portion of her capabilities, the fact that you managed to land a hit on a 2-Star Crawler—even if it was insignificant—means you now have a higher chance of surviving a Dungeon. My job here is done. From now on, you two are officially Crawlers."

Loki and Leo looked at one another, and the disbelief in their eyes was still apparent.

"Finally!" Loki screamed in joy.

"I can't believe I truly became a Crawler." Leo examined his shaking hands.

"Here, take this." Gerald tossed two rectangular items to Loki and Leo.

When Loki caught it, he scrutinized the item and asked. "What is this?"

Gerald rolled his eyes. "I thought you had been studying?"

Then Loki understood. "Wait, don't tell me. Is this a Crawler Card? My very own Crawler Card?"

"It's your proof that you two idiots are indeed Crawlers. All you need to do is drop your blood on the card, so your information will be registered with the guild."

Loki raised the card while looking at it with a sparkle in his eyes. The card was made of seemingly simple wood, but he could tell that there was something special about it. He wasn't really interested in that. What caught his attention was the carving on the card. There were a lot of lines that he couldn't understand; he knew it was some kind of language or letter, but he had never seen one before.

Amidst his observation, a light in the corner of his eyes garnered his attention. When he looked, he saw Leo's CC shining in pure white. It appeared that Leo was too excited and immediately dropped blood on his CC.

Seeing this, Loki forgot all the things he wanted to know and quickly placed his blood on his CC. Sure enough, another light illuminated the training ground.

When it dissipated, Gerald clapped his hands and spoke. "This is where your training ended. You are now forbidden to use this training ground, so you better find your own place to practice. Now if you two idiots are done, go on; the door is open."

"What? Why can't we use this training ground? It's wide enough to be utilized by multiple people." Loki complained.

"Well, firstly, this training ground is only for the use of the members of DCG. Secondly, you should be thankful that I'm the one who trained you, giving you access to this place. Lastly, what made you think that you can train here while other Crawlers can't? Do you think you're special because I'm your instructor? I suggest removing that naïve thought in your small brain. Why am I explaining this to you? Just shoo away.

Loki's eyebrows twitched. He just couldn't understand how Father Laryatt associated with a damnable instructor.

"Let's go, Loki; let's just be satisfied with what we got." Leo pulled Loki towards the exit.

Without saying another word, Loki followed Leo and made their way out of the training ground.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Before you leave, tell the receptionist that you passed my test."

"We understand, thank you!" Leo turned around and bowed to Gerald.

Witnessing Leo, Loki also faced Gerald's direction and spoke with a forceful tone. "Yeah, thank you."

After that, the two resumed their way out.