7 I...Passed!

"ARRRGH!" Liam yelled as he charged at Spin and swung his sword.

"Hmph, too naive!" Spin shouted as he began to rotate his heavy maces with ease.

He easily parried Liam's blade to one side with one mace. Then turning swiftly on his heal, Spin slammed the other mace into Liam's defenceless back.

"GAACK-" Liam was blown away from the impact, sending him flying till he crashed into one of the walls.

Blood spilled forth from Liam's mouth, splattering onto the cold concrete beneath him. Spin merely stood where he was and glared at him indifferently.

"I warned you, boy!" Spin shouted ,"I don't know what pathetic little monsters you've fought till now but empty attacks like that won't work on me"

Liam coughed raggedly as he struggled to get to his feet. He quickly took a glance at his health.

[HP: 200

MP: 380

'Damn, he's right!...' thought Liam to himself 'I thought I had gotten quite strong these past few days but I was just being naive'

"What's the matter? Losing your resolve?" Spin asked harshly ,"If one hit is all it takes to make you quit then you have no right to be an adventurer"

Liam gritted his teeth and glared back at Spin. The fiery look of determination in his eyes seemed to stun Spin for a moment.

"Like hell I would give up!" Liam bellowed angrily ,"Being an adventurer is my dream and I'll do anything I can to achieve it!"

Spin stared opened-mouthed at Liam for a brief moment before he chuckled and readied his weapons again.

"Yes, that's the spirit!" said Spin with a smile ,"Now keep it going and come at me ready this time!"

'You bet I will!' thought Liam as he glanced at Blu and Kai who stood away from the ring, seemingly worried for Liam.

"I made a mistake trying to take you on as if i were a swordsman", said Liam ,"Let's see how I'll do with my actual class!

He extended his hand in front of and shouted ,"Come out, Razor and Ralph!"

A magic circle appeared and a monkey and a large boar burst out. Kai and Blu took that as a sign and came to stand besides Liam.

"Ho ho? Taking a numbers advantage, eh?" Spin asked slyly as he spun his maces once more ,"Nice try but that won't help you"

"Razor, Ralph! You guys take him for now!" Liam ordered ,"Kai, Blu, you're with me!"

Liam started running around Spin, waiting for a good opening to attack.

Razor and Ralph did as they'd been been told and attacked. Razor activated his 'frenzy' skill that doubled his agility. He swiftly dodged Spin's maces and scuttled around his legs, tripping Spin.

"Enhance activate!" Liam shouted.

Ralph's body pulsed with energy and he snorted angrily. He took advantage of the momentary opening in Spin's defences and charged, piercing Spin's armour.

Spin grunted in pain but still smiled ,"I have skills too! Physic Enchantment activate!"

A violent red aura burst forth from him, knocking Razor and Ralph away from him. Liam's expression hardened when he saw this.

'I expected as much' Liam thought as he ran 'He must be a berserker!'

"Ralph, take the brunt of the attacks!" Liam shouted.

"Ha!" Spin yelled as he charged towards Razor and Ralph. Just as Liam had instructed, Ralph stood in front of Razor and took most of the attacks.

Spin's maces now did more damage than before and left deep wounds on Ralph's flesh. However, Ralph had already activated his 'restore' skill that had regenerative abilities and healed his wounds almost instantly.

'Ralph won't last long though...' thought Liam desperately 'I need to do something fast!'

Suddenly, he thought of something and stopped, turned to Blu and Kai.

"Kai, blast a fireball at Blu", he instructed ,"Blu ingest it and mix it with the water you have inside you"

Kai immediately blasted a ball of flames at the little slime and Blu ate it without a second thought. Liam nodded and ordered Kai to continue running around, blasting fireballs at Spin.

Kai obliged and joined the fight, spitting fireball after fireball at Spin. Spin spun his other mace and deflected most of them but the occasional fireball still hit him.

Spin gritted his teeth in agitation and bellowed ,"Enough!"

With a might swing, he knocked Razor and Ralph aside. Then he closed in on Kai and kicked the poor fox away.

"These...", Spin panted tiredly, finally turning his attention to Liam and Blu ,"To think these pests can exhaust me this much...but they can't protect you forever!"

Spin lunged forward and swung his mace at Liam. However, Liam just smiled and shouted ,"Now Blu! Use the smoke screen!"

Blu jumped in between them and spewed mist right in Spin's face. Spin coughed and looked around him, unable to see anything through the mist.

"Nice try again but I have tricks too", said Spin with a smug smile and he chanted ,"Heat Detect, activate!"

He scanned the mist once again and saw an orange silhouette of Liam.

"Ha! I have you now!" Spin cried out triumphantly as he swung his mace at Liam. But right before he could hit Liam-

"Switch activate!"

Spin felt his mace connect but something felt odd. He walked closer and fanned the mist away with his hand.

"What?!" Spin eyes widened in surprise. The silhouette he had hit was non other than Blu!

"Paralyze and ensnare him-", said a cold voice behind him.

Spin turned around and his face paled when he saw an enormous python towering over him. Under Jiri's gaze he was completely paralyzed and couldn't move an inch.

Jiri hissed as her long body wrapped around Spin, slowly suffocating him.

'How can one sub class be capable of all this?!' thought Spin as he vision grew darker and darker. His eyes met Liam's one last time.

Liam wore a cold and blank expression on his face, standing tall over Spin as he suffocated.

'Ah, I see now...' thought Spin 'Who knew sheer determination could drive someone so much...'

With that, he closed his eyes and let darkness finally envelope him and he passed out.

"Finally done...", said Liam completely exhausted. He winced slightly and rubbed his abdomen ,"I'm pretty sure he cracked a rib or two though"

Liam glanced at Kai, Razor and Ralph who looked just as bruised up as he was. Especially Ralph, who was laying on his side with horrible looking wound across his belly. Liam looked at them with a sympathetic expression on his face.

"You guys did good", said Liam and he extended his hand ,"Everyone return!"

All his familiars immediately dissolved into particles of light. Liam could feel their emotions and how much pain they were in, which made him feel horrible for using them.

[«Attention»

-A few of your familiars have received injuries. Would you like to use all your remaining MP to restore them?

YES/NO?]

"Obviously yes!" said Liam and he clicked YES. He was glad his familiars didn't have to suffer anymore.

CREAK~

The door leading back to the lobby opened and Hilia walked in.

"Excuse me, sorry for interrupti-", she began to say but stopped when she saw Spin unconscious on the ground.

"WHAT?! What happened here?!" Hilia exclaimed in surprise.

"Hm? Oh, you mean Spin", said Liam simply ,"I knocked him out"

"B-b-but...", Hilia stammered ,"That's not possible! You're just a sub class! Unless...hey, what level are you?"

"Level 8", Liam answered ,"Why do you ask?"

"Just Level 8!" Hilia exclaimed in astonishment ,"But Spin is almost double your level...how-?"

"Umm, I don't mean to interrupt your speculations", Liam interrupted her ,"But does this mean I pass?"

"Huh? Oh right! Of course, right this way", she said and led him back to the lobby, back to the counters.

She grabbed one of the cards in front of her and stamped it before giving it to him.

"H-here you, sir", said Hilia with a nervous smile ,"Welcome to the Silver Fang guild"

Liam accepted the card, gazing at it like it were made of gold. Then he smiled broadly before jumping up in the air.

"ALLLRIIIIIIIGHT!", he shouted with joy.