Test Results

A strike tougher than the impact of a truck slammed into Gerard's arm, shattering it. The blow bulldozed past his arm and hit his chest, sending him across the courtyard.

*I hardly had time to block, and it did nothing.*

"Camilla, would you be a dear and heal him?" Lee cracked his neck.

Camilla rushed over and knelt down.

"I wish you wouldn't hurt them like this all the time..." She sighed and whispered an incantation before placing her hands on his body.

Gerard's shattered arm pulled itself back into place as the bones reformed beneath the skin. He yelled as the process continued.

"A-are we done?"

"Not yet, boy. That was just round one."

Gerard laughed, and he felt one of his broken ribs puncture something.

When his body was back to how it was, Gerard stood up and brought one palm in front of him, the other close to his side. Camilla ran back behind the safety of the glass door.

"Taking this seriously now, are we? Are you sure you don't need a weapon?"

"I'm afraid my usual weapon wouldn't suit my current strength, so I'll fight you with hand-to-hand combat."

*It's not like I'm allowed to use weapons yet...*

"As you wish."

*He uses extreme speed and strength to overwhelm his opponent. If I-*

"Do you really think you have time to strategise? The real world won't be so lenient!" He disappeared from view.

Lee's shadow loomed over him from behind. Gerard shifted his body and watched as Lee's fist shot out. In a quick rotation, Gerard knocked the fist away, but it didn't matter. Lee rotated and sent Gerard through the air with a swing of his arm.

"Are you still able to fight?" Lee crouched down a little.

"You remind me of a certain meathead, but yes, let's do this!"

"Good. You're the first person in a while to dodge my attacks during a test." Lee increased his speed and charged at Gerard in a single bound. "Let's make this fun."

*I can see his movements more clearly now, but that doesn't mean I can do anything to stop his assault.*

"Let's."

Gerard ducked beneath Lee's blow, only to receive a kick to his head. His vision faded, and the sound of everything around him cut out.

*Wait... Am I dying?*

---

"Geez, Lee! Don't aim for their heads! You could have killed him."

Gerard opened his eyes to see Camilla leaning over him with worry in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Gerard shifted his body to lie flat on the ground.

"Idiot. I should be asking you that."

Gerard touched his head and found a large wet patch. When he looked at his hand, he found it covered in blood.

"What?"

"Yeah... Lee has a tendency to go overboard when he gets excited."

"It's not my fault. It felt like I had to strike before he killed me."

"Kill you? He's just a boy!"

*You don't look any older than I do!* Gerard pouted.

"I won't explain myself to you. I felt what I felt." Lee shrugged.

Gerard stood up and got back into stance.

*That's probably got something to do with the fact I killed him last time I met him.*

"Is there a third round?" Gerard steadied his breathing.

"No, not for you. You pass."

"Really?"

"What? Are you waiting for congratulations? Get your companion out here."

"Okay."

Gerard sighed and relaxed his body before walking to the glass door.

"It's okay if he dies here, right? I mean, he almost killed you." Sprite whispered as she walked past him into the courtyard.

"You can try. He's a monster."

Sprite raised her fists as though she would go on the defensive. As Lee prepared his attack, Sprite made the first move. She ran forward and surprised Lee, causing him to jump back and swing his arm wide to knock her flying. Sprite dodged, jumped in close, and struck him in the throat. Gerard heard something crunch beneath Sprite's hand.

Lee coughed and grabbed his throat, so Sprite took the chance to kick down into his knee.

Lee forcibly knelt down and punched the ground during his descent. The concrete floor beneath them ruptured, and shrapnel flew in all directions.

"He did it again..." Camille sighed.

"That sure is some strength," Gerard observed Lee's moves as a bystander.

"Just one of the reasons he's the combat test examiner."

Sprite caught pieces of concrete in her legs and one of her arms before screaming in pain, staggering, and falling onto her buttocks.

Sprite shakily got to her feet, clenching her fists to try and get through the pain. Lee pushed her back over without any effort and signalled for the fight to end, and pointed to his throat.

Camilla promptly ran out into the courtyard and whispered another incantation before healing Lee's throat.

Lee gasped for air and laughed deeply.

"That devilish companion of yours crushed my windpipe without a second thought!"

"It does seem that way." Gerard walked out into the courtyard and checked on Sprite's condition.

"I think she's got more talent than you, Gerard." Lee slapped Gerard on the back, and Gerard's face plummeted to the ground.

Camilla rushed over to Sprite and healed her as well. The pieces of shrapnel slid out of her limbs, and the wounds quickly closed up.

"She asked me if she could try to kill you, and I didn't oppose the idea." Gerard pushed himself to a seated position.

"I like you both. You both pass!" Lee laughed even harder.

*This Lee is vastly different from the stoic and silent man I met in my previous life.*

"That's not your choice to make, Lee." Camilla frowned.

"It's not?" Gerard looked at the smiling giant with disappointment.

Lee shrugged, still smiling.

"No. I'll take you to a waiting room while Lee and I visit the guild master and report the outcomes of the written and physical tests. Then we will return with a quest for you and Sprite to undertake."

"I see."

Camilla led them to a small room with a coffee table between two couches and closed the door behind them.

Unlike her previous life as a golem, Sprite adapted extraordinarily well this time around.

"How did you do all that?" Gerard grabbed Sprite's shoulders.

"I've been watching you fight, and when your blood frenzy took over your rationality, you were very particular about targeting your enemies' weak points. Beyond that, I have access to all of the memories of our past. I've watched your battles, reviewing your and your opponents' movements very carefully."

"That's amazing. That's like learning karate by watching movies. In my world, you'd love action and martial arts movies."

"Movies?"

"Oh, well, like you're reviewing memories, imagine people in all sorts of environments fighting and-"

"So, like your life in this world?"

Gerard stared blankly into the distance, then snapped back to reality.

*My life is like a freaking movie, and the gods forced me into this role!*

"Yes. But it's not just fantasy; there's science fiction with aliens in space, and futuristic weapons, and car chases, and-"

"You've lost me."

"Shit. It's impossible to explain the beauty of movies to someone who's never seen one."

Unable to follow the conversation, Sprite stopped talking, and Gerard felt too embarrassed to continue. Silence filled the room as they patiently waited for their results.

Camilla entered the room with a piece of paper.

"The grading has been completed. You both pass the combat test!"

"Awesome!"

"Not quite. Sprite passed the written test with no wrong answers, and you only got ten percent of them correct, so you failed the written test remarkably."

Sprite snickered.

"Honestly, that's better than I expected. I thought Lee would say you both failed before the test began." Camilla spoke energetically.

"Why would he do that?" Gerard looked for the jolly giant but could not see him.

"Lee has this uncanny ability to see the current strength and the potential of a person. Because of this, he went from an adventurer to our only combat test instructor within a year of adventuring. He has instantly failed hundreds of wannabe adventurers."

"As I told your work colleague, Sprite and I are more experienced than we look."

"I see that. You lasted a whole minute against Lee."

"It was only a minute? It felt like I blocked his blows for an hour."

"Well, don't celebrate yet. You've still got a quest to be chosen for you."

"Right, our first quest!" Gerard eagerly clapped his hands together.

They walked back over to the front counter, and the eyes of the adventurer's landed on them again.

"Before we send you both on a quest, we need to know your classes, levels, and other information. We can't send you on a quest with the guild's reputation on the line."

"I understand."

Camilla brought out the status orb and pushed it forward.

"First, if you would touch the status orb, then recite your name."

"Gerard Blythe." Gerard placed his hands on either side of the cube, and his status screen appeared in a hologram.

"Uh-"

"Don't worry; only those designated as an owner of the orb and those who touch it can see your status."

[Gerard Blythe - Level 1 Villager]

[Skills - N/A]

[Spells - N/A]

"Villager!?" Camilla raised her voice loudly enough for the adventurers to hear.

"What?"

"How did you fight Lee like you did?"

"Years of combat experience."

"Without levelling up?"

"Yes?"

*This is difficult. I can't even compel her.*

*Good luck.*

"Whatever. The status orb doesn't lie, and you were recommended by reputable people. I'll print your temporary adventurer card now."

"Temporary?"

"If you complete the quest given to you, your temporary card will be exchanged with official identification as an adventurer when you return and hand the card over."

"Okay."

"Now it's your turn, Sprite."

Sprite touched the status orb.

[Sprite - Level 0 Classless]

[Skills - Arcane Repository, Mind's Eye]

[Spells - None]

"Classless? And you injured Lee?!" Camilla slammed her fists on the counter.

"I don't think you're very good at keeping the anonymity of the status orb's results, Camilla." Gerard sighed.

Gerard looked over the room and saw every single set of eyes on Sprite.

*This will become a nuisance.*

"Camilla, speak loudly and say that you made a mistake, or I will have to do something unruly to keep our classes a secret." Gerard leaned over and whispered into her ear.

"Oh, the status orb has a crack in the surface; it must be broken! I'll get another one right now!" Camilla laughed nervously and ran into the room behind the reception area.

*Would you really have really done something?* Sprite turned her gaze to Gerard.

*No, I just want to avoid as much trouble as possible.*

After Camilla pretended to redo their scans with the status orb, the other receptionist returned.

"Oh, Raine, if you would please give them their quests, their classes are Classless and Villager, but these are their test results." Camilla handed him four pieces of parchment.

---

"Cleaning the latrines." Raine read a piece of parchment he grabbed from a board covered in quests at the other side of the room.

"Sorry, I think I misheard you." Gerard cocked his head.

"You didn't. You've got two days to get these latrines in the lower district cleaned, as they're a plague waiting to happen."

"I won't be fighting monsters or finding an ancient relic or anything?"

"No."

"Oh, then I guess that'll be fine. I'll see you in an hour or so."

"Don't cut corners. That job will take at least the rest of the day if you're quick about it."

*What a letdown.*

Raine gave them the information about the job, including the latrine's location, and left the Adventurer's Guild. When he tried to close the door behind him, Camilla darted out.

"Sorry about before, but I would suggest you and Sprite visit the World Totem so that you can figure out what classes you want to choose."

"Thank you, Camilla."

"No problem. Again, I'm sorry about before!" She quickly ran back inside.

*Maybe we visit the World Totem first, then.*

*Sure, I'm interested to know what classes I can choose since I'm also a human.*

*Okay, let's go!*