Chapter 12: Combat Test

"Follow me. I'll lead you to the combat testing center, where you'll fight with an examiner." Jack said.

Normally, he would not be kind enough to bring a kid to another testing center. He was a lazy man, after all, but impressed by Vincent's knowledge, Jack personally led him to the next testing center.

After a while, both of them arrived at the combat testing center. A huge stage was set in the center of the combat room, and a person was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the arena.

Vincent was quite familiar with the person. It was Theodore, after all.

"Hey, where's Yale, and who are you?" Old Jack asked.

"He is on leave, and I am his replacement just for today," Theodore said before looking at Vincent. "I suppose you've passed the first test. Are you here for the combat test?"

"Yeah, I am," Vincent replied.

"He also obtained full Marks," Jack added.

Theodore was a little bit shocked to hear that but there wasn't a single change in his expression.

Meanwhile, Vincent asserted that he will be fighting against him. He wanted to know beforehand what type of ability Theodore possesses to gain an upper hand. Thus, he looked at him and thought about activating the spell matrix of the blood evolution system. The Appraisal spell matrix immediately activated just as it was instructed and a screen appeared right above Theodore's head.

[Name: Theodore 

Race: Demi-Human

Ability: Wood, ??

Level: ???

HP: ???

???

???

Error detected: The information provided is incomplete as a special item is interfering with the spell matrix]

Vincent could only sigh as his plan failed. He couldn't discern how powerful the examiner is from the details provided to him, and this was the first time this happened. Previously, whenever he used this skill on others, accurate information of their stats was provided to him, free of cost. He turned to believe that he could use this skill to always obtain information which mostly proves to be quite handy. Now, however, he realized that special items would block inspections.

"Come on stage," Theodore said as he stood up and gestured to Vincent to come on stage.

"Sure," Vincent said as he placed his backpack and dagger on the ground before stepping onto the stage.

"Since you've passed the first test with full marks, you just need to pass this combat test with an F-grade to become an adventurer. The rules of this test are simple. No weapons allowed. You can use your ability, techniques, and martial arts, however. I'll evaluate your performance. I know that there's a big gap between you and me, so I'll play at your level. You can attack me first, whenever you're ready," Theodore said as the corner of his lips lifted into a slight smile.

As soon as he heard his words, Vincent's worries faded. Theodore will be limiting his strength to his level, after all. Plus, this was also a good chance to see how he fares against a powerful combatant whose power even the system couldn't determine.

"Will you be fighting while blindfolded?" Vincent asked.

"Yes, but don't worry about it as I can see clearly by using energy sense. Just go all out," Theodore replied.

"Okay, I'll begin!"

Immediately after, Vincent covered the distance between them with a few steps before throwing a few punches towards him. Theodore smirked and countered by hitting the his wrist to deflect the punches.

He threw a punch, which Theodore easily deflected. However, in the very next split of a second, Vincent leg lashed out like a whip to kick him on the head. Theodore, on the other hand, struck his raising leg with a palm chop to deflect the ferocious kick.

'Let's see how he reacts to my attacks,' Theodore thought as he kicked towards Vincent's stomach, the impact causing the young man to be forced to slid back.

"If that's all you have then you're going to fail this test," he said to the young man while flashing a sharp, mocking smile.

"I will show you what I got," Vincent replied as he gestured to Theodore to attack.

He dashed forward and punched towards his face as Vincent dodged by bending forward, such that the strands of his loosely tied black hair were touching the floor and his chest and torso were parallel to his long legs, and at the same time, with a backward leg swing, Vincent's flexible right leg moved atop his body, and came crashing downwards towards Theodore's head at an unthinkable angle.

Just when the kick was about to land on his head, he reflexively crossed his arms above his head as he blocked.

BAM!

Although Theodore blocked his overhead kick, he didn't get to rejoice for even a second or make a counterattack as a great wave of battle energy traveled from Vincent's leg and slammed into him. Theodore's body jerked slightly as he felt as if a heavy boulder crashed atop him. His knees bent and cracks cropped up on the arena's surface.

'He went from 0 to full throttle in a single moment and the double impact from a single strike... this can only be done if a person learns the transcendent-grade combat technique, Viper Hunt. This boy's talent as a Battle Master is amazing!' Theodore thought with gritted teeth as his muscles bulged. This transcendental-grade combat technique that Vincent just utilized has caught him by surprise.

Viper Hunt uses battle energy to create a second impact with every strike. This was Vincent's first trump card.

'It didn't slam him on the ground?! This guy is a monster,' Vincent thought as he followed along with the momentum and spun around to land a kick on his chest.

"Your flexibility is extraordinary but your combat technique to create two impacts in a single strike is even better. You've learned Viper Hunt... considering your age, that's pretty impressive!" Theodore evaluated as he quickly jumped back to dodge his kick.

It was a foolish decision to fight Vincent in close combat, after all. Defending was pretty much useless as each time Vincent's strike lands, battle energy would slam him after a moment delay. That means being dealt with the same amount of damage even if he were to block or deflect the attacks.

'This person is dangerous,' Vincent thought as the accuracy of Theodore's words made his eyes flinch.

Normally, it would take a while for an expert combatant to understand the cause of the second impact, but Theodore discerned it instantly after being caught off guard only once.

"Be careful!"

An instant after his warning, woods materialized near Theodore out of nowhere, before bending and stretching, twisting into the shape of sharp spikes floating in mid-air. Then, they burst forth towards Vincent at an incredible speed.

Vincent's eyes widened as he looked at the wooden shards whisking through the air to reach him.

"Blinking step!"

Immediately after activating this transcendental grade combat technique, the battle energy inside of his body rushed down and infused with Vincent's legs.

With battle energy enhancing his speed, it would not be a lie to say that he easily evaded two out of the three spikes by simply sidestepping.

Bam!

After dodging the first two, Vincent punched the side of the last wood spike. The resulting impact caused the spike to explode into shards of wood, which bursts outwards.

By the time Vincent retracted his punch, Theodore was preparing an even stronger attack.

"Oh, no, you won't!" Vincent said as he quickly balled his right hand into a fist.

'What is he doing?' Theodore thought as he looked at Vincent.

Vincent fueled the strength of his fist with battle energy, causing the air in the surrounding to coil around it, compressing tightly on his knuckles. Immediately after, he launched his fist towards the ground.

As soon as Vincent powered up his transcendental-grade combat technique, Old Jack's widened to look like saucers and his mouth gaped wide enough to threaten to drop to touch the ground.

"Charged strike! This boy is full of surprises."

Old Jack's eyes narrowed as he witnessed Vincent executing the charged strike. He knew that although this martial art was something only battle master could learn, it required the user to have a strong body so that the bones won't be crushed under the pressure generated by the condensation of more than ten units of battle energy in a single fist.

Vincent's strike touched the ground, and the resulting impact left a large crater, raised clouds of dust, and caused a shockwave to spread throughout the arena.

Caught off guard, Theodore lost his balance and the channeling of his ability was disturbed.

'Why would he use such an attack that consumes a lot of battle? Hmm, why can't I sense where he is? What is he aiming for?' Theodore thought with a slight frown as he stood before the debris of cloud.

He was using energy to sense Vincent's location, but now the dust particles he intentionally raised were interfering with his sense of detection.

'Damn! There are only a few units of battle energy left in my body. I can sneak attack him by using the cloud of dust to my advantage. I must give my all in this last strike," Vincent thought as he knew that the dust particles were interfering with Theodore's energy sensing technique.

Furthermore, Vincent also utilized a unique breathing pattern to lower his presence to the minimum level whilst using Blinking Step to nullify the sound of footsteps while rushing through the cloud of dust to reach Theodore.

Although Theodore's combat experience surpassed Vincent's combat experience by a wide margin and also the fact that his senses could catch on to the sounds of footsteps even while suppressing his strength to Vincent's level, he was still caught off-guard by Vincent's strategy as he was not able to hear the sound of footsteps or locate his position by sensing his presence.

Before Theodore could even realize what Vincent was up to, out of the clouds of dust, Vincent emerged as he finally twisted his body and hurled a fist with increased momentum towards Theodore's face.

'You fell for it. I got you!' Vincent thought as he was certain that there is no way to evade this surprise attack from such a close range.

'Fast.' Theodore thought as he felt the wind generated by Vincent's punch creeping closer by a fraction of a centimeter within several milliseconds. 'But not fast enough!'

Just when the punch was about to strike his face, Theodore took a step back and lifted his palms, grabbing hold of Vincent's arm, instantly stopping him in place. Then, with a slight twist of the body and a slight raise of the hands, Theodore raised Vincent above the ground before smashing him onto the ground.

Bam!

His back crashed on the ground with an impressive thud.

"Ah!" Vincent moaned in pain, feeling terrible pain burning his back.

Meanwhile, Theodore's fist stopped just before his face, signifying that he lost this battle.

'I lost,' Vincent thought as his expression was shown on his face.

"Alright, you pass."

"Huh?"

Theodore helped Vincent stand up. Then, he explained, "Your flexibility and speed are better than most E-rank explorers, and your sense of combat is terrifying for your age. I nearly believed that I was hallucinating when I saw you using four different transcendental grade combat techniques –Blinking Step, a unique breathing method to hide your presence, Charged Strike, and Viper Hunt. The first three combat techniques were executed perfectly. However, you messed up while executing Viper Hunt. Since you made a single mistake, I'll give you an E grade."

The result was better than he expected. However, he was confused as to why Theodore said he made a mistake when according to him, he had executed Viper Hunt perfectly.

"Eh, can you tell me what mistake I made?" Vincent asked.

"Viper Hunt is a technique that's inflicted by a person's disposition. A change in disposition brings about an instant change in the technique even if barely discernable. When executing this technique, you must remember you're the hunter, not the prey. A hunter never shows his desperation, only the prey is desperate to survive, yet you were desperate to win. That's the mistake you made. Do you understand?" Theodore said with a smile.

Theodore was right. He really was desperate to become an adventure.

"I understand. Thank you for your teachings," Vincent nodded in gratitude.

"You're too humble," Theodore said.

After Vincent wore his backpack and fastened the dagger on his belt, Old Jack said,

"Haha, nice boy, you got full marks on the specialization test and an E-grade on the combat test. You head to the lobby while I will go and tell Lorraine to register you as a D-rank explorer."

Adventurers are divided into two major ranks. Travelers and Explorers. Travelers can use the teleportation gateways to teleports to different worlds, while explorers can also access the teleporters, but they are limited to traveling to different places, such as Fortress's established on Wilderness and other cities on the other side of the world.

"Okay, but I don't know where the lobby is so I will wait by the registration office," Vincent said as they stepped out of the combat center.

"Since we're heading the same way, let's go together." Old Jack replied.

Vincent and Old Jack left while Theodore sat down on the ground and took off his blindfold, revealing eyes glittering in emerald hue.

'It was no wonder that my eyes shown in the light of fate. This encounter was indeed fruitful. It's good that I paid a handsome amount of money to Yale and bribed him to take a day off, and became his replacement." Theodore's lips thinned into a smile. "Vincent… this boy is gifted as a combatant With a little bit of guidance, he'll climb up the ladder. Then, among the new generation of the Truemight family, no one else except Nevis would be his equal as a battle master.'

Theodore possessed special eyes. If they glow green then it means it's something fruitful. The brighter the glow, the more meaningful the encounter will be. His eyes attracted him to this place, in search of someone who he was sure is Vincent.