Disdain Will Bring You Nowhere

"You want to blind me?"

"I-I sincerely helped you, you know." The wizard suddenly stuttered. James could see the red flag rising from the man in front of him.

"Still, I still can't train here, right? Without coaches and training facilities, all I would get would be muscle cramps and shortsightedness." James said mockingly.

The wizard made an annoyed face. He looked like he wanted to explode but in the end, resisted his desire to completely blind James' eyes.

"That's enough. You won't understand if I explain. We better start the practice session this time."

"Yeah!" James exclaimed unenthusiastically.

The wizard then took something out of his conical hat. Slightly improbable considering it was slightly bigger than his hat. It reminded James of a cartoon in his childhood.

It was in the form of a tablet one inch thick by fourteen inches long and ten inches wide. Nothing flashy about it. Only letters and numbers were carved on the flat stone board.

"Stand there and don't move for ten seconds!" The wizard ushered James to stand on a stone platform.

When James stood on the square-shaped stone, a golden light suddenly covered James' body for a few seconds. The dark-haired young man didn't know what the effect would be because he felt perfectly normal.

"Now what training would you like to do?" the older man asked after the light that had enveloped James disappeared.

"What was that?" James asked back out of curiosity.

The wizard didn't answer right away. He pressed a few buttons on his tablet. It didn't take long for a hologram to appear on the tablet. "I did a complete scan of your combat ability."

James could hear his pride in his actions. It could be that the tool was the creation of the wizard. James didn't want to criticize but he couldn't make heads or tails of what the display was about.

Being able to gauge someone's combat ability by having them stand on a rock was a rare and terrifying ability. The tools are strange but quite useful. Maybe he's an inventor.

"Now try to compare your status with this hologram." the wizard ordered without even looking at James. His sparkling eyes were still glued to the holographic display on his tablet. Like a father who has just seen his daughter just walk.

The younger man shrugged his shoulders and carried out the wizard's orders. A few moments later the status window is active. His eyes widened because what the hologram displayed was almost the same as the status window. The difference is no more than ten points.

Name: James Ryan

Age: 17

Class: Mercenary

Job: Recycler

Level: 7 ( 650 / 700 )

HP: 512 / 512

MP: 120 / 120

Skill Point: 14

Reduce Lvl. 5/10 ( 0 / 5)

Reuse Lvl. 5/10 ( 0 / 5 )

Recycle Lvl. 4/10 ( 0 / 4 )

James frowned when he saw that his status had now changed from commoner to mercenary. His bet was that the moment he rose to become a steel, his social class immediately changed.

The amount of HP and MP has increased drastically. The two statuses had increased greatly compared to when he had seen them before. Although the last he saw was before defeating the two goblins.

Several theories flashed through his head but none of them sounded plausible. He was not an expert when it came to human evolution in this world. Later he would ask the wizard. For now, just practice.

"My weapons are these two daggers. So close combat training would be great." James drew Midnight and Daybreak from their scabbards.

"Okay then back off for a bit." James complied with the wizard's request.

Several meters in front of him appeared a silvery light that was quite dazzling. From within the beam, a human figure stepped out.

James' eyebrows disappeared between his hairline. The figure that came out was very similar to him. You could say it was a carbon copy of him.

"T-That...?" James asked haltingly. He couldn't find the right words to express his surprise. The difference was that its face looked empty and expressionless.

"That figure is a dummy created by magic. The strength will be adjusted according to your combat abilities. If it doesn't get a wound that kills instantly, the dummy should be able to fight for three minutes without stopping.'

"Crazy!"

"Great right!" the witch's chest puffed out with pride.

"Wait! Did you say 'should'?" James asked curiously.

"Because this is just the first try, so I don't know the resistance of that thing." The wizard replied sheepishly.

'I knew it. This man just wants to make me his rat lab.' James muttered to himself.

"then what should I do?"

"What else? Attack him!"

It feels like a Pokemon being ordered to fight by its trainer.

The Dummy suddenly ran at lightning speed towards James. Two daggers identical to Midnight and Daybreak were ready to chop James' body to pieces. Ready to attack with a double slash.

James jumped aside to dodge the high-speed attack. The two knives that the dummy carried seemed to split the air. He would be done for with just one strike if he let his guard down.

'The wizard said earlier that he had adjusted its strength to match my combat ability. There's no way I'm that strong, right' muttered James.

"Hey, you said earlier that his ability matched my combat ability. So he can't be stronger than me, right?"

The wizard again shrugged her shoulders. "According to my calculations, it should be. But no one knows when it has to do with magic. Anything can happen."

"Why are you just telling me now!" James screamed indignantly.

"No Idea."

James started concentrating on dealing with the dummy. If the dummy could be this strong, it could be that he really was strong.

The two fighters returned to clashing weapons. At first glance, it was very clear that the dummy was superior to James. In terms of strength and speed, even the dummy was on par with a silver-leveled mercenary.

This unfavorable situation made James continue to be pinned down and could only fight on the defensive. His hands were almost numb from holding on. Fortunately, the two knives were able to withstand the onslaught of the dummy's weapons, which were almost non-stop.

In addition, James also found it very difficult to read his opponent's attacks. The dummy never showed a sliver of expression. It always wore a blank and flat expression. He was really desperate.

James gritted his teeth because earlier he had no openings to counterattack. He stamped his feet to step back and take a breath. 'Damn wizard! I will make you suffer if I survive!'

As if knowing James' plan, the dummy lunged mercilessly. The sound of four blades clinking was heard again. At this rate, he would not only face defeat but death.

James once again planted his feet on the ground. But this time he did a somersault. Whether by luck or the dummy's carelessness, James' heel managed to land on the dummy's chin. Throwing it a few meters back.

The young Recycler felt all of his energy leave his body. His tired body was swayed and could barely move.

On the other hand, the dummy, who had been stunned for a few seconds by James' kick, lunged again. Maybe fatigue wasn't programmed into the artificial body.

James was only able to lift Midnight which was in his right hand as a last resort. If later he really died then the first person he would haunt was the wizard.

The Dummy prepared to swing his dagger to slash James' head. However, when the blade was just an inch away from the teen's neck, the clone doll exploded into thousands of light particles.

"Time's up! Exactly three minutes." The wizard exclaims with pure joy on his face.

"I will really kill you later," grumbled James before collapsing from exhaustion.