The Testing Room Pt.3

[The Old Wolf is happy to see that it took the right bet.]

[The One That Gambles Against All Odds doesn't want such an easy win.]

Adam shook his head.

'Its rank must be between [E] and [E+]. I've already done this. Between the Red Orc and the Goblin Chief. As strong as the Goblin Chief probably. Its Strength must be insane, Health Points too. But Agility must be low. I'll have to keep injuring it little by little, until it goes down.'

Adam's eyes showed a strong determination, but his left leg didn't stop shaking.

[A Certain Evil is looking at you.]

He chuckled nervously.

'What? Because you have some money bet on my performance you think I'll risk my life?'

The monster in front of him was three times taller than the Red Orc he had fought before.

'Still, it's...much smaller than The Great Snake. Taking on The Great Snake by myself, is impossible. But this guy is no Great Snake, I just... might be able to do it.'

Adam took a step forward.

He did not pick up his Old Assassin's Dagger.

At the same time, the bear lowered its front paws down.

Even though it was now on the ground, it still looked very big.

'I'll bet everything on that Skill I guess.'

Adam ran towards the monster.

He couldn't help but shout to combat the fear he was feeling.

The bear stared at him.

Adam put his Sword inside his Storage as he got closer to the bear.

Just when it was about to swing its huge left paw towards him, Adam disappeared.

He kept running as fast as he could towards the monster's head.

'Two Daggers. Each 50% of total Mana Points. Minimum time.'

He quickly stabbed both Daggers with all his Strength into the monster's eyes before running away as fast as he could.

The monster screamed with pain as the Daggers were embedded deeply inside its head.

Adam stood next to the corner, wiping away the sweat that accumulated on his forehead.

'That was stressful. Thank god it couldn't notice me. It lost its sight now. This must have done lots of damage. Now...does it have a good sense of smell?' Adam stayed far away and studied the monster as he drank Mana Potions.

[The Hero Who Wears Lion Skin says that these actions are cowardly.]

'Thank you for your opinion. You can go away now.'

"Should I shoot arrows? Get closer and fight? This is the problem with my lack of Offensive Skills. Some Fire Arrows would have been nice here..." He muttered.

The monster was immobile.

'Was that enough to..? No, that's impossible. Is it trying to gain time to recover?!'

Adam sprinted towards the monster.

He thought that its body was so thick that the greatsword was necessary to deal it damage.

He jumped up towards the monster and took out his Goblin Chief's Greatsword in mid-air. He held it about his head

Just as Adam was about to fall on the bear's back, he swung his Greatsword vertically.

The weight of the weapon it made him do a front flip, but it penetrated the monster's back.

Red blood started flowing on the bear's white pelt.

Adam had landed on the ground behind the bear. He rolled on the ground for a bit, before running towards it once more.

'Let's hit a weakpoint.'

He ran towards the monster's head.

He once again swung the Greatsword with both hands vertically in order to break the monster's skull.

Just as the Greatsword was inches away from its skull, the bear growled and swung its huge paw towards Adam's body.

The Greatsword slashed the monster's head, but it was a shallow blow.

Meanwhile, Adam had been sent flying.

He rolled on the ground a dozen times before he stopped and started throwing up.

Breathing was extremely difficult. It felt like his lungs were destroyed. His stomach was also bleeding.

'Holy shit... What was that...Too much...power...'

He struggled to get up and step away from the monster.

If it wasn't for his Mana Armor Skill and the fact that the monster was now blinded, this could have been the end for him.

Adam started drinking Medium Healing Potions.

After a bit, he was as good as new.

"There's no way am getting closer to it..." He muttered.

Since the bear was now blind, it couldn't feel its surroundings.

Because of Adam's Old Assassin's Boots, it couldn't hear his steps.

Only its sense of smell was left.

Which is why, when it smelt its blood on the incoming Goblin Chief's Greatsword, it reacted as fast as it could.

It used all of its strength for a desperate attack that it hoped would finish the enemy.

After Adam replenished both his Health Points and Mana Points, he told Python to aim for the bear's head.

Adam shot Conjured Arrows at it too.

Once the bear felt damage, it turned its body to face the other direction and walked away.

It desperately needed to sleep in order to recover.

Adam did not care one bit and started aiming for the monster's wounded back.

After a bit, it fell to the ground.

Its entire body was bleeding and burnt marks could be seen everywhere.

Adam sat down on the ground and let it die slowly to recover his Endurance Points.

After a handful of minutes,

[ You have defeated a Mutated Polar Bear.]

[Congratulations! You have passed Test Number 8.]

[The Old Wolf wants its Gold Coins.]

[The One That Gambles Against All Odds pays X Gold Coins to the Old Wolf.]

"Rank?" Adam asked immediately after getting the message.

[The Rank of the Mutated Polar Bear is [E+]. ]

'As strong as the Goblin Chief, huh? I still can't believe how lucky I was that day...'

Adam chuckled as went around picking up his Old Assassin's Dagger and hid Goblin Chief's Dagger that had fallen when he got hit.

"The Necklace I gave to Salma would have been very useful... Also, it might be time to use the Vest..."

'Still, the jump in strength and difficulty is insane. Good thing I can leave whenever I want to. The goal is to leave after clearing two more Tests. After clearing the tenth one, am out of here. The rewards better be worth it...' Adam thought as he took his usual position.

"Next Test?"

[ The next Test will be a Fire Lion.]

"Is that so? Pretty cool..." Adam muttered with wide eyes.

'Wait...a lion? The king of the jungle?' He thought for a second.

He chuckled a second later.

He had beaten Orcs, a giant Bear and other monsters, but the word lion scared him for a moment.

'It just says Fire lion. Not Mutated, so it can't be too big. It'll probably be like Salma's Fire Fox...Wait, does that mean it can use Fire Magic?'

[ 10 Seconds left.]

'Shit. This will be hard. Well, of course it will be. The previous was nothing but hard and tiring.'

[ 5 Seconds left.]

'Alright relax.'

Adam had recovered most of his Endurance Points by now.

The rest had been completely recovered by drinking and buying potions.

The white light appeared.

Adam's eyes widened.

'Just like...in the movies...' He thought.

A majestic lion appeared.

It roared, to let others know that it was the one true king.

Its head raised high with pride, its body exuded strength and its pelt looked incredible.

At the tip of its tail, a small flame could be seen.

The Lion's characteristic mane was completely covered in fierce flames.

It was staring Adam directly in the eyes.

Adam was now wielding different weapons.

In his right hand, the Black Widow's Sword.

In his left hand, the Great Snake's Shield.

He had judged the Shield to be more useful than the Vest.

Adam suddenly wasn't scared at all. He was extremely excited.

He took a step forward.

At that instant, the majestic Fire Lion opened its mouth widely.

Adam stopped.

A flame appeared.

More fire appeared in front of its mouth and got condensed into a Fire Ball as big as car tire.

After it got condensed, it flew towards Adam at a very high speed.

He barely dodged it, but it didn't even graze him.

'So starting from now on, the monsters won't rely on brute strength only.'

The Fire Lion, seeing that its first attack missed, started condensing more Fire Mana.

Adam sprinted towards the monster.

The Fire Ball was launched towards him, but he jumped sideways and continued running towards it.

Once he was close enough, he swung his sword towards the Fire Lion's skull.

Suddenly, he felt he was in danger.

Adam stopped his attack.

At that instance, a barrier made of fire encircled the Fire Lion.

The fire was hot enough to easily burn Adam.

Adam quickly stepped back.

'Annoying. The barrier is wide enough that if I attack it with the sword, I'll get burnt.'

A Fire Ball hit the barrier. It didn't even make it past it.

Adam started sprinting in circles around the Fire Lion.

It didn't care one bit, as it knew that the barrier could not be penetrated by a short weapon like the one Adam was wielding.

But after the opponent circled around for a bit, it disappeared.

The Fire Lion looked around but didn't find anything.

Suddenly, something went through the barrier. The monster jumped back, but its head was injured.

"Shit..." Adam muttered as he reappeared a couple of meters in front of the Fire Lion

He had used his Temporary Concealment and Conjured a Spear with half his Mana Points, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the monster.

'I'm certain it has low Health Points though. Maybe I should just wait for it to run out of Mana Points. But it doesn't want to fight from up close, so it must be weak physically too... What to do...'

Red blood flowed down the Fire Lion's head.

It still looked proud and dignified.

Adam felt annoyed and threw his Conjured Spear at the Fire Lion with all his strength.

The monster easily evaded it by jumping back.

It turned to ashes a second later.

'Arrows? The Greatsword? Can it go through the barrier? Will it get damaged?'

While Adam was in deep thought about what to do, the Fire Lion suddenly stopped using its barrier.