Battle Test

Mark returned back home not long after with a bag full of groceries. He went into his apartment and prepared food for his sister, which she happily ate. Seeing his sister happy, made him feel both happy and sad as well.

He went back to his room to change clothes.

"Oh, right. The goblins," he said as he quickly took out the black box. He readied himself and slowly opened the box.

There was a single marble at the center of the black box. "Yes!" he shouted out loud.

"What's wrong?" his sister asked.

"Nothing, you just watch the TV." He focused back on his marble. He took the marble between his hands and put it up towards his still bright window. It was another goblin warrior. If it was anything like his own goblin warrior, he would be beyond ecstatic.

"It really works. If I put 10 marbles here, I get a better one," he thought. "So… do I ask for all the goblin marbles from the dungeon hunters instead?" he thought. No, there was a better way.

He quickly opened his phone and went to the online market. He searched for as many goblins as he could find and bought them. He got a total of 112 goblin marbles for about 70 units.

He didn't like to waste money at all. However, In his eyes, what he did just now was an investment beyond anything. He quickly closed his eyes and started breathing heavily, waiting for his goblin marbles to arrive.

'Although, since they have to gather and ship out so many of them, it might take a few days,' he thought. "So…." He looked at the extra goblin warrior marble he had and thought, "What do I do with you?"

He couldn't think of any ideas regarding it aside from using it with the other goblin marbles that would turn to goblin warrior marbles and then use them to make something better.

'What's better than a goblin warrior? Hobgoblin? Doesn't sound right,' he thought. He decided to ignore the issue and quickly changed his clothes.

He prepared a hearty dinner with the groceries he had brought back. His sister really liked the food he made. After they ate and Mark cleaned the plates, both of them went to sleep.

Early in the morning, Mark woke up. He washed up and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and lunch for himself and his sister. Thankfully, being an awakener, one didn't require a lot of food to sustain themselves.

After making sure everything was fine with his sister, Mark left for the academy. Today was the day for Battle Test.

During the battle test, the examinees would be made to fight with a trained professional to get different amounts of points. This person would usually be a Level 20 awakener, who had unlocked skills and had much higher stats compared to level 1s like him.

Mark arrived at the academy just in time and found his way to the test hall. It was a coliseum-like arena hall with a massive stage in the middle, surrounded by numerous audiences.

Mark got to an empty seat and sat down. Before soon, an examiner entered the hall. The examiner quickly looked at the time and noticed it was time for the test to begin.

"Okay, I hope everyone is here. If not, I hope they arrive by the time the test ends. So, I will call upon your names in ascending order based on your starting alphabet. Whoever is called, must choose a mock weapon from this pile and fight with Miss Tina Russel over here," he said as he pointed to a woman standing at the entrance to the arena.

She was tall and beautiful, with tanned skin and curly black hair that dropped down to her shoulders. Mark noticed a hilt poking out of the right side of the waist.

'She is level 20 already? He barely looks like she is 20,' he thought. He wondered if he could also be at her level in the next 2 years. Thanks to the goblin warrior, the prospect of this dream were looking very favorable for him.

"Remember, it's only until Level 20 that you hide behind your monsters. After D-ranked dungeons and above, one must include themselves in the battle to become stronger. We can't have people hiding behind their monsters like what most did back two years ago."

"You were all forced to train fighting by yourself for such reason," the examiner said.

Soon, the examiner called upon the first fighter in the group. It was a relatively tall student who walked down and chose a normal sword.

Tina had walked up to the stage at this point and stood there with her arms crossed across her chest. Once the student walked up and got into the stance, she finally spoke, "Attack whenever you want."

This was all the students needed. He immediately rushed forward to attack her with his sword which had an obvious dull edge. Tina had no problem dodging the incoming attack.

She finally unfolded her arm and pushed the young man towards the direction he was moving in. He lost control of his body and went forward more than he wanted to before falling to the ground.

He quickly got back up and started to attack her. This time, however, he approached her slowly. He had learned his lesson by now.

He once more dashed forward as he was very close to her now, and instead of swinging the sword, he made a straight thrust, which was much faster.

However, in front of Tina's eyes, it was as slow as a snail. She walked forward towards the incoming thrust and casually redirected the direction of the attack with the defensive plates on her arm. Then, she made a palm strike, not enough to harm him, but enough to push him down.

The fight remained no different for the rest of the battle and soon, the examiner ended the battle. The student walked back to his seat with a dejected face, but no one made fun of him. They were all scared that their fate was the same as well.