Assessment (1)

"Ok. Your ID checks out. After you fill out the form, a time and place for the assessment will be delivered to your Digi-watch."

After seeing that the receptionist finished speaking, Evan quickly completed the form in a few minutes and left after receiving the information about where the assessment was taking place.

'This guy is so cold, he didn't even thank me. I wonder what happened that made him so cold?' the receptionist grumbled internally as she found that her encounter with that person was quite a memorable one.

Seeing that a customer was approaching the desk, she quickly moved these thoughts to the back of her mind as she flashed a professional smile.

Walking along an expansive corridor, wide enough to easily fit many people as the carpet beneath his feet masked his footsteps, Evan intently gazed at the information on his watch.

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Location: Room A1

Time: 15:45

Date: 18/8/2200

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Alongside the information displayed, there was also a map of the association showing the way to the location of the assessment, with a big red blinking dot.

As he made his way towards the room, Evan couldn't help but play with the ring found on his index finger as he contemplated a crucial point which will decide whether he would become a mercenary.

'If I use the Demon reaper Art, my combat prowess is equivalent to a rank 2, which will give me a higher chance of passing the test. However, I don't know if the person testing me will recognize the Demon Reaper art or not. Sigh, After I become a mercenary and gain some money, I need to get another art to cover up the Demon Reaper one.'

Ten minutes later, Evan arrived outside the door with A1 on it as he found a queue of two people waiting to be assessed.

Joining the queue, he patiently waited for his assessment to come.

Pretending not to notice that the duo wanted to start a conversation with him, Evan closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself as five minutes passed by in the blink of an eye.

After those five minutes passed, Evan heard a male voice call out his name.

"Evan Grant."

Slowly opening his eyes, Evan made his way towards the door as he got a better look at the person who called his name.

A hulking male entered his vision as muscles that screamed power gave off the vibe of a desolate beast.

Thinning silver hair, with a beard covering half his face, gave off the appearance of a true warrior who spends most of his time in the wilds.

As he stared at the brawny figure in front of him, Evan felt as if a bloodthirsty beast was in front of him, ready to rip him to shreds to quell its hunger.

'This level of bloodlust! I've only felt this much bloodlust from the upper echelons of the family. What's such a powerhouse doing here? Do they know that I'm a former scion of the Hale family?'

Evan was extremely alarmed, his whole body was taut with tension, ready to do everything in his power to escape, even if it was futile.

"Hey kid, Call me Andre. I will be the one assessing you today. Come inside."

Still filled with incomparable tension, Evan only nodded, sticking with the maxim that the less said, the better.

Opening the door, Andre led Evan into a training room of vast size. Machines of varying sizes were placed around the room, and weapon racks and training equipment were at the far end of the room.

Walking forward with a steady gait, Andre began introducing the contents of the assessment to Evan, as he said:

"The assessment is comprised of two parts, strength and reaction speed. We will be using the machines in the room to test these aspects. Stand in the centre of the room and tell me when you are ready so we can start."

With no choice but to comply, Evan moved to the centre of the room and nodded to show he was ready.

Taking out a device which resembled a remote from his right pocket, Andre poked a few buttons as he began speaking:

"For the strength segment of the assessment, you will unleash your strongest strike against a stationary dummy designed to test the strength a person has, whereas for the reaction speed segment a machine will shoot small balls with the main goal being to last a set amount of time at a certain speed."

Taking a breath, he continued in a calm voice.

"As it says that you are currently a rank 1 warrior, your aim should be to exert around 40-60 kg of strength. As for your reaction speed, you should aim to last for a few minutes."

There were three so-called 'pathways' a common person with talent in wielding mana could choose from.

Warrior, Mage and Scholar.

Warriors excelled in internally using mana to enhance bodily functions, mages, however, were similar but fundamentally different at the same time.

Mages specialized in using mana externally forming various different combat spells, however, mages relied on mental energy to be able to cast those spells and use mana in the air.

Scholars took an alternative route.

Instead of being adept at using mana internally or casting spells, scholars focused on tempering their brains bit by bit with mana, enhancing cognitive functions and memory several-fold.

Aided with mental energy, scholars could discern the weaknesses of anything provided they had enough time to decipher all the information being transmitted through their senses.

Although scholars had a lot of advantages, they came with one fatal weakness; their inept combat ability.

Some tried to circumvent this by increasing their combat abilities by fighting to the death constantly, however this led to them to not having enough time to continue amassing volumes of knowledge, which destroyed the advantages they had as a scholar.

Overall, there was no best path to take. Each one had its own set of advantages and disadvantages that came along with the choice.

It just depended on how a person utilized the advantages to their fullest extent.

Clapping his hands, Andre's demeanour suddenly changed from an amiable middle age gentleman to an imposing, refined figure as his authoritative voice echoed around the room.

"Begin."

As soon as his words escaped his mouth, a mechanical noise appeared as a dummy made its way to the centre from the side of the room.

Pitch black metal covered its entire exoskeleton as two red eyes appeared in the place supposed to be for its eyes sockets.

A humanoid bipedal body, with 2 arms and 2 legs and a face, made the dummy eerily resemble a villainous human plagued with nefarious thoughts.

Once it reached the very centre, it stopped and stood still about 10 meters from Evan, waiting for him to launch his strongest strike.

Seeing that the dummy was in position, he took a deep breath, adjusting his state as mana began flowing through his body.

Within the demon reaper art manual, there were instructions on how to channel the mana inside your body to achieve the desired effect. In this case; equal unity of the body.

'As long as I only internally apply the demon reaper art and not execute any of the forms, then I should be a lot safer even if it cast some suspicion on me. Nothing will get in the way of my revenge!'

With these thoughts as a background, Evan entered a state of extreme concentration, drowning out all external distractions as he tensed his body and shot forward towards the dummy.

Clenching his right fist, Evan moved his shoulder preparing to throw a punch, all the while running as he reached within 3 meters of the dummy.

With a cold, calm, murderous gaze, Evan unleashed all the grievances in his heart onto the dummy as his right fist connected with the black exoskeleton.

Bang!

The dummy recoiled slightly as the black exoskeleton absorbed all the force from Evan's strike.

A red light began blooming on the black metal as a blinking number appeared on the chest of the dummy.

Walking towards the dummy for an inspection, Andre briefly took a cursory glance before speaking.

"68 kg, not bad for a rank 1 warrior. Alright time for the reaction speed test, kid."

Clapping his hands once more, Andre took out the device and pressed some more buttons, causing the strength dummy to go back to its previous place and for a new one to replace it in the centre of the room.

This one was drastically different. However, instead of having 2 arms, the dummy had four, with each one having a hole in them the size of a small ball.

Clad in the same black exoskeleton, this dummy was designed to generate the highest speed possible when shooting out a ball, allowing even those who have higher ranks to benefit from it.

Clank! Clank!

The rattling sound of the dummy moving echoed throughout the room as it arrived at the centre and stopped 20 meters away from Evan.

Seeing that everything was finished setting up, Andre pressed one final button as he said:

"Begin."