Test of Strength

Freya took a seat and began to narrate the events of the hunt. Wulfric intently listened to her without showing any emotions. Yet when she explained her fight with the spider, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"To be honest with you, Freya. May I call you Freya?" With a nod from her, the mayor continued, "I expected a team of silver ranks to clear the goblin den easily. If I knew about the guardian beast, I would definitely have hired at least a gold rank adventurer to deal with it."

"Thank you for dealing with both of those problems. The roads are now safer for travelers." He then reached into a drawer and pulled out two bags of coins. "Here's a hundred silver coins as promised and one hundred more for taking care of the beast."

Freya graciously accepted the coins and spoke politely, "Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I hope you will continue to entrust me with any future quests."

"Well now that you mention it. There is a quest team that may be that is need of a swordsman or a swordswoman in this case, and by your account I assume you are a competent one." Wulfric spoke immediately as if he had been waiting for her to say those words. "There is however a problem. It is a Gold Rank quest, but with your recent contribution and a good word from me, you will be promoted to gold rank soon enough."

"I would like that." Freya immediately agreed to the offer. Gold rank meant more dangerous quests, which in turn meant higher pay and a faster growth rate.

"I have to warn you though, it will be a difficult quest even for an average gold rank adventurer." Wulfric leaned in and whispered in a very serious tone. "I hope you are up for it."

"You don't have to worry about me, Mr. Mayor." The mage replied in a confident tone. "I am capable of taking care of myself, and I will most definitely won't disappoint you."

"Excellent!" The old man shouted as he jumped from the chair. "Please follow me, Freya. I will introduce you to your teammates and explain to you the quest."

The Mayor stood and walked out of his office, followed by the mage. They went through the back door of the building and came out into a large training ground. A group of four was training with some wooden dummies in the corner.

In the front, an enormous man swinging a huge metal Warhammer. He had thick red hair and beard. A single scar ran from the top-left of his face to the right side of his jaw. He wore a set of heavy armor that covered his whole body from head to toe, except his head, which had no protection. A large shield was strapped to his back, a red flag with a family crest carved into it. His fearsome appearance and heavy weaponry made him an intimidating man.

Freya instant used her newly acquired trait on the bulky fighter. Partially because she was quite intimidated, and partially because she wanted to test the extent of her new trait.

[Morris Redfield

Level: 38

Job: Heavy Defender]

Freya was disappointed to see that his level that his level was 18 levels higher than her, which meant she could not identify his weak points. Yet this small information was already a big deal. It told her that he was stronger than her and his primary job was defense.

"Morris, I have found you a replacement." The Mayor shouted as soon as he was in hearing distance of the metal tank. When he was close enough he spoke again, "Meet Freya Einar, a newly promoted Gold Rank. She is skilled in both the sword and magic, she will be able to fill in Abel's position while he is recovering."

The Red defender gave her a discerning look before he spoke to the Mayor, "Are you sure she is strong enough? She looks scrawny and weak."

Before the old man could speak, however, Freya jumped to answer the question, "Appearance are often deceptive, Mr. Morris. I give you my word that you won't be dissatisfied with my strength."

Her confident and fearless tone improved Morris' impression of her. After all, even seasoned warriors will think twice before boasting in his presence. "Very well, I'll give you a chance."

The giant man pulled out his shield and placed it in front of him. "You might want to back away, Wulfric." As the mayor went a few meters back, He held his shield strongly in front of him and got into a defensive position. He looked at Freya in the eye and spoke in domineering tone, "Young girl, I will give a chance. If you are able to make me move a single step from this place, I will accept you into my team."

Freya looked at the giant shield and then back at the sword on her waist. Without a doubt, if she used her sword, it will shatter into pieces. And if she used magic, it could work, but in her mind that would not be fair.

'Who cares if it's not fair?' Art shouted in her head, 'Making him move will be a piece of cake with a powerful spell.'

'Didn't you yourself said that I should improve my close quarter combat?' that was enough to shut up the whining mage.

Freya also got into position as she pulled back her hand in a fist. Her strength had almost increased by twice since she gained the system but she never had a chance to truly test it out. With a forward leap, she unleashed the full extent of her strength stat in a single fist.

The fist collided with the shining shield with a resonating clang. The sturdy shield rattled with great force but held strong. The impact was transferred into the man standing behind it. Morris, who had prepared half-heartedly, widened his eyes as he felt the powerful force. It forced him to lean back but he quickly stabilized himself and stopped his body from moving.

He stared at the young girl standing with an indifferent expression in front of him. Had she truly just advanced to the gold rank? That strength was enough to tear several silver ranked adventurers to shreds. He was about to stand back up to accept her into the team, when he noticed her getting back into position. He immediately got back into position and this time prepared seriously.

Freya's hand shook in slight pain from the collision but she still failed to move the large man. She gave a quick look at her stats window and discovered she had 10 undistributed stat points from her last level up. She immediately put all of them into strength.

[Stats Increase: +10 Strength]

As soon she increased her stats, a pulse of heat spreads through her body. It was followed by a sense of strength in her muscles. She planted her feet firmly into the ground and punched forward with a new found strength.

This time, when the fist collided with the shield, an even greater sound erupted. The shield visibly bent before snapping back. Morris felt an even greater force travel through his body and no matter how much he tried to stay still, his legs were forced to move.

One, Two. Two steps, he was forced to take two steps back. Twice the amount he stated. He looked at the weak looking girl standing in front of him with an extended fist. She had proved her words true. Appearance can truly be deceptive.