Chapter 7 - Extrance Exam(Part 1)

"That's him over there...the guy who doesn't have any Magic and can apparently only use Item Box."

"I still can't believe that's actually true...but I'm using my Greater Appraisal Skill and there's no denying it. Hah, wow...I almost feel bad for the poor fool."

"Man, I'd probably kill myself if I was that weak...hey, maybe that's why he applied for the entrance exam!"

"Yeah, I bet he doesn't even last five seconds in the first round! Wish I was matched up against him, that would've been an easy win."

Today's the day, the 2nd of December, 1029.

The tournament serving as the Guild's entrance exam is just about twenty minutes away from kicking off, and I was currently at the stadium where the arena in which the tournament is being held in is located. I'm in a large hall, which was being used as a waiting room for all the participants.

I finished most of what was left of my money yesterday, I went shopping to go buy some equipment and other items that could be useful in the tournament. Using weapons and tools is permitted, which is vital for me, so I might as well take full advantage of that and be as best prepared for this as I can be.

I got myself a combat outfit, though it looks like a pretty normal outfit. I had on a dark blue hoodie, it was lined with a layer of sturdy Monster leather inside layers of soft, fuzzy blue fabric, it's surprisingly light and comfortable.

I also bought a pair of light, flexible black trousers, which were also made of Monster leather and are apparently highly durable.

Monster skin and pelts are in pretty high supply in this area, so outfits made with those materials are fairly reasonably priced.

They're pretty breezy and easy to move about in, and they're more than durable enough to make for pretty solid armor. The material is difficult to puncture or cut through without a significant amount of force, and considering that I'm at a disadvantage with my lack of Magic, I need every advantage I can get.

That's why, underneath these clothes, I'm wearing a kevlar bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest, which I stole from the same cop that I got the batons from, that I used against the thugs that killed everyone in the orphanage.

I also bought some Magic Potions, small bottles of various liquidz with special, Magical properties. Specifically, I mostly bought Healing Potions, with a few Antidote Potions and Stamina Recovery Potions as well.

Potions are made using certain ingredients that are then infused with Magic using objects known as Mana Crystals, which can be found in cavernous labyrinths that are scattered throughout the island, known as Grottos.

After buying the Potions, I spent most of last night organizing all my weapons and ammo in my Item Box Slots in a way that I'll be able to easily retrieve and switch to different Slots. The space inside each Slot is like a large cube that's five meters in height, width and length, which means I can fit a whole lot of items in one Slot, and I can further compartmentalize each Slot like a shelf or a grid.

When I chant to open a Slot, by visualizing the layout of its contents, I can open a portal into it over the spot where the item I'm seeking has been compartmentalized and sorted.

I've been particularly thorough with organizing and compartmentalizing each of my guns and they're corresponding ammo, I've filled several magazines with bullets to make reloading as fast as possible.

Of course, if at all possible, I'd prefer not to have to reload any of them during this tournament, since that would mean I've used up a full clip of bullets. Even with as much ammo as I've got stored up in the arsenal of my Item Box, that fact that I won't be able to restock is a serious problem that I'm eventually going to face.

So, for right now, I need to use my guns as sparingly as I possibly can. But at the same time, I can't be too miserly with it, especially in this tournament...if I don't win the whole thing, I'll have to wait another whole year before I can try out again. And given my financial situation, that's not something I can afford, it'd be real tough ask.

I'm hoping the leveling up my Item Box Skill will give me a much needed edge and some more options, I'm pretty close to reaching Level 2 now, just another 10 EXP and I'll be there. But the abilities or upgrades I'll gain when that happens are still hidden, there's probably no way to find out before leveling it up.

Damn it...I really wish this world had a complex underworld like in my old world, I wouldn't have needed to bother with this whole entrance exam if that was the case. Crime is quite high in this world, but not so much when it comes to organized crime.

Direct, head-on hand to hand combat is far from my speciality, I prefer to either take out or cripple a target with a sneak attack, I don't think I've ever been in a so-called 'fair' fight, at least not that I can remember right now.

But I don't really have a choice at the moment, joining a Guild is the best and easiest way to make money using my skillset in this world, so here I am.

On another note, it's kind of a bummer that only my weapons carried forward into this world through my Item Box. I mean, there are some items I've got stored that aren't technically weapons, like a pair of binoculars, my night vision goggles and even a megaphone for some reason...would've been nice to have some of my electronic devices and other belongings.

It's possible that I could've found a way to charge them using Magic somehow, and I'm sorely lacking for entertainment in this backwater dump of a world. I had a tab that had small solar panels on its back, I could've charged that using sunlight if it had carried over into this world...

"Hey, there, Jade. Good to see you again," Suddenly came a familiar voice, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, it's you, uh...Aura, right? Likewise," I replied, as I glanced up and met the gaze of her sharp red eyes.

"You seem pretty calm and composed, that's quite impressive. And I gotta say, I hope I get to face you in the competition," She responded with a gleam in her eyes.

I heard a couple of snickers echoing out from a few people that were nearby and overheard that, before muttering amongst themselves in amusement...

"Heh, you know she's only saying that cuz it'll be an easy win."

"Yeah, I envy whoever gets matched up against him in the first round, it's basically a guarantee of getting to move on to the next round!"

Alright, I've committed their faces to memory...if I get matched up against any of them during the tournament, I'll shoot 'em in the fucking head.

"I have to say, I'm a little jealous," She chuckled as she lowered her voice a bit and added, "If and when you prove them wrong, their expressions are bound to be priceless. So, you know, you've got something to look forward to."

Hm...you know, what?

If I get matched up against her at any point in the tournament, I won't kill her, she's earned herself a pass.

I then turned my gaze over towards the doorway to the waiting room as it swung open, a pair of women stepping inside, one of them holding a massive rolled up poster. I think those two are receptionists in the Guild, if I remember right.

"Your attention, please, all applicants. The brackets for the tournament have been decided, make sure to take note of which match you have been assigned to compete in, and ensure that you are at the arena without any delay when your match is set to start," One of them spoke up in a loud, clear voice, before the two women unfurled the poster, each of them holding either end as they held it up high.

Most of the participants gathered up front around the two women to get a better look at the match ups for the first round of the tournament, I was at the back of the room, so I couldn't get a clear look at this distance.

An easy enough fix.

I opened my Item Box and took out a pair of binoculars, putting them upto my eyes and peering in the direction of the poster.

Let's see, here...wow, thirty-two matches in the first round, huh? That makes a total of sixty-four participants.

It's a knockout-style tournament though, so the number of remaining participants will be halved with every round.

Where's my name...ah, there it is.

Huh...I'll be fighting in the very first match.

"What is that thing?" Inquired Aura curiously, as I began to put away the binoculars.

"Oh, it's just a-...hm, it'll be easier if you see for yourself instead of me explaining. Just put the narrower ends upto your eyes," I replied, handing them over to her.

"Okay, let's see...," She muttered with a look of intrigue as she took them from me and peered through, her eyes widening in surprise as she added, "Woah, everything's a lot bigger...no, that's not it, it's more like they're closer. I've never seen something like this before, what is it?"

Huh, actually, it should be possible to make a pair of binoculars in this world, it's just a couple of tubes and four glass circles...well, not that I have the technical knowledge to actually create one from scratch, of course.

"It's called a-...," I began to answer as she handed them back to me.

"Hey, you there. Are you Jaedfern Meraled?" Suddenly came a man's voice, as I heard footsteps approaching.

He looks like he's somewhere in his early-twenties or so, he's pretty tall and strongly built, with black hair trimmed down in a crew cut, dark blue eyes, a sunburnt complexion and a neatly groomed goatee.

"Yeah, that's me...who wants to know?" I responded dryly.

He's got a very-obviously confrontational look on his face, the hell does he want with me?

"I'm here to give you a warning...surrender when your first match starts, you don't stand a chance against me. I'm one of the favorites to win this competition, the likes of you could never hope to measure up to me.

You see, it's against my policy to bully the weak, and there's no point in delaying the inevitable, so take my advice and quit before you get hurt. My name is...," He remarked with an arrogant look on his face as he stared down at me, while I tuned him out as he introduced himself.

This guy's my first opponent, huh? I don't think I can keep myself from killing him, I've only known him for five seconds and he's already annoying me, I want him dead.

"Wow, he's still going," Remarked Arkiela, peeking out from inside my hood as the man continued to ramble on.

I let her hitch a ride in my hood with the condition that she uses her Appraisal-like power to inform me of my opponent's abilities at the start of every match. Not sure why she always wants to sit on my shoulder, or in this case, my hood, but if I can use it as a bargaining chip to make use of her abilities, then great, that's a price I'm willing to pay.

I considered asking her to use her Destruction Magic to cover me as well, but I ultimately decided against it. For one thing, it could get me disqualified if those who run the Guild use that as proof that I somehow lied about my lack of Magic. Even though Appraisal was used on me to corroborate that claim, it's too risky.

And another reason is that I'd prefer to save her as a sort of last resort trump card if I ever find myself in an especially precarious or dire situation. Hm?

Oh, my fucking God, this guy's still talking...

"Hey, are you done yet? Because if so, kindly fuck off, I really couldn't give two shits about your life story," I interrupted him with an irritated sigh, earning a quiet chuckle from Aura.

"Wh-wha-...!?" He stuttered with a taken aback look on his face, as the others in the room who were paying attention to this interaction began muttering amongst themselves.

"You heard me. Unlike you, I didn't stutter."

"Y-you little-...tch, alright then, have it your way. Guess this is just what I get for trying to be nice, but if you're gonna be an asshole about it, so be it. My victory was never in doubt, but now, I'll do everything I can to make sure that, by the time our fight is over, you'll regret ever being born," He growled before walking over, glancing back at me with a venomous glare a couple of times as he left.

What a weak threat. Saying I'll regret being born is basically saying that he doesn't plan on killing me.

"The first match will begin in five minutes! Participants, please get ready and be down at the arena within that time. If you aren't at the arena in six minutes from now, you will be disqualified immediately," Called out one of the receptionists.

"Guess that's my cue," I remarked, as I stood up and stretched my arms out.

"Good luck out there. I'm expecting to see a good show from you, so try not to disappoint those expectations," Smirked Aura, as she lightly slapped my back.

"I don't know about that, but I can at least say this much...you and everyone else in this stadium will soon see something that I'm certain you've never seen before," I replied cryptically, before I began to head out.

"Hey, that delivery was pretty smooth. For someone who's never had any romantic relationships, and whose only sexual experience is with hookers and the occasional one night stand, you've got game," Laughed Arkiela from inside my hood.

Once this tournament is over, I think I'll snatch her up in my grasp and flick her boobs again...

...

"I'll commend for appearing so calm in such a hopeless situation. Or maybe you really are just delusional, must be nice," Chuckled my opponent tauntingly, as we both stepped onto the arena.

Damn it, I'm torn...should I kill him instantly with one shot? Or should I instead first toy with him a bit so that I can get to see that arrogant smirk fade away and then kill him?

Fuck it, I'll go with the latter, he's earned it.

"The first match of round one of the competition will now begin!" Exclaimed a man standing just outside the bounds of the arena, acting as a ref, I guess, "I will count down from five, the fight will begin when the countdown ends. If your opponent loses consciousness, is knocked out of bounds, surrenders, or killed, you will win the round. Attacking an opponent who has already surrendered will disqualify you as well. I shall begin the countdown in a moment, are both participants ready?"

Hm? The ref's giving me a kinda amused, scoffing look.

Oh, wait, I think I've seen him before, he was one of the Adventurers who was in the Guild and mocked me when I registered for this thing, if I'm not mistaken.

"Ready," I nodded, itching to get started.

"Hah, I was born ready," Smirked my opponent, looking pretty confident.

"Okay, let's see...he's got Ice Magic, and a pretty sizeable Mana Pool. His Skills are nothing to worry about; Luck, Appraisal and Enhanced Sense of Sight. Luck is a bullshit Skill that you don't really need to worry about. Hm, his Mystic Pressure is a bit rough around the edges, but it's not bad. It's almost certain that he can't use Mystic Transcension, his Mystic Pressure is too rough for that, but he's not a total weakling either," Arkiela informed me, as she peered over my shoulder and appraised my opponent's abilities.

I see...in that case, I don't think I have too much to worry about here. Mystic Pressure is basically Magical aura, and the size of a person's Mystic Pressure depends on their Mana Pool. A larger Mana Pool means a more vast Mystic Pressure.

However, the Mana Pool capacity only factors into the size of the Mystic Pressure, there's a more important factor to it. Specifically, the intensity and refinement of the pressure itself.

The more intense and refined the pressure is, the more the user's control and efficency that they can wield their Mana with sharpens and improves, which subsequently makes their Spells all the more potent and powerful.

In other words, someone whose Mystic Pressure is massive in size but low in intensity is likely to be less dangerous than someone with a smaller but more intense Mystic Pressure.

Unfortunately, thanks to my lack of Mana, I can't sense Mystic Pressure at all, it's beyond my perception, that's why I need Arkiela's assistance to help me determine the threat level any given opponent possesses.

Now, then, time to focus up...the countdown has started.

"...four! Three! Two! One!"

"Take this, [Ice Spear]!" Exclaimed my opponent, firing out a long, rapid projectile of ice towards me before racing in my direction.

I swiftly sidestepped and easily evaded the projectile, before rapidly chanting to open one of the Slots of my Item Box, taking out a couple of throwing knives and flinging them at him as he shot towards me.

He quickly responded by chanting and firing out a couple of smaller ice projectiles, which struck and deflected my knives away. He put on a burst of speed as he began to close in on me, a smirk starting to spread out across his face as he met my gaze and chanted...

"Now, [Ice Blade]!"

A long, sharp sword made of ice manifested in his right hand, before he unleashed a rapid horizontal slash towards my neck.

Hm?

What a clumsy and unrefined slash, he's just using brute strength to swing it as hard as possible, he isn't using the weight of the blade to his advantage at all. What's more, the blade itself is crafted poorly, the edges are a bit uneven and there were a couple of lumpy spots across the length of it.

I swiftly drew out a dagger from my Item Box as I planted my feet firmly and held it up as his ice blade neared my neck, the edge of my dagger clashing against an uneven spot along the length of the blade...and snapping it in two, his eyes widening in disbelief as I easily broke his blade.

I swiftly took a step back, pausing for a split second to get the timing right before leaping up and whipping my foot across, striking the broken piece of his ice blade with the sole of my boot and kicking it straight back at him.

He tilted his head across to the left in a hurried rush to avoid being skewered through the middle of his face, wincing as it slicing across his right cheek and cut a couple of inches through the middle of his right ear.

He stumbled back as blood streamed down the right side of his face, momentarily stunned by the fact that I countered him. Thanks for such an easy opening, my turn to attack.

I zipped forward and got in close before he could regain his composure, ducking as he wildly swung an arm at me in a slight panic before I unleashed a couple of swift, sharp strikes to the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to take a couple of shaky steps back as he let out a sharp, wheezing gasp as pain.

I didn't let up, immediately closing the distance again and striking the right side of his neck with my fist, followed by a sharp hit to the left side just below the ribcage and then a rapid kick to the side of his right knee, causing him to buckle and collapse onto his knees.

He wasn't down there for long though, as I rapidly drove my knee up with all the force I could generate, slamming it onto his chin with a loud thunk, a sharp hiss of pain echoing out through his teeth as he inadvertently bit off about two centimeters of the tip of his tongue, which hit the floor of the arena with a quiet splat as he fell onto his back.

"[A-Area Freezsche]!" He sputtered in desperation, the words coming out funny thanks to his now-shorter tongue.

A frosty burst of cold air exploded out of him as I quickly backed away, a chill running down my spine as the freezing cold air hit me, thin layers of frost forming across patches of my body as I got out of the way.

"Close one...that's not exactly a fatal Spell unless it's fueled by a ton of Mana, but in his desperation, his casting suffered and the Spell came out poorly, having much less of an effect on you than it otherwise would have. You probably still reacted fast enough to avoid most of it even if he had cast it properly, but you might've gotten the bottom of your boots frozen to the floor and been unable to move for a bit," Remarked Arkiela, as small wisps of mist flowed out of my nostrils as I exhaled, the air around the arena having dropped in temperature significantly.

Alright, that's enough messing around. That desperate reaction, his expression was exactly what I wanted to see...no need to get too greedy, time to end this.

"I-I'll...I'll kill you!" He snapped, flecks of blood and spit flying out of his mouth, his teeth painted red with the blood pouring out of his injured tongue as he began to chant, "You won't shurvive thish! [Ice Dr-...]!"

He abruptly trailed off as I took an object out of my Item Box and flung it straight at him, a look of alarm appearing in his eyes as it landed by his feet...and then immediately exploded before he could react.

An excruciating scream of pain echoed out from him along with the sound of skin sizzling, causing him to stumble back as he yelled out in immense agony, his skin melting off and splatting onto the ground.

That right there, is an acid mist grenade.

I had a contact in my previous life that I relied on when it came to buying new weapons and restocking my ammo, I commissioned him to custom-make these grenades for me...the thought process was pretty simple, if smoke bombs are a thing, then surely a grenade that explodes with acidic smoke can be made, right?

Well, to be accurate, this is technically more of a mist than actual smoke, but hey, it gets the job done. Speaking of getting the job done...

"Wh-what is this...!? M-my skin, i-it's falling of, it...it hurts! It hurts!" He wailed in agony, as I took a needle laced with a lethal poison out of my Item Box and walked over towards him.

"You really should've taken your own advice...and quit when you had the chance. Fucking loser," I remarked coldly, before flinging the needle at him with a swift swing of my arm, the small, narrow projectile shooting through the air and piercing through his throat, his cries of pain fading away almost immediately as the deadly poison invaded his bloodstream...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Insta account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP