"Hm...that's some long line out here." I looked at the queue of people stretched out in front of me with a calm face.
Today was the day for the knight's recruitment test. Although the knight's recruitment was only for young boys, I fortunately or not had a stature of a young man. I was yet to hit puberty so my body was still immature which made me look like a boy with a slightly girlish face.
I was dressed up in male clothes, a black pant and a white shirt. My hair was short too so it made me look like a real boy.
The sword I bought before was hung on my waist. But my red eyes were quite a trouble. I didn't think much about it because the adventurers and the people I met didn't react to it but right now, I could feel many stares at me and I knew that it was because of my red eyes.
Well, I could hear their whispers that were louder than a murmur.
"Hey..look. That boy's eyes...so scary."
"Right?...They look like a demon's eyes."
"Woah...could he be one of them?!"
"I don't know. But that's impossible! No demons dare to set foot here! After all, the devil king hadn't come back yet."
"It's better if she never came back!"
"Yeah...that's right...."
"....."
"..."
I ignored their stupid gossips and waited for my turn with a calm and indifferent face. If I were to appear with my identity as a girl, they might really have thought that I was the devil king, which I am.
'Stupid people. I wonder how they might react if they found out that I was actually the devil king that they never wanted to be born again. Heh.'
I waited for my turn as I watched many young men going inside the test grounds then coming out with different expressions of gloom, disappointment, sadness, etc. Well, only those who have passed can stay inside till the test finishes and then they can go to the capital for training.
My turn finally came after I waited for more than two hours.
"Fill in this form with your name and other information then you can go and take the tests." The knight in charge of the participants said after handing me a form and a pen. I quickly filled it then got a number tag that read 707.
"You can enter now. Good luck." The knight said after looking over my form then busied himself with the other participants. I gripped the number tag in my hand and went inside the test ground.
The test was held in the training grounds of the city knights which was very spacious.
There was another line for the participants inside. I joined the line again and waited for the test to start.
There were 3 rounds of the test.
The first round, we had to dodge the balls thrown from all sides inside a room and get to the goal point. This was very easy for me because my body was very flexible and agile so dodging the balls was a piece of cake and I quickly passed the first round, moving on to the next round.
The second round, we could choose our own choice of weapon to proceed through the test. I chose the sword so I had to go through the swordsman test. In the test, we were to deliver a blow that we could muster with our best on a dummy which was used as a force measurement equipment.
The more than 100 participants left after the elimination in the first round got divided and more than 60 took the swordsman test.
Other's blow reached upto 800 points which was taken as average. Then a boy with a bright red hair went forward and swung his wooden sword on the dummy with great force.
'Ding!' The machine then showed 2560 points which made the crowd to gasp.
"Not bad. This kid has good strength control. His swing had great force in it." The judges of the round commented among themselves in low voices and the place became quite cheerful.
The red haired guy smiled proudly and went to the side.
"Next!" The knight called out for the next participants.
After a number of participants, another guy managed to get higher points than the previous red guy.
"Wow! 3199 points! This time's test seems to have attracted more talented seedlings." The judges whispered around with delighted faces.
...
....
"Next!" Finally, my turn came. I went forward with the wooden sword that was provided here for the test in my hand and took a deep breath after stopping infront of the dummy.
"Woah..that guy is quite small. Will he be able to even swing the sword?"
"Haha. No way right? He looks so weak."
"This kid...looks different from the others." The judges commented in low voices.
"Yes. He has a different atmosphere around him. It is an intimidating one."
"That's the aura that best swordsmen have after reaching the highest level in swords mastery but...this kid is only so small. How can that be possible?"
The crowd buzzed around me but I ignored all the noises and the surroundings, only focusing in my breathing and the sword positioned in front of me.
" Oh? This kid...seems interesting." One of the judges said with a glint in his eyes that flashed by very quick, not letting anyone catch onto it.
I quickly mustered all my strength on the sword and finally opened my sharp eyes, then swung the sword as fast as a lightning with great force that might have been impossible for my current body. The sword landed on the dummy which formed a big dent on it.
'Ding!' A loud sound rang and the machine showed the final result of my swing.
"5000 points?! Am I seeing things?! How can this be possible???"
"That short guy actually got 5000 points?! Is it me that's hallucinating or is the machine broken?!"
The crowd went into a frenzy after seeing the results. The judges looked over with shocked eyes.
"This kid is indeed extraordinary. To think that he could get 5000 points with such a small body. He has great potential!"
"Indeed. He will make a great swordsman and a knight!"
"The control of the strength and the angle of the sword was very precise and almost perfect. The place where he aimed at the dummy was also a vital part, the neck. But the strength that was beyond his body limits must have left him exhausted. The next round...he will have it rough." The man in the judges seat quickly analysed it and said with a smile on his face.
He seemed to be very interested in my results but I didn't notice him at all because I was indeed feeling exhausted after that.
'Damn it! This weak body!' I cursed inside but kept a calm exterior throughout the end of the second round. And as expected, I passed with the highest mark in the second round.
The last round was to test the participant's endurance. This world had magic and magic could be used in many ways. And in this test, you had to go inside the high gravity zone in which the gravitational force was increased 3 times with gravity magic which increased the further one went.
In the last test, you only had to hold on till 30 minutes without falling down to the pressure and walk towards the end of the gravity field. Even if the person had only walked half way, if they could endure without falling over, they would pass the last round.
The 50 or so participants after the elimination quickly got ready for the test and I also got myself ready. I had never seen nor heard about such tests before so I was quite curious and interested about it. But I was still quite exhausted from the test before.
The gravity field was a square shaped room with two entrances. We had to walk from the starting point to the exit while enduring the pressure weighing down on us as we walk further ahead.
Just as I stepped inside the field after the test started, I felt an immense pressure weigh down upon my body. I was caught off guard so I wobbled and lost my balance. I quickly pulled myself up without falling down by kicking the ground with my leg. The pressure upon me still made me have a hard time while walking.
Just taking a step forward became tiring but I just clenched my jaws tightly and endured it. I could care less about other participants because I was too focused upon my goal to reach the exit within time.
'This much is nothing!' I encouraged myself and kept walking forward. One step, two step. I counted as I walked to ignore the pressure and tried to walk like I was walking normally in strides. My legs trembled but I still moved on, unaware of the sweat pouring down from my whole body.
'Just a little bit more.' I reminded myself after walking more than half of the way. My body felt so tired that I would have collapsed right away if it weren't for my willpower driving me to move on towards the goal. Sweat slid from the corners of my eyes which made my eyes sting but I still moved on without minding the pain.
'40s....38s....36s....33s...' I neared the exit as the knight in charge of the last round counted the remaining last minute. I stomped my foot and quickened my pace. I was near my limits but I still went on.
'5 more steps!'
'20s..17s...15s' The knight counted down as I took my last step and...
"0s, time's up!" The knight announced right after I stepped out of the gravity field.
"Haa..he...hehe. I...did it." I smiled and said weakly then collapsed on my spot.
"Haa...I'm..on my.. limits." I panted for air heavily and my eyes blurred, finally feeling the pain all over my body. My body felt so stiff from the pain and my head spun from the exhaustion. Just as I was about to lose my consciousness, a refreshing and cool feeling spread throughout my body from my back.
"You did well, young man." A deep voice of a man came from above me. My exhaustion and pain vanished without any trace wherever the cool feeling flowed inside my body. It felt very miraculous and I felt something different inside of my body.
"Oh? What's happening...?. My mana...seems to be getting sucked." The deep voice spoke again but I could care less about it. My body felt more than energised as the cool stream of air gathered around my lower abdomen in large amounts. I felt my body going through some kind of a change that felt so new to me.
"Giles! Stop injecting your mana into him, now!" Another voice suddenly shouted which made me get out of my reverie. The cool stream got cut off abruptly but the mysterious stream of energy from before gathered and pooled around my lower abdomen by itself.
"Hughes...what happened just now? I felt my mana getting sucked by his body like it was some kind of a black hole. I couldn't have stopped it if it weren't for your interference. Just...who is this kid?" I could hear the voices and their conversation around me but somehow, I couldn't open my eyes nor speak and move at all.
This feeling was quite familiar yet unfamiliar to me. Yes...this was the same feeling like what Lucifer experienced for 8 years. Will I also be unable to open my eyes for a long time like Lucifer did?
"..... This kid's physique must be the rare physique of 'Black star' which is the best of all the top grade physiques that every magicians want. Since you felt like your mana was getting sucked like a black hole does then...it must be it. But to think that I would be able to see such a genius that appears only once a millenia...." The man named Hughes said in a low voice.
"The best physique for magicians as well as great potential in sword mastery present in one body.... I wonder if it is a blessing or a curse."