'D, what's time now?!'
[Umm…..it's 7.30 A.M. Do not worry, this world also follows the 24 hour system.]
'Essence points I have?!'
[1925 Essence.]
'Ok…...I want to be notified on the amount of Essence harvested at every hour along with the time.'
[Ok. Timed notification set for every hour.]
'Stats. And from now on, stats is to show everything except name, age, title, fame, skills and system features.
[Got it!]
==========
Essence: 1925
----------
Health: 226
Strength: 226
Vitality: 226
Agility: 226
Defense: 226
Endurance: 226
Sense: 226
Intelligence: 106
Resolve: 106
Immunity:-
• Greater Poison Immunity (1/1000000)
• Medium Lightning Immunity (2580/10000)
Affinity:-
• Lesser Poison Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Lightning Affinity (0/100)
----------
Cultivation: 6th stage Qi Accumulation realm
Qi: 440/670
Mana: 0
==========
[A small reminder. If you marry An Fenfang, you can help her break-through by using your Essence.]
'Tell me more about it later'
The gate to the city was heavily guarded. There was a long queue in front of the gate. Merchant caravans and common folks were inspected in detail before allowing entry to the city. Freya and her squad skipped the queue and headed straight to the gate. Lee could only follow her lead. Their action caused many to murmur-
"Who do they think they are?! They are skipping the queue!"
"People with power act very arrogantly. These people are no different from us. Then why should they get such privileges?!"
...
Lee heard the uprising murmur very clearly. He deduced that there existed a very strict hierarchial system inside the city.
As the squad leader of the Emergency Response team, she and her companions along with Lee were easily let go inside. The guards searched Lee for the namesake of their duty.
Enormous streets and crowded civilians welcomed Lee. It was his first time in a city, after getting transmigrated here. On both sides of the path, vendors have set stalls and sold their products. Inns, restaurants and multi-storeyed shops caught Lee's attention. Carriage tracks were running through streets. Officials and guards periodically roamed through the city. The city planning was perfect. Not a single brick was out of place.
Lee followed the squad to an old-fashioned building. The squad dismounted from their horses and went inside. Fenfang held his hand as he was pulled along.
The first room was a hall with a wide reception desk. A few people with different outfits stood here and there. Some stood before a notice board called 'Missions'.
Two busty elves stood behind the desk with a sense of maturity. Freya signalled them to stay back as she walked to the reception and asked something. Except Lee, none could hear the conversation.
"Is 'he' here?!" (Freya)
"No,'he' will be back by 4 teas. The mission?!" (Receptionist 1)
"Was already taken care of when we got there. We have bought the person. He's good and strong." (Freya)
Telling this, Freya stared at Lee over her shoulders. The receptionists scanned him top to bottom and asked Freya-
"Should we do?!"
"Analyse. It is needed." (Freya)
Saying this, she waved at Lee to come forward. She introduced the receptionists as Changchang and Changying respectively.
Lee was confused, and Freya gave an explanation.
"You may have noticed that this building is relatively old-fashioned than surrounding ones. That's because it is the oldest in the city. This building is the Adventurer's Guild, where people join as 'Adventurer' to earn money by completing missions. You met Darwin on such a mission. The place will soon fill up with people. One more thing, have patience. There are all kinds of people here. Some will be arrogant. Some will be perverts and some will beat you up for no reason. But you're safe here. Violence is forbidden inside the building."
As soon as she finished speaking, Changying placed a crystal sphere on the desk. Lee glanced at it and back to Freya.
"You've defeated the wolves by yourself. You have the necessary qualifications to become an adventurer. This crystal will evaluate your elemental affinity. After this test, we'll take you to the evaluation grounds where we can evaluate your physical aspects. Now place your hand on the crystal."
Freya made the situation clear. Lee raised his brow in appreciation of the crystal's power. He gently placed his right hand on the crystal.
*CRACK*
With a loud crack, the solid crystal sphere got deflated into a thin circle. It was like a 1000 tonne hydraulic piston flattening a football. The sound resonated through the room. The few people scattered here and there came towards the desk. They were all amazed by this unexplainable phenomenon. The receptionists gasped and covered their mouth as their eyes went wide. Lee, standing like a toddler with no idea of what was happening, probed D.
[As expected. This crystal had the ability to evaluate the affinity of those born in this dimension. But since you're not from here and there's a large difference between 284 and 3, the crystal was flattened by the foreignity of your being. It was fun to watch, thou!]
D's explanation darkened his face. He looked at Freya and asked-
"Am I expelled?!"
Freya shook her head and replied-
"There was once a man who had affinity with gravity. He cracked the crystal as soon as he touched it. A woman had the ability of molecular disintegration and her touch deformed the crystal permanently. They were all enrolled that moment itself. But the test went on. Your case will be no different."
Lee can tell a significant change in Freya's attitude. He wondered as to what could have triggered such a change. While he was busy thinking, Fenfang had wrapped herself to his right hand and pulled him along. This action did arouse rumours, but the squad members clarified the truth to all.
=====
8 A.M.
450 Essence harvested.
=====
'So punctual, eh?!'
[.....]
Changying led Freya, lee, Fenfang and the squad members. She opened a door and signalled Lee to enter. Lee entered the room and the door slammed shut.
At a glance, it looked like a colouseum, with a glass dome on it. Except, there were only a few members in the balcony. He smiled at those familiar faces. Changying turned around and pulled a lever as she shouted-
"THE EVALUATION OF ADVENTURER LEE BEGINS!!!!"
Some deafening mechanical sounds came from the walls. Soon, five large doors opened horizontally on the ground. Darkness shrouded inside those doors as a series of steps went down with no end. Lee walked and stood before one of the doors and scratched his head. He looked the balcony and asked in a loud voice-
"Am I supposed to go inside?!"
Freya answered with a smile-
"No, it'll come for you."
Before she finished, an arrow came from darkness. Lee sensed the arrow closing in and stepped to his right and caught it. It all happened in a second and all were stunned. Never before had anyone caught that deadly arrow.
He closely inspected the arrow as 4 creatures jumped out of the other four doors. They were a Winged Demon, High Orc, Black Goblin and Four-handed hideous human respectively. The fifth one slowly came out of the door near which Lee stood. It was a Ghost Elf. The highlighted and most common feature of these beings is that they all had red eyes and black collars. Lee can finally see how the evaluation works. D asked his whether he want to use 'View', to which Lee replied-
'Waste of time!'
Lee broke the arrow in half and took out his blade. The blade made them all take a step backwards as they had not seen such a weapon in their lives. But the Ghost Elf lost its mind. For the first time, somebody broke it's arrow, that too, with one hand.
A sharp scream came out of Ghost Elf as it showered Lee with a rain of arrows. The other four beasts and those at the balcony shuddered in fear. They can tell that Lee will die.
Lee stood there like a statue with his blade in his hand. An ear-to-ear grin appeared as the Foresight got activated. Now he can see everything picture perfect and snail-slow.
Like Sonic the hedgehog, he started cutting down all the arrows. Each step he took forward, a hundred arrows he chopped down. For him, it was like watching a movie at 8 frames per second. His inhuman agility showed it's nimbleness.
Winged Demon understood that he must intervene or the Ghost Elf would be cut down. He rose into the sky and dived at Lee, with his sharp claws extended at him. The Demon thought that Lee was absorbed in the volley of arrows, so it took the opportunity to cut him down.
It came near Lee from his behind. So there was naturally no way for him to defend. It's confidence skyrocketed. But as soon as it came about 3 meters near him, Lee looked over his shoulder and swung his blade horizontally as he took a 180 degree turnaround.
*shizz*
=====
Lesser Lightning Affinity
Progress: 1/100
=====
The proud Winged Demon's deep fried body shot like a cannonball and got planted to the opposite wall. Except for Freya and Changying, no one saw what happened clearly.
Covered in cold sweat, Changying looked at Lee. She was pale from what she saw. To one-shot a Winged Demon, that too a general, was an astronomical achievement. She can confirm that his blade did not touch it. What she saw was his blade getting covered by lightning and it channeling through the demon's body while frying it's internal organs. She wondered as to why the crystal sphere didn't detect his affinity and how it got crushed.
The demise of Winged Demon made the Black Goblin further cautious. But instead enraged the High Orc. It raised its huge blood-drenched axe and charged at Lee. By this time, the mortal grade blade had already chopped off the Ghost Elf's head from its body.
Lee turned around to see the human and Goblin at full alert. Seeing the charging orc, he had the idea to get his strength. He stored his blade in the Inventory and ran at the orc.
Seeing him charging, the orc brought down its axe to cut him into two. No one in the balcony voiced their doubts and suggestions as they saw him killing two nightmares like bugs!
From Lee's perspective, the axe slowly came down as he readied himself to grab the axe's huge blade. He was in a mental conflict as to how he should catch it without breaking it apart.
Time was insufficient and the blade slowly descended on him. The three beasts again judged him as 'dead!'. Lee raised his left hand and caught the blade barehand. But due to the blade's higher initial velocity and Lee's high attributes, it crumbled like a claypot.
*ba-dumm*
The High Orc's heart skipped a beat upon seeing his favourite weapon crumbling in its opponent's hand. The sadness empowered it's strength. It went berserk and threw the handle away and shot it's clenched fist at him.
Lee was praying for it to do so. His initial attempt was a failure due to the object's 'fragility'. He too clenched his fist and shot at the beast.
*BOOM*
A violent shockwave swept the arena as the 'High' orc became 'few' orc pieces. This wasn't the effect of Lee's strength alone, but due to the collision of two monstrously powerful fists. Sad that one died.
*gulp*
The group at the balcony 'gulped' on seeing this. Sound shut itself in their throats. Their lips went dry. A helplessness crept their bodies as they saw Lee tearing the creatures apart.
The Black Goblin was a creature skilled in theft. It's shadow attribute gave it an ability to walk through shadows undetected. It ran at the wall's shadow and disappeared into it. D opened the Map in his head as he said-
[That Goblin is particularly dangerous. It can sneak attack anything that has a shadow. When it is inside one's shadow, it cannot attack and cannot be attacked. The moment it comes out, an invisible ripple will form. The Map will help you pinpoint the ripple. You're on your own!]
As he keenly watched his surroundings, the Map displayed ripples right beneath his foot. He quickly jumped up to evade the Goblin's dagger only inches from him. The Goblin was astonished as a human evaded his attack. But it squinted it's eyes as it expected from someone incredibly agile.
Seeing that the human can evade the Goblin's attack, the hideous human dashed at Lee. Lee inwardly uttered 'Poison affinity' as he ran at that beast. He temporarily let go of the Goblin as it needed to get into a shadow to sneak attack.
The four arms swung it's thick forelimbs randomly. It was trying to stall and distract Lee as the Goblin prepared it's attack. But it's life was short. Lee guessed it's intention and jumped over its head as his blade decapitated it's human head. The lifeless four-arms fell like a tree.
=====
Lesser Poison Affinity
Progress: 1/100
=====
Now, all he had to do is kill that jumping-bug Goblin. It had already disappeared into the shadows, so he can only expect it's attack anytime!