'I will do my best!'
Freya thought as she remembered how her older brother had acted quite unusual by patting her head three times.
'I don't know why Oppa did that, but I'll take it as his support.'
She glanced around on her side and saw her older brother eagerly watching the fight that was going on in the arena for the E Rank Bracket.
"They're pretty good, Oppa."
Freya softly said as she retracted her gaze from her older brother, then started to watch the fight that was happening in front of them.
...
After a few minutes, the referee assigned to the E Rank Bracket announced the winner of the first matchup.
"Amery wins!"
It was the girl with a mid-length, ponytail deep black hair; hooded, deep black eyes that resembled coldness, and a fitted, slightly fair body.
Russell scrutinized the girl who won before he looked around and saw some of the battles going on in the other arenas through his profound vision.
"Oppa, what do you think about her swordsmanship?"
Freya pouted as she asked curiously.
One thing about raising the level of swordsmanship or any weapon-related fundamental skill was that it's a very difficult thing to do.
Although the Basic Swordsmanship (Lvl. 1) was trash according to the System's description, it didn't mean that it'd be totally useless when performed against another person with the same rank bracket.
"I don't know. She was quite good, but she seemed to be on edge when fighting; like she wanted to skip the fight and do what she needed. Basically, she can be easily provoked if her opponent drags out the fight."
'I don't even know that this Disciplinary Officer Trial Exam happened in detail in my unpublished novel.'
He lampooned inwardly. After he glanced around, it was only normal that he didn't see any of the major characters he had written about.
The Disciplinary Officer Trial Exam was of no importance to them, and they were either dealing with some important business even on the smartwatch acting like a phone, or training inside the Training Room that every A-1 student has.
"Next participants...
"Begin!"
Russell's thoughts were cut off as the referee signaled the beginning of the exam for the next matchup.
There were two men in the arena; one was holding a training axe, while the other was holding a pair of daggers.
The former has a brute-like body, he has brown slightly round eyes, and short brown hair. His height was about 170 cm.
The latter has a good build, with slightly wide blue eyes, and short grayish hair. His height was about 169 cm.
'Axe, huh? He might be like a berserker, and the one wielding a pair of daggers is probably an Assassin.'
Russell guessed, he didn't bother to check the Status Window of every person through his Skill: Gaze of the Abyss (EX), especially when he didn't know any of them.
...
After the signal from the referee, one of the custodians of the Obelisk Public Training Grounds went off; the grayish-haired man, holding a pair of daggers, rushed from his initial position towards the man on the other end, wielding an axe.
Although the speed was fast, it was not something that couldn't be seen.
'An Assassin-related profession that does a frontal attack... Interesting.'
There were many types of Assassin professions to the point that Russell couldn't remember every single one.
'It's not like I'd written that many detailed professions... But it's the first one for an Assassin-related one to do a frontal assault against a presumably Berserker-related profession.'
"Oppa...? You are watching with interest."
His younger sister's words broke his thoughts; he only responded with a smile.
...
'Hmm… does Oppa thinks how he should compare to them?'
Freya thought as she looked at her older brother wearing an interesting expression.
Bang-!
A loud bang reverberated in the arena of the W Rank Bracket, though it should be heard throughout the whole training ground if not for the unannounced erected barrier that enveloped the four arenas where the trial exam was simultaneously happening.
Apart from its purpose to contain the sound, it would help the participants to cushion the impact if they got knocked off the arena, instead of being subjugated.
The brown-haired man's training axe smashed the arena's ground as dust lightly block off the audience's vision, but at that moment, it seemed the decision to smash the ground and create a smoke of dust was a mistake.
The grayish-haired man had taken advantage of the smoke of dust as though he was baited the brown-haired man; it's the reason why he rushed off towards him the moment the signal went off.
With the Skill: Short Blink, similar to the one that Russell's summon, Ceru, has; the gray-haired man blinked behind the brown-haired man, and then thrust his pair of daggers provided by the Obelisk Public Training Grounds.
Then, a barrier that each training suit contained has been triggered, which means that it accumulated the total damage capacity for its activation.
It was announced by the referee just a few seconds before the battle between the first matchup started; that each training suit that every participant was wearing has a barrier, and if it was triggered, it would be considered as being subjugated.
"Ken wins!"
The fight didn't even last a minute due to the losing side being caught off-guard from behind. A thrust aimed at his chest from behind would certainly trigger the barrier to protect him.
The brown-haired man stood in a stupor, unable to believe the situation that just happened, his desire to join the Disciplinary Committee, and become a Disciplinary Officer has been down the drain that fast.
"W-what...?"
...
'Is this the usual cliché?'
Russell thought as he couldn't help but chuckle in his mind upon predicting what was about to happen.
As the verdict was given, the brown-haired man seemed in dazed, then after a few seconds, the veins in his forehead bulged; he then looked at the grayish-haired man who was leaving the arena.
Overcame with emotions, without hesitation, he leaped from his spot, and held his axe in a cleaving position, ready to cut down the back of the man who just instantly subjugated him.
The grayish-haired man, the one with an Assassin-related profession felt that something was wrong due to some intense bloodlust that was directed at him.
Turning his head around, his blue eyes widened due to the nearing training axe that was about to strike him.
Although the weapons used in the Obelisk Public Training Grounds were considered "training weapons", they would still be able to kill someone by any chance.
The training axe was just about to hit the winner of the matchup, at least their distance was less than a meter at this moment when a bluish chain had coiled around the brown-haired man, pinning him to the ground.
'Mana Chain...?!'
Russell looked at the referee with a somewhat serious expression as he recognized the Skill: Mana Chain (A-) that costs tens of millions of O in today's Market Value.
"Take it easy, young man."
Said the referee who pinned down the brown-haired man, before he nodded to the grayish-haired man as if telling him to go and he'll take care of this situation.
The brown-haired man's mouth was even wrapped in a bluish chain and tried to struggle as though he was out of his mind.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I guess we will have a short commercial break for a while. Haha."
The referee took the aggressor coiled in bluish chains to the Disciplinary Committee Office.
"Berserker bastards are really hot-headed, aren't they?"
...
Freya — who was looking at the back of the referee that's dragging the rule-breaker of the trial exam — pricked up her ears as she heard the whisper of her older brother.
Berserker was the type of Rare Profession that's quite known for its characteristic; that the more wounds they sustained, the more powerful their strength and speed became.
If the fight from earlier didn't provide the participants a protective barrier, the gray-haired man would be at disadvantage in a prolonged fight due to the Berserker's nature of having a great amount of Stamina.
These professions were like a cat and a dog; the only way for the Berserker to lose in real combat, where life was at stake, against an Assassin-related profession was to get instantly killed by a surprise attack.
Surely, if this fight has no protective barrier, the Assassin would be at a disadvantage if the fight were prolonged, as the Berserker has great stamina. These two professions are like cat and dog, the only way for the Berserker to lose in real combat against an Assassin would be to get instantly killed by the Assassin.
...
"Hmm... Oppa..."
Russell looked at his younger sister from the side.
"...Why...?"
He asked, waiting for his younger sister to answer.
At that moment, the custodian or the referee for the E Rank Bracket came into their sights.
Without further ado, the referee called the names for the next matchup.
"Wish me luck, Oppa."
Freya stood up from her seat and then started to walk to the arena.
"Good luck."
He said with a smile, causing Freya to suddenly stop for a moment, and have a smile carved on her lips before she proceeded on taking her pace.
After some time, Freya and her opponent were standing at least 10 meters away from each other from the two sides of the arena.
'Karl Cromwell, a swordsman, too.'
Freya thought as she scrutinized the man.
He has an upright stature, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. His height was about 169.
"Ready?"
The referee's voice cut off her thoughts as she looked at the referee and nodded in response, it's the same for her opponent.
With confirmation from both of them, the referee signaled the start of the fight.
"Begin-!"
...
"Hey!"
Freya observed Karl Cromwell as she heard his voice, but she didn't bother to answer someone that contained unfounded arrogance.
"Why don't you just surrender? I don't want to hurt a pretty girl like you."
"What?"
Freya reflexively replied as she pricked up her ears upon hearing her opponent's mumbling.
"Are you deaf or – "
"I don't want to. Especially with a liar like you."
"What?"
'This is the kind of bastard that Oppa told me about before.'
Freya recalled her older brother's words when they were having basic training with their parents before they went to the Obelisk Academy.
– There are people who will directly ask you to surrender while showing an arrogant attitude. If you can directly gauge his or her strength, and thought that you can win, just brush off their words...
'and attack them to destroy their momentum.'
She admired her older brother when it came to combat judgment. It's something that she's not good at.
She took a glance from the seats for a second without letting her guard down to see her older brother. For some reason, Russell had a grin painted on his lips as though he knew what was up.
"Hey, I'm not lying when I say you are pretty."
She heard again the man, Karl Cromwell mumbled something.
"I know. But you are a liar when you said that you are ready."
Without waiting for her opponent to process what she had just said, she disappeared from her spot with a Blink-type skill she possesses as a Magic Swordsman.