Amari, Fuller and the old man appeared in a dark, poorly lit room in front of a massive door about ten times their size stacked on top of each other. It was about the same size as the King of Ifrits.
"There you go," the old man's croaky voice said to no one in particular. "There's a three day time limit to this exam but it's advisable that you find a way to finish it as quickly as possible. The guardians already pose a challenge. The last thing you'd want to do is waste any more energy than is necessary."
A foreboding aura began to spread and Amari noticed for the first time how cold the room was.
"Understood sir, " he managed to mutter despite the sudden chill he felt.
"Weapons are allowed, and your only requirement is to kill all your opponents within the required time. Any means necessary are accepted. I will be taking my leave now,"
And without allowing them to have another word in, the old man turned into a massive gust of wind and disappeared instantly.
Fuller and Amari stared at the door for a long while before either finally decided to talk.
"You better get going," The Ifrit said first, turning to the end of the room where a smaller door rested.
He was right. The room was getting colder.
"Alright. But before I leave, do you have any armour I can borrow?"
Fuller paused and reached into his spatial item. He fiddled around in it for a while until he finally got what seemed to be a piece of armour. It was a white breastplate and a single pauldron.
He could barely make out the fading, familiar sight of magical runes in the dark, cold room but he put it on anyway.
"Thanks," He marvelled at the instant-fitting features the breastplate had and muttered a small thanks. It was rather clumsy looking especially in the clothes he was originally wearing. However, at a time like this could he really afford to care about fashion?
"No problem."
"Alright, I'll be leaving now." He nodded at Fuller then walked to the door.
As soon as he reached a certain point, the door groaned loudly, and the earth shook dangerously.
Amari's knees inadvertently trembled as the massive door creaked open. The world itself seemed to slow to a halt until finally…
The door slowed down and the new room was finally revealed.
It was as dark as the one he was currently in, but that hardly mattered to him. He crossed the faint line dividing both rooms and was greeted by multiple crackles as all the torches in the room burned to life with his single step.
He barely had time to say goodbye to Fuller before the door slammed shut in his face.
"Huh, I guess this is it then."
The room was empty, and apart from being well-lit, it was basically the same as the last one. Except for the dozens of rusted old statues leaning against every wall in the room.
It was an excellent atmosphere to fight in, except for the lack of hiding spots.
"What a pain…"
He had to be careful with the way he used his mana in this fight. If the fight against the Spore Goblin Fairy taught him anything, it was the need to fight with the utmost prudence.
"I need to fight like a person living on a thousand dollar salary. Frugally."
Amari had already narrowed down the skills that cost the most mana points to cast and would pretty much hold off from casting them until it was time.
He reached into his spatial bracelet and retrieved the dull golden sword. It seemed lighter. Or maybe that was just his new strength playing tricks on him.
As soon as he had done that, loud screeching noises appeared from each direction.
His exam had already started!
He waited patiently and the outcome became clear.
The armour suits lined up against the war groaned to life with mechanical movement and red glints in their eyes. Each one held all sorts of weapons and spotted Amari when they awoke.
Without much preparation, they charged towards Amari much faster than he expected for puppets.
The fastest was a sword-wielder that snuck up from behind him.
But sadly for whoever ran the exams, Amari had no time to waste on small fry.
He jumped into the air and charged a miniscule amount of mana into the sword blade, then pointed the tip of the blade down at the soldier puppet that had snuck up on him. The heavy weight of both himself and the blade hastened their inevitable descent.
Amari put on a small grin of excitement and used another small piece of mana to reinforce his body.
And then...
BOOM!
The sword drove deep into the helmet of the first soldier puppet. The subsequent shockwave sent the rest of them flying, dismantling their pieces and destroying their cores.
This was his simple way of handling the situation.
After making sure that there were no longer any more small fry to take care of, Amari lifted his sword and gave a stern look into the air.
"Please don't tell me this is what this Death Battle is? I'm only doing this for a friend but even so. I have to say I'm sincerely disappointed."
…
…
…
Elsewhere
The old man laughed as he looked at the small floating screen in front of him and heard the young man's arrogant words.
"I suppose that challenge was too easy for him. But even at that, each Soldier Puppet had the same strength as a Squire-ranked Knight or an Apprentice-level mage. Interesting. What an interesting young man indeed."
"Should we increase the difficulty now, sir?" Another voice said at the other end of the screen.
"No need for that yet. Let's keep the pace steady. Only ramp up the difficulty when it looks too easy. It is possible that this boy may force us to use The General."
"Understood, sir. I will continue as protocol dictates."
"Good,"
And with that, the old man returned to his own batch of applicants.
"Hmm, what a lacklustre group. Hopefully, this strange boy makes it all worth it."
***
Note: Chapter finished a little earlier than expected so here it is. The last one may take longer to complete.