Chapter 6 - The Test

Who would have imagined that their grandpa was the director here and so protective of his granddaughters. Learning something new about the world of my favorite game is a really satisfying feeling.

"Please step in, Ren."

Thanks to two sisters I managed to escape the grip of the bear, still he glared at me like he was going to eat me. Even now when I quietly followed behind him, I felt that if I took a small step towards one of them, the fierce bear would attack me.

So instead of asking questions I wanted to ask, I had to listen to their conversation. Talking with them put a smile on his face, but if someone who worked here passed, he had a professional smile.

Which is his real personality, I don't know. To be honest, I don't really care either. 

I came here for registration and after 5 minutes of walking around the building, we arrived at the examination hall. It was written on the doors. 

Stepping inside and looking around surprised me. The hall was gigantic. It stretched for hundreds of meters, if not more. Never have I seen such a big room, no, I believe that there was none on Earth.

"Ren Ivanov, Karoline and Caroline explained everything to me, so I already registered your personal information. However, you will have to undergo a test where I can register your current body's condition."

"Okay, just tell me what I have to do."

"First, wear this equipment."

He handed me an open box. There were gym clothes with wires and some devices. 

"When you finish changing, go to the first arena. It's there."

Pointing his finger, I saw the arena with giant number '1' floating on it. There also were stalls with various weapons. Due to them I could already deduct what kind of test it will be.

In any case, I didn't voice any complaints, instead, I headed to the locker room and quickly changed. 

In the box except clothes were 5 different devices. Apparently one was for the head, two for arms and two for legs. 

With no idea what they were for, I walked towards the first arena. All three of them were on the side of the arena in front of the floating transparent monitor. It took me a few seconds to stop staring at it. To be honest, it looks pretty cool.

Anyways, I stood in front of the arena waiting for further instructions. They were busily chatting about something and when finally finished what they were doing, all three looked towards me.

"Take a weapon of your choice and step inside the arena."

There was an array of weapon choices available, ranging from swords to shotguns. It's amusing to think about the absurdity of a battlefield where one person might be swinging a sword while another is armed with a shotgun.

On Earth it would be a no-brainer about who would win and who would lose, but here everything is different. In this world, people are way stronger and quicker than on Earth, hence, there would be no problem for them to evade a shotgun if it's shot from afar. 

Honestly, I can't decide what I should pick from this vast choice of weapons. 

Maybe I should take a gun? I have only trained with weapons, not fought with them. 

Although like that I would never get used to real combat, hence, I will not take ranged weapons. 

My gaze wandered on sword, spear, pair of daggers and ax. 

"Why am I even thinking so much?"

Throwing away useless thoughts and following my heart, I returned to the arena and stepped inside. 

While I was going, I tried to hide my surprise and excitement. Not because of the upcoming test, but because of a transparent screen that appeared in front of me. 

I don't know if they see it or not, but because they didn't comment on it, it's either invisible to them or it's a common thing. 

However, just because of the screen I would not be that excited. It's because of what is written on it.

{Simple Spear - Rarity Green

Level: 20 (Level: 30 MAX)

Attack Damage: + 20 (Attack Damage: + 30)

Battle Dexterity: + 10 (Battle Dexterity: + 15)

Skill: Locked (Skill: Return - when a spear is thrown, the owner can command it to return.)}

While in the other hand…

{Simple Sword - Rarity Green

Level: 20 (Level: 30 MAX)

Attack Damage: + 20 (Attack Damage: + 30)

Attack Speed: + 4% (Attack Speed: +6%)

Skill: Locked (Skill: Energy Wheel - When sword has made a full circle, circle explodes with the energy.)}

"So this is how my skill works, huh?"

I couldn't help but be amazed. In the game to reach full potential of the weapon, players had to upgrade it till the maximum level of its rarity. 

Green was the worst, following blue, then purple, and ending with orange. 

Levels and skills also are different for each rarity. Green rarity's maximum level is 30 and has one skill, blue rarity max level is 40 and also one skill, while purple equipment maximum level was 60 and 2 skills, orange rarity maximum level was 80 with also 2 skills.

Obviously skills were also better for each rarity. However, some orange rarity equipment had skills that are less useful than green rarity skills. Though, it's very rare.

"Why did he choose two weapons…"

"Does he think this is a game?"

I heard Caroline's perplexity and Hurbert's frustration, while Karoline stood silently on the side with her smile as if found something interesting. 

Not paying much attention to them, I swung the sword a few times in my left hand and made a spin with the spear in my right hand. 

Honestly, they felt very balanced. As a blacksmith at heart, I can tell that whoever made this knew what he was doing. The only issue is that it is made quickly without putting much work in it. It shows the weapon's rarity too.

"Now we will spawn a hologram in the arena and your job is to kill it as efficiently and quickly as possible. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Also, when I will spawn it, you won't see nor hear us anymore. Around you will be made illusionary walls, so don't panic."

I nodded. 

"Then I spawn your enemy in 3… 2… 1."

***

As Hubert pressed the button on his screen, Ren found himself in a white room with a bear type monster. Unlike a regular bear, it had two horns grown out of its head. 

It was a low level beast mutated from the released energy from titans. 

"What do you think? How do you think he will perform?"

"I think we shouldn't expect much. He clearly is inexperienced."

"My, Caroline. How can you tell that?"

"I-I observed him closely. He has the air of someone who has never been into a real fight. Don't misunderstand, sis! I only did that because of that recommendation letter!"

"Of course, you would observe him because of the letter, is there any other reason why?"

With a teasing smile Karoline answered, which got Caroline again turning slightly red, but when Karoline turned back to the arena, her expression turned serious.

"I also noticed that he isn't someone experienced, but there is something different about him. He reminds me of a giant old stone—seemingly ordinary at first glance, but if you look a little closer, you might just find something surprising."

"I don't know, girls."

Hubert's sudden interference caught their attention. They immediately looked at Ren in the arena, who had finally made his move. 

He hurled the spear with such unexpected speed that even the monster couldn't react in time. The spear struck the bear's left shoulder, causing blood to spill around it.

Meanwhile, Ren had maneuvered to the right side of the creature, gripping the sword horizontally with both hands. In one swift motion, he spun around at an unusual angle.

"What is he do-!?"

-BOOM

The trajectory of the spin Ren made exploded in green light and the explosion reached the bear's right side of the neck. 

Both sisters now looked at the arena with a surprise and shock. Hubert also wasn't unaffected, few sweat drops formed on his forehead.

"When I heard that his gift brings out the full potential of the weapon, I was skeptical. Bringing potential is one thing, while other is how he would use it. But to think that he understood it so quickly and used it so effectively…"

When the bear was heavily injured in its neck, Ren backed to the bear's side and stretched right hand out. In seconds there flew back the spear he threw at the start of the battle.

This time, he didn't throw it but stabbed it in the bear's side. Because Ren injured its left shoulder and then right side of the neck, the monster had a big difficulty moving around. 

But the monster didn't give up there, when it saw Ren to its side with spear in hand, it tried to attack him, but because of the weakened left side, the balance was lost and the spear was stabbed in its side. 

Using the spear as a ground, Ren ran up to the back of the monster and jumped towards its nape. Again with a quick spin in the air, while the sword managed to land a cut on the nape, another energy explosion occurred that destroyed the bear's head.