Fatty pestered him about how he and Mao Jiang were together and how she was calling his name like a friend.
Roy explained to him what happened, making him look envious and worried.
The next day, Roy arrived at the training ground. It was Saturday. Every Saturday morning, the Military Arts students will have training. The world wasn't at peace at all. There was constant danger coming from the dungeon and the neighboring countries. There was also constant danger from invading aliens, which is the primary threat to all humanity.
[Paradis University.]
It was a special university for all students with bestowed talent. No ordinary person could enter here. One of the most popular courses in this university was the Military Arts. Everyone with combat-type bestowed talent could join in this course.
Although Roy's bestowed talent was about mining, he fell into this category due to the consequences of his talent. He needed to enter a dungeon to mine resources, therefore, he needed to learn how to defend himself.
In their training, Roy barely completed all the exercises. His injuries were a huge issue to him.
"Slowpoke! What are you doing?! Run faster!" An officer shouted at him when he noticed Roy was far behind the others. But as soon Roy exerted more effort, he stumbled forward.
The other students who saw it laughed at him. Roy had no chance to care about it. He was too tired and his body was aching all over. He would have stayed in the house and recuperated if the dean didn't talk about his absences yesterday.
At their break time, he heard the other students talking behind his back.
"He should have stopped coming to the university."
"Despite being a bestowed one, his result in training was worse than most ordinary humans. He's a total embarrassment to us."
"Isn't he the guy with elementary-tier mining talent?"
"Ha?! I've never heard of a bestowed talent that low-level. No wonder he's level 0 till now."
"It's super rare, but that guy got it, hahaha!"
"That's like saying he's unlucky to get lucky."
"Well, he's unlucky. Talent will grow through experience, but that guy's talent is mining. He needs to enter dungeons to gain experience. I bet even the weakest monster in the dungeon could harm him. I mean… it's not even a combat type of talent."
"In short, he's bound to fail in life, is that what you mean?"
"That's right."
Roy knew. They said, bestowed ones could easily succeed in life. But, that was not entirely true as it also depends on what kind and what tier of talent you were bestowed with.
Those with Advanced-tier bestowed talent have a better chance of succeeding in life. And those with Unique-tier talent always have a shortcut to success. On the contrary, those with Normal-tier talent had to work a little harder toward success. How about someone like Roy? His future was still undetermined, standing on the edge of the cliff.
The majority of awakened individuals have been bestowed with Normal-tier talent. Advance-tier and Unique-tier were of the minority.
The next part of training was a duel against each other. Everyone was free to use their abilities to the full extent. The only rule was no killing.
They entered a Specialized Room. In this room, their body automatically received vitality and endurance boost.
The first pair to come up on a circular stage was a student with Advance-tier Fire Affinity talent. However, her opponent was the rumored student who had a Master-tier Swordsman talent. Master-tier was a super-rare talent that only came once in a blue moon.
Everyone in the room was so looking forward to this match, especially because both of them were Level 5. Moreover, they were eager to know how strong a Master-tier talent is. Everyone was so excited to see it.
Standing on stage, face to face, were a blazing red-haired young lady and a grey-haired young man.
The red-haired young lady wields no weapon. But on her hands, she wore a pair of specialized gloves. There were crystals attached on each of them. These gloves were specially made for caster-type combatants and the best substitute for magical rods.
On the opposite side, there was a thin sword hanging on the grey-haired youth's waist. He wasn't unsheathing it yet. But his right hand was on its hilt while his left hand was holding the scabbard.
The aura of readiness was apparent from the two of them.
The red-haired young lady grinned as she summoned flames on both hands.
Nonetheless, Roy and the other students wondered why these two had to be the first pair to come up on stage. They were more appropriate to be the last pair to fight. You should serve the main dish last, right?
Sooner than everyone thought of that, an officer announced that they would have two important guests spectating the matches, therefore, they must do their best to not shame the university.
After the officer announced it, two people along with a few entourage entered the room and went to the spectator's area.
There was a sudden surge of whispers coming from the students.
"What? Aren't they the Military General and the Association Chairman of Dungeon Exploration?" A student asked.
"You're right. They are indeed the Military General Dao Meng of Tianjin Battalion and Chairman Song Tian of the Dungeon Exploration Association."
"So they're going to watch our match? Now I'm nervous."
"Me too."
Just then, Roy finally understood why the first pair to come on stage was the best pair.
"Jing'er, Matteus, you two are our top students. I hope you know what it means when you are in the presence of those two important leaders in the city. You need to showcase your abilities to the best you can. This is your chance to get an advanced training recommendation from the association and military. The benefits of joining advanced training are more than any rewards you can get in your entire university life."
«"Yes, sir!"»
The two responded in unison.
The officer's words came as a big surprise to every student present in the room. So this was not only a mere training duel but like an audition! This was a chance for them to get recognition from those two and maybe a chance to join the well-known advanced training.
Everyone suddenly turned excited. Their spirits leaped a new bound. They couldn't let such a golden opportunity slip their hands.
Roy heard that joining the advanced training was a guaranteed breakthrough in your talent.
'This is what I need!' Roy thought. The solution to all his problems might be right in front of him. But Roy knew in order to get chosen he must show unbelievable feats in his duel. That alone was like trying to grab the reflection of the moon on the water. It was an impossible dream.
The officer stepped and signaled for the start of the duel between the Fire Affinity user, Jing'er, and the Swordsman with Master-tier talent, Matteus.
Jing'er, despite being a girl, was an enthusiastic, explosive, hot-headed young lady who loved to burn her surroundings. Fire of unbelievable magnitude came raining toward Matteus.
"Burn burn burn! Haha! Matteus! Don't faint on me!" With a grin, she shot a massive amount of fireballs.
"This woman has more balls than men," a student commented in a low volume. While the other student thought, ''She's loud and crazy, though.'
Her loudness outshined her beauty.
On the contrary, Matteus seemed like a pristine lake, calm and exuded the demeanor of an expert. He was quiet. Yet you could feel the unfathomable concentration from him.
But everyone wondered if Matteus would just remain standing and do nothing. The fireballs Jing'er shot at him would be going to hit him in the next second.
"There's no way Matteus could evade that many fireballs!" A student shouted.
Matteus calmly unsheathed his sword and unhurriedly swung it in the air in front of him. The next second, they heard a whisper.
"Magic Break."
Right after Matteus spoke those words, the expected explosion from the fireballs did not happen. Instead, they heard sounds like glass breaking. Then suddenly, all the fireballs around Matteus disappeared in an instant as though they weren't there in the beginning.
"That's the cultivation technique the first head of the Liu Clan, where Matteus belonged to, cultivated and passed down to his descendants from the main family!" The Association Chairman Song Tian exclaimed.
"It wasn't a secret that Matteus was from a branch family of the Liu Clan. Seeing that he used a technique that only the main family of his clan is allowed to cultivate, is a shocking spectacle," said General Dao Meng.
"Indeed. And to think he executed it perfectly, he's a genius."
"That technique, Magic Break, was a threat to all magic combatants who relied on shooting magic."
"That's true."
The General of the Tianjin Battalion and the Chairman of Dungeon Exploration looked very excited as they conversed.
"Chk!"
Jing'er clicked her tongue. She thought she got him, but as expected, Matteus wasn't an easy opponent.
Eh?
It was Matteus' turn to attack. His movement was very clean with no excess or overstep. Despite it looking like he wasn't exerting so much effort, the students around were having difficulty following his movement.
The 20-meter and above distance between him and Jing'er sunk to one meter in an instant. Jing'er widened her eyes when Matteus' sword came swinging to cut her.
Everyone saw when Matteus' sword cut Jing'er diagonally.
"Is it over already?"
"Holy, it didn't even reach a minute!"
Everyone thought the duel was over. To their surprise, her body turned to flame.
"Eh? What happened?" Someone asked.
At that moment, they heard her voice.
"Flame Illusion!"
"Ohh~ That young lady is also not an easy opponent, huh?" The Chairman said in slight surprise.
"Hm… that Flame Illusion technique is one of the Yue Clan high-level cultivation techniques. To think that she already mastered it. This must be because of her Fire Affinity talent."
"Yeah, that's what I think as well."
Roy couldn't help feeling very envious of these two. They weren't only getting the awesome bestowed talent but they were also able to get all the support needed to develop their bestowed talents.
'Envy, huh.'
He sighed and couldn't help feeling disgusted at himself for the negative emotions welling inside him.
Jing'er appeared a couple of steps to Matteus' side. Clapping her fist and palm, she tapped the ground and shouted. "Flame Burst!"
An eruption like a volcanic eruption happened under Matteus' feet.
With his agile movement, Matteus managed to dodge it. The two continued their bouts and it seemed both were extremely capable.
Their duel ended in Matteus' win by a slight margin. Everyone did not expect Jing'er to be so relentless. Despite losing, she looked satisfied. On the other hand, Matteus looked calm as always. It even appeared like he didn't use all his might in this duel.
Looking at the two important guests, both of them looked very satisfied as evidence was on their faces.
The next pair came up on stage right after and it was followed by another.
"Okay next!" The officer shouted once again.
Finally, it was Roy's turn to duel. His opponent was…
"Eh?!" Everyone looked shocked.
"Is the officer trying to murder that level 0?" Someone asked in disbelief.
His opponent was the infamous delinquent, who was also known as the third strongest student in the university.
"It's Gong Bao against that level 0!"