Chapter 20: Tests and Tribulations

Unlike Prota, John didn’t hesitate for even a single second. Thoughts would only slow him down. He just had to go. All he had to do was show that he was a competent fighter- no, not even. All he had to show was that he could survive, and he would get a passing grade. He could sit back down and wait for the licenses to come out.

It was as simple as that.

His logic in life was simple. Take the easiest path possible. He just had to reach his goal, so the means by which he did it made no difference to him. Who cared if he put all of his effort in? What did it matter whether he attempted to do it the best he could? For someone like him, the answer was simple.

It didn’t matter at all.

And yet, it was strange. The burning sensation in his chest. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he looked his opponent in the eyes. Why was he feeling it again? For a moment, he couldn’t figure out what was going on, but then he realized what it was—a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

The urge to win.

Ever since coming to this world, he’d only picked fights he knew he’d win. Fights he had a clear advantage in, whether it be against [Extras], idiots, or just people who were clearly weaker than he was. After all, those stronger than him would definitely win. There was no need to fight when the outcome was obvious.

But here was a situation he couldn’t get out of. He’d been forced into a losing battle, a bet with terrible odds, yet he wanted to throw the dice. He wanted to take this gamble no matter how rigged the game was.

[Determination activates! Maximum level possible: x2000]

“...seriously?”

The message gave him a moment of clarity, enough to realize that his lips had curled into a grin. Why? How? It didn’t make sense.

Then again, it didn’t have to.

John felt his calf muscles tense, his feet pushing off the ground with explosive energy as his legs straightened like springs, launching him directly toward Elfin. He tried to make a feint, leaning toward the left only to push off the ground, redirecting his body to the right, but the examiner tracked John with an expression that could almost be seen as boredom.

Well, it made sense. John wasn’t a formidable opponent. That didn’t mean he was utterly incompetent. He tripped, falling towards Elfin, but instead of backing off or regaining his balance, he kept the momentum, driving his fist into Elfin’s face. The elf backed off, surprised but mostly unharmed.

“For a non mage, you have quite the fighting style.”

“...is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Take it as you will.”

John weaved in and out, reading Elfin’s movements and dodging, but not without effort. Sweat streamed down his face as he took risk after risk, avoiding the blade’s edge by mere millimeters just to get an extra blow in, moving in instead of backing out, almost dancing with death in an exam merely meant to test one’s prowess.

He could feel the electricity coursing through his veins, the very tips of his fingers tingling as his nerves felt the wind brush by. He could feel the twitches in his body, every step, every swing, everything moving like a well oiled machine, responding just the way he wanted it to.

He hadn’t felt like this in ages.

He looked back at Prota, who was watching him with curious eyes. Well, that’s what he thought. It was hard to tell through those sleepy eyes of her. Another surge of adrenaline shot through his body. Was he trying to impress her? Was he fighting just to win? He didn’t know. Did it really matter?

He shook his head clear of his thoughts. Emotions were messy things, and he’d often told himself that he was better off without them. But now, it didn’t matter what was good for him. His brain was on a track to victory, and nothing but defeat would derail him.

“Kh!” Elfin grunted as he stepped back again.

It wasn’t as if John’s blows were doing that much damage to him. With a core like his, mana reinforcement made one practically immune to unamplified physical attacks. A person without mana essentially stood no chance. The game was rigged from the start.

There was just an feeling of discomfort running through him as he fought. Was John a more skillful fighter than he?

“No, not out-skilled,” Elfin thought. “His movements are messy. There are no signs of training. No signs of meditation or teachings. Then what is it?”

Elfin was right. It wasn’t training. It was just years after years of combat and fighting, death after death. It wasn’t like John had meant to get good at it, but when it comes to survival, you get forced into things you never meant to do. He narrowly dodged another blow and leapt back, then pushed off the ground and dove back in.

Despite his bravado, he still had the stamina of a normal human being. He didn’t have anything like a special attack, so he was really just stalling for time. What would that time be used for? He didn’t know, actually. It wasn’t like he would win. No one could swoop in and save him at the last minute.

But didn’t that just make things more exciting?

“...the test is now finished.”

Elfin sheathed his sword. John, too, stopped moving around, panting for air as he wiped the sweat from his brow. His chest felt tight, each breath causing his lungs to burn, and his limbs felt like jelly, but the dopamine rush somehow overcame all that.

“Did you really think you could win?” The examiner stood over John with an unreadable expression.

“No. I’m not stupid.”

“It’s a shame you were born without a mana core,” Elfin smiled. “I would’ve loved to see what you could’ve become.”

John shrugged. “Huh. Do I pass?”

“That remains to be seen. Draco Wynton!!”

The son of the noble snorted with disgust as he passed John on the way to the testing field.

“Manaless peasant,” Draco muttered as they brushed shoulders. “Why are you even trying? You’re no better than a wild monkey in the woods. You should know your place.”

“Yeah, it’s in your mom’s bed, fucking like crazy.” The words were uttered without a single pause in stride.

Draco’s face turned bright red, but John ignored him and kept walking back, where Prota anxiously awaited him.

“Ok? Is John ok?” she said over and over. Her sleepy eyes darted back and forth, scanning John’s body for injuries.

“Seriously, calm down. I’m fine. Prota, calm down.”

“...strong,” Prota muttered as she looked at him.

Even though he’d lost, she could see that much. She was again reminded of the skill he’d displayed when fighting against the bandits. Maybe she was stronger than he was in some ways. Magic, after all, was such an incredible tool that society had developed and evolved around it. But despite lacking that very tool, John still managed. He still had something in him that set him apart from others.

What did she have to do to reach that level? Her thoughts were interrupted as Elfin spoke once more.

“The test will now begin.”

Draco had a smug look on his face as he started chanting, summoning a giant fireball, probably at least ten times as powerful as the condensed one Prota had made. With a flick of his wrist, it started pummeling down like a meteor crashing to the earth, but he wasn’t done yet.

With another chant and another flick, a giant cage of fire pillars surrounded Elfin, restricting his movement considerably. However, the test administrator didn’t look concerned in the slightest as a powerful gust of wind opened one of the pillars up, giving him just enough time to dash through and make his way toward Draco.

“D-dammit!” Draco gasped, reinforcing his body with mana and leaping backwards.

He created small explosions at his feet to propel him further, then put his hands in front of him and unleashed a torrent of fire. However, it was sloppy. The gap in time it had taken him to activate mana reinforcement had cost him the hem of his sleeve, which was easily taken off by Elfin’s sword.

“That’s a lot of firepower,” John muttered to himself. “Better than I thought.”

He looked beside him to find Prota watching with shining eyes. Suddenly, they lit up for a brief moment, then died back down as she continued to watch the battle with interest. Her face looked sleepy, but her hands were clenched in excitement as she continued to watch the fight.

Something clicked in John’s mind.

[Soul Copy Lv 1]

“Hey, Zero,” he thought.

“Yeah?”

“By any chance, would Prota have the capability to copy the magic of others?”

John was met with silence, which was answer enough.

“You’re kidding me… are you sure she’s not the [Protagonist]?”

“She’s the [Antagonist].”

John flinched as he felt his heart stop. He hadn’t even considered that. “Is she?”

“I did a little something called “lying.” That was pretty funny, by the way. You should’ve seen the look on your face.”

“You should live in a circus if you plan on being a clown.”

Regardless, it was good to have something figured out so quickly. John wasn’t sure how Prota had learned ice and fire magic. Either she was naturally a dual elementalist mage by nature, or someone she’d interacted with had had those properties, but it now made sense that she had pulled wind magic out of nowhere. Initially, he’d thought that she’d naturally had it, but then it’d dawned on him. Why hadn’t she used it against the bandits?

The answer was that she hadn’t known that magic at the time. She’d gotten it from Elfin. He cursed himself for his lack of knowledge regarding the topic. He never thought he’d need to learn about magic, but it seemed that would have to change.

“Level one… what does that mean?”

“You want an answer? Just like that?”

“...what do you think?”

“What if the information is restricted?”

“Doesn’t hurt to try, right?”

He heard Zero sigh in his mind.

“For Prota… it’s not like she can fully utilize someone else’s magic. That would be way too strong, right? Hm. Maybe I can tell you this since you’ve figured most of it out on your own?”

“Who cares? Well, it’s not as if her ability was balanced in the first place,” John grumbled.

“Anyways, she can only utilize simple magic. For now.”

“...level one?”

“Right. The more proficient she becomes at her own magic, the more she’ll be able to use the spells of others. Easy, right? Power scaling has to work to some degree.”

John nodded. Zero was being helpful for once. Free information wasn’t that easily obtainable. There were a few things to note, now.

First, the fire and ice magic were probably Prota’s own abilities. The results of her own effort and talent, magic she had created on her own.

Second. This was more of a theory than it was a fact, but she potentially had the power to rival the [Protagonist]. This ability was incredibly strong. Of course, it wasn’t as if there weren’t strong opponents in a story, but Prota wasn’t a normal [Character].

“It’s like… the antithesis to the [Protagonist]. A broken ability combined with an [Anomaly]...”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Kind of like you?”

“Why are you the one asking me that?”

John watched as the fight between Elfin and Draco ended with Elfin’s sword at Draco’s throat. The boy looked disgusted as he stomped off the field, sitting down with a huff.

“[Soul Copy], huh…”

~~~

Fate stood silently as he watched Draco’s ego get pulled down a notch. He hadn’t liked the noble the moment they’d crossed paths, but there was no need to get involved in something that would undoubtedly become an annoyance.

Besides that, his intuition was screaming at him to look at the man next to him.

John. He looked like an average person, other than his strange clothing, which seemed oddly familiar. The only way he stood out was how pathetically weak he was.

The girl, on the other hand… Prota? She seemed strong, but she was young. Was that what his intuition was telling him to pay attention to? The girl? Yes, it was probably the girl. She would undoubtedly become a formidable force for someone of such a young age.

“Fate!” he heard.

There was no more time to think. He pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against and brushed himself off.

“Remember what I said,” a female voice spoke in his mind. “Magic only. No swordplay.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Fate grumbled as he headed towards the field, leaving his sword behind.

However, he wanted just one more peek. Looking back, he noticed John looking at his sword with interest… no, not just interest.

Recognition.

“Hey, Kit,” he thought. “Keep an eye on that guy.”

“The coreless man? Why him?”

“Just do it.”

He closed his mind off as he walked onto the field, doing a quick scan of his soon-to-be opponent.

“Are you ready?” Elfin asked as Fate stood in front of him.

“Yes.”

“Then… the test will now begin.”

Fate felt mana run through his veins as he formed a ball of wind swirling in his hand. He threw it like a baseball, something that Elfin easily dodged. The examiner still hadn’t taken a single step, almost as if taunting Fate, inviting the masked boy to make his next move.

“Big mistake.”

Forming a fireball in the other hand, he launched it directly at the ball of wind, creating a massive explosion that shook the ground. The air amplified the fire tenfold as the oxygen fed the flames.

Fate didn’t stop there, though. He muttered an incantation, and nine swirling orbs of fire formed above his head, flying one after the other into the dust cloud that had formed from earlier. They seemed to have minds of their own as they chased after an unseen target.

It wouldn’t be as easy as that. Elfin charged out of the dust, cutting down fireball after fireball, using the wind to propel him in all directions, maneuvering in a way no normal person could. He flinched momentarily as a pillar of fire rose right in front of his face, but a blade of wind cut through the spell like a sword cutting through cloth, and the elf dashed right through.

The gap between the two was now non-existent.

“You’re quite the caster,” Elfin said. “Even using incantations at such a rapid speed… unfortunately, it seems you didn’t set up any defensive spells.”

A grin formed underneath that smooth, black mask.

He redirected the mana that had been used for spells back into his body, amplifying the effects of mana reinforcement. As Elfin thrust his blade, he neatly sidestepped the attack and went in for a punch. The attack missed, but he jumped back and scanned his opponent, searching for openings.

“Impressive,” Eflin said. “I’d love to see your expression under that mask of yours.”

“Sorry, but the mask stays on.”

Everyone watched in amazement as the two continued to trade blows. Fate was unique. A caster shouldn't have that kind of skill in hand-to-hand combat. A fighter’s weakness was range. A caster’s weakness was someone getting within melee range. Fate, somehow, was covering the weaknesses of both.

For the first time, the test takers thought of the battle as a competition and not an exam. It was so close. A single mistake could be the end of it all.

That mistake was made by Fate. As he shifted his foot, he stepped on a piece of rubble, causing him to lose balance. That was all it took, but with that, Elfin’s sword stopped just in front of his face.

“Excellent,” Eflin said, a hint of satisfaction seeping out of his voice. “We will end the test there.”

Fate’s chest rose and fell deeply. The sound of his panting was masked, but it was audible.

“The test is now complete,” Elfin announced to everyone. “Please return tomorrow to pick up your licences.”

Fate hesitated. Really? Was it that anticlimactic? He felt like there should’ve been more of a battle, more of a-

No. This was good. The whole point of this had been to disguise his abilities as much as possible. The longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would’ve been for him. Satisfied, he started walking back to his fox and sword.

“You can’t tell us our ranks now?” Fate heard.

Turning his head, he saw John raising his hand like a schoolboy in a classroom. A few snickered at the action.

“...You are F rank. Any other questions?”

There was laughter all about, and a satisfied grunt from Draco, but that wasn’t what Fate was focused on. The more he looked at that boy, the more intriguing he became.

John’s face. There was no disappointment anywhere. In fact, besides the fact that John’s eyes were as lifeless as they’d been since the start, there was a hint of smugness in the man’s grin. As if he’d gotten what he was going for all along.

~~~

“F rank.”

This was what he’d been aiming for. It was a little bit too close to the actions of a main character, pretending to be weaker than he really was, but… well, he really was that weak, so it wasn’t too much of an issue, right?

He could raise his power to x1000, but what he hadn’t told Prota was that it gave him a huge headache the more he used it. It wasn’t like he couldn’t deal with it, but it was annoying enough that he’d avoid it if he could.

John was slightly disgusted with how cliche his situation was, but he didn’t really have a choice if he wanted to become an adventurer. And besides, he really was weak. He had to remind himself of that fact over and over. There were certain things he could do to gain an advantage, but starting as a high rank adventurer would really be a threat to his life. Of course, [Reset] was always an option, but he’d prefer not to use it if possible. And besides, his fighting style was suited toward people, not monsters.

The only thing he had going for him was the element of surprise. That was the basis with which he’d operated his entire time in this world. His gun, first, was a weapon nobody recognized, so as long as he caught them off guard, he could probably kill anyone with a single shot. His hand to hand combat skill wasn’t reflective of his physical age, so there was that, too.

However, these conditions could only be met if the opponent underestimated him in the first place.

If he was anything higher than E rank, people would question his skill. Idiots would ignore it, but anyone with a brain would be wary. Why was he a high rank if he didn’t have mana? How had he gotten to that level?

Those questions would raise their guard. If John wanted to be of any use, he couldn’t have that happening. On the surface, he would just be Prota’s guardian. Of course, he planned on letting Prota protect him as much as possible. He didn’t understand her obsession with trying to keep him safe, but it worked for him, too. However, there would likely be scenarios where she wouldn’t be able to handle it on her own.

In that case…

“Come on, Prota, let’s go back home.”

~~~

Prota opted to stay in bed all day, completely exhausted, but John had research to do. This whole time, he’d gone off what he knew of fantasy novels. The problem was, magic worked in a variety of ways, and he had no way of knowing what type of system this world worked off of. He couldn’t just guess anymore. In order to make future predictions, he’d have to learn the details of this world.

The first thing he did was look into mana. The world had ambient mana, which he was familiar enough with, so he set that aside and moved on.

The most important thing John learned about the world was that there were no strict definitions. No one was one kind of mage or another, there was nothing really predetermined at birth, nothing like that.

Instead, what was known as “affinities” existed. Certain people had stronger connections to certain kinds of magic. To have a connection to more than one was to be a dual mage, which could be attained through training. There were tri-elemental mages, quadra-elemental mages…

What John hadn’t expected was the existence of a wide variety of elements. Things like lightning and ice were simply extensions of fire and water, but there were also elements such as light, dark, and poison… at a certain point, it could be argued that elements weren’t a thing. It was possible to create a magic that didn’t fall under a specific category.

The possibilities were only limited only by one’s imagination.

“...doesn’t that make a dual element mage kind of common?” John mumbled but kept reading. It was driving him crazy, sitting and researching for so long, but at the same time, it was kind of fun.

Mages were classified into four categories: caster mages, fighter mages, augmenter mages, and battle mages. Once again, it wasn’t so much a matter of only being able to do one as it was a matter of preference, but it seemed that people stuck to the class they belonged to without straying elsewhere.

A fighter mage was the simplest. They infused their body with magic, reinforcing it way beyond what simple mana reinforcement did and attacked. They also used elements, but those spells were typically restricted to enhancement and defence. From what John could see, Elfin was a fighter mage.

Caster mages focused on attacking with long-range spells, although it was technically possible for them to fight in close-range combat by using quick spells, although the necessity of chanting spells made that hard. The primary difference between a caster and a combat mage was that a caster rarely used their body in combat.

Augmenter mages and battle mages had very little information on them. Apparently, they were quite rare and had very little documented about them. Augmenter mages had the ability to heal and were often found in hospitals or royal courts. Battle mages were people who performed the roles of both caster mages and fighter mages with equal levels of skill.

“It’s like an RPG,” John muttered. “Roles… elements… so Prota would be a caster… dual, no, triple elemental in fire, ice and wind… for now.”

He heard a familiar snicker.

“Wow. I didn’t know you were literate.”

“Shut up,” John grumbled.

“Come on, John, you did maybe an hour of reading. Was it really so hard?”

“Yes.”

Zero chuckled and left John alone as he walked back to the inn.

~~~

“So, what did you think of today’s applicants?”

Alber Alimbert, chief of the town’s adventurer guild, was an imposing figure, even behind his desk. The room was filled with cigar smoke, but Elfin just smiled and nodded.

“Most of them were standard, as usual. The son of that noble… exceptional, as expected of that household, but his temper is not to be desired. However, due to his conditions…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Damn nobles, fuckin everything up.” Albert grumbled. “Why can’t they teach their kids some goddamn manners?”

“That’s neither here nor there, boss,” Elfin sighed. “Now, for the other three…”

The elf looked at his clipboard.

“Fate. We don’t know his true name, correct?”

“Right.”

“He’s an exceptional warrior. I really thought I might lose.”

“Ha ha!” Albert roared. “Is that why you ended the test?”

“There was no point in injuring either of us.”

“Good excuse,” Albert grinned. “Go on.”

Elfin cleared his throat. He’d been going easy, yes, but the notion that he could lose, even when holding back, was quite ridiculous. Both pride and embarrassment filled his body.

“For his age, if he’s a human, he’s very strong. Dual elementalist at least, good close combat skills, enough to make me wonder if he’s a hybrid…”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Albert nodded. “The others?”

“The girl, Prota Char. Also exceptionally young, especially for a human, and yet she seems unusually skilled in combat. It would help if we knew her history, but… well, she, too, is a dual elementalist. Wind and fire, same as the boy. I would assume they were siblings, were it not for the last applicant.”

“John Quarta?”

Eflin nodded, a frown forming on his face. Of everyone, this one stood out the most, and not in a good way. The boy was cocky for someone so weak. Granted, he’d been special in his own way, but Elfin still couldn’t understand why someone without a drop of mana was trying to be an adventurer.

“He’s coreless. He announced it to everyone before measuring his core, so he’s not shy about it. When he sat on the sidelines, his posture was sloppy, and he looked bored. However, during our fight, he was unusually skilled. He didn’t bring a weapon with him, but his combat skill… there was something about it, although I can’t place my finger on what.”

“And yet he’s an F rank?”

“Sir, he doesn’t have a mana core. No matter how skilled he is, he can only go so far. The rank system exists partially to ensure the safety of the adventurers. You know this.”

Albert nodded. “Thank you, Elfin. Dismissed.”

The elf bowed and walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Bren Brer, the man who’d been with Albert the night before, appeared from the shadows.

“What do you think?”

“There’s one that stands out.”

“Fate?”

Albert grinned. “Yeah. We’re gonna have to keep an eye on him. We might even get him involved in ‘that.’ It’d be good to have someone powerful on our side if we want to investigate further.”

Bren nodded, a deep look in his eyes. He took a good mental note of everything that’d been said and vanished into the shadows.