The test took less than an hour for me to complete, and that was because I was taking it slow to make sure I got every question correct.
Master Wang was especially impressed at the parts where I had to calculate business tax and more economic questions. I can see why Master Wang's wife is the one out making money while he sits at home beating kids he found on the street.
“I’m done, Master Wang.”
He takes his time skimming through the entire stack of paper. Once he's done, he speaks up. “Hmmm, looks good. You pass disciple.”
He pulls out a manual from the inside of his gui and tosses it to me. “This is the foundation of my martial arts. Once you memorize everything inside, we can start your official training. If you have questions, you can come and seek guidance.”
“... Master Wang.”
“Yes, my successor.”
“This is it?”
“For now, until you can master the basics, I can’t give you anything more.”
I silently stand up and grab my tamed beasts throughout the compound. I leave through the front doors. The hot coals don’t faze me anymore. I find the nearest bench and look at my [Status], hoping that I got good things for my three days of being there.
Name: Ellis Vincere. Race: Human
Nickname: The Last Winner.
Level: 25 1000/15,000
Class: Master (Rank C)
Titles: Proud Owner of a Rock, Butcher A, On the Edge B, Prey on the Weak B, etc.
Health Points 550/550 (100%)
Mana Points 100/215
Armor Points: 0
~
Might: 51 +5
Agility:51 +5
Vigor: 34 > 40 +15
Mind: 40 > 43
Spirit: 58 > 60
Perception: 10 > 15
Luck: 2
Unused:
~
Resistance:
Slashing
59
Ice
32
Piercing
46
Acid
50
Blunt
150
Poison
65
Fire
70
Lightning
48
Mental
89
-
~
By looking at my stats, I knew that my time with Master Wang was worth it. My resistance has grown so far in just those three days. I can probably go into my next fracture raid without a worry.
~
Traits:
Insane D > Insane C
Things that affect the mind will have varied results and not be considered normal. Skewed common sense.
Increased mental defenses. Considerably increased pain tolerance.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
~
To be fair, going through all that and not needing therapy would be a lucky break. But since I’m not crazy, it’ll be fine. It’s normal to go through anything for some extra strength. Right? If this trait ranks up any higher, I will definitely have a problem to face.
[Heal Anything] has leveled up to the max. The next time it levels, it will go up a rank. I wonder what new effect will be added on.
[Heal Anything D lv2 > lv5
The user can spend mana to heal any target
Mana to Health conversion 1 - 3]
I got a new skill from the continuous healing that bolstered my body to help me resist each test. The technique I used must have been warped by the system and changed into a skill.
[Bolster Resistance B Lv1
The user can spend mana equal to half of their target resistance stat to double it for one minute.]
This skill is absolutely incredible! I can spend 75 mana to get an astonishing 300 blunt damage resistance. At that point, I could probably jump from airplanes without needing a parachute. I also checked out the gui Wang gave me. It could probably replace my school uniform when I go out raiding.
[Broken Body Gui C
A gui handmade by a martial arts master. This article of clothing is almost invulnerable to damage, but it doesn’t protect the user at all.
Might & Agility: +5
Vigor: +15
Item Skill: Beating Heart C
[Beating Heart C:
Increase cardiovascular health. It lets the body heal at a faster rate.
Natural Health Regeneration: +100%]
~
The gui gives useful buffs to my stats, and it won't get destroyed in the future. Too bad the regeneration is only for natural healing. Since my Vigor is eleven times higher than a level one human, I heal eleven times faster. With the gui, that's now twenty-two times quicker. I don’t know if my trait helps with healing speed, but for the following example, let's say it doesn't. If a level one human broke a bone and it needed 8 weeks to heal. It would take me twenty-two times faster, so about two and a half days.
A bullet wound would take half a day to mend. This double in regeneration is valuable when I get out of scrapes and don’t have the necessary mana to heal my wounds.
My flip phone still has battery, so I call my foster father to tell him that I’m still alive. I would call my mother, but she would talk to me for hours, and I still had things to do today.
*ring ring* *ring ring*
*click*
*Ellis! Are you okay? You haven’t been answering your phone.”
“Sorry, my new teacher was very particular about outside distractions.” Technically he didn’t say anything about my phone. I just had it turned off and in the room, so it wouldn’t be destroyed.
“It’s alright, so what did you learn during your stay.”
“Many things, but the most important is that I’m tougher now/”
I hear him laughing through the speaker.
“That’s good, Ellis. Well, I’ll tell your mother that you are all right. Just come home as soon as possible.”
After some small talk, I hang up and head to the FIB headquarters.
~
Security was a pain to get through. They first gave me a questionnaire that I had to fill out, answering questions like group affiliation or if I had a dimensional storage skill. I had to do three more for my tamed beasts to enter. There were so many ‘detectors’ i had to go through; metal, magic, mana, and mental. It was time-consuming as hell. We had to leave Rob’s stuff in a metal crate while in the building.
With some help from the front desk, behind all of this security. If I called Nelson ahead of time, I probably could have skipped security and met up with Nelson right away. I text Nelson that I’m in the building, and he doesn’t reply.
I wait a little longer and see Nelson walk toward me. He came out of a hallway that leads deeper into the facility.
“Hey Ellis, are you here for the internship program?”
“I’m here for something better. Can we talk in your office or someplace quieter.” I look around the busy reception hall and the constant flow of people.
“Sure, follow me.”
“Before we do that, can I get Rob’s stuff out of containment?”
“Nope, unless you work here, you can’t get the perk of bypassing invasive security.”
He leads me down a few hallways until we reach an exit. He walks out of the building and heads towards a smaller one near the back of the grounds. This building has a different entrance and is farther away from all the other structures.
“Next time, once you get registered for the job, you can just walk through that entrance instead of having to deal with security.”
Once we are both inside and sitting down, I pull out the slip of paper the dean gave me.
“Agent Nelson, my school's Dean, has seen that I am fully fit to raid fractures and has given me full permission. Instead of going for dried-up fractures that many organizations have control over, I figured we can start negotiations for the job you promised me in the hospital.”
“Ellis, the issue was with you still being a student, not that you didn't have permission to do so. I didn’t even know that students couldn’t go into fractures. That's not going to be an issue, but the offer of being an intern is still on the table.
“What benefits does being an intern get me?”
“An intern, or a shadow, is a person who will follow who they are shadowing into fractures and assist them. They don’t have a salary because they get paid with experience.”
“You are breaking my balls, Nelson. I thought slavery was abolished in the Prime Territories long before the Upheaval.”
“Hey now, it's not slavery.”
“No paycheck and no insurance either, I bet. And since your contributions are dependent on the person you shadow, and their order, no loot either.”
I look at Nelson. If he doesn’t make a better offer, I’ll take my chances somewhere else. I can always sue the guy for negligence. I haven’t signed anything that said I wouldn’t.
“Alright, I could try and worm in a jr. member spot instead of an internship.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s basically the same as a normal member, but you get fewer perks. For example, there is no dental insurance, but you get all the other ones.”
“Sounds good. How much do I get paid?”
“I can’t give you a salary, but I can pay you per fractured cleared instead.”
“Wait, is this job legal?”
“It’s legal, but since I’m making an exception for you to join my team based on my own recommendation, I can’t tell our accountant to ship large amounts of money to you. Just makes sure you mark all this income on your taxes.”
I will not do that.
“Sounds good. I can start right away.”
“I’ll get working on the paperwork you will have to sign. There are three other people on the team, but one of them is on vacation right now. You can meet up with the other two if you want. They should be in the team break room.”
Agent Nelsons starts to dig around in his filing cabinets, looking for specific documents. I take my leave and head towards the break room. I can hear the sounds of commotion coming from the room before I can even get there.
“Now, what are we going to do.” A male voice says from beyond the door.
“I don’t know, don’t you have a skill for this?” says a female voice.
“When team leader sees this, we are screwed.”
“Maybe no one will find out.”
I open the door slowly and peek in. A rough-looking man and a blonde woman are huddled around a table, talking to each other. As soon as the door opens, they look my way.
“Hello, my name is Ell-” I get cut off from my introduction when the girl pulls me into the room and locks the door shut.