Luckily, I am not expected to say anything, after receiving the medal all I have to do is stand, bow, and then leave. I am more than happy to do so, any more time spent around those people will increase the chances of me failing the test. Not a single one of them will be of any use at all when the invasion comes, even the guards I have seen are a joke.

If it wasn't for the test I could kill everyone in the inner area without taking a single wound. The entire time I am walking back out of the inner area I can't stop fantasizing about it. It is to the point that if I have to come back and go through this again I might just fail the test just for the pleasure of massacring all of them.

Only after I am out of the inner area do I start to calm down, if this wasn't a test I would be in trouble. One or two corrupt nobles I can ignore, but an entire court full of them is another story. If this was out in the real world I would do the kingdom a huge favor and wipe them all out.

Shard says "What?! You only got a medal? What crap!!"

"It's fine. I don't really care."

Shard says "You should! You achieved something no one else in the history of the kingdom ever has!"

"That's human history. I am not human."

Shard says "Human or not you are a captain of the army!"

"Just forget it. If you make a fuss things will only get worse. Besides, I wouldn't want to be a knight if it meant having to deal with those people."

Shard says "Are you sure? Knighthood is a big deal!"

"I'm sure. I am happy just being a captain and an adventurer."

Shard says "If that's what you want, then fine. I will drop it."

"It is. I am happy just hunting and testing myself."

Shard says "You sure are strange! Don't you have any ambition at all?"

"Sure I do. One day I want to hunt a dragon!"

Shard says "A dragon?!? Forget strange, you are straight up insane!"

"Maybe, but that is my ambition."

Shard says "Ugh, you are giving me a headache."

"Ha ha, alright, I will talk to you later then."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Shard says "Oh, I almost forgot the reason I was looking for you!"

"What's that?"

Shard says "There is going to be a captain's meeting tomorrow evening."

"How come?"

Shard says "Did you forget? The day after tomorrow is the ranking competition!"

"That soon? I thought I had more time!"

'That means there is only a week or so until the invasion!'

Shard says "Yeah, that's when it is. So don't miss the meeting!"

"Alright, I'll be there."

With that Shard walks off and I turn my steps towards my troop's barracks. When I get there I inform my troops that there will be no exercise tomorrow and that they should rest up for the competition. Now I should have time for a hunt before the captain's meeting tomorrow.

So, before I set out I swing by the adventurer's guild to check the quest boards again. After checking all the quests I find a quest for the ice worms in the north, but nothing for the mammoths. I also find a quest in the south for something similar to a giant snake, but nothing for the giant fox.

After deciding to go north first I take the quest for the ice worms to the counter and hand it to Mapleleaf. This time she doesn't bother to ask if I am sure, she just gets me the crystal for the ice worms and wishes me luck. The area I am heading to is technically outside the kingdom's borders, but since it is unclaimed territory I don't need to worry.

Once out of sight of town I take off running following the northern road. It takes me two hours at full speed to reach the northern border of the kingdom and then another hour to reach the hunting ground described in the quest information. According to the quest I need to kill five ice worms and they are described as carrion eaters so they can be lured with blood.

Since that is the case I decide to hunt down a mammoth first, the blood from me butchering it should attract the ice worms I need. The mammoths aren't hard to find since they are huge and they move in groups. The problem is how to separate one from the herd, so I start studying the herd.

I remember from watching nature shows that the older animals should be at the back of the herd. Those are the ones that can be lost without negatively affecting the herd itself. When I look to the back of the herd I find two old bulls are the last of the mammoths.

Targeting one of them I move in and attack causing it to trumpet in pain. The rest of the herd quickly moves away but the other old bull stays and tries to impale me with his tusks. Since they are normally harmless I feel kind of bad about killing them, but then I remember this is only a test.

This world isn't real and will cease to exist when I leave, so killing a couple of mammoths isn't a problem. Besides, I've always heard that elephant meat is the richest ever, and mammoths are just bigger, furry elephants. Dodging the tusks is easy, but I do my best and wait for a good opportunity to strike.

The reason is even though I know it is a test world I still feel bad and want to kill them as painlessly as possible. Because I kill the two of them with the minimum of bloodshed I don't attract any ice worms. Of course that changes when I start skinning and butchering the two mammoths.

The ice worms are more like snakes than worms, but since they burrow through the ground they are called worms. The only warning before they attack is a slight rumble in the ground, at least for humans. I can hear them moving underground up to a minute before they emerge.

On average the ice worms are about ten feet long and can swallow a human in one or two bites. However, as long as you can avoid the first attack, where they come up beneath you, they are not hard to kill. By the time I am done skinning and butchering the two mammoths I have already killed ten ice worms.