We finally reached the training grounds behind the main building of the guild. It wasn't big nor had anything worth mentioning. Just a few dummies for practice. The dirt floor was hard as a rock from all the people constantly stepping and compressing it. In the middle, one could spot a circle made out of actual stone, I assume this is where I will undergo my torture, I mean my test. Without a word, Dianna stepped inside the stone circle which is about twenty meters in diameter. The others placed themselves around the circle to watch. I too walked and entered the circle standing about ten meters from Dianna and five from the centre.

"Rules are simple, you will fight until you are thrown out of the circle or deemed unfit to continue by the referee which is me or you can surrender too. You will fight without weapons per Mis Dianna's request. This combat will determine if you are fit to join Mr Dan and Mis Lizz on the first-floor dungeon exploration per their request"

With that said Dianna sent a grin my way before speaking up.

"Well, Amelia I hope for a good work out. Also if you interrupt our combat for no good reason I will cut your pay"

Dianna sent a somewhat menacing glare towards the poor receptionist. I saw her making a complicated face, almost as if she is regretting her life choices. With a sigh, she gave us the signal to start and so it begins.

I didn't lose a second and went on the offensive instantly. What's the best defence? a good offence of course. I dashed towards Dianna at half my maximum output to try and deceive her and to my surprise, it worked. She sent her fist my way and at that moment I went all out. I delivered a spin kick to her unprotected ribs which sent us both in different directions. The gap between us was once again of ten or so meters but that was not the problem. The problem is my leg, the one I used to kick Dianna hurts like hell. If I had to guess I must have a fissure on the bone which by now is already healed but the thing is she is hard, too hard to be human, it felt as if I had kicked an iron wall.

"Haha! that took me by surprise and it hurt a bit too. You do pack a punch I must say but that won't be enough"

With a grin plastered all over her face, Dianna charged at me. In a matter of two seconds, she was already in front of me sending a punch with a force that made the air whistle. I was barely able to dodge but thankfully she left herself open for a counter-attack which of course I took advantage of. This time I sent my own punch with all my strength enhanced to the max with overload. The result was the sound of my bones cracking at the impact. Once again it felt like punching an iron wall. This time no gap was from between us since our stance sent the excess kinetic energy towards the ground dissipating it. In the next instant, Dianna sent her knee crashing down or should I say up towards my chest. I tried my best to dodge but in the end, I couldn't and the impact sent me flying a few meters in the air. I felt as if I had tried to kiss a moving train, out of breath as I was, I kept my mind in the combat and planed my counter-attack. In mid-air, I prepared myself and came crashing down prepared to land a downward kick.

As our spar was going on more and more people stopped their own training and began spectating our back and forth. It seems Dianna coming out to fight is a somewhat rare occurrence despite her love for it. As for me, I was trying my best to hold my ground. A back and forth of punches and kick went between us but each time she landed a hit on me I felt as if the force of her attacks kept on increasing. I began to feel inpatient, the pain I was feeling was something else since each time she attacked or I did I would be the one being hurt. Soon enough I began to lose my cool. I was angry, why did I have to feel so much pain for no apparent reason? It bothered me to no end. Soon I began to increase my output even more. I had set limiters for myself to prevent my body from hurting itself. I had already remove one of those limiters at the beginning of the combat since I knew from the rumours that otherwise, I wouldn't stand a chance. That's why my bones have been getting fissured every time I attack but now I was losing it.

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Soon enough I threw the rest of my limiters out the window. I dashed forward ducked below a punch and landed one in Dianna's chest. This time my bones broke but I didn't mind. The anger and adrenaline were surprising the pain, and my body was healing even faster than I was able to tear myself apart. Without stopping I continued punching and kicking until our fists collided head-on. I felt my finger bones break along with my wrist bones and the rest of my arm. I took the chance to get closer and headbutt Dianna with all my strength. To tell the truth that was a bad idea as soon after my head was spinning. Either way our match continued and the longer it went the more sporadic and savage my movements and attacks became. From the spectator's perspective I resembled a beast more than a human at this point. I kept going, punching and kicking. Dianna was still landing hits from time to time but not as often as before since my body contorted in ways that shouldn't be possible.

After about thirty or so minutes I was completely exhausted. No matter how hard I hit Dianna she seemed unfazed by it all. However, I could see her breathing growing a little ragged. We refused to stop and the receptionist didn't know what to do. She never expected me to fight in such a savage way Dianna's little warning earlier didn't help her either. Either way, the fight continued until Dianna slammed both her fists on the ground witch such a force the floor cracked in a spider web pattern as rocks flew out in all directions alongside a dust cloud. I was sent flying from the shock wave around five meters away.

"That should be enough"

Dianna's words were interrupted by her heavy breathing. I tried to relax my tense body which was filled with adrenaline. To tell the truth, I was already at my utter limit. My mana was about to run dry and my grip on sanity was also slipping ever so slowly. If we had continued for another minute or two I would have gone on a rampage like the time in the forest or when hunting the pest rabbits.

"You surprise me. Its been long since I had so much fu-. I mean you fought well"

I looked her straight in the eyes. There is something that still bothers me.

"How tough are you? no matter what I did you seemed completely unharmed"

A slight chuckle escaped Dianna as her grin grew larger. That grin got on my nerves every single time. I knew it wasn't a mocking grin. She simply found me amusing but still.

"it's my soul ability Impact. As long as I have mana I can absorb kinetic energy which I can later on release. However, I must admit you are quite something. The sheer amount of energy I had to absorb from your hits placed quite the dent on my mana reserves about a tenth or so. That kind of strength coming from a newcomer is quite a lot"

I finally understood why each of my hits were ineffective. It's like Dan's soul ability, mana shield, before you can hurt him you have to either make him run out of mana or output more damage than what the shield can absorb. In Dianna's case who knows whats her ability's upper limit.

"Either way, I would say it's a pass, and with flying colours at that. To tell the truth, I was ready to give you the pass after the first five minutes but I was having to much fun so I kinda forgot. Ahem, either way, its good that you have grown this much and I expect great things coming from you"

This, this muscles for brain guild master, I swear. At least I can relax a little now. Since we are going inside the dungeon I will be able to get some coin for a new weapon. All that is good is good. It didn't take long for Dianna to write the permit and soon after I was on my way towards the inn. Some food a warm bath or rather a towel with some water and sleep should be enough to get me back on track. My muscles felt sore, well all my body did, our little spar had placed quite the strain on my body but right now I didn't mind. What is in the past is in the past and right now I can only think about the future or rather on the dungeon. I had already eaten my fill, cleaned myself with the towel and water and tried to sleep, but the excitement kept me awake.

I later came to know that Dianna was lectured for more than two hours by all the other receptionists about abusing her status yada yada. The poor new receptionist ended receiving a bonus from having to deal with the guild master and joined the no respect for her authority crew. All in all, I would say the guild is a fun and interesting place, and I enjoy being a part of it a lot despite the trouble it some times brings my way. Now all that is left is looking forward to tomorrow where new adventures await to be had.