Shen made sure that the man was still conscious before he asked him:

Shen: Still no plans to give up?

???: Raaaaaaa!

Shen: Good. It would have been so sad to end this so early on.

From this point, Shen began to use a spell to break one by one the bones of the warrior under the horrified gazes of the entire crowd. Adeline was no exception as she was averting her gaze. However, Atem who was next to her told her:

Atem: Don't avert your eyes. This is what it means to become an adventurer. Learn.

Adeline: But! Was there no other ways to do this?!

Atem: Miss Adeline, this is not a game. What we are doing is not simply an examination. It is a show of strength. We have to prove that we are beyond that.

Adeline: But...No. I understand it but this is...It feels like it is too much. Why go this far? Such a display is just too much!

Atem: Hm... Well, Leader always enjoyed showing off so there must be some of that too. Anyways, do you know what the spell he is using right now is?

Adeline: Should I? Such a horrifying spell...

Atem: Horrifying? It is Magic Projectile though? Compress some mana and send it out at fast speed to explode upon contact with the foe. A very basic spell. Don't you know it?

Adeline: ...I do. It is another compulsory spell to learn...But that's not what he's doing! His spell is just so...so violent and barbaric!

Atem: Miss Adeline, i told you once before did I not? Tools are neither good nor bad, only you get to decide that. Shen's Magic Projectile right now is impressive. Watch closely how he controls the speed and intensity of it down to the slightest detail. Bones are many and all are very different from one another yet observe this: he can break a single bone and nothing else with every hit! His technique is still as incredible as ever.

Adeline: You find this sight marvellous?!

Atem: I do. I see the Magic, miss Adeline, not what it does.

Adeline remained silent while she watched as the warrior was having his bones fractured one by one by a move of Shen's finger. The other nine contestants had given up long ago after seeing what the warrior was subjected to. Even the crowd was silent in shock and horror.

Stolen story; please report.

It took the eighty ninth bone for the warrior to finally give up.

At that moment, all magic disappeared. Shen's appreance reverted to that of a handsome and innocent young adult. The fire on the arena vanished and the clouds dispersed. As Shen turned to the GM, he saw the grim expression on his face. Seems like he managed to impress according to plan.

The GM called for healing assistance and announced Shen's success on the examination. The crowd appllauded silently. On one hand, they were shocked by the violence and on another, that display of prowess was beyond everything they knew and awe-inspiring. Shen had seemed like a devil shrouded in blue flames. Devils, while evil, remained divine existences to the human minds. This showed just how incredible the events had been and how deep an effect it had on the crowd's psyche.

Before he left, Shen left some words that were strangely easily heard by everyone in the unexpected silence of the arena:

Shen: To truly be a great adventurer, you also need to know when to back down. Do you know what differentiate a hero and a dead idiot? A single action.

Then, Shen went down and returned to his team bench. As he was walking there, a single man was grinning and applauding him fervently. A hooded man in a random seat.

There was going to be a short break before the second examination would take place.

...

During the break, in the infirmary, a beautiful woman mage was trembling non-stop. She was the strongest that participated in the battle and because of her particular affinity to mana, she was the one who saw the most of what truly happened and from up-close.

She saw it. All of it.

As a rank A quester, she had a farily large experience and, due to the job, went on many extermination quests. To be blunt, bounty hunting. While heretical professions were banished, it did not mean had been eradicated entirelyand she once had to catch one such practitionner. A puppeteer.

What she saw today was similar to back then. A sight she could never ever forget for how impressive yet horrendous it was. The marks of puppeting body modifications. The strings. It was a very difficult and these days extremely rare technique. The man she hunted had used it. It consisted on altering a part of the body to make it like one of the puppet. From there, one could use strings to manipulate the body part instead of the nervous system.

This process made it so that the reaction time was cut short by an incredible amount as mana moved from a thought much faster than the human body. It is easier to control something to do as we want than to do it ourselves, even more so when it comes to multiple complex actions.

In any case, what she saw today was just that. The man she was to be an examiner for. Shen. His entire body was made from strings. She had never seen something like it. No. She never thought such a thing was possible. This man was no longer human. He became his own puppet. A monster.

This man who just now got recognized as an A rank delver, one of the most famous and powerful occupation, was an heretic. A puppeteer. And likely the strongest of them all. Maybe even rivaling the thankfully sealed demon emperor of old, the only one rumored to have successfully altered his entire body into a puppet...Wait. No. It couldn't be!

At this moment, she began to convulse violently, lost consciousness as foam began to escape her mouth.

???: Quick! We need healing here! She's having a collapse!

...

Atem: Leader, I think one of your opponent saw it.

Shen: She did. Why do you think I talked at the end if not to warn her?

Atem nodded. He hoped that the woman would pick the path of the idiot for this would be the most entertaining one.