While waiting for the line to move, I noticed that the quest board was quite different from what I remembered. Previously, the quests had mostly been handwritten, and haphazardly strewn all across the board, but now, there was section of organized sheets in the center with empty space around them that the other quests did not dare encroach on. I wondered what kind of quest could possibly be so important as to displace all the others, so I tried to read it.

  Much of the text was difficult to see, even with [Enhanced Senses], both due to the small font, and the amount of people milling about in front of it, but the line moved slowly, so I had plenty of time. The first page was the only one that contained anything important, with the rest being various religious passages that I can’t be bothered to remember

  “Attention, people of Astraeus! The great goddess Themis has blessed us with a prophecy so that we may defend ourselves against threats and maintain our peaceful and orderly society. The prophecy speaks of a demon king, sent by one of the demon gods to sow discord and chaos into our world, but do not fear, for we have located the demon king.

  To combat a threat of this magnitude, the faithful paladins of Order may not be enough. We are recruiting all able bodied adventurers rank 2 or higher to join us on our campaign to defeat the demon king. If you are interested, please go to your nearest church of Order for more information and to sign up”

  When I first read the contents of this page, I was worried, but as I thought about it more, I realized that this was actually a good thing for two main reasons. First, the fact that they hadn’t announced the existence of other demon kings, and asked the public for help finding them meant that they didn’t want to cause any mass panic, so I would be able to move a bit more freely. I still couldn’t afford to be careless, but I wouldn’t need to watch my every step, and would only need to take a couple precautions against the church. Secondly, they had already located one of the others and were planning to attack. Since it was still relatively early in the game, the other demon king would likely be fairly weak, and would be defeated, which meant one less enemy for me to worry about in the future.

  As I mused, at some point, I made it to the front of the line, and was greeted again by a smiling Helena.

  “Hello, how can I help you today?” she said.

  “I’d like to take the rank-up examination,” I replied confidently.

  The people around me went silent and began to stare, and Helena’s smile faltered slightly.

  “A-are you sure?” she asked.

  I was a little disconcerted by the reactions of the people around me, but I was resolved to take the test, so I said “Yes.”

  “Alright, if you would please show me your registration.”

  I pretended to reach into my pocket and then used [Inventory] to summon my temporary registration and handed it to her.

  “This…” she said, looking it over. “This is a rank 6 beginner temporary registration.”

  “Correct. Is that a problem?”

  “Well… no… but I think you should seriously think your decision over. You are only rank 6. If you have some skill, you can easily reach rank 5 in a couple weeks, and rank 4 in a couple months. There’s no need to risk taking the exam.”

  “Is the exam that dangerous?”

  “...no,” she said unconvincingly.

  “Hmmmm. I don’t believe you, but I’d still like to take the exam.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked again.

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “Then please, step to the side and wait for a moment. The branch manager will be with you shortly.”

  I stepped aside as she asked and waited next to the desk for Alyona. Many people nearby were eyeing me, and a few were whispering to each other while not-so-subtly gesturing in my direction. A minute later, I saw the scarred half-elf walking down the stairs. She looked almost identical to how she had when I met her the first time, wearing very similar casual clothing, though this time she had a sword hanging from her waist.

  “Lucy?” she said, looking at me.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Looks like you got rid of your stalker. Good for you,” she said. “So I hear you’re looking to take the rank-up examination?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “That’s the third time I’ve been asked that,” I said, starting to get annoyed. “You’d think that if I wasn’t sure, I would have said ‘no’ one of the other two times.”

  “Well, if you say so.” She shrugged. “Follow me.”

  Alyona led me through a door next to the desk and out the back of the guild to a courtyard that must have been the training grounds. There were a few small fields, some wooden and stone dummies, and racks of wooden and blunted metal practice weapons. There were a few adventurers training, most with weapons, and some with spells, but all but one stopped their training and looked up as we walked by. Their faces showed a variety of expressions, ranging from amusement to horror to concern.

  The people at the guild seemed pretty terrified of however Alyona conducted these rank-up examinations. I must admit, I was having trouble imagining what she could possibly do to make them feel that way. It was possible that she was just a bit harsh, and everyone there was weak, but that would be a foolish assumption. It was more likely that she would ‘test’ me by ‘sparring’ and then just beat me up. Even if that was the case though, I would be fine. I had [Rapid Regeneration], so whatever she did to me, I could heal off.

  We finally stopped at the back corner of the arena in a walled off area with two stone dummies on one end. Alyona turned around to look me in the face and began to speak.

  “So, what rank are you aiming for? You’re rank 6 right now, so rank 5 should be fairly easy, though you can challenge for anything up to rank 1. I can’t give you rank 0.”

  “There’s a rank 0?”

  “Yes. So what are you aiming for?”

  “Rank 4, so I can enter the Dungeon alone.”

  “What’s your position?”

  “Utility or mage.”

  “What utility abilities can you use?”

  “[Inventory], [Light], and [Siphon Water].”

  “[Inventory]? Are you a tri-elemental?”

  “I am, but not with spatial,” I lied. “I got [Inventory] as a class skill.”

  “Oh?” she raised her eyebrow. “What class?”

  “That’s private.”

  “Hmmm, well that’s too bad. Those three skills alone will qualify you as a rank 5, assuming you can demonstrate them and you pass the rest of the test. What about as a mage? You said you were tri-elemental, so water, light, and what else?”

  “Earth.”

  According to the book on combat magic that I had read, earth was the most universally useful basic attribute for combat. Water was versatile, but not particularly strong in any one area. Wind was only useful to ranged attackers, and even then, it was just a supplement. Fire was easily blocked by Earth, Water and Wind at low levels. Light and Spatial were generally treated as utility classes, though if one got to a high enough level, they could be devastating with spatial magic. Earth magic, on the other hand, could form solid barriers and unleash powerful attacks not easily stopped by the other attributes.

    “That’s good. Earth magic is good, especially in Dungeons. Now, first, demonstrate your utility magic, then we’ll do your combat spells, then you can show off any other skills you think could be useful before we move on to the next portion of the exam.”

  I did as she asked, first showing off my light spell, and then siphoning water out of the air to form a globe. Then I showed off [Inventory], and pulled out my knives, rope, and cloak, and then put them back. She asked me about the storage limitations, and I told her the truth, though I didn’t tell her that most of the space was currently filled with blood. She nodded in approval, and then we moved on to combat skills.

  I first demonstrated [Stone Bullet], which shattered against the stone dummy’s head, cracking it slightly, but nothing more, which was disappointing. If must have been enchanted, because if it were normal stone, it would have shattered like the bullet had. My theory was proven a moment later when the cracks slowly disappeared. Then, I repeated my [Water Siphon] trick, and used the water for [Water Blade] It left a cut an inch deep in the dummy’s neck that also was shortly healed.

  For Light, I demonstrated 3 skills. First was [Blind], which produced an orb of darkness around the dummy’s head. Though it did no damage to the dummy, had it been a real person, it would have been completely unable to see anything. Then, I demonstrated [Flash], which, as its name suggested, created a bright flash of light that was once again ineffective against the dummy, but would be useful enough against a living opponent. Finally, I used [Laser], which was a fairly disappointing skill. It was only a step up from a laser pointer. I held it on the dummy’s head for a few seconds, and the stone heated visibly and started to distort until I stopped, and it returned to its original state.

  “Well, that last skill was a bit lackluster, but overall, your magical abilities are enough to get you to rank 4, but not any further. Once you level them up somewhat, they will serve you well though. Now, before we move on to the next portion of the test, do you have any other skills that you think help make you a better adventurer?”

  I did, of course, since I still had my other three elements, and I had just learned how to use aura, but after seeing Silvia’s reactions when I had revealed those things to her, I had decided before starting the test that I would not reveal them. The only ones I felt comfortable revealing were the common ones that Lucille already had before I took her body.

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  “I have [Stealth] and [Dagger Mastery]. Neither are at a high level, but they are good enough to serve me in an emergency.”

  “I see. Yes, those could be useful. Anything else?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good. Now, onto the next portion.”

  While I waited for her to explain what the next portion of the test would be, I opened my HUD to see how I was doing on [MP]. I had used a lot of spells, but since they were all basic spells, they hadn’t used much, and I had a lot of [MP], so I was still sitting comfortably around three quarters full. However, As I looked at my stats, [Detection] activated suddenly, followed by a piercing pain in my shoulder as my [HP] decreased by 35. I closed my HUD in surprise and looked up to see what had happened, only to find Alyona pulling the sword that had been on her waist out of my shoulder.

  “What the fuck was that for?!” I shouted as I leapt backwards and summoned one of my enchanted daggers from [Inventory].

  “You should never let your guard down when in a Dungeon,” she said holding her sword towards me.

  “We’re not in a Dungeon!” I protested.

  “But you were in danger. From the moment you said you wanted to take the rank-up examination, you should have felt it, from the reactions of everyone else around you. You shouldn’t have let your guard down.”

  I couldn’t refute that statement, so instead I settled for casting [Stone Bullet] at her.

  “Good!” she said, easily deflecting it. “Injuries are common for adventurers. You need to be able to react properly when hurt, if you want to survive.”

  I didn’t answer and instead cast two [Water Blade]s, another [Stone Bullet], and then another [Water Blade] in rapid succession. She easily blocked or dodged all of them while slowly approaching me. Suddenly, she lunged at me, stabbing forward, but I was ready, and my [Agi] was high. I sidestepped and swung my dagger down at her, but she somehow twisted her body out of the way, while simultaneously changing the direction of her sword. I felt another rush of pain in my side as my [HP] dropped by another 50.

  “Fucking hell, are you trying to kill me?” I shouted at her.

  “Does it matter? If you’re holding back because you think this is just some test, and that I’ll stop soon to give you your score, you should stop, or you just might die.”

  I had been slowly circling as we talked, so when she lunged again the moment she finished speaking, I was ready, and instead of trying to counter attack, I backed up further, towards the entrance to the walled space we were in. Then, I cast a quick [Flash], followed by [Blind] and continued backing away. However, Alyona wasn’t barely fazed. She faltered slightly, before suddenly dashing past me, moving faster than I thought should have been possible and stood in front of the entrance, blocking my escape.

  “Good! Very good!” came her voice from within the black orb. “You recognized that I was an opponent you couldn’t defeat, and tried to retreat. In the Dungeon, that might have worked. Unfortunately for you, I’m not done testing you yet.”

  I did not respond, and instead, activated [Stealth], hoping that without her vision, and without being able to hear me, she would lose track of me. I believed it had worked, until she suddenly waved her blade in a great, sweeping arc in front of her. [Detection] made my insides churn as I felt an invisible force approaching. I cast [Magic Shield] directly in front of me, but it shattered almost instantly, and her attack bit into my stomach, further reducing my [HP] by 60. The orb of darkness flickered for a moment as I lost concentration, then disappeared.

  “Never assume that you know your opponent’s full capabilities,” she said, blinking out the pupil dilation she had just experienced. “Just because they have only been using melee attacks doesn’t mean they don’t also have ranged attacks and vice versa.”

  “Fuck you!” I responded.

  “Ah, still got some fire left in you! Good! Let’s continue!”

  I quickly ran through my options in my head. Though I was pissed off, and rightfully so, I couldn’t afford to lose my cool. Not only would that not be helpful, but Alyona had specifically mentioned being able to keep calm when injured, so if I lost myself to anger, that would be points against me.

  I mentally calmed down as I slowly circled Alyona. This was still a test, despite how it felt. She did not want to kill me, even if she pretended to. With how she had moved earlier, she was more than strong enough to kill me at any time, so my death was not her goal. It was possible that she was just a sadist getting some sick sort of pleasure from torturing me, but even so, she was also the guild’s branch manager, so she wouldn’t take it too far. Probably.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have many options left. I didn’t want to reveal too many of my skills to her, and I had already attempted everything she knew I could do. I could surprise her with some of my other skills, but given how the fight had gone so far, that would be pointless. She would stop them easily, and more of my secrets would be revealed. I would have to get creative with what I had already shown her.

  She didn’t have any weakness in her fighting style that I could exploit. [Blind] had slowed her a bit, but she had proven that it wouldn’t do much overall. I could use it to my advantage if I managed to time it conveniently though. Even if she could function well in a fight without her sight, the loss of one of her senses would hopefully still make her hesitate slightly, and I could set something up quickly while she couldn’t see and possibly surprise her.

  It seemed that as I continuously moved back and forth in a semicircle around her, Alyona had gotten tired of waiting, and attacked me with another lunging stab attack. As I saw her setting up for it, I suddenly had an idea. She did have a weakness. That weakness was that she didn’t want to kill me. But even if she ran me through, I probably wouldn’t die. And if it somehow did take all my remaining [HP], I still had [Perseverance] as a last resort skill.

  As she lunged forwards, I made no effort to dodge, and actually stepped forward into the blade. She didn’t see this though, as I cast [Blind] at the exact same time. She continued forwards, and plunged her blade into my stomach, and for a split second, the pain was so great that I almost forgot my plan. It reminded me of when I had appendicitis back on Earth. The disease itself wasn’t so bad, but it was my first surgery, and I only learned afterwards that some painkillers were ineffective against me. After my surgery, I was immobile for days, in too much agony to even watch television.

  I steeled myself, and pushed through the pain, and as Alyona realized what had happened and tried to pull her blade out, I grabbed her by the back of her head and thrust my knife into her gut. It did not get very far, as I had somewhat expected. It seemed she could use aura to protect herself, so the blade only went in about an inch before being stopped, but I had hit her. As she pulled her blade out of my abdomen, I collapsed to the ground, smiling.

  I checked my [HP]. It was at a bit less than half, and slowly dropping as I bled out. Normally, it would have been going up instead, but since I was trying to keep [Hemokinesis] and [Rapid Regeneration] a secret, I was forced to lay down in pain and wait until either the guild got me official healing, or they left me alone so I could heal myself.

  Alyona stood above me, staring at me in shock for a few seconds before she suddenly knelt down next to me and put her hands on my bleeding form.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” she said.

  As she spoke, I felt a sudden warmth in my body, and my [HP] started to slowly increase. I looked down to see the hole in my stomach slowly close up under her hands.

  “I was thinking that you were a bitch, and that you needed a good stabbing. And it worked. I got you.” I pointed at the small trickle of blood coming from her own stomach.

  “So you decided to try to kill me in a suicidal last ditch effort.”

  “It wasn’t suicidal. I knew I wouldn’t die. And I knew you wouldn’t let me. Even if you’re harsh during the exams, if you killed everyone who wanted to take the exam, you probably wouldn’t be able to keep your position. I figured that there would be a healer somewhere nearby to save me. I didn’t think it’d be you though.”

  “Idiot. What if you were wrong, though? What if I was trying to kill you?”

  “But I wasn’t wrong.”

  She glared at me for a moment, and then stopped healing me and stood up. My [HP] wasn’t quite back to full, but it was pretty close. There was still a bit of pain in my stomach, but it was no more than a light cramp. I stood up after her. And looked her in the eye as she continued to glare at me. We stood like that in silence for a few more seconds before she looked down at her own stomach, from which blood was still trickling.

  “Fuck,” she said. “I can’t believe a rank 6 newbie got me like that. As much as I hate to admit it, you did well at assessing your situation and coming up with the optimal method of attack. If I were a few levels lower, your attack might have been fatal.”

  I grunted in acknowledgement, not willing to use any words with her. She looked me up and down.

  “C’mon, let’s go get cleaned up. You’ve got a change of clothes in that [Inventory] of yours, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. There are a few rooms where you can get yourself cleaned up. I’ll take you to one of them, and you can wash all that blood off of you and change into a clean set of clothes. I’ll pay you back for the clothes I tore too.”

  I grunted again, and then followed her back to the main guild building. There were a lot more adventurers in the training grounds than there had been earlier, and most of them weren’t doing much training. They all stopped to watch as we walked by, whispering with each other. Some snickered, while others gasped as they pointed at the skin showing through the holes in my clothes. I scowled, but didn’t say anything, and continued on past them.

  Alyona showed me to a room on the third floor with a magical device very similar to a shower. She gave me a quick tutorial on how to use it before leaving to go clean herself up. I noticed that there was still blood flowing from the wound on her stomach, and wondered about it. Clearly, she could heal wounds even more serious than that, so why didn’t she heal her own? I came up with a few options, but then let the topic fall as I washed myself. I turned on the shower while I used [Hemokinesis] to siphon all the blood out of my clothes and off of my body to drink it back up again. Even with that though, I was still only at just over half my maximum [Life Energy] capacity. I wish I had been able to take back the blood I lost in the fight, but that would have been impossible.

  Then, I remembered something. I summoned my dagger back, and looked at the blood that coated the tip. Alyona’s blood. I used [Hemokinesis] to remove it from my blade and float it into my mouth. It tasted surprisingly good. Almost like hot chocolate. When I swallowed, I heard a ding, and a window appeared in front of me.

[Create Thrall] lvl 6

Current Thralls: 3

Available Thrall Slots: 3

You have consumed the blood of [Half-Elf] Alyona. Would you like to attempt to add a Thrall?

[Yes]

[No]

  I hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately thought No and the prompt vanished. It could be useful to have someone like her under my command, but after my experience with the assassins, I was hesitant to try to enthrall someone of such a high level. The assassin, Maxine, had a high enough [Wil] that not all of my control options were available. I didn’t know Alyona’s level, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were two or three times mine, which meant she could easily have more [Wil] than me. If that were the case, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to control her, or what would happen if I couldn’t. It was too much of a risk.

  After I took of my clothes, I put them into [Inventory], and then started summoning some of the Hobgoblin’s blood that I had stored there to replenish my [Life Energy]. I needed to use almost half of it before I was back to full. Then, I stepped into the shower and washed off the rest of whatever grime I had accumulated during the short fight before changing into cleaner clothes and heading back downstairs.

  I was in a much better mood by then with my cleaner clothes and having reactivated [Rapid Regeneration] to fix what Alyona had missed. When I got back down to the lobby, I started to head towards the back of the line, but Helena waved me over and had me cut the line so she could hand me my registration. I got a couple glares from the people waiting in line, but I didn’t really care. I grabbed my new piece of paper from her and gave it a cursory glance.

  Alyona had evaluated me at rank 4, apparently, but there was a note that said I would be able to promote to rank 3 without taking another examination, or completing the normally necessary amount of quests once my skill levels were high enough and I knew a few more spells. Though I still wasn’t happy with what she had done, I was glad that she had at least recognized my ability. I thanked Helena and then left the guild hall, heading towards the western city gate towards the Dungeon.

  I still hadn’t even skimmed the new books I had gotten from Anatoly, but I was getting a bit restless doing nothing but reading and training, and I was curious what the Dungeons in this world were like. Plus, Alyona, who had experience with dungeons, had evaluated me at borderline rank 3. As long as I didn’t go too deep, I would be fine. I followed the road out beyond the walls and into the forest as the last of my anger with Alyona was replaced with excitement at the prospect of finally going Dungeon diving.