“I refuse.”

“User Harlan Drust has declined the suggested class, Acolyte. System recommends once again, Acolyte.”

A thin, but sturdy man stood in the center of the class selection formation with a thick frown. The room was dark, but the flashing blue lights faintly illuminated his facial features.

“Stop recommending Acolyte. I want to be a Fighter!”

“After an extensive review of user Harlan Drust, the system heavily suggests the class Acolyte. A competency test can be performed.”

“I don’t believe that I can’t be a Fighter. Let’s perform the competency test.”

“Acknowledged.”

The black room and blue lines melted away like a painting dropped in boiling water, revealing an endless landscape of grassy plains.

A cool breeze worked in tandem with the overhead sun to create a comfortable and resplendent atmosphere.

“Testing grounds established. Combat dummies approaching.”

With the sun positioned behind, a group of figures stood together at the top of a hill. Harlan squinted his eyes and tousled his blonde hair to the side as he tried to make out their features.

If Harlan didn’t know any better, the ragtag group appeared like heroes ready to combat the evil threat that was the test taker.

After the brief moment of superiority, the dummies raced to the bottom of the hill, lining up weakest to strongest.

The weakest one, the F-grade dummy, was a funky looking duck. It’s feathers were fluffy white, its beak small and golden.

The second weakest, the E-grade dummy, was a small grey wolf. Yellow lines traced its body as they followed along each of its extremities.

Both the duck and wolf stood in front of the pack like staunch defenders, but looming behind them were four hulking monstrosities.

The D-grade dummy was a mottled boar with bristling hair and gleaming tusks that jutted forth from its mouth. Sinewy muscles trailed down from its body and to its legs, while circular green lines decorated its body.

Harlan could only imagine what kind of power would be packed behind the boar’s charge.

Beside the boar was the C-grade dummy, a snarling bear that was at least three times the size of the boar. After baring its teeth to display its savagery, it hunkered down comfortably onto its hind legs. From its massive paws to its long snout, streaks of blue faintly glowed like a heartbeat.

Pacing in the back was the B-grade dummy, a striped tiger with fierce eyes. It refused to take its gaze away from Harlan, whom of which was deemed as prey. While also extending and retracting its claws, the tiger revealed its sharp teeth as a constant display of intimidation.

Hidden within the tiger’s black stripes were red markings that burned like hot coals. Everything about the creature appeared lethal, ready to unleash its full force at the drop of a hat.

Despite the tiger’s presence, the most frightening figure was the A-grade dummy—a hulking man with only a single feature, its chilling smile.

A series of purple patterns replaced its eyes, nose, and ears. The same purple lines streaked throughout its obsidian body, which was packed with powerful and chiseled muscles.

The A-grade dummy’s height towered over the tiger and bear. It’s arms were folded across its chest, making its protruding muscles all the more prominent.

Harlan gulped after witnessing the terrifying line-up that awaited him behind the duck and wolf.

“User Harlan Drust refutes the system’s recommendation of Acolyte and wishes to choose the class Fighter. In order to begin the Fighter examination, user will first be required to defeat the E-grade testing dummy within one minute as an Acolyte.”

The system’s voice reverberated out as the grey wolf crawled forward. It lowered its front legs as if posturing to pounce.

Before Harlan could reply, a small wooden stick appeared before him, which he grasped in annoyance.

“You’re saying I need to defeat this wolf as an Acolyte before you’re willing to test me as a fighter? How annoying.”

He clicked his tongue and glanced at the wand in his hand.

“And here I thought I’d be rid of wands after entering the tutorial.”

Harlan deftly twirled the wand between his fingers before readying himself.

He was no stranger to the craft of formations and magic. If anything, it was his family’s business to be knowledgeable and exceptional at the trade. What exactly was the family business?

Selling support services to adventurers in need, and they were the best money could buy.

Talent and skill were rare to come by, and even rarer still should it be a talented acolyte. Among acolytes, the selection narrowed even further still, should they want to specialize in support formations and healing.

The practice was so very uncommon, but so very vital to success, that companies, clans, guilds, and adventurers were all willing to pay a premium for a support acolyte’s services—especially a good one.

The only issue was how incredibly dull, tedious, and uninspiring the trade was. As lucrative as it could be, Harlan Drust was not a man to blindly chase wealth.

No, he had other ambitions, and this test was merely the start of his grand adventure into the unknown as a tenacious melee specialist that didn’t know the meaning of fear.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“But first, I need to dismantle this poor wolf.”

The wolf snarled and lurched forward as if antagonized by Harlan’s words.

Harlan didn’t waste a single second, immediately waving the wooden wand through the air with practiced motions. Particles remained in the air following the wand’s tip as he willed them to appear.

This was the skill of formation casting, a precursor to spells that is taught in academy before entering PSI World.

After completing a simple symbol of a pillar enclosed by a circle, he called out and pointed toward the wolf.

“Searing Light!”

A beam of sizzling gold shot forth, landing directly on the wolf’s head. The canine whimpered as it crumbled to the floor and attempted to pick itself back up.

Harlan never stopped casting and immediately followed up with another Searing Light, causing the wolf to explode into particles.

“Tsk. Starting off with E+ rank in the Intelligence attribute is simply too strong. All of my other attributes are of the lowest rank, F, but that’s normal. Everyone has to start from somewhere.”

Harlan mumbled as he readied himself for another contender.

“The boar looks dangerous, but I might be able scrape by with a victory. Anything beyond the boar… I’ll have a hard time.”

“User Harlan Drust has passed defeated the E grade dummy. It is once again recommended for the user to choose the class Acolyte.”

“Not a chance, please continue testing me. I’ll prove myself in melee combat.”

“Acknowledged. In order to select Fighter as a starting class, user must defeat the lowest grade dummy within one minute in melee combat. Please announce your weapon of choice.”

Harlan’s eyes lit up in excitement. This was the moment he had been waiting for!

“I choose a two-handed axe!”

With a thunk, a massive axe buried itself headfirst into the grass before him. At the same, the white feathered duck sauntered forward.

Harlan gripped the axe’s handle and hoisted the weapon over his shoulder. Unprepared for the sudden shift in weight, he toppled backwards.

“Oh shi-!”

His heart leaped to his throat as his back hit the floor.

The duck’s eyes glinted with a savage light. It was wasted no time and sprinted toward the downed man.

“Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Unleashing the fury of a thousand ducks, it’s golden beak flashed brilliantly in the sunlight, delivering peck after peck to any body part void of armor.

“Ouch! Hey! Fuck!”

Harlan tossed and turned on the floor, eventually managing to find his feet.

“You’re gonna get it now.”

He hefted the axe into his hands, fully prepared for its weight. Bracing himself, he gripped the handle tightly and swung.

“Quack!”

With a flap of its wings, the duck waddled beneath Harlan’s legs as his swing created a wide stance. The duck’s beady eyes sparkled as it spotted its next target—man’s greatest vulnerability.

“Hey-aaiaiiii!!”

Harlan’s face scrunched up as he belted out a harrowing cry. The duck waddled out from underneath the man as he crumpled to the floor.

All thoughts of swinging an axe disappeared in that moment.

“How… evil! How could anyone do that!”

Harlan cursed at the duck, who proceeded to waddle in a circle like a ring fighter.

“Quack!”

“Why you, I’m going to-“

“User Harlan Drust has failed to eliminate the F grade dummy within the allocated time. Test failure, please select a different weapon.”

“Wha-“

Harlan’s mind shook upon hearing the system’s announcement. The two-handed axe dissipated into the air the next second.

“I failed? Damnit, let me retake the test! Give me another chance with the two-handed axe!”

“User has shown relative incompetency with the previous weapon. Please select another weapon to continue the test. It should be noted that the system highly recommends the class Acolyte.”

He ground his teeth together as the veins on his forward bulged.

“Fine, give me… a lance!

A massive lance soon appeared with its tip impaled into the floor. As if on cue, the duck raced forward—wings flapping.

“Oh-ho-ho. Just watch as I skewer you with… Hey…”

With his hands wrapped around the handle, Harlan desperately tried pulling the lance from the floor.

“W-wait! This isn’t fair! It’s stuck!”

“Quack! Quack!”

The duck bit and tore through any loose clothes it could. Its sole mission was to cause as many injuries as possible within the small one-minute window.

“Ai! Hey! Stop that! Fuck, this lance is too tall!”

Without any suspense, Harlan’s one minute timer petered out.

“User Harlan Drust has failed to eliminate the F grade dummy within the allocated time. Test failure, please select a different weapon.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Harlan raged at the sky as the lance before him disappeared.

“You intentionally spawned the lance into the ground! That was sabotage!”

“The system is impartial when conducting tests, please accept the class Acolyte or choose another weapon.”

“Fine, I choose another weapon. It seems like lance wasn’t for me. I don’t even know what I’d do if my lance got stuck in the ground anyway. I choose…”

Harlan’s voice lingered while he eyed his adversary.

“Quack.”

Staring into the duck’s tiny dots of terror, Harlan’s mind worked quickly.

This unholy creature is too fast to be taken down by something unwieldy. Additionally, it bites without remorse and is quick to punish any openings. I need something that works for both offense and defense.

“I choose, sword and shield!”

As soon as his voice rang out, a sword and shield clanked onto the ground before him. He hastily picked up his weapons and prepared for the duck’s assault.

“Come on, little beasty.”

Harlan slammed his sword onto the shield, taunting the duck.

“Quack.”

Taking up the challenge, the duck flapped and waddled toward the man with its fastest speed yet!

“Quack! Quack!”

Its condescending eyes raged as they assessed the man’s new set of weapons.

Where could it attack? In front? To the side? Below? Where was an opening?

“Hah! I’ve got you now!”

Harlan made a wild swipe at the duck with his sword. The blade went clean over the duck’s head almost as if the duck wasn’t even the target.

“Quack!”

The duck put all its eggs in one basket with a risky bite to the man’s thigh.

A dull thunk resonated.

Harlan smiled as he felt the duck’s savage attack land directly onto his shield. He stabilized himself as the force of the blow dispersed through his body.

“Oh I’ve got you now.”

He slammed his shield into the duck’s body.

“Quack?!”

Seeing the duck momentarily stunned, Harlan drew back his blade and performed an overhead slash directly onto the duck’s neck. The blade went clean through.

Harlan’s greatest adversary had finally met its doom.

“User Harlan Drust has successfully defeated the F grade dummy. System still recommends user to select the class, Acolyte.”

“I refuse, I choose fighter with sword and shield!”

“Acknowledged, this concludes user Harlan Drust’s examin-“

“Wait! I want to practice against the A rank dummy with my new weapons. I can do that, right?”

Without another word, the man with purple carvings unfolded his arms and stepped forward. The beasts around him slunk back in fear as his muscles rippled and flexed.

He grew more and more intimidating with every step he took, until he finally arrived in front of Harlan.

“User Harlan Drust may strike the test dummy until user is satisfied. Note that the dummy will not fight back unless instructed. If instructed, the dummy will only perform non-lethal movements.”

Harlan looked up at the dummy’s obscure face and noticed its bizarre smile.

“I’ll wipe that smile off, take this!”

He slashed forward, with the edge of his blade landing on the dummy’s bicep. Without any suspense, his sword ricocheted off the dummy unable to even leave a scratch.

Harlan didn’t give up and gathered himself. He then launched a flurry of strikes at the dummy, insuring that each of them landed on new locations with more precision and accuracy than before.

Minutes passed by as Harlan honed his craft. His strikes and form grew more stable as sweat trickled off his chin.

Despite his efforts, the same freakish smile never left the dummy the entire time.

“Curse this dummy…curse that smile too. I-I give up. At least I got to become a fighter though. Who knew selecting a class could be so difficult?”

Harlan then continued the rest of the class selection process, but this time a candle of hope burned within his soul. A hope for an exciting adventure and a life of thrills.