"How?" shrieked the blond healer.

"How was it?" pressed the knight.

Arthur stayed beet red, "No no no no no, I am not kissing and telling. I don't know what it was but it felt like she liked me when we first met."

"If I may, I think you should consider being careful who you invite along on your adventures. Trust is a rare commodity. There are likely to be opportunists lurking in the hearts of many," advised Kelrick the elf through the speaker of the cell phone.

"Good point, we could always do tryouts. Run a few people through other labyrinths and see how skilled they are."

"Let me ask around and see if we can find a trap finder the old-fashioned way," offered Moonglow.

"The first question to ask them is if they know Paul or Ben and if they do. Automatic veto. I still think our buddy here should just suck it up and dial a Valkyrie," smirked Frank

"Agree to the first part, hell no on the second."

"Leave him alone. He was never good at talking to girls even in school. Now you are trying to force him to call a girl and a famous adventurer. He'll freeze. Let's just go home and lick our wounds. Those dolls are a lot more dangerous than we thought. We need to get better before we come back. Should we try the other one tomorrow Arthur?" asked Moonglow.

"Can we drop by the rental office? I need to sell some of the mana crystals. Maybe I'll have enough to buy a sword instead of renting it. Speaking of, I need to pay off the one I rented that got turned into a paperweight. Kelrick, do you have anything else to say or share before I disconnect?" said Arthur.

"It was nice to meet the both of you. I hope we can talk again later. May fortune smile upon all of you."

The three exited the labyrinth. Arthur looked around to make sure no one saw them come out and closed the portal. He didn't want anyone to know that they can go in and out freely.

Arthur looked at the ticket number for the rental line and told the other two that he was going to stay til he got to talk to someone about his rental. Frank and Holly gave him a thumbs up and went to sell their crystals before they went home.

Several adventurers were in the rental line. He looked at each one trying to classify them. He looked at a warrior whose arm was in a sling. The warrior walked up to the counter and returned a sword. It was a big sword that required two hands to use. Arthur wouldn't have the strength to even lift that behemoth.

The sun had set by the time he got to the counter. The pudgy clerk with glasses was there smirked, "Returning the equipment already?"

"No, I need to sell some crystals but I'm reporting that I lost my sword so I will need to have it charged to my account. Until the crystals get credited to the account."

The clerk punched up his account and looked back at Arthur like he was confused, "Sir, you have more than enough in your account to pay for the sword and then some." He turned the monitor to face his red-haired customer to show that he had a balance of five thousand credits.

"Ummmmm, can you check my history to see when I received a deposit?"

The clerk clicked over to transactions and it showed the deposit was a transfer from another account. It was transferred online two days ago. The only thing Arthur could associate it with was Valkyrie who he ran into two days ago. "Ummmm ok, go ahead and charge the sword, bow, and arrows to my account. I'll drop by the shop to get re-equiped on the way out."

"Very well, Sir," he turned the monitor back and did a few more clicks. "Done. Can I help you with anything else?"

Arthur shook his head and waved goodbye. He crossed the threshold and headed towards the shop. A man caught up to him, placed his hand on his shoulder, and squeezed hard intending to cause pain and intimidation.

"Hello runt, I've been meaning to have a word with you when I see you again," he growled.

Arthur's instincts kicked in when he felt a fight or flight response. Normally, he would choose a flight response and deal with the aftermath. However, ever since he met Kelrick, he felt that he was becoming more proactive in choosing a course of action that didn't require him to do clean up afterward.

He spun quickly which forced the man to release his shoulder. He went into a roll to give himself some distance from the warrior he had enspelled to sleep. He reached out to his quiver when he got up and pulled two arrows that he wielded like two daggers. "I suggest you back up and let it go. The lady at the time didn't want anything to do with you and I saved you from a bigger embarrassment by putting you to sleep. Or would you prefer to have your ass kicked by a girl?"

"You know there's a rule of no fighting inside the GM offices. So let's make this legal. I challenge you to a duel in the arena. Do you accept?" barked the warrior, his eyes already glaring at the slender redhead in front of him.

Security personnel were rushing up but slowed down at the challenge declaration. A man in a navy blue suit stopped nearby to look at the situation, almost as if a spectator.

Arthur didn't hesitate, "I accept the challenge. I call on subdual to win the duel."

The warrior huffed, "Accepted. Let's go runt. The faster I kick your ass, the faster I can go meet my friends and tell them how I wiped the floor with you."

Arthur puts the arrows back into the quiver and walks towards the arena.

Several spectators that were about to leave the building, stopped and whispered to each other. Some started to go to the arena and that convinced the rest to follow. They looked for seats as close to the action as possible. By the time the referee showed up, about forty people were watching.

A referee walked up dressed like one of those who judged on a football field. He even had a whistle. "A duel challenge was declared and accepted. The winning condition is subdual. No maiming or killing allowed. Have you two decided if spells are allowed or not?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The warrior looked at Arthur, "No sleep spells, but I'm ok with spells."

Arthur nodded, "Don't worry, I won't use a sleep spell. This way you can't bitch about getting sucker spelled."

The warrior growled back at the taunt.

The referee pulled the whistle to his lips, swung his arm upwards, and blew.

The warrior was about twice Arthur's size. He rushed forward throwing punches. Arthur took a deep breath and allowed what memory from Kelrick to flow through him. He ducked under the punch and took a step past the hulking guy, his leg sweeping backward and knocking the man prone.

"Holy shit, you see that? The scrawny kid can move! Who wants to bet on this fight?"

The man slammed his hands on the ground in anger and stood back up. He was seeing red and Arthur could see that he was acting more uncontrolled the more he was agitated. "Don't tell me I knocked the wind out of you. What would the girls say about your lack of endurance?"

An audible growl echoed throughout the arena as he rushed forward and grabbed Arthur's arms. He bared his teeth in triumph on grabbing hold, but Arthur had allowed him to grab hold. He jumped up, launching himself over the guy's head, and spun in the air to have his arms crossed. He landed on the man with his arms on the warrior's head. The move freed his arms because the big muscle-bound idiot didn't expect it. It was the perfect placement for a sleeper hold. Arthur applied the move and the warrior swung wildly trying to get him off his back.

The crowd cheered and roared as they saw the big man slumping into a kneel, then onto the floor.

The referee came closer and raised the man's arm twice. He tapped my arm, "You can let go, he's unconscious. Any longer and you would break the rule of no killing."

Arthur stood up and looked down at the man.

"The winner is Arthur by sleeper hold. The result has been logged in the system. The warrior Brawler will have a note on his record that he is not to approach you within one hundred feet. He is also not allowed to cause you harm outside of the GM offices. This is similar to a restraining order and will be valid in the eyes of the law."

Arthur picked up his bow and quiver. He intended to walk to the shop but the crowd was congratulating him on the win. He got to the exit of the arena and the man in the navy blue suit was waiting for him.

"Arthur, may I take a moment of your time? My name is Steve McClaren. I looked at your records while watching your duel. I believe we need a retest of your skills. Would you follow me?"

Arthur blinked, "Shit did I show off too much?" He thought but followed along. He had no choice.

Steve's gelled coif hair reflected the lights overhead, each step he took with his leather shoes made a sound on the floor. They took an elevator that required a badge swipe. The lift took them up maybe thirty floors. The suit led the young man to a door that Arthur had never seen before.

Steve opened the door, "Shane, I need you to take an unscheduled test. The candidate is Arthur Crown, no adventurer name yet and skill has been marked as undetermined. Shows some sword and magic use. I just saw him beat a rank C warrior without weapons and perform acrobatics and a sleeper hold."

Shane as it turned out was a purple-haired lady in a lab coat. "Oh, we got a volunteer!" She clapped and made a very exaggerated motion of come this way.

She instructed Arthur to remove his gear and enter a large cylindrical chamber. She tapped his bracers. "Take these off too. I need to put special bracelets and anklets to do the test."

Arthur hesitated, then removed the bracers and placed them with the bow and quiver. He also placed two cell phones with his gear.

The lady in the lab coat applied bracelets and anklets. The LED lights on the devices blinked a few times and a voice echoed in the lab. "Devices synchronized. Testing may commence at any time, measurements will be gathered."

"Ok Arthur, the system is ready. Go through the motions for any skill you want to be tested for. If it is a weapon move, imagine that you have the weapon in your hand. If it is a spell, just cast it."

Arthur took a breath and mentally went through a checklist of what people might have seen him do. He did a leg sweep. He did the high jump with the body flip. He did archery. He performed simple movements for attacking as if he were holding two arrows. He cast a protection against electricity and Lightningdart.

Arthur didn't know what else to do and saw Shane watching him like a hawk. "Activate four mini drones. Attack pattern beta. Execute."

"What the hell?" blurted Arthur and engaged the drones that took him four minutes to defeat. He deliberately slowed his reactions so that it appeared that it was harder to defeat the drones. In truth, he could have defeated them in one minute.

Shane called out, "Ok system, tabulate the results and power down the devices." The LEDs on the devices flashed for another minute before shutting off. The purple-haired scientist began to take them off and put them to the side.

"What made you choose Mr. Arthur Crown as a candidate for this testing?" asked the scientist.

"I was hesitant in suggesting him when he was suggested to me, but after seeing him fight. I could see why she recommended him for this evaluation," answered the suave Mr. McClaren.

"Who recommended me?" asked the confused Arthur as he fastened the bracers back on.

"Valkyrie. She seems to think your classification and ranking would surprise me," he smiled back.

"Results tabulated. Rank assignment B. Skills possessed, acrobatics, unarmed fighting, single weapon proficiency, dual wielding proficiency, spell casting proficiency, and spell affinity electricity. Mana capacity Rank B."

"Evaluation and suggestions," commanded Shane.

"Evaluation of results is 70% efficiency. The subject appears to be holding back. Analysis inconclusive. Suggestion one, the subject needs to grow more confident in himself. Suggestion two, acquire the trust of the subject for them to exhibit their full potential."

"Comparison of the results gained from this evaluation vs all the other evaluations using this method."

"Subject Arthur Crown is an outlier. Results tabulated with his data skew to the inaccuracy of the system."

Shane looked back at the subject and the suit, "Mr. McClaren, you oversee this project. You can have Arthur evaluated downstairs. I can't trust the results of the evaluation with 70%. And the system might be right, he might be holding back."

Steve walks over and looks Arthur in the eye, "Are you holding back?"

Arthur felt a compulsion and he resisted it but realized that he needed to answer. He decided to answer truthfully when he noticed Steve's eyes widen in surprise when he resisted, "Yes, I am holding back. I don't know what I am capable of and I am still trying to find myself."

"What adventurer name would you like to use?"

"Ummm... Can I give one but not actively use it until I am ready?"

"That can be arranged."

"Warden"

He turned to Shane, "Update adventurer name to Warden. Set the name to hidden for now until Mr. Crown wants it public. Update the ranking to B, and enter the listed skills."

"Arthur, when you feel like you have grown again. Come back in for reevaluation with Shane. Shane, give him your direct work number."

Steve straightened his suit and headed for the elevator, "Shane will show you out. And, give Valkyrie a call. She's expecting you to do so tonight. Expect to be invited to dinner."

With my jaw dropped, Mr. McClaren entered the elevator. It was going up.

"Rank B from unclassified is a major leap. Leave the bow and arrows. They would be substandard to your use. With your rank, you should at least use weapons that complement your abilities. This is a specially forged sword with high conductivity. It has been reinforced and spelled so that electricity and high-capacity lightning bolts will not melt it. And if you decide to dual wield, the command to split will create a mirror of the weapon at half the thickness. This bow does not require ammo, it has been spelled to create lightning arrows or force arrows," said the scientist as she pulled the sword and bow from a wall with various other weapons.

Arthur thanked the scientist Shane. Shane handed him a card with her work number. "Call when you have questions about your gear, or when you want to schedule a reevaluation."

Arthur was led to the elevator, Shane swiped her badge and sent it down to the lobby. Arthur noted that he was on the 35th floor.

Stepping out of the elevator, he picked up his phone and dialed Valkyrie.

"Hello?"

"Um... Hello Valkyrie, It's me, Arthur. I was told that you were expecting my call."

"Finished with the evaluation?"

"Yes?"

"Good, come on out. I'm outside waiting."

Arthur blinked and could even feel that the unpredictable woman was grinning in the last sentence before the phone hung up.