Did Eric enjoy eating fruits and vegetables? Same as he liked drinking water…not really, but he did it because he knew it would be the right choice in the long run. Not a complicated thought behind it, but it didn’t make the reasoning less right for that reason. For the same reason, he had to play weak against Shark. He didn’t like it in the slightest: being punched by that gloating fat ball. Every time Shark touched him, the damage was doubled. Psychological damage due to the shining smile enriched by his golden, pointy implants. To it was added the extreme boredom caused by the fact he had to wait for the end of the match while checking on his own strength: using enough to get at least a D rank evaluation but not enough to kill Shark with a punch just yet. The physical damage was nearly non-existent for him. On the contrary, his recovery rate increased to unreal levels thanks to his ability, Phoenix Master, allowing him to close his wounds and cuts instantly. Problematic was the opposite in this case: he had to reign in his passive ability to let the surrounding people believe he was actually being bloodied by those slow and weak punches. *At least I’ll get the money… * The only reason why he was keeping up this poorly staged act, in fact, was purely his greed. In a sense, it was all because of Eve. When the three of them were going towards the fighting grounds, their heightened senses made them perceive the betting craze created in the Guild after the three of them left the room. One look. One look was enough for Eric and Eve to reach a silent deal about the situation. While nodding and grinning slightly, Eric pulled his right hand inside his coat, contemporarily activating his storage ability and extracting around half of his gold coins. At the same time, Eve covered her face with the hood. Then she changed her outer appearance instantaneously after checking her surroundings. Finally, Eve grabbed the money sack from Eric and re-entered the Guild from the main entrance. *10 to 1 in order for 1 one of us not to be knocked out by this overweight pig! They are giving me a birthday gift before it's due time. Ahahahah! * At that moment, Eric was carrying on, waiting for the hourglass to run out of sand. Only one rule regulated that simple yet hardcore type of exam. The rookie would be graded based on how much time he could resist fighting against the B-rank adventurer. Rubra and Eve found being touched by that thing gross, over that a waste of time. They didn’t care about the grade they would have as beginning adventurers. For these reasons, the two of them just feigned fainting after perceiving the mana exuding from Shark at the beginning of the match. Useless to say the F-rank didn’t bother them. What made them miraculously regain consciousness was the approaching figure of Shark getting closer to them after the end of the ''fight'' to ''help'' them. Eric somehow felt like he was being put to the test by those two, but remembering the social expertise of Rubra and her love(hate)-hate relationship with Eve, he discarded that option. What surprised Shark was the sudden geysers of hot air exiting the ground when he tried getting closer to one of the two girls. *Well, I just have to wait for tomorrow… * Strangely enough, Eric’s and Shark’s thoughts coincided at that very moment. Eric decided to show almost none of his powers. Basically, he became a grappler aided by wind magic. In truth, he had tamed the air surrounding the battle arena and buffed his speed and strength using it. His fighting techniques?… That was just the partial application of his relatively new ability: Wild combat. *Finally, it’s over… * To win the bet, all he had to do, was raise his hand and ask to stop the test. In fact, not being knocked out or fainting had the same value bet-wise, so to get the money, he had to fight as the girls had left the job to him, as they had planned. All of this was decided even before entering the guild, meeting Shark, and betting on the trial's outcome. The more time passed, the more he enjoyed playing the pig. Shark wasn’t a tiger though, as it would be insulting against the poor animal. As he was thinking about all that, he decided to have a taste-test of the following day. He watched Shark in his eyes. After choosing instantly, he smiled, and as he raised his right hand, he advanced ever so slightly toward his own left side. Shark's telegraphed right hook appeared as if moving in slow-motion to Eric. Everyone in that room except for Rubra and Eve didn’t understand how. Eric had his right hand raised towards the sky. Blood was dripping down from his nails. It was the blood from the side right cheek of Shark. The man himself couldn’t see it coming and was now in this ridiculous situation. His right hook was precisely between Eric’s raised right arm and face. The silence was heavy. Shark didn’t know what to think of it or how to continue. ‘’I’d like to stop the test now. ‘’ Eric was the one to break the silence. Eve faced the enormous challenge of keeping herself from laughing too hard at the situation. *You told us not to get attention, and then you do this?! * Rubra on the other side, had a hand covering her open mouth. She didn’t understand the current situation, but something specific had attracted her attention. Blood was coming out of Eric’s mouth ‘’Er… ‘’ ‘’Odysseus! ‘’ Eve shouted louder, covering Rubra’s voice. Rubra’s face moved, but her words didn’t travel in the air. Turning her head, she saw Eve, telling her thousands of reproaching words with just a look. The clever dragon guessed her intention and created a relative void region around Rubra’s face, not allowing any sound wave from exiting that space region. Eric kneeled on the ground. Happiness on his face, not because of the achieved D-rank. Shark was unimpressed by the current situation. It wasn’t rare to see adventurers doping themselves to temporarily gain more power in spite of their long-term health. Most spectators had similar opinions about it and were trying to reclaim their money back at the bidding center, asking for a refund. The problem was the entry test didn't have any rules restricting the examinee as a more realistic combat condition. This wasn’t the first time they saw a stupidly confident rookie trying to inflate his abilities in that way. That simple detail made most lose interest in Eric. *Going on this way, tomorrow he will be dead before I meet him… * Shark was as confident as ever about the current situation. Eric’s face watched the ground, but at that particular moment, his golden eyes resembled two coins.

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