Chapter 9: Debut Villain (2)

Inside the Assessment hall, Bellora waited for the machine's confirmation.

'Test will begin in 10 seconds. Please prepare for a 'Goblin Horde Battle'.

The P.A. announced loud and clear that she had just moments before she had to go all out.

"Hooh.. It's about time, right? I can do that." To calm her nerves the Saint reassured herself and glanced around one final time. Her eyes met with the man in the VIP Only Viewing deck. The green glow eminating from his eyes seemed like a predator stalking her prey.

Unnerved but not shaken, she spoke quickly with the remaining couple of seconds she had left.

"S-[Summon Spirit]! [Haste]!" She commanded a pale gold creature. It's features were unmistakable. Although it's size was a little lacking it was a [Minotaur].  

 

"What magic type is that for it to be that color? That alone would make her a catch, no?"

"A-a whole Minotaur?"

"Hoh? She buffed it too? Does she not need to save her mana?"

Confused by the play, or otherwise intrigued by the display of power, the recruiter onlookers began commentating on the match.

The Minotaur rushed forward, it's heavy weight and speed turning it into an unstoppable force. Mowing through the horde of robotic Goblins, it seemed as if the one move alone would clear the test.

"Hmph, it's not that easy." The chief smirked, watching on from his own platform. He always valued the part of the test where the warrior had to think on their feet.

Bellora was shocked at what she was seeing. "An explosive?!" It was the last thing she thought to deal with when fighting goblins. 

Ugh, why wouldn't they have special variants? 

She could only watch on as her spirit was slowly trampled. It was not able to deal with the explosives in time to save itself, nor skilled enough to deal with the goblins at the same time in the first place.

"[Cancel Summon]!" The fact that one summon wouldn't do the trick was nothing new to the saint either. Quickly she swapped her summon to something with a greater AOE focus.

"[Summon Spirit]! [Magnify]!"

"A-a [Elder Slime]?"

"N-no way? That's a beginner?"

The recruiters, this time sharing one reaction became even more invested in the Saint. Some even from small guilds became even sadder the more she showed off her strength.

Becoming a wall of energy, the slime bounced forward. It wasn't impervious to the explosion but through magnification it could quickly cover ground, isolating the explosive barrel throwers and moving the test to the third phase.

Is it time for the boss? A mutant goblin? Or something-

Stomp!

A loud metallic sound rang out.  A monster that even towered over the minotaur, stood tall on the other side of the room. What looked like a metal giant on with muscles that seemed to bulge stared with a killing intent at Bellora. It roared and rushed forward mindlessly.

"GRAAHH!"

It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I just need to kill it to be safe. Feeding her small delusions, the saint once again retracted her spirit, and pulled out the staff on her back. 

"[Cancel Summon] and [Light Arrow]!" The beam of light shot forward, directly into the heart of the giant, however it was inneffective at stopping it. 

Stunned, however, the wavering giant rushed forward again, slower this time.

"[Light Arrow]!" 

The beam of light directed at it's knee sent the giant crashing down. It roared again, not expressing pain but increasingly more powerful killing intent.

Tch, how much more...

"L-[Light Arrow]!" Running out of mana the saint directed the beam toward the top of the defenseless giant's head. 

The battle was over.

'The test is now over. Please exit the arena.' 

Glancing around again, the saint first looked towards the VIP window, but saw no one. She swifly left for the VIP lounge.

"L-lets go! We can't miss that!"

"Please leave. Bastards."

Friction between the different levels of recruiters was common but after that display it was at an all time high. The low level recruiters couldn't help but be happy that the rest had left for the Saint.

. . . 

Bellora couldn't explain why she wanted to see that man. Perhaps she just wanted to speak with him again. To tell him not to look down on her like he did at the start of the test.

To not even sit through the whole thing!

She couldn't understand his mindset. On her way back she heard the P.A. announce the next warrior to come to the Assessment Hall but too in her own head, she didn't listen out for name. Approaching the lounge at the last the door opened before she could grab the knob.

The man, now completely out of his jacket, stood looking at Bellora. She glanced at his all black gear, the glowing glove her wore, and most importantly the glow in his eyes. He spoke once.

"I expected more of a Saintess." 

Then moved passed her without another word.

Regaining her composure, after the rythm of the conversation had been completely stolen from her, she shouted back at him.

"Just what do you expect from me, huh? I don't even know you!"

However caught up in the moment, she failed to realize the man had already left the area, and she stood in the doorway alone.

. . .

Lyn sat and thought about the aftermath of the battle.

She was really holding her own out there..

After studying the woman from start to finish, Lyn though she was nothing short of impressvie, but he still had his complaints.

The Slime would have dealt with the golbin horde more efficiently... The minotaur should have been given a weapon, and magnified then she could have dealt with the giant and the horde in two moves.

Lyn thought that not showing all his cards was the most important thing and was upset that she completely ingnored that rule. But he couldn't complain about everything. 

Those big name recruiters are gone as well... It's not like they'll find her if she comes back to the lounge. That means she's on her way here then?

Lyn left the viewing room early after deciding the battle was over when she took out the giant's leg. He stared at his glove and saw that it had already been filled, and a skill had been unlocked

                                                                                             Mana Flare [Reactive]

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Release all your mana in one wave like motion. Extends in one direction. 

Simple. Weaker than [Mana Burst] but at least it doesn't have any requirements.

As if it was waiting for the moment he was finished Lyn heard the overhead system announce that it was his turn.

'Lyn Cypher, please report to the Assessment Hall'

"I guess I don't need this anymore.." Finally, Lyn took out his jacket and set off for the testing room. At least he meant to but the familiar woman blocked his path momentarily. He moved passed her whispering something about not expecting too much from him awkwardly, and then he set off for his testing room, moving even quicker to escape her.

. . .

"Lyn Cypher..?" 

There wasn't a recruiter who failed to recognize that name. However the cold aura around the man in the hall didn't match their ideas of Lyn at all.

"Did he finally settle?"

After all, from what they knew about the man, he would have refused to settle for anything less than dominating when it came to using [Absorbtion]. They sat expectantly, wondering if he'd put on a show rivialing the Saintess herself.

Lyn didn't worry about what to expect. After all as the privilage of VIP's he got to choose which battle he'd fight.

'Test will begin in 10 seconds. Please prepare for a '[Goblins] Tactics Battle'.

[Goblins] were creatures who occupied the unreclaimed lands. Like the milliant's they could be found in the world outside of dungeons. Together they could efficiently whittle down their enemies given the opportunity. In addition, their excellence in poisonous skills were nothing to scoff at.

Lyn activated his skills silently

[Spark Barrier].. [Beginner's Construct].. and remember to use Blink if I need to...

In the first place, Lyn didn't plan on showing off. He already had a team, so the notion of going home with any guild was already out the window for him.

3.. 2.. 1..

The room went dark. The pitter patter of mechanic feet could be heard through the darkness.

Creating two cubes the density of energy collected in them turned the cubes a darker shade at the edges.

[Split]

Sacrificing the desnse energy, Lyn decided it would be best to take out the [Goblins] one at a time. Waiting for the smallest of audio cues, he would begin his attack.

Slice-! 

Snap!

Without hesitation a green streak shot into the [Goblin]'s face dropping it instantly.

This.. shouldn't go on like this...

Lyn quickly came to the conclusion that he didn't want the [Goblins]t deciding the flow of the battle so he quickly changed tactics.

Using the rest of his cubes he created a circular pattern on a plane around himself. The remaining 53 cubes shot out in waves of 10 every direction surrounding him. Throughout the room a lightshow could be seen.

Bang!

The sounds of all the cubes going of at once, made the audience jump. Rythmically, most of the cubes hit their targets one after the other.

Gaps directly in front of me.. and.. to the left?

The [Goblins] avoided Lyn's sight and his dominant hand. Using that information he assumed more [Goblins] would most likely be behind him, and to his right. He decided, knowing that the highest amount of [Goblins] were possibly in that direction, that he would use..

[Mana Flare]

Woosh!

A gust of energy shot when he aimed his hand. The crystals on his hand lost their glow and the crumbling of metal echoed.

Finally the darkness let up.

Is it on to phase two then..?

"Isn't that.. Life Force...?" The recruiters could understand how the man was so cold if the only way he came into power was using Life Force, but..

"How is he perfectly okay?"

The man hadn't moved once in the darkness, as if he could see everything at a glance. It didn't even seem like for a moment he was getting weaker, still standing tall from the moment he walked in.

Then, the sound of clanging made the audience redirect their attention. On cue, the darkness set in again, and the [Goblins] could be heard rushing.Subsequently, rectangular pillars rose in the room. For the first time Lyn moved to get on top of one of the pillars, knocking off the stationed [Goblin].

A dart whistled through the air.

Snap!

But it couldn't penetrate his barrier.

Lyn couldn't catch the direction so he moved towards another pillar, hoping he could fight the archers in a melee battle. The defenseless archers couldn't be assisted by the foot soilders as quick as Lyn could take care of them, meaning the variant fight was over and third phase would begin.

Ping!

Lyn's glove recharged but he knew he wouldn't need it.

As the lights came up again, the [Goblin] Chief was revealed. A more refined, smarter moster became Lyn's enemy.

[Beginner's Construct]

Lyn decided he would at least go for a flashy defeat at the end. He created one giant hand construct and sent it towards the monster. Unsure how to defend the [Goblin] avoided the hand, but again Lyn was quicker.

Using [Blink], Lyn coraled the [Goblins] into a corner. It could either fight him, armed with his dense cube, or give in to the hand. Realizing it was defeated the chief chose to rush in and fight Lyn, regardless of the outcome it would not give up. Lyn didn't want a simple fight like that so he deconstructed the original giant hand, and created one in front of him, crushing the [Goblin] chief in one move.

Slowly, he revealed the crushed robot parts of the chief, and walked towards the door. He glanced up at the VIP room and smirked, catching the Saintess's eye.

Sunny and Ren said they would watch... He thought, sad he didn't catch their reactions to his test.

'The test is now over. Please exit the arena.' 

Lyn Cypher was gone in an instant, with [Blink]. The recruiters watched silently, trying to take in what just happened.

That taunting jerk! The Saintess was sure Lyn was trying to get under her skin. She swore she would hunt him down before her flight back.

Should I just follow him out..?

Although she fought to show off, she didn't want to get caught up in crowds now that she had a goal. Knowing that Lyn had a knack for avoid crowds her course of action was decided.