Chapter 30: Chapter 30 : Adventurer Test

‘Rank 4 Telekinetic huh,’ Ralf thought as he examined the other’s Psi.

“We’ll conduct the test here.”

Trailing behind, Ralf followed Jeff into the room. Entering, his attention was immediately seized. On the wall opposite the doorway, a long wooden rack held various weapons. Taking it in, Ralf's eyes lit up.

‘Cold to hot, short to long-range, not a bad selection.'

Spending a few more seconds examining the weapons, his senses moved to explore the rest of the place. The room was large and squarish. Technically a half cube, it was twelve by twelve meters with a height of six meters. Besides the weapon rack and three wooden dummies on the western wall, the place was empty.

The room was well lit. The large rectangular glass section at the centre of the ceiling made sure of that. This held marvel, but Ralf's gaze was more interested in the rectangular light fixtures embedded in its surroundings.

‘I’ve not seen any signs of an electrical grid in Ganurg. This place must have an independent way to generate electricity. I’ll have to ask about that on the tour.’

Eyes moving down the plain beige walls, he reached the floor, which was tiled with large grey-coloured square stone tiles. They were sturdy, a few steps had confirmed this fact. Lastly, his eyes fell on the blonde-haired blue-eyed test examiner.

Jeff clapped his hands together. “Okay, I’ll give you the rundown. The E-Rank test is very simple. I’ll conjure up a few Psi constructs in the form of monsters, and then you’ll do battle with them.”

Saying this, two Psi goblins materialized on either side of the Jeff. “At E-Rank, these things will pretty much be your bread and butter. I’ll have them move in ways that mimic actual goblin movements and attack patterns. I’ve seen plenty, so it’ll be pretty accurate.” Jeff had them do springy jumps around him.

Seeing Ralf’s eyes shift to where they were moving, he confirmed the information listed on the registration page. Apart from a few exceptions, Psi was invisible to non-psionics. And so, when he was conducting a test with a non-psionic, he had to add sheets to the equation, which was a hassle.

“The numbers won’t be limited to two, any number can pop out. But there’s no need to worry, these constructs are pretty fragile.” Flicking the head of a Psi goblin caused it to disintegrate into blue particles. The other goblin died in the same fashion. “Even if their hits land cleanly, you won’t receive any real damage so there's nothing to worry about. My Psi control is top-notch."

‘Good to know. I have a casino to rob later, showing up all bloodied wouldn’t do.’

While Ralf was thinking that, Jeff continued.

“While these attacks aren’t threats, you must treat them as such. You’re not expected to remain untouched during the battle, but you must display combat prowess the Adventurer Association has deemed at least E-Rank. Well, since you're a Rank 3 Telekinetic, I doubt you'll have trouble passing it-"

"Oh, about that."

"Hmm?"

"I'm in my Consolidation Phase. so, I'll only be using my physical body." Saying this, Ralf revealed his Psi.

"Oh, you actually are. Hmm, no matter. E- Rank should still be a walk in the park for an inheritance potion user."

Ralf nodded as he retracted his aura.

Jeff nodded in return then turned his attention to the weapon rack. He gestured to it. “Feel free to arm yourself with whatever you like." He floated a pistol over. “The guns are, for obvious reasons, not real. They fire rubber bullets. Still, I’ll be treating them like real bullets.” Jeff aimed at one of the three wooden dummies and fired off a few shots. Emptying the clip, he then floated the pistol back in place.

"Go ahead."

Ralf didn't need further reminding and moved to the weapon rack. He decided to keep it simple, opting for two pistols and two short swords.

“That all?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, head to the centre.”

Ralf took the centre stage. Dual-wielding the swords, he placed the guns by his feet.

Meanwhile, Jeff made himself comfortable in a corner. From there, his Psi spread to all parts of the room. Shutting his eyes, he focused on the world captured through his Psi Scan. A second later, a Psi goblin materialized at Ralf's front.

“Okay, starting in three. Three two one, now!”

With a flex of its knees, the goblin sprang forward, claws front and centre, ready to tear apart its prey. Ralf nonchalantly observed its approach for a moment then...moved. His body shifted leftward with a clockwise turn. His left blade held in reverse grip swung with him, and as the goblin passed by, the blade, drawing a clean arc, decapitated the Psi monster.

‘Ah? That was…beautiful.’

Jeff could find no other words to explain what he had just witnessed. Ralf’s action was simple, yet betrayed a sublime level of skill. Jeff, with several years of experience under his belt, knew that he wasn’t dealing with an ordinary test taker today. Mentally adjusting to this new reality, Jeff shook off the shock and continued the test.

Goblins appeared at each cardinal point, before rushing towards the centre. Ralf adjusted, tightened his grip, and began his sword dance.

*Slash* *Slash* *Slash*...

As soon as the four were defeated, more came pouring in. Still, Ralf was untouchable. Swords in hand, he carved countless lines through the air, and he was not just swinging wildly. Nearly every attack of his resulted in a kill. He aimed for their weak points, slashing their necks or stabbing at their eye sockets. All the while, he kept in constant motion, deftly zigzagging through the frenzied swarm.

Jeff ramped up the difficulty as time went by.

‘Hmm, above.’

A Psi gorilla monster suddenly materialized above Ralf’s head. Not only had it just popped up, but it was already descending at high speed with arms raised high, ready to smash down.

Ralf, already leaning forward from his last slashing attack, threw himself into a front flip while slashing out at his former position with his two blades. Spinning like a bey blade, he not only avoided the thunderous fists but etched two deep lines onto the gorilla's face. Landing, he continued his forward momentum and threw his right sword out.

It cut through the air like a propeller, reaching its target in an instant and severed the hand of the humanoid figure which was trying to take aim with his pistol.

Not lingering on it, Ralf ducked to his right, avoiding the Psi gorilla's follow-up attack. Slipping past the right straight, Ralf turned into the monster, and with both hands clutching the handle tightly, he drove the sword's tip into the Psi beast's neck.

Tunnelling right through to the other side, Ralf’s arms bulged with power, then with his legs, waist, and arms working in unison, he slashed rightward. The Psi gorilla was reduced to countless blue particles in the slash's wake.

Swoosh!

Maintaining the rightward rotation, he ducked, allowing the goblin to fly over his head, then with another half turn, Ralf slashed out at another, decapitating yet another Psi monster.

Slashes, stabs, punches, kicks, and rubber bullets. Ralf utilized it all, seamlessly, and effortlessly defeating Psi construct after Psi construct.

Finally, after three minutes, the torrent of monsters let up.

‘Huh, is it over already?

Half squeezing the trigger, disappointment began flooding in. His engine had barely gotten revved up. He wanted to continue. He turned to Jeff.

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*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*…

“Splendid, simply splendid.”

‘Whoa, is this guy tearing up?’

Indeed, Jeff’s cheeks were made wet as two thin streams slid down. Ralf's riveting performance had moved him greatly.

"Ah, um thanks."

Ralf loved attention and praise, but Jeff’s unbridled shower left him a bit uncomfortable.

[[Looks like you made a fan,]] Rei commented.

Shortly after starting the test, Ralf had called Rei over to see the show live, wanting to show off.

[[Looks like it. First, of many to come, I'm sure. Anyway, what did you think of my performance?]]

[[Hmm…passable. I found three inaccuracies.]]

[[Three?]]

Hearing the doubt, Rei mentally shook his head. [[When we do the viewing later, I’ll show you. Anyway, beyond those few errors, you were really sluggish. You went for precision, but even so, your movements were too slow. I suppose the varied shapes and sizes of the Psi constructs threw you off.]]

[[It did,]] Ralf admitted.

[[We’ll have to correct this. We can’t just fight one type of opponent anymore or we'll run into situations like this. The Mental Space will welcome more varied shapes, features, and sizes for humanoid and non-humanoid figures. It would be great if we could get a monster encyclopedia that gives exact dimensions so we can recreate it.]]

[[Good idea. I'll have a look at the library later.]]

Saying this, Ralf focused on Jeff’s voice which had been going off in the background.

“...really spectacular. And even more so when considering your age. Of everyone I've administered, you’re by far the most impressive one. Ralf, I expect great things from you going forward.”

“Thanks, Jeff, I won't disappoint. Since I’m here, can I try the D-Rank test as well?”

Jeff smiled, then shook his head. “No need, you pass.”

"Really?”

Jeff nodded deeply. “Yes, normal E-Rank tests don’t go on as long as this nor do they get as difficult. Halfway through, I decided to switch to the D-Rank test, which you aced, so there’s no need.”

“Ah, oh, then, how about the C-Rank test? Can we do that?”

Jeff smiled wryly. Ralf’s desire to continue battling was palatable. ‘This kid must be a battle maniac or something. But given how honed his skills are, it’d be stranger if he wasn’t. Though, I can’t say I don’t understand.’ The feeling to continue was just as strong in Jeff as it was in Ralf but…

“Unfortunately we can’t. I’m only qualified to conduct the E and D-Rank tests, and Lady Martel, the only qualified to administer C-Rank tests isn’t even in Ganurg at the moment. From what I hear, she’ll only be here in a week or so.”

Hearing the words, the flame in Ralf’s chest dwindled. His shoulder dropped in disappointment.

Jeff saw this and added, “Ah, if you’re really impatient, you can try the two branches in the region, they have one C-Rank examiner each.”

“Hmm, thanks, but I'll pass on that. Have too many things on my plate." He walked over to pick up the sword and pistol, then with all four weapons moved to the rack and placed them back where he found them.

While doing so, he asked, “Jeff, you’re an Adventurer too, right, what rank?”

“C-Rank. I just barely scraped through.”

“You’re not a strong fighter?”

Jeff shrugged. “I can’t say I’m too hot. Still, I’m better than your average Joe and Jane. My basic skills as a psionic are solid, that’s why I chose this job.”

"Test examiner?”

"I do this, but I also do a lot of other things too. This branch offers plenty of services. You can book lessons and courses that teach you about basic psionic techniques and concepts, and even rent out instructors that help you practice these techniques. Psi Steps, Psi Scan, Psi constructs, barrier attributation and even more advanced stuff like secondary activation and light and darkness techniques.”

Ralf’s eyes lit up.

Jeff smiled at the response, then nodded. “As you’ve guessed, I’m one of those instructors. This is what I do most of the time. I specialize in Telekinetic techniques. The fee is small, but it's worth it. The advice and guidance here isn’t Hunter Academy level, but it’s pretty good. Newbie to veteran, Adventurer and non-Adventurer, all make use of this service.”

“Neat. I’ll definitely make use of the service.”

Jeff nodded in approval. “Do so. This branch prioritizes safety. We want all our Adventurer to be their most capable selves. Newbie Adventurers will often have instructors chaperone them for the first few missions to make sure things don’t go awry. This is also what I do, and not just for newbies. For a small fee, anyone can rent out an instructor to accompany them into the Monster Zone."

*Clap*

“Okay, enough talk, let's head back and make your Adventurer status official. Oh, yes, that tour. We have to do that to-”

“Wait.”

Only meters away from the door, Jeff’s body froze in place as this utterance sounded out. The room seemed to instantly drop dozens of degrees.

‘Ah? W-What’s this...’

With stiff motions, he turned around. His heart chilled as he took in the teenager. The sunny youth in his memory had vanished, and its place, a blizzard in human form now stood. The exact change was subtle, yet undeniable.

“Ralf?”

Even uttering the name, Jeff couldn’t believe that the person before him was the same young man.

After a few seconds of stillness, ‘Ralf’s’ eyes lost their blankness and moved to focus on Jeff.

“Let’s spar.”

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