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Chapter. 8

"Grab a weapon, little lady!"

The tester said to me as he placed the tip of his sword to the ground.

He moved his huge sword around so easily. Though it does seem light to him, that sword must have weighed around fifty kilograms or something.

To his order, I went to the weapons rack and picked up a sword. It looks like a knight's sword, since it has the same handle as the sword in Vane's hip. I got hyped just from looking at it.

As I picked it up from the rack, I realized something.

Holy shit it's heavy…

The length of the sword felt perfect for me, but I just can't hold it with one hand. I have never held a long sword in my entire life. Plus, this new body of mine was weak as hell, so it's possible that this sword is actually much heavier for me than it actually is.

If it was my old healthy body, I probably could swing this thing for at least multiple times before I fell down. Now, I'm not sure if I can even lift it.

I dragged the sword on the ground, creating a path along the way. I stopped a few meters right in front of him, still holding the sword weirdly. I used all of my muscles to try and lift it, but it barely moved an inch.

"Say, little lady… Do you know how to swing those?"

He asked as he pointed at my sword. Meanwhile, I can only laugh at this stupid situation.

"I have never held a sword in my entire life."

"Oh... I might have to go easy..."

Oh, thank god, he will go easy!

Because I’m not sure if I can even put up a fight!!

I tried raising the sword again, but it was just too heavy. Simply keeping this posture of holding the sword with my two hands while pointing the sword towards the enemy is already taking everything I have. I am so weak, and the sword is too heavy.

The big guy noticed the difficulty I am having while trying to lift the sword. He then smiled and stood straight.

"Are you sure you want to be an adventurer?"

"Yeah… I do."

I answered with a confident voice, although my hands were trembling from holding the 100 kilograms sword.

"Hoo? Is that so? Then, let's make a new rule."

BAM!

He chuckled and put down his sword, creating a heavy crash sound when it hit the ground. I looked at the sword with great confusion, but he quickly explained.

"If you can hit me using that sword, I will pass you. But if you can't, I will have to reject you. How does that sound?"

He looks down on me?

I mean, I don't blame him. I can barely lift this thing. But to completely not use your sword, that's dangerous.

"Jrake!"

The receptionist lady, Klane, suddenly shouted at the tester. Hearing the sudden shout, Jrake the tester immediately chuckled.

"Relax! I have these steel bracelets. If it gets too dangerous, I can at least deflect it with this thing."

He really has confidence huh? Let's show him then.

I gain strength just from that mindset. I strengthened my will, and tried really hard to hold the sword properly. Now, I can hold the sword calmly.

"Then, let's begin."

KLANK!

He punched his metal bracelets together, marking that the test had begun.

I slowly started running towards him. As I ran, I tilted the sword to my right, as if I'm cutting the air. By doing that, I can reduce the weight of the sword as I run. I saw this move a bunch of times in movies.

The closer I get, the more I have the feeling that I am facing a wall of steel. He was so big, and I bet he is incredibly strong as well. But, I can't stop.

When I got into the reach, I swung the sword with the highest speed I could. A loud whistle from the air as I swing my sword can be heard.

I was pretty sure it would cut his body, but all I cut is simply air. My sword hit the ground very hard, making my body vibrate from the impact.

Jrake the tester has only moved slightly to the right, dodging my blade with ease.

"What's wrong, little lady?"

He asked as if taunting me, and I chuckled to that.

I lifted the sword again with all I have, and I tried another slash towards him. But he just took a step backward, dodging my blade easily without much effort. I kept on slashing, but he just moved again and again and again...

After 14 swings, I stopped moving. I put down the sword as I caught my breath.

The last time I'm this tired is only after I played a type of sport. But that was after a long game or something, this doesn't even take two minutes.

"You weren't that bright with your movements, huh?"

The tester said as he looked down on me.

"You didn't even have a lot of stamina to begin with, and you want to become an adventurer?"

He spoke as if trying to tell me that I should stop. But I received too much motivation, either words or action before this to stop now.

Even the receptionist girl just looks away. She doesn't even want to look at me.

Damn, why am I so weak…?

How the hell am I going to find that ghoul if I'm this weak…? I can’t survive like this.

Back then, if only I was a little braver, I could at least hit that demon with the knife before I die. Or maybe I could throw it and do something, instead of just running away.

But no, all I did was run, become his toy and die a pathetic death.

I won't become like that again. I have to change. I have to become stronger, even smarter, even more dangerous.

Even with this body, I will find that ghoul bastard, kill him, and find a way back home.

I have to. That's my only goal right now.

I have to… become stronger.

"Not yet..."

I slowly grabbed the sword and lifted my upper body.

Just like the heroes in movies when they rose back up after getting beaten up. It's apparently much harder than you thought, because everything just becomes ten times much heavier when you are tired.

"I'm not done…"

This time, I'm serious. If it means I have to cut him a little bit, I'll do it. I have to get past this test.

Something about what he said before, that I wasn’t bright with my movements. He wasn’t taunting my weakness, he was saying that my moves were too easy to predict.

That must be the key to passing the test. In that case…

This time, I’ll use my brains.

"Hoo…? I like those eyes."

He said, after seeing the widely opened sharp eyes I am landing at him.

That sounded like what a creep would say to a lady. But somehow, I don't feel like he meant it that way. I also couldn’t try to reply to that joke, because it felt like something inside of me was burning all the humor I had in my chest.

I’m not… playing around anymore.

"Bring it, then!!"

He shouted to taunt me, and so I dashed again.

This time, the sword was pointing towards him as I held it in my right with both my hands. The form of thrusting.

After reaching a good distance, I used a ton of my own energy to thrust at him. But just as I expected, he simply moved slightly to the left.

Damn… he is so fast.

That’s when I realized something. I couldn't lift the sword with just my arms. They are too weak to do anything.

My only choice is to use my whole body.

I had a few karate lessons and tournaments during my first year in junior high school. If I can't punch the enemy with my arm muscles, I have to use my whole body's force. So at that match, instead of simply punching my opponent, I jumped to the front and thrust my palms to punch him. I used my legs to jump forward and to create speed, then my hand also moved to punch. So the speed of my hand's movement is faster, and I can punch through his suit.

By the way, that kid was hospitalized afterwards. Whoops.

But I can’t just use techniques to fight… I have to use my brain as well.

I will have to trap him, into a place where I can easily attack.

Where the attack will 100% land.

This time, I rushed at him again. Instead of using my arms to lift the sword, I will also use my body to support the sword. As I jumped and thrusted the air, he moved to the left.

That's perfect. He always dodges to the left, mainly because he expects that I am a right handed person.

This is my chance.

I put my right leg forward. Using that, I spun my body to the left, against clockwise. As I spun it, the sword also swung at a speed that my weak arm could never do. And using the weight, I created an even faster swing, faster than what my hands could've ever done.

By the time the tester realized his body was in range of the swing, he panicked and immediately lifted his right hand.

TING!!!!

The sound of two metals crashing to each other can be heard.

My sword struck his bracelet at high speed. He leaped backwards immediately as I tried to fix my stance.

"That's enough!"

Jrake the tester suddenly shouted, marking that the test had ended.

Looking at his metal bracelet, I just added a new dent to it. Does this mean I hit him?

“Did I… hit you…?”

I asked him, with barely any air left in my lungs.

"You hit me."

Yes… Yes!!!

"But, that was too dangerous!!"

The receptionist lady, Klane, shouted from the bench. She seemed to be standing up now. She then began approaching me.

"If Jrake wasn't focused, you could've spilled his guts!"

"E-Eh?"

During the time of that swing, I was spinning my head, so I couldn't see very well where I'm slicing. All I know is that the target is within range.

And that was a super fast swing. I couldn’t tell where I was swinging, and all I knew was that I was swinging at the tester.

Was I… swinging at his stomach?

In that case, what would happen if only he didn’t defend himself…?

He could’ve died, right there and then.

"O-Oh... Sorry?"

I said to her, but the tester behind her had another opinion.

"Don't be. I told you, Klane. If things went serious, I would've used this. And luckily I did, hahah!"

The tester, Jrake, then looked at me. I realized now that what I did could’ve indeed killed this man, since that was so dangerous.

“S-Sorry… that could’ve killed you.”

I said to him, but he laughed instead of worrying.

"Seriously, don’t mind it! I wouldn’t die from something like that, so it’s okay! By the way, what's your name?"

"Rize."

I gave him my name, and he began pondering.

"Hmm… Rize. Keep polishing your sword skills. I had to admit it, you have talents in sword arts.”

Hearing that, I became widely surprised.

“I-I do??”

“Yep. You might need it on your quests in the future. Although, for a Red rank, the quests weren't really that difficult, but it should be enough to protect yourself if things do come down to it. Until then, keep getting stronger. I’m going to use the restroom for a bit."

After that, Jrake the tester left the arena. My head was dozing off from his words, trying so hard to process it.

"Wait, does that mean I..."

"Yes, you pass."

The receptionist lady said with a smile to me, and a wide grin began to form across my face.

"Ha... hahah…"

I chuckled with my last breath. I could feel my whole body crumbling as my vision turned sideways…

Oh dear, help me.

"Welcome, Red ranked adventurer, Ri… ze…??"

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