Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 93: Slow

The two made their way through the busy streets and arrived at the Adventurers Guild. Sol was ready to sell all the items they had collected in the dungeon and make a tidy profit. He mostly just hoped it would be more than enough to cover their expenses as they also needed to get better weapons.

Warhawk’s Talon

Rare

Attack: 50-60

Durability: 72/750

Skills:

[Sharpness] Lv 4, [Penetration] Lv 4

Sol had done his best to mitigate any damage to the blade, but even so, it had piled up and it’s on its last legs. He needed to repair it or buy a new weapon, and either would require money which he didn’t have a lot of. Sol knew it was better to get new weapons as they were going to fight stronger enemies the deeper they go into the dungeon; their current weapons will eventually not be able to match up.

They went to the shortest line they could find and were eventually attended by a rather short receptionist. Sol almost mistook him for a kid if not for the impressively large beard they had.

’Is he a dwarf?’

Sol had never seen a dwarf before, but he had heard about them. The dwarfs were known as a powerful race of craftsmen and warriors, at least they used to be. Sol didn’t know the specifics, but Dwarfs once had a glorious kingdom at one point famous throughout the entire world. But at some point during the dark age, it all disappeared. The dwarfs without a place to call their home moved to other kingdoms with a large majority taking refuge in the Holy Kingdom of Delvania located northwest of Crestelia.

Some fairy tales said that their kingdom once stood in the northern mountains above Crestelia, but no one had been able to find proof. That didn’t stop dwarves from traveling into the Frostaxe Clan’s territory to reclaim their lost legacy.

Dwarfs were rather rare to see in Crestelia, but in the capital of the kingdom, it was much easier to encounter those of other races.

The dwarf behind the counter smiled as he spoke to them, "What can I do for ya?"

"Hi, we are looking to sell a few dungeon materials."

"Sure, sure. Can I see the quest paper?"

The dwarf made no further comment, not wanting to embarrass Sol any further, and instead offered to submit the application for him. Accepting the offer Sol and Amber were led by another guild employee to the testing location.

They were led down the stairs to a large open area beneath the guild lobby. There was training equipment of all kinds and bleachers where guild employees and associates were watching the tests while on break or eating lunch.

The guild employee that brought them here took them to the bleachers and told them to wait until they were called.

Having nothing else to do Sol began to watch the rank-up tests that were happening. The current fight was between an archer and a spearman. The spearman sported a very noticeable guild emblem leading Sol to believe that they were one of the examiners.

From the side, he could hear the other employees idly chat and bet between each other if they would pass or fail.

"Think he’ll pass?"

"Nah look at his face, he isn’t confident he can win."

"Oh? You wanna bet on it?"

"Heh, sure. I won’t say no to free coins. 20 silver."

"Aight bet."

The archer launched a volley of arrows that the spearman gracefully avoided. The spearman didn’t bother to use their spear to deflect any arrows as with just his reflexes he could move out of the way in time. The archer kept shooting his arrows in a stationary position and used a skill to empower them further, making them shoot much faster.

This didn’t stop the spearman as he moved at a rhythmic pace and was fast approaching the archer. By the time the archer noticed the spearman was getting too close it was too late to make space as a spear swung from the side and knocked his bow away.

The fight was over in less than a minute. It was so fast that some spectators asked their friends who had more battle knowledge on what went down. Sol on the other hand had a bored expression on his face.

’Slow.’

To Sol, the fight was unbearably slow. His incredibly high agility and intelligence boosted his perception to the point he could see every movement of the two fighters. The fight looked more similar to a choreographed dance rather than an actual battle. Without using [Analysis] Sol was easily able to tell that the archer was around D-Rank and the examiner low C-Rank, which explained the lackluster battle.

The spectators paid whoever won their small bets and the next adventurer was called to take the test, sometimes by the same examiner or a different examiner depending on the rank they are testing for. Contrary to the first battle Sol watched, most passed their tests as adventurers wouldn’t apply to take this exam without being confident in their skills beforehand. The few who did fail tended to be lower ranked and overestimated their abilities.

After a few more fights Sol’s name was called and he walked onto the field.