8 – If you lay a finger on a fox you’re going to get hurt
"So, miss Edelweiss, everything is ready. This room is specially designed for combat. As for your opponents…"
"That would be us." (???)
My ears twitched at those words. As I turned around I saw 3 people. A muscular green orc with tiny sharp tusks wielding a giant butcher knife. And the other 2 were humans. And from the looks of it they were twins, and the only way you could tell them apart was their hair style. One had long green hair and the other short spiky green hair. Even their gear and magic staffs were identical.
But most importantly these guys were labeled as yellow adventurers.
"I'm shocked!"
"Hahahaha! Can't be helped. You are in the presence of great ones such as ourselves. But don't worry. We won't hurt you that bad and…"
"No. That's not what I mean. Are you guys really yellow rank adventurers?"
"Of course we are. Where are you getting at?"
"You 3… are too weak for this to be considered a fair fight."
Everyone inside the room went silent. The 3 adventurers as well as the woman. Eventually the orc guy was the one that spoke.
"Oi. Being overconfident is the first thing that gets newbies killed. I get that you're eager, but that cocky attitude will be your downfall. I, the great Bolt, shall be your first opponent and knock you from your high horse!"
"Huh!? What the hell are you talking about? All 3 of you come at me at the same time. That way, you might wake me up from my drowsy state at least."
"Again, arrogant words. Do you really think that you can handle…"
"Bolt, enough. Miss Edelweiss, it is your right to choose to fight all of them at once, but are you sure? We already told you that the guild won't be responsible for any injuries you will take." (Guild Girl)
"Yeah. I'm sure that's what I want. It would be boring otherwise."
Besides, I can at least test my reflexes and physical strength. This body does have a certain degree of muscles, and I feel like I could lift a house. I could instantly turn them into ice sculptures, but I will avoid doing that. I should at least get a proper reading of their attack power. But again, just by assessing their auras, they are far too weak.
"Very well. Then, Bolt, Borg and Jorg, all 3 of you shall attack. With that out of the way… let the test… begin!"
"You don't even have a weapon, lady. You sure you're sane?"
"Huh? Sanity? Sorry to disappoint you, but I've never had such a bothersome thing from the start."
"Then get some knocked into you!"
His butcher knife started to glow and a significant amount of mana was leaking from it. As expected, he's a spell blade type. He smashed his weapon onto the ground.
"Gaia Wave!"
A powerful shock wave was now heading towards me.
"Don't think it ends just with that! Triple Firebolt!" (Jorg)
"And don't forget about me too! Wind Cutter!" (Borg)
3 fireballs, around twice the size of a football and 7 spear-like wind shards were all headed towards me. All 3 attacks assaulted me at the same time. A large explosion was created and dust covered the arena.
"Do you think we overdid it?" (Jorg)
"Nah. That will probably put her in the sick house for 6 months but she should be alive. Feels bad because she had a nice body, though." (Bolt)
But after a few moments the dust cleared up and…
"Seriously, is that really all you got?" (Edelweiss)
"Impossible!? Not a single scratch?" (Bolt)
"Yare, yare. I take back what I said before. If this is your level… this won't wake me up at all."
"Damn you! Don't get cocky!"
Hou? Bolt used Hyper Acceleration to instantly close the gap between us. His butcher knife was clad in flames this time. Still… he has so many openings… I could kill him around 10 times before he could make a move.
"Your lunge is weak."
"What!? How can…"
His shock came from the fact that I stopped his blade by catching it with my palm. Sorry dude, but these muscles aren't for show. Amplifying my physical strength beyond what this guy is capable of is child's play.
"Your weapon is really crying. Such a dull blade… can't hurt me. Shattering Break!"
One of Shamoa's teachings. A technique in which one applies pressure in the correct manner and can break bones or even metal. Infusing my ice into the target also can make it brittle. In this case, I squeezed and his weapon broke into small pieces.
"This!?"
"Quit fretting over small stuff like this."
I kicked him in the stomach afterwards and sent him crashing against the wall. I'm way more flexible in this body than I was before. A good amount of boulders fell over him.
"Kuh… don't think this is over yet. You gave us the time… to chant!" (Borg)
"Take this! Combo move…" (Jorg)
"Waterflow Hellfire!" (X2)
A pillar of water and a pillar of fire combined, huh. This has quite the force behind it, I will admit that. But… I could still punch it away. Then again, I have no obligation to stand still.
"What!? She vanished!!"
The beam of magic hit nothing. And no. I didn't vanish. I casually stepped around to avoid it. I guess it would look similar to a flash step in their eyes. Because right now I appeared behind them.
"It's over."
A light double backwards karate chop on the back of their necks and they fainted instantly. As I thought, these guys were too weak for a proper test.
"Hey, I passed, right?"
"Hiii! Yes! You did. Please follow me back to the counter."
------
"Seriously, beating 3 yellow adventurers… normally we would have to assign someone like you as orange. But guild rules won't allow that. You have to start with the lowest rank like everyone. Is that ok?"
"Yeah. It makes no difference for me. I'm only doing this for some money to begin with. That aside, where can I take quests?"
“Please choose from the bulletin board over there. But remember that you are a rank F. You can only accept quests up to one rank above yours, meaning E.”
“I see. How do I raise my rank?”
“When carrying out quests and raising in levels, your rank will go up naturally.”
“In short, after I completed a number of quests, this blue border will turn… uhm, what was it again?”
“Violet.”
“Then it’ll turn violet?”
“Yes.”
“Better not waste any time then.”
And with that I headed towards the bulletin board.