Chapter 36: Combat Assessment

Marcus pointed toward the ranking.

"Your Reputation Score is worth forty points. You need at least 100 Reputation to get the full forty points. Anything below that will receive fewer points."

The candidates quickly checked their scores.

Aria — 38 Reputation — 15 Points

Aria looked at hers.

"Only fifteen?"

"You’re the one with 38 Reputation," Ethan said.

"I know that."

She gave him an annoyed look before checking the ranking again.

Ethan’s name was at the very top.

1st — Ethan — 300 Reputation — 40 Points

The second-highest candidate had only 81 Reputation.

Marcus glanced over the rankings before continuing.

"That’s the first assessment. Let’s move on."

...

In another part of the assessment area, the academy representatives were gathered around a separate display.

Ethan’s profile had caught their attention.

His picture was shown beside his records, with his Reputation, achievements, and title listed underneath.

One of the representatives stared at the screen.

"Wait."

The others turned toward him.

"What?"

He pointed at Ethan’s title.

The hell difficulty solo clearer title.

"He soloed a Hell difficulty dungeon?"

"That’s what it says."

"Alone?"

The man nodded.

"That shouldn’t be possible for someone who just awakened."

"It wasn’t supposed to be possible at all."

Another representative checked Ethan’s records.

"His Reputation is three hundred."

"Most of it came from saving an entire village."

"He saved a village?"

"And then cleared a Hell difficulty dungeon alone."

"This is a new record."

They had seen plenty of talented candidates over the years, but creating a new record on the day of awakening was rare.

"Three hundred Reputation makes more sense now," one of them said.

"Even then, three hundred is still a lot."

The female representative continued studying Ethan’s profile.

"What’s his profession?"

The profession section was completely blank.

"No name."

"No rank either."

"The Order Academy."

One of the representatives sighed.

"They’ve probably hidden it."

"Which means they’ve already taken an interest in him."

"Then I suppose there’s no point thinking about recruiting him."

"You’re giving up already?"

"Not giving up. I’m being realistic."

"If the Order Academy is hiding his profession, they probably have plans for him."

The Order Academy had far more resources than the other academies. If they wanted a candidate, competing with them was never easy.

"But there are still plenty of good candidates here."

"Of course. We don’t need to fight over one person."

The woman gave Ethan’s profile one last look.

A short distance away, one of the Order Academy representatives was still staring at Ethan’s profile.

The more he read it, the more confused he became.

’His profession is missing.’

’Or did someone from the academy hide it? But that doesn’t make any sense.’

Since he was here as a representative, he would have known if Ethan’s profession had been deliberately concealed.

’No one told us to hide anything.’

’Then it must have come from someone higher up.’

’That’s probably it.’

A faint smile appeared on his face.

’So they noticed him already.’

’Let’s see what he can do.’

Back in the assessment area, Marcus had already moved on to the second assessment.

"The next one is a little different."

The screen above them changed.

"This time, you’ll be separated based on your professions."

A few candidates started talking among themselves.

"There are three groups: Combat, Support, and Lifestyle."

"Combat Professions will be tested on their fighting ability. Use whatever your profession normally allows you to use."

"Support Professions will be tested on how well they can use their abilities to assist others. Your profession doesn’t have to be useful in a fight to get a good score."

He paused briefly before adding,

"Lifestyle Professions are a little different. You’ll be given a task related to your profession. Do well, and you’ll get the points you deserve."

Marcus pointed toward the screen.

"Your results will be ranked with candidates from the same profession group across all the assessment areas."

That got a few more people talking.

"Don’t worry about being compared to someone from another group. Combat, Support, and Lifestyle will each have their own ranking."

The screen changed again.

Combat Profession — Enter the Combat Portal

Support Profession — Enter the Support Portal

Lifestyle Profession — Enter the Lifestyle Portal

Three large portals appeared along the far side of the assessment area, spaced apart from each other.

"Enter the portal assigned to your profession. You’ll be tested individually."

The candidates began separating, and Ethan joined the other Combat Profession candidates heading toward the Combat Portal.

Ethan stepped through the portal and found himself alone in a small area covered in sand, with tall walls surrounding it..

"So this was the Combat Profession assessment." He thought.

It was much simpler than the one he’d taken in his previous life. Back then, as an Ancient Pathfinder, his assessment had nothing to do with fighting.

He had been thrown into a massive maze with countless paths. Some were safe, some were filled with traps and beasts, while others contained valuable items. He had to choose which paths to take and which ones to avoid.

The safe paths were usually slower, while the dangerous ones often offered better rewards. Taking the safe route every time meant missing opportunities, but rushing into every dangerous path was just as foolish.

The assessment was designed to test his ability to explore unfamiliar areas, navigate through dangerous terrain, detect threats, find safe routes, and locate valuable paths.

This one looked like it would be much simpler.

A strange sound came from the sand ahead of him. Before Ethan could see what was making it, the sand burst open and ten Level 6 beasts appeared.

A message appeared above the monster

[Combat Assessment]

[Defeat the beasts to advance.]

[10 beasts will appear in each wave. Clearing a wave will increase the beast level by 1.]

Ethan read the message and smiled slightly. So they were testing how far he could go.

Not wasting time, Ethan activated his Legion Formation and summoned ten Shadow Wraiths. The legion spread out at once, each Shadow Wraith heading straight for a different beast.

They slipped into the beasts’ shadows, disappearing from sight.

[Shadow Strike]

Ten attacks landed almost at the same time, and all ten beasts were killed in an instant.

A small ball of light floated out from the remains and entered Ethan’s body.

[EXP +60]

[EXP +60]

[EXP +60]

[EXP +60]

[EXP +60]

...

Ethan’s EXP increased.

The beast hadn’t been real. It was only a construct created for the assessment, but it could still provide EXP.

The ten beasts disappeared into the sand.

[First Wave Cleared. Second Wave will begin shortly.]

Not long after, the sand started moving again, and ten new beasts appeared. This time, they were all Level 7.

The Shadow Wraiths moved almost immediately, each one going after a different beast.

[Shadow Strike]

The ten beasts were killed almost at the same time.

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 9.]

Ethan glanced at the notification.

Level 9.

Since he was already this close, he might as well use the assessment to reach Level 10.