Chapter 7: Chapter 7 - The Special Forces
Sophia led me through the city and told me about what I would be doing when we reached the barracks.
"Since I don't need to kill you I might as well introduce myself. I'm Sophia Rose, level 6 special forces operative. You?"
"Magnus Witherthorn"
"Not much of a talker huh? Well anyway, even though I know you can complete it you still need to take the aptitude test"
"Test? what is it specifically?"
"I can't really tell you much, since surprise is supposed to be part of the challenge. But it's really just a set of small tasks, nothing too difficult"
'Aptitude huh? Should I hide my higher-level skills? No that would be counter-productive. If I hide skills then have to use them in an emergency, it would be suspicious. I suppose I'll go all out then, try to wow my superiors and climb the ranks quickly'
15 minutes later we arrived in front of a large walled facility attached to the city walls.
"Welcome to the special forces barracks and training facility. We can get right to your tests and hopefully have you assigned to a unit by the end of the day"
Sophia led me through the front gate, informing the guards that I was a new recruit. The inside was much as I suspected, filled with a few buildings and dozens of different training fields. Many of which contained people drilling and sparing. A few glanced curiously my way before being reprimanded by their instructors. Most of these people were rank 1 or 2 with the exception of the Instructors, all of which who were rank 3.
Sophia kept walking until we reached an empty field right below the massive city walls. But this part of the wall was full of shallow cracks and crevices.
"This stretch of wall has been purposeful left unmaintained to function as training. Your first test is to climb it as fast as possible"
"Can I use any method?"
"As long as it doesn't involve outside equipment, go ahead"
I nodded and took a few steps back before activating [Essence Boost], [Wind Dash], and [Higher Speed Enhancement] and sprinting at the wall. I jumped into a front flip 50 feet(15 m) away from the wall, shooting dozens of feet into the air. I controlled my spin and landed against the wall, pushing off into a backflip. When I was about to start falling I used [Sky Steps] to jump into another front flip. I repeated this process until I was at the top of the wall. I must have looked pretty weird flipping through the sky. But it was an effective method, as my ascent was completed in ten seconds. The ability to control my flips came from another useful passive skill.
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[Greater Acrobatics Mastery]
You are flexible and have full control over your body, allowing you to easily move in unconventional ways.
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The extreme strength of my jumps came from a combination of my boosting skill and my increased stats. Even though I had less than half of the essence Samson did, my states had already surpassed his.
I peered down the wall at Sophia, who stood still for a moment in shock before collecting herself and signaling me to come down. I rappelled down the wall with a nearby rope, I couldn't take that kind of fall yet. When I reached the ground Sophia called out to me.
"You know, I've watched people climb this wall for seven years, and I've never seen anyone do anything remotely similar to that"
"So do I pass?"
"Yes yes, you pass, and with flying colors at that. Let's move on to the next test"
We walked back to the area of the facility full of people and Sophia glanced around before calling out.
"Derek, get over here! You're testing the recruit"
A tall man with toned muscles and short blond hair jogged over and saluted Sophia before inspecting me, I did the same.
'Rank 2 and barely over 200 essence, I should be able to beat this guy without any active skills'
Sophia looked at me.
"Your next test is to fight Derek here, you don't have to beat him, just hold your own. Both of you grab a practice weapon from the rack, and no essence"
I picked my usual dagger and Derek picked up a thin one-handed sword. We stood a few paces apart as Sophia started the match, weapons in our right hands.
"Begin"
I decided to use my favorite tactic, get very close very fast. I dashed to Derek's right side as quickly as possible. He tried to intercept me with a swift stab but I dodged to the left and struck at his throat. He pulled his sword back at the last second and blocked my attack with its hilt.
'This guy is no Samson, he knows how to fight, and much better than me. But it's not enough'
While he did block the strike, my superior strength pushed him off balance. I used the opening to slam my fist into his stomach, though not hard enough to break anything. He flew backward and crashed into the ground. I rushed forward and placed my dagger against his neck.
"Stop, Magnus wins"
I stood up and helped Derek to his feet. He looked incredulously at Sophia.
"Where the hell did you find this guy?"
"None of your business Derek, get back to training"
"Yes ma'am"
Derek saluted and ran off to rejoin his unit.
"So how'd I do?"
"Quite well. You have a lot of speed and power, but your skill is lacking. On to the next test"
We moved to a place full of ruined buildings, rock outcroppings, and low bushes.
"Your third test is stealth. You get five minutes to make yourself disappear, go"
I moved lightly around the area and looked for a good hiding spot. I found a wall that had collapsed near a large boulder and stuffed myself between the rubble. I activated [Camouflage] And did my best to stay as still as possible.
'This is a good chance to see how good [Camouflage] is'
Unsurprisingly, it only took Sophia a few minutes to find me.
"That's a good technique, almost a spell. It should hide you from anyone below rank 4"
"Spell?"
"Do you not know?"
I shook my head.
"Well basically, a spell is a more complicated essence technique that is harder to learn. While a spell isn't always more powerful than a technique, they are much more versatile. I'll show you an example. This is a technique"
She raised her hand and a second later a large gust of wind knocked into a nearby wall, cracking it.
"This, is a spell"
She once more raised her hands and then something pierced the same wall faster than I could perceive.
'So that's how it is huh, I wonder which of my skills are spells'
"Well anyway, good job, you passed another test. Now onto the last one. Go into the forest to the east of the city and bring me the fangs of a rock bear"
"Rock bear?"
"It's basically just a large gray bear, shouldn't be too hard to find one this time of year. I'll hold onto your stuff, you have until sunrise tomorrow. Get going"
I nodded and handed her my sack of items before running off.
I reached the east gate in ten minutes and activated all the skills that buffed my speed, I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. I reached the forest in 3 minutes and didn't slow down, my acrobatics and movement style skills letting me move through the forest as if it was flat ground. I activated [Heat Sense] and scanned my surroundings in search of a rock bear. I ran for half an hour without finding one and had to take a break because my essence had run low. I finally found my target after ten more minutes of searching. A colossal bear, easily 15 feet(4.5 m) tall, eating a deer. Each bite tearing flesh and crushing bones like sticks. I quickly activated [Camouflage] and identified the beast.
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[Mountain Bear]
Rank 4 - Mortal
Essence - 2150
Essence type - Earth
[Strength] - 550(+50)
[Agility] - 430
[Dexterity] - 435
[Intelligence] - 430
[Spirit] - 5
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Active skills:
[A] - [Rock Smash]
[B] - [Earth Amour]
Passive skills:
[B] - [Great Strength]
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'I suppose this counts as a rock bear, but this thing sure is strong. Getting close to it is a bad idea. I suppose this is a good chance to try out my new ranged skill'
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[Wind Bolt]
Rank A
Compress and form air essence into a deadly arrow.
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I was pretty surprised when I learned that Sophia had the same skill as me, or at least something like it.
Focusing on the matter at hand, I leveled my palm at the bear's head and released [Wind Bolt]. The deadly arrow shot towards the beast extremely quickly, but it's paw moved faster, blocking the bolt. The beast roared in pain as the spell tore a deep gouge into its paw. It's head whipped towards my direction, it's senses penetrating [Camouflage], and it charged. I jumped into the sky and used [Sky Steps] to stabilize myself and launch another [Wind bolt], this time digging into its head. The bear roared in pain again, but it wasn't dead. I used [Sky Steps] to stay in the air a second longer and concentrated fully. I managed to land another [Wind Bolt] in the same spot as last time and could now see it's cracked skull.
The bear retaliated, forming a giant boulder out of earth essence and flinging at me as I fell. I jumped to the side to dodge it and then turned my body so I was falling headfirst. I repeatedly formed steps behind me to kick off of and speed up my decent. As I fell I summed a shadow dagger, holding it in both hands. Right before I collided with the bear I activated [Assassinate]. My blade stuck right in the hole I had dug with [Wind Bolt] and finished shattering the bear's skull before ripping its brain in two. The bear's screams of pain finally ceased as its massive body crashed to the ground.
I stood on top of the huge corpse, covered in the bear's blood.
'I do hope this counts'
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"Well that was fas- What the hell happened to you!?"
I stood In front of Sophia covered in blood and holding two large fangs.
"Well it was a bit bigger than I expected, is this what you wanted?"
I handed Sophia the fangs as she still looked at me with confusion. But when she looked at the fangs, it was replaced with surprise.
"These aren't rock bear fangs, they're damm mountain bear fangs"
She looked at me with even more surprise and confusion.
"Do they count? It was a big grey bear, just like you said"
"Of course they count, a mountain bear is many times stronger than a rock bear. How did you even kill it?"
"I stabbed it in the brain"
"You killed a Mountain bear with a dagger!?"
"Well and some wind essence"
Sophia opened her mouth to retort but then closed it and shook her head.
"Whatever, you passed the tests. With the highest score in fifty years at that. Go take a shower and report back here afterward, I need to assign you to a unit"
'Best score in fifty years huh, I suppose I achieved my goal of standing out'
I was back in Sophia's office 20 minutes later in a set of fine black clothes I had been provided.
"After a bit of deliberation I've come to a decision, you'll be assigned to unit 3 and train with them. But in consideration of your skillset, I'm going to send you on solo missions. Any questions?"
"Yes, is there any place I can find books or manuals on weapon techniques?"
"There are plenty of such books in the facility's library, but I recommend you just learn from someone, it's much easier"
"I like to read up on things to get comfortable with them"
"Well I won't stop you, you can do what you want in your free time. But make sure to show up for training at six sharp. Your first mission is in a week"
"And what might that be"
"You're to Assassinate Marquess Harel, he's been discovered colluding with the enemy and we have no time to have him arrested through the legal system."
'Well that escalated quickly'
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[Magnus Witherthorn]
Rank 2 - Mortal
Essence - 447
Essence type - Myriad Elemental
[Strength] - 238
[Agility] - 248(+20)
[Dexterity] - 240
[Intelligence] - 236
[Spirit] - 108
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Active skills:
[S] - [Sky Steps]
[A] - [Identify], [Wind Dash], [Assassinate], [Wind Bolt]
[B] - [Essence Boost], [Camouflage], [Heat Sense], [Higher Speed Enhancement]
[C] - [Conjure Shadow Dagger], [Reinforcement]
[D] - [Fire Starter]
Passive skills:
[SS] - [The Blessing of Myriad Elements ]
[A] - [Greater Arithmetic Mastery], [Greater Calligraphy Mastery], [Danger Sense], [Greater Acrobatics Mastery], [Accelerated Regeneration]
[B] - [Keen Senses], [Swift Steps], [Conceal Presence], [Higher Close Quarters Combat Mastery]
[C] - [Balance], [Movement Style: Silent Wisp], [Burn resistance], [Median Cooking Mastery]
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