Chapter 20 :Test
Ank P.O.V
After another six months of hellish days under the old man's "training," I finally completed it.
Six months may sound short, but to me, it felt like six decades of endless sweat, blood, and pain. My body screamed at me every day, yet somehow, I survived. Now, I stood only a few steps away from reaching level 30.
I opened my status window.
Status Window: [Ank]
[Age: 16]
[Rank: Noob]
[Level: 29]
[HP: 500]
[Energy: 1005]
[Strength: 5000]
[Constitution: 600]
[Stamina: 10000]
[Charisma: 300]
[Intelligence: 600]
[Skills: None]
System Note: This is your status after unsealing.
The greatest improvement was in my stamina and strength.
My strength and stamina had soared beyond reason. A normal human couldn't even dream of numbers like these at level 29. Every time I clenched my fists, I felt the raw power in my muscles. My lungs burned with an endless flow of energy.
And yet…
I still had no skills, no spells.
I wanted to know about skills, how I would unlock them. If I unlocked even the weakest one, I would easily complete all the quests except those involving dragons and saving planets.
But the same reply came every time I wanted information about skills:
Wait until quests related to skills are issued by Destruction.
And on the spells side I have,
None.
Not a single one.
I let out a bitter laugh, my reflection in the status screen staring back at me with mocking eyes.
"Why…? Why can't I learn any spells?"
The answer was the same as always:
"You cannot learn any spells apart from the system."
I asked regularly in hope that the system would tell me about the certain level, but my hope was steadily diminishing.
When I pressed further, demanding to know when I would finally get a quest to unlock skills, when Destruction would issue quests related to skills, the system's cold, monotonous voice whispered back:
"Until you reach a certain level."
I ground my teeth, the words burning in my skull.
Certain level.
Those two cursed words.
If there were two things I despised more than anything in this life, it was this:
First: Certain Level.
Second: Destruction, the God that created this system for me.
But today wasn't the day to argue with the system. Today was the day to prove myself.
Old man had told me that the final step of my training would not be sparring, not running, not lifting stones, or meditating under waterfalls. No, the final step… was to hunt an A-rank monster.
Training was finished,
But to pass, I had to defeat one.
In the beginning, I hated training.
But now, I loved it—almost as much as I loved sleeping.
Still, training was over. Now it was time for the test.
I spent hours preparing: armor, weapons, potions. I checked and rechecked my gear until I could fall asleep.
I had two days. Two days to track, hunt, and kill an A-rank monster.
And if I failed? All those months would have been for nothing.
Old man came to my room and asked,
"Are you ready?"
There was no hesitation in my voice when I replied.
"Yes. I'm ready."
We stepped out of the house together.
But before we could leave, a familiar figure appeared.
Maya.
She stood at the kitchen entrance, her red hair tied loosely behind her, her hands clutching a cloth-wrapped bundle.
"Here," she said softly, avoiding my eyes. "Food. Enough for two days."
After that incident, Maya rarely spoke to me.
Our meetings happened only at the dining table and during lunch.
After saying goodbye to Maya,
We traveled together, the road stretching endlessly under our feet. For thirty kilometers we walked, the air growing thinner, the ground harder, until finally—
The mountain appeared.
This was the same mountain that was near the village but the difference was that on this mountain the highest level monsters were A-rank.
Arthur stopped, his gaze fixed on the mountain peak.
The mountain was a few steps away from me. Before reaching the mountain, I remembered the old man's words:
"At your level, you can easily defeat D-rank monsters, and even low-level C-ranks shouldn't pose a problem. But with your strength… and your healing factor… even an A-rank is possible."
The strongest monster on this mountain was A-rank.
He gave me the choice of which monster to fight.
D-rank? Pathetic.
C-rank? Pointless.
My answer had been immediate.
"I'll fight an A-rank."
Now, standing at the base of the mountain, that choice pressed down on me like a crushing weight.
Old man turned to me. His face, as always, revealed nothing. But his words cut into me like steel.
"From here on, you are on your own. No guidance. No help. No saving. Training was over. This is your fight, Ank. You die, you fail. You live, you pass."
And I am waiting for good news by saying, he quickly turned and started walking in the direction of the village.
I also watched the old man until he was no longer visible to my eyes and then I started walking towards the mountain.
I tightened my grip on my sword.
"I understand."
And then, I was alone.
I looked up at the towering peak, the thick forest beyond, and the oppressive aura rolling down from above.
Every instinct screamed at me to turn back.
But I had already made my choice.
I took my first step into the mountain.
And thus, my hunt began.