abcnovels
Chapter 151: A Cruel Test
Chapter 151: A Cruel Test
Chapter 151: A Cruel Test
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"Is something wrong?" Argus asked, seeing Adam so stunned, but thought it was just because the news about Innate Skill was so unexpected.
"Ah, yes." Adam nodded and turned to him. "Right, about the promotion test..."
"We've seen enough." Argus said. "You passed."
Adam nodded with relief.
"Give me your mercenary card." Albertson said, offering his hand.
Adam took out his mercenary card. It was small and simple-looking. Then he handed it over to him.
Albertson took the card and then took out a strange item from his inventory.
It looked like a small version of the printing machine. It was hand-sized with a crank on one side.
With the card in hand, he inserted it inside the strange item and turned the crank.
It hummed for a couple of seconds and then stopped.
Albertson took the card out of the machine and handed it back to Adam.
"There you go."
Adam looked at the card with a slight smile.
***
[Name: Adam Palestar]
[Level: 4]
[Affiliation: Crimson Hound Mercenaries]
[Recruit: S]
[Rank: Ordergiver]
***
"You defeated Beyonder, but your physical attributes are not enough to reach that rank yet; I apologize for that." Argus said.
"I understand." Adam said and put the card back inside his inventory.
The card's picture of him also had changed. It wasn't much, but in the couple of months, his hair had greatly grown out.
There wasn't much with his physical descriptions, except his skin looked slightly fairer than before, but it wasn't anything drastic.
'I suppose I haven't been able to grow muscle much.' Adam looked at his arms and sighed.
He wanted to put more effort into that, but he was just too busy, as he didn't want to lack on his training.
While it helped to have a strong body with muscles, currently the skills, Three Powers, and level increasing had greater effects on his overall strength.
"With that, you may leave." Argus said and offered a handshake. "It was a pleasure to see you in flesh."
Adam nodded and shook the hand.
"You may follow me." Albertson led Adam out of the room and down the long corridor. Argus stayed behind, lost in thought.
'Only those with god-given talent can receive Innate Skills. I underestimated him greatly, how foolish of me. I even have a feeling that he didn't show me everything he is capable of...
'Now I am excited to see what kind of person he can become.'
...
While walking down the corridor, Adam asked:
"Is Digby done yet?"
"No, he is at his final test." Albertson said and looked at him. "Do you want to watch?"
"Sure." Adam nodded.
After taking the corridor, they headed to another hidden room that was currently empty with
a large window overseeing a surprisingly different kind of testing room.
It had an open ceiling with a blue sky and scorching hot sun shining down.
Its walls were white, and the floor was raised like a platform.
"Rah!" A crying shout came from the room.
Albertson and Adam stopped by the window and looked down into the room.
There, they saw Digby, kneeling with blood pooling around him as he tried to stand and move further.
Behind him, there was a white flag waving in the air, and at the other side of the platform, there was a black and white flag, as if it were a finishing line.
"What's this?" Adam asked.
He had never tried to do the Royal Prince test or haven't even watched anyone do it.
"A test of willpower," Albertson said. "Digby has to walk from the white flag to the other end of the platform. If he makes it within the time limit, he'll be Royal Prince."
Adam looked at the wall where there was a clock ticking down the seconds.
Only one minute remained.
"Digby has failed this particular test three times already," Albertson said with a sigh. "I don't know what's with his mental state. He is clearly strong enough, even though he is lacking the level barely, but that doesn't matter, as long as he manages to walk through the platform."
Digby tried to stand up, crying and shouting, but his body was not listening to him. It almost felt like he was fighting against gravity.
His knee was strongly planted on the ground, and his body weighted like an enormous mountain pressing down on him.
"Another failure, it seems." Albertson said with a sigh. "This might be his last chance. He is
already, what, 43 years old?"
"That's right..." Adam sighed.
It was frustrating to see someone struggle to walk a distance of five meters.
That's all it was.
The platform was only five meters long.
Digby managed to walk a mere one meter in the past half an hour. It was all he managed to
accomplish.
It was even frustrating to him because he reached two meters a year ago. It meant that his willpower had decreased.
'I am so weak...' Digby gritted his teeth. 'I want this... I want this... so why... why can't I reach
it?'
At this moment, he remembered himself as a kid, a time of innocence and boundless energy. He remembered watching some old animated shows.
In those, the protagonist always received a strange power at the moment when they were in
their darkest hour.
As a kid, it was like the coolest thing ever.
Digby gritted his teeth, imagined himself as one of those protagonists and pushed himself
one last time.
His knees shook and rose off the ground, a pain raging in his eyes, but he didn't stop.
Ding, ding.
At that moment, a sound that he had learned to hate the most echoed in his ears.
Szz.
A static voice said, "You're out of time, Digby. You've failed the promotion test; you may leave the way you came."
Digby's knees crashed back on the ground, a despair flashing through his eyes.
Again, he failed.
In the hidden room, Adam averted his gaze with a deep sigh.
"What an evil test," Albertson said. "It makes the person feel completely hopeless."
"Yeah, it truly is..." Adam said and then sighed before bowing as farewell. "I'll be leaving
now, thank you."
"Take care." Albertson said, still looking towards the platform, where Digby was kneeling in defeat with tears running down his cheeks.
Since the test of willpower had ended, the strange power that stopped Digby from moving
had also disappeared.
However, still, he was kneeling as if he were frozen like a statue.
"Truly a cruel test..."
...
The sun reached the highest peak in the sky.
At the yard of the promotion test compound, carriages started departing.
Some were thrilled after getting promoted, some looked dishearted, and some were outright
crying, while others were stoic and silent, their emotions hidden beneath a mask of
indifference.
Adam was sitting inside his carriage, hiding from the warmth of the sun.
Thankfully, the interior of the carriage was somewhat cool and shaded.
At that moment, the door opened, and a wave of heat entered the carriage for a brief moment,
then a figure stepped inside and sat down.
Digby looked normal with a mask of indifference. His eyes weren't red either, as if he hadn't
just cried, and his breathing was steady.
Adam side-eyed at him, not daring to speak a word.
"How did it go?" Digby asked.
"I passed the test."
"Good." Digby smiled. "I knew you could do it."
"Mm..." Adam nodded, not daring to ask about his success because he already knew.
He had seen people like him before.
At his current state, Digby most likely preferred to stay quiet for the rest of the day.
Ding, ding!
Adam flinched in surprise and looked ahead at strange messages that appeared in front of his
eyes.
'It's done...'
[99%...]
[100%...]
[Transformation Complete!]