The leader's heavenly, melodious voice, that made Sarah's sex an ambiguity for those 'uninitiated', she spoke loudly, reaffirming the rules and stipulations for the test.

"Cole Phamas, Rank 1 Adventurer, we the Highrove Adventurer's Guild's official examiners welcome you on your first Rank Up Test!" She gave a slight pause in her speech, and lowered her hands, grabbing the railing before she continued.

"To pass and achieve a positive result all you need to do is hold your ground against one of the warriors in front of you until I say it is enough. I will not say how long it will take, but you can rest assured that since this is only for the second rank, you will not need to hold out for too long. You can choose which one, but let me warn you, they are of equal strength. The most obvious choice may not be the correct one. The test shall begin once you have made your choice."

Then she turned towards Aiden and addressed him as well. Although she kept the mystical tune behind her voice, it carried a bit more emotion than before.

"You should not interfere with the test itself anymore. I give my word that the duel will be an honorable one. I will personally punish those that would go against my word." As she said her last sentence, the bald, unarmed examiner next to her, felt a shiver pass through him, causing him to shiver in fright momentarily, before gulping audibly. He nervously glanced at the black warriors on the ground floor. His eyes telling everything, the warrior on the right, closest to him, gave a long blink and a barely perceptible nod under his helmet, understanding his new commands.

"Then I am relieved." Aiden nodded with a friendly smile on his face, as he took a few steps to the side and casually leaned against the wall, folding his arms. He seemed completely calm, and nonchalant as if this whole ordeal meant absolutely nothing to him. Truth be told, that wasn't that far from the truth either. While he obviously cared for his friend, even if he only met him just such a short time ago, this 'world of humans' was less and less interesting to him as the days continued to pass. All the cruelty, needless violence against their own kind, the darkness that plagued them made him wonder about the other races of the world.

He was told that besides humans, who populated most of the lands, there are many others out there. Beastkin or Beastfolk, which was an evolved version of the myriad animals and predators found out there, had a whole kingdom to themselves to the far west. At some point, Aiden's master, Number 3 also told tales about elves, the race of his sister's Lily's mother living in small villages, colonies in large forests such as the one where they lived.

Granny and Number 3 told tales about many other beings, some living under the ground, and even some that lived above the skies! At that time, he wasn't that interested as he felt some strange, unexplainable connection to the world of humans, but as he continued to experience their world, he felt more and more disgusted by it as the days passed.

Once this whole ordeal with the main quest and then the consequent deal he made with the prince is finally finished and he regains some of his 'freedom' once again, he decided to set out and explore the world!

The edges of his lips curved a bit higher at this thought, as he shook his head and focused on the duel in front of him that was just about to start.

---

Cole, thinking about the leader's words for a bit, decided that in the end will still go with his own, first thought and picked the guy on the left wearing the leather armor and carrying the mace with the spiky, metal ball head.

As the boy raised his hand and pointed to him, the dark leather-wearing warrior nodded with an expressionless face and stepped forward, whilst his partner turned and left towards the side, towards Aiden's position. Halting several steps away from him, he simply stood still like a statue, unmoving and stoic as he continued to watch the battle between the brown-haired youth and his partner. Even if his face wouldn't be hiding behind the helmet, no expressions or thoughts could have been read from it, as he looked ahead insipidly.

Taking a few deep breaths, to calm his inner turmoil and steel his heart, Cole slowly unsheathed his sword and raised it in front of his chest diagonally the edge turned towards his opponent. He had a determined, focused look on his face as he scanned the enemy looking at his smallest movements, actions.

The warrior had an emotionless but cold look on his face as he grabbed the hilt of his weapon, and held it in his right hand. He did not enter any battle stance, the weapon was hanging upside down at his right side as he stood still, looking at the boy in front of him. At a first glance, one could feel that his poise was full of openings and holes as if he was an amateur. However, in the next moment, as he blinked once more, and his eyes opened, suddenly an ominous, eerie aura was released from his body. It was nothing magical, it was the culmination of years of hard work and experience, it told tales about a cruel and brutal life lived on the battlefield, being on the edge of life and death.

Aiden's nonchalant smile faded as he was hit by the warrior's aura, his intent as he released it. He felt a tremendous amount of cruelty, a big thirst for blood… Just this aura alone could set the hearts of the novices to a deep perpetuating fear, making them unable to react to the actions on the outside as their hearts and souls trembled in front of this monstrous entity, this reaper of lives.

As the warrior's aura hit Cole and he felt the dread wash over him, he grabbed the hilt of his sword even harder and shook his head. He did not let out any word, not even a yelp as he withstood the pressure bravely.

Seeing how unaffected the brown-haired boy was even after such a psychologic attack, a small smile began to curve up on the warrior's previously expressionless face.

Raising his weapon-holding right hand, he motioned at the boy invitingly, and put an end to the silence. His raspy rough voice completely fit his image as he spoke.

There was a chilling, strange happiness in his voice as he addressed the boy in front of him.

"Come now, kid! Show me what you got!"

In response, Cole bent his front knee a bit and put a bit more of his weight on it, as he prepared one last time. In the next moment, whilst keeping the blade diagonally in front of him, but cocking it slightly back to prepare for a mid-charge swing, he let out a loud, heartfelt shout and rushed forward.

As he rapidly closed the distance, once he got into range, he swung his weapon-holding arm with all his might aiming for a horizontal cut across the man's chest.

Against such a simplistic attack, the seasoned veteran didn't need to plan out too much, he made a very basic move to raise his weapon and put it in front of the boy's rapidly approaching arcing blade.

As the blade collided against the mace a loud metallic clink rang out in the room. The arc was put to a halt, only to be thrown back by the physically much stronger enemy's casual push of his arm.

Following up the parry, as with his arms thrown to the side giving a large and fatal opening, the warrior grinned as he raised his right leg in the air, and gave a strong kick on Cole's chest with his boots.

Flung back like a broken kite, Cole barely managed to hold onto the hilt of his sword as he crashed against the ground with a loud thump.

Gritting his teeth, he spat out a bloodied goop of saliva, and jumped up, ready to get back into action after his first failure.

Although he could have followed up the kick easily with a thrust and end the boy's life then and there, the warrior knew that he couldn't play dirty this time around, so he just stood still, and did not approach. He let the boy get back up and collect himself. However, a small smile was revealed on his face as he looked at the deep boot-mark that was left on the boy's chest, covering a large portion of his frontal upper torso.

"Try again, but don't be such an amateur on your next attempt. If we would be out there in a real-life situation, that mark on your chest could be your guts being pulled out. If you make such a fatal mistake once again, I won't care about your friend anymore and just end you!" He spoke out, berating the boy for such a fatal mistake. If he is at this level, why is he even attempting the test?!