Game's Extra: Starting With SSS-Ranked 1000-Death Talent-Chapter 45: Dummy Thick Competition

Noa thought Arthur would reach him first.

Yet the protagonist was a step too late, and a bunch of curious classmates surrounded him.

"You are Arthur, right?" a short, green-eyed boy asked him.

"What a weird coincidence. Are you two relatives, by any chance?" a tall, red-haired girl with a cute reaction and a dimple on her face urged him.

Both of them were students whom Noa easily recognized.

The boy, Ezra, was a promising contender for the upcoming competition—his talent had been A-rank.

As for the girl, she was someone Noa had already talked to.

Rika, the student who had questioned his survival when he emerged from the Abyss later than the others.

"No. It's my first time meeting him. I don't really have a family," Noa lied through his teeth.

He was watching Arthur this entire time.

The boy was waiting for his moment to approach him.

But curious peers wanted to talk with the new student before the harsh training began.

"What class are you?"

"Have you explored the labyrinth in the Abyss?"

A couple of other questions came his way, and Noa answered them, trying to get closer to his classmates.

He differed from the loner Arthur.

Two minutes were enough for him to acquaint himself with almost everyone.

The small talks didn't scare him, and walking down the stairs, Elowen led them to their designated training grounds.

Evolved was written on the door.

Only Embers within this grade category could train here.

"Here we are. Welcome to your new gym," the female teacher said.

Then she left after Gio took over the group and started his explanation.

"I want you bunch to spend more time in this very room than in your house. Consider this place as your new home."

His voice was firm.

Noa glanced around, studying the surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was the vastness of the place, especially when only a hundred students had to use it.

Its state-of-the-art equipment, various dummies, magical devices, and fighting rings helped him finally digest what kind of place he was in.

This was heaven for a fighting maniac like Arthur.

The same thing could hardly be said about Noa.

His hard work worked differently from the others, and instead of sweating his ass off, Noa enjoyed real battles more.

Also, his talent played a huge role in this.

Every Ember could increase their basic attributes if they trained enough.

Some stats were harder to raise than others, and it depended on the class.

For example, if Arthur used gym equipment, pushed himself to the limit with magical potions aiding his recovery, his strength attribute would increase.

It sounded good.

But it was only on the surface, as actually getting rewarded for the hard work was rare.

This was the harsh reality of the world.

Talent was everything, and no matter how much effort one puts in, it hardly makes any difference.

Especially when someone like Arthur and Noa existed.

The first one easily gained attributes by killing the monster.

The latter could just level up over and over.

Yet the academy still spent resources creating this training system.

It didn't happen because the people in government and the association were dumb.

For one, training gave false hope to talentless Embers, and even if they stayed weak, Velrox still needed people like them.

As for the second reason, the practice ground wasn't completely useless.

If it couldn't increase attributes with a great success rate, it could at least help students get used to their skills.

It allowed them to familiarize themselves with their magical or physical abilities.

Noa wanted to try a couple of exercises, but Gio still talked.

"The Eclipsed League starts in two months. Our academy has only five spots for the city tournament. The representatives are chosen by their progress and talent for dueling. Everyone gets a fair chance, and grades mean nothing."

He explained the internal process of the league.

Noa knew almost everything because it was one of the most important and deadly events in the game.

Each middle-grade city gets three spots for the tournament, meaning only three Embers of any rank could participate from New Glory City.

It was harsh conditions.

Even Arthur barely made it through the brackets.

But even a drop of blood and sweat was worth it because of the rewards.

Yet the end of the league, which Arthur couldn't win, ended with bloodshed.

The event killed millions of talented and strong Embers, wreaking human domain.

The loss was so devastating that humanity never recovered from it.

When the Six Abyss descended, the force Velrox had wasn't enough to fight back.

Gio concluded his speech, calling the other instructors for the potential assessment he wanted to conduct, stripping Arthur of one more chance to talk to Noa.

As for the tests, they were fairly simple.

All it did was measure their attributes, class, and one skill of choice.

The first trial was for strength.

A metallic dummy was placed before the students, and they had to punch it one by one.

The puppet had sensors and a screen, which showed numbers.

"Don't use mana, skill, or items," Gio ordered. "It will only check your pure strength stat, and we can detect it if you try to cheat."

He also provided a few strict requirements.

Everything above 100 was A rank.

Under 100 points was B rank.

Under 50 points was C rank.

Under 20 points was D rank.

And everything under 10 points was considered a failure.

Even level 3 Clerics with average stats should be able to pass this test, but the better the result, the more attention the academy will give to a student.

It worked the same way as any other trial.

No class was put at a disadvantage as everything would be analyzed.

The first selected student was a boy named Agoda, and his bulging muscles left an impression that he would get at least a B rank.

Unfortunately for him, not only was his form mediocre, but his strength was also average.

Follow current novℯls on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

Gio observed the numbers and reported,

"Agoda Fullspark, 45 points, C rank. Wait for others and stand in line."

Then, other students punched the dummy back-to-back until it was Arthur's turn.