Chapitre 23: A Fraction of His Real Power
Shortly after Bai Tian followed Fiora, they arrived at this spacious room, where a woman with similar features to Fiora was waiting with an unhappy expression on her face.
And before Bai Tian could even greet her, Freya spoke in a rude manner, "So you're the Martial Artist with unfathomable potential, huh? Besides having a decent face, you don't look any special to me."
"Unfathomable potential?" Bai Tian raised an eyebrow as he wondered where she got this assessment of him from.
Meanwhile, Fiora's cheeks turned beet red on both sides.
"A-Ahem!" She quickly cleared her throat before speaking, "This is Freya, she is a Gold-rank Adventurer, and she will be your examiner for today, Mister Black Heaven."
"You can drop the formalities." Bai Tian said to her.
"I understand. Then, Black Heaven, you will undergo three simple evaluations today to determine your rank."
Fiora pointed towards a machine at the very left corner of the room and said, "That will be your first evaluation. It's called a Stat Checker, and as its name implies, it will check your current stats."
"Keep in mind it will only check your natural stats, so any stats you gain from your equipment will not show. Whenever you are ready, please place your hands on the crystal ball, and keep them on until you are told to let go."
Bai Tian approached the machine and placed his hands on the crystal ball at the center of the device.
A few seconds after Fiora pressed some buttons, Bai Tian could feel an invisible force probing his body.
'Feels exactly like a spiritual energy evaluation.' He thought to himself, as he has done something similar in the real world.
Once his stats showed up on the screen, Fiora said, "Okay, you can let go now."
And she began writing down the information.
[Level: 32]
[Health: 2,050]
[Stamina: 11,300]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Martial Artist]
[Strength: 36]
[Agility: 36]
[Endurance: 5]
[Energy: 113]
[Resistance: 5]
'Hm? Why does it say Energy instead of Spirit? And why do I have Stamina now? Did it replace Qi?' Bai Tian noticed these oddities and pondered to himself.
Meanwhile, Fiora and Freya were dumbfounded by his stats, but not because they were amazing.
It was the opposite.
"Hahaha! What the fuck are these stats?!" Freya burst out laughing.
"You are level 32, yet you only have 2,000 health?! How did you even get to that level with such low health? Any monster above level 40 could easily kill you in a single hit! And you're a Martial Artist who fights close combat in the frontlines!"
"Furthermore, why do you still have your basic class even though you can get a Class Advancement at level 30? Are you that lazy? Or do you have a special reason for remaining as a basic class?"
Normally, ordinary people in the world of High Fantasy Online require two to three weeks of grinding to go from level 30 to level 32. And since Class Advancement is available at level 30 for everyone, nobody would be dumb enough to keep grinding prior to getting one, as they receive new skills and higher stats with a Class Advancement.
Thus, in Freya's eyes, Bai Tian being level 32 without a Class Advancement was pure idiocy.
Of course, the most ridiculous thing about Bai Tian would be his low health. Since he didn't put any points into Endurance, he only gained health through levels, which was 50 health per level.
In this world, Martial Artists are expected to fight in the frontlines as a damage dealer, so it would only make sense to invest in their health to avoid dying too fast, yet Bai Tian did the exact opposite, investing mostly into his 'Energy', which would only allow a Martial Artist to use more skills.
'Was I wrong? Perhaps Freya was right about him having zero potential…' Fiora began doubting herself, as even she was baffled by his badly distributed stats.
"If you have enough money to buy a Stat Reset Potion, I'd recommend focusing on your Strength and Endurance. They might cost a fortune, enough to buy a small city, but it's your best chance of survival as an Adventurer, unless you want to die an early death."
Despite Freya's mockery, Bai Tian wasn't angry.
"Thank you for the advice, but my circumstances are a little special, so I understand why you don't understand it." He said with a calm smile.
"Hmph. You can keep trying to act cool, but nobody would party with you if they saw your stats."
"Is that a fact?"
"It is."
"L-Let's move onto the second evaluation..." Fiora interrupted them.
And she continued without giving them a chance to respond, "For the second evaluation, we will test your ability in combat. However, we will only test your reaction for now."
Freya pointed at herself and said, "That means you will try your best to avoid my attacks. Let's hope you don't die from a single attack because you have no health."
Bai Tian smiled and said, "You seem confident that you will be able to land a hit on me. If that is the case, how about a little game?"
"A game?" Freya raised an eyebrow.
Bai Tian nodded and retrieved a book from his inventory.
"If you can land a single hit on me, I will give you this Wind Blade Skill Book."
"What?! Are you serious?!" Freya exclaimed in a surprise.
A powerful Skill like Wind Blade would easily fetch hundreds of gold coins if sold. And while Freya doesn't specialize in Wind Magic, it would still benefit her greatly.
"I'm serious." Bai TIan confirmed, and he turned to look at Fiora, who was in a daze, "How long do I have to avoid her attacks?"
"Umm… One minute is enough."
"Alright. Then whenever you are ready." Bai Tian beckoned Freya with a provocative smile.
Since a Skill Book was on the line, Freya did not waste any time and started casting her magic.
"Fire Arrows!"
Freya pointed her metal wand at Bai Tian and shouted.
Three flaming arrows materialized in the air, flying at Bai Tian once they were complete.
"Don't worry, you won't die even if they all hit you– I think." Freya said with a grin on her face.
"Thank you for your consideration, but it won't hit me, so you don't need to worry about me." Bai Tian said as he gracefully dodged all three arrows with ease, as they flew slower than actual arrows from a bow, something he could dodge with his eyes closed.
Freya sucked her teeth and immediately began casting her next magic.
"Fireball!"
This time, a single fireball the size of an adult's fist appeared, and it flew at Bai Tian with speed that was much faster than the arrows.
Since she had to be really careful to not accidentally kill Bai Tian, Freya had to limit herself to common magic used by beginners.
Once again, Bai Tian avoided the magic with ease.
"Or so you thought!"
However, right as Bai Tian dodged the fireball, it suddenly did a 180 and flew towards the back of his head.
But as though he had eyes behind his head, Bai Tian dodged it again.
"Is that all you've got? I'm a little disappointed, to be honest." Bai Tian sighed.
Hearing such words, Freya gritted her teeth.
"You will regret saying that…"
She pointed her wand at him and took a moment to cast the next magic.
"Fire Bullet!"
A condensed ball of flames that resembled Bai Tian's Qi Bullet flew at him with incredible speed, but he dodged it by merely tilting his head.
'He's actually doing better than I expected…' Fiora thought to herself as she spectated them from afar.
"Thirty seconds left." Fiora announced thirty seconds into the exam.
"Che." Freya sucked her teeth before suddenly running towards Bai Tian.
'Although I have to limit my strength, I don't need to limit my speed!'
Freya closed their distance almost instantly.
Once she was in range, she shouted, "Flaming Sword!"
Flames engulfed her wand before taking the shape of a sword, and she started attacking Bai Tian as though she changed her class to a warrior.
"So you know swordsmanship as well? You're better than I thought."
"Don't underestimate a Gold-rank Adventurer!" Freya's movement started moving faster and faster.
'Sister… You're going overboard…' Fiora sighed inwardly after seeing Freya use her normal speed against Bai Tian.
Since Gold-rank Adventurers are usually above level 100, it would only be natural for Freya to defeat a level 32 who just registered as an Adventurer in the blink of an eye with speed alone.
However, to both Freya and Fiora's surprise, Bai Tian was still able to avoid her attacks.
Even though his movements were clearly slower than Freya, none of her attacks could reach him for some mysterious reason.
'W-What's going on? Why can't I hit him? Even though I am a Mage, I am far superior in stats, and I am clearly faster than him! Yet why is he still able to avoid my attacks?!' Freya was shocked inwardly.
Feeling her pride had taken a hit by Bai Tian's shenanigans, Freya prepared to actually attack him seriously. However, before she could do such a thing, Fiora blew her whistle and said, "Stop! Time's up!"
Freya halted her movements with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Nice try." Bai Tian said to her, which only made her more frustrated.
"That wasn't even a third of my real power, or else you would've died. I'm not going to risk my reputation for a few hundred gold coins," she sneered.
"By the way, this isn't the end. You still have a third evaluation, and you're going to fight me for real this time."
Freya already made up her mind that she'd give Bai Tian a good beating once the third evaluation began.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Bai Tian smiled.
"Arrogant son of a bitch…" Freya frowned.
"T-Then for the third evaluation, you will engage in a spar for 3 minutes or until I deem it no longer necessary to continue." Fiora said a moment later.
Bai Tian then said, "Hey, let's play another game. This time, if you can survive for 10 seconds, I will give you the Skill Book."
"What…?" Freya was utterly stunned by his arrogant words.
"A mere level 32 Martial Artist who will die if I sneeze on him dares to claim that he can defeat me in 10 seconds…? If you can do such a thing, I will kiss your shoes and call you father!"
Once they were in position, Fiora started the third evaluation.
However, right as Freya was going to rush at Bai Tian, her body suddenly stopped listening to her commands, feeling as though there were invisible chains restraining her body, and she stood still with a terrified look on her face for some reason.
Meanwhile, Bai Tian approached her with neither fast nor slow steps, yet it looked like he was leaving behind afterimages with each step.
Freya couldn't do anything except watch as Bai Tian inch closer. In fact, she couldn't even breath at that moment.
And before Freya or Fiora realized, he was already in front of his target.
Once in range, Bai Tian raised his arm and pressed his index finger directly in front of Freya's neck before pushing it slightly into her throat.
However, what Freya felt was not a finger on her throat, but a sharp object, almost as though there was a sword piercing her throat.
Her body still remained frozen, yet tears were flowing from her eyes.
"And you're dead." Bai Tian said in a calm voice before lowering his hand.
The very next moment, Freya regained control over her body, but she fell directly on her butt, making a 'thud' noise.
"W-W-What did you just do…?" Fiora asked him in a trembling voice.
He smiled and responded in a subtle mocking voice, "Nothing much. I only showed her a fraction of my real power."
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone