Fight

Whoosh! The portal shimmered as Ethan stepped through it. He walked into a large clearing in a forest. He could see several applicants standing in front of him. All of them were wearing some kind of armour, though varying in quality. He searched for the green haired young master. He was wearing a golden coloured skin-tight suit. It shined, reflecting and scattering any light that fell on it, making it look like a diamond.

It was probably expensive. Ethan wondered what kind of a background he had? Whatever. If he met him again, he'd ask him. He couldn't approach him right now. Clap! A man clapped both of his hands. Ethan jerked his head towards him.

"Ok, everybody's here. Let's go." He started walking. They followed him to a large doorway. Ethan stared at the large structure in awe. This was a gate. A real gate, not a fake one from the Tower. A large stone doorway stood in front of him. A blood red pentagram was carved on its surface, giving it an ominous vibe. He took a deep breath.

"This is a gate. Beyond this doorway lies hundreds of monsters waiting to tear you apart." The man looked at them sternly. "Be responsible. Don't get hurt. Don't do anything stupid. And don't get yourselves killed." A chill ran down Ethan's spine. Though this test was pretty safe, the chances of him dying weren't zero. They never were. Gates were extremely unpredictable. Any fluctuation could invariably lead to someone's death. So gatekeepers had to be smart.

"You'll be teleported to random locations within this gate. Be sure to complete as many tasks as you can in 2 hours. You must report back by 3:00 p.m., or you'll be disqualified. Best of luck!" Crackle! The two stone doors shook heavily as they slowly creaked open.

"Move it!" The applicants rushed forward. Ethan stretched his arms. "Hu.....Time to begin. KGS, here I come!"

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Whoosh! Ethan stepped out of the portal As he pulled out his knife. A small gust of wind blew across his face. He was in a small cave. He looked ahead. There was only one path. Well. At least they weren't asking him to find his way around the gate. Beep! His watch lit up. He could see a list of tasks.

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[Kill 1 Clay Golem(s) (90)] - 1 point(s)

[Kill 10 Clay Golem(s) (75)] - 5 point(s)

[Kill 1 Pebble Golem(s) (60)] - 10 point(s)

[Kill 10 Pebble Golem(s) (50)] - 50 point(s)

[Kill 1 Rock Golem(s) (40)] - 100 point(s)

[Kill 10 Rock Golem(s) (30)] - 500 point(s)

[Kill 1 Ore Golem(s) (20)] - 2000 point(s)

[Kill 1 Metal Golem(s) (10)] - 5000 point(s)

[Kill 1 Knight(s) (1)] - 10000 point(s)

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Ethan looked at the list in front of him. Those bastards! Those KGS guys had prepared an insanely tough exam.

First of all, each task was limited. The small number in brackets indicated how many times a task could be performed. This meant that at least 10 people would score 0 points. Yes, at least. A person could perform a task more than once. Also, higher tasks were locked. Ethan wouldn't be able to select the task, 'Kill 10 Clay Golems' unless he completed the task, 'Kill 1 Clay Golem' at least once. Which gave rise to the second problem. The point value of these tasks was, to be frank, bullshit.

Doing the task, 'Kill 1 Clay Golem' ten times would give a better point value than doing the task, 'Kill 10 Clay Golems' once. So they actually encouraged applicants to use up more than 1 task slot. Secondly, everybody would have to choose between attempting a task again or moving on to higher ranked tasks. You'd have to consider which task was easy enough that you'd be able to farm it, but difficult enough that others wouldn't be able to do the same.

Ethan smiled. These KGS bastards sure knew how to make their tests hell. Well, then. What should he do? He eyed the list. He wouldn't be able to kill a knight. One hundred percent. Only Noah or the five heirs would be able to do that. His eyes fell on a task. He smiled. This was perfect. The point layout for this task was perfect, and the difficulty suited his dagger style.

Recently, he'd bought a 'skill' with the little money he had. Ethan always adapted to what he had. He'd started using a dagger because the Mercator gave it to him, and now he had tweaked his fighting style to suit this skill he had acquired. Alright. He was ready. He knew enough about these monsters to be able to get a good head start. He bent forward, ready to begin.

Whoosh! Ethan started running. Splotch! Splotch! What luck! He'd found a clay golem! A brown humanoid made out of loosely packed clay stumbled forward. Stumbled was the wrong word. It was more like it glided through the dirt on the floor. "Raaaaah!" It let out an unholy scream.

"God, these things are noisy!" Ethan rushed forward.

[Kill 1 Clay Golem(s) (45)]

He jumped forwards. Shing! He slid his knife forwards, ready to stab. "Raaaaah!" The clay golem tried to swing its arms. Splat! Ethan stabbed its face with all his might. He had struck it with mana. "Guuuuuh," It melted into a puddle. Ethan wiped his suit. Clay golems sure made a mess! He pulled out a damaged core from its head and brought it close to his watch. Swish! It disappeared in a flash of light.

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[Points: 1]

Unlocked:

[Kill 1 Clay Golem(s) (44)] - 1 point(s)

[Kill 10 Clay Golem(s) (74)] - 5 point(s)

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It seemed like most people were going to repeat the first task. It was an efficient way to cut down the competition. Ethan would gladly reap the fruits of these people's labour. He silently saluted them in his mind.

The top ten participants would be promoted to the next stage. Ethan had no time to waste. He rushed forward. The wind rushed past his face. Tap...tap...tap. He ducked beneath a boulder as he emerged from the cave.

Ethan stood in front of a large red fortress. It was made ot of dark red bricks, making it looks like a demon lord's castle. It reminded him of a certain blocky game. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to mess around. He searched around madly for any clay golems. There were three! He rushed forward.

Stab! The first golem couldn't even react as Ethan stabbed its face. Splotch! It melted into a puddle. "Raaaah!" The other golems screamed in anger. One glided forward as it tried to smother him in its grasp. Slash! He slashed at its stomach.

The golem didn't even flinch as it lifted its arm to strike him. Damn it! He had forgotten that clay golems couldn't be attacked anywhere except their heads. Stab! Stab! He twisted upwards and stabbed the two golems in succession. "Guuuuh." The golems screamed as they died.

Ethan gathered their cores and stuffed them in his pocket. He wouldn't be able to submit his cores unless he gathered all ten of them. KGS had found another way to make life tough for their applicants. There were no rules against snatching cores. So, applicants frequently attacked each other and tried to gain more cores. This was the biggest hurdle in the second task.

Ethan would have to face against hungry applicants trying to steal his cores while searching for clay golems to kill. No wonder only one applicant had cleared the second task. He wondered who the lucky bloke was. Whatever. He'd have to hurry up now.

Ethan prowled around the outskirts of the castle. Tap...tap...tap. Large pathways lead to the castle. These pathways hung high in the air above a large moat full of monsters- rock golems. While clay golems guarded this side of the moat, rock golems patrolled inside the castle. Clat! Clat! Ethan could hear the rock golems below crashing against each other. If he fell down there, he'd fail the test. Of course, he wouldn't be dumb enough to jump into the pit.

Ethan looked around. He couldn't find any clay golems. Strange. Where were they? Tap...tap...tap. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Clang! Ethan deflected an arrow. Somebody had tried to attack him. His instincts had saved him before he had even registered what was happening. He crouched down to reduce his size. He didn't want to get struck by an arrow.

"Well, well. Looks like mister trash potential isn't useless." A boy walked out from behind a boulder. He wasn't the shooter. "Hand over your cores. I just saw you take down three golems. I won't hurt you as long as you comply." He smiled at Ethan.

Dammit! He'd been too careless! He stared at the boy, weighing his options. Fight or flight? None seemed viable. He cursed. He'd have to deal with this guy. Sweat trickled down his forehead. Ethan was in trouble.