An Hollow Genius III

Looking at the skeleton knight I quickly start running forward.

Noticing my action it ran at me as well. As it slashed its sword to the side I quickly duck and narrowly dodge it.

While on the ground I do a spin and bend down to sweep him under its feet with my leg.

As it slips and falls on the ground I quickly get up and jump while giving it a sharp kick against its head.

It gets sent flying 5 meters and soon recovers and lands back on its feet. It runs towards me once again as we both get ready to clash.

I throw a punch but it uses its sword to deflect it and use the force from the deflection to slash my side. I jump up and dodge the sword but the skeleton knight follows up with a punch into my gut.

"tch"

I get sent flying 3 meters and before I could recover completely the skeleton knight's sword is already in my face. Putting my face to the side it slashes against the side of my mask leaving a bit of it broken. The skeleton knight follows up once again by putting its other hand into a fist and throwing a punch while putting his sword behind his back.

Throwing up my hands to block my face I succeed but get sent flying 2 meters.

'Damn it'

Before I could think any longer it steps forward while doing a spin using the force of the punch to deliver a strong slash.

'Fast to fast even. I don't think I can dodge that.'

As the sword was about to reach my face I push my feet on the ground to push me upward.

Doing that made the sword narrowly miss me but slash a bit of my leg.

Before I let the skeleton knight try any more tricks I roll and flip back onto my feet and quickly rush forward.

As the sword isn't raised yet I throw a punch at its face and then do a spin into a Roundhouse kick. Succeeding I quickly go to punch its gut but it dodges and grabs my arm. Raising me upward it tries to slam me but I put my legs around its head and do a spin to flip it on its back. Doing that resulted in me flipping and landing on my back. As I roll I land on my feet and the skeleton does the same.

The skeleton looked at me with different eyes than usual. As it went down it started getting in a sword stance.

'He's getting serious. I need to step up my game now. This is fun'

Before I could think any further a sword was already in my vision.

'Fast to fucking fast even for an f tier dungeon'

Dodging backward I do a backflip and start putting distance from the skeleton. But it continued to follow up with a form of sword dance.

Sword after sword came from numerous directions as I proceeded to get cut up on different body parts. Legs, Arms, and even my chest.

As I noticed a flaw in its sword stance I do a spin and land a heel kick right into its torso. Seeing that its offense was completely shattered I start releasing punch after punch.

'Even tho I've trained for years I've only trained in sword techniques. Damn it I still have many flaws.'

As I punch its gut it tried to slash downward on me but I use my other hand to push its wrist upward knocking it off balance and I released a deadly uppercut.

As it left the ground for a few seconds I jump up and did a back kick on the middle of its chest and it got sent slamming into the podium.

Blood poured from my wounds as my original clothing was completely cut. I didn't feel the pain until the battle was completely over.

Noticing that the skeleton knight was struggling to stand I walked towards it. Raising my foot I stomp on its head shattering it completely killing it.

Of course, throughout this whole dungeon, not a single thing dropped but this skeleton knight actually dropped a weapon?

'Usually finding a weapon in an F rank dungeon is rare as the monsters are too weak to possess a valuable weapon worthy to the system.'

Picking up the sword I hear a ding.

*Battle Maniac is satisfied you fought a good battle. It notices your flaws and gifts you with +1 speed and +1 perception. Continue satisfying it.*

Nodding my head a happy expression appears on my face. But thinking about the skeleton king standing right next to me I don't inspect the sword right away.

Putting it in my inventory I start walking up the podium but with every step I took, I started feeling the pressure.

As the pressure started increasing I started feeling fear.

'Fear I thought my skills would make my mind perfect in battle..'

But as I finally stood up facing the throne that's when I realized.

'This wouldn't have been a battle.'

Facing the King that seemed like it was a higher being fear bloomed inside of my heart.

'This would have been a one-sided slaughter.

As the king raised its hand I instantly was forced to my knees.

Before I even knew it I was slammed into the other side of the cavern and into a wall.

As my eyes started blanking I felt teleported before losing consciousness. Waking up I notice I'm in a giant stadium.

The slashed clothes and broken bits of my mask were completely healed even my wounds. Looking around I notice that the original 1,000,000 dwindled down all the way to 100,000.

Looking up I notice there is another stage. The old man from last time is up there as well.

"Hello, students you've all fought well and hard. For the final people remaining this, you were selected after countless analyzation and deemed to be the best of the best. Of course, this isn't the final challenge as we need to introduce one more final step the Talent Examination."

As soon as those words were said the huge stadium had a giant crystal ball risen from a hole in the ground. Quickly we all got into an orderly fashioned line as talent after talent was brought in to test their abilities and potential.

Noticing I was the 267th person to go up I was happy about my luck and quickly started to inspect the sword I received in the dungeon.

(A/N: it's in his inventory)

Shame

Desc: A sword that was honed in countless battles. It was once peerless with an owner with neverending pride. But one day that owner's pride was shattered alongside the sword. It and its wielder soon became a skeleton knight forced to bow down and become its right-hand man. Maybe when its pride is restored it can once again go to its former glory.

Effect +10 STR, +10 AGI, and once wielded it shall never be taken off.

Looking at the fact the moment it was worn it couldn't be taken off scared me a bit but I dismiss those thoughts.

'Owner? No wonder he never went far. A sword is supposed to be your partner a weapon is something that'll never betray you and will stick with you regardless of how tough it is. These stats tho are insane especially for an F-grade dungeon. It's as high as a low-tier D-rank weapon.'

As I was lost in my thoughts about the sword curiosity bloomed inside of me.

'How strong is the sword before it fell down from its glory. With my trait Pride, I should be able to unlock its potential and maybe even go farther than that. Should I test it out?'

Shaking those thoughts out of my head I look up and notice it's about to be my turn. Once my turn came up I start walking forward before I notice someone walking up.

"Hey, it's my turn!"

As the person turn around I notice it was the loli before. The loli smiled a big smile with her sharp canine teeth and said

"So?"

"So? Then get back and get in line"

The loli looked at me with surprise then looked around at the other students but they all looked down not daring to match her gaze.

The loli scoffed.

"Do you know who I am?"

Walking up and being face to face with her I look her in her eyes and laugh.

"No, nor do I care who you are."

Pushing her out of my way I keep walking forward.

Of course, this interaction didn't go unnoticed as someone screamed loudly.

"HE DEFIED THE DRAGON PRINCESS HE HAS BALLS!"

Hearing that I turn around.

"Dragon princess?"

Looking at the girl once more I notice her features were familiar.

'Wait a minute she is the dragon princess!'

The loli looked at me once more and laughed arrogantly.

"Now that you know my identity do you dare steal the spot I covet?"

Looking at this arrogant scene I laugh and quickly turn to run towards the crystal.

The loli looks shocked as she quickly screams and runs after me.

"HUH? What are you doing!"

As the crystal was a meter in front of me I quickly reach out my hand only to be grabbed and thrown backward by the princess.

As I roll on the ground I do a flip back onto my feet.

"Huh?"

"Nice but futile attempt. Realize this you're weak."

As the princess touched the crystal it started to glow in a light so intense it covered the entire world. As the sky itself was dyed in a multicolored light everyone seemed to be in a trance. As the crystal started glowing words popped up.

Physical Talent: SSS

Spirit Talent: EX

Perception Talent: SSS

Will Talent: SSS

Everyone in the stadium was completely silent.

A pin could drop and everyone would hear it.

Her talent is INSANE

"IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?"

"EVEN THE ELVES CAN'T REACH THAT SPIRIT TALENT!"

"A PRODIGY!"

Looking at them cheering I shake my head and scoff. "A bunch of bootlickers" Walking forward the princess already moved away from the crystal and started to walk off.

Turning her head once more to look at me it was like she was anticipating my results.

Placing my hand on the crystal it starts to brighten up.

Silence overtook the crowd once more as the crystal brightened up so far that it was comparable to the previous princess. But before it could go any longer it was consumed by a endless darkness.

Coughing up blood I felt like something inside of me snapped and started to ravage about like it was trying to be free from its shackles but I quickly suppress it.

'No you mustn't come out I can't let you'

As those glowing words popped up once again even began to ponder on what happened.

The princess eyed me seriously before looking up

Physical Talent: EX

Spirit Talent: N/A

Perception Talent: EX

Will Talent: N/A

(A/N: Will is pretty much the drive of a person. The stronger your will the stronger you can become and this talent assumption shows how far your will can reach. If a person will all F talent but had a EX will they could change there talent and reach up to S grade. Of course, they can't reach SS grade but just S which is still a large margin)

Coughing up more blood the words on the crystal changed once again.

Physical Talent: EX

Spirit: Talent: N/A

Perception Talent: EX

Will Talent: N/A

Accept your true self and your true potential will reveal itself.

Looking at those words I can't help but feel bitter.

"Damn it"

As my eyes slowly close I pass out.