He looked around, analyzing the weapons he had at his disposal, long swords, short swords, daggers, rapiers, great swords. Even scythes, nunchaku, staffs, bows and crossbows as well with the bows and bolts made entirely of wood without a sharp tip.
Leon was not familiar with many weapons like that, what he had trained in the past was Fencing, he had used foils, however even the rapier there was not something he liked. And soon he picked up a long sword.
He had to hold it with both hands, it was a bit heavy but not enough that he could not swing it. " I'll go with the long sword then. "
"Oh?. Already has a man's taste for weapons kid. A long sword just isn't better than a Great Sword! " He then let out a loud laugh. " Hope you're ready!." He said as he finished laughing and immediately dashed toward Leon signaling that the test was starting already moving!.
Leon clenched his teeth while gripping the sword firmly with both hands. Mike swung the sword in a horizontal arc, the trajectory simple and easy to see, however too fast to dodge!. Giving Leon only time to place his sword in the trajectory, and try to absorb the impact.
Which generated a loud sound of wood against wood, and Leon was thrown back a few meters. Feeling his body tremble again. ' It felt like I was hit by a log!, that one point from my Level up I feel like it is helping me more than I gave it credit for '.
He had not fallen, however he supported himself with the sword stuck into the ground. Leaving a small trail along the way. " Eh?.. Still standing, I struck with the intention of knocking you out!." Mike looked at Nora while with one hand giving her a thumbs up. " Looks like you found something worth investing in Nora. "
Right after Leon was already dashing toward Mike, his leg muscles tensing hard forcing more strength than he had. Holding the sword to the side of his body, Leon closed the distance quickly and then delivered a strike from right to left at Mike
The same who with the hand holding the sword moved it to the side and did what Leon could understand as a parry on him. The sword that was in both hands lost one and went backward with force as if it had hit a wall " Grrr... It's not over yet!."
With the sword in his right hand going back. His closed left fist went forward toward Mike's face but was still too far to hit Mike's face. However being about 40 centimeters from Mike's chin. Leon opened his fist!.
And a white light shone from the palm of his hand!.
On the first night Leon had met Mr Anthony, Leon tested his trait, he could emit lights from his hand and it was a good amount of light, he could leave it 'on' for a few hours, maybe due to his mana being higher than his other stats.
As soon as the light hit Mike's eyes he let out a loud grunt placing his free hand over his face!. And that was all Leon needed. Forcing strength into his arm and shoulder he pulled the sword with his right hand and brought it down hard onto Mike's shoulder!
" Aaahhhh! " Leon shouted as the sword struck fully on the big man's shoulder who had been unable to see for a few moments. And then.
The sword bounced off his shoulder. And flew from Leon's hand who looked at it without understanding " Eh?, Ehhh? " What he could see next was Mike recovering and giving him a huge punch that made Leon fly backward!.
" You can use magic too?! Arg my eyes... " He had some tears running down his face while speaking. " We don't even need to do the mana test if you don't want. You're already approved. "
Leon heard that while sitting and placing his hand on his cheek that had taken the punch, and then spat blood to the side, while getting up.
"And you know how to take a punch too. Nora, he just needs to improve his sword fighting style and he'll be a good mercenary! " He kept talking while Nora wrote some things down.
" Excellent, Leon. You're already qualified then to join us however you still need to take the mana test, it's with it that we will make your identity plate as well. "
" Of course. That's fine then. " Leon looked at Mike " I'll defeat you next time Mike! " He said not as a threat, however he wanted to understand what had happened, he had lost and badly, if it wasn't for his trait, maybe he would not have even passed the test. And he had to get stronger to go after the others he knew.
And he also felt a new emotion in his chest while holding the sword, something that excited him, as if he had more power simply because of it, the sword was a good weapon.
Now Leon walked to a new room together with Nora. " Here we will make your identity and measure your mana. " He nodded while looking around, there were many books, several rolled papers, and some tables with various things he did not quite understand. And in the middle of the room there was a smaller table with a crystal ball.
' In the end it's really a crystal ball to measure mana? ' He thought it might be something different, but in the end it turned out similar to many other stories that measured others' power.
"Place your hand on the crystal, it is made to absorb mana, so it can have good accuracy. And it also reads your real age along with your name, but to activate it you have to put mana into the crystal!. Don't forget. "
" Right then Miss Nora. " He took a few steps toward the crystal and then placed his hand on it, and thought about how he would put mana into it. And tried to use his trait to make light come out of his hand.
The ball then began to glow with that, and after a few seconds the light went out and Leon stopped injecting mana into it. " I think I did it. " He said while looking at Nora. Who soon looked at the crystal ball.
"Wow. That's not so common!. " She spoke with a surprised tone. " You have quite high mana for someone your age, that is good. You also passed this test. And you are qualified to train with a mage if you want, but you will have to pay the fees for that if you wish to train with one. " And then she picked up some more things, and from a small compartment below the crystal ball, a small card, at least it looked like a card came out.
"Here is your identification plate. " She handed it to Leon. Looking at it he could see his full name and age. 17 years old. written there, and also below was [ Mercenary Rank Bronze ]
"Welcome to the mercenaries Leon. We expect great things from you!." She said while soon leaving the room, and gesturing for him to follow.
"Now that you are one of us, we have to find a group for you to be part of, we have several mercenary groups available. And then you can go on missions, ranging from gathering plants to killing monsters and invading other nations. Of course those normally have a higher minimum rank to be able to go. "
"And to create a group for me?"
"For you to create a group you have to pay 3 gold coins and be Steel rank or higher!."
He did not understand much about the purchasing power of money in this world the old man had explained a little, he even had with him 5 bronze coins for the work done. Soon he swallowed dryly. ' 10 bronze coins is 1 silver, and 10 silver is 1 gold... ' And then sighed.
"Expensive. "
Nora gave a light laugh. "With you climbing the ranks, money won't be a problem. Especially if you really want to create a group, you don't have to gather everything alone!. You can have companions for that. "
Leon had thought about creating a group, since if he could choose the destination of his missions, he could at least go searching place by place that he had not gone.
"Come Leon. I will show you the initial groups that are looking for new members! "