BOOOM! A loud sound rang out within the room as Damien’s fist collided with the machine in front of him. Off to the side, Russell could be seen with his mouth wide open in shock.

  Three large red numbers were displayed on the machine, and Russel read out in a whisper, “680…” Looking away from the machine, he glanced at Damien, who was looking at the number with intrigue.

  “So how did I do?” he asked before turning to look at the man. Taking a deep breath, Russell smiled and said, “You did amazing, you did so well that I am not sure what to say… Are you sure you’re an E rank? What you just displayed could rival that of D ranks.”

  Damien flashed a mysterious smile but did not answer his question, “So what are we testing next?”

  Russel pointed to the next machine, which was to the right of the machine they had previously used, this one was some type of clear orb. Examining it, he figured this was the test for testing one's magic power, and his assumption proved to be correct as Russell started his explanation.

  “This test will be for your magic power. Simply place your hand on the orb and pour all the power you can into it. The orb has 7 different ranks. Each rank is associated with the ranks of our guild. The colors are as follows. Grey, blue, red, yellow, white, orange, green.”

  “Is there a color above that?” Damien asked with interest.

  Contrary to his expectations, however, upon asking this question, he noticed that Russell’s eyes narrowed. “What made you ask that question?”

  “Just curiosity, I mean, since there are people stronger than S rank, which represents emperor rank, I assumed that the orb could go higher. Was I wrong in thinking that way?”

  Russel stayed silent for a few seconds and examined Damien’s face before eventually letting out a sigh, “You should avoid talking about ranks higher than S rank or emperor rank… I can’t say why, all you need to know is that if the wrong person hears you speaking about it may lead to dire consequences.”

  Damien’s expression did not change as he listened to the man's words, but inwardly, he was a bit surprised. Why is talking about something that should be general or basic information a bad thing here? Nevertheless, he decided to put it to the side for now, he was not here to find out this country's secrets, he was here to get stronger.

  Finally, Damien turned his attention back to the orb. He placed his hand on its cold surface and began to pour his magical energy into it. The color shifted gradually, first changing from black to grey, then from grey to blue, followed by blue to red, and finally settling on a deep yellow. A smile spread across his face.

  “Well, I would say I am surprised, but after seeing your display of strength, it was to be expected that your magic power is strong. Alright, let's move on and get this over with. Next we will test your speed/reaction time for this we will need to head outside so follow me.”

  Stepping out of the room, Russell led Damien to the back of the guild, where a bunch of testing equipment and even some people training could be seen. Russel walked off to the side before finally stopping.

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  “For this test, I first want to test how fast you are before having you dodge some attacks, see that line over there.” Russel then pointed at a white line that was on the ground.

  Damien nodded his head, prompting Russel to continue his explanation and go over there. What I need you to do is simple, I will stand here, and your goal is to reach me as fast as you possibly can. After doing this three times and testing your reaction speed, I will be able to figure out what rank your speed is.

  Not having any questions, Damien headed over to the line and waited for Russel to give him the signal to start, which was a thumbs up. Upon seeing the signal, Damien flashed forward and appeared in front of Russel, who instantly stopped the timer.

  “Alright, we just need to do that two more times.”

  Quickly, the last two they moved onto reaction speed, this test was just Damien dodging a bunch of attacks. The test had 7 levels, just like the orb had, and each level got progressively harder. In the end, Damien managed to reach legend rank just like the last two tests.

  This trend continued for the remaining tests that Russel had for him, and in the end the man could only shake his head. in all his time being here he had never seen someone like Damien, as the five that had achieved it in the past were from times long before he was around.

  “Well, I can only say that you are one of the most talented people I have ever come across, however, with that talent comes many challenges. Many are not going to accept your rank, and in a place like our kingdom, they are going to want nothing more than to challenge you. My advice is that, should you get challenged and you most definitely will, go all out. Use every bit of strength you can to defeat your opponent as fast as possible.”

  Damien was a bit surprised at what he was saying, “Won’t this just draw even more attention to myself? I don’t mean to brag, but if I did what you suggest, people would definitely want to kill me like those from noble families, they could see my strength as a threat. To put it simply, they would want to deal with me while I'm still weak.”

  Russel smiled before saying, “Your concern is valid, and there are families that will see you as a threat, but let me ask you. Would you rather have people constantly challenging you every day because you did not show the strength they believe a legend rank should have, or would you rather not be challenged again after showing your power, but have some families be wary of you?”

  Listening to what Russell said, Damien could not help but think that he had a point, letting out a sigh, he realized it did not matter. Once he got his rank and selected his missions, he would be leveling up from there on out, he did not have time to worry about what those families were planning to do.”

  “Alright, so what is next?”

  Russel nodded his head, seeing that Damien had come to some conclusion about what he wanted to do, “Well, now I take you to the last part of the tests, let me give you a bit of a warning. The next person that will test you is a bit crazy, so just do the tests and try to not converse with them.”

  Damien nodded his head and followed Russell to the next tester. After walking down a few halls and taking a left, they arrived in front of a door.

  Suddenly Damien’s nose scrunched up and he put his hand over it as if he just smelled something really bad, “What is that smell?” He asked with a look of disgust.

  Russel let out a sigh of exasperation before shaking his head. “Sorry, but you will have to bear with it,” he then quickly knocked on the wooden door before speaking aloud.

  “Gular, we have someone here who needs to take the final tests.”

  Behind the door, a bunch of noise started to be heard as if someone was rustling through a mound of pots and pans. After a few minutes, the door opened up and a man of large stature peeked his head out, staring at Russel. His hair was a complete mess, and he had large, dark bags under his eyes, showing that he was massively sleep deprived.

  “I told you to inform ahead of time when there is someone to be tested.”

  Russel frowned at his words and said, “It's your job, Gular, it is what the guild PAYS you to do, if it were not for your unique set of skills, the guild would have long fired you after seeing your antics.

  Gular scratched the back of his head before sighing, “Alright, alright, bring the boy in, I will do the test.”

  Behind Russel Damien could be seen with a look of bewilderment, “Is he always like this?”

  “You have no idea.”