The wizard starts by trimming the donkey's hooves

Chapter 236: Sword Bearer Assessment (Two chapters in one)

I saw a simple square building standing in front of me, similar to the shape of a temple, but without those Doric columns. At the spacious door stood eight guards holding swords and shields.

Renn squinted his eyes and glanced, only to see the words 'Empire Sword Bearers Munster Branch' written in large gilt letters on the door.

When the two of them walked towards the gate, a guard came forward and said, "Are you the adult who came to take the assessment? Please show me your invitation letter."

After completing a series of procedures, Renne and Veronica came to the room assigned to them.

These are two adjacent rooms, located on the second floor, and the faint voices coming from the side seem to indicate that almost all the rooms here are occupied by examiners.

Since the assessment day was approaching, Renne and Veronica did not choose to visit the provincial capital Münster, but agreed to talk after the assessment was over.

Time flies and it’s the morning of the assessment day.

At about half past eight, Ren and Veronica came to a spacious and bright hall.

The ground is very clean, and the seats in the hall are all rows of long strips with backrests.

At this moment, twenty or thirty young people were sparsely sitting in the hall.

The person in charge here was a female officer. She looked at Ryan and Veronica who had just come in and said in a clear voice, "Everyone can sit wherever you want. Don't be nervous. The order of the exam has nothing to do with the seating order."

Ren nodded after hearing this, and as soon as his eyes met with Veronica's, he came to a corner with fewer people and sat down.

Within a few minutes of the two of them sitting down, four or five young people arrived, including a red-haired woman. As soon as the other party walked into the hall, they saw Renn in the corner and couldn't help shouting: "Renn~ "

And waved happily towards Ren!

"Huh?" Renn raised his eyes and saw that it was Evelyn Norman, the red-haired beauty from Rosby County, the daughter of Viscount Norman.

Hearing such a beautiful woman greeting Renn happily, everyone in the hall couldn't help but look towards Renn, as if they wanted to see which young talent was favored by the beauty.

Veronica, who was beside Ryan, looked at Ryan with her beautiful eyes, then looked at the red-haired beauty, and thought to herself, it seems that my competitor is very strong. Agatha just left, and now here comes a red-haired beauty.

And judging from the appearance and strength of this red-haired beauty, it seems that she is much stronger than Agatha.

When Evelin came closer, she asked with a smile: "Ren, when did you come?"

"Hey, who is this?" Seeing the girl with twin tails next to Ren, Evelin couldn't help but look solemn and asked in confusion.

"Evelin, this is my good friend, Veronica, a third-level wizard apprentice from the Ubreck school." Ren introduced.

"Veronica, this is Evelyn from Rosby City. She is a good friend I made during the noble canonization assessment."

The two women looked at each other, and Evelin smiled and said: "Hello, Miss Veronica, you are so beautiful!"

“Miss Evelin, you are beautiful too.”

Although Ren and Evelin were not in that kind of relationship, they felt inexplicably like a 'Shura field', so they immediately coughed and changed the subject: "Evelin, who are these?"

Evelin looked stunned and said quickly: "Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. These are all young people who received excellent evaluations in the last noble canonization assessment. This is Bridger Sanchez from Valante County. , this is Stamp from Wales."

Ren nodded in greeting one by one. With his great knight's strength and super high mental perception, he only took a short look and found that these people all have the strength of peak knights.

The only senior knight who was slightly less powerful, his mental power fluctuations were different from ordinary people, and he was obviously still a second-level wizard apprentice.

It is difficult to say whether a senior knight and a second-level wizard apprentice is stronger than a peak knight. You will have to compete to find out.

It seems that just as Evelin said, they are all the top few in her batch of noble canonization assessments.

As the time gets closer to the assessment time, young people continue to come to the hall one after another.

About half an hour later, the time was close to the nine o'clock in the morning prescribed by the assessment. At this time, the number of people in the hall had surged from the original thirty or so to eighty or ninety.

Moreover, there were several groups of people in the field whose attire and appearance were very different from theirs. There was a group of people who were fully armed with knight plate armor. They walked with great strength and no sloppiness. Judging from their style, they were probably Imperial soldiers. .

There are also two or three young people wearing various robes. These are most likely from the same wizarding schools as Veronica.

Of course, there are also young men and women wearing slim-fitting aristocratic hunting attire, with obviously different temperaments. It seems that they should be the heirs of the great nobles of Münster, the provincial capital.

The great nobles are also the upper nobles, specifically the dukes, marquises and uncles. This aspect was what the beautiful woman Jennifer told him before.

At the same time, Ren also saw the young people taking the assessment that he met at the shore of Zhishui Lake that day.

But what’s amazing is that there is someone in this group of people who actually knows Evelin.

"Hi, Fiona, long time no see!" Evelin walked up to the front with a smile.

“Evelin, long time no see!”

"Hey, it's you?" The young woman in leather armor saw Renn and recognized Renn at a glance. It was the young man who was leading three beauties by Zhishui Lake.

Several other young people obviously recognized Renn and looked quite surprised, as if they did not expect that the other person would be Evelin's friend.

However, a few people had no desire to come and chat because Renn gave them a bad impression.

There is nothing wrong with a noble heir being a bit romantic, but at such an important moment for the sword wielder assessment, if he takes three beauties along for the ride, in their eyes, he is considered a person addicted to beauty.

Even if you have good talent and are lucky enough to get an invitation letter for the sword wielder assessment, you will not be able to go very far in the future.

"Fiona, have you met Mr. Ren?"

"Well, I happened to meet her by Lake Zhisui. Hey, weren't there three beauties at that time? Why is there only one left now?" The woman named Fiona is obviously not a light-hearted person.

Which pot does not open which pot.

After hearing Fiona's words, Evelin immediately looked at Ren with her beautiful eyes, which seemed to be quite scrutinizing, as if to say, 'Wow, one is not enough, there are three! '

Ren was speechless for a moment.

However, he would not care about this with a girl. After all, the other party's starting point is probably to keep Evelin away from the scumbag.

"The two of you are going to handle some business matters."

After some pleasantries, Renn learned that they were the young people who participated in the nobility canonization assessment in the previous generation, and their overall strength was even higher than Renn's current group.

"The number of people who take the sword wielding assessment every year is probably around a hundred."

"The acceptance rate is about 30% to 40%, but even if they don't pass, the rest will usually be invited by other departments of the empire."

Ryan listened silently with a calm expression.

Seeing Ryan's calmness, a young man next to Fiona was slightly displeased and said, "It seems that Mr. Ryan is very confident!"

"Confidence? I think normally, there should be no problem in passing the initial test." Ryan said seriously.

After hearing what Ryan said, the atmosphere became a little silent for a moment!

Evelin immediately smoothed things over and said, “Ryan, do you know what the assessment for sword holders is this year?”

Ryan shook his head. He was indeed aware of this. The beautiful woman Jennifer was able to collect very little information about the sword-wielder assessment in Meister, and was vague about the content of the assessment.

“Evelyn, you know?”

Evelin also shook her head and said, “I asked someone to find out and found that the content of the sword holder assessment changes every year.”

"Last year, it was said that the official members of the Sword Wielders came to test us. As long as we could hold on to their hands for three minutes, we would pass the test."

"And the year before last, it was said that under the leadership of the examiner, we went to wipe out an ogre camp and scored everyone based on their combat performance."

Everyone frowned slightly when they heard this.

This is troublesome, there is no fixed routine.
The nine o'clock bell rang in the distance.

A middle-aged man wearing bright silver full body knight armor strode in. He walked briskly and with a steady aura, he was obviously a master at least at the level of a great knight.

"First of all, I would like to welcome all the elites of the empire to Munster to take part in the sword-wielding assessment."

"Since time is precious, I will make it short. The assessment is divided into two steps. The first step is the drawing of lots, and the second step is the assessment."

"The first thing we need to do right now is draw lots! Then, I will explain the rules of this assessment."

"Also, I need to remind you that you are all rising stars in the empire. Even if you fail the sword wielder assessment, you don't need to be discouraged."

The middle-aged knight pointed to the representatives of the functional departments who were wearing various uniforms beside him and continued:
"People from other functional departments and special departments of the empire are also here. They will also observe your performance in the assessment. I believe that most of you will find a suitable stage to show yourselves."

"Now, let's proceed to the first item. Everyone please come up in order to draw lots."

As the middle-aged knight finished speaking, a young knight beside him walked to the front holding a black iron box in both hands and let everyone draw one by one.

Soon, it was Renn's turn.

Ryan reached in, picked up one at random, opened it and took a look.

The next second, he was stunned!
Ryan's strange behavior obviously surprised the people around him. The young woman named Fiona couldn't help but take a look, and immediately, she exclaimed in a low voice.

“It’s number two!”

Although Fiona’s words were not severe, Evelin and the others naturally heard them.

They all looked up at the number in Ryan's hand, and it turned out to be number two.

Everyone couldn't help but look at him with a look of pity and pity.
Soon, everyone started whispering:

"This person is so unlucky, he's number two. Haha, I thought number three was unlucky enough."

"Yes, number two, he is the most unlucky guy after number one!"

“I just don’t know who will draw number one!”

Only Veronica was surprised, but she didn't think there would be anything wrong with Ryan!
Ryan didn't mind the whispers on the side.

Because no one has any idea what the sword-bearing assessment will be about today, the first one or two examinees can be said to be the ones who wade through the river for everyone else.

If you are not careful, you might be drowned by a river of unknown depth.

Basically, the number ten or so is the best. The assessment situation is basically clear, and the examiners will not be too tired. If you can show some special abilities, it will still make the examiners' eyes light up.

Of course, there are special cases, such as the top one or two candidates who are particularly strong. In that case, the examiners will naturally give lower scores.
After all, the tone is high.

At this moment, a slightly miserable voice suddenly sounded!

"Oh my god! I'm number one!"

"quiet!"

"Whether you admit it or not, luck is also part of strength!" the middle-aged knight said in a deep voice.

For a moment, everyone couldn't help but look at this poor unfortunate guy with extreme sympathy!
After everyone finished drawing lots, the middle-aged knight continued, "The drawing is now complete."

"There is only one rule for the assessment. The use of disposable witchcraft scrolls, extraordinary potions, and special weapons is not allowed."

"Of course, if you are a scroll maker or pharmacist, you are allowed to use it, but after the assessment, you need to undergo a separate review."

"Now, everyone follow me."

After passing through a long passage, the crowd arrived at an empty vaulted hall. In the center of the hall stood a tall black statue. An iron fence surrounded the central area, making it look like an indoor arena.

There were more than ten people on the side, who seemed to be staff. The five people in the front were wearing black uniforms similar to aristocratic hunting suits, and they were holding paper and pen in their hands, looking like examiners.

The middle-aged knight stepped forward and bowed slightly to an old man among the dozen people who was wearing a khaki wizard robe and had his hands clasped in his wide sleeves. He said:

"The examiners have arrived."

"Then I'll trouble Master Mathias now."

The old man opened his eyes at this time, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he said: "No trouble, this year it is the turn of the Rolling Stone School, and we can see if there are any good seedlings." He suddenly took his hands out of his sleeves, with a short black staff in his right hand. He pointed at the statue in the center of the venue and began to chant a spell in a low voice.

Ryan looked at the old man in surprise. Although he was dozens of meters away, he could still feel a condensed and powerful spiritual fluctuation.

"Crack!"

But what surprised everyone even more was that the outer shell of the black statue in the center of the venue actually shattered.

At this time, everyone realized that the two-story giant statue in the center of the venue was not a dead object, but a living creature.

"Oh my god! It's the Obsidian Giant!"

"Does this sword-wielder test require us to defeat the obsidian giant?"

"This is crazy! It's impossible."

Suddenly, there was a murmur among the people taking the exam.

"Silence!" The middle-aged knight took a deep breath and shouted suddenly.

"This year's sword wielder test requires you to survive under the obsidian giant for one minute to pass."

"Even if you can't make it, we hope that every examinee will use their best efforts during the process, because your performance will be recorded by the examiners."

I saw five middle-aged men in black hunting suits, holding feather pens, and quickly began to record something.

This immediately quieted down everyone present.

"Number one!" the middle-aged knight shouted loudly.

"Number one! Whoever is number one, come on stage immediately!"

After shouting again, a knight holding a sword and shield walked up with a sad face.

He had originally planned to give up, but when he saw the heads of other functional departments of the empire were also there, he decided to give it a try. Even if he could not join the Sword Bearers, other special departments would also be acceptable.

He was seen moving cautiously and carefully around the obsidian giant from a distance.

The obsidian giant looked at him and raised his hands high. Just when he was wondering what the other party was going to do, suddenly, a wave of earth energy came, and a round stone appeared out of thin air in the obsidian giant's raised hands.

"Whoosh!"

A shadow flashed by, and the stone shot towards the young man with sword and shield like a cannonball.

Immediately, the young man with the sword and shield turned pale and rolled sideways, barely avoiding the attack of the obsidian giant, but the flying stones still hit him hard, making his face dirty and crackling!

The key point is, this is just the beginning. The round stones in the hands of the obsidian giant were condensed one after another as if they were free of charge and thrown towards the young man with sword and shield!

"Oh!"

Finally, the young man with the sword and shield was too late to dodge and had to use his shield to take the blame. He was immediately blown away on the spot!
"It lasted for eighteen seconds, which is unqualified!" a staff member nearby shouted.

The five examiners were quickly recording something.

The injured young man with sword and shield was immediately sent to the side to be treated by professional doctors.

"Next! Number two!" The middle-aged knight looked at everyone and shouted with a solemn face.

Seeing that the Obsidian Giant was so tall, but his reaction was not slow at all, everyone felt like they were looking at a "dead man" when they looked at Ryan walking forward.

Faced with the obsidian giant Ryan, who was six meters tall and weighed at least tens of tons, he did not feel any fear. Instead, he felt a little excited.

This was not the first time that Ryan had encountered and fought against such large supernatural creatures. Before he became a great knight, he had killed large ferocious beasts such as the offshore plesiosaur and the scale-whiskered ironback turtle.

"Give it your best effort. Even if you don't pass, your performance will be recorded." The middle-aged knight said to Ryan as usual.

Ren nodded.

Originally, Ryan was planning to hold back a bit, but now he was the second person to take the test.
It's a bit annoying.

Because there is almost no reference, it would be funny if you restrain yourself and fail the assessment in the end.

"Also. Full strength?"

Ryan couldn't help but echo the words of the middle-aged knight in his mind, and he was eager to try.

Then just do your best!

After all, ever since he upgraded Shockwave to the intermediate level, he has never used it at its full strength.

Full strength performance means activating 'Breaking Limits' and the talent 'Intermediate Giant Force', and then performing the intermediate secret 'Shock Wave'. So far, Ryan has not found a suitable object or place to perform this move.

And this extremely hard and huge obsidian giant in front of him should be a good target.

As Ryan walked towards the center of the venue, he took off the pig-head hammer on his back. At the same time, he took a deep breath and stared at the obsidian giant in front of him with calm eyes.

"Hey, Evelyn, how do you think Ryan will respond?" A young man who came with Evelyn had a half-smile on his face.

"I think he's a knight who uses heavy weapons. He'll be at a great disadvantage facing the Obsidian Giant."

"Yes, facing the obsidian giant, the one who has the most advantage should be the wizard apprentice who knows slowing spells such as slowing spells, followed by the sharpshooter wearing leather armor and being agile, and then the sword and shield or hammer and shield knight."

"As for the Great Sword Knight or the Heavy Hammer Knight, they are at a great disadvantage."

"That's right. The two-handed hammer is at a disadvantage compared to the two-handed sword. It's heavy and affects the speed of movement and dodging."

"After all, facing the Obsidian Giant's defense that is comparable to steel, the armor-piercing weapon, the two-handed hammer, becomes a burden." Another person analyzed seriously.

"Begin!" shouted the middle-aged knight.

The old earth wizard instantly dissolved the magic clay cage and released the restraints on the obsidian giant.

As soon as the obsidian giant regained its freedom, it immediately spotted the 'little guy' Ryan not far in front of it.

However, the next second, it discovered that the little guy had disappeared.

"Snapped!"

Ryan's momentum suddenly exploded, his body suddenly expanded, and with a tap of his toes, a small hole instantly appeared on the hard stone ground.

In an instant, he rushed forward like a ghost, as if the heavy knight's plate armor and the sledgehammer in his hand were as light as a feather.

When the obsidian giant reacted, it saw the tiny thing in front of it turned into a shadow and rushed straight to its feet.

Is this home delivery?

The obsidian giant stretched out a pair of rock arms, trying to catch the "little guy" who was running quite fast.

"Is he going to attack?"

"Are you crazy?" a young man said with eyes wide open in disbelief.

Could it be that Number Two had no idea what had just happened to Number One?
Amid the exclamations of the crowd, Ryan arrived at the feet of the obsidian giant in the blink of an eye, and jumped high into the air.

His whole body was extremely stretched, like a taut bowstring. Ryan felt his strength being transmitted from his leaping toes all the way through his hips, waist, and back, and finally concentrated on a pair of gnarled arms.

"drink!!!"

Ryan suddenly used his intermediate secret technique - shock wave!

At the same time, the dark pig-head hammer hit the chest of the equally shiny black obsidian giant!
With this hammer, Ryan felt that he had delivered it with great satisfaction!

Because he activated 'Breaking Limits' and 'Intermediate Giant Force' at the same time, almost all the strength in his body was released with this heavy hammer!

There was a "boom"!
A sound like a bomb exploding sounded!

There was a howling wind all around, accompanied by shattered black stones splashing around!
A huge wound like a meteorite crater appeared on the chest of the Obsidian Giant, almost piercing through the hard and thick Obsidian Giant.

Even the thick-skinned Obsidian Giant could not withstand such injuries. He took several steps back, a confused look in his eyes, and fell to the ground with a bang!

Even the people who were watching from dozens of meters away instinctively took several steps back and looked at the scene in shock.

The five examiners, who had originally had calm expressions, now had their eyes widened and could no longer maintain their calm expressions.

Everyone was shouting in their hearts: "This, this, this kind of attack power!"

"This is too much! Even these senior knights can't do it!"

"Even among the top knights, not every one of them can inflict such damage!"

The group of young people waiting for the test were in an uproar!
Fiona and several of her companions were also like this at this moment, their eyes almost popped out!

Before, when they heard Ryan say that he was confident of passing the test, they thought he was bragging. Although they didn't say anything to his face, they secretly criticized him for a long time.

But I didn't expect that I was completely wrong. This guy is so strong!

This horse is simply a monster!

The key point is, how old is this kid?

"I feel that this is not the attack power that a normal person can have. Shouldn't the assessment team investigate him?" A young man blushed and pointed at Ryan.

"Boss, where on earth did this guy come from?" said a young man with a military look and the burly man next to him.

"This attack power is incredible, even stronger than yours!
"This move should be a secret technique, right? Could he be the offspring of a duke in the empire? How could he reach this level without training from childhood?"

The crowd immediately started talking!

The examiners in charge of the assessment, who had come to their senses, were now completely paralyzed.

Because they have assigned tasks. For example, Examiner No. 1 is responsible for observing and recording the strength performance of the examinees. There is no doubt that Ryan's strength performance in the battle just now was outstanding!

The second examiner who was responsible for recording speed performance was also very good at scoring and was undoubtedly excellent.

Examiner No. 3 is responsible for the technical performance. Ryan has shown his ultimate skills, so naturally he is excellent.

Examiner No. 4 was a little stunned. How should he score this pre-battle reaction?

For a moment, examiner number four didn't know how to score, but he looked at the other examiners next to him and found that they all gave full marks, so he thought about it and gave full marks as well.

After all, seeing the Obsidian Giant, he dared to attack him directly. There shouldn't be anything wrong with this pre-battle reaction, right?
Swish, excellent!

Examiner No. 5 frowned. He was responsible for combat decisions, but had the examinee just now made any combat decisions?

That should be called "reckless" right?
Reckless!

This assessment deliberately chose the Obsidian Giant, a creature with extremely strong defense and attack power, in the hope that the assessor would be able to observe the inflexibility of the other party's body.

Try to attack the opponent's lower body, such as ankles, knees and other parts, so as to gradually reduce the movement speed of the Obsidian Giant. Of course, this process can be either witchcraft or physical attack.

This is a normal decision-making process.

How could someone be like Ryan, who just smashed it down with one hammer and actually defeated the Obsidian Giant!

Normal combat feels like playing house!
There is absolutely no combat decision-making involved.
but
Examiner No. 5 couldn't help but ask himself a question: What is the purpose of combat decision-making? Is it to win the battle?

So, if you can win, just go for it.

Is there a problem?

It seems to be ok!

Examiner No. 5 thought for a while and finally came to the conclusion that the combat decision-making of this examinee should also be excellent!

(End of this chapter)