Ancient Dragon in Arknights

Doubt stems from disbelief. A single punch could destroy a testing machine? It's not impossible, but it's highly unlikely to happen to an "untrained" freshman. As for awe, that comes from the audience.

"Nana! Over here!"

The two who had just finished getting their food heard the call and looked in the direction of the voice—it was Chen Huijie and Fiona.

The goofy, orange-haired girl, Vayvan, was waving. Nesario heard her call to him, but the way she addressed him was rather...

"Nana, what did the teacher do to you?"

"Run laps until you can't move anymore. But I have poor stamina, and I collapsed in less than an hour."

"Judging from the teacher's expression, he probably doesn't want to let me off the hook. There will probably be more grueling training tomorrow."

"Who told you to be so conspicuous?"

"Oh? Miss Vayvan, who can still get third place even when she's distracted, has the nerve to say I'm conspicuous?"

"Ugh! This makes me so angry. Why doesn't anyone bet me on dinner? I want a big meal too!"

It seems Fiona is still holding a grudge about this. Nesario, suffering from the aftereffects of his berserk state, desperately needs to eat—so he ordered a lot of food, even more than the three ladies present combined.

But he still paid for the dinner himself. While it was in line with the winner's rule to make a big sale based on the bet, it would leave a bad impression on Rita.

Draining the pond to catch all the fish is not advisable; a steady, sustainable approach is the best way.

Nesario could tell which was more valuable: a dinner or a noblewoman's secret stash of money.

Just as the group of four was deepening their relationship in a harmonious atmosphere, someone else was sullen.

Lothiri was spying on them from a table some distance away from Nesario and the others.

Judging from her droopy eyes, Miss Felin was not in a good mood.

Having heard that Rita's identity had been exposed, she, who was quite familiar with the Victorian aristocracy, immediately guessed what would happen next.

Although Rita's abilities would never be exposed, the gossip would definitely affect her mood.

Upon hearing the news, Losley rushed to the area where Class 10 was located—only to find Rita standing alone at the entrance.

'Oh, it looks so heartbreaking.'

Lori greeted her and went up to Rita for a kiss, then saw her expressionless face.

'Rita, what are you doing here?'

I'm waiting for a friend; he's still inside because the teacher kept him after school.

'Can you tell me his name? And why was he left behind?'

'Nesario was left behind... because of me.'

'...'

Lori: I'd like to see just how much more this bastard can do!

Chapter Twenty-One: Witness the Crimson Sky Sword Technique

The next day, in the afternoon, at the testing site.

The first-year class of the Royal Guard Academy of Victoria gathered here again. According to the teaching schedule, the mornings of this week will be filled with indoor theoretical teaching, while the afternoons will be for ability tests.

The Imperial Guard Academy offers a total of 40 courses, with students taking 10 courses each academic year. Graduates are awarded after four years if they meet the required academic standards.

This morning's lesson was on standard military training. The actual content covered everything a soldier needs to master on the battlefield—infantry squad tactics, map reading and use, communications, weapons operation and use, drills, NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection, first aid, logistics, command and control, and language skills.

In terms of content, this course is indeed rich and valuable. Even an ordinary person would certainly have their chances of survival on the battlefield improved after learning this material. This is essentially all the content that ordinary soldiers need to learn; upon completion, they can become soldiers.

But for the Royal Guard Academy, this is just the very basics.

They are all aspiring to become "generals," and there is still so much for them to learn.

Of course, that's a story for later. It's only been less than a week since school started, and many people haven't even memorized all their classmates' names yet. Being impatient for quick results isn't a good thing; taking things one step at a time is the path to becoming strong.

"There are two things we need to test today—battlefield mobility and Originium Arts adaptability."

In reality, there's not much to test in Originium Arts; everyone's level is probably "standard" or "average." That's because those with real talent in Originium Arts all go to study under the casters.

What warlocks need is knowledge accumulation and a lot of learning and practice, and secondly, a good staff that costs a lot of money to make; apart from special battlefield-specialized warlocks, most warlocks have a relatively easy life, at least they don't have to suffer under the scorching sun on the training ground.

Warlocks were also more in line with the status and needs of nobles.

Guardians don't need that—what they need is physical strength, physiological endurance, and decent combat skills. Originium Arts are limited to simply being able to activate weapons.

Of course, these requirements are only for ordinary guards. If you want to make a name for yourself, Originium Arts is definitely the best choice.

"I already ordered it yesterday, so please follow the order."

"..."

Battlefield mobility is not about running on a flat, rubberized track; data obtained from that kind of testing is meaningless—no battlefield has such smooth, unobstructed roads.

The battlefield mobility test site is located in a simulated battlefield, with an artificially constructed battlefield environment on a large open space.

Broken walls and ruins, houses collapsing wantonly, debris scattered all over the ground, and even bomb craters and burning flames.

The difference between this and a real battlefield probably lies in the smell of gunpowder and blood, which are the two most common smells on the battlefield.

"The test involves running from the entrance to the farthest exit—you decide your own route, whether you walk or leap."

The first to appear was naturally the young man named "Mark Grant," whose appearance was quite ordinary—the kind of face you wouldn't notice in a crowd, the kind that would be easily mistaken for an ordinary person if he appeared on television.

His strength test yesterday was unremarkable; he was in the state of a normal person.

But today—he is full of confidence!

Speed ​​is one of Filin's strengths, not to mention that he is also a parkour enthusiast in private. He grew up running in complex street environments. During his recent vacation, he accomplished the feat of traversing the lower level of the city module without protective gear.

That's an urban site with an extremely complex structure!

"Wow—this guy's movements are pretty skilled."

"But this move isn't a tactical move, is it?"

"It seems to be a common technique in parkour; I've seen some of it before."

"..."

The students watched the testers' performance through the monitors set up in the venue, which would serve as one of the references for their own evaluation.

Mark Grant's test is complete.

He completed the 1000-meter battlefield environment in 5 minutes and 33 seconds. This is a very good score, definitely deserving of an "excellent" rating.

It's worth noting that the standard passing time for this project is 6 minutes and 30 seconds, and Mark Grant won everyone's approval with his outstanding performance.

"Next!"

One by one, the testers passed the tests. Some tried to challenge Mark's stats, but the professionals were still skilled. Even those trained in battlefield assault couldn't surpass him.

"Nesario, do you still intend to fight me today?"

Today, the uneven ground made it difficult to form a team, so everyone's positions were rather scattered.

Rita moved closer to Nesario; she wasn't one to give up easily. Defeating Nesario had become a short-term goal in her school life.

"Rita, do you have a lot of pocket money?"

"By the standards of a noble lady, it's not much."

"Then why do you keep sending me money?"

Nesario always spoke with finesse; his words didn't truly anger Rita, but they certainly wouldn't give him a friendly look.

"...I'll take that as acceptance."

"Haha. Calm down. Actually, we won't be the winners today."

The Odogaron has excellent mobility and reaction speed, but its poor eyesight limits its speed—but even under these conditions, it is still as fierce as a mad dog.

Nesario should theoretically possess extremely high mobility—but that's only when he extends his claws.

Sharp claws provide excellent gripping ability, which is why Odogaron can perform difficult maneuvers such as wall jumps.

Nesario was well aware of how strange his claws were, so he usually didn't show them, only using them in life-or-death battles.

It's unwise to reveal your true abilities and special talents based on a mere school test.

Without his claws, he could only move quickly on the ground. Of course, he was a numerical monster, and his pure speed could match Mark Grant's fancy moves.

“Mark Grant is indeed very fast; his moves are something we can’t imitate.”

"No, no, no—Rita, you've misunderstood. The real winner isn't him, but...Chen."

Nesario pointed to Chen Huijie, whom Fiona had forcibly brought over behind him. Victorian language doesn't have the same rich tones as Yan language, so Chen Huijie's name was quite difficult to pronounce. Rita and the others had long been using "Chen" to refer to Chen Huijie.

Chen Huijie was somewhat surprised that Nesario would give her such high praise. How did he discover that his forte was speed?

In Chen Huijie's opinion, Mark Grant's speed was indeed just average.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The wind follows the tiger, the clouds follow the dragon.

As the testers passed through one by one, Rita and Nesario also entered the testing area.

Both players performed exceptionally well; the former demonstrated highly skilled tactical maneuvers and had excellent route planning.

Rita had already deduced most of the map of the interior area by watching the monitoring of the previous testers, and among the many routes, she found the one with the shortest travel time.

At 5 minutes and 45 seconds—12 seconds slower than Mark Grant in first place—the gap still exists, but it's not as huge. Grant is a specialist in this area, so he won't be overtaken so easily.

Rita was followed by Fiona. This girl was also quite fast, but her route planning was far inferior. Fiona's direction was entirely based on her mood; she would go whichever way she felt was feasible.

This caused her to waste too much time on several complex terrains, and her originally excellent time dropped to 6 minutes and 1 second.

This doesn't qualify as excellent; it only deserves a regular rating.

Of course, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that this girl is completely unsuitable for this kind of job; her abilities and personality are those of a typical power forward.

Nesario then slowly took to the stage—as the strongest in terms of physical strength, he received far more attention than anyone else, and countless people began to look forward to seeing how fast he would move.

The combination of immense physical strength and battlefield mobility will be a terrifying combination. In future live-fire exercises, all adversaries will have a headache dealing with this guy.

Mark Grant was 100% focused – Nesario's stunning performance yesterday left a deep impression on many.

They are all in the most impulsive and youthful age group, and cheers, applause, flowers, and honors are like honey attracting restless teenagers.