I am the Demon King of the Dungeon!

The old man glanced at Arthas, then made a note on the appointment form and said, "Baro is on duty for the warrior class today, and Margaret is on duty for the mage class. Both of them are here, so you're lucky. The examination venue is in the backyard. Go to the waiting room and wait until your name is called."

Alsace entered the waiting room.

Several benches were placed against the wall in the room, and opposite was a tightly closed iron door with a crystal slab embedded in it.

A young man dressed in leather armor was sitting in the corner, shaking his leg incessantly. When he saw Arthas enter, his eyes lit up.

"Are you here just for a spin-off too? What profession are you testing for?"

"Warriors and mages."

"Take the exam together?"

"Um."

"Do you know how long the last person who took both exams waited here?" the young man asked in a low voice. "A whole hour, because the examiners on both sides were arguing about the order of the exams. The warrior examiner said melee combat should be tested first, and the mage examiner said magic control should be tested first."

Arthas did not answer. For him, the assessment was just a formality. What he needed to do was not to try to pass, but to try to suppress himself.

The young man was about to say something when suddenly the crystal plate on the iron gate flashed green light. A deep male voice and a cold female voice came from behind the door at the same time, overlapping each other. It was hard to hear what they were saying, but their tones were not pleasant.

"...Another dual-elemental swordsman? Last time, the one couldn't even hold a sword properly, and now another one?"

"At least you passed the magic control test last time, but with yours, you didn't even teach the most basic blocking stance?"

"Is blocking technique something I need to teach? He just doesn't practice it himself! If he comes to the exam without practicing, how can he pass?"

"Gentlemen," the old man's voice interrupted at the opportune moment, "the examinees have arrived. Prepare for the examination."

There was a moment of silence.

The iron gate was pushed open, revealing a circular training ground behind it.

Two people were standing on the sidelines.

On the left is a bald, muscular man holding an unsharpened two-handed battle axe; on the right is a silver-haired woman wearing a dark blue mage's robe, holding a short staff with a magic crystal at its tip glowing faintly.

Warrior examiner Barrow and mage examiner Margaret.

The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned to Arthas.

"Dick Reynolds?" Baro glanced at Arthas. "A first-class warrior and mage, right?"

"That's right."

"The rules are simple."

Margaret drew a circle in the air with her short staff. "The warrior test involves hitting any part of the examiner, Baro, with your weapon. He will only block, not retaliate. You pass if you hit him within one minute. The mage test involves casting any two basic spells of different attributes on me. I will dodge them. You pass if both spells hit. The two tests will be conducted consecutively without a break. Any questions?"

"Yes," Arthas said. "And in what order?"

"I'll go first—" Barrow and Margaret spoke at the same time, then stopped and looked at each other again.

"You were here first last time," Barrow said.

"Because you lost at rock-paper-scissors," Margaret said.

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors this time too."

"OK."

The two extended their hands.

Barrow produces stones, Margaret produces cloth.

Margaret withdrew her hand and looked at Arthas: "The mage assessment will begin first. Once you're ready, we can start."

Barrow, clutching his axe, obediently retreated to the wall.

Arthas walked to the center of the arena, about ten steps away from Margaret. The other woman raised her short staff, and a pale blue, semi-transparent shield appeared around her.

"If both fireballs and water bullets hit me, I'll pass the test. Let's begin."

Arthas raised his right hand, and the fireball, a basic fire spell, condensed magical energy into a high-temperature sphere and launched it forward.

A fireball the size of a fist condensed three feet outside his palm, streaking across a straight line at such speed that Margaret had no time to dodge. The fireball struck the shield, scattering a small patch of sparks.

"Whoa?!" Margaret was startled.

"Did you pass?" Arthas reduced his magic to the minimum, otherwise even the most basic fireball could instantly kill the "examiner" in front of him.

"Yes, that's fine." Margaret quickly regained her composure and wrote a few lines on the notepad.

Arthas opened his left palm, drawing moisture from the air with magic and condensing it into a fist-sized water sphere above his palm. The water sphere successfully struck the shield.

The shield remained completely still.

But Margaret stopped writing, not because she was seriously injured, but because the two basic spells were condensing too quickly. The fireball took less than a breath from raising her hand to completing its condensation, and the water bullet took even less.

This speed of condensation is something a novice cannot achieve, or even something a first-tier mage can do; it is so stable that there is almost no excess magic leakage.

"...Pass." Margaret wrote the score on the scoreboard and stepped back to the edge of the court.

Barrow walked to the center of the arena and slammed the unsharpened two-handed battle axe into the ground.

The ground thudded.

"Let's begin! The rules are simple: within one minute, touch any part of my body with the weapon next to you. I will block but not retaliate, so go ahead and attack." Barrow cracked his knuckles, gripped the axe handle with both hands, and held the axe horizontally in front of him. "Go get your weapons, get ready, and let's begin."

Arthas walked to the weapon rack to the side, picked up a wooden sword, and walked up to Barrow.

"here we go."

next second.

Arthas touched the ground with his toes and thrust out with his sword.

The wooden sword pierced the back of Barrow's hand.

"this……"

Barrow looked down at the back of his hand, then looked up at Arthas, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

He didn't see anything clearly.

Without any opening stance, without any preparatory movements, without any footwork adjustments, Arthas simply stood there and said, "Let's begin," before the tip of his sword was already pressed against the back of his hand.

"How...how did you do that?"

"That's it." Arthas tossed the wooden sword back onto the weapon rack. "So, I passed?"

Barrow was silent for a moment, then he turned to look at Margaret, who was looking at him with a "See! It wasn't me, I was too lenient in the assessment" look.

"pass!"

Margaret wrote the last line on her record board, walked up to Arthas, handed him two stamped assessment forms, and said, "You've passed both assessments. Go to the front desk to collect your class badge. I suggest you apply for your second job advancement as soon as possible; staying at your current level in the first job advancement is a waste of time."

"Don't worry, I've already thought it through." Arthas took the form. "Magic Swordsman."

Margaret turned to look at Barrow, who was looking back at her, and their expressions were remarkably identical.

"The magic swordsman assessment is in Holy Radiance City," Margaret said. "The assessment is no easy feat."

"That's perfect." Arthas put away the form. "I also need to go to Holy City."