As soon as Jack’s foot was on the blue floor, the combat puppets came to life. Their wooden body appeared rigid, but their joints were extremely flexible, giving them the ability to move fluidly as if living organisms. And their movements were also not slow, in just a few instants, the closest one had approached Jack. There were a total of seven puppets in the blue floor area, and all of them were dashing towards him. The eyes on their heads were marked with mystical green glows.
Jack brandished his sword and parry the blow from the closest combat puppets. A loud clang sounded out. The crowd at the back cheered as the action started.
“You set the difficulties to the maximum, right?” Gruff asked the female warrior.
“Yes. That was the agreed standard for outworlders,” the woman replied. “But don’t you think that’s a bit too harsh? Usually, only Fighter who had reached level 20 would be able to conquer the maximum difficulty test. A level 15 practically has no chance to pass.”
“The Gods and Goddesses believed the Outworlders to be special, that’s why this treatment. We just need to follow their orders,” Gruff replied.
“Yeah, I would say this serves them right,” one of the men standing behind joined in the conversation. “It will teach them some manners. Do you see their lots trotting around the capital like they own it? Some are even making trouble when the guards are not around.”
“That’s true,” some others agreed.
Gruff waved to calm the lots down, “the Gods and Goddesses believed they are important and they will play an important role in the coming conflict. So it is not our right to judge, we just need to play our parts.”
“Hey, it’s boring to just watch. How about we make a wager?” One of the rough-looking men said.
“What do you propose?” Another replied.
“Let’s bet how far he can go! I bet 1 silver coin that he will fall on the green floor!”
“Are you sure? He looked to be in trouble already on the blue floor. I bet 3 silver, those don’t dare to bet this amount just pissed off!”
“I bet 3 silver as well, and blue floor too.”
“Green floor.”
“Blue.”
Gruff looked at them sternly, which caused all of them to pipe down.
“A bunch of degenerates,” he said, then added, “if you are making bet with only that tiny amounts, then just go home to your mama and drink milk! 8 silver coins! Those that don’t dare to bet this amount, get the hell away from my sight! And I said red floor.”
The crowd turned rowdy with cheers and curses at the same time due to Gruff’s provocations. Jack, on the other hand, was hearing all this talk about bet while he was weaving through the puppets’ assaults. He was still conserving his strength and acted passively in order to study the puppet’s movement and ability. When he heard their talks, he got annoyed. They are using him as a subject for a bet and furthermore betting on him failing, none of them had bet that he would succeed. He started to pretend to be weaker, sometimes intentionally parrying blows that he should have been able to dodge cleanly. And made a show as if he got pushed back by the attack due to disparity in strength.
“Red floor? That’s quite a high expectation you give him,” the female warrior said.
“Well, I had the feeling that he still hasn’t used all his strength,” Gruff replied, then asked, “are you in?”
“In! Green floor,” the woman said.
“Boss is giving us free allowance! I’m in! And I still say blue floor,” one of the rowdy men said.
“Me too!” Another joined.
Soon almost all the others also busy placing their bets, until a shout shut them up.
“I bet 18 silver coins! And I say I will reach that bloody statue and pass this test!” Jack shouted out in the middle of his fight with the puppets.
The others looked at him in bafflement. Is this guy serious? He looked like he was already having trouble on the blue floor. Pass the test? He would need to go back first and came back again after he reached at least level 20, even then it was not a guarantee.
“Heh, getting angry just because of a few mocking?” One of the rough men said, “I will take your money then. I’m in! I still say blue floor!”
“He is not worthy to become a Warrior if he got reckless just from a few taunts. Let’s teach him a lesson! I’m in also.”
“Me too!”
“Count me in!”
Unexpectedly, the numbers of people joining the bet were even more than when the bet was 8 silver coins. All twelve of the rowdy men ended up betting, leaving only Gruff and the female warrior.
“You in?” One of the men said to the two of them.
“In. Green floor,” the female warrior said.
Gruff on the other hand, was twirling his mustache while gazing at Jack’s fight in deep thought. Was he being brash? He thought. Although the guy seemed to be having difficulty, he still managed to avoid direct hit all this time. And his movements seemed precise and not panicky. However, to pass the test at his current level, Gruff thought that it was still a bit far-fetched. He finally said, “All right. I’m in as well. Still red floor.”
Jack made a quick glance and said, “is that everyone already?”
The rowdy men laughed, then one of them said, “what the hell are you asking for? Everyone had placed the bet. Just surrender now and come back here and give us your money. It will save you from losing 1 level.”
Well, time to be serious then, Jack thought with a grin. It was quite a hassle to pretend to be weak anyway. He dashed forward with an explosion of speed, immediately went past three puppets that were gunning at him. The Warriors who were watching were still having a merry laugh a second ago, their laughs suddenly froze when Jack exhibited his real speed.
“You sure he is a Fighter and not a ranger?” One of them asked the female warrior, who didn’t answer as she observed Jack with a frown.
One puppet managed to block Jack’s advance while another one came from his left. He executed Power Strike to the one in front while he sent a kick to the one at his left. The puppet in front was blasted aside by the Power Strike. The kick to the other puppet didn’t cause damage but it halted its movement. Its hands however still free as it stabbed at Jack’s side. Jack ignored the damage and used his kick to push the puppet while propelling him away.
The test didn’t require him to destroy the puppets, only to pass through them. So once he was free from those two puppets, he ran forward. The other five were too far away so they didn’t manage to catch up to Jack when he passed into the green floor area.
The warriors who had betted for him to fail in the blue floor area were howling with distress, they were stomping their feet as they thought about the coins they had lost. Jack was grinning instead. Serve them right, he thought. He had gotten an idea to take away their coins after hearing them betting on him. It’s a pity that he only had 18 silver coins in his bag. Otherwise, he would have baited them to bet more.
The puppets on the green floor started moving towards him, but he noticed that the seven puppets in the blue floor area stayed still once he exited their area. Jack realized that the puppets were tied to the area color and won’t interfere with the other areas. This should make the test easier, Jack thought as he shifted his attention to the puppets in the green floor area.
The green area was smaller than the blue area, so his space of activity was more restricted. However, there were only five puppets in this area, so it should balance out the difficulty, or so Jack thought, before he noticed the closest puppet was already upon him.
It was faster?
