Chương 10

[Name: Rudra] [Level: 1] [Class: None] [Title: None] [Health: 217/217 | Mana: 132/132] [Strength: 49 | Stamina: 53 | Agility: 49 | Intelligence: 44 | Persistence: 60] [Stat Points: 0] [Basic Staff Mastery (Lv. 3)] [Passive] [When equipped with a staff, attack power and attack speed will increase by 8%. The probability of a critical hit will increase in proportion to the user's Agility.] Rudra stared at the blue window in the early morning light. A tired grin spread across his face.

His core attributes were basically five times higher than a normal Level 1 player. Based on the raw numbers alone, he could probably beat up a Level 15 player with his bare hands. And with his [Basic Staff Mastery] adding an 8% multiplier, his damage output was going to be ridiculous.

"I'm actually going to miss this hellhole," he muttered, closing the window. The recruits assembled in the northern yard for their final assessment. Gareth stood waiting for them. Surprisingly, he didn't yell today. He simply crossed his thick arms and looked at the six players who had survived his week of torture.

"Today is your final day," Gareth grunted, his deep voice carrying over the wind.

"You will be tested on exactly how much you have improved. And to make things interesting... the recruit with the highest overall grade gets a voucher for a premium steak dinner at the local tavern." Rudra's eyes snapped wide open. A steak? A real, greasy, heavily seasoned tavern steak? After a week of plain bread and salty stew, the mere mention of red meat made his mouth water. Oh, it is so on.

"Phase One is Stamina," Gareth pointed to the beach.

"Carry a weighted crate to the wooden poles fifty meters out in the water and back. Three laps minimum. Extra laps earn extra points. Begin." Rudra and the others sprinted for the beach. By now, the freezing water barely fazed them. Because the crates were scaled to their current stats, Rudra's crate was massive—more than double the weight of Kaelen and Luna's. He didn't care. Rudra hauled the massive crate onto his shoulder and marched right into the waves.

He moved like a machine, entirely motivated by medium-rare beef. Kaelen and Luna stopped the exact second they finished their third lap to preserve energy. Galahad stubbornly pushed through a fourth. Brick coughed up a lung trying to keep pace with Rudra, collapsing on the sand halfway through his third. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Rudra just kept walking.

Fueled by his 53 Stamina and 60 Persistence, he easily knocked out nine and a half laps before the whistle blew.

"Is he human?" Kaelen wheezed from the sand. Rudra ignored him, his eyes locked on Gareth.

"Phase Two. Strength," Gareth ordered.

"Push a wooden sled across the yard. Every lap, we add more boulders. Best weight wins. Go." The dirt was uneven and rocky, making the flat sleds incredibly hard to push. Brick roared, shoving his sled loaded with eight massive rocks.

"Real men push!" Rudra quietly walked past him, steadily pushing a sled loaded with ten boulders.

"Bro, how?!" Brick yelled in frustration.

"I really want that steak," Rudra panted, not looking back.

"Phase Three is Agility," Gareth said.

"Run the chalk corridor. Step only on the wooden poles. Do not fall in the mud. My men will throw sandbags at you. Hits add time to your score. Falling resets you." The attempts were chaotic. Luna and Kaelen played it safe, finishing in nine minutes. Galahad walked across the poles in exactly two minutes—but he refused to dodge a single sandbag.

"A knight doth not evade!" Galahad bellowed, taking every heavy bag straight to the chest and earning a seventy-minute penalty score. Rudra shook his head. If that idiot actually becomes a Tank class, his sheer stubbornness might make him immortal. Echo was the biggest surprise. The quiet girl practically glided across the poles, finishing in four minutes with only four minor hits. Rudra stepped up. He didn't glide. Instead, he relied on his freakish hand-eye coordination.

He hopped erratically across the posts, using his wrists to casually swat the heavy sandbags out of the air like he was catching falling pens at his desk. He finished in three minutes. Finally came the Weapon Test: a survival duel against the Level 100+ instructors. Gareth had ordered the instructors to restrict their stats to match the recruits. However, when it came to Rudra's turn, the assigned soldier immediately realized he was in deep trouble.

Because the instructor only knew basic staff forms, his technique was vastly inferior to Rudra's Level 3 Mastery. Worse, Rudra fought like a wildman. He was smiling, twirling the heavy wood constantly, shifting his grip, and throwing completely unorthodox strikes just to see what worked. To avoid getting humiliated by a Level 1, the soldier had to secretly uncap his strength and speed, fighting at 150% of Rudra's output just to force a tie. Wood crashed against wood.

Rudra held his ground for ten grueling minutes, thoroughly enjoying the rush, before his stamina finally hit zero and he was swept to the floor.

"You fought valiantly, kid," the soldier gasped, offering Rudra a hand up.

"Manage your stamina better next time." While the soldier's face looked calm, internally, he was panicking. Holy shit, the soldier thought, suppressing a shudder. Thank Goddess Rebecca he got tired. If that kid lasted another five minutes, I would have been the one in the dirt. What kind of monster is he?! Rudra lay on his back in the mud, chest heaving, a massive smile on his face. He had lost, but the difference in his fighting ability compared to a week ago was night and day.

Gareth stepped into the center of the ring. He looked at the bruised, exhausted players. To everyone's shock, the scarred veteran actually smiled.

"Congratulations. You survived," Gareth announced.

"Most of you completed this camp with a Grade of C." Gareth turned his gaze directly to Rudra.

"You," the commander grunted, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"You are the first person to ever complete my camp with an S-Grade at Level 1. Take your steak voucher and get out of my sight before I change my mind." A beautiful flurry of golden text popped up in Rudra's vision. [The Quest "Murray Militia Basic Training" has been completed!] [Quest Grade: S] [You are the first person to complete the Training with an S-Grade!]