Classless Ascension

In the underground room used for the LoA test, nine individuals were waiting for the last candidate to return. A few were happily badmouthing the guy, especially the recruiter of that one deceased hammer guy.

"Why are we even bothering to wait? He's just a loser!"

"You say this, but he did kill a candidate already." 

"Please, did you see the mess that he made outside?!"

"This just means that he's strong since he survived."

"Bullshit! He's no assassin. He's a fucking butcher! He has no finesse at all!" 

This was ironic coming from the recruiter whose protégé had literately brought his squad along to get an edge. As Josh entered, all eyes turned toward him. 

There were five recruiters and four contestants present. Did one recruiter bring two candidates?! 

Anyway, he slowly observed them. There was the thief and the lady in blue he had met earlier. Then, there was a man and a woman, both looking at him with disdain. They stood far apart, but Josh had the feeling that they knew each other very well. 

The "fake lawyer" turned toward him with slight worry in his tone. "How was it? Did you manage to accomplish the mission?" 

"Of course, I completed it! Who do you take me for?!" Josh shook his head as if this outcome was only natural— well, it was. 

A man that appeared to be the thief's mentor smiled at him encouragingly before uttering: "Let us be the judges of your efforts. All of you, wear the MTA outfit you stole and own it!" 

Own it? As in, they needed to act the part of an MTA soldier, right? Josh had this in the bag! Without waiting any further, he grabbed the clothes and began to imitate Roderick. Who knew that the LoA would have a cosplay evaluation! 

There were many eyes on him, mostly ones that hoped for his failure. As he seemed to transform into someone else entirely, they gasped in shock. Was this new guy actually that talented?! 

But then their gaze was attracted to the design of the clothes. Their bodies went rigid as their eyes became glued to the outfit. There was something incredibly wrong here! One pointed a shaky finger toward Josh. 

"G-general outfit?!" A man with eyes now rivaling a toad shouted. 

The room was instantly plunged into complete silence, the air becoming chilly and oppressive. For a second, they all lost their bearings as their brains couldn't comprehend the situation. 

He was a general! At least he looked like one and felt like one! What kind of genius conman was he?! Their experienced gazes rested on Josh, but this outfit was real no matter how they looked at him. 

Then their thoughts began swirling in another direction. What if he truly was an army general and had been infiltrating them since the very beginning?! The master of the deceased suddenly charged at him! 

"Sneaky MTA dog! Trying to infiltrate us?! Die!!" He shouted with wild abandon as he charged at him. 

The man had a battle-axe that he swung toward Josh with full force, trying to cleave him in half. Josh couldn't help but twitch. What was wrong with this guy?! He was emitting true killing intent! What the hell?! 

Josh summoned his weapon but realized that he couldn't block this with normal means. The man's momentum was too strong. Should he use his cloak's unique ability to tank this one hit? How would the other recruiters react to this act of self-defense?!

Just as he was agonizing over the best solution, the recruiters acted! His own recruiter and the one in charge of the thief attacked the shouting man! The other guy was using a standard dagger that the enemy side-stepped, but this allowed the fake lawyer to strike. 

Silver bolts flew toward the man's neck, shoulder, and arm. The berserk recruiter barely managed to block them all, obviously feeling the strain. But that's when Josh noticed the fake lawyer's huge smile as his crossbow delivered one last attack. 

That's when the axe wielder released an ear-piercing scream filled with agony. He could now be seen clutching the gory mess right under his belt. The fake lawyer had shot his dick off?! Talk about savage! 

The axe-wielding man screamed in anguish and fury: "What are you all waiting for?! These two lunatics attacked me! Kill them! Kill that spy too! Don't just stand there!"

The other recruiters could only shake their heads while clicking their tongues reproachfully. "Why are you even attacking a candidate in the first place?"

"Look at him! He's obviously part of the MTA! How else could he have this?! Just fucking look at him. It's obvious!!" He roared, raging. One slowly and calmly replied.

"No way, the magical contract he signed at the beginning prevents such issue. Still, it's true that it's odd." He then turned toward Josh, asking with suspicion, "How did you acquire it?" 

At this point, the other candidates didn't know whether to crawl into a hole and hide or not. They had been proud of their successful heists. Yet, there he was, one-upping them completely! 

"Easy, I challenged the owner to a private duel." Josh shrugged. 

"That's it?" One recruiter incredulously stared at him. 

"Yep. He thought he'd win, so he agreed to fight me. Then, I stripped him and hid his body in a remote location." Josh explained. 

The entire room was now gawking at him. They couldn't help but shake just thinking about the implications. Had he single-handedly declared war on the MTA?! There was no way they would leave such shameful conduct unpunished! 

Meanwhile, the axe-wielding guy had excused himself. He had probably left to try and salvage his manhood. Josh wished him to fail. This would be well deserved…

On the side, the young thief couldn't help but mutter: "This is so fucking ballsy! Targeting a freaking general!" 

The more experienced recruiters were already feeling a headache coming. Would this all end up blowing up in their faces?! One reproachfully spoke: "Why couldn't you just target a regular foot soldier?!" 

"This is a test. Isn't a general better than a common foot soldier? Since I would likely be late with the delivery, I had to step up my game. After all, you guys were all sneering when I came." Josh explained. 

Was he deflecting the blame back at them?! How the fuck were they supposed to know that he would end up doing that?! This wasn't logical at all! They felt their blood pressure rise drastically. They could only sigh, half crying. 

"So, this means that I passed the first round, right?" Josh had the nerve to ask innocently! 

"Of course you fucking pass, you bastard!!" How long had it been since recruiters had been so agitated for a test? They had completely lost all dignity. They were supposed to play the wise masters as they sat in their chairs…and yet…how could they now?!

They soon checked the other candidates. Everyone that was still alive had succeeded and would proceed to the next round. This was quite anticlimactic for sure. Where was the last minute who's getting kicked drama?! 

Then came the moment of truth. A recruiter approached to explain the details of the second test. 

"You guys will have to infiltrate the villa of a woman who has been making waves recently. She is leading an anti-LoA campaign. Once you're there, you'll have to send her a clear message: she needs to stop. Be careful as she's requested protection from the MTA." 

This explained the uniforms. Still, since when did the MTA do bodyguard jobs? Then again, they were probably receiving funding in exchange for this service. 

"So, we intimidate her. That's all?" Josh raised an eyebrow.

"That's it. You guys can figure out the best method. Check your UW for the address. Here's all you'll need." The recruiter handed each of them a small circular metallic device. "Good luck! Your results will be based on your contribution to the mission." 

The candidates hurriedly left as soon as the man was done. Only Josh was left standing, wondering what the hell this device was and how to use it. That's when the thief gestured him to come along. 

As Josh followed, the thief had a peculiar expression: "It's your first time working with this? Don't worry, just equip the Jammer, and it will work its magic." 

A Jammer, eh? So this thing would make them invisible to regular technological equipment. Neat! Hopefully, it would work as intended, and there wouldn't be any complications. 

"How will they judge the contribution?" Josh asked, curious. 

"There is bound to be a recording device built inside that Jammer. They'll probably just watch the footage and kick out whoever performed the worst. I'm just happy that this mission doesn't necessarily involve direct fighting." The thief sighed in relief. 

Josh could only nod as he followed his wannabe guide until they reached their destination. It was a villa on the edge of Metropolis-D with tall walls and many patrolling guards. From time to time, an MTA soldier could be seen in their midsts. 

"It seems like the MTA peeps are mostly here to help with coordination. Then again, it's already pretty good considering that they're busy with the Tower at the moment." Josh murmured. 

"Indeed, but we still need to be extremely careful. If they sound the alarm and request reinforcements, it would be over for us real quick. The hardest part will be to infiltrate with none the wiser." The thief was frowning as he pondered.

"Hum, how about we just go through the front door?" Josh proposed, his tone not changing in the least. 

On the side, the thief couldn't help but chuckle. What a jokester! But a second later, he suddenly gasped as he realized that Josh was actually serious! 

"H-how are we even supposed to do that?!" He cried out. 

"Don't worry too much about it.. Just follow my lead."