Guild Wars

Chapter 1212: Test Ranking

In the end, Draco stopped here, leaving his limit at 600,000 kg. For once, he wasn't necessarily trying to be the best but wanted to stand out enough that he wouldn't be overlooked or held back from advancing rapidly.

If he turned out to be the best though, then jolly well done!

He moved over to the punching machine that looked a bit sturdier than the ones in reality since this one was made using magitech. He sized it up and down before tapping the pad, which was firmer than a brick wall.

Nodding, he began the familiar procedure.

Base class stats with no passives, no Control and no bloodline = 3 attempts of 45773, 46221 and 49809, below the required level.

Base class stats with no passives, Control and no bloodline = 3 attempts of 755876, 774623 and 741175, more than 14 times above the necessary level.

Base class stats with no passives, no Control and bloodline on = 3 attempts of 1100091, 1176360 and 1121226, more than 22 times above the required amount.

Base class stats with no passives, Control on and bloodline activated = 3 attempts of 13344346, 14858101, 13632045, more than 260 times the base requirement.

Of course, it was one thing to just list the numbers, but the actual effects were not so simple. There was virtually no splash made when using only the first set of criteria as it was even sub-par, but from the second set going on, trouble began.

Already, Draco had made many eyes bulge from his first test results, and since the candidates were spread out equidistantly, all those within four to five grids of his space were aware of a human monster who surpassed common sense.

As such, a few had paused to see how he would fare on the next segment and naturally they were disappointed when Draco began with sub-par results. Was this the so-called human monster they were supposed to be in awe of, how mediocre!

However, his results in the next set when he used Control caused many faces to change. The stronger ones like the bearman and muscleman became grim, because the tiny and scrawny Draco - in their eyes - almost surpassed them in terms of punching force.

Draco himself was not surprised that he didn't suddenly skyrocket to the top, even with Tier 6 Control. From the very beginning, the rules of Control had been clear, it was an enhancement based on the base effect, not a separate power system.

No matter what stage of Control, one could not go beyond the functional limit of the human body. The stronger the body, the stronger the effect of using Control, which was why Draco's rebuilt body along with Control was so monstrous, but it definitely did not reach the point of smashing mountains and blocking seas.

Now, as for the bloodline though…

When he finally struck the first blow with his bloodline, the punching machine was totally fine, able to disperse the heavy force and absorb it. It seemed like the War Maniac Pavilion came prepared for the occasional monster like Draco to pop up.

While the punching machine was able to absorb the force, it also absorbed the resounding shockwave and sound impact that would have reverberated around the area, but what it couldn't suppress was the feeling of horrible fear that all nearby living things felt.

Goosebumps appeared on the skins of onlookers as they felt that the force of this blow alone could likely claim their lives and even shatter their souls on the spot. Their very existence trembled in fear, feeling that this was power that bordered on the limit of mortality.

Of course, they all realized that they had been naive fools when the final set of punches were launched, and even the punching machine began to creak and groan. It could no longer absorb all the force, causing a bit of wind and a thunderous boom to sound out, startling everyone within 500 grids and making them glance at each other with puzzlement.

What the heck was that sound? It was as if someone had let out thunder in the area, which was impossible given the layout of the world and the quality of their testing equipment!

While many were wondering what was going on, conversation was not allowed between contestants so they couldn't find out the exact details, only feel shock when two more thunderous sounds emerged, all from the same area.

Eyes and senses converged on Draco who was nodding with a smile as he checked his results. Seeing that everything was satisfactory, he walked over to the plank of so-called Ultra Wood and inspected it.

｢Ultra Wood – Material

Rank: Epic

Use: Construction, Engineering.｣

Draco raised an eyebrow. These War Maniac Pavilion dudes sure were rich, able to provide 100,000 pieces of an Epic material for candidates to shatter freely just to test their strength.

Draco passed his hand over the material and scanned its layout using Control at Tier 6 so he could replicate it later because despite the wealth of Umbra, he had not seen such a thing before!

In the end, he did not bother to practice since the wood was not replaceable. Once you sufficiently broke it, you passed and the amount of effort it took was what counted, as well as how well your single attack shattered it.

As such, mostly out of curiosity, Draco unleashed his class passives this time, boosting his base stats to their ridiculous numbers, and then struck down on the plank lightly with a chop.

Immediately, it was as if time and space froze, the flow between the fabric of reality seeming to crease. However, for those in normal space-time, all they experienced was a slight cracking sound that was not loud, but still very audible no matter where one was on the field.

All 100,000 candidates heard that soft crack, like when one struck an egg with a metal spoon. When they tried to sense it, they were limited by their distance, but those closer were immediately able to see that Draco's ultra wood plank slowly cracked from top to bottom, then turned into dust that crumbled to the ground.

This sight caused everyone who was looking over to be full of incomprehension. How was it possible to strike something so powerfully yet so lightly that it didn't even explode into splinters or dust, but rather crumbled slowly and methodically?

Draco himself was not focused on the results of his actions, but the process. He frowned and glanced at his fist, feeling that in that split second where his hand struck the plank, something profound had occurred.

He wasn't able to peer into it, but he could sense… something. His physical strength had always been high thanks to the Semi-Eternal class passives, otherwise, Shuangtian especially would not have been able to punch the entire Demon Realm into non-existence.

It was strange since he never felt this in the main plane nor the Divine Realm of Boundless, but rather in this strange space-time that was in the same region as the Divine Trial. It was as if his physical strength had broken some form of threshold and almost achieved the effect of disintegration or destruction, but those were concepts or elements!

While Draco pondered, others realized the problem and focused on their own tests. By the time the Strength Test came to an end, another 20 minutes had passed and the results so far were displayed.

1st – Draco: 600,000 kg (Lifting), 14,858,101 Pounds (Punching), Disintegration Achieved (Breaking).

2nd – Bafira: 134,220 kg (Lifting), 1,244,721 Pounds (Punching), Shattering Achieved (Breaking).

3rd – Deork: 133,890 kg (Lifting), 1,185,234 Pounds (Punching), Shattering Achieved (Breaking).

4th – Huskar: 132,664 kg (Lifting), 1,099,543 Pounds (Punching), Shattering Achieved (Breaking).

5th – Ashwanda: 131,350 kg (Lifting), 1,024,005 Pounds (Punching), Shattering Achieved (Breaking).

6th – Scurle: 130,999 kg (Lifting), 999,892 Pounds (Punching), Fracturing Achieved (Breaking).

7th – Recume: 129,751 kg (Lifting), 976,096 Pounds (Punching), Fracturing Achieved (Breaking).

8th – Pilkin: 128,664 kg (Lifting), 955,210 Pounds (Punching), Fracturing Achieved (Breaking).

9th – Laeser: 126,010 kg (Lifting), 921,733 Pounds (Punching), Fracturing Achieved (Breaking).

10th – Abardurn: 125,311 kg (Lifting), 903,965 Pounds (Punching), Fracturing Achieved (Breaking).

The leaderboard manifested in the air over everyone, being giant enough that even a blind fellow could see it. While the names of those below the top ten grew smaller, those within that rank were large and colored with gold, with first place bearing a piercing rainbow color.

While everyone wondered who the hell this Draco fellow was, the entire space shifted and quaked, rearranging all the candidates at once.

At the forefront of the entire pack was Draco, who was frowning slightly as he glanced to his left and saw no one, while on his right, a row of beings spread out just like before were also looking around with surprise.

Given the circumstance, Draco's eyes narrowed as he realized that the entire group were likely the top fellows on the leaderboard and the person before him should be the second-place candidate.

It seemed like everyone quickly realized this as well, and a multitude of eyes fell on Draco from those ranked first to fiftieth, as those below could not even see him through the throng of bodies.

Having so many 'strong' beings staring at them with mixtures of surprise, greed, malice and sometimes even lust, would normally feel quite overwhelming, but for Draco, it was a late afternoon snack as he happily absorbed the negative emotions.

Draco shook his head and paid the rest no mind, rather getting ready for the upcoming Endurance Test.

｢System to Player Announcement

The objective of the Endurance Test has been set. Player Draco must withstand a minimum of 7,000 Newtons of gravitational force, withstand a pressure of 50 points of atm (atmospheric pressure) and withstand a punch from their previous best result to clear this task.｣

Seeing the terms, Draco was not surprised, but was also curious. The first one was basically to withstand at least 10 times Earth's gravity which was not too strenuous for him even in his normal self but why test that and not some other aspect of endurance?

Okay fine, this could be accepted, but why Atmospheric Pressures? A human with no training could withstand about 5 atm at most so to ask for 50 meant that you had to withstand crushing pressure that was ten times beyond the normal human limit.

It was an arguably fine way to measure one's endurance, but unless you were going diving into the deep sea or were planning to visit a place with high pressure, then there was no point to having good results in this.

The last one was pretty normal, if not funny.

You punched really hard that previous round, huh? You gave it your all and even felt full of pride as well as exhilaration, right?

Now, withstand your own blow.

This time, the test was no longer up to the candidates' whim. After a short countdown of 30 seconds, everyone was suddenly hit with increased gravity from beneath them that was at a thousand newtons, about 1.5x what Earth had.

For this round, Draco did not test anything, going with his full power from the start. The measurements used for this one were direct and the test was not as free, so rather than mess around and fail, he would rather pass and then use his own resources to test later if necessary.

2x, 2.5x, 3x, 3.5x…

By the time it reached 10x, none of those around Draco were even wobbling or flustered, standing in place with boredom, much like himself. However, he could sense through his Void of Perfection that many at the farthest back were barely holding on with all their power, trying to make it through the 10 seconds countdown to solidify their results.

After this was done, those who opted to give up were removed and the rest faced increasing difficulty that climbed slowly as people were directly stretched to their limits and then forced to give up while the system in charge here recorded it.