Gorver led me to the training area. It was much like the dueling arena, but instead of stone, the floor was sand. There were quite a few people there. He clapped his hands twice and told everyone to “Get Out, I have an assessment to perform.” Everyone left without any grumbling, which was surprising to me. Back on Earth, if you interrupted someone workout, they always got upset and grumpy. While we waited for everyone to leave, I cast Identification on Gorver.

  Gorver

  Guild Master of Forest Glen Adventurer Guild

  Class Crusader

  Level 25

  When the room was clear, Gorver began “You should be careful using Identification on people. Some don’t appreciate it. Now then, the assessment is private. Anything you do here will not be shared unless you give specific permission. Which I don’t recommend. I would also suggest you send your secretary to wait in the common room. She is not allowed to witness the Guild assessment. This is for both the Guilds and your protection.” He paused.

  I looked over at Fabia and said “You should wait in the common room. How long until my next appointment?”

  “You have about 2 and ? hours before you must be at the Barons.” And Fabia left for the common room.

  “Can everyone detect if someone uses Identification on them?” I asked.

  “Only certain classes that reach the required level. I wasn’t able to detect until level 15. Other classes are different. Back to the assessment. I will test both your magical and physical combat capability. First, tell me your combat skill levels and which weapon skill you have and what level.”

  “My combat is at level 6, Weapons at 5, Sword at 6, Dagger at 10, and Spear at 5. I also have Unarmed Combat at 5. I have used Dagger, Sword, and Spear in actual combat. Spear and Dagger on my journey to Forest Glen, a Sword in a duel and combat. The duel and combat were against a human, the rest were against wolves and monsters.”

  “Run through you forms for each.” Gorver said.

  I moved into the center of the arena, called Balmung to my hand, and started with the sword form. Gorver watched until I was done and then said “Very good form, but you need to use more force on your thrust. Your spin move is too slow and your transition between defense and attack is too slow. Other than that, the form itself is good enough. The incorporation of the Wind Blade spell is excellent in its execution. Move on please.”

  Both spear and knife forms were the same. Gorver had feedback for both, especially the spear. He even suggested training for the spear, because the form was so basic.

  “Do you know magic combat? If so, I will need you to show me your spells. I know most people will want to hold back and keep something secret, but if you do that, then I can’t help you improve. That said, tell me your skill and spell levels.”

  Okay, I admit I thought about holding back, particularly with Slow-Time. It was my ace in my hole. So, I began “Skill: Magic level 5, Slow-Time level 3, Spells: Mana Dart level 5, Wind Blade level 3, Fireball level 4. I assume you don’t need my healing spell levels.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “No, that is quite enough. I am unfamiliar with Slow-Time. Can you tell me how you use it?”

  “It’s simple enough. It has a passive and active capability. On passive, it automatically activates when something tries to injure me. Its main purpose is to slow everything down for me. Time moves very slowly and I have plenty of time to react.”

  “What is your class and level?”

  “I am unclassed, and level 1.” I stated flatly.

  Gorver looked at me, studying me. “How can you have those skill levels but be unclassed and level 1. I find that hard to believe.”

  “I am sure you have Identification, go ahead and use it.” I said slightly affronted.

  Gorver cast Identification on me. He sighed. “Do you have a blocking skill? It says level 1 unclassed, but it just doesn’t add up. How did this happen?”

  “Since everything done and said in this room is confidential, I will give you an answer. Long story short, I suffered a major amount of soul damage. I cannot gain experience until my soul is healed. So, my class does not level. However, my skills on the other hand continue to level. As it is, I need to stay alive for 2 years as my soul recovers. If I die before it is fully recovered, it will become a corrupted soul, and that is not a good thing for anyone. My plan was to open a healing store and lead a quiet life, but because of my magical healing powers, I have made enemies. Enemies that hire assassins. Therefore, my need to become a member of the Adventurer Guild. It won’t solve all my problems, but getting protection from assassination will go a long way to letting me sleep at night.”

  Gorver just stared at me. His expression transitioning from disbelief to questioning to concern. “You don’t have to answer this, but do you have any Talents or Gifts or Titles that could explain your skill growth. Because from what I understand, your skills should still be at twos or threes. Not at fives, sixes and tens.”

  “Yes. I have a Gift. It is called the Master of Skills and it is at a Legendary rank.” At this point Gorver’s jaw hit the ground. His mouth was so wide open, I thought he could swallow a basketball.

  He hurriedly shut his mouth and said “That would explain it. Okay, we are going to spar. You will not use Slow-Time. This is to gauge your true ability, not just your skill level. We will start with swords, then knives, then spears. I am not interested in Unarmed combat, so we will leave it.” Gorver tossed me a wooden sword.

  Now, here is where I get to tell you how great I was and how impressed Gorver was with my abilities. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It appears that I overestimated myself because of the duel. Gorver was not dueling, he was fighting. Unlike in a duel, in a fight, there was only one rule. Win. He had no problem with throwing sand in my face, stepping on my foot, trying to overpower me (his one mistake), or even punching me (in the face, in the stomach, in my balls). This was the difference between fighting and dueling. Gorver would use any and all tactics to win. And win he did. Over the next hour, I was hit, punched, kicked, bruised and scratched. Sword, knife, spear, it didn’t matter. Gorver was deadly and brutal. While he made sure to do no permanent damage, hurting me was another matter. Because of my stats and regeneration, I lasted longer that he thought I would. I also never made the same mistake twice. This was my one redeeming quality.

  I found myself flat on my back again, when Gorver called it. “Assessment is over. You pass. You are more than qualified to be a member of the Guild. You are strong and agile, but you need Adventurer training. You’ve been trained to fight a civilized fight. Adventurers don’t fight civilized. They fight to live. Monsters fight to kill. If you are worried about the rules, YOU. WILL. DIE. It was obvious that you weren’t ready for a fight, but a duel. You started to overcome that near the end, that’s good. That shows potential. You can pay Lisle the guild dues and arrange for training. You have a three-month grace period on your first quest because of your healing our members earlier. I will see you next week for training.”

  “Thank you.” And with that we shook hands and I left to pay Lisle.