Cataclysm Ch 5

The crowd stared silently at Alex, their disbelief obvious from their faces. Alex sighed and walked off-stage. Very few  people congratulated him on his way out, which were ignored by him nonetheless. When he walked out, he saw a person who seemed to be waiting for him. "Pretty good skills you've shown there,kid," the man who seemed to have stones for muscles said. "State your business." Alex glared at him. "Hoho, no need to be so cold. I just want you to join the military recruitment."   “And what do I get from all this?” "Perks that people of this town only dream of getting." The man smiled. "Can we talk somewhere else? Somewhere private, perhaps?" "Sure, that tavern has a VIP room. My treat." "Well then, after you." Alex gave way to the man. After the man talked to the woman at the counter, she led them to the backside of the tavern. "Does this suit your taste better?" "It doesn't matter. What are the requirements to join?" "Level 4. But I guess I can make an exception, considering your way out of your level techniques and attributes." "?!"Alex frowned and got ready to summon his PA. "No need to be that angry. My eyes have experienced quite a lot of battles so there's no question I can know the strength of my opponent. Come let us go gauge your strength properly." "I see no purpose of gauging it out. Will I get anything from it?" “Then, consider this treat as a reward." The man said as a lady appeared to serve them a luxurious meal. Alex looked at the man with a distrustful expression but ate it anyway. After that, they went to Guerra Hall. "I'll be the only one who'll know about this, so don't hesitate." 'The advantages are real but he seems to be using. I'll just make use of what he gives and watch my back.' Alex got hold of the appraisal device and the one bar turned transparent, the other turned black and the last bar turned violet. The lady that led them in was so surprised to the point where even she can feel fear towards someone 3 levels below her.   “You definitely have unlimited potential. A transparent bar is a record breaking attribute level, meaning no one ever had the same attribute level as you in the history of Corono Oro. A black one means you have attained the same level as the recent record breaking attribute level. And a violet one means it’s near the level of a black one. Of course, it’s only about Level 2, talking about other Levels is another thing.”   ‘Their standards are definitely not the same as my system’s, it seems to base it somewhere else entirely. Since my AGI stat is A+ instead of S, which means there’s someone faster than me.’   “So, is there any rewards I can claim right away?” “None, you haven’t officially joined the army yet. And though you are highly likely going to pass, it isn’t going to be easy either.”   “Very well, if that is all, I shall take my leave. I still have some errands to tend to.” Alex turned around for the plains and left.   “Good luck on the recruitment, boy.” The old man smirked and waved at Alex’ retreating figure.   ‘The resources of being a member of an army would help me get stronger faster, and reinforced with my game knowledge… This is going better than I expected;’   Alex arrived at the plain where he trained before and caressed a sliced part of a gigantic tree. The tree was called “Madera Gigantes”, it was regarded as cursed since it got all the plants surrounding it within a 10m radius wilted and died. “This slice was made by my Lvl 1 power, what would be the difference of a Lvl, I wonder?”   Alex moved swiftly, summoning his PA at the same time. He then slashed the “Madera Gigantes” with his full force. The scar(?) left behind was deeper, albeit only a little. After that, he ran all through the forest with the fastest speed he can manage, testing out his agility. And since he doesn’t still know the purpose of the Spirit stat, he only invested a little to it. After that was endless workout sessions.  After a few more hours, he stopped for a while to rest. “System, status,” Alex said, gasping for air.   Alexander Williams(Exhausted)   STR:B (+) AGI:A (+) SPI: C+  (+) “I should take a re-” Alex fell down, sweat running down his forehead. He tried to reach for his water but lost his consciousness before he could do so.   Alex woke up, his hands tried to grab something but only managed to grab nothing but air. “Oh, you’re up?” A feminine voice rang in the room. Alex turned around and saw a little girl with seemingly extravagant clothes. “I was so worried about you, you were unconscious for two days. It made me doubt my skills!” The girl pouted.   “Two days? Then what about the recruitment for San Diego’s army?”   “San Diego? It was burned to the ground for no reason. The commander of one of the royal infantry went there and burned it to the ground, not sparing anyone.”   Alex abruptly rose, gasping for air. “That… was a dream, right?” Alex tried to move but the backlash from overexerting himself stopped him.   “You should rest,” the innkeeper went inside. “Your fatigue was enough to make you collapse, it isn’t easy to recover from that,” she continued.   “Thanks a lot.”   “No problem, you’re gonna work extra hard this week, right?” She smiled innocently, murderous intent ironically emanating from her ceaselessly. Alex sighed and conceded, he laid back once again and closed his eyes, once again falling asleep.   Alex woke up early the next day only to find the innkeeper trying to stop him from joining the recruitment.   “Give it up. You can’t pass the recruitment with your body all beaten up like this.”   “I’m sorry, but I need to do this.” He walked out of the inn and went to the address attached together with the invitation. After asking a few people he finally himself in the recruitment area.   “Now, remember the things I told and let us hope that this festive mood will go on forever.” The man who invited Alex said as he glanced at Alex who just arrived.   ‘Looks like I missed the briefing. System, brief me about the recruitment process. Luckily, I read the manual about the System in my phone.’   The recruitment has three parts. The first part is “The King’s Game”, it will test your defensive abilities against opponents two levels higher than you. The Quest, here your wit and intelligence will be put to test, QUEST is unknown. The third is more straightforward, a 3v3. The teams are based on your previous results, meaning the stronger recruits are put in a weak team to balance the overall strength. It will test your adaptiveness and skill.   ‘Let’s get this started.’   “COMMENCE ‘THE KING’S GAME’!!!”