84 Chapter 83 (1/2)
Jess lost, and she was furious due to it, mostly she was furious because Leon used a cowardly trick. The problem was... none of the examiners said what they could or couldn't do that kind of thing.
”I want a rematch!” Jess shouted.
Seeing a grow-up woman acting like a kid who lost in a game, Leon couldn't help but frown and scratch the back of his head. Things could have been different if she hadn't fooled around, Leon would decrease his attacks to block her arrows, making the battle last for quite a while. However, the things Leon could do using Earth Manipulation were quite a lot so that he wouldn't let a battle drag for that long.
”It is your loss, Jess,” Paul said. ”Don't embarrass yourself in front of the recruits.”
Jess clicked her tongue; it looked like she was a sore loser. Leon couldn't help but wonder how someone so careless managed to survive until now. Perhaps she was only like that against humans... either way, Paul declared that she lost, and Arthur nodded in agreement.
The last battle would be difficult because Arthur didn't look like someone who would hold back or underestimate any target. The test wasn't a battle to the death, but accidents could happen. To make matters worse, Leon only knew one spell of Arthur's. By the look of things, he mastered that spell since he could use a weakened version of it only to break bones. If he learned the real deal and used it for a few months, Leon was sure that he could destroy someone's limbs with ease if he wanted to.
The start of the battle was quite dull, Arthur cast an earth fist, and Leon used his to block the attack. Leon tried to little by little make his attacks advance, but Arthur didn't let him. Leon was forced to move and dodge those projectiles when the earth fists dissipated, and he had to create others, but aside from that, nothing happened. After five minutes, the battle ended.
”That is enough,” Paul declared. ”We don't have all day to watch you two playing like that. It is a draw. You two have similar skills, so it can't be helped.”
Leon and Arthur nodded and didn't complain, unlike Jess. Leon was pretty sure Arthur was holding back, so it was hard to measure his real power. But it was clear that he was an earth magic specialist. After the end of the battle, Paul, Jess, and Arthur discussed Leon's skills in order to determine his rank. He was the tenth guy that had been tested that day, but he was the first one who had actually passed the test. Despite that, their discussion didn't last long.
”Congratulations, Leonard,” Paul said. ”We concluded that you are worthy of being a B rank member in our organization. By the way, Jess and I are also B ranks. Arthur is a rank A member.”
Leon nodded by the look of things; it was pretty evident that Paul was stronger. He didn't use any skills, after all. Regardless, even though Leon didn't know how many ranks that organization had, he was pretty sure that he started in a pretty decent rank. However, Leon was a little bothered...