Jack didn't take out his magic staff to increase his firepower, he was counting on its added defense. A magic shield constructed by light manifested at the tip of his staff as he charged towards the two puppets coming his way. Both of them swung their arms at the same time. Jack parried the puppet on his right with his sword and blocked the puppet on his left with his magic shield.
The impact threw Jack back as he skidded several meters on the floor before stopping, almost passing into the green floor area.
"I don't know a fighter has that kind of shield skill," one of the rowdy men said.
"That's not a fighter's skill," Gruff said.
After being pushed back, Jack jumped back immediately towards the two puppets. One of them reacted faster than the other and attacked first this time, Jack made rapid side steps to dodge it. The second puppet followed up with a horizontal swing. Jack blocked it with his Magic Shield and twisted his body to use the momentum as he slipped past in the space between the two puppets.
When the first puppet attacked again, he used his sword to parry. As he was already slightly past their defensive lines, every momentum when he defended instead pushed him closer to the platform. He continued to alternate between parrying with his sword and blocking with his shield, and made no attempt to counter-attack as he inched closer to the platform.
The third puppet which saw Jack becoming closer step by step, finally abandoned its post and moved towards him. It attempted to put Jack in the middle of a three-pronged attack, the human would not have enough limbs to defend by then.
Due to Jack focusing on defending the two puppets' attacks, Jack's back was facing the third puppet. He however paid attention to his radar, and was expecting the third puppet to move. When he saw the dot behind him approaching, he ignored the blow from the puppet on his left, while blocking the one from his right using Magic Shield and sending it a Power Strike at the same time.
The Strike pushed the puppet back a bit, halting its movements. At the same time, Jack suffered 58 damages from the left puppet's blunt attack. His HP had been falling to half from accumulating damages since the test started. He employed the force from the blow to push him slightly to his right. He then turned around and made a dash. The third puppet which was moving to his original position now found itself a short distance from Jack.
It smashed down as Jack was coming to its side, but Jack lunged forward and evaded it with a roll. He immediately stood up and ran towards the platform. All three puppets were positioned at his back, so no obstacle could prevent him from reaching the statue anymore.
When he celebrated his success early in his mind, he heard a clanging sound. He turned around just in time to see a steel ball tied to a chain was rushing at him from the side.
"Holy cra—" He didn't have a chance to finish his curse as the steel ball crashed onto his Magic Shield and sent him flying. He slammed onto the wall to the side. He felt as if his bone had been crushed. Clenching his teeth, he bore the pain and hurriedly rose up to his feet.
The steel ball that had hit him was hanging from a steel chain that came out from the third puppet's arm. The steel ball could disengage from its hand and became a chain ball weapon!
It was currently pulling the chain ball back and swung it in a revolving motion by its side. It then used the momentum and threw the ball straight at Jack, even as the other two puppets were running towards him.
The flying ball's speed was frightening, but Jack had prepared for it as he focused his attention on the puppet's motion. When it started to send its attack, Jack had already jumped upward. He then kicked towards the wall and pushed him higher. The steel ball crashed onto the wall and produced spiderweb cracks from its point of impact.
Jack landed on the floor and immediately continue to run. One of the puppets running towards him was closed enough as it slammed downwards. Jack parried it and cast Magic Bullet right at its knee joint. It didn't damage the joint but it did disrupt the puppet's movement.
The third puppet was still pulling back its chain. It would not have enough time to do another attack before Jack made it to the platform. The other two puppets had failed to hinder his movements, while he had halted the one closest to him. They would not be able to stop him, but Jack continued to pay attention to them. As expected, the other two puppets' steel balls detached from their arms and they sent their ball hands both towards Jack.
They swung it in a horizontal motion in order to throw Jack to the side, if they had made a straight shot, it would simply push Jack further into the platform. The two swings came from left and right, and both covered high and low positions. The left ball was aiming at Jack's leg while the right ball was targeting his upper body.
Jack made a quick calculation and jumped up, placing his Magic Shield in the right ball's trajectory. The left ball passed through below Jack, while the right one smashed onto the shield and sent him flying to the side, but Jack quickly stabbed his sword into the floor and used it to pivot himself towards the platform. Utilizing the momentum, he finally landed on the platform just before the statue. The three puppets instantly stopped their movements.
Gruff and the others were silent as their eyes continued to glue onto Jack who was now standing in front of the warrior statue.
Jack was catching his breath under the statue. That was close, he thought. He had managed to pass through the test mainly due to his outstanding attributes and his dual-class skills. Any normal level 15 would get crushed easily in this test. No wonder those warriors there did not have a good impression of him passing the test.
He wondered how many would actually successfully get their advanced class at the same level as him. Most would likely only become one at a higher level when they were stronger. Otherwise, they would need exceptionally good martial skills. Red Death for example, with her exceptional situational awareness and control of body movement, might have an easier time passing this test compared to him. Nevertheless, he was not sure if the test for Ranger's advanced class would be the same as the test for Warrior. He reckoned that they would be different, otherwise why had they set up a different academy for each class?
After collecting his thought and relaxing his body, he turned to the statue. It was a three-meter-tall sculpture depicting a male warrior wearing ceremonial armor and carrying a large two-handed axe. Jack did as he was told to and knelt in front of it. He soon heard a notification voice.
"Congratulations, you have passed the trial to become an advanced class. You are now a Warrior. Receive inherent skill: Physical Damage +10%, and a new skill: Charge."
He remembered Peniel had told him that Warrior focused more on offense. It was indeed the case, he had already got his damage increased by 10% once he became one. For the attribute increase, he would need to wait until he leveled up to 16 before he could find out the difference. He opened his skill window to look at the new skill Charge.
Charge, level 1/20 (Active skill, melee, require melee weapon)
Charge through a direction. Dealing damage and knocking all within the direction
Deals 120% physical damage
200% movement speed
Range: 8 meters
Cooldown: 20 seconds
Stamina: 30