Dungeon Miner Slave

“I don’t understand what you mean when you say what level of spells. If you’re worried about injuring or even killing me accidentally, I have an amulet that protects me using a magic shield. It will protect me from fatal damage up to three times. If you can destroy two of my shields, then you win,” Guild Master Norban told Flinx.

“Does that mean that if I lose, I would not get the Gold rank?” Flinx asked Norban.

“No. I decide if you’ll get the rank,” the guild master simply said.

Soon, the training field was full of people. The training field was a little small, so even though the number of people was not great, it looked full. Since the training area was made of dirt, dust started floating, and Flinx had an urge to cough, which he tried his best to avoid.

Flinx saw that the mayor and his wife were also in attendance, but on second thought, he should not have been surprised. This frontier town was a small one, and he could imagine that the entertainment one could have here was limited. The fact that his ranking-up test was considered high-level, which meant that adventurers could learn a thing or two from watching them, meant that their fight was probably being thought of as something highly entertaining. Flinx could even hear betting had already started among the rowdy adventurers.

Even though the training area looked full, there were fewer adventurers present. He knew that it was because it was still a couple of hours before noon, and most adventurers were still outside. Still, the training field had become very lively.

After a full thirty minutes of waiting, a healer arrived who would be acting as their referee. Norban gave the signal that the fight should start, and the referee shouted begin.

Flinx saw Norban, who was holding a sword and a shield, run towards him. He remained calm, cast Mage Armor and Stone Skin, then he cast the Teleport spell, aiming to teleport in the sky. The moment he arrived above, Flinx immediately cast the Fly spell and remained there.

He could hear everyone gasp when he disappeared, and Flinx could see Norban’s experience, because the guild master jumped sideways looking for him. The audience spotted Flinx and pointed at him, who was now flying above.

Flinx was afraid that Norban would target him using a spell or a thrown weapon, so he cast Mirror Image. Several copies of him, who were also flying, appeared surrounding Norban. The next spell that he cast was the Magic Missile spell. He made sure to target the shield that Norban was holding.

The amazing thing was that all of his mirror images cast the same spell, so if one could not detect who was the real caster, they would not know which spell was the real one.

Flinx knew that he had won the moment he saw that the guild master seemed unprepared to deal with a flying enemy. He knew that most adventurers had a way to deal with flying enemies like bows and arrows, thrown weapons, and even spells. He knew that Norban underestimated him, so more than likely, the Guild Master was not prepared to deal with someone who could fly.

The bolts from the Magic Missile spell all hit Norban’s shield, but the guild master managed to hold on to it, so Flinx cast a couple more Magic Missile spells. By the fourth bolt, Norban could not hold on to his shield anymore, and it was flung away, so the fifth and sixth bolts hit the guild master directly.

The two bolts did not damage Norban’s magic shield too much, so Flinx readied himself to cast more spells, but then Norban signaled that the fight was over, and the referee shouted that Flinx had won.

Everyone cheered, and Flinx saw that the mayor and his mage wife looked impressed. He dispelled his mirror images, flew down, and met with Norban.

“I thought you said that the fight would last until you defeated me or until I destroyed two of your magic shields?” Flinx asked the guild master.

“Since I didn’t prepare myself to fight someone who’s airborne, I knew I lost the moment you flew. I could have used my spells to attack you, but it would only waste my energy since I still have to find the real you. I also wanted to save the energy in my magic shield item. Besides, the spell that you use to attack me is not your most powerful spell, right?” Norban asked, and Flinx simply nodded.

“Can you attack one of those training dummies using one of your most powerful spells that does not cause area damage?” Norban requested, while pointing at the dummies located by the side.

Since there were no people near the dummies, he cast the 6th-level spell Disintegrate, and the dummy was destroyed until even the tiniest fragment turned to dust.

The mayor and his wife approached them, and the mayor’s wife asked if the spell that he had just cast was his most powerful one. Flinx simply shook his head. That mayor’s wife glanced at her husband and looked at Norban. He felt that the glance signified a message to the two men, but Flinx did not care since he would leave the town once the trade caravan, which was supposed to arrive the next day, left for the capital city.

Norban talked briefly to the mayor and his wife while Flinx waited, and after that, the guild master returned to his office accompanied by Flinx.

Once they were seated, Norban started talking.

“I’m guessing you’re wondering what that was all about regarding the mayor’s wife. She just implied to us that you’re someone extremely dangerous. Of course, we know that now, but since you’re leaving, it’s a moot point. You don’t need to talk to them. I’ll tell them your decision to leave the town for greener pastures. Your gold identification card will be available tomorrow. Come back here to get it.”

“Do I need to pay something?”

“Yes. Talk to Pierce about that. Pierce is my nephew who greeted you earlier,” Norban said, then the guild master sighed.

“You embarrassed me earlier. It’s my fault for underestimating you. Don’t be too overconfident. There are several ways I can deal with you, and based on what I’ve seen, if we really fight to the death, there’s no doubt that I’ll win. Once you’ve gained experience, I imagine that it would not be too long until you reach the Mythic Rank,” the guild master said, and Flinx fully agreed with him regarding losing.

Even with all of the spell battle simulations that he did, Flinx simply did not have much experience battling intelligent enemies since monster that he had fought so far were mostly driven by instinct.

“Will I need a lot of gold coins during my travel to the capital city? I only have 100 gold coins left,” Flinx asked.

“Yes, if you don’t want to spend your mana stones, but I suggest you trade for gold coins with the merchant caravan and from other places once you leave the town. Frontier towns lack coins.”

“Thanks for helping me, guild master. I do appreciate it.”

After that, Flinx left Norban’s office. Instead of going home, he decided to mingle with other adventurers in the tavern. Upon entering the tavern, everyone greeted him. To join in, he loudly announced that he passed the test and was now a gold rank adventurer, and because of that, he would treat everyone to a drink. Everyone cheered when they heard what Flinx had said, and soon, a full-blown party, funded by him, had started.