Chapter Fourteen: Practical Assessment

"Those custom-made ones really are beautiful."

Xu Ai stood in front of the mirror, satisfied. A suit of armor packed with high-tech features tightly encased her body.

The combat suit was like a full-coverage exoskeleton. It was a little troublesome to put on, but it made her feel completely secure.

On the other side, Xu Xin had changed into her combat suit as well.

"It's all right..."

Xu Xin was clearly uninterested in such bulky gear.

After Xu Xin and Xu Ai passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, the Xu Family had specially made combat suits and weapons for them. Naturally, Xu Gang had been in charge of the whole thing.

Xu Gang had put plenty of thought into making their equipment. The combat suits were made from lightweight S-Class materials combined with other materials, and their weight was just right for Xu Xin and Xu Ai's physical capabilities.

Although this material was thinner and lighter than that of standard combat suits, even Monster General Level monsters would have trouble breaking through its defenses. It also provided decent shock absorption, so dealing with H-Class Monsters would be a breeze.

Their weapons were just as carefully made. The blades were crafted from S-Class materials combined with A-Class materials, and were light enough for the two of them to wield while still being able to injure Lord-level Monsters.

The gear was a bit over the top for the practical assessment, but the family didn't know how strong Xu Ai was, so they were naturally worried about her. Besides, she'd have plenty of chances to use it when she went to the Wilderness Zone to hunt monsters in the future.

As for Xu Xin... well, she really did need a combat suit like this!

"Big Sis Rui, let's go."

Xu Ai picked up her helmet, slid her long sword back into its sheath, then called for Wu Rui to leave.

Wu Rui stared at Xu Ai and Xu Xin, looking a little dazed, then nodded.

"Mm, all right."

When they returned to the Martial Artist Hall, no one thought it strange that Xu Ai and Xu Xin were fully geared up. After all, this was a military camp, and they could be sent to the front lines to exterminate monsters at any time.

"Hey, those fit you pretty well."

Xu Gang looked at the high-tech combat suits Xu Xin and Xu Ai were wearing and nodded in satisfaction.

Jiang Zheng nodded too. "Not bad. Since this is their first time in a real battle, it's good to play it safe."

"Thanks, you two."

"Yeah, Brother Zheng, thanks for going to all that trouble, too."

Xu Ai smiled. The equipment provided by the military for the practical assessment was all basic combat suits and weapons. Jiang Zheng had gone to quite a bit of effort to make sure she could wear this gear during the assessment.

After chatting briefly, Jiang Zheng left to take care of some things.

After all, there were plenty of safety measures that needed to be put in place for the practical assessment.

They rested there for a while. By the time noon arrived, Xu Ai had eaten a nutritious lunch provided by the military in the cafeteria and rested some more. The practical assessment was about to begin.

Heavy container trucks rumbled along the wide road one after another. They were carrying a large group of the weakest H-Class Monsters, which the military had subdued with powerful anesthetic darts, loaded into cages, and transported to Monster Town.

The convoy was long, and trucks entered the town in waves. The number of monsters inside soon reached a staggering total.

"There are 1,736 Quasi-Martial Artists taking part in this practical assessment, so the military has sent in around 2,500 to 3,000 H-Class Monsters. You'll pass comfortably if you kill at least three."

Xu Gang explained this to Xu Xin and Xu Ai.

To pass the practical assessment, they had to kill at least one monster and rank in the top 60% by number of kills. The remaining 40% would fail and have to wait for the next assessment.

Three thousand monsters wasn't that many. With 1,736 people, that came to only about 1.7 monsters per person on average. Some rookies wouldn't manage to kill even one, while the stronger ones would kill more.

The military had deliberately controlled the number so that, to be safe, the Quasi-Martial Artists would have to kill more than three monsters. They couldn't just kill one or two and then hide somewhere, or the assessment wouldn't serve its purpose.

Once all the monsters had been transported and the convoy had returned, an officer climbed onto the roof of a dilapidated three-story building. He explained the assessment rules and precautions, then announced:

"All Quasi-Martial Artists, move out! Enter Monster Town!"

At his words, more than a thousand Quasi-Martial Artists surged quickly into Monster Town. Xu Ai held Xu Xin back at the rear. Once most of the crowd had entered, the two of them bounded into the town. As soon as they were inside, the gates slammed shut with a bang.

"Even if killing three monsters is usually enough to pass, we can't just stop after killing three."

The Luo Feng from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and that guy from the Thunder Dojo had both killed dozens of monsters.

As members of the HR Alliance, it wouldn't be embarrassing for Xu Xin and Xu Ai to lose to talented recruits from the Two Great Dojos. But they had become disciples of Hen Ren, a councilor. It would be humiliating if her disciples couldn't outperform ordinary geniuses from the two dojos!

Especially since they were cheating, in a way—their equipment was far superior to Luo Feng's and the others'.

Exactly how many had those two killed? Sorry, who knows? But fifty should put us in the same ballpark. Or maybe I should just go for a hundred.

Xu Ai thought it over, then looked at Xu Xin.

"Big Sis, let's split up and hunt monsters separately from here."

"This... Wouldn't it be better to stay together?"

Xu Xin had no real experience fighting monsters and was a little dependent on Xu Ai.

"Don't worry. We have specially made combat suits. S-Class combat suits come with shock-absorbing designs, so mere H-Class Monsters can't hurt us."

Xu Ai reassured Xu Xin, then began to fabricate a story.

"Ahem. Master told us to kill a hundred monsters, so we can't stay together."

"Oh..."

Since it was Hen Ren's instruction, Xu Xin had no choice but to agree.

"Remember, there'll be a punishment if you don't kill a hundred monsters!"

"What!?"

The assessment had only just begun, and the monsters were at their most numerous.

Xu Ai and Xu Xin split up, avoiding the crowds as they jogged farther into the town.

Although Xu Ai kept her speed under control, her Intermediate War General-level physique still let her jog far faster than the rookies at Warrior Level. She soon reached the inner part of the town ahead of everyone else.

Compared to the outskirts, where fighting had already broken out, the inner area was much quieter.

Xu Ai soon ran into a group of monsters.

"Two Shadow Cats and three Iron-haired Wild Boars. Now that's a good start."

Monster Town was quite large, so the odds of so many monsters gathering in one place weren't high.

Xu Ai used a hit-and-run strategy, leading them far away. She used their roars to call for more monsters, luring in some from nearby. After waiting a while to make sure no more were coming, she quickly killed them all.

"Fourteen in total. Eighty-six left... Take it slow. There's no rush. There are still more than ten hours until six tomorrow morning."

Xu Ai cut off their left ears, put them in her backpack, and left.

"Who's that girl? Her physical abilities should be at least High-level Warrior level. Her swordsmanship and movement techniques are definitely at the second level, and she's got plenty of combat experience. She's got a good mindset, too. She's nothing like those rookies who throw up the first time they kill a monster."

Zhuge Tao watched Xu Ai fight in amazement. As an investment expert, he definitely had to invest in talent like this!

Beside him, a middle-aged man in military uniform was lying on a sofa.

"She really is good. Let's see... She's from the Xu Family, and she's the one who became a disciple of Ruthless Councilor. You don't stand a chance."

"She's that person's disciple!?"

Zhuge Tao took the middle-aged man's phone in surprise, then couldn't help shaking his head and muttering, "What a shame."

Warriors from Huaxia's prominent families either stayed home to run the family business or joined the military. And there was no need to mention a disciple of Ruthless Councilor—there was no chance she'd switch sides and join the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

Besides, with the Xu Family and Ruthless Councilor backing her, he had no chance of investing in her. That was what he regretted most...

Some time later, the Quasi-Martial Artists who were confident in their abilities, along with rookies who didn't know their own limits, slowly began exploring the inner areas. But overall, there weren't many people around.

While wandering deep in the town, Xu Ai ran into Luo Feng. He was using a group of monsters to hone his Micro Level movement technique and didn't notice Xu Ai searching for monsters from high ground.

Xu Ai didn't bother with him. It was enough that her sister wasn't with Luo Feng.

But she didn't know that Xu Xin appeared soon after she left...

Xu Ai wandered around, using her "weak" strength to lead groups of monsters along and slowly kill them one at a time.

By the time dawn began to break, she had gathered the ears of her hundredth monster.

Having reached her goal, Xu Ai found a room on the second floor and sat inside to pass the time.

Before long, a piercing horn blared throughout Monster Town. The officer who had addressed them the day before immediately called out again: "Time's up! All Quasi-Martial Artists, report to the town exit at once."

At the same time, Monster Town's gates opened once more. A group of military Martial Artists rushed in to treat the wounded Quasi-Martial Artists, collect the bodies of the dead, and hunt down any remaining monsters.

Xu Ai had gone deep into Monster Town, but she was quick on her feet. By the time she came out, only a few other Quasi-Martial Artists had emerged.

"Over here!"

Several soldiers waved to Xu Ai. They were responsible for recording the Quasi-Martial Artists' results.

Xu Ai walked over and dumped the monsters' left ears from her bag into a metal pot.

The officer in charge of the assessment counted them. A moment later, he smiled and said:

"Congratulations. You've got 102 ears, putting you in first place. What's your name?"

She killed two more than she meant to? Did I miscount, or did the soldier get it wrong?

Xu Ai was a little confused, but it didn't matter. She gave him her name.

"Xu Ai."

The officer in charge of registration searched for her in the computer, then entered her results.

"102 monsters. That's a ridiculous number. I bet only children of War Gods and councilors could manage that."

"Not necessarily. Even if they've got powerful parents, nobody knows how much of their strength they'll retain when they're fighting for the first time."

"Either way, 102 is the highest number I've ever heard of. I haven't seen anyone kill that many in any of the previous assessments."

The Quasi-Martial Artists nearby discussed Xu Ai's results, but every one of them kept their distance. Someone like her was far beyond rookies like them.

After her results were recorded, Xu Ai stood off in a corner. Xu Gang and Jiang Zheng weren't there; they were probably still asleep in bed, though they might have been watching from the staging area.

A few more Quasi-Martial Artists came out of Monster Town one after another. Xu Xin was among the later arrivals.

Mm... and she was with Luo Feng...

Xu Ai stared coolly at Luo Feng. She hadn't expected him to steal her sister away!

"Congratulations. Ninety-nine monsters, ranking second."

The officer smiled as he entered Xu Xin's results.

Perhaps inspired by Xu Xin, Luo Feng had killed 57 monsters, putting him in third place!

"Big Sis~"

Xu Ai called sweetly, then...

Right in front of Luo Feng, she picked Xu Xin up and carried her away...

Luo Feng couldn't help feeling that something was off, though at the same time he thought it was probably nothing. "..."

After all the Quasi-Martial Artists had come out, the only ones to emerge were soldiers transporting monsters and the injured or dead.

After some more time, the military had dealt with all the monsters and brought out all the casualties. Once they had tallied the losses, the practical assessment was finally declared over.

"102 monsters and 99 monsters. We took first and second place! Nice work!"

Xu Gang happily patted Xu Xin and Xu Ai on the shoulders.

"You outperformed the talented recruits specially chosen by the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and the Thunder Dojo!"

Especially Luo Feng!

Xu Gang still held a grudge over Xu Ai bringing up Luo Feng out of the blue a month ago...

What's there to compare? We cheated!

Xu Ai smiled helplessly, but still played along. "It's all thanks to this equipment. We wouldn't have gotten such good results without it. Thanks, you two."

"Yeah, thank you."

Xu Xin touched the combat suit she still hadn't taken off. It was covered in white streaks. Clearly, her Micro Level movement technique hadn't done much to help her fight the monsters.

She had probably just forced her way through by brute strength...

Jiang Zheng, standing beside Xu Gang, smiled and said:

"Those are some excellent results. I can't wait for your big brother to take the Quasi-Warrior Assessment so I can really tease him."

"Hey, you can tease me about anything but my pride!"

The joy vanished from Xu Gang's face. He shot his good friend an unhappy look. The thought of losing to his two younger sisters was too humiliating for an older brother!

Jiang Zheng burst out laughing.

Xu Ai looked at the two of them. They were such a perfect match! Then she glanced at Wu Rui and felt a little regretful.

Just as she'd lamented that Wei Wen was a guy, she wished one of Jiang Zheng or Xu Gang were a woman. Then she could give Big Sis Wu Rui to me!

Xu Ai went with Wu Rui to her room and changed back into her regular clothes with Wu Rui's help.

Wu Rui was stunned again during the process...

After eating breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, Xu Ai and the others returned to the hall to rest. Around one or two in the afternoon, the military began handing out Martial Artist Licenses.

With a Martial Artist License, they could enjoy all kinds of Martial Artist privileges. If they joined a major power, they could also get the right to live in a villa and receive some start-up funds.

Of course, to Xu Xin and Xu Ai, the license was just proof of their profession. It didn't do much for them. There was no need to mention a detached villa or start-up funds—the Xu Family would meet Xu Ai's every need.

At five in the afternoon, Wu Rui gave Xu Xin and Xu Ai a big hug. After watching Xu Gang and Jiang Zheng say their reluctant goodbyes (from Xu Ai's perspective), Wu Rui finally let go of them. Then she watched as Xu Gang, Xu Xin, and Xu Ai boarded a train back to Yangzhou City with a group of HR Alliance members.