"Hey, hey, little brother, wake up! If you don't go now, it'll be too late! The class qualification trial is almost over!"
Jiang Jie had been sleeping soundly, dreaming that he was performing Water Walking across the sea, covering three thousand meters in one go. Then the world suddenly shook, and he accidentally fell into the sea and choked awake on seawater.
He opened his eyes to the little maid's anxious face.
"All right, all right, I'll go take the trial now. There's still time, isn't there?" The little maid pulled Jiang Jie out of bed, then dragged him off toward the trial grounds.
Though he really wanted to say, I'd definitely be faster running on my own...
At that very moment, Baron Soroson had already been waiting for a long time!
When he had first learned that the fellow named Nicholas was still alive, he had simply sent someone to poison him and thought nothing more of it. But he had actually seen him alive that morning. How could that be allowed?
He wasn't afraid, but if that fellow revealed that he had spread the plague, it would inevitably cause him some trouble. So he had made up his mind: once the fellow arrived and failed the trial, he would have him executed for offending a noble, even if it meant offending Prince Arthas!
Or should he kill him the moment he saw him?
No. There were so many people watching the spectacle now, especially one noble he utterly despised who had also come to watch. There were also plenty of recruitment officers of considerable standing looking on. He couldn't act directly; he still had to consider the repercussions!
But he had already waited for several hours, coming here right after lunch, and that damned fellow still hadn't shown up! Had he simply given up?
That was possible!
He was dead either way, so what else could he do but give up? Take the class trial? What a joke! With that physique, he certainly wouldn't pass!
The trial would end in another half hour.
Those waiting for a spectacle were all disappointed, because they were going to miss a fine show of a noble bullying a commoner.
"Speaking of which, didn't that Nicholas say he'd come back this afternoon to take the trial? Why isn't he here yet?"
"He was just bluffing! He talked big and ran away. With Prince Arthas protecting him, Baron Soroson wouldn't dare do anything to him."
"I heard Prince Arthas has already left for Hearthglen. Without anyone protecting him, that Nicholas probably won't live much longer."
Discussions buzzed all around.
Suddenly!
Someone sharp-eyed spotted two figures racing over from the distance and hurriedly shouted, "Look! That fellow's here!"
Jiang Jie had arrived.
He swore that even a hundred years later, he would remember this run beneath the setting sun as the beginning of a lifetime of effortless flexing!
Without a flushed face, labored breath, or racing heart, Jiang Jie was dragged into the center of the trial grounds by the little maid, who was already red-faced and bent double, gasping for air.
"All right, take a breather. I'll go take the class trial now!" Jiang Jie waved at the crowd. "Make way, everyone, make way! Don't get in the way of my performance! Otherwise, if I can't perform at a hundred percent, you'll have to let me try again!"
The chorus of boos carried disappointment, and many people shook their heads, convinced that this reckless little fellow who had offended Baron Soroson would meet a miserable death today!
Jiang Jie walked up to the examiner and gave his name.
"Nicholas Jiang, is it? Strange surname. Never heard it before. All right, I don't need to explain the rules, do I? Get started." The examiner was a middle-aged rogue in his early thirties, the sort who looked like a rogue at a glance, complete with shifty eyes and a short stature.
Jiang Jie nodded, walked over to inspect the channel, then suddenly gave a puzzled murmur. He walked back with a confused expression. "Sir, why aren't there any planks over the last thirty meters?"
"Oh," the examiner said mildly. "You came a little late. We're getting ready to leave, so we just put away the last few planks."
Put them away...
Jiang Jie was speechless. He hurriedly asked whether they could put them back. This would affect his chances of getting full marks!
The spectators stared wide-eyed, all struck speechless.
Because no one had ever completed the full hundred meters! Even many full-fledged rogues couldn't cover a hundred meters! Lordaeron's record seemed to be eighty meters. They had heard that Stormwind City had produced a few geniuses, people named "Mathias Shaw" and "Edwin VanCleef," who had once reached ninety meters, but even they hadn't completed a hundred!
A hundred meters?
Ha, that was an utterly impossible goal! There wasn't a single plank over the last ten meters. Who could run across that?
Water Walking? Ha, sorry, that was simply impossible for an apprentice rogue!
"Get through twenty meters first, or you won't live to see tomorrow's sun!" Baron Soroson sneered, finally baring his fangs.
He intended to kill Jiang Jie and was ready at any moment to do so on the charge of offending a noble!
"Heh!" Jiang Jie couldn't be bothered with him, because the examiner was already urging him on, declaring that he would leave if Jiang Jie didn't begin the trial now.
Jiang Jie walked to the starting point and looked at the planks floating on the water.
The planks were secured with ropes, with large stones tied beneath them to keep them from drifting.
At the beginning, there was a palm-sized plank roughly every three meters. Then they grew smaller and farther apart, until beyond sixty meters, there was only one plank every six or seven meters, each barely half the size of a palm!
It really was difficult. Apparently, the best result that day was sixty meters, achieved by a talented young man who was now standing beside the examiner. Because of his outstanding result, he had been accepted early into the Lordaeron Royal Assassins as a trainee assassin.
The Lordaeron Royal Assassins!
Though they couldn't compare to the Stormwind City Assassins, officially named "SI:7," they were no minor organization either. At the very least, ordinary nobles wouldn't dare provoke them, because the commander of the Lordaeron Royal Assassins was personally appointed by His Majesty the king and reported directly to him, and was also a follower of His Highness Prince Arthas!
The young man was very proud, his head held high.
In truth, he had every right to be proud, because his trial result ranked third in the past ten years. If he didn't die young, he would have little trouble becoming a high-ranking assassin. His future was boundless!
"Then I'll begin!"
Under everyone's watchful gaze, Jiang Jie charged straight onto the water!
His steps were light, his qi lifted him into a leap; he chased the waves and trod the water without a trace!
Jiang Jie touched down lightly with his toes, like a dragonfly skimming the water. With a gentle tap on the first plank, he easily leaped onto the second plank three meters away. The first plank merely trembled slightly, without stirring up waves as it had for the previous trial takers!
This display was effortless and fluid, as natural as brush strokes in an ink painting, instantly stunning everyone!
The examiner, who had thought little of him before, instantly narrowed his shifty eyes to slits and thought, If I took this trial myself, I probably couldn't do that well, could I?
How had he done it?