Chapter 169 – Test By Combat.

“Have a nice day, Mr. Edmund!”

A child holding a broom bowed to Rusty as he stepped out of his lair. It was the older of the two girls who were currently living in his house. Her expression carried a rare smile, although it still looked a bit awkward. The girl standing beside her, however, wore a much more genuine one.

“Day day.”

“(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)”

“Natia, Mr. Edmund, and Gleam need to leave now.”

“But I don’t want Gleam to leave!”

“(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)”

The little girl was playing with Gleam outside the house while the older girl continued sweeping. Rusty had informed them that he was taking an adventurer guild quest today. Although the kids were curious about what he did, they still acted awkward whenever they interacted with him. After all, Rusty was still a living armor monster trying to blend in.

This was a good opportunity for him to learn how to interact with humanoids, but things didn’t always go smoothly. Fortunately, Gleam often served as a helpful icebreaker, although the youngest girl could sometimes be overly clingy.

“Stop causing trouble, you’re a big girl now!”

After peeling Ria off Gleam, Rusty was finally allowed to leave and check how well he had done on the exams. Even though he had been given all the answers by Aburdon and Alexander, he still couldn’t be sure he had passed. The two guides were smart, far smarter than him, but that didn’t guarantee they hadn’t made mistakes.

‘Bothersome children. Why are we still keeping them around?’

Aburdon complained as they left their current home.

‘We’ve already discussed this. Having people who can vouch for Rusty helps maintain his hidden identity. No one would expect a monster to be helping orphans.’

Alexander replied, though Aburdon still didn’t agree with the idea. To him, the better option was to leave this land entirely and travel to regions populated by demons. In his mind, the goal was simple: keep killing monsters, grow stronger through natural combat, and eventually dominate the world with unmatched power.

Rusty wasn’t entirely opposed to that plan, but he preferred a more balanced approach. By becoming an adventurer and using the dungeons to level up, he could grow stronger in a safer, more controlled environment. His body relied on metal, weapons, and mastering the art of craftsmanship, something humans excelled at.

As he was leaving, Rusty noticed Rolo leaning against the wall. The young thief gave him a nod, as if trying to imply something. It looked like the boy wanted to say something, but as Rusty passed him, no words were spoken. Rusty didn’t stop to ask. He was too focused on moving forward with his plan. Once he became a D-rank adventurer, many opportunities in the city would become available to him.

“Did you get in?”

“No…”

“Haha, I knew you were too stupid to pass the test!”

“S-shut up!”

When Rusty arrived at the guild, there was a commotion outside. A crowd had gathered around a small board displaying a list of names. Many of the people surrounding it were adventurers he vaguely recognized from the previous day’s test. Judging by the number of disappointed expressions and slumped shoulders, it seemed that more than half had failed the written exam and were returning in defeat.

Rusty paused for a moment before stepping up to the wooden board. The paper looked cheap, and there were exactly ten names listed before him. He scanned them quickly, and to his surprise, his name was right at the top, written in a noticeably thicker font.

“What does that mean?”

He asked, careful not to point at it.

“It means you had the top score, Rusty.”

Alexander replied without hesitation, then as soon as he finished speaking, both of them heard Aburdon’s cackling echo around them.

“What did I say? You should be thankful to this demon lord! Without my great ability, this could never happen. Are you thankful? I’m sure you are!”

Rusty didn’t respond, but he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was somewhat confident in his combat skills, but when it came to knowledge about this world, he still relied heavily on his two guides.

“This isn’t the end of the test. Look at the paper. It says we need to go to the training grounds to begin the second part.”

Alexander said, cutting off Aburdon’s moment of gloating as he pointed to the next instruction. The notice outlined the final stage of the D-rank exam: a combat trial against a guild member. Rusty wondered who his opponent would be. He had never faced a D-rank adventurer before. Most people might have felt nervous or intimidated, but he felt only anticipation. After his recent transformation, he had yet to test his new abilities against a worthy opponent. This was the perfect chance to measure his strength against experienced fighters.

“It’s a shame I won’t be able to use all of my power, but this should still be interesting.”

The body he now inhabited resembled the armor worn by seasoned adventurers and was crafted from enchanted twilight steel. He had access to several powerful abilities tied to twilight and the darkness element, which could weaken living beings. However, using those powers against adventurers was out of the question. They were among his most valuable trump cards and best kept hidden for now. He had already revealed them once during the fight with the mercenaries, and using them again would only draw unwanted attention. He couldn’t afford that, at least not until he became stronger, possibly not until he reached C-rank.

‘It seems we have a few hours to get ready.’

After making sure that he got the correct time, he waited at the edge of the training grounds, near a shaded section beside the guild wall. The space was large and flat, covered in short grass and surrounded by wooden fencing, clearly reinforced with enchantments. In the center, a series of wooden dummies and old weapon racks stood ready.

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Since he was a monster that did not need to eat, sleep, or take enjoyment in humanoid hobbies, he simply chose to remain there for the next two hours. He used the time to examine the grounds where they were supposedly going to hunt. Eventually, spectators began to arrive, followed by some of the guild staff. The staff removed several of the dummies to clear space for the makeshift arena that would be set up in the center.

He remembered the guild in the other city, the one that had a separate section for events like this. It was clear that this place was in desperate need of new equipment. That partly explained the high costs of taking the exams and why they were so difficult to pass. However, it still didn’t explain where the money went from all the adventurers, since the training ground didn’t appear to have been improved in a long time.

This place was meant to be a training ground for younger adventurers and a space to work up a sweat. Yet the training dummies were falling apart, and most of the practice weapons were in poor condition. There seemed to be either a serious lack of funding or something more troubling happening behind the scenes.