Chapter 45: Proof of Growth I

  “We need money. Lot’s of it.” Kou said and looked around the kitchen to the rest of the clan. “We need money to set up the clan and we need money to improve our equipment. To be honest, we are using trash for the most part.” Kou’s judgment was swift and sadly correct, Marcus thought. Forget enchanted gear, besides Marcus they all wore base level light armor. The only weapon they had that was outstanding was Achara’s black blade.

  If they wanted to play in the bigger leagues they had to get better gear. “What is the best way to earn money quickly?” Janette asked, as if she was not filthy rich. Some time ago, she had shown Marcus her bank balance and he needed a moment to count all the zeros, but that money was off limits. Things needed to be earned to have value, they both agreed on that.

  “In our current situation I would say monster hunting for parts. IF we can get a good contract that is. There are a lot of bad faith contracts out there and the better paid jobs are deadly dangerous. So we have to be careful. I will look around for an opportunity.” Kou said, already making mental notes and working on his phone. Nobody had objections and Marcus was happy Kou was taking care of all these technical problems. As they got up from the table a “Stop. Sit down.” put Marcus and Janette back into their place. Achara wasn’t done yet, “We need to decide where we are going to place our HQ. At least the region or country needs to be decided so we can start looking for a suitable place.” Janette moaned but Marcus knew Achara was right.

  They discussed various options but it came down to “Either something in Europe or Japan.”, Marcus said. “Japan would be much closer to your families and Kou speaks the language.” Janette said who did not care where they went unless it was too cold. No more Finland for her.

  “I’m against it. Not for a beginner clan like us. It is expensive and in the influence of the Chinese Block. Besides I may speak the language but you all do not, I think Europe is a far better option. Money, connections, English is viable nearly everywhere and good laws.” Kou quickly countered and the rest agreed. They did not manage to come to a final decision but agreed it should have nice weather.

  Finally they were allowed to flee the table and Marcus wanted to work out in the training room. Since the meeting with Kim, he had been working on the fundamentals of Impulse Hammer. It was a slow process, one that forced Marcus to relearn and undo some of his habits. He knew that if he ever wanted to reach the heights of Kim he needed to master his basics. When exactly he had started to think about reaching such a level, he did not know but it was a nice long term goal, Marcus found. He had created a new spreadsheet on his laptop for various attack forms for Impulse Hammer. Besides the large scale “blunt” strike he wanted to build up a proper “cut” like attack and a “piercing” strike too. The cut, he had used before in battle, but there was a lot of space for improvement.

  Two days later, Marcus, Achara and Janette were in the training room and Kou announced that he had found a good candidate “It is a company with a seat in Hong Kong, “Rozman and Derling”. They are a big name in the monster parts business and I got us a date for a try out.”. “Try outs?” Janette asked while doing handstand push-ups to improve her body balance. Like so often when she trained, she only wore a top and hot pants. Her skin was glistening with sweat and drops of sweat were running down her body, dripping on the floor. Kou was somewhat distracted by the view but he quickly refocused “Yes, because we are low level and unproven, we have to do a basic try out. It is mandatory because of the insurance of the company. But anyway, two days from now we have a date and if we succeed we can do at least the low level jobs they offer.” Kou said and purposefully looked somewhere else than Janette.

  After Kou and Achara were gone Janette came back to her feet and walked over to Marcus who still trained his new striking motions and timings. She watched him for a bit and he stopped as she obviously wanted to say something. “No jokes. How attractive am I to a man?” She asked with a straight face. He looked at her “Enough to get Kou into trouble with Achara.”. Janette sat down for a while and wiped her sweat away. “Too bad, I can’t ask you the same question.” Marcus said and sat down right next to her.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “You mean two hot girls sleeping with you after knowing you for a minute doesn’t give you a clue?” Janette said but Marcus fired back “And a woman like Cherry marrying you doesn’t give you an idea?”. She laughed “Sounds like we are sandbagging hard but I get it.” she paused for a minute. “It is hard to think of yourself as attractive no matter what others say.” She pulled out her phone from her nearby bag and a moment later presented a picture. It showed a slightly chubby teenage girl with long black dyed hair and far too much make up on her face. Marcus looked at it for a while and grabbed his own phone. He showed her a picture of a thin boy with a too big head and no muscles or signs of masculinity. “How old were you?” she asked. “That was shortly before I got my class. But in my head this is still how I look.” Marcus said and took back the phone.

  After a long silence Janette spoke up “Marcus, since you came back from your first expedition you are far more confident. That, plus your buff body is going to make a lot of girls want to have sex with you. I’m not going to tell you what to do but if you are not careful you can end up as a slut.” Marcus listened but did not know what to say. “I will hit the showers.” Janette said and left Marcus with his thoughts behind. Marcus knew she did not mean he was a “slut” right now, she actually encouraged him to make experiences. But down the road… the thought of a lot of pretty girls wanting to sleep with him was actually exciting. Could he end up being one of those player types, sleeping with another girl every night? This was definitely not what he wanted. Did something like this happen to Janette? Marcus followed the train of thought until his cold sweat made him uncomfortable. He got up and went to the showers, to wash the heavy thoughts away.

  Two days sound like a lot but if you count in travel time and preparation it was just around the corner. The team was together with a few dozen other people in a large training facility from Rozman and Derling. Marcus felt a bit naked without his armor on but the information letter said they would get equipment as needed. “There are a lot more people here than I expected.” Achara said who also had some basic training clothes on. “We might have to get good marks to get accepted if there are so many low level applicants.” Kou said and Marcus looked around the room and saw a lot of strong looking people.

  A sharp looking man in light armor stepped in front of the group and welcomed everybody. “I’m Gunther Walthers and in charge of today’s try outs. The process is simple. We have three categories, tanker, damage dealer and support, choose the one that fits you and draw a number from the correct line. Once you are called, you will enter the test area and the rest will be explained then. Because of the high interest we will no be able to accept everybody even if you pass the basic level. It will come down to your performance, so everybody give your best.” The man finished and walked off without another word.

  They wished each other luck and the team split up. Marcus made his way to the very short tanker line. He insert the ID badge he got before and a number appeared on a small screen together with a small paper with the same number. Marcus waited and his heart rate started to increase with every minute. Eventually his number appeared on a screen above the door and he moved in. A short corridor led to a large empty room. The room was two floors high and there was a row of one way windows on the second floor.

  The only other person here was a tall man in training armor, armed with a sword and a shield. A man’s voice came from a hidden speaker: “Mister Freimann, thank you for coming today. Your task is to stay standing for two minutes. You can choose equipment from the side racks. If you are ready tell your opponent and the time will start.” Marcus turned and saw a row of equipment shelves appear from the ground. Fancy he thought and picked the heaviest armor and put it on.

  Satisfied with his choice he went to face his opponent but a question was on his mind and he turned to the windows “Am I aloud to fight back?” the disembodied voice answered quickly. “Of course but it is not needed to pass the test as a tanker. This is an endurance test.” Marcus nodded and faced the other man who took his position too “No weapon?” the man asked but Marcus took his stance making it clear he intended to fight unarmed. A two minute countdown appeared on the wall and started ticking.

  “Look at that. A low level Fighter who fights without a weapon. Charles will tear him apart, he hates to be underestimated.” David said to Angelique who held a tablet with the information of the applicants. The woman looked up and raised her eyebrows but did not say anything. The two sat in the observer area and watched the fight through the windows and several monitors connected to cameras in the walls.

  Charles did not hesitate and dashed forward using his shield as a ram and his Lancer ability to produce a large amount of momentum. David could see that he had been right, Charles was unhappy and intended to finish this quickly. The Lancer collided with the Fighter in a heavy impact but to the surprise of Charles, David and Angelique it was Charles who bounced back and nearly lost his footing. The Fighter quickly advanced and threw a wide hook which Charles easily parried with his shield. A moment later Charles was on the ground and without a shield. David was on his feet trying to understand what just happened “Charles are you okay?”. Charles was moving on the ground and over the com came his pressed voice “My arm is broken.”. David stared at the Fighter who tried to help his opponent up and gave the woman next to himself a look. Angelique taped the speaker button “Mr. Freimann you pass. You can now return to the waiting area.”