Chapter 146 The Rank Assessment [3]

"You had to be kidding me!" Unknowingly, I wondered aloud as I saw a massive dragon materialize in front of me.

As who in their right mind would consider a dragon to be an A-Rank creature? For God's sake, it's the motherfucking dragon, and only a dragon's infant may be measured as an A-Rank in the power level.

And I don't think the huge ass dragon in front of me is an infant in any way.

Raawwaarrrgghh!—

It burst forth a loud booming roar, jolting me awake from my stupor.

Ding!—

However, I was interrupted by a sudden system notification sound.

"What is it at such a time?" In an annoyed tone, I summoned it to see what the fuck it wanted now.

[System Alert!]

[Conditions For Using A Slave's Title Effects Have Been Met!]

!?

[Title: The Dragon Slayer!] [Active]

[Belongs to Demoness Irethiel]

(Info: The "Dragon Slayer" Title grants the following benefits:

-Increased damage dealt to dragons.

-Increased resistance to dragon's fire breath.

-Ability to use powerful dragon-slaying spells or abilities.

Abilities able to use currently:

1."Dragon's Fury": A powerful strike that deals extra damage to dragons and has a chance to stun the dragon for a short period of time.

2."Dragon's Bane": A powerful strike that causes the sword to glow with a fiery aura, dealing extra fire damage to the dragon and reducing its resistance to fire, sometimes breaking the dragon's scales.)

***

While Ares was checking the system's notification, the dragon suddenly launched an attack.

—Swish

With a swift swing of its tail, the dragon hit Ares in his gut, sending him flying into the wall and leaving a gaping hole in it.

—THUD

"Urgg"

Blood spilled from his mouth and a wound on his stomach, staining his white clothing and the surrounding ground.

—Splurttt

—Cough— Cough

Ares coughed up blood as he tumbled to the ground, but he grinned smugly as he leaped up to his feet.

"Ha-haha, you Dragon bastard, you're so fucked now!" He said with a grin, wiping the blood from his lips, while his other injuries were slowly healing due to his regeneration ability.

The dragon disregarded his remarks and spat fire at him, but this time Ares reacted quickly.

He held his sword in front of him, creating a mana barrier around himself which he learned watching Tania's tutorials, and intercepted the dragon's fire breath.

Seeing that, the dragon let out a deafening roar as it swung its tail again at him.

But Ares with a swift dodge avoided the attack and retaliated with a torrent of shurikens launched using his telekinesis at the dragon while still erecting a mana barrier around himself to deflect the dragon's fire breath.

He was able to sense the effects of the Dragon Slayer title as he appeared almost resistant to the dragon's fire breath.

He used the shurikens to inflict critical damage on the dragon's weak points, notably its wings.

However, the dragon was a tough foe. It retaliated by flapping its massive wings, causing huge gusts of wind in an attempt to blow Ares off balance.

—flap—flap

Ares kept his footing by digging his sword into the ground and using telekinesis to briefly delay the dragon.

—Whoosh

Unfortunately, the dragon rapidly escaped Ares' telekinesis and attempted to crush him with its massive weight.

But Ares instantly utilized his "Location Swap" skill to evade the attack and swapped places with one of his shurikens floating above the dragon's head, preparing to strike from behind.

With the dragon momentarily surprised, Ares struck the dragon with all his might using the skill "Dragon's Fury", his sword engulfed in a fire-like aura.

—SHINK

Though the wound was not severe enough to kill the dragon, but the effects of the skill came into play as the dragon appeared to be stunned as a result of the skill.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ares used the other skill "Dragon's Bane," his sword now engulfed in a more fierce blazing aura, striking the dragon with a devastating blow.

"Yahhhh!"

—SWHICK

The sword immediately thrust deep, breaking the dragon's scales and causing the dragon to roar in agony as it fell to the ground.

—Raaawwrrrrghhhh

Without wasting any more time, Ares then used his ultimate skill "Atomic Slash".

—Swoosh—Swoosh—Swoosh

Several orange slash lines could be seen on the dragon's neck before its whole head was chopped into several pieces and disintegrated into particles, indicating the end of the final round.

With the dragon defeated, Ares knelt on one knee, panting and supporting himself with a half-shattered sword.

The ground around him was littered with debris, and the smell of burnt scales filled the air.

He had emerged victorious, but the battle had been intense and grueling, leaving him with wounds that would have taken time to heal without advanced potions, outside this virtual world.

Beep!

[Round 6 Ended: The A-Rank Monster Have Been Defeated!]

[Verifying the Assessment Results. Please Wait!]

I once again heard the robotic voice before I was instantly teleported back to the white room.

Tic—

"Fuuu" I took a moment to take a breather before leaving the room shortly after the door opened.

...

...

As I walked out of the room, I was met with the manager and Howkins' shocked expressions.

"Of course, they'd be shocked; even I would have been surprised to see someone my age slay a dragon," I muttered to myself.

Even though the assessment's difficulty was lessened, I wouldn't have been able to defeat it without the buffs provided by Irethiel's Dragon Slayer Title.

I didn't want to use my element, electricity, to hide my identity, but unfortunately, I was forced to use my skills Location Swap and Atomic Slash.

Although I also used my skill Location Swap in the gladiator battleground, but there will be people with the same skills as me, so no one can deduce my identity with that skill alone.

However, now that I am on Jessica's radar, if she has any doubts, she will be able to figure out that it was me when she sees the evaluation and investigates the Prince's identity.

'Well, there is no point thinking about it now, and it will be too late by the time she figures it out, as I will have returned from the abandoned kingdom by then,' I reasoned.

"Why the fuck are you still staring at me as if I am a celebrity? Just give me my fucking adventurer license already," I said in an irritated tone.

"O-Oh, I-I'm really sorry to inform you, sir Marz, b-but there will be a slight delay for you to get your adventurer license," The manager said, sweating.

"Huh, The fuck you said? You want to die is that it?" I asked, furrowing my brows and speaking in Mika's customary flat tone with a blank expression.

"Ermn Boss, I think you should check your assessment results first," The dumbass Howkins said, quickly pointing me toward the screen where my name and rank were mentioned.

As I looked at the screen for a moment, I was left dumbfounded.

!?

[Name: Marz.

Assessment Results: S-Rank]

"...How did that happen?" I asked the manager perplexed, while still staring at the assessment screen.

"...."

"T-The dragon you fought was supposed to be defeated by a group. But seeing how you easily defeated all the previous rank monsters, the program seems to have given you a dragon as an A-Rank test to properly estimate your full extent of strength.

And even if you hadn't defeated the dragon, your assessment would still have been based on your performance and you would have still gotten an A-Rank.

But to its surprise, you were able to solo the dragon, which led to it giving you an S-Rank evaluation," the manager explained.

"...."

Upon hearing his explanation, I was left speechless.

The manager continued to explain that my performance was exceptional and that it was a rare occurrence for someone to achieve an S-Rank in the assessment and blah blah... but I wasn't in the mood to hear him.

'...Fuck, now this is bad. This defeats the purpose of me concealing my identity,' I reasoned.

I was concerned about the attention this might attract. My plan to keep my identity hidden while visiting the abandoned kingdom will be ruined and I didn't want to be discovered by Jessica just yet.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

"I-I know you're afraid about grabbing everyone's attention, Sir Marz. But don't worry, Miss Silvia already informed me that you dislike attracting attention and like to keep your skills hidden, so we will do our best to keep your fight recording confidential so that no one knows about your abilities.

However, your rank will be revealed since we lack the authority to conceal it," The manager stated.

"...."

"Hmm?"

I was taken aback when I heard him, and much more so by Silvia's arrangements. As if she were expecting something like this.

Furthermore, the manager assured me that the results would be considered secret and that only a selected few would have access to them.

He also added that the delay in receiving my adventurer license was due to higher-ups from the Adventurer Association reviewing the results and ensuring that everything was in line.

"All's Well That Ends Well, I think," I mumbled.

'While Jessica will be one of the few people who have access to my profile, I doubt she'll be able to read it all the way through because Adventurer and Hero's associations are normally at odds...,' I presumed.

***