Enslaved by the Crown: The Weakest Slave Has the Strongest Ability

Eldrin returned to the bureau a few days later, this time with a more specific idea of what he wanted.

The first retrieval had taught him that he could make money outside the estate, but it had also shown him the limitation of taking whatever happened to be pinned highest on the board. Ten silver had been good. The problem was that he couldn’t rely on a difficult retrieval appearing whenever he needed one.

Monster work was different.

There was always demand for it.

More importantly, creatures with mana could sometimes be processed for their usable materials. Even the mana left behind by a magical beast had value, depending on its rank and condition.

That made the work much more appealing.

He waited until the woman behind the counter finished with another applicant before approaching.

"I’d like to apply for monster requests."

She glanced at him, then toward the registration ring on his finger.

"Have you done them before?"

"No."

That earned him a longer look.

"Then you’ll need an assessment."

Eldrin had expected something like that after reading the regulations he’d found in the library.

"How much?"

"Six silver."

His hand went to his pouch automatically.

Six.

He hated spending the money, but there was no point saving ten silver if earning the next ten would take another month.

He counted the coins onto the counter.

The woman swept them aside and reached for another ring.

"This is the assessment band."

Eldrin stared at it.

The woman pressed a small crystal on its surface, then held out her hand.

"Give me your registration band for a moment."

Eldrin handed it over.

She touched the two crystals together. A faint pulse of light passed between them.

"All right. Follow the examiner through the second door."

Eldrin glanced toward the room.

"How long does it take?"

"Depends on you."

There was the faintest trace of amusement in her voice.

"Try not to break anything. We bill for that."

Eldrin gave her a suspicious look, but headed inside.

The testing room was more practical than impressive. Reinforced equipment occupied most of the floor, and a narrow running course had been marked out along one wall.

An examiner waited beside the first apparatus.

"You paying for the monster clearance?"

Eldrin nodded.

"Then we’ll see what you’re capable of."

The assessment began immediately.

He was asked to strike a reinforced target with full force.

Then sprint the marked course, changing direction sharply whenever the signal changed. Another machine measured how long he could maintain physical exertion before his performance dropped. A final sequence tested his reaction speed by sending weighted objects toward him at irregular intervals.

By the end, Eldrin was breathing hard.

The examiner entered the results into the assessment band.

Numbers appeared above it.

Strength — 31 ROOK.

Agility — 42 -HUNTER 2ND CLASS

Endurance — 35 -ROOK

Attack Force — 34- ROOK

Reaction — 46 -HUNTER 2ND CLASS

OVERALL: ROOK

Eldrin stared at the display.

"So these are my current measurements?"

"For this assessment."

The examiner adjusted the band.

"They’re useful for classification, not a declaration of how strong a person is in every situation."

That distinction was enough for Eldrin.

He understood.

The assessment results remained suspended above the ring while Eldrin studied them.

His overall classification was simple.

Rook.

The lowest recognized hunter rank.

He wasn’t surprised.

If anything, he had expected worse.

His strength and endurance were still far behind what was required of experienced hunters, and his attack force was nothing impressive. Years of training had kept him from being physically helpless, but it hadn’t turned him into a warrior.

Then his eyes moved to the two figures that stood apart from the others.

Agility — Hunter Second Class

Reaction — Hunter Second Class

Eldrin stared at them for a moment.

At least those were something.

The months of training, the sparring with Ender, and the constant effort to move before his opponent’s attacks connected had finally shown up somewhere.

He was fast.

A person wasn’t simply given one rank for everything they could do. Someone might possess the strength of a Rook while having the reactions of a much higher-class hunter. Another person might be the opposite.

Eldrin understood why.

A strong body didn’t automatically make someone a good fighter.

And being quick didn’t mean you could overpower your opponent.

He looked farther down the ranking chart.

Rook.

Hunter Second Class.

Hunter First Class.

Hunter Master Class.

Then the names continued upward, eventually reaching ranks that sounded more appropriate for monsters than ordinary people.

Warrior.

Warrior Senior.

Grand Warrior.

Grandmaster Warrior.

And beyond them were levels Eldrin couldn’t even imagine himself reaching yet.

He slowly exhaled.

I’ve got a long way to go.

The realization didn’t discourage him.

If anything, it gave him something concrete to work toward.

He didn’t need to reach the top today.

He only needed to stop being the weakest person in the room.

Eldrin curled his fingers around the ring.

"And when can I be tested again?" Eldrin asked.

"Six months."

The examiner finished recording the result.

"You can improve on your own before then. We only restrict how often we officially update the assessment."

Eldrin glanced toward the final page of the classification.

"Which requests am I allowed to take?"

The examiner looked over the numbers one more time.

"Lower-ranked creatures."

A short list appeared.

Fang Rank.

Claw Rank.

Eldrin read them carefully.

"What comes after Claw?"

"Beast King."

"And above that?"

The examiner gave him a flat look.

"You don’t need to worry about those yet."

Eldrin smiled.

He wasn’t expecting to hunt a Beast King anytime soon.

What mattered was that he now had a way to earn money that could scale with his strength.

He looked down at the two rings on his fingers.

One recorded his work.

The other recorded what his body could currently do..

That suited him perfectly.

Eldrin returned to the request hall and walked toward the monster board.

The request was worth four silver.

Eldrin stood before the board for a moment, reading the details twice before finally removing the notice.

It wasn’t a difficult contract on paper. A magical beast had been sighted repeatedly around the outskirts of Solmere, and several farmers had already reported missing livestock. The bureau wanted the creature eliminated and proof of the kill brought back.

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