Eileen seemed completely oblivious to the volcanic reactions erupting around her, calmly retracting her hand.
The faint magical aura on her equipment also dimmed accordingly, but the shock was deeply etched in everyone’s mind.
Her voice beneath the mask remained even: “Just some conveniences provided by a few families. Now, can we proceed with the evaluation? We’re pressed for time.”
“Of course! Of course!” Catherine immediately responded, her mind brimming with questions, but her movements never faltered.
She quickly guided the four of them to a relatively isolated area on the side of the hall.
There stood several cylindrical stone targets engraved with reinforcement runes. Next to them was a massive crystal panel covered with complex scales—and Catherine put on a monocle-type device: the Combat Power Tester.
“Please attack the targets in order. The device will give a rough combat power evaluation based on factors like strength, speed, and energy intensity. This is a crucial reference for adventurer ranking,” Catherine explained, glancing over the old targets. She added, “These old guys have been in service a while, but their accuracy is still reliable.”
Eileen glanced at the targets without a hint of emotion, especially the one that was crooked. Then she turned her head and quickly whispered in a voice only audible to the three beside her, “Remember, control your power, Lilysa, Helga—especially you two. We’re disguised as fresh novice adventurers. If anyone finds out you used to be members of an S-Rank team, we’re done for! Rita, you start first!”
Even though the Rainbow Bonds had disbanded, their reputation as the kingdom’s top S-Rank adventurer team still rang loud. Avoiding recognition would be difficult.
Rita nodded and stepped forward first.
With solemn prayers, golden light from her holy staff landed on the target. Indeed, healing-type classes also had strength tests—it measured healing output, not damage!
Buzz… The light patterns on Catherine’s Combat Power Testing monocle fluctuated, finally settling on a number: 2876.
“Priest Rita, combat power evaluation: 2876. Around C-Rank level,” Catherine announced aloud with ease.
The number was reasonable for a well-equipped but not especially powerful priest.
Next was Lilysa.
She walked calmly to the target, flexing her wrist.
She took a deep breath, clenched her fist tightly, pulled her arm back as if ready to throw all her strength into one punch.
Catherine and the surrounding adventurers holding their breath craned their necks, eager to see what kind of result this dazzlingly equipped girl could produce.
“Hah!” Lilysa let out a clear, sharp shout, her pink fist cutting through the air as she slammed it hard against the most worn-out, crooked target.
“Boom—!!!”
A deafening explosion! Not the dull thud of fist meeting stone, but the terrifying roar of a boulder tumbling down a cliff and smashing into the ground!
The entire guild hall seemed to tremble! Dust rained down from the ceiling.
Everyone stared in shock. The battered old target, along with a small reinforced patch of floor beneath it, had completely vanished!
All that remained was an irregular shallow crater and choking dust filling the air! Shattered stone shards shot out like buckshot in all directions, rattling nearby tables and walls, drawing gasps and curses.
Meanwhile, Catherine’s eyes widened in disbelief. The combat power test device’s numbers spiraled upward wildly, flickering and flashing until, in a blinding white light, it froze on a terrifying figure that momentarily crashed her mind:
“888888!”
Six crimson “8”s, like the devil’s sinister grin, burned into the monocle.
Catherine’s stunned voice immediately silenced all noise.
Dead silence!
Absolute dead silence!
Time seemed to freeze. Every sound vanished.
Adventurers stood with mouths agape, eyes bulging, as if collectively petrified.
A staff member quietly raised an objection.
“Miss Catherine, are you sure you’re seeing this correctly?”
“Could the tester be malfunctioning?”
One punch… shattering the reinforced testing target… and registering nearly 900,000 combat power?! What does that even mean?! Even the legendary dragon-slaying heroes wouldn’t reach this! No, this defied human understanding!
Catherine’s smile shattered completely. A primal terror toward absolute power welled up within her. Even the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Race unleashed at full strength wouldn’t come close! But this looked like a casual punch!
This little girl… is she an ancient dragon disguised in human skin?! Her disguise was nearly failing. Her fingertips chilled, and her body involuntarily wanted to step back.
“Lilysa!” Eileen’s low shout broke the suffocating silence, her voice tinged with urgency.
She darted forward in a single step, grabbing Lilysa’s shoulder, who was still swinging her wrist, seemingly satisfied with the result. Pulling her back, Eileen then turned sharply to Catherine and the stunned crowd.
“Sorry! Truly sorry!” Eileen’s voice came through her mask, filled with both frustration and embarrassment. “This… this target! It’s definitely malfunctioning! How can that number be possible?!”
She pointed to the still-flashing 888888, then to the horrifying crater and swirling dust on the floor. “It must be years of neglect! The internal structure is long rotten! Look, it was crooked to begin with! Has it really not been replaced in decades?!”
Eileen’s rapid-fire words were frantic in her eagerness to disavow responsibility, making her seem unusually genuine.
Catherine was momentarily stunned by the barrage of questions, but Eileen’s words were a lifeline, pulling her back from the abyss of fear toward the unknown.
Right! Malfunction! It had to be malfunction! How could a human, and a little girl at that, possess such power? Ridiculous!
It must be that ancient, decades-old junk of a target whose runes had long since collapsed inside!
She immediately nodded vigorously, forcing a shaken expression. “Yes! Yes! That’s it! Oh God, you scared me! That broken target should’ve been replaced ages ago! How many false alarms has it caused? Are the maintenance guys even doing their jobs?!”
She vented loudly, masking her own loss of composure, then barked at a still-shaken guild staff member beside her: “What are you standing there for? Clear out this dangerous junk! Replace it with brand new ones! Top-tier testing targets! Immediately! Now!”
The staff snapped out of their daze and scrambled toward the back room.
The adventurers in the hall seemed convinced by this “reasonable” explanation. The tense atmosphere relaxed, replaced by laughter and lively chatter.
“Damn, you really scared me! Turns out the target was broken!”
“Told you, there’s no way a little girl could…”
“The guild is too stingy, still using such antiques. Nearly caused a death!”
“But that noise just now was seriously huge… that target really was busted…”
Lilysa was tugged back by Eileen, her small mouth pouting under the mask as she muttered softly, “I really didn’t hit that hard… who knew it was so fragile…”
Her voice was just loud enough for nearby people to hear, cementing the “target was too broken” conclusion.
Helga looked at Lilysa’s “achievement,” then down at her fist the size of a sandbag, her brows furrowed beneath her mask.
In a muffled voice, she said to Eileen, “Captain… then what about me…?”
Her tone was filled with uncertainty and worry—not about her own ability, but about controlling her magic output. What if she also broke the new target?
One accident could be excused, but twice would be inexplicable!
Helga had just achieved a breakthrough in magic control after fighting a hero, and her control was still unstable.
It was hard to say it wouldn’t backfire.
Eileen took a deep breath and moved beside Helga, speaking with serious intensity, almost a whisper—but loud enough for Catherine to faintly hear: “Helga! Stay calm! Focus! Control your magic output! Magic control is just as crucial for a mage! Trust yourself—you can do it!”