Thegis. That was the name of the man standing in the center of the Blumund Free Guild's testing ground.
Suzuki sized him up in an instant. He was a man with a story. He appeared deeply cynical, his bitterness practically radiating from his gruff posture and his heavy peg leg. Suzuki could tell that Thegis had likely become this way because an injury had forced him into early retirement from active combat. Despite his abrasive attitude, he clearly wasn't a bad person; Guildmaster Fuze trusted him completely with the role of head test proctor.
"Now, pick your weapon and stand on the testing ground," Thegis ordered, crossing his thick arms.
At Thegis's barked command, every idle adventurer in the guild quickly gathered around the dirt arena, forming a tight, rowdy circle.
Honestly, the mercenaries hanging around the guild hall during the day were completely broke. They didn't have jobs, they couldn't afford the local brothels, and they definitely couldn't afford expensive ale. So, whenever a combat test occurred—especially one involving a ridiculously handsome, overly-dressed rookie—they naturally flocked to it for free entertainment!
"I'm putting all my money on Thegis-san!"
"You idiot! That's your mortgage money! What are you going to do when you can't pay for your house?!"
"A real man is never afraid of a challenge! I'm going to triple this money, just watch!"
"...I think you're just trying to make easy money by betting on the veteran."
"Fine, then I'll put my last copper on the pretty boy!"
The casual gambling quickly escalated into a roaring betting pool. When Suzuki overheard that someone had literally bet their house mortgage on his failure, he was rendered completely speechless.
"What's wrong? Are you trembling with nervousness?" Thegis scoffed, asserting his dominance. "Don't worry. That feeling is perfectly normal, especially when you have to face me."
"..."
Suzuki considered correcting him, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the breath.
He walked over to the weapon racks. What should he choose?
A broadsword, a claymore, a spear, a lance, a battleaxe, a mace, a rapier, a staff—every standard weapon imaginable was lined up along the wall.
The quality? They were definitely not the best. Most were dulled, nicked, and heavily worn from years of rookies abusing them. But that was perfectly normal for testing gear. Because Blumund was a prominent trading hub, even their hand-me-down weapons were relatively sturdy.
Still, he just grabbed one at random. This was the perfect opportunity to officially test the combat applications of his [Improvised Armament] sub-skill.
"I see..."
"Are you ready yet?" Thegis growled, tapping his peg leg impatiently.
"Yeah." Suzuki stepped into the ring, casually holding the weapon he had chosen: a standard iron lance. Nothing special. Just a long wooden stick with a sharp metal tip.
Had he ever actually learned how to use one?
No. Never. Unlike his alternate self, the Arifureta Suzuki who had trained extensively in martial arts to secure a sports scholarship, this Suzuki had focused entirely on academics and cultural clubs. As for his physical build? It was decent. He had done manual labor and construction part-time jobs back in Japan to make ends meet, which gave him a rugged, practical strength rather than an athletic one.
He had never held a weapon in his entire life—except for his lower body—but he knew with absolute certainty that he could master this lance.
Why?
Because the moment his fingers curled around the wooden shaft, [Improvised Armament] activated. The skill didn't just passively enhance the structural integrity of the weapon, turning a rusty spear into an SSS-Tier, unbreakable artifact. It fundamentally synchronized the weapon with his soul, instantly downloading the absolute, instinctual mastery required to wield it perfectly.
"Hunt him down, Hound Dog!"
Before Suzuki even settled into a stance, Thegis summoned his beast! He wasn't going to wait for the rookie to prepare.
A fierce, heavily muscled Hound Dog—a solid D-Rank monster—burst out of a glowing magic circle on the dirt floor.
"As a professional adventurer, you need to be prepared for every type of ambush! Don't resent me for attacking you suddenly, young man! GO!"
A-WOOOO-OOO-OOH!
Along with Thegis's roar, the Hound Dog charged forward with blinding speed, opening its massive, slavering jaws, aiming directly for Suzuki's throat!
Only—
Stab.
A single, impossibly fluid thrust penetrated the Hound Dog's skull, completely destroying its magic core in a fraction of a second.
"????"
Suzuki casually retracted the lance. The Hound Dog collapsed into dust.
"..." The entire guild hall fell dead silent.
"Is it done?" Suzuki asked curiously, looking at the proctor.
"...Don't get ahead of yourself!" Thegis was momentarily stunned, but his wounded pride quickly ignited his temper. "You might be able to handle a D-Rank, but to reach the upper echelons, it takes far more than a lucky thrust! Let me show you my actual favorite! Come out, Dark Goblin!"
Gigigigigi!
A sickly dark, heavily muscled Goblin materialized from a second magic circle, glaring menacingly at Suzuki while brandishing a rusted club!
Thegis crossed his arms, fully prepared to wash away his earlier humiliation. Yet—
"Wait," Suzuki raised his hand, asking for a pause.
"What's wrong?" Thegis sneered. "Are you frightened? Well, it's perfectly normal! My Dark Goblin is a C-Rank threat! It's on a completely different level from—"
"Let me change weapons for a bit."
Suzuki casually walked back to the racks, rummaged through the collection, and picked up a heavy iron flail.
"...What exactly are you doing?"
"Changing my weapon."
"...Do you honestly think you can defeat my Dark Goblin just by swapping to a weapon you have no experience with?!"
"I just want to try it out."
"DON'T GET ARROGANT, YOU COCKY NEWBIE! THE WORLD ISN'T KIND ENOUGH FOR YOU TO LOOK DOWN ON MY DARK GOBLIN! ATTACK HIM!"
Along with Thegis's furious roar, the Dark Goblin shrieked and lunged.
Splash!
Suzuki didn't even shift his footing. He simply flicked his wrist. The spiked iron head of the flail shattered the sound barrier, smashing directly into the Dark Goblin's skull and instantly splattering it across the arena.
"..."
"Go summon another one. I need to grab a different weapon," Suzuki said, not even waiting for Thegis's response as he walked back to the rack and picked up a heavy battleaxe.
"YOU BASTARD!" Thegis roared, his face turning purple with rage. "COME OUT, DARK BAT! TEAR HIM APART!"
A massive Dark Bat materialized from the summoning circle. It opened its leathery wings, taking a deep breath to unleash its signature, disorienting sonic screech—
THWACK!
Suzuki casually hurled the battleaxe like a homing missile. The heavy blade cleaved the Dark Bat perfectly in half before it could even make a sound.
Plop.
"Let's see here..." Suzuki muttered, completely ignoring the dead monster as he returned to the rack. This time, he selected a slender, elegant estoc.
He had to admit, [Improvised Armament] was a spectacularly efficient ability. However, it lacked a certain dramatic flair. It merely reinforced mundane weapons to absurd levels and granted him the muscle memory to use them. It was efficient, but a bit boring.
"You... you... YOU...!"
Thegis completely lost control of his emotions. His pride had been trampled into the dirt. Screaming, he slammed his hands together to release the absolute strongest monster in his arsenal!
"Wait, don't do anything stupid, Thegis!"
Guildmaster Fuze, who finally realized the situation had spiraled from bad to catastrophic, rushed forward to intervene. But he was too late!
"COME OUT, LESSER DAEMON!"
"YOU IDIOT!" Fuze screamed.
A Lesser Daemon.
It might have been the absolute lowest tier of the Daemon race, but it was still a B+ Rank monster! In the eyes of ordinary human adventurers, this was an existence of sheer horror. A symbol of absolute terror.
The fact that Thegis summoned this beast for a mere rookie test meant he had completely lost his mind and was taking this lethally seriously!
"W-What the hell is that?!"
"Is that... a Daemon?!"
"To think Thegis had a contract with something so terrifying..."
The adventurers backed away in a panic. The Lesser Daemon towered over four meters tall. It had a vaguely humanoid upper body, a goat-like skull, heavily muscled arms terminating in razor-sharp claws, leathery bat wings, and the lower half of a beast.
"Consider this a painful lesson from your senior!" Thegis panted, a smug, manic grin spreading across his face. He knew that against a Daemon, Suzuki was as good as finished. "The world isn't a kind place, pretty boy! It is ruled by the law of the jungle! The strong devour the weak! Learn your place! GO, LESSER DAEMON!"
The Lesser Daemon roared, swiping a massive claw that could tear through solid steel.
Suzuki simply stepped forward and thrust the estoc directly into the center of the Daemon's forehead!
Stab!
Poof!
"It's completely useless!" Thegis barked out a hysterical laugh as Suzuki's blade phased harmlessly through the Daemon's semi-spiritual body like smoke!
"You can't defeat a Daemon with pure physical attacks! They possess Physical Attack Nullification! Now, taste your first true defeat!"
Yet, what Thegis couldn't see was the terrifyingly dense concentration of magicules that suddenly flooded from Suzuki's palm into the hilt of the estoc.
Suzuki didn't panic. He simply applied [Improvised Armament] to its absolute maximum, forcefully coding his own Enlightened magicules into the iron, temporarily elevating the mundane estoc into a magic weapon capable of severing spiritual bodies.
V-SHRRRRRIP!
The sickening sound of a hyper-accelerated blade slicing through magical muscle fibers echoed throughout the guild hall. Suzuki casually flicked his wrist, snapping the estoc to the side to clean the ethereal blood off the blade.
The Lesser Daemon split perfectly down the middle, dissolving into black mist before it even hit the ground.
"Is that all?" Suzuki asked, sounding genuinely bored.
Plop.
"..."
"Hahaha... hahahaha..."
As Thegis collapsed onto his rear, staring blankly up at the ceiling and laughing hysterically as if his brain had finally broken, Guildmaster Fuze swallowed hard.
Standing in the absolute silence of the guild hall, watching the immaculately dressed rookie sheathe his borrowed weapon without a single drop of sweat on his brow, Fuze realized that a genuine legend had just been born in his city.