Ye Fan let out a low growl and delivered two more consecutive punches to the same spot on the test puppet.
"Attack Power 61!"
"Attack Power 58!"
After throwing three punches, Ye Fan was completely exhausted. He looked at the count on the display screen, his expression grim.
Abyssal Little Inferior Demons are merely the weakest cannon fodder units. A genius like me can't even break through the Scale Armor of a Little Inferior Demon?
Seeing this, the other trainees fell silent, their previously excited expressions vanishing entirely. Ye Fan was a rare Combat Professional, a Demon Hunter! If he could only score a maximum of 65, it was certain that they, with their ordinary Professions, would fare even worse.
Amid this silence, someone else raised a hand.
"Instructor, let me give it a try!"
Everyone turned toward the voice. It was Gu Zhiqiu, the Storm Mage. Mages generally possessed stronger attack capabilities than Warriors, and Gu Zhiqiu, having gone through his Awakening as a Storm Mage, was considered the epitome of ranged power.
His performance should be slightly better than Ye Fan's, right? the crowd thought.
Gu Zhiqiu met their expectant gazes and calmly approached the test puppet. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he extended his right index finger, from which a thick cloud of mist rapidly formed.
"Chain Wind Energy Missile!"
A dozen white missiles flashed from his fingertip, shooting straight at the test puppet.
TING! TING! TING!
Amid the melodious sounds of impact, several scratches appeared on the puppet, and the display screen flickered.
"Attack Power 72!"
Seeing this, Lu Hu nodded to himself. This result was outstanding even among the new recruits from previous years. The other trainees gasped in amazement.
"Gu Zhiqiu's damage is so much higher than Ye Fan's! It seems there are differences even among Rare Professions!"
"Of course, there's a difference in Attack Power, but the Demon Hunter is a well-rounded and balanced Profession with bonus damage against Abyssal Demons. You can't say Ye Fan is inferior to Gu Zhiqiu!"
Gu Zhiqiu's ears twitched slightly. A smirk touched his lips, and he folded his hands behind his back, calmly facing everyone's admiration and praise. This smug display made Ye Fan clench his fists in anger.
Lu Hu coughed lightly. "Anyone else want to give it a try?"
"Instructor, I want to test my Defense," a sturdily-built male student said, squeezing his way to the front of the test puppet.
From within the crowd, Fang Zhou raised an eyebrow. He recognized the speaker as Zhao Yuan, the one who had Awakened as an Earth Knight. He was also the lucky person who had learned a new skill and received a reward of 100 contribution points.
Earth Knight Zhao Yuan.
Storm Mage Gu Zhiqiu.
Demon Hunter Ye Fan.
Chanting String Bai Xiaochan.
These four holders of Rare Professions were the most promising candidates among the trainees to be selected for the military academy's "Seed" list. As for Fang Zhou, the Undead Mage, he was subconsciously overlooked by everyone, despite also having a Rare Profession.
"You can give it a try," Lu Hu said with interest, looking at the tall and imposing Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan nodded. He took a horse stance before the puppet, crossing his arms in front of his chest. A moment later, a dense yellow light rose from beneath his feet, and his entire body seemed to transform into an ancient, unmoving boulder.
"Rock Will!"
Seeing that Zhao Yuan was ready, Lu Hu controlled the test puppet to slowly charge up before throwing a punch at him.
BANG!
With a dull thud, Zhao Yuan's face flushed red, and the dense yellow light covering his body quickly disintegrated. Just as he could no longer withstand the puppet's heavy punch and was about to be sent flying with broken bones, the test puppet intelligently stopped its attack.
The display screen flickered, "Defense Power 70!"
Zhao Yuan staggered back a few steps, panting heavily, his eyes filled with shock.
Is this the power of a Little Inferior Demon?
This single punch thoroughly woke Zhao Yuan from the pride he had been immersed in.
And this, in fact, was precisely Lu Hu's intention for bringing out these test puppets. In the few days since their Awakening, the trainees had all been restless and arrogant, swaggering about as if they were already invincible. Lu Hu felt it was time to use some means to suppress their pride.
Seeing that the time was right, with three powerful holders of Rare Professions having been humbled by the test puppets, Lu Hu decisively concluded this phase. He faced the crowd and announced, "This is the most worthless unit in the Abyss, the Little Inferior Demon! There are no fewer than tens of millions of such cannon fodder units on the Human-Demon Battlefield! Your journey is still long, so you mustn't get carried away by early success."
Seeing the students' downcast faces, Lu Hu changed his tone. "Of course, you are all new recruits who just Awakened a couple of days ago. You have enormous room for growth. Attributes, Skills, Equipment, potions, Combat Techniques, teamwork, and coordination… I believe that once you've mastered all of these, you'll be able to fell not just these Little Inferior Demons, but even the Abyss Lords themselves!
"Alright, for the next hour, I'll set the puppets to sparring mode. You can test them freely. Rest assured, these puppets are programmed with safety protocols and will not harm you."
A trainee muttered defiantly from the crowd, "But what if we break these puppets?"
Lu Hu, whose hearing was exceptionally sharp, naturally heard the comment. He waved his hand dismissively and said casually, "Heh, no new recruit has ever successfully destroyed these puppets! If any of you can dismantle a puppet today using only your own power, you'll have broken a military academy record. I, Lu Hu, will personally, in my capacity as an instructor, apply for a reward of ten… no, twenty contribution points for them!"
Upon hearing that contribution points were up for grabs, the trainees who had been feeling down and avoiding the fight immediately perked up. Twenty contribution points was equivalent to twenty months of their own basic salary as Junior Sergeants. An Apprentice-level Skill Book cost only ten contribution points, so it was enough to buy two.
Fang Zhou sat bolt upright. What an unexpected delight! For twenty contribution points, it's even worth revealing my Skeleton Flying Spear skill.
Watching the trainees' spirits soar, Lu Hu grinned.
What a bunch of wishful-thinking brats.
He hadn't told the trainees that the test puppets had one major advantage over Abyssal Little Inferior Demons: they possessed self-recovery capabilities. As long as they weren't hit with a continuous burst of power sufficient to destroy them in a short period, they could never be dismantled.
He pressed a button on the controller. The puppets activated!
CLANG! BANG!
FIZZ! CRACKLE!
The trainees split into ten groups, surrounding the ten test puppets and taking turns challenging them.
"Fireball Skill!"
"Disabling Strike!"
"Petrifying Heavy Arrow!"
The display screens on the puppets flickered nonstop.
"Attack Power 48!"
"Attack Power 41!"
"Defense Power 50!"
…
After several dozen minutes, the vast majority of the trainees, including Ye Fan and Gu Zhiqiu, were utterly exhausted, yet the ten puppets remained completely intact. While their single-burst attacks might have been powerful, their Spiritual Power and physical stamina were extremely limited, as they had only just Awakened. They simply didn't have the endurance.