It had to be said, Shane used this strike very cleverly.
Because the weapon in his hand was just an ordinary Two-Handed Sword, not even a Magic Weapon, let alone comparable to the Holy Sword, and because he had to conceal many Skills, Shane employed some tricks to strike the Golem's knee joint, causing it to lose balance and collapse directly to the ground.
If he had used the Holy Sword, Shane could have shattered the Golem with a single blow.
Even without the Holy Sword, in fact, just with the Attack Power boost from Shane's Level 10 [Two-Handed Sword] Skill, he could have sliced the Golem in half. If he added the boost from the [Extreme Transformation] Skill, it would have been even easier.
However, to avoid showing too much, Shane restrained his strength and deliberately made it look like he was defeating the opponent through clever tactics.
In this way, Shane could hide many Skills and still display enough highlights to pass the Adventurer assessment.
As the Golem knelt down due to losing balance, Shane began to launch an unreserved fierce attack.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"...
Amid the loud hammering sounds, Shane kept fiercely hacking at the Golem's knee joint, causing stone chips to constantly burst from the struck area and fly everywhere.
The Golem, kneeling there, swung its arms, attempting to attack Shane, but Shane dodged to the Golem's back, avoiding the thick stone arm that swung with a strong wind and continued to chop at the Golem's knee joint, making it impossible for it to stand up.
After numerous chops, the Golem's knee finally shattered into numerous pieces of rubble scattered on the ground.
Losing one leg, the Golem fell heavily to the ground with a heavy collision noise.
As if Shane had been waiting for this moment a long time, he leaped onto the Golem's back. With what seemed like all his strength, he raised the Great Sword above his head and brought it down heavily on the Golem's head lying on the ground.
With an explosive cracking sound, the Golem's head was split open, shattering into countless pieces.
In this way, after "expending quite some effort," Shane successfully defeated the unlucky Golem.
(With this, there shouldn't be any problem, right?)
Shane wiped his forehead, acting as though he was wiping away sweat, while inwardly making a victory gesture.
Yet, when Shane turned his head and looked behind him, he was met with a series of astonished expressions.
"...He actually won?"
Tielle, Lu Muya, and Merica were either surprised or shocked.
Not only those three, even Vivian wore the same expression.
"I didn't expect you to actually win. It seems your strength is much higher than I thought, Shane."
Vivian voiced her surprise .
That reaction made Shane's mouth twitch slightly.
"Um... is this strange...?" Shane asked Vivian weakly, "Didn't you say that for me, this Golem shouldn't be a dangerous opponent?"
Hearing this, Vivian's expression turned a bit strange.
"That's exactly what I said." Vivian replied with a wry smile, "Because Golems are famously heavy and clumsy demons. Even fresh Newbie Adventurers should be able to barely avoid a Golem's attack as long as the level difference isn't too great, so naturally, they aren't dangerous, but wanting to actually defeat such a demon isn't something a Newbie Adventurer about ten levels inferior can do."
Hearing this, Shane's expression froze.
Seeing Shane , Vivian continued with a peculiar expression, "In conclusion, although Golems are cumbersome and their attacks are hard to hit opponents, their defensive power is famously high because their bodies are composed entirely of rock and minerals. To defeat such a demon, you must at least prepare a weapon with considerable destructive might, like a heavy hammer or a large axe, otherwise use Intermediate or higher Magic for bombardment. We have never heard of someone cutting it down with a sword under the circumstances of having a lower level..."
In other words, Vivian's intention wasn't to let Shane defeat the Golem. Instead, she wanted to use this opportunity to assess Shane's performance against a "demon that cannot be defeated yet isn't dangerous."
As a result, Shane, who was unaware of Vivian's intentions, naturally wanted to complete Vivian's assessment by demonstrating "spending some effort to defeat the demon," and in the end, he defeated the Golem.
"Obviously, you're only at Level 10, haven't acquired any Skills, and the weapon you're using is brand-new equipment you just got. Other than being Sharp, it has no other merits, not to mention compared to a Magic Weapon, yet you managed to defeat a demon whose level is higher than yours and is not easy to defeat under such conditions. Wouldn't you say it's strange to us?"
Vivian's words left Shane at a loss for words.
Seeing Tielle, Lu Muya, and Merica looking at him with eyes that expressed considerable surprise, and even Vivian's eyes becoming more profound, Shane laughed dryly.
"So, in other words, my abilities aren't bad, and I didn't disappoint you, right?"
Shane could only doggedly continue the topic.
"Yeah, although it's surprising, it's a good thing." Vivian gave Shane a meaningful look, then said, "Since you can defeat a Golem nearly ten levels higher than yours, you should be able to learn Skills soon. No, rather this performance makes it strange not to have learned any Skills, but perhaps it also shows your growth potential in all aspects is very high?"
"Growth potential in all aspects?" Shane asked subconsciously, "What does that mean?"
"What? You don't know?" Vivian was stunned and then asked more curiously, "According to each person's training direction and talents, everyone's growth potential in all aspects is different. This should be common knowledge, right?"
... Common knowledge?
For Shane, this so-called common knowledge was truly something unrelated, also the most troublesome matter.
However, Shane somewhat understood what Vivian meant.
"When a person levels up, although their strength will definitely increase, not all abilities will grow stronger." Vivian explained, "Upon leveling up, different abilities will increase according to the training direction, expertise, and talents."
For example, when a power-type warrior levels up, their power will surely increase the most.
The same logic applies. When a mage levels up, their Magic Power increases first. If one excels in neither physical capabilities nor talent and has undergone no training, then when leveling up, abilities in this regard won't increase.
Therefore, the abilities acquired when leveling up differ per individual.
"Like me, being a defense-type front-liner, my endurance and resistance capabilities improve most visibly and significantly as I level up, while other capabilities don't increase noticeably," Vivian continued. "And someone like Merica, when leveling up, her Magic Power increases the most. In contrast, her physical ability is still no different from an average girl's even now."