It was rare for someone stronger to entrust a weaker person. And it was likewise difficult for a weaker person to entrust a stronger person to protect them.

So why was Sylas so sure? That was because there was no way that Lucius would accept the penalty of being unable to leave the city limits.

Though… Sylas wondered. Was the Portal a loophole to that?

[Judgment Commencing]

[Time: 00:00:03]

Sylas took a breath and exhaled as the skies turned red.

At first glance, it looked like a trick of the eye, a mirage painted by fatigue instead of reality. However, upon second inspection, it became clear that it wasn't the skies turning red at all, but rather a dome of crimson had rooted itself in this city's territory.

The scene below looked like it was straight out of a video game. Flashes of light bloomed as creatures began to spawn one after another… except this time they weren't beasts, but rather humanoids.

--

[Draga (F)]

[Level: 4]

[Physical: 62]

[Mental: 51]

[Will: 42]

--

[Grimgor (F+)]

[Level: 4]

[Physical: 65]

[Mental: 57]

[Will: 51]

--

Grimgor led a squadron of ten and charged toward the walls.

Sylas looked to the side, seeing if there was a different situation elsewhere. It seemed that there were three such troops of gnolls total, and each one was led by an F+ while the troop itself was formed of Fs.

'This is the first wave? Where is the BOSS?'

The details were murky to Sylas as most things had only been explained in passing. But it seemed that they would have to defeat this siege of 33 before they could even see the BOSS.

This was very troublesome, mostly because this number was about equal to their own, and if the first wave was actually so strong, how many of them would die?

As a Level 9, it should theoretically be possible for Lucius to deal with all of this with ease, but Sylas was fairly certain that he wouldn't be lifting a finger unless he had to.

Everything, from start to finish, was a test.

The question was how best to protect himself without displaying too much.

Mark reached into a bin of javelins and threw one down toward the ground with all his might. It lit with Aether and sliced through the air with a sort of menace attached to it.

The gnolls raised wooden shields in an attempt to block with crude weapons, but the result was about as much as you might expect.

The first in line was skewered right through the chest, the defense of his shield becoming a reminder of the gap in equipment.

Sylas sent a gaze toward the basket. Lucius had taken a mostly hands-off approach to everything, but that wasn't to say that he had done absolutely nothing.

How would they take advantage of their elevation advantage if they couldn't launch long-ranged attacks? But at the same time, bowmen were incredibly rare after the trial. It was a true luxury to rent a bow, not just because of the difficulty of procuring arrows, but because the learning curve was steep.

It had to be remembered that most who entered the trial were combat laymen. From their perspective, it was easier to slash and pray than to hope their arrows landed.

In the end, it was easier to give them all javelins and hope that it was enough.

But Sylas couldn't help but wonder… why not guns?

Logically, a gun was just a mechanism that relied on gunpowder. Wouldn't it be easy to deal with this wave with a few weapons of that caliber? So long as it wasn't a machine gun or other advanced artillery that would need electricity, there shouldn't be a problem.

Another test maybe? Another reason.

Mark kept throwing out javelins. His accuracy wasn't the best, but Sylas didn't mind because soon… it wouldn't matter.

Sylas raised a hand and a javelin was pulled out from the basket. It was a manmade treasure, formed from a special steel alloy. It had no stats at all, but its strength couldn't be denied.

Mark blinked when he saw this. He had made the assumption that he would be the one throwing the javelins because he had the greatest physical strength, and he hadn't seen Sylas' telekinesis ever pick up anything heavy.

After throwing out six javelins, he had only managed to kill two of the gnolls and they were already within 20 meters of the wall…

And that happened to be Sylas' range.

The javelin suddenly shot through the air. It moved much slower than when Mark threw them out. It was to the point the gnolls didn't take them seriously…

Until it was too late.

A gnoll that planned to casually dodge the javelin found it skewering their jaw in an instant. Before the rest could react, the javelin made a sudden movement once again and killed another.

A single javelin, two kills.

Grimgor was enraged and suddenly lashed out, bringing down a heavy bone ax onto the javelin's body.

It clanged into the snowy ground, nearly ripping a trench into it. The javelin lost its glow and fell to the ground, but Sylas had already picked up another.

Grimgor's actions were, indeed, a good way to deal with his telekinesis. Any strong attack like that would effectively multiply the weight of the weapon, causing him to be unable to control it in that instant of time. But he still wasn't done yet.

With a flicker, the second javelin rushed down.

This time, the gnolls were far more cautious. They didn't know how Sylas could suddenly turn the javelin with such speed, but they had no choice but to take precautions. They planned to use one gnoll to block the javelin and a second to send it crashing into the ground.

Their tactic worked. The difference between humanoids and beasts was clearly on display as their intelligence was often even more important than their strength.