"Call me Bruce, that would be preferable. Also, gather all the Awakened in this village for me."

"No problem, sir," she replied, visibly brightening. Even if uncertain, she was grateful, this was more help than she expected. Hope was still hope, even if thin.

As Bruce rubbed the horse's mane, trying to familiarize himself with the beast, he found himself commenting, "Your mutant horse is as beautiful as you are, and remarkably tame."

Selphie flushed, stumbling slightly over her words. "Thank you, um... Bruce."

With a quick motion, she mounted the horse and looked down at him. "Sir Bruce, climb up and hold on tight. I'll take you to the village square."

Bruce was well aware of her cowgirl skills, and, though he didn't want to admit it, he didn't know how to ride a horse.

And even though he could outrun this creature by himself, it wouldn't make sense to do so. He had to follow her lead. Besides, he didn't know the way to wherever the villagers were gathered. Courtesy and common sense guided him to comply.

They began moving. The horse accelerated immediately, its speed easily tripling that of any normal horse from Earth…

'Must be an F-ranked beast,' Bruce thought.

And despite his best efforts, he couldn't ignore the sway of Selphie's curvy figure as the horse moved. Each motion drew his eyes against his will, prompting a weary sigh. This wasn't what he expected from an Adventurer Guild character model at all…

'For real, what were they thinking when they were creating a character like this...?' he brooded with an inward sigh.

He spent the rest of the ride turning over Bale's words in his mind, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't recall the second most important thing to do during an emergency dungeon outbreak. His first instinct was to kill beasts, but something about that felt far too simple…

Their destination wasn't far. With the horse's speed, it didn't take long for Bruce and Selphie to arrive at the village square, where countless mundane humans had already gathered.

The Awakeneds were called, so they gathered, and Bruce assigned each of them a task with a calm authority that steadied their nerves.

The entire village was stunned when they learned he intended to face the entire horde of beasts alone. They attempted to reason with him, hoping he would allow them to assist, but Bruce declined every offer.

With his class and current strength, dealing with a beast outbreak of this scale should be well within his limits.

Luckily, Bale wasn't cruel enough to send them into their trials without their respective weapons. Bruce still had daggers sheathed at his side, the same one he'd used to kill the wolves that ambushed him in the dungeon. Although he knew he probably wouldn't need it with his wide range of overpowered skills, the weapon might prove essential if he ever faced a situation where conserving mana became necessary.

After giving out instructions, Bruce asked for the exact location of the sea where the dungeon outbreak had begun. He could guess the general direction from the wind, but he wanted confirmation. Who knew if the Adventurer Guild had altered even the wind patterns in this trial just to confuse them?

As he left, following the direction he'd been shown, he let out a resigned sigh.

It didn't take long for him to reach his destination…

There Bruce stood, his black hair shimmering under the sun's rays and fluttering wildly in the cool sea breeze. The scene before him was a shocking contrast to the peaceful coastal village he had just come to understand.

His eyes widened, an involuntary thought echoing through his mind. 'Holy Molly!'

Spread out before him was the vast stretch of the beach, marking the delicate boundary between land and the relentless sea. But what truly stunned him were the creatures occupying the shoreline.

Countless crabs, each towering at nearly two meters, stood firmly on the sand. Their massive forms radiated an intimidating strength, and they slammed their huge pincers together in rhythmic, thunderous booms that echoed across the coast.

Their shells gleamed with a striking bronze sheen, almost as if their carapaces had been forged from actual metal. Bruce's mind raced as he realized the sheer durability these shells must possess. They would resist his blade far more than ordinary creatures, not that he planned on relying on the dagger too much anyway.

As he adjusted his grip on his twin daggers, dispelling any lingering tension, Bruce couldn't help but frown at the lack of detailed information he'd received from the villagers regarding their size.

'They told me about the bronze shell crabs, but they conveniently forgot to mention their massive stature,' he thought, though it was hardly surprising. Perhaps the villagers were deliberately scripted by the Guild to hold back precise information, another subtle lesson for new recruits.

'Well, what can I say? Giant two-meter-tall bronze crabs aren't something you see every day.'

Despite their immense size, the crabs possessed an unsettling agility. Their speed even surpassed that of the fastest human sprinter. At this rate, they would breach the beach and reach the seaside village in minutes.

Even so, Bruce remained calm. His heart was as still as midnight waters. Which was surprising, considering the sheer magnitude of the beasts before him.

He watched as more and more crabs crawled out of the sea, joining the swelling ranks of the already enormous horde.

He clenched his fist, feeling the weight of the responsibility pressing onto his shoulders.

Composing himself, he reaffirmed his goal, to buy time for the villagers to escape. 'If I can disable these mutant crabs, I might just give the villagers a chance to flee. And if I use some as bombs with Vitality Collapse, there's no guarantee these crabs can't withstand the explosion's heat or impact," he muttered quietly, preparing his stance.

In this situation, time was his enemy. There was no room for experimentation.

As the full gravity of the coming battle settled into him, something clicked in his mind. A sudden realization.

'Could this be the secret Bale hinted at?'

The more he thought about it, the more it fit.

To save more people, the most important thing during a dungeon outbreak wasn't killing beasts, especially for someone trying to conserve strength while taking down as many as possible. The most crucial tactic was to cripple them quickly. Once everything stabilized, one could always return and finish them off.

Mutants were hard to kill. In intense situations where lives were at stake, crippling was faster, easier, and more efficient. But all of this applied mainly to the weak, those forced to conserve strength.

For the strong, it didn't matter. Killing or crippling, both were effortless.

Coming to terms with his conclusion, Bruce smiled inwardly.

'I'm just so smart.' He smiled… then paused, slipping back into thought. 'But is this really what Bale meant?'

As a scientist, even when he felt completely sure, doubt always lingered. If there was one thing his past life had taught him, it was to never be too sure.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on it... It was time to face the damned beasts!

...

A/N:

We're getting closer and closer to the end of the trial. It's going to be a great end to the first volume of this book... and trust me, some spicy scenes and plot twists are waiting for you guys in Volume 2. Not gonna lie, the inspiration in my mind is a bit too much. I'm originally a harem/smut author, and this is my first single-FL book, so the Sophie × Bruce sex scene is getting me a bit too excited lol. @aaaninja thanks for the luxury car... This chapter is dedicated to you...

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