As Bruce calmly stepped out of his pod, he took in the view of his surroundings…

He was the first to finish his trial. No one else was out yet.

At the front of the pod room stood Bale and Lucen. Before them floated ninety-nine holographic screens, each displaying the live perspective of the remaining participating recruits.

Bruce took a deep breath and glanced down at his fist as he slowly clenched it. He sent his awareness inward, into the depths of his body, brushing across the spinning rings of his mana core.

"It's really good to get that trial over with…" he sighed, stepping forward to meet the two at the front.

With his performance, he was certain the Adventurer Guild would never treat him like an ordinary recruit again. His standing, his future, everything had shifted.

Meanwhile, Lucen let out a low cough the moment Bruce's cold presence washed over his back. As for Bale, he barely reacted. His experience and willpower were leagues above Lucen's, and even though Bruce's S-Rank suppression pressed against him, he held his ground.

It was impressive, especially for an A-Rank awakened like him. And even then, Bruce wasn't consciously releasing his aura. If he did, both men would be on their knees.

"You did well, Bruce. After your appropriate rewards, rank, and standing are issued, the guild will definitely cooperate with any demands you have…" Bale said calmly.

Bruce nodded lightly, his gaze shifting from Bale, who raised his cup for another sip of coffee, to Lucen, who remained stiff as a board. Lucen didn't even dare to move a muscle, let alone glance in Bruce's direction.

Bruce noticed, but he didn't react.

"How long has it been since the start of the trial?" he asked as his eyes scanned the screens, searching for Sophie's perspective.

"One hour and about thirteen minutes…" Bale replied.

His tone had changed. He wasn't speaking as a senior anymore. He wasn't even speaking as an equal.

He was speaking as a junior addressing someone far above him. And with Bruce's S-Rank and monstrous performance, it was justified. In the guild hierarchy, Bruce now outranked both Bale and Lucen by a frightening margin.

Bruce blinked, slightly surprised. He had been so immersed in the trial world that he truly believed hours had passed. But from surviving the dungeon, to meeting Selphie, to wiping out nearly four hundred crabs and the kraken… everything had happened within barely over an hour.

He exhaled softly and stopped thinking about it the moment he located Sophie's screen.

Like him, Sophie had breezed through her trial. He watched her casually obliterate the crabs with a single slash of her Arcane Sword. Their bronze shells, normally tough enough to withstand B-Rank bursts, might as well have been paper. The entire shoreline of crabs was sliced in half in a single motion, as if a thousand-meter blade had passed through them.

Her class was terrifyingly overpowered. Apart from Ozai's Burn Command and Claire's blood manipulation, Bruce didn't think any other recruit's class could stand beside Sophie's.

The kraken, though, gave her a bit of trouble.

Despite being cleaved cleanly in two, it regenerated instantly, its bisected body stitching itself back together as if nothing had happened.

But Sophie's expression never changed.

She simply kept attacking, calm and precise, until her arcane blade carved through its brain and heart. With both destroyed, even the kraken's regenerative abilities collapsed.

As for Ozai… his Burn Command barely scratched the crabs. He was forced to use his Firelord skills, Sword of Fire and Firegod Incarnate, to deal real damage. Against the kraken, however, Burn Command was the perfect counter. The creature couldn't regenerate from that type of damage at all. Watching that fight, Bruce finally understood how absurdly overpowered Ozai's class actually was.

It was just unfortunate for Ozai that he had targeted Bruce early. Not that it would've mattered. Even if he hadn't, he still would have died. Bruce's goal from the beginning had been to kill every single recruit.

Bruce also noticed something else: even after killing the kraken, neither Sophie nor Ozai's trials immediately ended. He watched the screens with a raised brow, seeing the villagers happily cutting meat from the slain beasts.

'It looks like watching the villagers harvest beast parts is part of the test too. Weird.'

Weird, yes, but Bruce understood the purpose. The guild wanted recruits to grow familiar with harvesting monster parts. Better to learn now than freeze up in the real field.

Eventually, Sophie and Ozai finished at the exact same time. Ozai grit his teeth the moment he stepped out of his pod and saw Bruce already waiting outside, calm and unbothered.

Sophie simply smiled, and walked over to stand beside Bruce without hesitation.

Not long after, Jean and Claire completed theirs.

Time passed. One by one, all remaining recruits emerged from their pods.

And when the last one stepped out, Bale finally moved forward to brief them….

"You all did well."

Bale's voice carried through the pod room like a controlled earthquake, steady, deep, weighted with authority. Every conversation died instantly. Even the recruits who had just stepped out of their pods, still dazed and pale from the trial, straightened unconsciously.

"To be honest," Bale continued, sweeping his gaze across the room, "your performance in this trial is far above what the Guild predicted."

A murmur threatened to rise; he shut it down with a single look.

"Several of you demonstrated tactical growth. Some of you discovered the importance of prioritizing civilians in an outbreak. And a few," his gaze lingered on Sophie, then Bruce, "far exceeded expectations."

Ozai swallowed hard.

Jean's expression tightened, remembering how her frost techniques had barely scratched Bruce.

Claire lowered her head, recalling the moment her blood manipulation snapped uselessly against him.

But Bale wasn't done.

"Trials like these are not designed to simply test strength," he said. "Anyone can swing a sword. Anyone can kill a beast. The purpose of the Adventurer Guild is larger than that."

He raised one hand slightly, as if presenting the weight of the world itself.

"We protect cities. Families. Entire continents. That responsibility demands more than power." He paced slowly, each step echoing. "It demands awareness. Leadership. Tactical instinct. Morality under pressure."

.....

A/N:

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