The projection of the light ball flickered into clarity, revealing a towering man whose gesture seemed to blot out the sky.
The dungeon square dimmed instantly, and the image in the light curtain sharpened.
"I've heard there are promising talents gathering from different cities. This might be worth watching."
"This wasteland reclamation trial comes just before the entrance exam. It's not fully representative, but good enough for evaluation."
"Well, these are just freshly awakened kids. Our guild and the assault squads don't care much for them. As long as there's potential—even if they're three or eighty."
"Haha, fair enough. Who doesn't have a few good seedlings? No need to compete over one or two. Peace and profit for everyone."
"Exactly."
At that moment, Luceris and her companions were trekking across a windswept desert, their footprints vanishing swiftly into the sand.
Without a sharp sense of direction or a method to orient oneself, it would be nearly impossible to escape.
Though Galen Skylar had rallied many to "form a team" outside, most didn't know each other at all.
Once inside, any misalignment of position would scatter them, making regrouping a challenge.
But with maxed-out luck stats, Luceris wasn't worried about getting lost.
They moved through the faint traces of ancient ruins—once the heart of a mighty civilization, now drowned in sand and sorrow.
"Wait…"
Galen's senses, honed by her profession, were exceptionally sharp.
She stopped abruptly and scanned the ground with wary eyes.
"There's something moving below us!"
"Get ready!"
No sooner had Galen spoken than the sand exploded in motion—creatures swimming just beneath the surface surged toward them at lightning speed.
"Army ants!"
Someone recognized the monster instantly.
These strange army ants were massive, with long antennae and streamlined bodies. They moved in massive swarms—hundreds, sometimes thousands strong. Individually weak, but devastating en masse.
"Fireball!"
"Explosive Breath of Flame!"
"Body enhancement!"
The nearby adventurers sprang into action, invoking their skills.
To high-level fighters, this wasn't a difficult threat.
Galen crouched low into a sprinting stance, her teeth bared in a fierce grin.
Suddenly—
Black leopard ears emerged atop her head. Gold fur spread over her skin, marked with wild patterns. A long tail lashed behind her.
In her half-beast form, Galen radiated primal beauty—feral, swift, and dangerous.
"Rrraaagh—!"
With a roar, she sprang like a panther. Her claws tore open the desert floor, shredding through over a dozen ants in a single charge.
Celene Sirra raised her shield and declared with stubborn conviction, "Sister Luceris, stay behind me! I'm a Holy Shield—super high defense. I won't let anything touch you!"
Luceris examined it. Sure enough, Celene's defenses were substantial—not just her shield, but the entire area around her gained a defensive buff.
But from her perspective…
Celene's attack and agility were both abysmal.
Had she gone full tank because she was afraid of pain?
Despite the swarm, the army ants were just minor mobs. To a team above level 30, they posed no real danger.
Within five minutes, the battlefield fell silent. The wind swept over, burying corpses in sand.
The group exhaled in relief—
Only to notice a gaping hole revealed beneath the debris.
This was it...
Those on the goblin mission locked eyes and charged toward the opening.
"Let's head in too," someone said.
The skirmish ended so fast Luceris hadn't even drawn her weapon.
And she was the lowest level in the group—even Celene had reached level 32.
Tank classes like Holy Shield gained experience easily. They didn't need kills—just taking aggro and surviving earned high ratings.
Even an S-rank wasn't hard to reach.
The team nodded and entered the underground passage.
The corridors below were tight, wet, and pitch black. Strange crawling noises echoed along the stone walls, enough to make skin crawl.
Anyone too large would get stuck trying to squeeze through.
But none of them had such a problem.
Rustle. Rustle…
Someone at the front stopped.
Before anyone could ask why, a beast's cry rang out.
"GRAAH!"
"Goblins!"
The clash of steel rang out, sparks dancing in the dark.
The group instantly tensed.
Goblins weren't elite enemies, but they were nasty—cruel, cunning, and fond of traps.
Even high-level parties could fall here if they let their guard down.
Worse, the space was too cramped for a proper formation. The rear had no line of sight.
"Celene, lift your shield. I'll push you from behind," Galen instructed.
Celene tilted her head in confusion.
Then—shove!
Before she could react, her small body was airborne.
"Eh?!"
"EHH?!"
She instinctively raised her shield—maximum defense activated.
In this narrow space, that defense translated into raw kinetic force.
Her heavy shield crushed forward like a battering ram—clearing the path, flattening adventurers and goblins alike.
It had no lethal damage. Just... bulldozing momentum.
The passage was cleared in seconds.
"I'm so sorry!!" Celene wailed. Despite doing nothing on purpose, half the party was down.
Luceris stood frozen, black lines crawling across her head.
Galen, however, grinned in the darkness, giving a double thumbs-up. Her shining teeth flashed like a predator's.
"Don't just stand there, Momo! Move!"
Agile as ever, Galen leapt through the gap in mere strides, waving Luceris over.
Luceris sighed and tried walking along the corridor wall.
But the moisture made the surface slick.
She accidentally stepped on someone's back.
"Ack! I'm sorry!" Luceris gasped.
"N-No problem… step on me as much as you like… hehehe…"
The young man beneath her groaned with a disturbing mix of pain and joy.
Luceris shuddered like she'd been struck by lightning, said nothing, and sprinted past the rest of the narrow corridor without looking back.