Barack didn’t hesitate.
He closed the distance and finished it in a single, clean strike without breaking his pace, offering Avery a brief nod of acknowledgment before moving on.
Avery let out a quiet breath, her shoulders loosening just slightly before she reset her stance.
That skill. Cain noted.
She couldn’t use it repeatedly. That much was obvious. But when used at the right moment, it was undeniably lethal.
So... one moves fast, and the other can completely lock a target down mid-action, huh. Together, they would be deadly.
From the right, Isaac pushed forward as well, no longer holding back.
His blade moved with far more intent now, cutting down anything that tried to slip past Quasi’s defense.
He wasn’t exceptional compared to the others, but he understood his limits well enough, disengaging from fights he couldn’t win instead of forcing them.
Meanwhile, Adels stood behind, watching to see who needed healing.
And her attention landed on Quasi.
He was taking the brunt of the assault, absorbing the swarm’s pressure head-on, and the strain was beginning to show.
His stance was starting to waver, his movements just slightly less stable than before.
So she did what she was there to do.
She raised her hands, and a soft glow formed beneath him, steadily upward.
It spread over Quasi in a controlled wave, settling across his body like a layer of warmth that pushed back against the damage.
The wounds began to close, torn muscles knitting themselves back together.
The bleeding slowed, easing the pain just enough for Quasi to stay in control and hold the line.
But that wasn’t all.
The light beneath him shifted, its color deepening into blue as it spread upward.
Quasi suddenly looked as strong as ever under the effect, pushing back and taking down the blood midges with more enthusiasm.
"Keep up the pressure!"
Hera’s frost spread across the battlefield, suppressing their ability to take flight while slowing their movements, creating openings for the others.
Barack stayed at the front, cutting down anything within reach, his strikes heavy and deliberate.
Ava and Avery moved along the flanks, keeping the formation intact, eliminating anything that tried to break away.
Isaac handled those that slipped through the gaps. And Cain...
Cain focused on control.
He targeted anything attempting to attack from above while finishing off those already weakened by the others.
Aside from basic fire output, most of his abilities weren’t suited for long-range pressure, but he had already introduced himself as a mage.
So he played the role for now.
As they fought, something, or rather someone, caught his attention:
The cloaked man, whom Quasi had introduced as Buffy.
He barely moved, didn’t engage, didn’t assist, didn’t contribute to the formation in any visible way. Yet whenever a bug got too close, it died.
He dispatched another bug and returned to stillness in the same motion, as if nothing had happened.
He’d thought Ava was fast, but Buffy’s speed was something he couldn’t comprehend.
What made it stranger was that no one questioned or reprimanded him for not contributing actively.
This made Cain curious about the role he played within the party.
Whatever it was, it was clearly something more than ordinary.
"Hey, newbie, pay attention!"
Isaac’s sharp voice cut through the noise in his head.
Cain turned and saw Isaac pinned to the wall by a blood midge.
His blade was locked against it, but the blood midge’s pincers were pressing forward, inching dangerously close to his chest.
Isaac was glaring at Cain, but beneath the look, there was desperation. He needed help.
Cain paused for the briefest moment.
A part of him considered ignoring it, as the idiot was too proud to ask for help outright.
But after a second, he raised his staff and released a controlled burst of flame.
The attack struck the creature cleanly, knocking it off balance and sending it crashing into the wall.
Cain lowered his staff.
He didn’t like Isaac. But that feeling was not enough to let him die. Yet.
"You shouldn’t have interfered. I had it handled," Isaac said and turned away.
Cain shook his head.
A thank you would have been nice.
He finished off another bug, and something unexpected appeared before him.
[You have levelled up]
Cain’s breath caught slightly.
"Oh..."
He had assumed leveling was restricted to the trial. That only the monsters within the Hero Trial contributed to his growth.
Now, however, he had just leveled up.
What... what is that supposed to mean?
He had reached D-Tier at level twenty-five, and if the pattern held, at level fifty, he would ascend to C-Tier.
His grip tightened slightly.
So what does that mean for the phases of the trial? Wasn’t Phase One meant to push me to D-Tier, and Phase Two to C? Or... was that not the point at all?
Cain cut down another blood midge, his thoughts running beneath the surface.
The swarm had thinned drastically, and eventually only one remained.
Avery caught it with her special ability, its body freezing mid-air, locked in place. And in the next moment, Hera’s ice spike pierced straight through it.
The creature dropped.
Silence followed, and then a collective exhale moved through the group.
"Good job, everyone," Quasi said, his voice carrying exhaustion as he lowered his shield.
He took a step back and slowly sat down, his breathing heavy.
"We rest. Just for a bit."
Adel was already moving toward him, her hands glowing once more.
Cain used this moment to catch his breath and recover his mana, but then he felt a gaze on him and turned slightly, only to see the swordsman, Barack, watching him, his expression unreadable.
Without a word, Barack looked away and dropped to the ground as well, taking his rest.
Cain frowned faintly, wondering what that look was about.
He lingered on the thought for a moment, but before he could dwell on it any further, a cool, composed voice cut through his thoughts.
"You have a decent amount of mana for a D-Rank."