Alice noted the surprised look on the Amazonian’s face. It was understandable this time; Thaleia hadn't faced a real challenge since arriving in this world, and now it was announced that if she stepped forward she would die.

"If you proceed as you are now, the minotaur will kill you. Let's wait a bit and try to master some of your skills. Remember all the tips I've given you. The key lies in the skill's name."

Alice sat down and observed the arena below. It resembled a Roman Coliseum, though not as large. There were only a dozen stands, and the arena expanded over a radius of 100 meters. At the center lay the final boss of Thaleia's trial:

Olex, the Minotaur

?

The first level of True Scan was rather limited, and even a couple of levels higher wouldn't have made a difference. The fact that Clairvoyance was even more useless at the moment made Alice reconsider her options. But even then, there was little she could do to dramatically shift the balance. She reviewed her current skills:

Active Skills:

Premonition (R1 L3)

• Allows the user to see up to 90 seconds into the future. Duration: 2 s, MP cost: 35, CD: 560 s.

Clairvoyance (R1 L3) (Basic Mastery)

• Reveals everything within a volume of 1,200,000 cubic meters, excluding entities at or above rank 2.

• • • The geometric center of the space must be less than 120 meters from the caster.
    • Only entities completely within the selected volume can be detected.
    • Applies the current level of True Scan to detected entities.

• Duration: 6 s

• MP cost: 25

• CD: 440 s

Whisper of Alacrity (R1 L4)

• Enhances an ally's Finesse by 20. Duration: 135 s, MP cost: 25, CD: 285 s.

Critical Insight (R1 L2) (Basic Mastery)

• Reveals the weak points of targeted enemies.
  • Allows targeting up to two enemies.
  • While active, damage dealt by you or allies to the targeted entities increases by 6%.
  • Damage dealt when targeting the weak points increases by 18%.
• Duration: 36 seconds
• MP cost: 15
• CD: 280 seconds

Regen Accelerator (R1 L1)

• Increases HP and MP regeneration of the targeted ally by 50%. Can also be used on self. Duration: 5 s, MP cost: 10, Cooldown: 300 s.

Passive Skills:

True Scan (R1 L1)

• Displays the name of any rank 1 entity. This skill bypasses any rank 1 defenses and obstructions.

Magic Drawing

• Allows the user to draw in the air.

100% Mystique increase

100% Essence increase

The upgraded version of Critical Insight offered a significant benefit, but it was still limited and would only reveal its full potential with more people in their party. As for the Regen Accelerator, what good would extra regeneration do if one were nearly severed in half by an axe swing? Regarding Premonition, it was a skill that could prove useful, especially considering Alice had no idea what its upgraded form might entail.

The only skill that could potentially shift the tides, once mastered, was Whisper of Alacrity. However, Alice was at a loss for how to proceed. She had tried several approaches, but none had been successful so far.

Alice observed her companion, who was focused on swinging her sword and practicing her basic stances. She had noticed that Thaleia was not one to sit down and think; she understood and learned better through practice—a method Alice questioned as being more suitable for those with cognitive challenges.

She then checked their rations, noting they still had plenty left, meaning they had time and no need to rush. She decided to be patient and use Premonition each time its cooldown ended, planning to instruct the Amazonian to charge at specific times to see if a certain approach would work. She was prepared to try as many times as necessary.

---

Dante had already finished all the potato chips in a mad rush of anxiousness, yet he remained calm inside. Everything had worked out as he had expected, or mostly so. After the kamikaze attack, things went a bit awry. But he noticed that the enemies were dropping fast, and the enemy assassin was on his last legs too. Sure, Virgil was worse off, but he still hadn't used his last card. As long as that hadn’t been used, Virgil wouldn't be taken down.

This last resort was something Dante had come up with a while ago, and he even wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. The reality was that he had been mostly close to Virgil, so Virgil dying had never been a problem. Sure, it might have been slightly useful back then against the Forgotten Monarch, but not too much, after all, that skill had been low level back then.

But now, he knew it would shine. He didn’t know how the enemies knew it, but he could feel they had a certain grasp over the remaining HP of their opponents when they were about to fall. And he guessed it must be some weird System-thing or simply that skeletons could tell when something was wrong with each other, the same way a human could tell when another was on the brink of death. Sure, there was no blood in this case, or simple symptoms to detect it, but he guessed there must be something he himself could not easily understand, not even with his link with Virgil.

And so, when the assassin lunged forward into a final desperate strike to bring Virgil down once and for all, Virgil just answered back, all the while using it again: Strength Infusion. It must be noted that this skill was already in effect, and it had not been upgraded since its last use, unlike Agility Infusion. No, the purpose of this skill was totally different. It was used to gain HP.

The skill added 25 Might as of now, and each point of Might gave 5 HP. Before the activation of the skill, Virgil only had 18 HP remaining, but after the skill was activated, the 25 Might it granted was counted as a new addition to HP, meaning his HP was back to 126. This did not mean every use of the skill gave you 125 HP, because when you activate the skill, it counts as the last activation being canceled, meaning you would lose the benefits from the previous activation. So, if you had less than 125 HP, your HP would be reduced to 1 and then, after activating again, 125 would be added.

In summary, re-activating the skill brought your HP to 126 if it was lower than that and left your HP unaltered if it was higher than that.

And so, Dante smiled as the daggers struck Virgil, diminishing his HP but leaving plenty behind. Unfortunately for the goblin, Virgil's staff did not stop.

---

How could this be? Another trick? Had he been fooled not just once, but twice?! He saw it as clearly as a glowing mushroom, how the enemy's HP was restored out of thin air. Was his enemy a shaman? No, that couldn't be; only the goblins had shamans. Then what was it? What kind of enemy was this?

He knew the moment his strike failed. He had lost. He would die. He, one of the White Goblins, Gobity Jr, would no longer remain in this world. It was curious; seconds ago, he was more afraid of death than anything else, but now, no. Now, as he saw that staff coming towards him, he did not fear death anymore; he somehow accepted it. The enemy was no 'sitting duck'; in his bizarre way, the enemy was strong. He employed tricks better than himself, adhering to the standard tradition of a White Goblin. He would have made a good ally if he were not an enemy.

And so, in his last moments, all he thought about was his brother. Would he avenge him? He was sure of it. Would he defeat this staff-wielder? Absolutely, yes.

And then it was all dark…

---

30,000 Tutorial Coins acquired

Hidden Quest completed: Defeat the White Goblin: Gobity Jr and occupy his camp

Rewards:

• 1 SP

• 50,000 TC

• 2000 Iron

Dante smiled. His gamble had paid off. If he hadn't won any coins from this battle, further progress would have been impeded. Fortunately, he recovered nearly all he spent on the 100,000 TC for the SP he bought. Between the coins gained from the 40 goblins and dozens of hounds, the gold from the White Goblin, and the gold from the quest, he recovered close to 90,000 TC—more than enough to continue with the infrastructure development.

They had done it.

---

Alice calmly watched as the Amazonian's arm healed rapidly after nearly being broken while parrying one of the minotaur's strikes. Thanks to her superior regeneration and the added benefit from the Regen Accelerator, the arm was healing at an incredibly fast pace as her HP climbed. That single parry had broken the bones in Thaleia's arm and shaved nearly a fifth of her HP. The might of this minotaur was indeed formidable.

Alice slightly regretted advising against learning Static Defense at this point. It would have been a safer alternative for Thaleia to gauge the strength of their enemy. However, on the other hand, it might not have been too useful, as the reduced Finesse would decrease her reaction time, possibly resulting in cleaner and more dangerous hits. Lastly, defense was rarely the solution. In her opinion, defense mostly served to delay the issue or temporarily solve it but seldom eliminated it.

Of course, this test had been completely under her guidance, as she had foreseen the current outcome. She knew the minotaur would not attack if you were outside the arena and would simply return to the center if you left it. Therefore, she had instructed Thaleia to jump to the corner of the stage and prepare to parry one of the minotaur's strikes, all after activating all her boosts, including Heavy Strike. The result was a slightly mutilated Amazonian in the process of recovery. But Alice knew this was necessary. It was crucial for Thaleia to understand what she was up against. Perhaps now she would take training and preparation more seriously.

"Seer, I felt somewhat weaker after entering the arena," Thaleia suddenly commented, taking heavy breaths as her arm healed. The fact that she could maintain such a level of calm and make such an accurate observation reflected her extensive experience in battle and adversity. The many scars on her body were not merely decorative.

'What?' This was something interesting, something she had not managed to see before. But it suddenly made more sense, after all, with the enhancement from both her boosts, Thaleia's stats were no joke:

Name: Thaleia

Class: Warrior

• Level: 8

• HP: 412.5

• MP: 48

• Might: 62.5(+20)

• Finesse: 48(+40)

• Mystique: 11

• Essence: 16

And if you include the added 45 Might from the level 3 Heavy Strike, then the fact that a parry would leave her in such a state made no sense.

To unravel the mystery behind the unusual weakness Thaleia faced in the arena, Alice decided to devise a meticulous test. She patiently waited for the cooldown of her Premonition skill to end, and for Thaleia to completely recover from her previous ordeal. It was crucial to always be prepared for the worst.

Once her vision confirmed Thaleia could exit the battle without sustaining injuries, Alice gave the nod for the Amazonian to make her move. The strategy was simple yet effective: Thaleia would boldly jump back into the arena after activating all her boosts including Heavy Strike, only to swiftly retreat before any confrontation could ensue. This maneuver was intended not as a display of cowardice but as a tactical retreat to gather valuable data.

As Thaleia executed the plan, Alice's attention was firmly on the warrior's changing stats. The discrepancy she uncovered was startling. All of Thaleia's stats (considering boosts) had inexplicably plummeted by around 20%. This revelation was alarming, transforming what they perceived as a minor setback into a glaring obstacle that threatened their progress.

Pondering over this development, Alice couldn't help but question the nature of their predicament. 'Could this be an inherent challenge set by the boss battle, designed to test the mettle of its contenders, or was there an overlooked element at play, subtly influencing the rules of engagement?' The more she delved into the problem, the more Alice felt convinced they were missing a piece of the puzzle, a hidden variable that could explain the sudden downturn in Thaleia's fighting capabilities. But … What could this elusive factor be?