Volume 1 Chapter 382

Chapter 382: Cautious Lolth Decides to Wait and See

Without Lolth knowing, many mercenaries gathered before the inner castle had already noticed and paid attention to her.

Of course, during this time, Lolth was not idle; she was also assessing the strength of the people present.

"Superlative, Elite, Formal, Elite, Formal, Formal, Formal, Superlative, Elite…"

Among over forty people, there were eleven at Superlative Level, twenty-two at Elite Level, and seven at Formal Level.

Perhaps because they knew this task would be difficult, there were actually fifteen more Elite Levels than Formal Levels present.

The seven Formal Levels were mostly helpers, carriers, or roles that did not require direct combat in the adventurer team.

They might also be relatives of the team leader.

Among the twenty-two Elite Levels, eighteen were High and Middle Levels.

In the Superlative Level, there are also five higher ranks.

Those who reach the higher ranks of the Superlative Level can hope to break through to the Epic level, and among mercenaries, they can already be considered important figures.

Once a person breaks through to Epic, they become a gold medal mercenary in the United Kingdom of South Sotua.

A gold medal mercenary, if they choose to "surrender," can even wipe away a bounty on their head and will directly join the royal institution, reporting to the king.

Many mercenaries dream during their lives of reaching the Epic level and earning a gold medal, so they can transform into the noble class.

However, they do not know that once something goes wrong, these "surrendered" people will still be the first to be eliminated.

False nobles are ultimately not nobles.

Just like Qiong, who went from being a "hero" and "role model" to a traitor working for the demon race and a wanted criminal, all because of a lightweight piece of paper.

But perhaps they also know this is the best choice they have.

Even fake nobles can be real nobles until their lies are discovered!

This is why they place such great importance on the Royal Mission.

Even if they don’t win a gold medal, who knows? They might impress someone important by doing well in the Royal Mission!

This kind of thing happens a lot.

In fact, this method of rising is much more common than winning a gold medal.

Not everyone gets the chance to achieve something epic, but the Royal Mission is something you can strive for with hard work.

So, each selection stage of the Royal Mission and the tasks themselves feel like a special exam from another world.

The selection is like a local exam, and completing the tasks is like taking the final exam in the capital.

Right now, Lolth’s thoughts are very simple.

She wanted to assess the abilities of the people present so she could decide how to show her own skills.

She needed to stay strong enough to pass but not stand out too much.

The overall display of "skill level" should be in the lower middle range.

So this "first elite level" is indeed suitable, though a bit low.

She needed to bring out some "trump cards" to raise her combat power to a level between middle elite and high tier.

Thinking this, Lolth secretly applied a level five enchantment to the Meteor Hammer in her hand.

"Smash, injure."

This way, her combat power increased a lot, allowing her to take on middle elite level and not lose to some high tier opponents!

Lolth nodded in satisfaction.

At the same time, the gate of the inner fortress opened.

A butler, built like a small mountain and wearing a black butler uniform of South Sotua that did not match his size, walked out, revealing his identity through the scales on his face.

He was a half-orc from the Scaled Tribe.

He was rejected both in the Orc tribe and in human countries.

Especially in the United Kingdom of South Sotua, where racial discrimination is extremely serious and regional conflicts are among the worst, the fact that he could succeed as the "butler" of the Silver Citadel’s inner fortress speaks volumes about his strength.

At the same time, this scaled half-orc butler was carrying a magical target man.

Made of straw soaked in magic, the core wood was also a kind of magical material, etched with two simple magic circles used for charging, recovery, and defense.

This was the simplest way to test destructive power—simple, effective, and straightforward.

As long as you hit it, this object could absorb magic, calculate its power, and provide specific feedback to the observer.

The difference is that some places use scarecrows, some use magical crystals, and some use slime gel…

He roughly stabbed the target person at the entrance.

"The adult’s command is to hit the target person by any means… Only ‘qualified’ individuals may enter."

The Halforcen butler said this and sat on the doorstep next to the target person, remaining silent.

There was no mention of what the "qualification standard" was, nor who would start first.

The rules were almost nonexistent.

At the same time, the butler showed a sense of "whoever asks a question is disqualified."

As everyone exchanged glances, finally, one Elite Level high-ranking member stood up among the larger group of adventurers, clearly at the gesture of the leader.

"I’ll do it."

The man’s outfit looked like that of a ranger.

He walked up to the straw dummy, took out his twin blades, took a deep breath, and performed the ranger’s basic move: a double slash!

"Swish!"

Two deep cuts appeared on the straw dummy, but after a few seconds, they slowly healed.

The butler of Half-Force glanced at the ranger and spoke.

"Not good enough."

The ranger showed a disappointed expression and stepped back to where he came from.

"I should have used my full strength."

He said this.

The captain nodded thoughtfully and glanced at the one standing next to him, who was clearly a beginner warlock of Superlative Level.

"You go and try, Latte."

"Understood."

Latte nodded, stood up, and did not step forward.

He did not show off and used a level five mystical technique right from the start!

A purple and blue glow shone from the hands of the warlock named Latte. A level five skill is already a very powerful type for a beginner Superlative Level Superoperator, and while it may not be a trump card, not everyone can master many level five skills.

"Hiss!"

The purple and blue glow transformed into a stunning flower that bloomed, shooting out dark purple vines that completely pierced through the straw target while twisting it slightly.

This time, it took the target nearly five minutes to recover.

And naturally, the half-orc butler spoke two words.

"Qualified."

The people present mostly understood in their hearts.

As long as they passed the extraordinary test, using all their strength was definitely no problem!

And it seemed that skirting by at the Elite Level wasn’t really allowed…

Plus, it was tested using targets… so it seemed that they were focusing on attack power this time?

The two captains and the few lone mercenaries present had a good idea in their minds!

Meanwhile, Lolth seemed a bit calm.

"We still need to observe more!"

The difference between the two samples is too great; we cannot simply take an average value!