When they regained their senses and looked around, they found themselves in a non-descript white room without anything in it. Before Beth could even say anything, a screen popped up in front of them, with quite a bit of information displayed on it. Beth took a quick glance around after the screen appeared, making sure that no enemies or other threats had appeared. It never hurt to be cautious, as she had learned.

"You see this, right?" she asked Blood.

'Oh, I see it," the wolf responded. 'Though what "it" is, I'm still not sure…'

The screen, as Beth examined it more closely, turned out to be the stage itself. The name of this game was for a Trial Taker to build their own stage. Beth had before her a massive range of options and parameters, as well as a set of guidelines that explained how to use the interface and outlined what could be built and what couldn't be built. The only exception, for some reason, seemed to be a series of arena fights, as there was no way to build a stage similar to stage three. There was also no way, unfortunately, to build a stage against a single opponent similar to Baelvyr or even someone like Tazeen. Apart from these restrictions, she could do just about anything, whether it was fighting a massive beast, participating in a battlefield, or fighting against another beast tide.

"What do you think, girl?" Beth turned to Blood, giving her a raised brow.

'I think we should fight as much as we can,' Blood replied thoughtfully. 'If we cannot fight highly skilled opponents, we need to fight as much as possible.'

"I agree, to an extent," Beth answered. "My question is: do we want to fight another beast tide or do we do a boss rush? I'm thinking another tide; we'll make some good money and might get all the way to level one hundred depending on the conditions. Bosses, on the other hand, would be more challenging and a better guarantee to push our skills. So, tide or rush?"

'I think a tide is our best bet overall. I don't know that a boss rush would give us the kind of results we're looking for…' Blood responded, a little unsure herself.

"I don't think it'll matter that much," Beth said, starting to punch options into the interface. "I think, as long as we pass the stage, another simulated tide will work just fine."

Blood just snorted in response, watching as Beth finished punching in the configurations. She asked for a tide scenario, punch in kobolds as the desired enemy type, and set a minimum twelve-hour survival condition, which would affect the overall numbers and strength of the opponents. It would be highly similar to the tide they had weathered before, including that the longer past the twelve hours they went, all the way to the end of the tide if they could, the greater the reward they would get.

The system seemed to process the request for a minute, a loading symbol appearing in the corner of the screen for a few moments before the scenery around them started to change. They were standing in a fort again but there were a few differences this time. The fort was not backed up against a high cliff but was instead wedged into a valley in the mountains, with high cliffs to each side. The front of the fort was a fifteen feet high, five feet thick wall made of a pure white stone that shone in the noon light, Beth able to detect the inscriptions on the interior side of the wall with her naked eye.

The fortress was just that, a massive edifice of rough-hewn slabs of grey stone stacked together to form a three-story monument to war that loomed over the valley like a crouched beast within its den. It represented an entrenched, long-lasting strength in the face of powerful odds, a testament to the people of this world's tenacity and determination. The fortress was not the only building within the grounds but simply the most impressive, having drawn Beth's attention immediately. There was also a two-story barracks containing quarters for the troops, a large stable, and two smaller buildings that were heavily fortified. Based on the chimneys present in the second of those two buildings, closest to the low wall at the "back" of the fortress complex, as well as the sound of hammering faintly echoing out, Beth pegged it as a smithy. The other building was possibly an armory, or possibly served some other function if the armory were located within the blocky keep itself.

As Beth and Blood finished their inspection of the grounds, a man in lamellar armor walked up to them, the plating made of a darkened mana steel. The leather that made up a large bulk of his armor and from which his scabbard was constructed was a dark brown, toughened material that looked like it could provide a decent level of protection from slashing attacks. The man wore a helmet with an open face made of a similar dark mana steel, and just below his left shoulder on his chest piece was an ornament that looked like a red star being clasped by a fist. He stopped before Beth and fired off a quick salute and for once, Beth decided to inspect the man more closely.

Blake Sayle, Level 100 Bladedancer

Bladedancer was a more powerful variant of swordsmen, likely meaning the man before her had done a couple rebirths, something she still wasn't able to detect with her new eyes. The man, Blake, had also taken a moment to size her up the same as she was doing to him, surprising her with a bright smile as he came out of the salute to parade rest.

"Well, Miss Beth, it's always good to see young hopefuls taking a stint on the frontline," Blake said. Though a bit of a non-sequitur, Beth could infer a little from the context of the situation.

"Always happy to do my part in keeping people safe. Especially if that means I get to fight a lot," Beth replied with a grin.

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"Excellent!" laughed Blake. "I like the attitude. I assume you've been briefed, but just for a quick refresher; we're here at Fort Dalmun to defend the pass against a tide of kobolds. The brutes tend to gather in the higher passes of the Frostshield Mountains before they denude the place of anything edible, at which time they have already reached a tipping point in terms of numbers. So, they come flooding down the pass, as happens from time to time, smashing against the Old Wall like the tide they are so invariably named after. We expect something at the high end of Minor Tide in terms of numbers, with a level estimate of ninety to one-oh-five. I see that you haven't hit one hundred yet for the first time…?"

He had made the ending of his explanation into a question with a slight uptick in his voice, and Beth answered, "No, commander, we've not hit a hundred yet. We're hoping that this event might be what takes us there."

"I'm just a sergeant, young miss, no need to be so stiff," he replied with a chuckle. "Just remember; a hundred is a big turning point for everyone, beasts included, so be careful about tangling with anything at one hundred or above until you're there yourself. In fact, I'll tell you this for nothing; even after one hundred, you still have to be careful. I can't tell you how many young hotheads I've watched bite it just because they think the little bit of extra power level one hundred brings makes them invincible, only to be exhausted five minutes later and pulled under five minutes after that."

"We'll keep it in mind, sergeant," Beth said. "Have any idea when we're all set to kick off?"

"About another two hours, give or take as much as an hour. It's no precise science with these kinds of things," Blake answered. "Let me show you the Old Wall and field first, then we'll see if we're all ready."

Saying so, Blake led the way up to the Old Wall, as he called it, showing Beth a few of the enchantments carved into it and explaining a bit about it. It had stood for more than a century now and was enchanted with a system to prevent leaping over it and make climbing highly difficult, as well as to differentiate between friend and foe. Beth had seen similar at the small keep where she weathered the first tide with Blood but was still suitably impressed. The Old Wall also had strengthening and defensive enchants built in that would stop an artillery round dead, coupled with a self-repair function that could practically rebuild the wall from a pile of rubble.

Blake then trooped them up onto the wall, showing that the far end of the valley was covered in a surprisingly dense pine forest. The stately conifers were packed fairly tightly together and towered up to two hundred feet into the air, their dark green branches spread across the gap like arms of stately elders standing guard. Though, they were doing a bit of a bad job of the guard part, as Beth could see the first handful of stragglers of the kobolds, an unorganized, messy vanguard shambling out of the tree line. From the Old Wall outwards an area of more than five hundred feet had been cleared, with barely even a blade of grass allowed to occupy the zone. It was mostly a combination of sections of old stone interspersed with areas of hard-packed dirt, all of it flat and even, likely kept that way to be used as a field for just such battles as the one approaching.

The tour complete, Beth thanked and dismissed the sergeant, not having any particular needs at this time. She and Blood took a few minutes to hop down on the far side of the wall and go over the ground they would be fighting on, making sure everything was as it seemed. She noted a few raised brows from guards on the wall when they hopped back up, but whether that was from their inspection or their easy scaling of the wall without the use of skills was more difficult to tell. Beth and Blood took just a minute to get ready, making sure all their gear was intact and ready to go before taking a moment to have a few ration bars and wash them down with plenty of water.

The only other observation Beth had as the battle approached was this place was much better prepared than the little keep nestled against the cliff they had experienced their first tide at. This was not going to be such a desperate last stand effort, but could instead be taken at a more measured pace. The Old Wall was quite strong and the garrison numerous and well-equipped, meaning the girls didn't have to weather the storm alone, but would have much greater help and could even retreat behind the wall to rest during the tide.

The time seemed to drag a little bit, Beth and Blood not bothered by the early afternoon sun, though she did notice a few of the guards sweating a bit. Whether that was due to the heat or nerves as the kobold gathered in ever denser pockets and groups, it was a little hard to say. Not everyone had their stats and their skills, let alone their combat experience, so it might even be a combination of both. Beth continued to scan the area, both inside and outside the fort, until she noticed some of the kobolds getting restless and moving onto the open field. At the same, almost as if summoned by the movements, a contingent of officers suddenly emerged from the looming fortress and made for the wall.

"Enforcer," said the man in the lead, an older gentleman with grey wings at his temples wearing an exquisitely forged suit of chainmail. Based on the glimmer of the rings and coloration, as well as its apparent lightness, Beth judged the whole thing to be made of mithril, something that would have cost quite a bit, especially considering the quality of the craftsmanship, including the enchanting work that made some of the rings veritably glow.

"Commander," Beth returned the older man's greeting, giving him a polite nod. One of the functionaries behind the commander frowned at that but was silenced by an elbow from a clearly exasperated aide-de-camp, likely having gotten used to intercepting the functionary’s whining before it even started.

"You intend to take the field?" the commander asked in a very no-nonsense tone.

"Yes sir," Beth replied with another nod. "It's just what we do."

"Respect, Enforcer," the commander replied before striding off, the rest of the senior officers and support personnel following behind him.

It was only a moment later when things started to kick off, with Beth and Blood observing for a minute first. Several of the archers and mages on the wall were skilled and powerful enough to hit targets once they were only a few dozen feet out of the trees, a distance of more than four hundred feet still to their targets. Beth watched them pick off some of the early birds of the wave with a fairly high level of precision, giving the ranged classes a few minutes to demonstrate their skill and get some early kills before leaping from the wall with Blood. She heard a couple surprised exclamations from above and behind, but none of them were the voice of the commander, so she just ignored them.

She and Blood trotted out across the killing field, moving into a position in the center where they could begin their deadly dance for the day. Having a full company for support, including a bevy of capable mages and ranger-types, made a massive difference, considering the ranged support was plentiful enough they could switch out when tired. They still were a little conservative of their ammo and mana, but it meant there was a constant bombardment of the kobolds. This caused the start of the wave to be slower than what Beth had experienced before, as the slow feed of enemies was handled much more effectively by the ranged support.

The weight of numbers, however, was still on the side of the tide, and they eventually began to move down the valley in greater numbers than the ranged support would or even could take down. This was the point at which Beth and Blood stepped up, starting to fight the kobolds as they neared the center of the field. The beasts were all at least level ninety, and the slight jump in strength every ten levels that beasts experienced causing these opponents to not be just total pushovers for them. Basically all of the kobolds had weapons of some kind, even if they weren't very skilled with them, but it was another factor that made the fights take just a bit longer.

Beth wasn't really challenged at first, especially when it came to skill, it was just a little annoying to now not be tearing through the enemies at a rapid pace. As the afternoon wore on and the sun continued its slow arc across the sky, the fights became a bit easier with first one level, then eventually two, before swinging back the other way as the average enemy level increased. That was the story of the long night that followed, Beth and Blood finding their pace as the tide grew thicker, the bodies swarming fast and furious as it tried to drown them.

'Rest,' Beth sent to Blood, signaling to fall back.

'Yes, please,' Blood replied, working to extricate herself from the masses.