If I were to evaluate how this trial was going compared to the last Cycle, I would have a mixed impression. On the one hand, we would definitely reach the exit much earlier than last time. This acceleration was largely due to Katashi being in this group, the third strongest fighter among all the earthlings at the time of the transfer. As far as I remembered, he had been practicing kendo for over eight years back on Earth and was one of those who taught the former "me" how to handle a blade.

On the other hand, as if to counterweight Kei, our group is poorly balanced. Out of thirty test subjects, we ended up with seven healers and nine mages! And this is considering that the initial magic skills, the ones that do not consume mana, are much weaker than a simple and reliable ax blow, for example. No, if each newly minted spellcaster were given the same artifact set that Lan Lin got, we would have passed this dungeon like a hot knife through butter. But, alas, the other sorcerers and healers mostly took standard student wands and staffs from the Arsenal, enhancing their skills by ten or, at best, fifteen percent. So, we ended up with a significant deficit of front-line fighters. Moreover, apart from Katashi and me, even those who chose weapon Talents from Stela were, to put it mildly, weak as warriors at this stage.

But the questers weren't planning to kill us all here, so we were pitted against the blue-skins. They have many nicknames in the big world: the blues, weaklings, clubfeet, slimeballs with hands, green-bloods, though the orcs may take offense to the last one - and many other such epithets. Looking like a caricature of a human, they were weaker and slower even than a spoiled and obese teenager. Moreover, they had incredible strabismus, and if they threw something, they would more often hit their own legs than the target. In addition, for some reason, one of their legs was always almost a palm's width shorter than the other, which made them limp severely and run terribly.

These creatures, I can't bring myself to call them monsters, in the big world of Ain "populated" the dungeons of the Wooden Tier. The local peasants who lived near such locations often deliberately let the situation reach Overflow. And when the blue-skinned ones broke out as a result, the villagers had a good time. Adults, including women, beat them with sticks, children threw stones - "fun" in one word. Even taking up simple pitchforks in such popular entertainment was considered an unworthy sign of weakness. Why? Because to deal with blue-skins, you don't need anything more serious than sticks and stones. But this statement is valid for the inhabitants of Ain. Earthlings, however, transported here from a relatively prosperous and pampered world, were unprepared even for such an enemy. Unprepared psychologically.

After I hinted to the others that we should not go down further, but go up, as the quester had stated, it took us almost five minutes to regroup. Of course, I could have taken command and, knowing exactly what lay ahead, minimized potential losses and got people out as quickly as possible. But I knew how this trial would end, so I didn't put myself in the front roles, giving a chance of survival to those who would earn it through their own actions.

And, as often happens, a leader emerges at the moment of acute need. And no, it was not Katashi; he was too busy holding back the onslaught of the blue-skins and had no time for the command. It was one of the future mages. I "remembered" him from the last Cycle - he would take the name Raistlin. On Earth, he was a lieutenant in the French army, or at least, that's what he told about himself.

Even the most stubborn realized within a couple of minutes that any command was better than a mindless crowd, and the situation began to improve. I, along with another spearman and a couple of swordsmen, was left behind to cover the squad's back from the waves of blue-skins pushing up from below. I didn't object; it was logical in its own way. At the spearhead of our "army," Raistlin put Katashi and the other shield-bearers.

In the past/future, I didn't interact much with this Frenchman, although I spent almost a month in Nate's camp, where Raistlin was the head of security. I didn't communicate closely with him because my job was rear raids and reconnaissance. However, this man was "liked" even by the "past me" because he was one of the few who valued his word and never stabbed in the back. Moreover, it was he who carried "my" unconscious body off the battlefield near the town of Pilati after the Legate of the Third Legion of the Demonic Army of Blood had dealt with me as if I were a baby.

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"Lan Lin, right hand!" I barely manage to finish speaking as I immediately feel a wave of healing warmth.

Once we had command, things moved much faster. And most importantly, they moved in the right direction. And the more time passed, the faster we climbed. This was happening because people were getting used to and stopped being afraid of their opponents. Some mages, spitting on their worthless beginner spells, grabbing staffs as if they were clubs, began to beat the blue-skins on the heads. And this proved to be far more effective!

"Leg!" The guy who was covering me on the left, armed with a regular infantry spear, groaned.

He really did get hit. He slipped on the uneven stones of the cave and literally set himself up for the clumsy thrust of a blue-skin. Pushing him behind my back, I finished off the two remaining enemies of this wave with three precise spear thrusts and turned around. My intervention was not required; Lan Lin managed just fine on her own.

It only took Raistlin half an hour to realize that the Korean girl easily eclipsed any other healer in our squad. The other healers, not having an artifact set, could at most heal a scratch or a small bruise with their Lesser Healing spell. Lan Lin, thanks to her Ishia's Touch set, was capable of much more. When our commander noticed this, the dark-haired girl was moved closer to the front line. This was even good; it meant I would no longer have to intentionally expose myself and receive, albeit minor, but still painful wounds so that she could heal them.

Another fork in the path, and we already know, one of the paths opened before us leads up, while the other ends with a dead-end cave with nearly a hundred blue-skins.

A minor hitch.

"We need to go to the right," Rahu finally steps out of the shadows.

"You heard him! Turn around!" Raistlin commands. "And replace Kei. Let him rest!"

"No need!" I immediately hear the displeased response.

Having someone in our group who was so good at hiding provided a considerable advantage, which our newfound leader appreciated after the very first junction.

The worst thing about this trial is that you can't stop and catch your breath. You can't because waves of blue-skinned creatures are pressing on us from below, pushing us to keep moving. After an hour of travel, my spear got blunt, although I tried to strike only at the neck. But still, black bronze is not steel, let alone wootz[1]. After dispatching another blue-skinned creature to bleed on the cave floor, I marveled once again at how grotesquely similar these creatures are to humans. Perhaps this similarity is the answer to why this particular monster species was chosen for this trial.

About every ten minutes, I'm replaced, allowing me to rest. And it's not superfluous since, unlike Katashi, I'm not a superhuman. Without a developed spiritual core, it's really hard for me to fight for so long, even against such weak enemies. My arms are simply getting tired, and my breathing is getting irregular. Also, the cave floor is quite uneven, and all this can lead to fatal mistakes.

And... it does.

By the middle of the second hour, we had lost three. Then another one. A fractured skull - even for Lan Lin with her artifacts, that was too much. And when my arms started to droop, and the iron Katashi Atsushi requested a replacement, unexpectedly, it all ended. Another turn, and instead of the usual fork or a cave hall jam-packed with enemies, we saw bright daylight.

Our squad literally burst out onto a mountain slope covered with lush spring grass. Although just a minute ago, it seemed that no one had the strength left even to simply move their legs.

Twenty-six - that's the number of people who came out of the dungeon. Twenty-five of them were smiling with relief. Everyone except for me.

The familiar clap - and a quester is hovering a meter above the ground in front of us.

"Twenty is a good number," he says. "That's exactly how many of you will go on."

The smiles are disappearing from people's faces, and everyone is beginning to realize that it's not that simple and the trial isn't over yet.

"Six of the most passive, those who have proven themselves to be the most useless, will be erased." There's a flash, and the specified number of people disappear in a blinding light.

I look around. Lan Lin has not disappeared. Good, otherwise I would be upset if she was erased right now. If that had happened, it would mean that all my efforts during the first group trial had been in vain, as well as the wounds I deliberately received in fights with the blue-skinned creatures.

Before the bravest and the dumbest manage to open their mouths, the quester continues:

"This is a lesson. And we hope it will be learned the first time. Uselessness is bad!"

There's a new flash right before my eyes, and I feel like I'm falling somewhere...

[1] TLN: in fact, it's "bulat" in the original, and the more familiar translation in English would be Damask Steel. But using an Earth city's name as power rank and material in another world seemed out of place. Wootz steel is a more ancient variation of the same material.