United, but with No Idea What to Do

After some time, Siena stayed in a small house, looking out at the dock.

A worker on the dock exclaimed in surprise, for he had spotted what appeared to be a huge, black object moving underwater near one of the ships.

Siena watched as several Second Order Profession User directed the First Order guards, who were well-equipped and looked even better equipped than the Spirit Realm Traveler, towards the vicinity of the water.

After roughly arranging their formation, the leading Second Order Profession User threw his Spear forcefully into the water. The spear flew straight into the water like an arrow, instantly creating a breach in the surface. It took the surrounding water a while to smooth over the breach.

A streak of black blood seeped from underwater, rapidly swirling on the surface, completely obscuring the already somewhat filthy river water.

Bang!!

Water splashed onto the guards who were in formation, but even when water splashed directly into their eyes, the guards did not waver. Instead, they kept their eyes fixed on the huge black figure that flew up.

The Demon was about the size of a whole house. When it leaped from the water, the small boat that was suspended on the water was thrown into the air by the huge lateral impact. It skipped three times on the water like a skipping stone and almost capsized.

"Spread out, don't take the hit head-on..." the leader commanded.

Although everyone present was at least First Order Profession and was carrying shields specifically designed to defend against violent impacts, judging from the Demon's enormous size and its ability to leap so high from the water, it was definitely a Tier 2 Demon.

Even if these First Order Profession were carrying shields, they would absolutely not be able to withstand this violent impact from the sky.

The leading Second Order Profession User didn't want to suffer casualties from this second-tier Demon right from the start.

The Demon landed with a thud, smashing the bricks beneath its feet to pieces. The entire dock shook twice, and even the Spirit Realm Traveler watching from the other side felt as if their own houses were about to fall apart.

"If they can just pick a second-tier enemy like that, how are we supposed to compete?"

A Spirit Realm Traveler said angrily, his mouth agape and his eyes glazed over, too daring to look at the battleground.

The other summoned Spirit Realm Profession remained silent, none of them knowing what to say at this moment.

After all, facing a second-tier Demon, these Profession who haven't undergone coordinated training could definitely take it down, but they might have to lose half of their forces to the Demon, making it a Pyrrhic victory.

The fact that they had to face these powerful Demon themselves was not the key reason why the Spirit Realm Traveler didn't want to continue; more importantly, it was how the guards would respond.

The Spirit Realm Traveler watched in despair as a squad of First Order guards, led by a second-tier commander, launched a methodical attack on the Demon.

They assigned tasks very well. Those in front held shields and stood at the very front. If any guard was attacked, even if he seemed to be in good condition, the entire group had to retreat and change positions, moving the guards to the back.

The guards behind him, wielding Spear and giant axes, would strike the Demon from a key position where Demon movements were hampered, before quickly retreating to the back of the ranks.

This was probably not the first time these guards had done this; they all seemed well-trained.

Their rich experience also allowed them to unleash powerful combat strength. The Second Order Profession User only made two brief moves, both times to relieve the pressure on them when the Demon unleashed attacks that the guards could not handle.

Finally, the Demon's body was covered with gashes from which black blood oozed, its roars were almost choked with sobs, and its body became sluggish.

The massive body crashed down, raising a cloud of dust. In contrast, only one member of the guard was seriously injured because he couldn't dodge in time, but he was still able to move on his own.

A cheer erupted from the docks, as if celebrating their victory over a powerful opponent.

Their strength deserved such cheers, but the Spirit Realm Traveler watching from the sidelines couldn't bring themselves to laugh.

Not only is there a second-tier Demon that could suddenly appear on the roadside and cause them significant losses, but the forces fighting against Demon in the city also seem to have no need for them.

Although the Spirit Realm Traveler became a guard said that they were still recruiting guards here, anyone who was First Order Profession could join.

However, it is clear that the guards here are not here to use their individual abilities, but to become part of the team like these soldiers, and they may even have to undergo rigorous training before they can go to the Battlefield.

Therefore, all the Spirit Realm Profession were now deeply doubtful. What could they possibly do? Even if they all joined forces, they might not be able to defeat these well-trained teams in this Trial.

"Should we infiltrate the guards and try to smuggle the goods out..."

Spirit Realm Traveler had the same mission as Siena offered a suggestion, but all Siena responded with was a sigh.

"If it were that simple, you'd be lucky. Didn't you see where these guards are stationed? And the Riverway leading out of the port..."

The man looked in the direction Siena was pointing and found that the guards were all distributed along the harbor, which was very unusual. Logically speaking, if it were to manage the passing ships, there should be guards stationed on both sides of the Riverway.

This Port City was probably built this way before; you can still see some wooden bunkers and small boats on the opposite bank along the Riverway, though they are now clearly abandoned.

On the opposite bank and in the Riverway, black tracks could be seen from time to time, and merchant ships traveling along the river avoided these tracks.

"There's definitely more than just this one Demon in the Riverway. Do you think that if we set off without proper reconnaissance and confirmation of the underwater situation, the Spirit Realm might arrange for some Demon to randomly spawn at the bottom of the Riverway when we leave the port?"

The Spirit Realm does interfere with the difficulty of Trial. When it deems a Trial too easy, it will actually spawn some 'enemies'. Many Spirit Realm Traveler know this.

If they infiltrated the guards and used their authority to transport the goods out, they might fail due to complicated procedures, or they might get lucky and obtain the necessary approvals.

However, in any case, the latter is far too easy for a Spirit Realm Trial, and the Spirit Realm will not allow such a thing to happen.

"Where did all these Demon come from, and so many First Order Profession too..."

This is a question many people have. There are just too many First Order Profession. In the Antir region where Fran once lived, there were even more First Order Profession than here.

However, if Antir were to field a knightly order capable of waging war, it would likely be less than half the size of the force here. Moreover, Antir's forces consist of Territory Knight, while this force utilizes 'free' Profession who are not bound by territorial restrictions.

The latter requires far more resources to train than the former, which shows just how terrifying these guards are.

"Did these guards spawn from the Spirit Realm? That shouldn't be happening. When did the Spirit Realm start spawning neutral units like these..."

"But according to the common sense of the Material Realm, this small Port City simply could not support such a large guard force..."

It would take at least six Port City of this size to support a guard force composed entirely of Formal Rank Profession, and that would require these six ports to invest almost all of their profits in training the guard force.

"I've heard that these guards seem to have been recruited from elsewhere, apparently by the city lord using some of his savings to fight the Demon."

"Then, about three months ago, which is a long time ago, I'm not sure whether the Demon came first, or whether the Demon followed after the guards arrived..."

The Spirit Realm Traveler present all frowned, completely disbelieving that this was the city lord's 'savings'.

Such a large number of well-trained and well-equipped soldiers, along with second-tier leaders, constitute a powerful armed force whose daily expenses are calculated in Gold Coin.

Not to mention, they also found out that there seemed to be a Third Order Professional above these guards. With Profession and groups of this level combined, it would probably cost nearly a thousand Gold Coin a month to hire them.

This team stayed here for about three months, fighting Demon every day, resulting in personnel losses and weapon depletion, which also incurred considerable expenses.

This terrifying drain on resources means that even if the entire city were sold, it might not be enough to hire this team for a few months.

From this perspective, these guards were clearly spawned from the Spirit Realm, but...

"This shouldn't be happening! These Trial in the Spirit Realm should reflect the realities of the Material Realm, how could it have turned out like this..."

No one answered the Spirit Realm Traveler's question; instead, they all whispered among themselves about how to avoid the punishment of this Trial.

After reaching Formal Rank, there is a certain probability that one will encounter related punishments each time one participates in various Trial held in the Spirit Realm.

If the mission is not completed, some losses will be incurred, and these losses do not overlap with the damage caused by the death of Spirit Realm Traveler in the Spirit Realm.

At the First Order, although they die once in the Spirit Realm, it only causes some non-fatal damage to their physical bodies in the Material Realm, but it will affect their combat ability.

If they fail in the Trial, they will also face the loss of resources.

Given the current situation, resource losses are already difficult to avoid, so they intend to mitigate the losses caused by deaths.

"In this situation, can we go for a stroll in the wild? Or should we just leave this place alone? Is there any chance we can survive?"

"No, the Spirit Realm won't be so kind as to let you leave. We'd better stay in the city."

Siena watched as these people began discussing how to save their lives and avoid further losses, and she sighed deeply, thinking that these people really lacked fighting spirit.

So Siena walked up to them and asked directly:

"Can I join you? Let's save our lives together."

There's no way around it; this mission is simply too difficult to complete. Rather than making some pointless attempts, it's better to consider which realm's Trial to participate in next.

"The Trial in the Brilliant Dream are unplayable. How about we try the Dragon Valley, the Dragon Clan Realm..."

"Come on, the Dragon Valley will give you some Dragonkin- related spells and Combat Technique. Sometimes, if you don't have Dragon Clan blood, you can't even cast them..."

"Exactly, that Dragon Clan bloodline thing, you might not even get it after participating a dozen times. If you're not born with it, forget about it, those Dragon Clan don't even welcome us..."

"I've even heard that the lord of the Brilliant Dream is a Dragon Clan..."

Just as the Spirit Realm Profession were venting their dissatisfaction, the door was smashed open with a single punch. Some people tried to raise their weapons, but quickly put them down, because the newcomer was a second-tier guard captain.

"Quickly, we need manpower. We'll pay extra this time. Hurry up, we've found the undercover agent who colluded with the Demon!!!"