Rex had not expected Norman to give him such a pleasant surprise.
Norman had surpassed Ulysses in his use of the Tome of Strength, and even Osborne had fallen behind him. His results were better than Rex's had been back then. Rex had been able to use more Tomes of Strength not because his physique was exceptional, but because he was willing to spend the resources. These tomes belonged to him, after all, and he had spared no expense. Once the Tome of Strength stopped having any effect, he had immediately turned to other attributes, such as agility.
By improving his physical attributes that way, he had forced open possibilities where none had remained. In short, Rex had built himself up entirely through an enormous investment of resources.
Now, however, Rex no longer intended to invest that many resources. Spending them all on one person was simply wasteful. Distributing them among several people could produce an elite unit.
A truly elite unit, such as Rex's own Personal Guard.
The Personal Guard was reasonably strong, averaging the sixth tier. That might not seem particularly high, but in Azeroth, someone at the sixth tier could already lead a mercenary company. In a regular army, they could hold a fairly senior officer's rank.
In Azeroth, where the second tier qualified someone as a regular soldier and the third rank made them an elite, someone at the sixth tier could occupy a respectable position.
Thus, Rex's Personal Guard was by no means weak.
The problem was that the enemies Rex faced were far too powerful, leaving his Personal Guard little more than ornamental. With his strength, any threat that put him in danger would have to be at least a Heroic opponent.
Against a Heroic Powerhouse wielding soul pressure, sending in eighty or a