Hours before Rain''s Novice Lord title challenge began, everyone had gathered outside the vige, standing ready in the vast field. The vigers had been temporarily evacuated to the port town, but Hana chose to stay behind to tend to the wounded if necessary.


    Cid decided to remain within the safety of the vige, while Rain and his troops stood at the front lines, awaiting the horde that would attack their territory, signaling the start of his Novice Lord Title.


    "You should go back," said Silphie to Rain. "We can handle this."


    Rain blinked and looked over at the beautiful elf. There were all kinds of elves, he''d heard, like sea elves, drows, high elves, and forest elves.


    Silphie must be a high elf, based on the color of her tinum blonde hair, her luminous skin, and her very pretty and glowing face.


    ''They say high elves have a high chance of evolving into fantastic creatures over time,'' Rain thought, feeling a pang of envy. Cid was surrounded by these beauties. Not that Chi and the others weren''t. They were beautiful in their own way — they had their own charisma — but in terms of human standards, it was different.


    "Hey, did you hear what I said?" Silphie asked, snapping Rain out of his daze.


    Rain smiled awkwardly. "Ah, sorry about that. I was distracted for a moment."


    "Are you going to be alright?"


    ~Chi!~


    ''My lord is fine. We don''t need your help. We can defend our territory on our own like we have done before!''


    "Don''t be like that, Chi," Rain reprimanded her and addressed Silphie. "Sorry about her, and we appreciate your help."


    Silphie remained poker-faced. "Are you sure you should really be here on the front lines?"


    Rain blinked again, not quite getting what she meant. "Eh? Yeah. I might not be able to fight, but I can provide strategy and backup!" he said enthusiastically. "You''re a ivemaster, right, Silphie? A heavy infantry among the high elves.


    Wielding your dual des, you''re unstoppable on the field, especially on a mount!"


    Silphie only stared at Rain with a stony face. "That''s right. Now that you know, you can leave everything to us. You might get killed out here, you know."


    ~Chi!~ ''Hurrah!''


    Rain onlyughed it off. "It''s fine. I''ll stay in the back and won''t get in your way. I have the others to heal me if I get injured, and my Lord statue is safe inside, so I think I''ll be just fine here."


    Silphie was silent before she muttered in a disinterested tone, "Is that so. Then don''t get in our way."


    ~Chi!~


    "It''s fine, Chi," Rain said, staring at the timer shing in the sky.


    [Your Novice Lord Title Challenge will start in 00:00:10!]


    Rain had dreaded this day before, but now, he was confident they could take on whatever challenge would appear. He had stopped rebellions, made alliances with Lord Izumi, fended off a thousand-strong Hobgoblin horde, and even formed an alliance with Druger and the port town. Now, with the elves reinforcing their troops, Rain felt like he could take on the world!


    ''Yosh! Come at me, goblins, wolves, gnolls, or even trolls and mighty dragons and yokais! I''m ready to face you!''


    [00:00:04]


    I don''t know what woulde, but . . .


    [00:00:02]


    We''re more prepared than ever!


    ~DiiiIInNgGg!~


    [Rain Weathers'' Novice Lord Title Challenge will nowmence!]


    Rain''s nerves were eating him alive. It was finally here! His eyes strained to see what was beyond the horizon.


    What enemies would the system send him? Whatever they were, his traps and troops were ready to face them.


    "Now . . . what woulde?" Rain was shaking on his toes. He couldn''t wait to get his lord title and formally establish his territory once and for all.


    In the distance, Rain and the others heard the march of footsteps and saw the dust of a fast-approaching army.


    "Finally! Get ready, everyone! It''s time to . . ." Rain''s words trailed off when he spotted dozens of Giant Desert Lizards heading their way.


    "Oh. The lizards areing this way. Something must be chasing them," Rainmented, ignoring the lizards. His eyes narrowed to see beyond the dust they were kicking up.


    "Any moment now. Prepare for battle, everyone. As soon as these lizards are out of the way, the real enemies will bear their fangs!" Rain shouted.


    At the side, Silphie rolled her eyes while the other elves stared at Rain funny.


    "But these lizards . . . there seemed to be a lot of them. Around fifty, I think?" Rain muttered to himself. "There must be a horde of powerful enemies chasing them.


    Don''t let your guard down, everyone!"


    "What a waste of time," said Silphie as she bolted to meet the lizards head-on.


    "Ah! Wait! It''s dangerous! We don''t know what they''re running away from. It''s too dangerous to attack head-on!" Rain''s mouth shut tight when he saw how Silphie moved like a hurricane, her movements a blur, and within a blink, all the lizards were shredded with her de.


    Rain''s eyes bulged at the spectacr and gruesome show. He thought Chi and the others were strong, but . . . "Whoa, elves really are on a whole other level."


    Within seconds, the Giant Desert Lizards were dead, their parts scattered on the ground, blood dyeing the earth where they had stood moments ago.


    Standing at the center of the bloodbath was Silphie, unscathed. Not even a drop of blood was on her skin, while her beautiful tinum blonde hair fluttered in the wind, and not a drop of sweat was on her wless face.


    Chi clicked her tongue. ''Tsk. Show off.''


    Rain shook his head and pped his cheeks. "Alright, everyone, prepare for the real enemy! They''ll be here any moment now!"


    Rain''s eyes strained over the horizon, waiting, waiting, and waiting, but no enemies were in sight.


    "Huh? Could it be . . . they got lost?" The Barren Wastnd was vast after all.


    ~Chi~


    ~Chirp~


    ''My lord, it''s over.''


    Rain blinked, then his mouth fell wide open when he looked up at the sky and saw the notification.


    [CONGRATULATIONS! You have sessfully cleared your Novice Lord Challenge!]


    ". . . HhUuHh?!" Rain''s eyes bulged, and his face couldn''t be painted. "What? What?


    WHAT?! Those lizards were the enemies?!"


    Rain slumped to his knees and pressed his hands to the ground, unsure whether tough or cry. He had been preparing so long for this day that he was disappointed at the oue, even if he had cleared the challenge.


    "T-this hollow feeling . . ." Rain clutched his heart. There was no victory in defeating these weak enemies! It felt like bullying the helpless!


    "Don''t be so disappointed," Silphie said, flicking her sword and blood sttered to the ground. "Novice Lord Challenges are the easiest, after all. Though, if you''re not prepared, they could easily take your life. There were fifty of those lizards. They were weak, but they could easily overwhelm you."


    Rain stood to his feet. "I see . . ." He had heard of it, but still . . .


    was he too overprepared?!


    ~Chi!~


    Rain smiled. "You''re right, Chi. This is no time to be disheartened and disappointed. I just became a lord, after all!"


    Rain''s grin was wide when the notification shed before his eyes.


    [You have be a Novice Lord with a 1-hectare plot ofnd! Please establish your domain within the barren wastnd and name your territory.]


    "Of course, the center of my domain is here, and the name is . . ."


    Only on m v|le|mp|yr


    Rain looked at Chi and the others, their faces wide with glee.


    "Yup . . . it''s got to be that." Those two giant stones inclined together that provided them with shelter — their first home.


    "Silverstone Oasis!"