As soon as the messages disappeared, hundreds of people surrounded the Princesses to try and get a position as high as possible. There were a total of 25 prize positions with their own bonuses, and obviously, everyone wanted to become at least a Soldier.
Even on Maris's Team, the odds were only 1/4, while things were even worse for the other teams. Freda, who had 340 persons in his team, only 1 out of 13 could get a position, so the competition was huge.
Alisa was also no exception, everyone wanted to get a position, and more than a hundred people surrounded her from all sides.
"Please! Make me Guard!" Someone exclaimed.
"Come on! I definitely deserve to be a Sentinel!"
"Hah, Alisa, make me a Knight! You know I worthy of it!"
Everyone was using a different method, some were trying to beg and pity, and some were playing the confident macho man.
Perhaps Alisa would have broken from such pressure, but luckily for Alisa, she had someone who could solve the problem.
Step. Step. Step.
Moving through the crowd and pushing away the onlookers, Ethan made his way towards Alisa. People didn't like someone taking their place, but when they realized it was Ethan, they just pretended it didn't happen.
"Silence!" Ethan shouted, as his voice echoed out. Then, he walked over to Alisa and looked at the cards floating above the altar.
Each contestant's portrait showed how many monsters they had killed. Most had 0.
Ethan nodded, "Listen to me carefully. We won't distribute the positions right now, but we'll do it after the next wave of monsters."
The eyes of the participants went wide as they glanced around. No one bothered to interrupt Ethan.
"Depending on how many monsters you kill you will get a certain position. It will be a good motivation for you since there are too many zeros here." Ethan calmly said, then he looked at the top line.
"However, we will assign Knights right now." Ethan sighed.
"What?! That's not fair!" The young man with short red hair exclaimed, "You said yourself that we'll do it in the next stage! And, let me ask you who you think should become the Knight? It's you, isn't it?"
"Yes." Ethan answered without delay.
Redhead frowned, pointing his sword at Ethan, "Maybe you should think better of it? Ethan, I don't mind being subordinate to you, but I demand a democracy, not a dictatorship! At least follow your own rules!"
"Democracy? Dictatorship? Are you an idiot?" Ethan asked, staring coldly at the redhead, "Haven't you heard the rules? Our Area is now a Kingdom, which means we have a Monarchy."
Step.
Ethan stepped forward, as the tip of the sword almost touched his neck, a single movement was enough to end his life.
"You will obey me because I am above you in rank. If you want to fight, go ahead, I don't want a traitor on my team." Ethan without fear, pointed his sword at the redhead in response.
Redhead gulped, "You... You! You can't scare me! If you want to fight, I'm ready!"
"No, you are not, you are trembling with fear, and rightly so. No one would want to fight someone who slaughtered Angel with an axe like a pig. What's more, it's better to be friends with your allies than enemies, isn't it?" Ethan uttered, lowering his sword.
"Shit!!!" Redhead waved his hand in despair. He wasn't really going to kill or fight Ethan, this was all just a simple attempt at better terms.
Ethan sighed, "Look. The next wave of monsters is unlikely to be significantly harder than the first. Each of you has a good opportunity to become a Sentinel, Guard, or Soldier."
Tap.
Alisa tapped Ethan's portrait, and four icons appeared in front of her: sword, axe, shield, and spear. These were the conventional icons for each position except for Peasants.
Then, Alisa clicked on the sword, making Ethan a Knight. One of the Three.
Whoooooooooooooosh.
At the same moment, a card with a large 'K' on the front appeared in front of Ethan.
[Your Princess has decided to make you a Knight!]
[As a Knight, you can use any weapon you wish or use the special sword of the Knights.]
[Your regeneration is increased by 100%, while in the tower area you gain an additional 50%.]
[Once per Fifth Trial, you can use a special ability, [Heart of Life] to heal all of your wounds. Limbs and organs cannot be restored, nor can curses be removed].
The iron sword disappeared from Ethan's hands as another weapon replaced it, but it was hidden behind a multitude of brightly colored particles.
He had to grab the weapon by the hilt to reveal it or give up and use his own if there was such a thing.
Ethan had no other option, so he accepted his new weapon.
The particles of light disappeared, showing a long two-handed sword with a blood-red blade, heart-shaped guard, and spiked hilt.
"What is this...? Why does this sword have such a strange appearance...? How is it even possible to fight with such a weapon?" Redhead muttered in a disbelief.
The sword looked dangerous and desirable, but the spiky hilt made one think of this weapon as a tool for torturing the owner himself.
"Hah, give you increased regeneration and immediately make you wound yourself. How ironic." Ethan smirked before gripping the hilt of the sword tightly.
Ethan didn't try to do it gently, instead, he gripped the hilt as firmly as possible, so the spikes passed through his skin with ease.
Dark trickles of blood trickled down the blade of the sword. Then, at the very beginning, a rune flashed brightly.
[Fill the sword with blood, making it much sharper and being able to cut through even the toughest armor.]
Ethan nodded slightly, then he looked at the contestants' cards again. They had two more Knights to choose from before the end of the timer, Ethan wasn't going to be the only one.
"Alisa, make Magnus a Knight." Ethan said calmly, pointing to Magnus's portrait of who was first on the list since he had killed the most monsters.
"Hey. Why don't you make me a Sentinel? I don't like that sword at all." Magnus offered, keeping his arms crossed over his chest.
Ethan glanced at him, "Don't worry. You'll love it. I assure you."
Tap.
Alisa did as Ethan said and when the messages began to appear in front of Magnus, an excited smile formed on his face as the fire of battle lit up in his eyes.
"Hahaha! That's what it takes! Screw the sword!" Magnus waved his hand, pushing people aside and stepping out of the crowd. He headed towards his hammer.
There wasn't much time left, so Ethan had to decide on a third Knight.
'I think I know what I'm going to do... Magnus will obviously be the main attacker, so... we need defense, don't we?' Ethan pondered, then his gaze settled on someone who was perfect for the role.
Ethan gazed at a portrait of a tall young man, with short black hair and a confident stare. It was Alf, the man Magnus had fought within the Fourth Trial, and it was unclear who had won.