A True Rhombic Comes in Time

34

A small gnome the size of a cat glowered at me.

Just like the first test, this test chamber had limited space. I found myself again in a forest but this one was slightly different from any of the other places I have seen so far.

For one thing, it had no trees. The ground was covered with tall reddish grass and green shrubs with tiny black dots I assumed to be flowers.

I stared at one single gnome standing in front of me. It looked vicious, but it was just a gnome. I almost found it cute because of its size.

Unlike the ones you would see in the gardens, the gnomes in the Door didn't wear fashionable hats and charming farmer's outfits. Instead, they looked more like tiny barbarians with their filthy hair and torn rags tied with tiny ropes around their waists.

Ding!

I looked up when I heard the crisp sound of a bell. Above me, a holographic screen of a timer suddenly appeared.

[01:00:00]

Okay, so I had one hour. From my training, I knew the goal of this test was for me to last an hour without dying. This was a typical method for the Door to assess a Support's defense ability.

Just as Ryder predicted, the Door must have recognized me as a Support already.

There were two things a Rhombic could do in this situation.

The textbook answer was to maintain the barrier for an hour. I have heard that some famous Supports had the ability to keep their shields up for an hour against the dragons on higher floor tests.

In comparison, one small gnome in front of me shouldn't require much of a barrier.

The second option was to kill it. But like Ryder explained before I entered the chamber, killing it would only cause another one just like this one to appear. This meant that I would have to kill the same gnome over and over again for an hour.

Whichever option I chose, I decided that I was going to be perfectly fine. One gnome wasn't going to take much to deal with either way. It was no wonder everyone called this the easiest test.

I felt silly for worrying so much. Placing all of my money and my will in a safe now seemed like a huge overreaction. I was just glad no one was going to ever find out about what I did.

The timer would begin the moment I make my first move, so I considered what I should do. I could form a barrier and just sit around for an hour. This would require a minimum amount of energy, and I would get a nice rest for an hour.

Or I could keep killing it as new ones appeared. My eyes lighted up greedily at the thought. This option appealed to me more for an obvious reason...

You guessed it, gems!

Gnomes were weak monsters, so they tended to generate cheap gems. But like I always say, gems were gems. A dollar might not look like much, but if you picked up a thousand of them, wouldn't that be worth it?

"Bwaaah!"

The gnome was getting frustrated. It did its best to roar, but it sounded more like a small fart.

"Gomi," I called out, and I instantly felt the familiar sword materialize in my hand.

I was ready to begin this game.

Ta da da da.

Slice.

[00:59:59]

I felt silly even using a sword against a gnome, but it would have been foolish to try stepping on it like it was some helpless insect. The gnomes were known for their razor-sharp claws and teeth that were capable of cutting through bones. They could also jump high, which meant this little guy could easily reach my legs and eat them like fried chicken.