When the others heard Josh, they couldn't believe their ears. Was he serious?! They had been here for weeks already! How did he expect this problem to be solved in a matter of days?! Was he crazy?!

"HAHA. What a fool!" The wind-mage lady giggled. 

"Impossible. You should leave right now if your resolve is that weak." The man that was reading scoffed.

"Brother, you're kidding, right? I'm afraid you'll have to be more patient. Ah, but don't worry, for we have plenty of food." Bennett comforted him in his own way. 

"Food won't raise my lifespan, will it?" Josh shook his head.

"Wait, you're a Fallen?! Ah, it's understandable that you are pressed for time then." She gave an understanding sigh. 

"That sucks, brother. Still, why would The MTA send a Fallen here?! Did they suddenly lose their brains?! They should have known better than to waste your time. I'll give them an earful in your stead. You can be sure of it!" Bennett said. 

"No need, I came here of my own volition," Josh admitted, puzzling the others.

"How do you want to proceed?" Dario asked him calmly, knowing that he wasn't the kind to waste his time. 

Instantly the man on the side with the flagpole perked up. He seemed to have realized a crucial detail. Dario was trusting this newcomer and even willing to listen to him?! One had to know that Dario was as proud as a dragon, and very few could get his approval. 

"I want to try something. I'll face a sloth alone. Stay outside the yawn area and rescue me if anything goes wrong. I don't want any buff at all for the first test." Josh explained. 

"No problem." Dario nodded in understanding. 

At that moment, the others became curious about Josh. Who the hell was he?! He either had balls or was a complete idiot. They couldn't wait to see him at work. 

As soon as Dario's mana was full, Josh went in. He heavily kicked a nearby sloth while shouting: "Wake up, lazy ass! You're gonna be late for school!" 

The creature waved its paw in the air as if asking for five more minutes of rest. Josh could definitely relate to that, but now wasn't the time to be soft-hearted. He kept bashing the monster until it finally rose up, trying to slash him in anger. 

Josh easily kept his distance from the creature, baiting it to walk toward him. Seeing its prey be as agile s a rabbit, the monster finally yawned. 

Josh had been ready for this moment. Before, he had barely been able to resist that ability. However, that was when he couldn't use mana. He focused the purple energy inside him and made it course through his entire body. 

This new skill was called Mana Manipulation in his status screen. Somehow it seemed to be a passive skill that kept track of his progress similarly to weapon mastery. 

He had done a bit of testing inside the Gene Corp's base. His mana could be used to enhance his attacks or increase his resistance. In this case, he focused on making his will unbreakable. 

The dreaded attack came as it generated a wave of slothfulness. Josh felt it echo deep inside his being, but it didn't affect him one bit. The sloth's ability was akin to heavy rain, while his mana and will were an impenetrable raincoat. 

Josh kept circling the sloth happily as exclamations of shocks came in the back. 

"What?! How is he completely fine?!" The surprise was so big that Bennett even dropped his skewer. 

"I stand corrected. It's not his resolve that's lacking. It's my foresight!" For one of the first times in the last days, Sakar put his book down. 

"No kidding! Oh crap, I even called him a fool!" Fairy felt disappointed in herself. 

"Dario, why do I feel like you expected such a result?" Davos asked, his eyes remaining glued on Josh. 

"There are some people in this world that shouldn't be judged with common sense. I gave up reading his limits long ago." Dario shrugged. 

This single sentence echoed in their heads and made them look at one another in disbelief. Dario was a genius that seemed to defy the order of the world. For someone like him to hold another in such high regard... How overpowered was this guy?! 

"I wonder how many sloths he could take on at the same time with buffs? If we all support him, it could enhance our speed a few times over." Sakar commented. 

"It still won't be enough. Remember that he's a Fallen. He said something about his lifespan running out." The woman denied instantly. 

"Oh god, don't tell me?!" Bennett seemed to notice Josh's intent. 

He was currently in the process of waking another sloth. They thought what they had seen before was shocking and impressive, but it was only the beginning. He didn't stop at one. Every other second he would rush at a sloth and wake it up. 

Before long, about 20 sloths were surrounding him. The gallery could only stare in fright and pure terror, their entire bodies shaking. All of the creatures were about to yawn! 

Then it came. All the attacks somehow merged into one impossibly strong wave of doom. They were farther away, and yet they all felt it. What was even the point of living anymore? They would rather sleep forever. 

They fell, their faces colliding with the cement. It was so comfortable! They could eternally remain there. There was even the soft lullaby of the sloths along with the relaxing glimmer of the flashy businesses' signs. 

"GAOOO!" Dario's roar brought them out of their trance. 

They slowly got back up on their feet but almost fell once more from shock. The newcomer was still standing. He was running around while playfully taunting the sloths. He was even heading toward more of the creatures!

"Alright, you guys. Find every single sleeping sloth in the area. We'll do one big pull and be done with it." Josh calmly addressed them. 

He had said he wanted to fix the problem quickly. Wasn't this too fast?! Wasn't this akin to artificially provoking a beast tide?! What would happen if he lost control of it?! 

"Alright, get to work, people. We've been here long enough." Dario supported the plan as he left to scout. 

"Make sure to remain far away from him and the sloths. I don't need to remind you that you'll die otherwise, right?" Davos sighed before leaving too. 

"Mad, this is mad. They're all mad. No, the entire world is going crazy!" Bennett kept mumbling, but he also left to scout another direction with a new meat skewer in hand. 

"This may be crazy, but so what? The sooner we complete this task, the sooner I can get back to reading. I wonder if this guy has an autobiography? I'd read that…." Sakar teleported away. 

"Guess I can't lose to them. Still, why haven't I ever heard of that guy? I'm sure he's not a Ranker. How fascinating! The sooner we finish this, the sooner I'll be able to ask!" Fairy left skipping, full of curiosity. 

Meanwhile, Josh was having a blast. If he wanted to use mana more actively, it would drain his reserves quickly, but this was different. It was a passive! In fact, this exploit was not actually that hard. It was just a matter of figuring out the trick to counter the yawn. 

Creator's Thought

As they say, work smart instead of hard. Well, to be honest, the way I did things was considered reckless. It could have been dangerous if a sloth was to suddenly reveal a new ability. That's why I made sure not to show any killing intent in case they had a dormant sacrificial ability.