Meanwhile, Josh was having a blast.  Actively using mana would have drained 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. 

The sloth's attack was a mental one. The best method to resist it was to have a strong will and picture a reason to live. It was that simple! Well, in theory. In practice, such a thing was relatively hard to accomplish. 

Most people would die in their first sloth encounter without the support of magical abilities. Once they became reliant on skills, it became harder for them to realize the core issue. They would naively keep stacking defensive skills, but there was a limit to that. 

It just so happened that he had avoided this initial trap because he was Classless. Even if he wanted to cheat and use resistance skills, he simply hadn't been able to! His new mana mastery was just the edge he had been missing to be immune to their attacks. 

He kept running around the creatures. For the first time in their lives, the poor sloths were showing confusion, self-doubt, and despair, along with the anger from being woken up. How was their yawn not working?! 

In fact, not only was it not working, but the more they saw their companions yawn and the more tired they felt. Sometimes one would just plop down on the ground and give up completely, but then the annoying bipedal creature would wake it up! 

They wanted nothing more than to rip him apart, but it was impossible. They were used to other creatures being faster than them but never immune to their hunting ability! 

The human was saying something, but they couldn't understand what it was at all. Still, they were smart enough to realize that he was trying to communicate with them. At this point, they just wanted the torture to end. 

How could they be left alone?! They just needed a sign! Over time, a few smart sloths began to understand the pattern governing the human's actions: 

- Whenever they tried mauling him, they would get attacked. 

- Whenever they tried running away, he would harass them. 

- Whenever they tried yawning, he would lightly slap them (as hard as he could). 

- As long as they followed obediently, he didn't bother them too much. They were even allowed to close their eyes for a few seconds as long as they remained near him. 

This was a moment of trial for the poor creatures. They had to keep moving at a pace that could only be called languid but remained challenging to them. Still, they were slowly adapting, very very slowly. 

As for the party members, they felt that the scene was surreal. One man, followed by countless sloths, was calmly and happily guiding them as if a shepherd. Josh had even given a few sloths names as he kept bullshitting.

- Slothy 1

- Sothy 2 

- Slug

- DMV

- Java

- Your crush's reply. 

(Comment on chapter for custom name: today)

"The train will soon leave the station! Keep your hands inside, no violence allowed, make sure to remain close and no yawning as it distracts the other passengers!" Josh loudly called out. 

This was madness! The humans felt both elated and depressed. They had painstakingly evacuated sloth after sloth all this time, only for a man to come and singlehandedly solve the problem. How useless had they been?! 

"I think we have all the sloths with us! Thank you for using the official STD service! Slothtrosity Train for D-23! Let us all depart!" Everyone in the area heard Josh's shout. 

The wind Fairy choked hearing this. What the fuck was he saying now?! What kind of powerful hero acted like this?! "He's mad!" She murmured. 

"For sure, but he's my role model from now on. Can you see that he's still eating even now?! He passed near me a few times to request food too." Bennet shared. 

"How is that impressive? Isn't it more amazing how he's managed to make all these creatures obediently and quietly follow him? He could bring them to a library, and it would be fine!" Sakar exclaimed. 

"Nono, just think about it. He passed next to me with a sloth army in tow and not a single time did any attack me or yawn. He had calculated the perfect timing so their yawns would be on cooldown. Can you believe it?!" Bennett said in awe. 

"Wow. Okay, that is impressive!" Sakar admitted. 

"Dario, seriously. Who is he?! I swear I'll keep the information secret. I swear on my name and Immortal itself! I'll even sign a magical contract!" Davos begged. 

"Same here! I need to know! I'll keep it a secret. I swear on Devouring Panda!" 

"Don't keep me out of this. I'll swear too! I swear on Ouroboros!"

"I swear it on Eclipse!"

Before long, they had all voluntarily signed a magical contract with an NDA clause. As Rankers, they didn't care about such an expense. They wanted answers!

"Even then, it's not my place to tell. I can only ask in your stead." Dario laughingly replied as he sent Josh a message on his UW. He could see him in the distance lazily replying as he kept leading the sloths away. 

BEEP! As Dario checked the reply, they awaited with eyes even shinier than high beam headlights ( the incoming traffic kind). They were so impatient! 

He slowly showed them the screen of his UW one by one. Every single one of them having a similar reaction. This, in turn, made the expectations of the others increase exponentially, yet they all were surprised: 

"Oh my god!" Fairy cried out. 

"This is crazy!" Bennett shouted. 

"Is that really true?!" Sakar asked shocked. 

"Even I am questioning life right now?!" Davos admitted. 

- Josh MF Malum: They are asking who I am? Josh Malum, Classless from Dimensional Legion. Tell them they can have a 5% discount for the Climber school we are opening since they've been helpful. 

"Dario, tell me. What is your relation to Dimensional Legion?!" Davos asked, holding his breath. 

"We are allies, that's it. I don't really know more than you." Dario shrugged, not making a big deal out of it. 

They all nodded as they looked at him with sparkling eyes, breathing roughly in excitement. They felt so jealous! Draconic was bound to soar. But then, they all seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"This means that Very Happy Farms is real?!" Davos couldn't help but comment. He vividly remembered how Draconic had run to save them. Now it made sense! 

"After this, I'm becoming a farmer. I'm sure they won't mind if I multitask and read a bit, right?." Sakar said. 

"You can do that! I'll beg Josh instead directly! I know how to look very pitiful!" The woman declared. 

"HAHA! Fools! I've already managed to establish a connection with the super expert! He ate my food. How amazing is that!" Bennett laughed out loud.  This certainly sounded stupid. Yet, the others all seemed regretful to have left their snacks behind. 

Dario couldn't help but chuckle internally. How would they react if they were to learn that this guild was only established on a whim? How would they react if they understood that he wasn't just a member of Dimensional Legion but its leader? 

How would they react if they learned that Dario had offered an alliance to Josh while he was alone and low-level? Would they be shocked or just regret not having his foresight? 

To be honest, he himself was surprised. He had only followed his instinct. Well, the fact that a low-level resisted his intimidation better than Rankers had been telling. 

Even now, they were discussing the legendary Dimensional Legion. They were speculating about how many members it had, their power, their wealth, and even why they were that low-key. 

So far, the consensus seemed to be that Dimensional Legion was probably a hidden guild that wasn't local to Metropolis-C. They were perhaps slowly getting a footing in all Metropolises simultaneously. 

They had probably only revealed a fraction of their power because of their alliance with Draconic. If Josh was an emissary for his faction and a Fallen, it would make sense that he wouldn't appear that often in public. 

Which one of the four seen at the farm was he? Perhaps the other three had left the area already?

As Dario listened to their guesses, he felt a bit weird. He obviously knew this wasn't true, but he still found himself finding the all-powerful hidden guild theory believable. It wouldn't surprise him if Josh were to announce he had conquered the world at some point inadvertently. 

That's when they realized that he was long gone, along with the army of sloths. They hurried after him, innumerable questions swirling in their heads. Honestly, Dario wasn't an exception either. 

For instance, what was that about a Climber school?!…

Creator's Thought

I felt like starting a Climber school was a good way to increase my network without dealing with closed-minded individuals. People would be coming to me instead of me to them. Plus, I'd be able to make some Credits while literally brainwashing them. Win-win (Both win for me). The 5% discount was total bullshit too, just a bait to see their reaction: apparently, very favorable.