【癸·Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood (Blue): Battling amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, you are more likely to unleash your potential under extreme conditions, able to partially ignore pain when injured and erupt with tremendous strength.】

【壬·Expert Horsemanship and Archery (White): Enhances your riding and archery skills.】

【壬·Endure Hunger and Thirst (Blue): You possess greater tolerance for hunger and thirst than ordinary people.】

Seeing these three new talent skills, William Carter's eyes lit up.

They seem better than before!

One Gui-level blue skill, plus two Ren-level skills.

Although it's still blue skies and white clouds, the level has gone up a bit. It looks like this instance, compared to the Assassin's Trial, will require higher combat ability.

William Carter guessed that there must be many skills in this skill pool with the same name but different levels and rarities. To determine a skill's strength, you have to look at its level, rarity, and actual effect.

Generally, it's best to prioritize higher-level and higher-rarity skills. It might not always be optimal, but at least it won't be bad.

Judging by level and rarity, this Endure Hunger and Thirst is clearly the best, but... does this skill even have any use?

As a soldier, shouldn't you focus on surviving the battlefield first?

Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood and Expert Horsemanship and Archery seem about equal, each with their own advantages. After thinking it over, William Carter decided to try Expert Horsemanship and Archery first.

After all, judging from the current situation, this isn't a field battle on the plains but a city defense. There are quite a few defensive machines on the city walls, and standing atop the wall, archery should be more useful.

After choosing his talent skill, the entire trial illusion began to operate.

In an instant, countless chaotic sounds flooded his ears, making his eardrums tremble and his mind reel.

“Dong! Dong dong!”

A rumbling drumbeat came from afar. In the central position of the army formation pressing down on the city like a black cloud, two rows of oxhide war drums were being beaten, thundering through the air.

Along with the drums came waves of battle cries. Even at such a distance, William Carter couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.

Looking down at himself, he found he was now wearing the same black armor as the other soldiers, a saber at his waist, a longbow in his hand, and a quiver with a dozen arrows at his lower back.

Seeing this, William Carter couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

He made the right choice!

Sure enough, this was a siege battle, and archery would definitely be important in the early stages.

If he hadn't chosen Expert Horsemanship and Archery right away, he wouldn't even be able to draw the bow properly now—wouldn't that be game over again?

Before he could think further, the general atop the wall raised his hand and said in a deep, commanding voice, “Nock arrows!”

“Swish!”

All the soldiers beside William Carter skillfully drew arrows from their quivers and nocked them to their bowstrings, then fully drew their longbows, holding them at the ready.

William Carter was extra cautious, deliberately moving half a beat slower before mimicking the others' actions.

He didn't give himself away.

He had already realized that in this game, you must never act rashly. If he had been the first to nock an arrow, he might have instinctively fired it already.

It's better to observe the NPCs' behavior and follow their lead.

The Expert Horsemanship and Archery talent was indeed useful. William Carter had never practiced archery in real life, and in other VR games, the lack of realism made archery simple and not much of a reference.

But now, thanks to this talent, he could draw the bow with perfect form, control his strength, and keep the bowstring at the optimal tension, ready to shoot at any moment.

The enemy had already entered within three hundred paces, but the general atop the wall remained motionless. William Carter naturally didn't dare ask questions, simply holding his breath and keeping his bow drawn like the others.

Besides the archers, many other soldiers were busy atop the wall, placing sealed clay jars onto catapults.

The enemy moved quickly, soon entering within two hundred paces.

At this point, William Carter could clearly see their attire. They looked like barbarians, with animal bones decorating their helmets and armor, each one appearing fierce and savage.

At last, the general atop the wall gave the order!

With a wave of his hand, the catapults on the wall launched the clay jars!

The jars flew through the air and crashed into the enemy ranks, but their lethality was limited—they simply shattered, splashing deep black liquid everywhere.

Many barbarian soldiers were splashed with the black liquid, but they didn't care, still charging forward with all their might.

The general atop the wall waved his hand again, and someone beside him shouted, “Loose!”

“Whoosh, whoosh whoosh!”

Arrows shot out, forming a rain of arrows that blanketed all the barbarian soldiers!

William Carter aimed at a tall, burly barbarian. As soon as he released the arrow, he had a hunch—and sure enough, as he reached for a second arrow, he saw his first arrow strike the barbarian square in the chest.

The arrow fell from above with great force, knocking the barbarian off balance and sending him crashing to the ground on his back.

William Carter couldn't help but feel a surge of pride: I'm awesome!