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[Welcome to Pick Me Up!]
It was time to move up to the fourth floor and open a new grinding ground.
My main party had levelled up enough to challenge that new floor safely.
I initially wanted to include Gerson into Party 1 for the climb.
But since we were challenging a new stage, it would probably be best to keep the party arrangement and not disturb their dynamic. Just to clear the floor the first time.
And I could use this as a last chance for Trudy.
[Do you wish to challenge the 4th Floor of the Main Dungeon?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[Which party will you deploy?]
['Party 1' -(selected)-]
[Opening the rift of space and time!]
If Trudy could level up her combat skills to level 3 in this battle, then I would not replace her.
The fourth floor should provide enough challenge for her to improve.
[Main Dungeon, the current challenge floor is the 4th Floor.]
[The doors will open after ten seconds. Get ready!]
My screen view soon faded into a forest clearing.
A group of monsters was already waiting my party of heroes.
[Goblin Lv.6 x3]
[Direwolf Lv.5 x2]
[Harpy Lv.5 x2]
The goblins were well-armed like on the third floor, two carried machetes and shields while one other wielded a crossbow. A pair of wolves from the second floor were accompanying the trio.
And we also had aerial enemies this time, increasing our need for ranged units.
How would my heroes tackle this kind of challenge?
[Floor 4]
[Mission Type – Subjugation]
[Objective – Annihilate the enemies!]
Jonah and Shanny charged forward and engaged the machete-wielding goblins and wolves.
The crossbow goblin launched its arrow toward my rear units. But Trudy intercepted the projectile with her shield.
Our 2-star archer countered the move by shooting an arrow to the crossbow goblin, injuring it.
The wounded goblin started moving around and made it difficult for Cecily to finish the monster off.
I had been noticing the enemies' behavior.
It was not just the heroes that had depths to their AIs.
After all, there had to be a reason why Pick Me Up's boss stages were difficult to be conquered.
The pair of harpies started charging but Trudy quickly engaged them.
She could not harm the winged monsters but she was able to keep them occupied.
Serafina then casted her fire spell.
She was indeed saving this move until all her comrades obtained the resistance passive. Interesting.
The 4-star swiftly launched a fireball toward the harpies.
Boom!
Her flames engulfed not just the winged monsters but also the fleeing crossbow goblin at the furthest back.
There was no burn notification despite Trudy and Cecily being within Serafina's vicinity while the 4-star was casting her basic fire spell.
The Fire Resistance skill was working.
I bet they would be able to withstand more fire if they levelled up that passive.
We were still on the fourth floor, but gaining total fire immunity would certainly be really helpful later on. Especially for my vanguard units.
Slash!
Speaking of vanguard units, Shanny just killed a goblin.
She continued pinning a wolf to the ground and butchered it to death.
Her level 4 combat skill was working really well.
Meanwhile, Jonah was able to dodge every attack launched by his enemies.
He eventually got his opponents to clash on each other.
The 1-star hero then threw his spear at the last two monsters and killed them simultaneously.
['Jonah (★)' has obtained the skill, 'Spear Throwing'!]
Ooh, wow.
A new skill already?
Ever since I learned Jonah's weapon specialty, I had been researching the possible supportive skills he could obtain.
Spear Throwing, as the name suggested, enabled him to launch his weapon at the enemies.
The skill gave him ranged offensive move which made him more versatile in combat.
This Jonah was definitely talented for a 1-star hero.
I could see him only getting stronger from here on out.
[Stage Clear!]
['Serafina (★★★★)', 'Jonah, (★)', 'Shanny (★)' levelled up!]
[MVP – 'Serafina (★★★★)']
[Reward – 2000G, Iron Ore (C) x2, Leather (C) x1]
The game was quite stingy with its reward.
It was actually lower compared to when I first cleared the third floor.
I read in the official forum that this was to be expected from time to time.
Players had lodged complaints but the developers seemed to have no effort in fixing the issue.
What a greedy company.
They really forced us to spend money on this game.
At the very least, I managed to get my main units levelled up.
The 4-star Serafina had reached level 3 while the 1-star Jonah and Shanny to level 6.
It was definitely a huge progress.
Unfortunately, not everyone made as much development.
Trudy did not level up her skills.
There was a two level gap between hers and her 1-star peers' in Party 1.
That was too much of a contrast in my opinion. And it was not like Trudy had the sufficient stats to make up for it.
I would now focus on getting Gerson integrate his skills so I could replace Trudy with him.
[Do you wish to challenge the 3rd Floor of the Main Dungeon?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
[Which party will you deploy?]
['Party 2' -(selected)-]
[Opening the rift of space and time!]
I used the remainder of the morning session until the afternoon grinding on the second and the third floor with the sub-parties, especially Gerson's.
Those two floors had ranged enemy units. They provided enough opportunities for him to develop his shield technique further.
As I hoped, my effort bore fruit.
['Gerson (★)'s Basic Shield Technique has levelled up to level 3!]
['Gerson (★)'s Basic Shield Technique and Basic Swordsmanship have combined into Basic Sword-Shield Technique level 3!]
I was right in noticing his potential.
It only took three battles until he integrated his combat skills.
Then there was only one thing to do.
[Would you like to remove 'Trudy (★)' from 'Party 1'?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
Trudy already had her chances.
I could not bring a weak 1-star to the fifth floor.
We needed to face that boss stage with the best units we had.
[Adding 'Gerson (★)' to 'Party 1'?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
In terms of stats and skills, the main party was now composed with the best heroes in the lobby.
And it was for a reason why I built the main party this way.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered – 4 –]
We had cleared four floors of the Main Dungeon.
My heroes' next goal was now the fifth floor.
The boss stage itself. Our first boss stage.