Everything was fake to Master
The Quintal Trials were not real to them.
In Sigyn's eyes, we were literal toys they could play around with.
They did not sense the huge burden the heroes were carrying to save Dunia.
If a hero died, then it was just a pawn lost.
If a mission failed, then it was just a match lost.
If they gave up in climbing the tower, then it was just a game lost.
Sigyn literally had no stake involved.
They could abandon us on a whim. Easily sentencing Dunia to its doomed fate.
So I was glad that Master was not showing any sign to surrender.
Sigyn seemed determined to bring us to the top of the tower.
As long as we keep bringing Master's army to victory, then we would have nothing to worry about.
But the tiny thread our world was hanging on still disturbed me.
And more disturbing things were coming our way.
[※Warning!]
[Once you open the Dimensional Rift, Dimensional Coordinates will be attributed to the lobby.]
[The First-Level Protection will also be undone. You may be vulnerable to invasions from other masters, so beware!]
[Tips/Dimensional Coordinates refers to the Lobby's Coordinates in the server.]
[Tips/If you want to play solo, you should not open the Dimensional Rift.]
There were millions upon millions of lobbies existed in the forged land.
Dunia was just one among the sea of worlds that needed to be saved.
The other lobbies had their own heroes and master with their own set of goals.
Just like how we could travel to other lobbies through the Dimensional Rift, the others could come to us as well.
And not all of them would arrive with good intention.
As the lobby suggested, we could be attacked by heroes from another lobby should their master gave the order.
We now had to be wary of enemies even outside the Quintal Trials.
What a predicament.
Thankfully, Master had not opened the Dimensional Rift yet.
Alam said we could only travel through the Dimensional Rift with an airship.
That would explain why Master ordered the construction for one.
I expected they would only open the rift once we finished building the airship.
In that case, it would take a while before then. Probably after we climbed through the 30th floor.
A single airship construction exhausts a lot of time and resources.
And I intended to construct a proper airship that would extremely help us in our climb effort.
The Chief Gatherer reported the Weekday Dungeons had been upgraded and started providing more resource yields and giving new rare materials.
But I had read the numbers on the report.
The improved Weekday Dungeons still could not provide us with enough resources to build an airship anytime soon.
We would also need blueprints for the construction.
I planned on sending parties to the Exploration Dungeons to obtain the blueprints as well as certain other resources we could not yet obtain in the lobby.
There was also the matter of manpower to actually build the airship.
As a mage-engineer, I was capable of creating the flying ship's magic core.
But we still needed skilled engineers and trained mechanics to construct the vessel and its engine which acted as the core's frame.
It was a titanic project.
Fortunately, Master had helped us getting started.
Master performed another advanced summoning after the Garudas and the Tsamudrans' arrival.
Ten 3-star heroes summoned.
Three of them were supporter-type heroes that were not suited for combat.
A mage-crafter like Gerrits. A potion alchemist. And a mechanic.
It was unfortunate they could not become raider candidates considering our losses in the 20th floor.
But their presences were also welcomed given our expanding lobby and the new projects we were undertaking.
That mechanic, especially.
He had an extensive experience working in an airship factory in the empire.
His specialty was in hull design and armament. But I could guide him to construct the ship's engine.
The mechanic was currently working with the Chief Builder to set up the station for the airship's construction on the second floor, near the Dimensional Rift.
While inspecting the second floor, I instructed him to start recruiting and training skilled workers that could be useful for the project.
So it was fortunate we obtained such hero when we started needing to build an airship.
The mage-crafter, naturally, had been assigned to the Equipment Workshop.
Each floor now had its own crafter district.
There were more trainees in the lobby and the demand for equipment was increasing.
Gerrits as the Chief Crafter could not keep supervising everything on his own.
So the new 3-star mage-crafter was now helping him.
She was given charge of the equipment production for the first and the second floor trainees. As well as handling the tool production for the supporter force in the lobby, including the required machineries for the airship construction.
That way, Gerrits could focus on creating equipment for the Raid Team that resided on the third floor and the fourth floor.
Jonah was right.
The scale of the lobby's operation was increasing rapidly that we needed more heroes to manage them.
But this was also a sign of our growing strength.
There was a dwarf and a Guntur warrior among the 3-star heroes Master summoned.
According to her document, the dwarf was a Guide that helped other dwarves choose their path in the dwarven society. Basically a teacher.
Not every dwarf became a Keeper like Djhotti.
Apparently there was an insanely dangerous ritual that a dwarf must successfully go through in order to become one.
That would explain why she was not a 4-star.
But this dwarf was still a very capable fighter according to the instructors that evaluated her on the 1st to the 12th floor of the Main Dungeon.
Her skills with the mace and shield were exceptional. She even managed to provide new insights to the evaluation instructors.
Meanwhile, the Guntur warrior was someone that the Guntur folk would call an Elder.
He was basically a veteran warrior that had survived many expeditions to this dangerous place called the Death Islands.
From the reports, this man was a total opposite from Jyrgil.
He was composed, wise, and calculating.
They just started frequenting the 13th floor, but his fellow party comrades already praised him for his strong leadership skills.
Why couldn't this man be summoned back then instead of that fool?
Other than the dwarf and the Guntur warrior, Master also summoned a glaive-wielder from Tchakra.
She performed really well during her evaluation in the 1st till the 12th floor of the Main Dungeon.
It was nice to have her considering what happened to Fangli and Haoban.
The reports on the three 3-star heroes were accurate given what I was witnessing in the second floor Training Ground. I expected as much from the advanced heroes.
All the 3-star raider candidates had passed evaluation and had been assigned with their own party.
Currently, they were climbing through the 12th to the 14th floor of the Main Dungeon. They were still second floor residents according to the lodging assignment rule.
That being said, the remaining 3-star raider candidates could not be found on the second floor Training Ground.
They were currently on the third floor, working in the Magic Hall.
I could immediately teleport myself there.
But I wanted to inspect the lobby as I made the trip.
Most of the supporter force were currently busy preparing for the fourth Quintal Trial's victory celebration.
Master had been postponing the celebration given I was still unconscious.
Sigyn was ordering a big festival.
Despite the losses, apparently they still considered the 20th floor victory as a huge success.
We certainly had a lot to be thankful for considering what happened back then.
The entire Main Forces almost got wiped out.
If I had not awakened my seal, right now Sigyn would probably still be rebuilding their forces to reattempt the Quintal Trial.
Or they would have quit the game already.
It was horrifying that despite Master could still summon more heroes after our deaths in the mission, there was a possibility that the climb effort would be stopped upon our failure.
We could not take any chances of that happening.
Every time the Main Forces were deployed into the mission, we must succeed each time.
Even if that meant sacrificing many scouts beforehand to secure our victory in the Quintal Trials.
It was really important that we never fail.
Our lives were not what I was worried about.
We simply could not risk Sigyn quitting on us.
Everything would be truly over if they do.
The lobby would then be erased by Moebius and nobody left to save Dunia.
I would not let that happen.
"Your Excellency."
Sharine greeted me as I entered the Magic Hall.
"I heard you helped Jonah while he was filling in for me. Thank you."
I told her.
"There was not much assistance from my part. Sir Brohm is already a wise capable leader that he could handle most things by himself."
"That last part I agree."
My eyes then looked through the newly-improved Magic Hall.
The library had been expanded and filled with new collections of advanced magic texts.
There was also a new expanded wing for the Alchemy Lab and the Item Synthesis Lab.
I could also sense with my detection field the vast magic training chambers below the Magic Hall.
Yuxia, Matrias, and Vallerynne were currently training down there.
They had their own private training area on the fourth floor. But I supposed they rather train in the Magic Hall given they would be working here most of the time.
This entire facility would be fully used now.
Especially after the advanced summoning Master just performed.
"Are the newmages here?"