It had been three weeks since we first cleared the 23rd floor.
During that time, all my comrades managed to reach level 23 while I got to level 22.
We had been receiving more experience points in the trials beyond the 20th floor.
There was not that much level gap between my comrades anymore.
Devisha had even caught up to Jonah, Shanny, and Tarran that were usually ahead of everyone in the Raid Team.
It likely had to do with the fact that the floors beyond the 20th were meant to be challenged by 3-star heroes and above.
So the experience points started to be evenly distributed among the raiders.
We had not moved on to the 24th floor yet.
There were several reasons why we had not continue the climb.
First of all, Master had summoned 20 new advanced heroes to the forged land.
All 20 heroes were 3-stars.
I supposed it was too much to hope for Dunia's remaining 5-star heroes to be summoned before the fifth Quintal Trial.
But we still obtained useful manpower from the new arrivals.
From the 20 advanced heroes, one was an airship engineer, another mage crafter, three Mage class heroes, six Rogues, and nine Warriors.
So Master's attention was divided between attending to the Raid Team and settling the new heroes in the lobby.
At this point, all the new advanced heroes had already been assigned with their proper roles.
The new engineer had begun helping out with the airship's construction preparation. And the new mage crafter had taken over the other 3-star mage crafter's duties on the first floor of the lobby so they could focus on the second floor, while Gerrits kept handling the third and the fourth.
Also, the 3-star combatants already finished evaluation, assigned with climbing parties, and were currently frequenting the 13th and the 14th floor of the Main Dungeon.
It would still be a long time before they would join the Raid Team.
But at least they had started their journey in the tower.
The second reason of our brief halt in the climb was simply the current size of the Raid Team.
Upon clearing the 23rd floor for the first time, the entire Raid Team was consisted of 62 parties.
5 in the Main Forces and 57 in the Reserve Forces.
Among the Reserve Forces, 37 parties were climbing the 23rd floor along the Main Forces, 10 were still on the 22nd floor, and another 10 on the 21st floor.
A week after that, 47 Reserve parties were climbing the 23rd floor along the Main Forces, 8 on the 22nd floor, and 12 on the 21st floor.
Master had been making a great bulk of the Reserve Forces keep up with the Main Forces in the climb.
Sigyn would not continue the climb if a large percentage of the Reserve raiders had not yet reached the current floor.
And due to the sheer size of the Reserve Forces, it took a while to get most of them caught up with us.
So that was the second reason for our delay.
The final reason being my solution which caused our Raid Team rapidly grew each week.
Now that the raiders could reach level 23, a good number of them had started applying for the instructor and explorer posts in the lobby.
Every level 23 3-star heroes with at least level 8 in basic combat skill were allowed to apply for those two positions.
I had been intending on sending parties to the Exploration Dungeon to gather special materials. And Trudy had been requesting more instructors to accommodate the huge number of trainees on the first floor.
So it was time for us to begin recruitment for the two posts.
As expected, there were many raiders that wanted to become instructors and explorers.
And they all certainly fulfilled the strict qualifications I had set.
All of the applicants were able to develop level 8 in basic combat skill as well as developing the necessary supporting skills.
Our joint training between the Main Forces and the Reserve Forces proved very effective after all.
We already selected the best people for the roles through strict assessments and competitions.
The new instructors had been assigned to the first floor academy as Apprentice Instructors.
Trudy already reported good things from their first few days of working.
Meanwhile, the new explorers had been sent to the Exploration Dungeon to gather materials as well as obtaining preliminary information from the new regions that were opened.
We still had to wait and see how well they would perform as explorers. But at least we had reestablished the Exploration Team.
I tried to limit the number of supporting stations that the raiders could apply to.
However, the Raid Team still lost 60 raiders in the end. Heroes worth twelve parties.
30 instructors and 30 explorers.
Each of them were capable heroes that were valuable to the Raid Team.
That being said, I believed assigning those talented heroes to the supporting roles would benefit us in the long run.
It was just like how we were able to rapidly grow the size of the Raid Team because of the instructors in the first floor academy, whom were talented combatant heroes that we had to sideline to become supporters.
Losing those 60 raiders would not hurt our climb effort.
Besides, we still had over 175 Reserve raiders climbing the 23rd floor alongside the Main Forces.
That number worth 35 parties.
And there were several more Reserve parties currently climbing on the 21st and the 22nd that would increase the number to over 50 again.
Moreover, none of the advanced heroes chose to become supporters.
Celeste and the others still remained in the Raid Team with the Reserve Forces.
I would actually decline their transfer application right away if they submitted one.
The Quintal Trials kept requiring more and more parties the higher we climbed.
Should the 25th floor required ten parties, then we would more than likely recruit Celeste and the others to the Main Forces and challenge the fifth Quintal Trial with us.
Time to see if that assumption of mine was correct.
"How is the training going, Lord Andaman?"
I asked the huge 5-star Tsamudran as I approached him in the large joint training ground on the third floor of the lobby.
Currently he was overseeing a formation training where parties would duel against one another.
After 60 raiders were transferred to the instructor and the explorer posts, a number of Reserve parties were left with vacant positions.
This caused us to rearrange their parties by combining them together or recruit new ones from other parties climbing the lower floors so the ranks would become whole again.
Naturally, heroes in the new parties had to adjust themselves with the new combination.
Their long time comrades were gone and they had to adapt with their new comrades' fighting styles.
I asked Andaman to help these new parties adjust themselves while also improving the synergy of the existing Reserve parties.
He then made all the Reserve parties duel against one another.
That way he could discover their flaws and point out what they should improve on. Or even recommend a shift in members between the parties should he deem it necessary.
There were other members of the Main Forces helping him.
But Andaman was in charge of the entire training session.
"Most of these land-dwellers are still very flawed, Vice-Master. Frankly, they aren't ready to serve Master Sigyn in battle yet."
The 5-star spoke with that strong voice of his.
He continued with an approving look, however.
"But they are eager to listen and learn. A necessary trait that every soldier must have."
These Reserve raiders had been fated to fight in the Quintal Trials.
Either by fighting alongside the Main Forces or as advanced scouts deployed by Sigyn.
They would do anything to survive those great battles.
If someone powerful and enlightened like Andaman said they were not ready to face the Quintal Trial, then they would push themselves even beyond breaking point till they were.
"Once we appointed proper instructors for the second floor trainees, we would have stronger heroes joining the Raid Team. We should not have many disappointing raiders by that point."
I told the 5-star.
Andaman nodded.
"The Chief Instructor has spoken to me about the matter. I shall help you in that endeavor as well."
"Please do."
Trudy had come up with a good idea for the appointment of the second floor instructors.
She recommended to transfer the current first floor instructors to the second floor academy.
Most of the full-fledged first floor instructors had developed level 10 in basic combat skill.
With the right push, they should be able to evolve their basic combat skill to the intermediate level and become qualified to instruct the second floor trainees.
Andaman would be able to provide them with that right push.
Under the 5-star's tutelage, the instructors should be able to easily evolve their combat skill.
We already appointed 30 Apprentice Instructors to the first floor academy.
They should be able to take over the posts once the senior instructors were transferred to the second floor.
The training on the first floor would not be disturbed by the mass transfer.
It was a good plan.
We could even repeat the cycle once we started recruiting instructors for the third floor academy.
One step at a time.
There were other pressing matters that needed to be dealt with first.
"Have you found Reserve parties that could be useful for the upcoming Quintal Trial?"
I asked the 5-star.
He nodded again.
"There are some that have shown promise. Let me show you."
"Lead the way."
I replied as I followed Andaman going through the training ground.