"There are only eleven parties so far that I would dare call decent. But they are currently the best in the Reserve Forces. I hope their performance is to your satisfaction, Vice-Master."
Andaman said.
He proceeded to show me several parties dueling each other.
Compared to the most duels currently being held in the training ground, the parties involved in these particular matches were performing exceptionally well.
The basic combat skill level of their members were at least level 7. Their party leaders were already level 8 or even 9.
Half of these skilled heroes had applied to become instructors and explorers but were outcompeted by more talented applicants.
The other half never even applied for the supporter roles and actually chose to remain within the Raid Team.
They were the type of heroes that loved battles and actually wanted to experience the Quintal Trials.
We should be able to rely on them if we had to bring them with us to the 25th floor.
"And these are the top five parties in the Reserve Forces."
Andaman said as we reached to a corner of the training ground supervised by the 4-star Fandina and Wallack.
No wonder Andaman stated they were the best parties in the Reserve Forces.
These parties were the ones with the advanced heroes in their ranks.
After their evaluation, Celeste and the others were assigned with their own party. Five in total.
The mage-swordswoman and the Kutub shaman, Kiran, were in a party together.
Meifa and Gaoling were in the same party since they were bonded heroes.
Aludra was the only advanced hero in her party, but she was assigned to a group with experienced heroes right from the beginning.
The Guntur Elder and the dwarf Guide each had their own party too.
"That dwarf and her comrades complemented each other very well. Their party has a great balance and synergy where every member elevates each other's performances."
Andamn said while pointing to the dwarf's party dueling.
Advanced heroes were allowed to choose their comrades when they were assigned with a climbing party.
They would be presented with the best trainees that had climbed to the 12th floor of the Main Dungeon and finished their training in the first floor academy.
We arranged it this way so that the first floor trainees would work hard as well.
Their best chance of surviving in the tower's trials was by pairing up with advanced heroes.
And by doing so, we would be able to ensure that our advanced heroes had reliable comrades that could support them.
Dharma, the dwarf Guide, apparently only recruited 1-star at summoning heroes for her party.
She specifically chose those heroes despite having 2-star at summoning heroes whom were considerably stronger.
But after Dharma recruited and guided them, her comrades were now able to outperform many of the 2-star at summoning heroes that used to be stronger than them.
The dwarf certainly lived up to her title of being a Guide.
"That Guntur warrior's party has great formation and tactical skills. Under the leader's command, their members operate with good effectiveness and efficiency."
Sigmund, the Guntur Elder, was experienced in leading warriors into battle.
Ulrica told me that Guntur Elders were in charge of helping Near-Kin command their army.
They would serve similarly as generals that would relay orders and discipline soldiers.
It was logical that Sigmund's party would act like a well-pieced machine.
"Despite being a sorcerer, the Tsahanam mage-engineer knew how to conduct battle. She is capable of reacting to any situation and order her comrades accordingly."
Andaman said while pointing to Aludra and her comrades.
The mage-engineer was no stranger to battles given her duty to attend a mercenary airship back in Tsahanam.
It was only later on that I figured out Aludra was actually the captain of her ship.
She was not one, officially.
But her soon-to-be-retired captain had basically given her command of all the ship's crews.
I discovered that fact after hearing Aludra complained that her captain was a good-for-nothing whom kept making her do everything in their stead.
Naturally by working as a captain, Aludra was able to develop good leadership skills as well as the ability to solve critical situations.
So I could see why Andaman said those things about her.
It also helped that Aludra had a reliable comrade helping her.
Apparently the Evaluation Center scout that survived the 19th floor was assigned to Aludra's party.
I did tell Trudy that he should be paired with an advanced hero when new ones arrived.
After Trudy submitted a recommendation upon the heroes' request, Master immediately paired him with the mage-engineer.
Good thing he was able to work well with Aludra.
Perhaps it also helped that they were both from Tsahanam.
['Ahsan (★★★)'s Basic Archery has levelled up to level 8!]
['Ahsan (★★★)'s Switching has levelled up to level 4!]
['Ahsan (★★★)'s Basic Spearmanship has levelled up to level 3!]
He still insisted on using multiple weapons at once.
His archery skill would have probably reached level 10 by now had he focused on the bow instead.
But at least he now had reliable comrades to fight alongside with.
"The Tchakran healer being the party leader was a surprise to me initially. But the mage turned out to possess a mind of a martial artist and was capable of reading combat. Using her glaive-wielder sister and other comrades as her weapons on top of her own magic, she was able to easily lead her party to victory."
Andaman told about Meifa and her party.
This was not that much of a surprise to me.
Healers of the Golden Spring sect were also taught combat alongside healing magic. Most healers trained in Tchakran sects were.
They had to be able to defend themselves while they worked as wandering healers.
And when they started wandering the eastern lands with their fellow sect disciples that acted as escorts, the healers were still given the leader position in the group.
Anything the healer said go.
Because the disciples of the Golden Spring sect prioritized the mission of their healers.
There were cases where the healer's escort was the one making the decisions given their personality and poor leadership skills.
But Meifa was not such healer.
Other than having strong leadership skills, Meifa was also the older sister of Gaoling.
So naturally she would be the leader of the two.
"The mage-swordswoman is still young by the land-dwellers' standard. A toddler to the Tsamudran. But she thinks and acts like a seasoned veteran. Her mind matches the intelligent dwarf's and the experienced Guntur warrior's. Paired with the wise elemental mage, their party is quite formidable among the Reserve Forces."
I had never heard anything but praises about Celeste.
She was definitely a commendable hero.
Her leadership skill was excellent for she was the head of the Megarra Household's knight order.
Celeste's swordsmanship was also the best in the Reserve Forces. And her enchantment skill was above average for a mage-swordsman.
Kiran, the Kutub shaman, testified about her prowess in battles and how she was able to make perfect use of his elemental magic and the strength of her comrades.
She reminded me of the loyal dedicated knights that used to serve as my father's aides.
I had been planning on giving Celeste some management duties once she officially become part of the Main Forces.
Jonah had been pushing me to hire more people to help with my work.
Celeste would be perfect for the role.
Not just her, but all of the advanced heroes including Meifa and Aludra.
We were definitely fortunate to be blessed with so many talented people.
"If the Main Forces need to bring ten parties to 25th floor, then I will recommend Master to bring these heroes with us."
I told Andaman.
He made an acknowledging nod to me.
"Understood, Vice-Master. I'll make sure to give these parties extra attention so they would be ready to join our ranks."
With Andaman's words, I had finished sorting out all the matters that needed to be dealt with currently.
The Reserve Forces started to re-solidify its ranks. And we managed to assess potential parties that the Main Forces might recruit.
Our preparation for the fifth Quintal Trial should go well.
[Party 1, come to the first floor square!]
Alam called us the next day.
It was time for the Raid Team to move on to the 24th floor.
After three weeks since clearing the 23rd floor for the first time, my comrades managed to reach level 24 and I got to level 23.
Master had also relayed all the information we needed to know about the upcoming trial
We should have no problem continuing the climb now.
[Main Dungeon, the current challenge floor is the 24th Floor.]
[The doors will open after ten seconds. Get ready!]
The bluish-white light transported my comrades to the middle of the Phirdaus jungle once more.
I immediately sensed the many presences of our enemies even before the mission window emerged.
[Floor 24]
[Mission Type – Subjugation]
[Objective – Annihilate the enemies!]
Another subjugation mission, as expected.
Master had clued us about what would happen next and my comrades had perfectly memorized the information.
But they would not need it for this outing.
"You don't mind if I handle everything by myself, yes?"
I asked my comrades.
Jonah nodded to me.
"We can always come back here to level up and gain experience. But it's more important that we learn about the upcoming Quintal Trial as soon as possible."
With the shepherd's words, I waved my hand.
Whoosh!
A towering wall of flames rose around us.
As I twirled my fingers, the firewall started rushing to one direction and formed into a giant spinning dome of flames.
I thrusted my hand and the fire dome expanded beyond us.
Unlike before, I did not let the fire stop.
I kept the fire advancing to our surroundings till it consumed everything within this floor.
CRASH!
KREEEE!
SHRIEEKK!
BOOM!!!
The sound of the trees collapsing and the monsters crying to their deaths echoed toward my comrades and I.
Charred corpses and scorched ground were left in the fire dome's path.
The farther I advanced the dome, the louder the cries and the larger the scorched zone turned to be.
Eventually the fire dome could not advance any further due to a strong barrier placed by the trial's system.
I deactivated the spell and let the fire dome dissipated into thin air.
No monster was left alive on the ground.
Everything had died, consumed by my flames.
But they were not all of our enemies in this mission.
KREEE!!!
[Juvenile Impiana Lv.29 x4]
Four large winged beasts rapidly descended from the sky.
I raised my hands toward them.
[Stop!]
The four Impianas suddenly froze midair upon my chant.
Dozens of shining black and white dots manifested before me, twinkling like stars.
I snapped my fingers and the twinkling dots sped to the Impianas as deadly aether rays.
The monsters were obliterated into tiny pieces in an instant.
Though aether magic consumed much mana, I figured out I could minimize the mana usage by reducing the aether particle into thin ray sheets.
It certainly proved effective in this battle.
[Stage Clear!]
[MVP – 'Serafina (★★★★)']
[Reward – 80,000G, Leather (A) x5, Beast Hide (A) x3, Hard Shell (A) x3, Poisonous Essence (Medium-Rank) x3, Clear Eye (Low-Rank) x1]
My comrades and I were immediately returned to the mirrored chamber upon clearing the mission.
Shanny chuckled while looking at me.
"I know you've become stronger. But to think you could easily clear a floor singlehandedly like that."
"Fina wouldn't have been able to save us on the 20th floor if she had not become at least this strong."
Jonah said.
Devisha nodded to him.
"She's definitely one of the strongest hero in the lobby. Probably even stronger than the 5-star Tsamudrans."
"Seeing how powerful Sister Serafina truly is, I now worry how I can be of help to the party."
Tarran said with a small frown.
I tapped the boy's shoulder to comfort him.
"Don't be silly. No matter how strong I've become, I will always need my comrades by my side. Especially on the next floor."
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered - 24 -]
24 floors cleared.
Our immediate obstacle had now been set.
[When I call you losers, come to the first floor square!]
Alam's voice echoed throughout the lobby as we left the rift of space-time.
She began calling a long series of names.
Nervous heroes soon started pouring out from the Evaluation Center and into the first floor square.
There was no mystery as to where they were going.
The 25th floor.
They would be scouting the fifth Quintal Trial.
[※Caution!]
[This mission requires five parties. If there aren't enough party members, use summoning to fill in the ranks!]
[Main Dungeon, the current challenge floor is the 25th Floor.]
[The doors will open after ten seconds. Get ready!]
[Mission is being recorded.]
[The recording will be saved.]