The next day.
[Party 1, gather up!]
The fairy summoned us to the square.
We were ready with our battle gears.
Thanks to our climb in the second and third floor, we acquired a good amount of leather as a reward.
The equipment workshop used this to make leather armors to our combatants as well as pouches belt to keep supplementary daggers.
If only we had potions, we could bring potions as well using the pouches.
The magic hall had the facility to produce the potions. We just did not have the ingredients yet.
Nevertheless, our party was now better-equipped than before.
I also had Gerrits drew some enchantment runes on the armor for some basic fortification and weight-reducing spells, the same as the ones casted on the shields and swords.
We could not produce equipment that could contain more enchantments yet.
On that note, I still kept wearing my magic-enhancement dress.
I did not wear the leather armor since I would not be fighting in the front line and I had ways to protect myself.
However, I did wear the pouches belt and kept a simple dagger with me just in case.
[Open the rift of space and time!]
The fairy opened the gate for us and we entered the mirrored chamber.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main dungeon]
[Floor conquered - 3 -]
"Are we going to the fourth floor?"
Shanny asked.
"Unlikely. We haven't been to the second and third that often yet."
I replied.
"It is best we spend more time to get stronger on the floors we've already climbed. After all, some of us haven't levelled up enough."
Jonah said.
He was right.
Jonah was level 4. Shanny and Trudy were level 3. While Cecily and I on level 2.
It would be best for all of us to at least reach level 4 like Jonah before we resumed climbing.
Before we could discuss about this further, we were engulfed in a bright light.
We then found ourselves in the familiar open grass plain.
The same five well-armed goblins from the third floor were waiting for us a few distance ahead.
This time however, I could see something hovering over their heads.
[Goblins Lv.5 x3] [Goblin Archers Lv.4 x2]
A dark screen similar to the status window detailing the goblins' number and levels.
Soon after, another rectangle screen appeared in front of me.
[Floor 3]
[Mission Type – Subjugation]
[Objective – Annihilate all the enemies!]
"Huh? What's this?"
I heard Shanny spoke up while staring at thin air.
Apparently I was not the only who could see it. The screen appeared on each of us.
"It says 'Floor 3.' That means we're in the third floor, right?"
Jonah said.
"'Mission type?' 'Objective?'"
Trudy read the screen with a frown.
I nodded, understanding what these rectangles were.
"It's telling us what we're supposed to do during the trial. I'm certain it has always been there in the previous floors, but back then we just could not see it yet like the status window."
I told my party.
"So in this floor we're supposed to kill the goblins, right?"
Cecily asked.
"Just like we've done before. Now assume formation!"
I ordered my party.
Jonah and Shanny immediately took place right in the front. Trudy followed behind them. While Cecily and I in the back.
We fought against the five goblins just like we did before.
This time, however, Trudy managed to kill her goblin on her own without Cecily's help.
Upon defeating the final monster, another hovering rectangle appeared.
[Stage Clear!]
['Shanny (★)', 'Trudy, (★)', 'Cecily (★★)' levelled up]
[MVP – 'Cecily (★★)']
[Reward – 3000G]
We were soon engulfed in a bright light and returned to the mirrored room.
I immediately turned to my comrades.
"Shanny, Trudy, Cecily, check your status window. Earlier there was a notice saying you guys levelled up."
They then opened their status window and checked their level as I asked.
Indeed, they had gone up a level.
Shanny and Trudy were now level 4 while Cecily on level 3.
Jonah checked his out of curiosity and found his experience point had gone up to 38/40.
He would soon level up too.
As for I…
[Serafina Magda Zeref (★★★★) Lv.2 (Exp 5/20)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 15]
[Intelligence: 68]
[Stamina: 13]
[Agility: 12]
[Skills: Telekinesis Lv.6, Intermediate Enchantment Lv.4, Intermediate Fire Magic Lv.5, Hands that Twist Space and Time Lv.2, Intermediate Research Lv.2, Intermediate Alchemy Lv.3, Mana Transfer Lv.3]
I could only gain two experience points. Two points from a single battle while the others gained much more than that.
Granted the trial did not pose much challenge to me.
Even still, it seemed it would take a while before I could gain another level.
I supposed the growth rate of a 4-star like me was slower than the 1-stars and 2-stars.
I just had to accept it and work hard if I wanted to become stronger. I needed to put extra effort than the others.
We left the mirrored room and spread out to the square.
As we got out, master had already called another party to enter the trial.
"Then I suppose we're going back to train. How about you, Serafina?"
Jonah asked me.
I smiled at him.
"I'm going to train as well."
"Really now? I thought you did not have a suitable place to train."
"Apparently the magic hall has a special chamber where a mage like me can practice their spells. So I'm heading in there now to make my spells stronger."
I discovered this by inspecting the large door at the back of the room in the magic hall.
"Incredible. Your fire magic is already so strong. It's hard to imagine they can become more powerful."
Now that it was brought up again, I had to think about how my comrades should deal with my fire magic.
If we wanted to maintain our formation in combat, they would need to withstand the heat of my fire.
It would be awful if they were impaired by the burn during battle.
I needed to spend some time today to think about it.
We then split up in the training ground.
Jonah and the others went on with their training there, while I continued to the magic hall.
Once inside, I went to my research table and completed my one-hour quota of research for the day.
Around that time, Tarran, the errand boy, delivered my meal and I took a break to have them.
After that, I went to the magic training chamber just at the back of the magic hall and began practicing my spells.
"Let's focus on cutting down the casting time for the Third Circle spell from 10 seconds to 5."
I whispered to myself as I circulated the mana around my palm.
A circle of flame emerged around me and I began casting.
[Maha Jwala]