The very next day.
[Serafina, Jonah, Shanny, Cecily, Gerson! Come to the square!]
The fairy summoned us.
Having spent a week without visiting the trial, we knew where we would be sent this time.
Larson's swift death yesterday indicated that the fifth floor would be our most difficult trial yet.
With my name called, I fixed my black and white magic dress and stepped out of the magic hall.
Already geared up with their weapons and armors, Jonah and the others welcomed me by the door.
I examined each of them.
Both Shanny and Gerson were equipped with their sword and shield.
Cecily had her bow and a quiver of arrows, as well as a dagger strapped to her waist.
Other than Jonah's usual long spear, four short spears were strapped on his back. These were the ones he used for throwing.
Gerrits and the craftsmen had also upgraded the leather armors they were wearing and added more protective attires on their joints and limbs.
Needless to say, all of Party 1's equipment had been enchanted with basic strengthening spells that would make them more durable.
"Ready to go, Serafina?"
The shepherd asked.
"Do I actually have a choice? What about the rest of you?"
"I don't think there's much else we can do to prepare, is there?"
"Now that's the spirit."
We then made our way to the square where the fairy was waiting.
[You guys here? Okay, let's start.]
The fairy flew over to the large stone gate and performed her usual exaggerated pose.
[Open the rift of space and time!]
The stone gate rifted apart by a shining bluish-white light, allowing us to pass through it.
Everybody else came to the square to see us off.
"You can do it, everyone!"
Trudy shouted from the front of the crowd.
As we made our way into the mirrored room, the fairy flew by us.
[Don't you guys dare die in there and leave me alone with these pathetic losers. That goes double for you, witch!]
Jonah smiled at her remark and nudged at me.
"She seems to like you."
"Then I suppose her constant rude remarks were just her love language."
The fairy then flew right over to me.
[By the way, master just levelled up the Hero Reaction Research a few level. Given your position as party leader and a 4-star, you might see something new in the mission.]
Hero Reaction Research. The fairy explained it to me once while I was researching.
She said it was the blessing that enabled us to see the status and mission window.
If that blessing was improved, I wondered what else it could do.
"What was she talking about?"
Jonah asked me.
"Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on the trial."
We entered the mirrored chamber and promptly readied our fighting stances.
I used this brief moment before our departure to address my comrades.
"Whatever happens, keep your calm and focus. You'll become more useless than a leaked bowl if you start panicking."
They did not reply to me verbally. Instead they gave me a subtle nod.
I could see the tension in their faces, dreading to see what challenge awaited us on the fifth floor.
I turned my gaze to the only shining mirror in the chamber.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered - 4 -]
It had been more than a month since we arrived in this forged land.
During that time, we climbed the tower up to the fourth floor.
There were 96 floors remaining till we reach the top. And today would be the day we made the number drop to 95.
A bright light soon engulfed us all.
I could feel the rushing sensation of being teleported somewhere else, sensing my surroundings transformed in a matter of seconds.
Whoosh….
The light around us dissipated and we found ourselves standing in the middle of a vast grass plains.
Unlike the first to the third floor, the sky above us was darkened with gray clouds. As if a storm was brewing. It was.
Drrr…
The ground beneath us shook for a moment.
Drrr…
It happened again.
Drrr… Drrrr… Drrr…. Drr…. Drrr... Drrr….
The tremor grew stronger and constant.
We had not figured out what was causing it yet.
"Over there!"
Shanny pointed out to the north of us.
Billowing to the sky on the horizon was a huge grayish-brown ash cloud.
A great rumbling sound was echoing from it.
"What is that?"
Cecily asked.
The ash cloud was too far for us to see what was making it. But we now understood it was also causing the ground trembled.
I waved my hand around, threads of mana manifested on the tip of my fingers.
[Magnifying Lens]
The threads flew up to my right eye and weaved into this translucent white circle. It allowed me to see things in great distance.
I looked through the magic lens and examined the base of the ash cloud.
"What..in the…world?"
I could not believe what I was seeing, it made me hesitate to speak it up.
"What's the matter, Serafina? What do you see?"
Jonah asked.
I took a deep breath and told my comrades what was causing the ash cloud to form.
"Ogres. Thousands of them."
The entire party was shocked upon the mention of ogres. They immediately looked to the ash cloud to verify the fact themselves.
Giant humanoid horned monsters each at least the size of a mature pine tree and the strength of ten elephants and the animosity worse than a starving bear.
Legions of such monster were on the northern horizon, charging towards us like an endless wave of calamity.
[Ogres Lv.15 x5679]
"W-what's the meaning of this?! Are we here to fight them?!"
Shanny shouted as she readied her sword.
"There's got to be a mistake! There's no way we can take all of them!"
Cecily cried.
"We were just fighting goblins and harpies all this time! How are we supposed to fight ogres?!"
Gerson joined the unrest.
Still keeping his calm, Jonah turned to me.
"What do you think, Serafina? Should we start forming a plan to face them? Maybe if the rest of us buy you time, you could wipe them out with your magic."
I shook my head to his proposal.
"Honestly, Jonah, even if I were to go all out and spend all of my mana, I could only take down a hundred, or a hundred-fifty, of them at the most."
Cecily was right. We could not take on this huge horde of monsters just by ourselves.
Stay calm. No need to panic.
Instead, assess the situation.
The trials so far had been fair to an extent.
Although the enemies turned stronger every time we go up a floor, the gap in strength between us and them had been fairly reachable.
I knew the fifth floor was going to be a special trial, but there was no way it would ask us to achieve the impossible.
There was no way.
Please, let it not be impossible.
It was at that moment the mission window appeared before us.
[Floor 5]
[Mission Type – Escape]
[Goal – Get out of the designated area!]