['Jaquil (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Edvard (★★)' is on the brink of death. His life is in danger!]
['Arram (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Dellanie (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Karolyn (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Nubai (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
30 minutes passed.
As expected, something bad happened to the vanguard in this exact timing.
They were now left with three active members. One of them had died, the other incapacitated.
The first rearguard party had started to take some damage as well.
But the casualty rate was still lower than the previous squad.
We were still making positive progress in this scouting attempt.
[Field formation is complete!]
[Master, the rearguard can now be deployed.]
[Extend a helping hand to the heroes in distress!]
[Choose the rearguard.]
[Designated Parties - Party 11 (on the field), Party 12 (on the field), Party 13, Party 14, Party 15]
[You have selected 'Party 13'.]
[Party Composition - 'Izzurel (★★)', 'Garros (★★)', 'Mantlar (★★)', 'Petri (★★)', 'Eranna (★★)']
[Would you like to deploy them?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
The third party, the second rearguard was now deployed.
The previous scouting ended when we reached around this point in the trial.
Hopefully we would be able to progress further.
['Edvard (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Arram (★★)' has fallen into the state of panic. All stats decreased by 50%!]
['Pammo (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Nubai (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Tovhan (★★)' is on the brink of death. His life is in danger!]
35 minutes passed.
Three members left in the vanguard party. Four in the first rearguard, with one of them incapacitated.
In the previous scouting, the vanguard only had one member left and two in the first rearguard at this point in the mission.
The Third Advanced Scouts had been supplied with the Power Potions.
We did not manage to create stronger solutions since we had used a good portion of the supply to treat Party 6's members.
But we managed to create enough to supply each of the scout with three vials.
With those potions, they should be able to withstand the Quintal Trial even with reduced number.
['Pammo (★★)' is no longer in a state of fear.]
['Dellanie (★★)' is no longer in a state of fear.]
['Arram (★★)' is no longer in a state of panic.]
38 minutes passed.
The situation improved with the vanguard once more.
Party 18, the second rearguard party, must had reached their objective.
I still did not know what the rearguards were aiming to do in the mission. But I assumed their actions aided the vanguard in some way.
The scouting was still going.
The members of the Third Advanced Scouts were still holding on.
How long would they last, however?
['Arram (★★)' is on the brink of death. His life is in danger!]
['Dellanie (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Zemirel (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Sagran (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Tovhan (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Eranna (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Petri (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
40 minutes passed in the mission.
Three members left in the first rearguard party.
The second rearguard had started to fold under the pressure.
While one of the three remaining members of the vanguard party had been incapacitated.
Another significant event must had occurred with the vanguard, just as it had happened in the first 20-minute and the 30-minute mark.
The Third Advanced Scouts had begun to take heavy casualties.
But more reinforcement should also be deployed at this time.
[Field formation is complete!]
[Master, the rearguard can now be deployed.]
[Extend a helping hand to the heroes in distress!]
[Choose the rearguard.]
[Designated Parties - Party 11 (on the field), Party 12 (on the field), Party 13 (on the field), Party 14, Party 15]
[You have selected 'Party 14'.]
[Party Composition - 'Jerraldie (★★)', 'Yulien (★★)', 'Arun (★★)', 'Sidra (★★)', 'Shavro (★★)']
[Would you like to deploy them?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
The fourth party, the third rearguard.
We had finally made an actual progress with the fourth Quintal Trial.
The scouting had never reached this far into the mission.
Everything that happened beyond this point would be new experiences. New dangers.
['Zemirel (★★)' is on the brink of death. Her life is in danger!]
['Karolyn (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Sagran (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
43 minutes passed in the mission.
The first rearguard party had taken heavy losses.
They were practically left with just one able member.
Would this impact the rest of the parties?
['Arram (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Dellanie (★★)' is on the brink of death. Her life is in danger!]
['Pammo (★★)' has fallen into the state of panic. All stats decreased by 50%!]
The situation immediately worsened with the vanguard party. Right after the first rearguard's occurrences.
We had not yet reached the interval where the major event was supposed to happen.
What just happened with the first rearguard must had affected the vanguard's condition.
['Garros (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Mantlar (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Eranna (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Arun (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Shavro (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
44 minutes passed.
Party 13 had taken casualty. Party 14 was likely still struggling to reach their objective.
The Third Advanced Scouts remained fighting hard in this fourth Quintal Trial.
But they had taken a fatal blow.
A wound they could not recover from.
['Dellanie (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Pammo (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 11 has been annihilated.]
[The vanguard has been eliminated.]
[Mission Failed!]
[Massacre!]
['Sagran (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Zemirel (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 12 has been annihilated.]
['Izzurel (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
['Garros (★★)' has returned to...]
['Mantlar (★★)' has returned to…]
['Petri (★★)' has returned to...]
[Party 13 has been annihilated.]
['Jerraldie (★★)' has...]
[...]
[Party 14 has been annihilated.]
[You Lose!]
Another failed attempt.
We managed to send four parties this time and gained more information regarding the twentieth floor.
But we also lost four parties in the process.
20 heroes lost in this scouting attempt.
If we totaled the number from the First Advanced Scouts, we had sacrificed eleven parties to scout the twentieth floor.
55 pawns had been sacrificed to the fourth Quintal Trial.
And that was discounting the number of scouts from the Evaluation Center.
Gains and losses.
The success of our climb effort relied on the balance of the two.
The way we should strive to achieve the most gains with minimum losses.
Utilizing what we had gained to produce victory. Making sure every loss counted.
Such was the ways of the forged land.
[Serafina?]
Alam suddenly appeared before me.
I turned my gaze to the mock battle map.
"Does Master wants to continue scouting the twentieth floor? Outside the Fourth Advanced Scouts, there are only two parties left in the Reserve Forces. We would need to recruit parties from the second floor if Master wants to try again."
The fairy shook her head.
[No. Master has disbanded the Third Advanced Scouts. There is a new order for you.]
I raised my eyebrows upon her words.
After looking at the fairy closely, I just realized she was holding something behind her.
"What does Master wishes to do with me?"
[Master has made their decision.]
The fairy then presented me with the Advent Stone that the Exploration Team brought back with great sacrifices of their own.
[Serafina, it is time for you to obtain your first seal.]