[Floor 17]
[Mission Type – Exploration]
[Objective– Investigate the unknown area!]
Master only made us frequent the sixteenth floor until I levelled up once while Jonah and Shanny on the brink of their threshold.
It only took us three more attempts, over one-week period.
Sigyn did not seem to want us linger too long on the regular floors.
I supposed it was a reasonable decision given how easily we cleared the sixteenth floor.
"We're approaching the intersection. Get ready!"
I told my comrades as we were traversing through the dark labyrinth-like passageways.
In this mission, we were tasked to journey through the large cavern we found on the sixteenth floor.
It was not a peculiar trial.
We had done exploration missions before.
But there was something new in this trial that made our experience in the seventeenth floor different from the others.
[Enemies Inbound!]
[Enemy Forces: Medium]
[Party Instruction: Confront and immediate subjugation!]
Notification windows emerged in front of my comrades and I.
They were sent by Master through the Tactical Post.
And just as Sigyn warned, I soon detected through my mana field a group of twelve men approaching from our west.
However, even without the signal and my detection field, I already knew the enemies were coming.
[Pirate Lv.15 x11]
[Pirate Captain Lv.18 x1]
As soon as our party arrived at the four-way intersection, our enemies were already dashing fast toward us from the western path.
"Kill them quickly!"
I ordered my comrades as I sent a small fireball toward the hostiles.
Boom!
The fire killed four pirates and broke the enemy formation.
I could not dare cast a larger spell given how enclosed the space we were in.
Seeing my initial assault, Darius raised his longbow and sent a large arrow flying toward the scattered enemies.
Swoosh!
The arrow pierced through three pirates at once.
Jonah, Shanny, and Devisha immediately rushed forward and killed the remaining frantic enemies.
Once the battle concluded, I observed the bloodied corpses lying on the cavern's rocky ground, especially the ones killed by Darius.
Three enemies killed with a single longbow arrow. It was not even enchanted.
The projectile was only powered by the workshops' craftsmanship and Darius's Strongbow skill.
Ulrica did well in improving the potential of our archers.
I was really glad the 4-stars arrived to the forged land.
There was someone else that I appreciated their presence for.
[Multiple Enemy Groups Inbound!]
[Enemy Directions: West (Medium), East (Large), North (Large)]
[Party Instruction: Proceed south!]
Upon the emergence of the notification windows, a red arrow sign appeared on one of the intersection paths.
I smiled at that sight.
Another signal from Sigyn.
I was truly grateful for our Master's presence in the trial.
To my pleasant surprise, Sigyn was able to read the battlefield and strategize competently for the situation at hand.
Sigyn had forewarned me of the seventeenth floor through our mock battles.
I already knew enemies would be approaching from the west earlier even before we started the mission.
And I also knew everything that would happen next.
All thanks to Sigyn, our Master.
"We'll move to the next checkpoint as planned. Darius, prepare your explosives!"
I told my comrades as we dashed through the southern route.
As we ran along the cavern's labyrinth passageways, more arrow signs emerged and pointed us the way we should take.
Sigyn had scouted the seventeenth floor ahead of Party 1's attempt.
Master knew the places we needed to go.
And I trusted them to possess that information.
While we were following Sigyn's instructions, my detection field began sensing clusters of presences from our north, west, and east.
They must be the enemies Sigyn warned us about.
Around then, in addition to the arrow signs, our party began to encounter numerous pathways marked with cross-shaped signs.
Considering they did not just manifest upon our arrival, Sigyn must had already installed them there since the beginning of the trial.
The fairy did say more penalties would be applied if tactical instructions were issued later in the mission.
These were the strategy Sigyn had predetermined for us to use.
A strategy that I had been made aware of even before we were deployed to the seventeenth floor.
There were notification windows emerging when we laid our gaze on those new signs.
[Field Instruction: Blockade]
[Description: Seal the pathway!]
Upon Sigyn's signals, I turned to our archer while preparing a spell.
"Darius, now!"
The two of us began sending fireballs and explosives toward the marked pathways and blocked them using the rubbles that fell through the triggered cave-ins.
Our party proceeded to journey along the underground labyrinth, while Darius and I kept blocking several paths that Sigyn marked for us.
I understood Sigyn's intention.
From what my detection field gathered for me, those marked paths were shortcuts that the enemy reinforcements could use to reach our party.
With those paths blocked, the reinforcements needed to take more roundabout ways, delaying their arrivals to our position.
And it was for a good reason Sigyn wanted to delay our enemies.
[Large Enemy Forces Ahead!]
[Party Instruction: Assume charging formation!]
Once Sigyn delivered their warning, we caught sight the end of the cavern.
The mouth of the cave was fortified with dark stone walls and large wooden gates.
Guarding the exit was a large group of mercenary-looking warriors accompanied with spikes-collared dogs.
[Pirate Lv.15 x25]
[War Hound Lv.12 x12]
[Pirate Captain Lv.18 x5]
The enemies were laid out just the way Sigyn showed me in our mock battles.
And I already had a plan to counter their formation.
[Manah Vinashah]
I casted as we approached the enemy ranks.
My mana spread like a radiating wave from my palm and reached the war hounds.
Upon contact with my mana, the hounds suddenly turned against their masters and leaped on them.
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Compulsion Magic has levelled up to level 2!]
Some of the unsuspecting pirates were immediately mauled to death by the mind-controlled hounds.
The rest of the enemies quickly broke their formation to kill the hijacked mutts.
The chaos provided a chance for our party to deliver a second ambush.
Crash! Boom!
Darius, Jonah, and I attacked the pirates with our projectiles and spells.
Most of the mind-controlled hounds were also killed by our heavy assaults. But we managed to kill most of the enemies as well.
Those that managed to avoid the barrage were immediately struck down by Shanny and Devisha.
Once we killed the last of the enemies, I approached the wooden gates to inspect it.
The mission was to explore.
I assumed we needed to see what lied beyond this cavern.
A barrier was preventing me from getting closer to the gates, however.
We had reached the end of the path, but the mission was not over yet.
Perhaps we still needed to do something in order to proceed further.
Right when I thought of that, notification windows appeared before us.
[Large Enemy Forces Inbound!]
[Party Instruction: Assume defensive formation!]
My detection field sensed enemies numbered around fifty approaching our location.
Since we had blocked several pathways leading to the end of the cavern, the entire enemy reinforcement had to go through the single narrow path that our party used.
It was an outcome that Sigyn had deliberately arranged for us.
[Pirate Lv.15 x30]
[War Hound Lv.12 x15]
[Pirate Captain Lv.18 x5]
Upon the sight of the enemies, I casted my spell.
[Maha Jwala]
A great pillar of flame rush forth toward the narrow path.
The pirates had no space to dodge the flame. They were forced to confront the magic assault head on.
The blazing stream of fire decimated all the enemies charging through there.
Once the enemies were defeated, I extended my detection field toward the wooden gates.
There was no barrier blocking our path anymore.
I gestured my comrades to take positions in front of the gates and be prepared for more enemies.
My detection field sensed nothing beyond the gates but a large opening.
The moment I opened the large wooden doors with telekinesis, bluish-white light began to engulf us.
[Stage Clear!]
['Jonah (★★)', 'Shanny (★★)', 'Devisha (★★★)' levelled up!]
[MVP – 'Serafina (★★★★)']
[Reward – 60,000G, Iron Ore (B) x5]
Before the light completely engulfed my vision, I caught sight of the garrisoned field beyond the gates.
I could only guess that was where the pirates had been emerging from.
Once we returned to the mirrored chamber, I turned my gaze to the mirror on the furthest left, as usual.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered - 17 -]
We had climbed another floor.
The Raid Team was one floor closer to the fourth Quintal Trial and, also, the top of the tower.
One floor closer to Dunia's salvation.
"That trial went really well, considering it was our first attempt."
Jonah commented as we returned to the first floor square.
Darius nodded.
"Master's orders contributed to the success. I doubt we would be able to clear the mission so smoothly without their instructions."
"Our Master was a good leader. Their strategy in the trial was clear and effective."
Devisha stated.
"I guess we won't have anything to worry about moving forward. Master will prepare us for every danger in the missions."
Shanny said with a relieved smile.
I, of course, had told my comrades about the Tactical Post. Otherwise they would be confused by the signs Master presented in the trial.
They were right in attributing our success to Sigyn.
Our strategy for the seventeenth floor mission was, indeed, formulated by Master.
It was something that I figured out after having more than fifty mock battles with them.
After Sigyn showed me all the formations and tactics the enemies would use, I decided to use them against Sigyn in the mock battles.
It was certainly the right move.
Once I copied the enemy's tactics, Sigyn immediately showed me a strategy to counter them.
The exact strategy that we used in the mission.
That was when I discovered Sigyn's true tactical skills.
True to their title, Sigyn was the Master of the Forged Land.
I had been in a long losing streak ever since Sigyn started using their own strategy in the mock battles.
What an incredible mind…
[Davan, Suril, Tarik, Elna, Mado! Come to the first floor square!]
The fairy suddenly shouted throughout the lobby.
Soon, five nervous people walked out of the Evaluation Center and entered the first floor's War Storage to equip themselves with basic weapons and armors.
Once they were finally geared for battle, the fairy rushed them into the rift of space-time.
[Main Dungeon, the current challenge floor is the 18th Floor.]
[The doors will open after ten seconds. Get ready!]
Sigyn was sending another scouting party.
They were investigating what sort of challenge awaited their army of heroes next.
Seeing our success in both the sixteenth and the seventeenth floor, I had no fear for our next mission.
We would be ready.
Our Master, Sigyn, would make us so.