A number of new information was gathered by the Third Advanced Scouts in the previous scouting.
The third rearguard party basically had similar goals to the others, which was to reach certain place in the mission and guard it.
But there were more variations to the enemy formations now. Especially the ones used against the vanguard party.
It had been quite clear that the vanguard needed to be a very strong team.
They would be fighting the longest and the fiercest.
If the Main Forces were to challenge the Quintal Trial, the chosen vanguard needed to be the best party we ever had.
The new Party 6 was the closest group to that standard in the Fourth Advanced Scouts.
Rizarde was a capable knight with a swordsmanship level about as equal as Shanny and Devisha.
Anaiya was an elementalist that was skilled in two intermediate elemental arts.
Even if their 2-star members were equal to their 2-star peers in the other parties, Rizarde and Anaiya would still make Party 6 a cut above the rest of the current Reserve parties.
['Endro (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Livian (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Murall (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
20 minutes had passed in the mission.
Only injury and fear notifications so far. Nobody died or incapacitated yet.
Party 6 did better than all the previous vanguards at this point in the Quintal Trial.
As expected of a party with advanced heroes in their midst.
[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 6 (on the field), Party 7, Party 8, Party 9, Party 10]
The vanguard was definitely vital to the Quintal Trial.
But the rearguard was not without its importance as well.
The rearguard parties were supposed to reach somewhere in the mission and hold their ground there. Likely they were guarding something important to the trial.
From what I had been observing so far, the rearguard parties helped prolong the vanguard's survival.
Somehow the vanguard's circumstances improved every time a rearguard party reached their objective in the mission.
And from our last scouting attempt, the vanguard's situation would actually worsen should the rearguard failed to defend their objective or something along the line.
So there could be no weak link in this Quintal Trial.
Every party from the vanguard to all four rearguard needed to be capable enough to perform their role.
Else it would be the entire squad's annihilation.
[You have selected 'Party 10'.]
[Party Composition - 'Ruana (★★★)', 'Weirui (★★★)', 'Domaro (★★)', 'Hallu (★★)', 'Ammery (★★)']
[Would you like to deploy them?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
Interesting.
Sigyn did not choose the rearguard party based on numerical order like in the previous scouting attempt.
I could see why they were making the decision in this particular manner.
The first rearguard party would be fighting the longest amongst the rearguards, naturally.
It would be best to send a party with the best endurance.
Party 10, in particular, had Weirui as an enchanter.
The Tchakran could cast enchantments that would replenish his comrades' stamina and strength, allowing them to fight longer.
['Murall (★★)' is no longer in a state of fear.]
23 minutes passed in the mission.
Party 10 must had reached their rearguard objective and aided Party 6 in some way.
From the timing alone, the Fourth Advanced Scouts made better progress in this scouting attempt.
As they should be.
['Murall (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Rizarde (★★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Endro (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Murall (★★)' has fallen into the state of panic. All stats decreased by 50%!]
['Ammery (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Domaro (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
30 minutes had now passed.
The vanguard suffered some damage in this particular minute, as expected.
But nobody had died or been incapacitated yet in that party.
The first rearguard had also taken wounds, but they had not lost anyone too.
Party 6 and Party 10 were still whole and going on strong in the Quintal Trial.
A good sign.
[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 6 (on the field), Party 7, Party 8, Party 9, Party 10 (on the field)]
[You have selected 'Party 8'.]
[Party Composition - 'Gretna (★★★)', 'Zekhiel (★★★)', 'Raiven (★★)', 'Pruiss (★★)', 'Kalland (★★)']
[Would you like to deploy them?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
Another reinforcement deployed.
Sigyn definitely was being particular in choosing the rearguard parties.
It must have something to do with the different conditions that each rearguard had to face in order to reach their objective.
Party 8's Gretna and Zekhiel were both polearm wielders with good explosive strength.
Their party as a whole was suitable for breaking through extensive enemy ranks and holding down a defensive line.
There was a certain pattern of the enemy formations that Sigyn would show me during our mock battles.
If I did not misinterpret Sigyn's message, then that pattern would be used against the second rearguard group.
Party 8, in that case, would be capable enough to tackle those types of formation.
['Murall (★★)' is no longer in a state of panic.]
['Endro (★★)' is no longer in a state of fear.]
35 minutes passed in the mission.
The vanguard's situation turned for the better once more.
Likely the second rearguard unit had reached their objective.
It happened faster than when Party 13 did it in the previous attempt.
Other than the fact that Party 8 had advanced heroes in their midst, Sigyn must had picked the right group for the situation at hand.
They must have also deployed signals through the Tactical Post which aided the scouts in combat.
Sigyn should be able to anticipate most of the mission's risks by now.
We had sacrificed many scouts to discover all the dangers in this fourth Quintal Trial.
That being said, even if Master could warn the raiders of the possible dangers in the mission, how much of a help could those warnings be?
['Murall (★★)' is on the brink of death. His life is in danger!]
['Anaiya (★★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Livian (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Endro (★★)' has fallen into the state of panic. All stats decreased by 50%!]
['Rizarde (★★★)' has activated the Portal Stone!]
[A dimensional portal has been created!]
['Ruana (★★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Hallu (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Ammery (★★)' has fallen into the state of fear. All stats decreased by 30%!]
['Pruiss (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Kalland (★★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
40 minutes passed.
The Fourth Advanced Scouts had started to take considerable wounds.
But the vanguard, as expected, received the most blow.
One member of the vanguard party finally got incapacitated.
They had opened a dimensional portal to receive additional supplies.
[Summoning 'Advanced Health Potion (A)' x30!]
[Summoning 'Mana Potion (B)' x10!]
[Summoning 'Power Potion (B+)' x8!]
[Summoning 'Longbow Arrow (B)' x30!]
[Summoning…]
Small notification windows rapidly appeared before me.
Sigyn swiftly delivered all sorts of item and equipment that the vanguard needed.
Considering how freely Master was in giving out the supplies, they were committed to overcome the Quintal Trial.
This was not just a scouting attempt to them.
[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 6 (on the field), Party 7, Party 8 (on the field), Party 9, Party 10 (on the field)]
[You have selected 'Party 7'.]
[Party Composition - 'Jafar (★★★)', 'Marinne (★★★)', 'Andor (★★)', 'Katrin (★★)', 'Liesl (★★)']
[Would you like to deploy them?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
Master immediately chose the remaining party with a mage in their ranks.
The previous scouting ended after we deployed the third rearguard party.
Jafar's Party 7 would be crucial in progressing our climb effort in the twentieth floor.
In our mock battles, Master would always mobilize the supposed third rearguard to a vast clearing.
That would indicate their objective was located in a large square or a big open space.
Jafar would be able to use his elemental magic to the fullest in that type of battlefield.
[Summoning 'Exploding Arrow (B)' x30!]
[Summoning 'Wind Arrow (B-)' x30!]
[Summoning 'Exploding Longbow Arrow (A-)' x30!]
[Summoning 'Wind Longbow Arrow (B+)' x30!]
46 minutes passed in the mission.
Sigyn suddenly deployed many enchanted arrows for the vanguard.
The third rearguard probably had reached their objective and it altered the battle in some manner.
Through the expensive books Master gifted me, I predicted we would be fighting a powerful monster on the twentieth floor.
I wondered if our magic projectiles were effective against the creature.
With our current resources, it was difficult to improve their damage power.
So we had to hope they were enough.
For the scouts' sake, they had to be.