Having gathered the instructors, I spent some time explaining them their roles to come.
The Raid Team had cleared four Quintal Trials and reached the 21st floor of the tower.
Everyone in the Main Forces possessed level 9 basic combat skill or higher. Mostly higher.
We needed to ensure the skill gap between the heroes in the Main Forces and the Reserve Forces did not grow too wide.
The Quintal Trials kept requiring more and more parties the higher we climbed.
At some point, the mission would be too overwhelming for all the 4-stars and even the 5-star heroes that we would be forced to rely on the others in the Raid Team.
It would be problematic if the Main Forces had to absorb manpower from the Reserve Forces and none of the raiders could match our standard.
Master had given directives to handle this issue.
The first floor trainees were aimed to develop their basic combat skill till it reached between level 4 to 6.
While the second floor trainees would aim to reach between level 6 to 8.
And the third floor trainees, or the Reserve Forces, would then aim for the final goal, which was level 9 and 10, or evolving the skill to the intermediate level if possible.
Our first floor Training Ground instructors would ensure the first floor trainees reach the first milestone.
The instructors' level 8 and 9 proficiencies in basic combat skill should make this goal achievable.
They had actually been producing such results while they were still Apprentice Instructors.
The Main Forces would be in charge of training the Reserve Forces, or the third floor trainees, like we had been doing for the 20th floor climb.
I intended to make full use of our experienced heroes as well as the Garudas and the Tsamudrans for this effort.
Currently, the second floor trainees were left to train on their own as they were climbing through the 12th to the 19th floor of the Main Dungeon.
But we would need more capable instructors for the second floor. Instructors that had at least developed their combat skill to the intermediate level.
After all, second floor trainees were composed of trained 2-star heroes from the first floor as well as newly-summoned 3-stars.
Only such instructors would be able to provide the kind of training that this type of experienced trainees needed.
It was not possible to appoint the second floor instructors anytime soon.
Any hero that was currently talented enough to develop intermediate skill would immediately be recruited to the Raid Team.
That was why we needed the first floor instructors to do their best with the first floor trainees for now.
If they could push the trainees to reach level 6 or even 8 in basic combat skill, it would be much easier for the Main Forces to train them once they reached the third floor and joined the Reserve Forces.
It was such a high standard.
I doubted we would have any first floor trainee to succeed in reaching that goal.
But I told the first floor instructors to try anyway.
After the 20th floor was cleared, a lot of raider trainees tried to transfer to the support stations in the lobby.
They were scared of being sacrificed as advanced scouts like the previous Reserve parties.
Initially only failed trainees in the Evaluation Center would experience that fate.
But Master clearly had sentenced the same fate to the Reserve raiders as well.
Because of that, most trainees felt it was pointless to train and join the Raid Team.
They thought they could never become strong enough to be part of the Main Forces and remain stuck in the Reserve Forces, where they could end up as advanced scouts instead.
The trainees had no choice, however.
We were ultimately an army. Sigyn's soldiers.
Just because the Raid Team were pampered with good treatment on the third and the fourth floor did not mean we were safe from deaths.
The highest risk fell upon the Raid Team, in fact.
It was up to the raiders to challenge and overcome the dangerous missions of the Quintal Trials.
All heroes must simply accept the fact that we were not here simply just to survive.
We were here to win battles. Battles which could save our world.
That was the forged land's purpose.
And every raider must be willing to risk their life for that mission. Just like all the heroes in the Main Forces had been doing all this time.
Master had limited the number of supporters in the lobby after noticing the mass transfer requests.
So we fortunately still had many heroes training to become raiders.
But as expected, morale had considerably dropped among the trainees.
Trudy and the other instructors reported to me about this during our meeting.
Most heroes trained just because they had no other choice.
They were no longer motivated to really improve their skills to the fullest of their potential.
I already noticed this from the report Jonah compiled for me as well.
That was why I had come up with a solution.
We had opened the recruitment for the Exploration Team. Explorer heroes that would travel to the Exploration Dungeon and collect resources and information for the lobby.
Our previous Exploration Team was wiped out, except a select few, while trying to find the Advent Stone inside the dangerous ruins in Seraphold.
So we needed to replace them.
Especially since there were new regions added to the Exploration Dungeon after we cleared the 20th floor.
All the heroes in the lobby had known about the Exploration Dungeon.
Everybody wanted to go there since they would be able to visit Dunia again, even though just briefly.
So the explorer station would certainly be sought after by many heroes in the lobby.
We had also reopened recruitment for the first floor instructor stations.
Master had been summoning 20 to 30 regular heroes each day.
Our lobby population was already past the halfway point toward the one thousand mark.
We would always need more instructors to keep up with the influx of trainees.
This was also one of the sought after station in the lobby.
Though they would still climb the tower to level up, instructors would not need worry of participating in the Quintal Trials nor venturing dangerous ruins in the Exploration Dungeon.
Instructors were certainly the safest combatant roles.
Many raider candidates had realized this as well.
They would do anything to become either an explorer or an instructor.
And so I had set strict requirements for the two positions.
Those who wished to apply for the explorer or instructor station would need to be at least level 23 3-star heroes.
That would push them to climb the tower beyond the 19th floor and become third floor trainees, joining the Reserve Forces in the process.
They would also need to develop their basic combat skill to at least level 8 and develop other required supporting skills, depending on the designated roles.
So only heroes with the proper skills would qualify for the positions.
The stations would be limited as well to prevent all the trainees from transferring to support duties.
Should there be too many qualified heroes for the limited positions, then we would hold competition to decide the assignment.
So the heroes might even have to develop their skills further just to outperform their competitors and be recruited.
All in all, the recruitment program should motivate the trainees to improve themselves.
They would work hard to secure those safe and comfortable roles.
And the current state of the climb demanded us to expand our supporting force.
So it was a good plan in the end.
We would risk losing some of our talented trainees this way.
But from my experience in the forged land, the heroes that were truly talented enough to fulfill those strict requirements, half of them would not mind joining the Raid Team.
In fact, their type would rather experience the thrill of the Quintal Trials' danger instead of the quiet stability the lobby provided.
There simply existed that sort of people.
Anyway, with the matters regarding the trainees solved, I could now take care of the final urgent issue that had to be handled immediately.
"Jonah, have everyone gathered?"
I called the shepherd through the communication blessing.
[Except for the Garudas and the Tsamudrans, everyone in the Main Forces have assembled in Party 1's mansion.]
He replied.
"Good. I'll be there in a moment."
The lobby was shaping up pretty well after the fourth Quintal Trial.
Jonah and the others had done wonderful job initiating the recovery.
It was time I do the same for the Main Forces.