After the celebration for the fourth Quintal Trial's victory, the entire lobby continued working for the climb the very next day.
Master immediately approved the new party assignment for the Main Forces.
But they had not made us frequent the 21st floor yet.
Currently, Master was still focused on rebuilding the Reserve Forces.
They were rushing the second floor trainees to climb toward the 19th floor so they could move on to the 21st and be promoted to 3-star.
Master was also putting a lot of attention toward the parties with the new advanced heroes.
I suspected Sigyn wanted them to climb toward the 25th floor alongside the Main Forces.
And for that reason, the members of the Main Forces were currently spending our time training.
I, myself, had a lot that I needed to work on.
Comprehending the range of my new abilities was my current goal.
[Serafina Magda Zeref (★★★★) Lv.18 (Exp 16/150)]
[Class: Archsaint]
[Strength: 13/13]
[Intelligence: 132/132]
[Stamina: 35/35]
[Agility: 20/20]
[Skills: Dominion Lv.1, Heaven's Eye Lv.2, Alchemist Hands Lv.1, Divine Touch Lv.1, Sorcerer Soul Lv.1, Myriad Elemental Arts Lv.1, Judgment Rain Lv.1, Destructive Void Arts Lv.1, Ars Magna Lv.1, Demonslayer Lv.1]
I gained a lot of new skills on the 20th floor.
It would be important for me to understand how much stronger I had become because of them.
For starters, I was promoted from Mage class into Archsaint.
Alam could not inform me much about this particular class.
But apparently the Archsaint class gave me access to high-level skills that heroes could only get after they became 5-star or even 6-star.
I was certainly aware that my mind and body had been extremely enhanced.
Like a huge restraint had been removed and I was now free to push myself to greater extent.
I intended to test out my new abilities. So I had put myself inside my private training hall under the Vice-Master's office.
After spending six hours in the training hall, I managed to get a good grasp of my capability.
The Dominion skill combined my telekinesis and compulsion magic while enhancing their effects extremely.
It gave me greater control over the object or living being I was possessing.
Meanwhile, the Heaven's Eye was a greatly evolved version of my Mana Detection skill.
The spell's mana-efficiency was improved significantly that I could constantly expand my detection field all over the lobby with barely any effort.
Not only that, my mana was also able to capture a lot more information on the environment they were detecting.
All the shapes, sound, smell, colors, everything. It felt like I was there.
The Heaven's Eye skill practically allowed me to have eyes and ears wherever I spread my mana to.
I exercised this particular skill by observing my comrades training.
Jonah and the others were currently practicing in the shared training facility on the fourth floor.
I had summoned the Garudas and the Tsamudrans for the training session.
Right now, the raiders were having sparring matches among themselves.
Jonah was dueling against the Tsamudran Fandina while Shanny against her brother, Wallack.
You would think that because they lived underwater, the Tsamudrans would not be so skilled on the surface.
But they just proved as fearsome as how 4-star heroes would.
The Tsamudrans moved as fast as a lycanthrope. They were as tough as a Keeper. And they were as strong as a Near-Kin.
If the Tsamudrans were this formidable on the surface, how much more lethal were they underwater?
Clang!
Fandina moved with swift and precise steps.
Every thrust she launched with her silver trident was fatal if undefended.
The Tsamudran did not hold back even in training.
So Jonah faced his sparring partner intensely as if he was back in the Quintal Trial.
Fandina triumphed over the shepherd in terms of everything. Be it stats or skills.
But this was not the first time Jonah faced an overwhelming opponent.
He eventually found a small gap in Fandina's defense.
The shepherd then quickly thrusted his spear as hard as he could toward that gap.
['Jonah (★★★)'s Insight has levelled up to level 7!]
['Jonah (★★★)'s Thrust Charge has levelled up to level 6!]
Being a 4-star hero, Fandina saw the counterattack coming and managed to block Jonah's powerful assault.
But Jonah did not expect for the attack to go through.
The counterattack toward Fandina's gap in defense was not intended as a winning move.
It was simply a stunt to turn the tide for Jonah and allowed him to work his tactic toward victory.
In a duel between experienced warriors of this level, one must think ahead on how to win the fight.
[Skill Awakened!]
['Jonah (★★★)'s Basic Spearmanship has evolved into Intermediate Spearmanship!]
As Jonah and Fandina kept battling to overcome each other, Wallack did not intend to give Shanny the opportunity to try.
The huge Tsamudran barraged his silver trident onto Shanny's shield and pushed her throughout the dueling ground.
What strength!
I had never seen someone moved such a heavy weapon so rapidly like that. Each thrust also struck like a battering ram.
The Tsamudran's power was certainly overwhelming for Shanny.
But my comrade had faced stronger opponents before.
Suddenly Shanny shifted her stance and pulled her shield closer to her body.
Clang!
Wallack struck the shield with incredible force which shook the air around them.
But Shanny was not pushed back.
Her new stance enabled her to absorb the impact entirely and completely held her ground.
['Shanny (★★★)' has obtained the skill, 'True Block'!]
Suddenly Shanny flexed her entire body, put all the strength she could muster toward her shield, and pushed it against her opponent.
Clang!
Wallack was thrown back several steps by the force Shanny created.
['Shanny (★★★)' has obtained the skill, 'Force Repel'!]
The former maid then launched her counterattack.
She rapidly sent out barraging strokes with her sword to the Tsamudran.
Wallack tried to pressure her back by counterattacking with powerful trident thrusts.
But Shanny blocked each assault perfectly.
Even some of Wallack's attacks would only bounce from Shanny's shield and turned the momentum against him.
It suddenly became difficult for the Tsamudran to overwhelm my comrade with pure strength.
['Shanny (★★★)'s True Block has levelled up to level 2!]
['Shanny (★★★)'s Force Repel has levelled up to level 2!]
['Shanny (★★★)'s Basic Sword-Shield Technique has evolved into Intermediate Sword-Shield Technique!]
Meanwhile, in another dueling chamber of the training facility, Devisha and Tarran were sparring against the 4-star Garuda Priestess.
Now that Tarran had joined Party 1, he was practicing together with the other members to improve their teamwork.
Our new archer launched multiple arrows in quick succession toward the Priestess.
The 4-star Garuda parried them all away with her large wings that were as tough as steel.
Devisha rushed in with her scimitars. She successfully got herself close to the Garuda.
Clang!
The Priestess parried the blow with the sharp claws extending from her fingers.
Suddenly the two scimitars in Devisha's hand vanished in a flash of light and got replaced with a huge halberd.
Devisha had adopted her new fighting style which utilized various weapons.
Thanks to her enchanted ring, the Tsahanam assassin was able to shift between the weapons connected to the magic artifact.
That skill significantly improved her versatility as a combatant.
No matter the type of enemy Devisha was facing, she could always adapt her tactic according to her opponent's strengths and weaknesses.
Clang!
Devisha used her polearm to pressure the Garuda.
She made the Priestess constantly moving around.
This stunt allowed Tarran to find the openings he needed.
Swoosh!
A barrage of arrows flew the Garuda's way.
The Priestess spun around while flaring her giant wings, pushing Devisha away while also parrying off the arrows.
Suddenly the 4-star pulled two feathers from her wings.
A soft light engulfed the feathers and they elongated into hardened sharp blades.
It was an ability unique to the Garudas.
They could form weapons using their wings' feathers.
The more skilled the Garuda, the more variety of weapons they could create and the deadlier they were in handling them.
Kinnara's wings quickly enveloped her body in peculiar manner and hardened like steel, covering the Garuda with a robust armor.
It was then that the Garuda pounced on Devisha with her pair of feather blades.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The Priestess's rapid assaults with the blades started to overwhelm Devisha.
My comrade shifted back to her scimitars so she could keep up with the pace.
But the Priestess joined the feather blades together and they transformed into a double sword, changing her attacking pattern entirely.
Swoosh!
Tarran sent another barrage of arrows to aid Devisha.
The 4-star unveiled part of her peculiar armor and parried the arrows with just one of her wings.
She then flapped that flared wing and launched dozens of feathers toward Tarran.
Each of the darting feather was as tough and as sharp as daggers.
Instead of dodging, Tarran stood his ground and fired arrows toward the feathers' trajectories.
He was equipped with Darius's bow and enchanted ring. So Tarran could summon as much arrows as he wanted.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
['Tarran (★★★)'s Rapid Fire has levelled up to level 9!]
['Tarran (★★★)'s Eagle Eye has levelled up to level 8!]
['Tarran (★★★)'s Basic Archery has evolved into Intermediate Archery!]
The boy managed to intercept all the feathers coming directly toward him.
He immediately launched more arrows as counter volleys.
Swoosh!
Kinnara parried the projectiles off with her flared wing and sent more feather darts back to Tarran.
She then pulled more feathers from her open wing and created another double sword.
The 4-star overwhelmed Devisha even more with the second weapon.
Even so, my comrade gradually adjusted to the Garuda's speed.
Devisha had to shift between many weapons in just mere seconds, but she was able to prevent any attack from coming through.
['Devisha (★★★)'s Basic Integrated Weapon Arts has levelled up to level 10!]
['Devisha (★★★)' has obtained the skill, 'Insight'!]
['Devisha (★★★)'s Insight has levelled up twice to level 3!]