Upon the otherworldly beautiful eastern man's words, the two other mages directed their gazes toward me.
The cream-haired girl looked at me with a sideway glance, a slightly mocking smile was hanging on her lips.
"Serafina, right? When they told me there was another female mage in this place, I was slightly worried."
She studied my face and the rest of my appearance and then chuckled softly.
"Turns out I was overreacting."
The girl murmured under her breath before she took another bite of her biscuit.
She kept her voice low but she knew I heard it.
I imagined a term in my mind and a window appeared before me. It was perceivable only to my eyes.
[Vallerynne Reas Zalostin (★★★) Lv.2 (Exp 3/20)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 6/6]
[Intelligence: 35/35]
[Stamina: 7/7]
[Agility: 8/8]
[Skills: Basic Alchemy Lv.3, Basic Enchantment Lv.1, Golem Summoning Lv.1]
A noble, was she?
Though I had never heard of the Zalostin family. Perhaps a minor noble or a fallen one.
The girl had a skill in alchemy. She was an enchanter as well.
The two went hand-in-hand actually. It was almost impossible to have either skill without the other.
Apparently she had knowledge with golem-making too.
I myself only learned golem-making after I arrived to the forged land.
So I was curious to see what this girl could offer from her experience.
"So you're finally back, huh? It should be nice to have another person to share the workload with. I could use more naptime."
The disheveled middle-aged man grumbled as he forked another pork cutlet.
[Matrias Siltram (★★★) Lv.2 (Exp 4/20)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 8/8]
[Intelligence: 36/36]
[Stamina: 6/6]
[Agility: 7/7]
[Skills: Intermediate Lightning Magic Lv.2]
An elemental mage.
And not just any elemental mage.
He specialized in a sub-element. Lightning.
It was quite a rare talent.
Mages who could produce lightning were sought out like diamonds throughout Dunia.
He would be a great addition to the raid team.
But even a rare sub-elemental mage like Matrias could not really compare to the eastern man next to him.
"From what the people of the forged land told me, I assume you're like a general to master's army of heroes. Does that mean we have to bow down to our knees and obey you?"
Army of heroes.
A phrase to describe the people summoned to the lobby.
That particular term was rare even here in the forged land.
I heard it from the voice which gave me the opportunity to serve master and save Damai.
I had not repeated that term very often ever since I arrived here.
The reason why this eastern man knew such term was simple.
[Yuxia Laogang (★★★★) Lv.2 (Exp 1/20)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 9/9]
[Intelligence: 65/65]
[Stamina: 8/8]
[Agility: 7/7]
[Skills: Intermediate Fire Magic Lv.2, Intermediate Earth Magic Lv.1, Basic Lava Magic Lv.8, Basic Wind Magic Lv.3, Basic Water Magic Lv.7, Basic Ice Magic Lv.5]
He was an elementalist
A mage who possessed mastery over multiple elements.
A sub-elemental mage was a rare talent.
But a multi-elemental mage was even rarer. A one in three million people rarity.
Yuxia was not just any elementalist either.
Not only did he have affinity with all the prime elements, rare even among elementalists, the man was also compatible with two sub-elements.
And I could sense from his mana radiation that he was also compatible with other sub-elements still.
The man was definitely one of Dunia's most talented mages of the past few centuries.
Almost comparable to Yuriana Bromstead and Crown Princess Samesta themselves.
No wonder he was a 4-star.
Had he truly mastered all of the elements, he would probably end up here as a 5-star.
I wondered why I had never heard of him before.
A mage with such otherworldly talent would surely be making a name for himself throughout the continent.
The Tower of Circle would make sure of that. They never let a talent go to waste.
Yuxia went on as he stirred his tea.
"Well I'm just going to say this right ahead. I won't act like your slave just because you arrived here first."
He raised his teaspoon and pointed it straight at me.
"I was summoned here the same way you did. I was chosen to come here just like you were too. I accepted the same contract you agreed on. There shouldn't be a difference to our standings."
Of course, being a 4-star meant that he recalled his conversation with the 'voice.'
He must had heard I was a 4-star just like him and deduced that my summoning experience was the same as his.
I wondered how much had he told the others about the circumstances around then.
Given how Vallerynne and Matrias were eyeing Yuxia inquisitively, I suspected the elementalist did not reveal much just yet.
But I needed to ask him alone later to know for certain. Yes, later.
"All I'm asking is your cooperation in climbing the tower. Both in preparation and in the trial's clearance itself. It will be a form of camaraderie where everyone's opinion is valued."
I told the second 4-star of the lobby.
The eastern man then nodded to me.
"In that case, since you do have more experience in this forged land, I will agree to listen to you and cooperate. As long as your suggestion is sound that is. And you may call me 'Yuxia' from now on."
"Thank you, Yuxia. I look forward to be working with you. And you may call me 'Serafina' as well."
I then turned to the other two mages at the table.
"I don't remember ever choosing to come here. But I know I must do what this 'master' tells me. And that is to work with you. I'm Vallerynne."
The enchanter girl introduced herself.
"It is really disturbing suddenly finding myself in this weird place with all these strangers. But it's not like I have any choice either. Just call me Matrias."
The middle-aged sub-elemental mage told me with a sleepy voice.
So none of the newcomers knew each other. I never expected them to be given how different their backgrounds between one another.
With their introductions, I clapped my hands merrily and spoke with a welcoming tone.
"Well then, now that we're acquainted, shall I give you all a tour of the magic hall? That is where we'll be spending most of our time. Just like the training ground is to the warriors."
The three mages chuckled upon my words. As if I had made a slight fool of myself.
"I believe we know our way around the magic hall by now."
Yuxia said to me.
Vallerynne nodded alongside him.
"That's right. Ever since we arrived, master has been ordering us to do YOUR job while you were away on your vacation. That was what the fairy called the trip, by the way."
"You should thank us. Every single day for the past week, we had to wake up early in the morning to fill in for you. We even had to work till night sometimes."
Matrias added.
"Right now we're having tea time to take a small break from our very exhausting work. YOUR work."
Yuxia said.
"Matrias ended up ordering a meal though."
Vallerynne pointed out with a chuckle.
"Hey, I woke up late and had to skip breakfast this morning! Master made me work till late last night!"
The man explained to her.
So master made them work in the magic hall while I was away, didn't they?
The fairy only said the newcomers had not gone to the trial yet.
There was no reason to prevent master from allowing these mages to step into the magic hall. This was only the second time mages had been summoned to the forged land.
I supposed there was no harm in letting these mages take over my work for a bit.
I had been wanting more people to lighten my workload, after all.
"In any case, we should return to the magic hall. We still have plenty more hours of research to do, Matrias."
Yuxia spoke as he rose from his gilded chair. The middle-aged man joined him reluctantly with a strong grunt.
So the two elemental mages were assigned with research.
Even after researching all morning, they still had more hours to fulfill?
Master must had been wanting to acquire a lot of research points to work them that hard.
"I'm almost done making the first few dozens of basic health potions too. Master is ordering a big batch for today. As usual."
Vallerynne said walking up to the other two.
So she was put in charge of the potions.
The girl did have a skill in alchemy.
They all spoke of their work with an air of confidence.
I did not think I would have anything to worry about with them taking over for a while.
I probably would have more time researching the grimoire now that they would be helping out with my other work.
The four of us then made our way to the improved magic hall on the third floor of the lobby.
Upon passing the entrance, we found ourselves in a grand library more expanded than it was last time I was there.
The trunks of maps and the sacks of elemental stones were kept neatly in a corner just like I asked.
As they told earlier, Yuxia and Matrias immediately occupied two of the three research tables located at the center of the library and began solving the problems on the table.
The two tables had the same type of problem to solve.
A puzzle involving the intermediate phase of the Stagio Theorem and the inverted version of the 4th Barrachian formula.
What luck!
A simple straightforward problem after their nice break. It should help them get warmed up for the harder ones.
Vallerynne suddenly turned to me.
"I understand the magic hall has changed since you were here last. Would you like me to show you to the alchemy lab?"
"If you would, Vallerynne."
I nodded to her with a polite smile.
The girl led me through the rows of giant bookshelves until we reached a heavy dark iron door at the back of the library.
The two of us entered and found ourselves in a vast dome chamber with gilded arched ceiling.
A huge man with arms and legs like tree trunks, but with a timid face which made him look as if he was about to cry, was awaiting us inside.
The fairy had told me about him.
Jansen Minoet was a 2-star who worked as an herbalist back in Dunia.
He arrived while I was away in the Exploration Dungeon. Granted with the privilege of the second floor resident, master ordered him to create potions in the alchemy lab.
"Lady Vallerynne, I have prepared the Dara flowers for the next batch like you asked."
Jansen said to the girl.
"Thank you, Jansen. Now help me finish up with the current batch so we can move on with the next."
The enchanter and the herbalist then busied themselves with the various improved tools of the alchemy lab.
I could not help but to screech at the horrifying mess they had made.