I raised my gaze to stare at the three wildlings.
"Teach you? I believe you weren't so thrilled with the idea the last time we spoke."
I said calmly with an expressionless face.
"We didn't know what is waiting for us in the trials back then. But now we know!"
Yuxia replied while clenching his fists beside him.
"Surely you can take on whatever challenge the tower has to offer. You claimed that you're capable enough, didn't you say?"
I said back to him.
Matrias was the one who spoke up this time.
"You were right! The monsters would've killed me before I could cast any of my spells. The trials are nowhere near the kinds I've faced back home!"
"Then why come to me? You know how to train on your own, don't you? Being a wildling, you've been developing your magic all by yourself."
Vallerynne flapped her frilly dress in frustration.
"I hate to admit it, but I need you, Serafina! You've mastered all the things I need to learn! I don't think I'll be able to improve much on my own! At least not enough to face those horrible Quintal Trials!"
Yuxia then strode to my side.
Anger and frustration were on his face. But desperation triumphed the two expressions.
"We don't want to die, Serafina. You're the only mage in the forged land who knows how to survive the trials. We need you to teach us the same knowledge."
He gently reached for my hands. His eyes and voice were pleading.
"If you want me to kneel and beg like a dog, I'll do it. I'll even wash your feet while I'm at it. But please, teach me. I don't want to die."
The other two mages immediately crowded beside him.
"Me too! Tell me anything you want me to do! Just teach me how to cast my spells faster!"
"I also want to learn how to cast those complex enchantments you did on the fifth floor. And those dimensional spells as well! I-I'll do anything! I'll even be your maid! Just teach me!"
The three wildlings stared at me with begging eyes. Pride completely dismantled.
It was clear from their desperation that they did not see other way to survive.
It was either surrendering to my tutelage or death.
Suddenly the corner of my lips curled upward.
Apparently Party 2 would be able to climb much sooner than I thought.
I pulled my hands from Yuxia's grasp and enchanted several books from a nearby bookshelf to float toward us.
"Usually it takes years for a wildling to get rid of their stubborn habit and regain their magical prowess with the proper foundation."
The three mages turned paler upon my words.
But I went on.
"However, with hard work, aided with the forged land's power and my guidance, you should be able to see significant improvement within weeks."
The three wildlings nodded strongly and spoke at the same time.
"I will work hard!"
The enchanted books then flew to the wildlings' hands, One per each mage. All were of the same subject.
Thanks to the expanded library, each book now had several copies. Allowing one topic to be learned by multiple people at once.
"Your studies and training will eventually branch off to your own sorcery specialty. But the three of you will begin from the same starting point."
I gestured to the books in their hands.
I continued.
"Before you could learn the formulas of your own branch of sorcery, you need to study the Ten Great Barrachian Formulas. The parents of myriads of magic formulas ever existed. And before you study the Ten Great Formulas, you need to know the Barrachian Index first."
The three wildlings grunted as they looked through the pages.
But at least they did not speak any objection.
"Memorize all the variable equations by tomorrow morning. We will have your first lesson then."
My three pupils jerked their gazes back to me.
"Tomorrow morning?!"
"All one hundred of them?!"
"That's a lot to memorize!"
Ignoring their comments, I returned my attention to the formula simulations on the research table.
"I suggest you immediately get to studying then. Who knows when master will start calling you to the trial? I may have forbid you to enter the tower floors, but master could always override my suggestion."
The three wildlings flinched at my words.
Hearing the possibility of being summoned for the trials, the mages quieted down and quickly sprinted from the magic hall with the books in their hands.
Now that they were willing to receive my teaching and training, all that was left was to see how hard they would work to improve themselves.
What I was currently aiming for was to teach them basic spells. The kinds that would allow these mages to defend themselves in battle and able to provide enough support for their comrades.
Once they were not completely helpless and vulnerable, I would then allow them to visit the tower floors.
They would eventually need to visit the trials so they could level up and develop their skills further.
And in order to visit the trials, they would need to be put into a party first. Which was another complicated matter on its own.
An elementalist. A sub-elemental mage. And an enchanter.
I would need time to consider their party assignments.
If Devisha or Arian were to join Party 1, then we would have one 4-star, two 3-stars, and two 2-stars in our group.
I already intended to include Yuxia in Party 2 in order to balance the composition between our two parties.
Given the second Quintal Trial, we almost certainly needed to spread our forces equally among the raid team.
All that remained was how to assign the rest of the 3-stars.
But it was hard to figure the arrangement out without knowing how many parties would be needed for the fifteenth floor.
If the third Quintal Trial only required three parties, then we could put the remaining 3-stars in Party 3.
However, if we needed four or even five parties, then one or several groups would end up with only one 3-star.
In that case, we might need to rearrange the whole raid team composition in order to spread the forces equally.
But that could also risk ruining the existing parties' dynamics and ended up suppressing our potential instead. Something I would very much like to avoid.
Without knowing what was required of us on the fifteenth floor, it was difficult to formulate the party assignments beyond Party 1 and 2.
What was definite, however, Party 1 would be getting an additional 3-star hero into our ranks. In turn, Party 2 needed to have a 4-star to balance the strength.
The rest would have to adjust with our needs for the third Quintal Trial.
It would be a longer while until Party 3 could resume climbing it seemed.
I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts and my formula simulations that the gray sky was turning brighter outside the window.
It was sometime before dawn. Or what would be dawn back in Dunia.
A new day had begun and it was time for me to execute my first duty as a mage instructor.
I left the magic hall and made my way back to the lodging.
The training grounds I passed were already bustling with the sounds of my sweat-drenched comrades from Party 1 and 2.
All of them had woken up way early before dawn and started their training for the day.
Devisha and Arian were also training hard with my raid team comrades.
The two seemed to be training in greater intensity and ferocity compared to when I glimpsed of them yesterday.
The records of the Quintal Trials must had affected them just as hard as the wildlings.
Well, I must not let us, mages, fell behind these warriors in terms of diligence.
I stepped into the third floor's fancy lodging and was immediately welcomed by Pavarin by the entry hall.
"Good morning, Lady Zeref. Will my lady finally see her room? Or does my lady prefer a fine breakfast in the dining hall?"
"Neither, Pavarin. Are the mages awake yet?"
The chief servant shook his head. His elegant composure persisted.
"They're still resting in their rooms, my lady. They would usually wake up in a few hours."
I nodded to him.
"Show me to their quarters."
"This way, my lady."
The chief servant then led me up the lodging's grand staircase and through the luxurious crimson-carpeted corridors.
He eventually stopped at the end of a hall where three carved doors were standing in a row on the wall.
I waved to excuse Pavarin away.
"Go on with your duties. I'll take it from here."
The chief servant simply bowed and swiftly vanished in a corridor's turn behind me.
I waved my hand again and caused the three doors to swing open by themselves.
I peered into the luxurious rooms and found the mages each sound asleep inside their wide and fluffy comfortable bed, snoring. Vallerynne was the loudest.
[Davah Shashanam]
Using telekinesis, I turned the mattresses upside down, dumping the sleeping mages hard on the firm carpeted floor.