[Remember! It's 75 basic health potions and 50 intermediate health potions. 125 vials for today. TODAY!]
The fairy stated sternly to us in the alchemy lab. It was master's order for the health potion supply.
"That's quite an increase from the regular order."
I commented.
[Well, a number of the lobby's first floor trainees are beginning to climb to the eighth floor of the Main Dungeon. They would surely need the potions.]
Trudy had informed me of this development.
After clearing the ninth floor with Devisha two days ago, master stopped calling for us.
We had entered the resting period as expected.
Because of that, I managed to go to the first floor training ground to see how the trainees were doing.
Trudy told me most of the trainees had visited the fourth floor numerous times already and plateaued. They were ready to move on.
Starting yesterday, makeshift parties composed of the lobby's first floor trainees had been volunteering to visit the eighth floor of the tower.
Trudy tried to accompany most of the parties given her role as their combat instructor. And since that was what she promised me as well.
The 3-star Arian had also started climbing to the eighth floor along with the makeshift party Trudy set up specially for the Kutub hunter.
And given Harl had gone to the fourth floor even before joining Party 2, and also given how slow the growth rate for levelling up for the 4-star Yuxia was, Party 2 would soon move on to the eighth floor as well.
The rest of the lobby were starting to attempt the trials that only the raid team had visited so far.
I believed the eighth floor would become a good filter to separate among the trainees the talented heroes and the 'others.'
Hopefully from this progress in the climb, some promising talents would emerge from the trainees and we would be able to increase the strength of the raid team.
The fairy went on.
[You better expect this many order from now on. Each of the trainee is supplied with at least three basic health potions in each visit to the eighth floor. Master even supplied the intermediate vials to some promising ones.]
Oh there better be talented heroes showing up from among the trainees.
Those precious health potions would not be wasted!
"Master is surely thorough and generous with their army."
I commented again. With a sigh this time.
[Oh master surely is generous and isn't scared to spend resources and funds to strengthen the lobby. Whenever a first floor hero died, master would immediately summon another one to replace them.]
Even with Trudy's proper guidance, there would still be casualties among the first floor trainees every now and then.
One or two heroes would occasionally die in between the first to the fourth floor of the tower.
They were often those who could not absorb Trudy's teaching in fighting or people who simply could not accept their harsh reality in this forged land.
I expected there would be even more casualties now that the trainees were moving onto the eighth floor. That trial was significantly more challenging than the fourth floor.
Even so, like the fairy said, master immediately recovered the losses by summoning more heroes from the first floor summoning chamber.
Every time a total of ten heroes died in the lobby, master would summon people of the same number or more at times. Sometimes master only waited until five heroes had perished.
Our lobby population had never decreased significantly since we cleared the second Quintal Trial.
It was actually growing larger.
"I suppose I won't have to be afraid of being short of manpower."
I said to the fairy before I turned to the pair of brewers behind me.
I went on to Vallerynne and Jansen.
"As the fairy said, it will be 75 basic health potions and 50 intermediate health potions brewed before the end of the day. Vallerynne will handle the basic order, while Jansen the intermediate."
"Understood!"
The two brewers replied promptly.
After performing consistent work for more than a week, I finally taught Jansen how to make intermediate health potions and helped me make them.
Today I would let him make everything by himself.
A few days ago Vallerynne finally mastered the Barrachian exercises, which involved memorizing the Barrachian Index and comprehending the Ten Great Formulas.
She acquired herself the Telekinesis skill in the process like Yuxia.
It was then that I taught her how to make health potions as well as starting her lesson on enchantment magic.
And on this day, I would give both Vallerynne and Jansen free rein of the alchemy lab and make potions without my involvement.
"Complete master's order flawlessly. Don't disappoint me now."
I told the pair.
"Of course!"
"We won't disappoint you, my lady!"
The two replied in great confidence.
This time I believed their words.
It was odd that not that long ago I would not let them even set a foot inside the alchemy lab.
The two brewers were quite fast learner.
Leaving them to their work, I went to the library. The fairy was following me.
[Now that those two are properly helping you with making potions, you won't be as busy as before, right?]
I chuckled at the fairy's words.
"I wish. Not having to brew the basic and the intermediate health potions only means more time for me to do my OTHER work."
The fairy nodded, understanding what I meant.
[I wonder what great power you'll discover from that grimoire. I bet you'll become very strong that you'll get to clear a Quintal Trial in a second.]
I chuckled again.
"As long as I can't make head or tail of the formulas written inside, you will just have to keep on wondering."
At the end of my words, I saw Matrias sitting in the corner of the library.
He was drowned in his table under piles of books. Sharine was staring at him with displeased eyes as how disordered the mage's desk was.
Matrias still struggled with the Barrachian exercises. But he managed to make some progress.
Little progress, however.
It would take a while before he could start learning his sub-elemental magic. And a while longer before he could start visiting the trials.
Would he have that much time?
"Warden, have master assigned the rest of the mages in any party? I believe I told you to inform me when master did."
I spoke to the fairy.
She shook her head immediately.
[And master has done nothing yet. Master never included them to a party. Neither of them.]
I frowned at her words.
"Master did nothing to assign them?"
[In fact, master had not done anything regarding party arrangement in the lobby. All master did so far was accepting the recommendation you and the other heroes made.]
"Is that so?"
[Except for sending off the first-timers to the first floor, master did not even try assembling a climbing party for the first floor trainees.]
First-timers would refer to the recently-summoned newcomers who could not find any place among the lobby supporters upon their arrival.
Master would include them within the trainee forces that would be prepared as candidates for the raid team.
Without fail, master would send the first-timers to the first floor trial twice or thrice. Both to teach the newcomers the new reality they had to face from now on and to discover promising heroes that deserved master's attention.
The promising first-timers would then be put in makeshift parties, often arranged by master themselves, meant to climb the higher floors and improve further. The climbing party.
It was from the climbing parties that master would choose the heroes to be included within the raid team.
Or so how I interpreted the past party assignments.
The fairy went on.
[Master simply approved the volunteer parties put up by the combat instructor and used the arrangement to frequent the trials. Surely you noticed that most of the trainees that went to the Main Dungeon nowadays had been volunteers.]
Now that was odd if master had stopped making arrangements for the climbing parties.
Previously, master was actively looking for members to fill in the vacancies within the raid team.
Maddock, Luan, and Tarran, as well as Ashta, Rhyss, Kori, and Tamo.
All of their appointments were master's decision. Handpicked from the makeshift climbing parties, which master directly arranged in the first place.
We did not recommend any of those heroes to be included in the raid team. Master did.
But now master had not done such thing.
As the fairy pointed out, the parties of trainees that had been climbing to the second till the fourth floor so far had only been volunteers. Those that Trudy arranged and requested to master to be deployed in the trial together.
I only recently discovered that fact when I talked to Trudy during this resting period.
Why would master give the heroes such free rein?
"Maybe master is still mulling it over? Waiting for the first floor trainees to develop further before deciding? There are quite plenty of them this time. It might be difficult for master to give everyone the necessary attention as before."
I speculated to the fairy.
[Maybe. But I think it's something else.]
I frowned again at her words.
"What do you mean?"
[Maybe master is testing all of you heroes. You, especially.]
"Testing us? Testing…me…for what?"
The fairy flinched. As if she just slipped something she was not supposed to say after all.
But my cold piercing gaze held her where she hovered.
Somehow she seemed to have felt herself trapped, despite she could just vanish like always.
She answered me hesitantly.
[To see…whether you can…run the lobby in master's stead.]