The tall knight straightened back immediately, troubled frown hung over his face.
"I…understand, my lady."
Rizarde said acceptingly.
He shifted his gaze to the administrators.
"The officers have told me the same too. And ever since I arrived here, I'm not sure why, but I've been feeling that I need to submit to any order given by this Master."
"It is very strange, alright. Like a strange compulsion spell is casted on me."
A woman in dark crimson robe said.
[Anaiya Rostrand (★★★) Lv.1 (Exp 0/10)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 10/10]
[Intelligence: 35/35]
[Stamina: 12/12]
[Agility: 12/12]
[Skills: Intermediate Fire Magic Lv.5, Intermediate Earth Magic Lv.3]
"Well, I've been making a living as a mercenary all my life. So I don't mind taking on strange work like this."
Anaiya Rostrand. A dual-elemental mage specialized in fire and earth elements.
The woman's document stated she graduated from the Battaglia Academy of Magic. So she was supposedly not a wildling.
The Battaglia Academy was also an education institution mainly enrolled by commoners.
It did not quite have the same prestige as other long-standing academies or more successful commoner academies in the empire. As such, the Tower of Circle did not extend much of their influence there.
Anaiya herself had been working as a mercenary in the western part of the empire.
I was fairly certain the elementalist was not our enemy.
"I've roamed pretty much all of the Great Desert. But I have never seen a place like this forged land."
A huge dark-skinned bald man stated.
[Jafar Shamidin (★★★) Lv.1 (Exp 0/10)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 13/13]
[Intelligence: 31/31]
[Stamina: 11/11]
[Agility: 11/11]
[Skills: Intermediate Wind Magic Lv.6]
Jafar Shamidin. A wind elemental mage from Tsahanam.
His record also said he received an education in a prestigious academy in the sultanate. Supposedly not a wildling as well.
The Tsahanam mage was also a mercenary. So I doubted he was affiliated with any Tsahanam organization that could be allied with our enemies in the empire.
"A land with strange laws. A place where anyone could reach enlightenment through a method called levelling up? I know many warriors in Tchakra that would kill to be here."
A hunched elderly man with long white beard said.
[Weirui Shanlong (★★★) Lv.1 (Exp 0/10)]
[Class: Mage]
[Strength: 12/12]
[Intelligence: 33/33]
[Stamina: 10/10]
[Agility: 12/12]
[Skills: Basic Enchantment Lv.5, Basic Conjuration Lv.3, Telekinesis Lv.1]
Weirui Shanlong. An enchanter specialized in telekinesis, illusions, and conjurations.
He was a hermit who resided in a secluded region in Tchakra. I doubted he was affiliated with our enemies.
The Tchakran was also said to have trained in the Glimmering Grass Sect. A small institution specialized in magic martial arts. Not a wildling.
"Each of you are now part of Master Sigyn's army."
I stated to the new 3-star heroes.
I went on.
"Dedicate yourself to the missions of the forged land. If you triumphed in all the trials Master set you upon, then you will be rewarded."
I then turned to the administrators.
"Show them to their assigned rooms and the training facilities the heroes will use. And escort the mages to the magic hall once you're done."
"As you command, Your Excellency."
With the administrators' reply, I focused my mind toward the first floor of the lobby, right to the office at the top of the academy.
My environment soon shifted from the lodging sitting room to the Chief Instructor's office.
I found Trudy stuck behind her desk, under piles of paperwork.
"Working hard, instructor?"
I asked my former party comrade.
Trudy put on an exhausted smile.
"The instructor candidates may have been helping me train the newcomers. But I still need to arrange plenty of volunteer party documents to be submitted to Master."
As part of the academy's curriculum set by Master, the first floor combatant trainees were mandated to climb the tower.
The task of coordinating all of those trial visitations would be handled by the Chief Instructor of the academy.
Trudy needed to arrange the dozens of volunteer parties consisted of the first floor trainees and the accompanying instructors, designate the floor they wanted to challenge according to Master's directives, and submit all the requests to Master to be approved.
Once the volunteer requests were approved, then the volunteer parties would be scheduled to enter the trial on their designated time.
This way, parties could still enter the Main Dungeon even after Master left.
There were too many heroes in the lobby now that Master could not afford to deploy all the parties one by one before they left for the day. Unless Master wanted to completely neglect their other duties.
The instructor candidates were still not up to the standards I had set and could not provide the advanced educations Master ordered to be given to the trainees.
But at least the academy had started to operate to some extent.
It was still better than what we had previously.
"I know you have a lot of work already, but I'm delivering you Master's order."
I produced a document and presented it to the Chief Instructor.
[Master 'S1GYN' is ordering Vice-Master 'Serafina (★★★★)' to assign the following heroes to the designated parties.]
[Heroes: 'Anaiya (★★★)', 'Castro (★★★)', 'Gretna (★★★)', 'Himnel (★★★)', 'Jafar (★★★)', Marinne (★★★)', 'Rizarde (★★★)', 'Ruana (★★★)', 'Weirui (★★★)', ''Zekhiel (★★★)']
[Designated Parties: Party 7, Party 8, Party 9, Party 10, Party 11]
[Directive 1: Two heroes per party]
[Directive 2: No two 'Mage' class heroes in the same party]
[Directive 3: Assignment based on the highest compatibility between heroes]
The new 3-stars would not be joining Party 3 to 5 which still had vacant spots.
I supposed Master did not feel the need to add a secondary 3-star like in Party 1 and 2 for those parties.
From how Sigyn wanted to assign the advanced heroes, it seemed they currently wanted to expand their forces instead of fortifying their existing ranks.
Perhaps Master had strong faith in the 4-star heroes training the 2-star trainees. That the trainees could still be a good substitute for the second 3-star member.
Trudy read Sigyn's order with considering gaze.
"I've heard of the second advanced summoning. Ten 3-star heroes. They're not as strong as the 4-stars, but they're still great additions to our army, yes?"
"We'll need to get them climb the tower soon so they could try the sixteenth floor alongside the rest of the Raid Team."
"How do you wish to arrange their parties?"
Trudy asked.
"Have the instructor candidates frequent the first to the twelfth floor with the 3-star newcomers. Observe how the advanced heroes fight and see which pairs worked the best together. We'll assign their parties then."
I told the Chief Instructor.
I went on.
"This will be our procedure for assigning 3-star heroes moving forward. So be sure to inform your staffs."
"I'll order the Apprentice Instructors to meet the newcomers and start preparing them for the trials."
Trudy then stared back to the assignment order with an excited smile.
"It is amazing, isn't it? Master summoning plenty strong heroes to the lobby at once."
"15 advanced summoning before the next Quintal Trial. Master had never done this before."
I told her.
Trudy nodded and turned her gaze toward the first floor square, toward the rift of space-time.
"We should have nothing to worry regarding the twentieth floor. Even if we need five or ten parties to clear the trial, we would have more than enough people for the mission."
Despite Trudy's words, however, I could not help but feel dread welling up inside me.
Sigyn changed after we returned from the fifteenth floor.
They became more proactive and more involved in the workings of the lobby. Improving the facilities and summoning more heroes than ever. Strengthening our army even further.
I wondered if it was simply because I was now appointed Vice-Master and they could relay more elaborate orders to the heroes.
Or whether Master Sigyn knew something we did not.
That even after having another three 4-star heroes joining their army, Sigyn still felt the need to summon more advanced heroes to reinforce our ranks.
As in Sigyn knew what was waiting for us, and it would take at least this much effort to prepare their army for what was coming.
[New order!]
Alam suddenly appeared carrying a paper.
I took the document from her and read Sigyn's new instruction for the forged land.
[Master 'S1GYN' is ordering a facility upgrade to the 'Checkroom Lv.2']