Seeing the elementalists' duel was properly underway, I continued to the private training chamber adjoining the main magic training hall.
We now had uses for all these rooms since more mages had arrived to the forged land.
Next door, I found a hunched elderly long-bearded man facing against a cream-haired girl in frilly silver dress.
[Davah Shashanam]
Under Weirui's telekinesis, three tasseled blades flew toward Vallerynne.
The enchanter replied the gesture by flicking her hand.
Crash!
A man-sized stone golem rushed forth from Vallerynne's flank and charged toward the flying weapons.
The golem tried to smack the projectiles away but only found itself striking through air.
Vallerynne's eyes widened upon the phenomenon.
The girl flicked her hand once more and scattered a pulsing wave of mana throughout the chamber.
[Reveal]
Instantly, three other blades manifested out of thin air from Vallerynne's rear.
A smart move from the Tchakran mage.
The first three blades he sent earlier were just illusions. Decoys.
Weirui had concealed his real weapons with illusion magic and used their fake copies to distract Vallerynne's golem.
Now how would my pupil escape from this trap?
[Shield]
A barrier emerged before Vallerynne, intercepting the real weapons.
The enchanter proceeded to send her golem continue rushing forth toward the illusionist.
Weirui responded the stunt by throwing his hands toward the moving statue.
[Bind]
Ropes made out of mana flew out from the hermit's palms.
They slithered around the golem's limbs and attached their other ends to the ground, holding the statue in place.
The Tchakran was focusing all its attention in restricting the golem. He now had lost control over his floating weapons attacking Vallerynne.
Seeing her golem was incapacitated and her enemy was no longer attacking her, the enchanter took out a brown stone from her dress and threw it to the air.
[Activate]
The brown stone glowed up. Rocks began to gravitate around the stone and amalgamated into a moving statue.
Vallerynne's magic specialty was casting enchantment.
But it was more of a supportive ability than an offensive one.
If she wanted to be a rounded mage, then she needed assault spells.
I had been trying to equip Vallerynne with more proactive skills to attack her enemies.
Golem summoning was the best offensive ability that the enchanter could acquire.
Her golems were not the autonomous overpowering type that I used in the trials.
Those types of golems required complex enchantment and stronger golem cores.
Vallerynne's golems were simpler and weaker ones which cores she could mass-produce and use frequently in battle.
The enchanter would need to control her golems most of the time, taking up her focus and mana to cast other spells.
But they would be useful to stave off enemies that Vallerynne's comrades could not get rid for her.
As Vallerynne's sorcery improved, her golems would become stronger, naturally.
So it was a good skill to invest in.
Weirui spotted the second golem and immediately regained his control on his weapons.
The Tchakran illusionist resumed attacking the imperial enchanter while staving off the two golems that were trying to attack him.
The cream-haired girl was trying to do the same with her golems and the hovering weapons.
For the past while, I had been working hard to raise the quality of the combatant trainees in the lobby.
The improvement was not just for the warriors.
Our mages needed to develop as well.
I would say the mages were our most significant personnel in the lobby.
Back in Dunia, the strength of an army would generally be determined by how many mages they possessed.
One skilled mage could completely change the situation in the battlefield.
The Great Bromstead during the Northern Storm and Her Highness Samesta during Fajar Invasion were proofs of that.
The strength of our mages would determine the strength of our forged land's army.
Considering the force of our enemies on the fifteenth floor, Sigyn would need to raise a new Tower of Circle in the lobby if they wanted us to reach the top of the tower.
As the mages continued training in the magic hall, I decided to check on the progress of our other units.
I shifted my focus on one of the training grounds on the third floor and teleported myself there.
A long row of archers was lined before me.
The second floor trainees, the archery instructor candidates, some of the 3-star newcomers, and Darius.
They were all practicing using a large longbow under Ulrica's guidance.
"Nock!"
The Near-Kin instructed from behind them.
The row of archers immediately placed the large longbow arrows on the bowstring.
"Draw!"
The archers proceeded to pull the tense string of their longbows, large arrows aimed toward the steel knight puppets across the firing range.
"Loose!"
Ulrica instructed the third time.
The archers released their bowstring and let the arrows flew.
Swoosshh!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Only Darius managed to hit his target right on the helmet.
The 3-star newcomers and the instructor candidates struck their puppets on non-vital points.
The rest of the archers missed their mark entirely. Some could not even reach their puppet.
Ulrica shook her head in disapproval over their performances.
"Longbow training is underway, I see."
I told the Near-Kin as I approached her and Darius among the firing squad.
Ulrica clicked her tongue upon my words.
"I already expected southlanders aren't trained with Guntur longbows. But I didn't expect they would be this bad."
The Near-Kin was the one who suggested our archers to start training using longbows.
Ulrica said they had been too reliant on the enchanted arrows we had been producing, that the archers were not improving to their full potential.
The 4-star Guntur warrior claimed a true archer could produce just as much firepower with only a longbow.
I trusted the woman since records of the Northern Storm told much of the might of Guntur's Thunder Brigade.
Long-gone chiefs of Kutub tribes told how the Thunder Brigade's arrows rained down like ballistas. Each arrow-landing sounded like a thunder striking down to earth.
We would need our archers to be just as strong if we wanted to stand a chance against the Great Houses' armies.
So I ordered the workshops to start making longbows according to Ulrica's specifications.
The crafters were shocked when the Near-Kin explained how to make Guntur longbows.
They initially wondered if such weapon could be made. Then they wondered if such weapon could be used at all.
But after nights of hard labor, the crafters pulled through and created the longbows Ulrica ordered.
They did well considering Gerrits, the Chief Crafter, was not here to help them.
The equipment was only finished yesterday and so our archers were just starting their special training.
"I have used a longbow before I came here. But I've never encountered one this difficult to handle."
Darius said while observing his weapon.
He went on.
"It took all I had just to fully draw the bowstring. And it took thrice the effort to aim. My shoulder ached just from firing one round."
This came from an experienced 3-star archer who had survived two Quintal Trials.
"Remember, southlander. Your enemies won't stand still like your practice target. You'll eventually need to learn how to use the longbow in real combat."
Ulrica warned.
I nodded to her and turned to my party comrade.
"Just imagine how much stronger your longbow arrow would be once they're enchanted. They would probably be stronger than a ballista, or maybe a cannon blast."
Darius stared at his weapon with wondering gaze.
The former knight suddenly tightly grasped his longbow and proceeded to nock another arrow.
He took aim toward his steel puppet and let his arrow loose.
Clang!
The puppet's head flew after being struck by Darius's projectile.
The man then drew a long breath and nocked another arrow.
He shifted his bow to the puppet next to his.
Clang!
The 3-star struck the head of another knight puppet.
Darius nocked another arrow and fired at a different target right on the head. Again and again.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!!!
['Darius (★★★)' has obtained the skill, 'Strongbow'!]
Ulrica laughed excitedly upon the 3-star's stunt.
"Excellent, excellent! Just by doing that much, you would be allowed to carry arrows for the archers in the Thunder Brigade, southlander!"
Seeing Darius's great performance and the notification earlier, I turned to one of the instructor candidates training alongside the other archers.
"From now on, candidates for the archery instructor positions must learn the Strongbow skill. It will be one of the requirements for the official appointment. Tell the other Apprentice Instructors about it."
"Y-yes, Your Excellency!"
With the reply, I left the archers so they would resume their longbow training under Ulrica's guidance.
I proceeded to the training ground next door where Djhotti was instructing the polearm wielders.
Clang! Clang!
The dwarf was standing at the sideline, overseeing a duel between the trainees.
Five of the 3-star heroes we had. Three of the 3-star newcomers, Arian, and Haoban.
The Tchakran had recently climbed the twelfth floor with the fully-formed Party 6. So Master had transferred them to the second floor.
And because they were now second floor trainees, the members of Party 6 had joined the training alongside the Raid Team on the third floor of the lobby.
All five of the 3-star heroes were facing against a single opponent.
Jonah.