For the next week, master made us frequent the twelfth floor three more times.
Surprisingly, master only made us go to the twelfth floor once a day and allowed us to rest for another day before visiting the trial again the day after.
On the eleventh floor and the previous floors, we usually frequented the trials through consecutive days at a time.
We sometimes even visited the trials twice a day. Or three times. Usually done when we were preparing to enter the Quintal Trial.
This new format of scheduling was probably due to the type of enemy found in the twelfth floor.
Master likely noticed how Party 1 was reacting to killing humans.
Jonah, Shanny, and Darius might had steeled themselves enough to fight the enemies. But they still wore disturbed gazes after each stage clearance.
Killing people took a toll to their mentality and apparently master noticed this effect.
I welcomed the new schedule since it would grant us another week or two in preparation time if we kept going like this up to the thirteenth and fourteenth floor.
None of us in Party 1 levelled up from frequenting the twelfth floor, but most of us should be once we cleared the thirteenth floor for the first time.
Besides, even if we levelled up, our progress would not matter if the rest of our comrades were underdeveloped.
Party 2 had reached the eleventh floor when we cleared the twelfth for the first time.
Thanks to Yuxia's magic prowess, they managed to clear the eight and the ninth floor rapidly, allowing them to progress faster than the first floor trainees that started on those floors the same time as them.
The elementalist managed to cut the time of his Second Circle fire spell to under five seconds now.
Yuxia's Third Circle fire spell still left much to be desired. But his casting rate was improving, at the very least.
He had also been incorporating wind magic to his attacks, albeit only First Circle spells. I had taught him the importance of having two sets of elemental spells with opposing traits.
The grimoire simulations did help Yuxia's magic training. Making him accustomed to performing various complex formulas in his mind.
On the other hand, before Party 2 climbed higher than the ninth floor, Harl levelled up to level 10 and was finally promoted to 2-star. Reinforcing their ranks even further.
I heard reports from Jonah and the others as they trained together.
Harl fought excellently alongside Tarran.
The former chief gatherer knew the archer boy so well. When paired together, the two would become quite formidable, almost comparable to Jonah and Shanny.
Zecht even swore that things would had gone differently with Party 2 on the tenth floor had Harl was with them back then instead of Luan.
With their two 2-stars in perfect sync, Party 2 was turning stronger than ever.
They might actually be able to win over Party 1 in sparring one of these days.
On the current state of their climb, Party 2 was frequenting the eleventh floor as we were doing the same on the twelfth.
Party 1 had now entered our resting period before our climb to the thirteenth floor. Since master had not called for us for two days in a row now.
Meanwhile, Party 2 was going to attempt the twelfth floor today.
They were catching up.
It was now time for the rest of the parties to do the same.
Splash!
A pillar of ice cold water dropped on Vallerynne, drenching both her and the crystal-bordered floor.
The girl and I were inside the main magic training hall. We were engaged in one of her enchantment lesson.
"Again!"
I ordered her promptly.
The fledgling enchanter flinched at my words.
"I think I'm catching a cold."
She said while clutching her trembling body.
I shook my head.
"Nonsense. The lobby heals all illnesses. Besides, if you performed the steps properly, you won't be drenched cold right now. You won't even be wet at all."
Vallerynne sighed at me and raised her hands toward the barrels of water in front of her.
A head-sized body of water hovered out of one of the barrels and flew to the girl, right above her head.
The enchanter then casted another spell and lowered the water's temperature just below freezing.
She casted yet another spell to make the body of cooled-water remained above her.
Vallerynne turned her hands back to the barrels and hovered out another body of water, flew it right above the previous body, cooled it, and set another spell to make it remain there.
As the enchanter was about to hover a third body, the previous two quivered above her.
The girl shrieked. Feet preparing to leap away.
I clicked my tongue at the reaction.
"Stay where you are! If you move even just a step, I'll stop teaching you."
The girl shrieked with even higher pitch of voice.
She then sighed and remained where she was.
Vallerynne tried to hover the third body of water above her, but the spells on the previous two vanished and they rushed down back to the girl like a waterfall, drenching her further.
"This is torture, Serafina! I'd much rather do the Barrachian exercises than this!"
The cream-haired girl snapped.
Apparently she had forgotten how much she begged me to begin her enchantment magic lesson not that long ago.
I ignored her whining.
"Again."
She glared back at me, but eventually the girl restarted the whole process from the first body of water.
The goal of this exercise was to create seven bodies of water hovering above your head.
The first lowest three would be ice cold. The fourth one would be normal. The highest three would be near boiling.
In the end, the mage would combine all seven bodies together, returning them to their normal state and return the water to the barrels.
The main point of the exercise was to make sure your magic runes lasted.
There were other points to be achieved, which was manipulating water temperature through your mana, a starting exercise toward enhancement spells.
But it mainly trained a mage to have their enchantment last longer. In this case, Vallerynne's enchantment to have the water keep hovering above her as she performed other sets of spells.
It was important for an enchanter to ensure their spell lasted on an object, after all.
This exercise would train Vallerynne on creating lasting runes while performing multiple spells at once.
I needed her to master this exercise before she could start learning basic enhancement spells, which were only a part of enchantment sorcery as a whole.
It would still be a while before I could teach her dimensional magic.
But if Vallerynne could cast lasting basic enhancement spells, I would then allow her to start visiting the trials.
We could assign her a party by then and she could start levelling up and improving further.
On the other hand, Matrias was still working hard studying the Barrachian Index and the Ten Great Formulas.
He would probably master the basic knowledge in a week or two.
Hopefully we would have enough time.
With the slower rate we were climbing since the twelfth floor, we should have four to five weeks before we ventured to the fifteenth floor.
Trudy was working hard to prepare more candidates for the raid team. Just as well the supporter chiefs were hard at work fulfilling my huge orders of supply.
If we kept going as we were, we should be able to be ready just in time.
Should there be no interruption, we should be ready for the third Quintal Trial. Even if we needed ten parties.
Yes. Should there be no interruption to our preparation, that was.
[Serafina?]
Zecht's voice suddenly appeared in my mind.
The Party 2 leader was using the communication blessing.
"What's the matter, Zecht?"
I asked as another body of icy water drenched Vallerynne.
[Can you come down to the rift? There's something you need to see.]
He replied monotonously. I could not detect his expression.
I frowned at his request.
Party 2 probably just returned from the twelfth floor. They had to be since I saw them being called earlier.
Why would he want to see me right away that it couldn't wait until they returned to the third floor of the lobby?
"Is there a problem?"
I asked, concern was staining my voice.
[It's complicated. You need to see it for yourself. And bring Trudy with you.]
He said, concern was also staining his voice now.
"Did somebody died?"
I asked immediately.
[No. Nobody died. Just come down, please. I need your help to solve this.]
My frown curved deeper.
He needed me to solve something?
What could it possibly be?
And why would I need to bring Trudy with me?
If somebody died, I could understand that Zecht probably wanted to discuss replacement with us.
But Zecht reported of no such occurrence.
So why?
It was then that I was reminded again of the floor Party 2 just went to.
The twelfth floor.
A trial that shook even members of Party 1.