I sipped my tea as I observed the vast training ground on the first floor of the lobby.
Consisted of 1-star and 2-star at summoning heroes, over a hundred combatants were currently training inside the newcomer facility.
The entire training ground could be viewed from the balcony I was standing on.
After I returned from the third Quintal Trial, I wrote a suggestion to Master to improve the first floor training ground by adding a new auxiliary facility.
An academy.
A place where the first floor trainees could be taught supplementary lessons, providing them with more rounded education.
The academy stood at the side of the training ground, neighboring the first floor square.
At the top of the building were the offices for the teaching staffs. The instructors' offices.
Right now only Trudy occupied the faculty facility.
She was the first instructor the lobby had and so she was given the Chief Instructor's office, which sat at the highest floor of the academy.
Her office space consisted of two balconies. One provided a view to the training ground, while the other to the rift of space-time by the first floor square, as well as the synthesis-promotion chamber and the summoning chambers on both the first and the second floor.
I was currently standing on the balcony overviewing the training ground, observing the trainees practicing below.
A group of 20 trainees or so was gathered at the dueling field at the center of the training ground.
Taking turns in smaller groups of five, they dueled against two men in eastern clothing.
Fangli and Haoban.
"The new 3-stars are giving their all sparring with the other trainees."
Trudy said as she joined me on the balcony.
"They should be. Their potential party members are among the trainees, after all. They needed to make sure their comrades are strong enough to join their ranks."
Fangli and Haoban refused to stay and train on the third floor. Nor they accepted Master's assignment to the second floor.
The Tchakran warriors said they wanted to start from the bottom of the lobby since that was how new disciples were supposed to be treated.
The 3-star martial artists also wanted to form their party with the other low-ranked heroes they trained alongside with on the first floor.
I approved their intentions since it would help them forming a party with great compatibility between its members.
"Master had summoned quite a lot of people. There are plenty talented trainees on the first floor this time around. The 3-star Tchakran warriors will find strong comrades to fight alongside with."
Trudy assured me.
"I just want to confirm the report I've read. But how many combatant trainees does the first floor have right now?"
I asked the Chief Instructor.
"Two 3-star heroes, ten 2-star heroes, and one hundred 1-star heroes. 112 trainees in total."
Shingg!!!
At the end of Trudy's report, a bright light radiated from the first floor square.
It came from the regular summoning chamber.
[Master, starting 10-consecutive Regular Summoning!]
[I'm excited to see what heroes will appear!]
[DRRRRRR…]
[Boom!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Andrien (★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Meson (★)'!]
[Uncommon!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Balma (★★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained hero 'Remi (★)'!]
[Common!]
[Master 'S1GYN' has obtained…]
Ten confused people soon walked out of the regular summoning chamber and poured into the first floor square.
The crowd immediately calmed down once a pair of administrators came to greet them.
"Make that 122 trainees."
Trudy said with a worried smile.
"You can't train all 122 trainees on your own, Trudy."
I told the instructor.
My former party comrade nodded with a spent expression.
"I'm aware. I have been planning on asking some of the second floor trainees to come down and help me. Either just to help spar with the trainees and give them few advices, or helping them level up in the trials."
"Excellent idea. Let's make it an official plan."
I said while returning into the office.
On Trudy's desk lied a pile of document I brought with me.
Settling down my cup of tea, I handed some of the papers to the Chief Instructor.
"Have a look at this report."
[Training Ground Lv.4 (1st floor)]
[Trainees: 112]
[Chief Instructor: 'Trudy (★★)']
[Assistant Instructor: None]
[Facility Status:]
[Unskilled trainee's probability of obtaining a weapon skill:]
[Basic Swordsmanship (42%); Basic Spearmanship (36%); Basic Dagger Technique (11%); Basic Archery (7%); Other Weapon Skills (4%)]
[Percentage of skilled trainees (represented by main weapon skill):]
[Basic Swordsmanship (43%); Basic Sword-Shield Technique (13%); Basic Spearmanship (18%); Basic Dagger Technique and Basic Archery (8%); Other Weapon Skills (2%); Unskilled (16%)]
[Rate of skill improvement per day according to group of weapon:]
[Sword-Wielders (37%); Polearm-Wielders (22%); Dagger-Users (6%); Archers (2%); Other Weapon-Users (90%)]
[Percentage of overall weapon skill improvement per day:]
[Basic Swordsmanship (64%); Basic Spearmanship (27%); Basic Dagger Technique (5%); Basic Archery (3%); Other Weapon Skills (2%)]
[Highest weapon skill level according to group of weapon:]
[Basic Swordsmanship (Level 4); Basic Sword-Shield Technique (Level 5); Basic Spearmanship (Level 4); Basic Dagger Technique (Level 3); Basic Archery (Level 3); Average of Other Weapon Skills (Level 3)]
[Average weapon skill level according to group of weapon:]
[Basic Swordsmanship (Level 2); Basic Sword-Shield Technique (Level 3); Basic Spearmanship (Level 1); Basic Dagger Technique (Level 1); Basic Archery (Level 1); Average of Other Weapon Skills (Level 2)]
It was a report of the training ground that the administrators compiled and delivered to me and Master this morning.
All of the statistics were made by the administrators after they interviewed and documented all heroes residing on the first floor, including the new 3-star heroes.
They worked all through the night preparing the report so it could be submitted in time.
Jasper must had wanted to make a good impression of the administrators on their first day on the job.
The administrators could only provide basic information given the short time they had.
But as time went on, they could supply even more detailed information on the state of the trainees.
"It's incredible what you can learn just from reading these numbers."
Trudy said, fascinated eyes running through the report.
I nodded.
"They represents the result of your hard work in the training ground."
Trudy clicked her tongue in displeasure, unfortunately.
"The sword-wielders are improving well. The spear-wielders are doing fine too. But the performance on the rest is actually horrible."
"It can't be helped. The only instructor this training ground has is you. And you're only specialized in swordsmanship."
"Have Master seen this report? How do they think about it?"
The instructor asked.
I proceeded to hand her more documents from the pile. Almost the rest of it. Perhaps the biggest bulk of the stack.
The report was so thick it was more akin to a small book.
"Now take a look at this. It's Master's orders for the academy."
[Academy - Training Ground Lv.4 (1st floor) -]
[Trainees: 112]
[Chief Instructor: 'Trudy (★★)']
[Assistant Instructor: None (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Curriculum:]
-
-
[Lesson Plan 1: Basic Training First Phase]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: Level 1-4 hero]
[Content: Main Dungeon 1st Floor clearance (4 times), Main Dungeon 2nd Floor clearance (4 times), Main Dungeon 3rd Floor clearance (4 times), Main Dungeon 4th Floor clearance (4 times)]
[Goal 1: Trainee level 5]
[Goal 2: Trainee's weapon skill level 1]
[Directive 1: The Main Dungeon is challenged from the lowest appointed floor to the highest appointed floor.]
[Directive 2: Each floor challenged twice per day]
[Directive 3: One resting day before continuing to the higher floor]
-
-
[Lesson Plan 2: Basic Training Second Phase]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: Level 5 hero]
[Content: Main Dungeon 5th Floor Record-Viewing, Main Dungeon 8th Floor clearance (8 times), Main Dungeon 9th Floor clearance (8 times), 2-star promotion (if a 1-star hero)]
[Goal 1: 2-star promotion (if a 1-star trainee)]
[Goal 2: Trainee level 11]
[Goal 3: Trainee's weapon skill level 3]
[Directive 1: The Main Dungeon is challenged from the lowest appointed floor to the highest appointed floor.]
[Directive 2: Each floor challenged once per day]
[Directive 3: One resting day before continuing to the higher floor]
[Directive 4: 2-star promotion prioritized for trainee with the highest MVP records]
-
-
[Lesson Plan 3: Basic Training Third Phase]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: Level 11 hero]
[Content: Main Dungeon 10th Floor Record-Viewing, Main Dungeon 11th Floor clearance (6 times), Main Dungeon 12th Floor clearance (6 times)]
[Goal 1: Trainee level 13]
[Goal 2: Trainee's weapon skill level 4]
[Directive 1: The Main Dungeon is challenged from the lowest appointed floor to the highest appointed floor.]
[Directive 2: Main Dungeon 11th Floor challenged once per day]
[Directive 3: Main Dungeon 12th Floor challenged once every two days]
[Directive 4: Two resting days before continuing to the higher floor]
-
-
[Lesson Plan 4: Warrior Auxiliary Training]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: Sword-Wielder, Polearm-Wielder]
[….]
[Lesson Plan 5: Archer Auxiliary Training]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: Archer]
[….]
[Lesson Plan 6: Rogue Auxiliary Training]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: Dagger-User, Archer]
[….]
[Lesson Plan 7: Formation and Tactical Training]
[Instructor: Yet to be appointed (appointment delegated to Vice-Master)]
[Trainee: All heroes assigned to the facility]
[….]
[Lesson Plan 8: …]
Trudy read the thick document with bewildered eyes.
"Serafina, is this…"
"That is the education scheme Master drafted for this first floor academy. As the Chief Instructor, it will be your duty to implement it."
It was something that I suggested to Sigyn after I was appointed as Vice-Master.
I presented to Master the general idea and, to my great satisfaction, Sigyn expanded it into a detailed masterplan.
If the first floor combatant trainees wanted to move up to the better facilities on the second floor of the lobby, they needed to finish Basic Training by clearing the twelfth floor.
That way we would encourage the first floor trainees to be brave enough to kill the human enemies in that trial.
Also, the first floor trainees would receive specialization training early on. Making them learn special skills and develop their weapon skill further which they could not achieve on their own, or just by Trudy's general guidance.
We needed to develop the training method for the first floor trainees.
If we could raise the standard of trained heroes right from the first floor, then we would increase our overall power in the lobby.
Once we had improved the training condition on the first floor, we would start working to improve the second, and then the third.
It was something that we had to do and keep on doing.
Our enemies in the Quintal Trials were getting stronger.
The heroes of the forged land needed to keep up and overcome them or we would never reach the top of the tower.
"I can't provide all these lessons that Master ordered by myself. We would need more instructors."
Trudy stated.
I nodded to her and gave the Chief Instructor the rest of the document I brought with me. As well as Trudy's journal I borrowed from her.
"Master has ordered the recruitment for additional instructors. I have written there the list of instructors that the first floor academy need and the qualifications for their appointment."
I told her.
I went on.
"The list of skills in your journal helped Master and I drafted the qualification standards for the additional instructors. You should be able to find among the second floor trainees those that are good enough to be considered candidates for the positions."
Trudy's eyes bulged at the directives.
"Numerous level 3 auxiliary skills for each weapon specialization. Level 8 in main weapon skill?!"
"The instructors must be highly skilled so the training standard could be raised."
I then turned to the rift of space-time.
"Haven't you seen the third Quintal Trial? What do you think of Party 1's performance in that mission?"
"Flawless."
Trudy replied immediately.
The Chief Instructor continued.
"Every hero fulfilled their duties to perfection. No flaw in the formation. The five of you acted as one and accomplished everything required from your party."
"The rest of the parties must be able to perform the same, Trudy. In order to achieve that, the individual members needed to be very, very, skilled. That is why we need highly capable instructors that could provide specialized training."
I said.
I went on.
"The conditions for the instructors are just the initial qualifications for their recruitment. Eventually the specialized instructors need to reach level 10 in basic weapon skill, and even develop them into intermediate weapon skill."
I had seen how skills develop from the improvement of my magic skills.
Basic skills could evolve into Intermediate skills after they reached level 10.
Though I was not certain if there were no other conditions applied to the skill evolution other than just levelling up the skills enough.
Trudy then put a worried frown.
"But, Serafina, I think even some of the Party 1 members haven't developed their skills that high. And I think there's only one second floor trainee that has reached even just level 6 in weapon skill. How will I find the people qualified for the instructor positions?"
"The Raid Team and all of the second floor trainees will receive special training from now on. The new 4-star heroes have agreed to help. We will prepare the instructor candidates until they are properly qualified for the posts."
I told the Chief Instructor.
"Even so, the trainees that could fulfill all these requirements would be very talented heroes. They would have as much potential as Jonah and Shanny even!"
Trudy said, recalling her experience training alongside those two comrades of ours.
She turned toward the rift of space-time and asked me.
"Wouldn't you want them to join the Raid Team instead and help you in the Quintal Trials?"
"We were lucky the fifteenth floor's objective was to escape the city. But what if it were a defend mission like the tenth floor? And ten, twenty, or one hundred parties were deployed to execute the mission?
I told her.
I went on.
"It would take fifty of our current second floor trainees to even stand a chance against one Viulan knight. A hundred of our current first floor trainees would only be slaughtered. All of our trainees combined would only get annihilated against a single Farista battalion."
Trudy sighed at my words and stared toward the training ground below.
"I have a feeling that scenario will be an actual mission on the higher floors. Maybe even the twentieth."
I nodded to her.
"It must be done eventually, Trudy. By sacrificing the potential talents to supportive roles, we would be setting our army to gain double or even triple the talents later on."
Had the new 4-stars not arrived to the forged land, I would not dare to make that statement.
But Ulrica and the others should be able to compensate for the loss of talents from the frontline.
Having heard my reasoning, Trudy grasped the documents tightly and put on a hopeful smile.
"I promised that I would keep supporting you by working as an instructor. So I will work hard to fulfill your orders."
I nodded confidently to her words and turned my gaze toward the second floor of the lobby.
"Even after some were recruited for the administrator positions, there are still about 61 combatant trainees on the second floor. Find those you think are talented enough for the instructor posts. Most importantly, those that knows how to teach others."
I went on.
"Once you've found the instructor candidates, they will be trained by the Raid Team alongside the rest of the second floor trainees until they are qualified for the instructor positions. The candidates will be officially appointed instructors once they fulfilled all the initial requirements I set."
Trudy made a small salute upon my orders.
"As you command, Your Excellency."