The next morning.
[Akarshanam]
My palms glowed with crimson light.
The ray then slowly permeated into the spear, swords, and wooden shields laid in front of me.
These weapons were not the poor ones that master summoned us. These were the properly-crafted tools made by Gerrits and the craftsmen overnight.
Not only that. Along the body of the spear, the blade of the swords, and around the edges of the shields, were carved intricate symbols.
All of them were designed by me and carved by Gerrits.
These symbols were, indeed, the magic runes used for enchanting weapons.
Once I imbued my mana, the runes glowed with red light and soon the light dissipated.
I had casted basic reinforcement and weight-reducing spell on these weapons.
Unfortunately, even with Gerrits's skills, we could not produce a weapon that could contain more enchantments.
Not until we acquire better materials for the weapons.
We had to settle for these items for now.
"Incredible!"
Jonah said as he forcefully thrusted the enchanted spear in the training ground.
"The sword is a bit bigger than the ones we used yesterday, but it's much lighter! Sharper too!"
Shanny commented while decapitating a scarecrow.
"The shield also feels a lot sturdier than the ones we used for training."
Trudy added.
After their training yesterday, Shanny and Trudy decided to add a shield to their armaments.
They were not very skilled yet with the sword to have it as a defense tool. So they needed to compensate for that lacking.
Meanwhile Jonah's spearmanship kept improving.
He already had experience using the weapon back when he was a shepherd, but I continuously seeing his movement turning sharper and more precise.
Jonah definitely had talent with the spear.
If he kept growing like this, he would become a fearsome fighter.
[Serafina, Jonah, Shanny, and Trudy! Master is calling for you!]
And as if fate wanted Jonah to become stronger, the fairy summoned us.
We all geared up and walked to the square to meet the fairy.
We knew we were called for battle.
[Well, well, well! Seems like you guys have got yourselves better toys.]
The fairy said, eyeing our weapons.
"It's necessary if we want to complete the trial."
I said to her.
The fairy suddenly raised her eyebrows and flew closer to me.
[Speaking of weapons, master wants me to let you know that you're allowed to open a portal to the storage during the trials.]
"A portal? Dimensional portal, you mean?"
[Yeah, that. Now that the equipment workshop is supplying more weapons to the storage, you can open a portal to resupply. Mind though, only master can bring up the items from the storage to the trial.]
"Is that so?"
So that was the connection I sensed yesterday between the storage and the mirrored chamber.
Even though we were transported to another place during the trial, this land would still be connected to us in some way.
With that, it was possible for me to do a dimensional magic.
"Serafina, what is the warden talking about?"
Jonah asked.
"Once we're in the trial, I could create a portal to the storage that allows master to summon any objects we needed from there."
"Like weapons?"
"Yes. If your spear breaks, we can summon another one in the trial."
"Really? That's definitely convenient."
"It is."
Thanks to the enchantment on the weapons, I doubted we would need to replace weapons during the trial yet.
Moreover, portals like these were more useful to replenish arrows, potions, and enchantment stones.
[Alright, chit-chat's over! Let's get this show started!]
The fairy shouted while flying to the air.
She hovered over the large stone gate and made this exaggerated pose.
[Open the rift of space and time!]
A glowing rift opened up on the stone gate, signaling for us to enter.
I looked around and found Jonah, Shanny, and Trudy gripping hard on their weapons. Their faces were stiff and alerted.
They were steeling themselves for what was about to come.
We passed the gate and entered the mirrored chamber.
I turned to the only mirror shining in there.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered – 1 –]
Just like before, we would be entering yet another trial.
The three others around me had readied their weapons and fighting stances. They knew what was going to happen.
"Stay calm and keep your focus. Do that and you'll be fine."
I told them as a final preparation.
Soon, the shining mirror glowed even more brightly and the light consumed us all.
Once the light dissipated, we found ourselves back on the open grass plain.
Just like before, standing a few distance across, four scrawny goblins with pathetic weapons were staring at us full with bloodlust.
Seeing nothing changed with the enemy, I supposed we were still on the first floor trial.
I turned to my comrades who were gearing up for battle.
"How about we take one each? We'll see how much your training yesterday paid up."
Shanny and Trudy raised their swords and poised their shields. They were ready to fight.
"That's fine by me."
"Agreed."
I looked over to Jonah.
"What do you think, shepherd? Can you handle one goblin?"
The blond man grinned at my inquiry and pointed his spear forward.
"I'll do my best."
Grahh!
The four goblins began their charge on us.
[Davah Shasanam]
I raised my hand and enchanted a rock in front of me.
It hovered to the air and catapulted toward one of the goblins in high speed.
The rock smashed through the creature's snouted head, killing it instantly.
Meanwhile, Jonah rushed toward one of the goblins and thrusted his spear with one swift movement.
The creature did not have any time to react before it got impaled to its death.
A goblin tried to stab Shanny but she parried the dagger with her shield and stabbed the monster with her own sword.
Though she only had one short day of training, Shanny was quite precise with her assault.
For someone who just learned how to fight, this woman was grasping the fundamental quite well.
It might also help that she had a capable sparring partner like Jonah instead of a static scarecrow.
On the other hand, Trudy struggled to find an opening on her goblin.
The monster kept barraging her with stabs and slashes.
Thanks to her shield, Trudy managed to avoid fatal injuries.
Fortunately, Trudy did not stay passive. She attempted to attack the goblin every now and then.
Though she could not land a fatal blow, she managed to injure the monster just enough for its movement to slow down.
Eventually the goblin stumbled and became off balanced.
Trudy wasted no time to thrust her sword into its neck.
It had only been a day but the sight of Shanny and Trudy's battle performances had significantly improved.
At the very least, these two women would be able to protect themselves against the goblins and not completely helpless.
Bluish-white light soon engulfed the four of us. A sign that the trial had been completed.
Once we returned, I saw the number on the shining mirror.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered – 1 –]
Nothing changed. We were still on the first floor.
As we were about to step out back to the square, the fairy appeared before us.
[Shanny, Trudy, you guys stay! Master is calling for you two again.]
All four of us shared a glance.
We quickly understood that master wanted Shanny and Trudy to do the trial once more. Only the two of them this time however.
That being said, Shanny and Trudy looked to each other and nodded.
No fear was on their faces. Only a pair of cautioned and determined look.
"We'll see you guys later."
Shanny spoke to us.
"Tell Pauline we'll be late for lunch!"
Trudy said while trying to keep her cheery tone.
"Don't worry! You two got this!"
Jonah replied in high spirit.
"Just keep yourself calm and focused and you will be fine."
I added.
The shepherd and I then left the mirrored room just before Shanny and Trudy got engulfed in bright light.