"Hm?"
The moment I reopened my eyes, I found myself staring at my bedroom's wooden ceiling inside the lodging.
I immediately figured out what happened to me.
I simply passed out in the magic hall.
It was certainly because my mana overflow state had finally peaked and my body could not tolerate it anymore.
I was surprised I even held that long after casting a Fifth Circle spell.
Perhaps my new skill "Mana Overflow Resistance" was the reason why I still managed to retain any consciousness after the trial.
Someone must had entered the magic hall and found me collapsed on the ground, which explained why I was now sleeping on my bed.
I also noticed that someone had changed me out of my magic dress which had been stained with monsters' blood and mud into my soft nightgown.
The already clean magic dress was conveniently laid on a chair by my bed.
I turned my gaze outside the window and found the dark gray sky gradually turning brighter. It was still early morning.
Reflecting back on what occupied my mind last, I quickly got up from the bed, changed into simple tunic and skirts I imagined to appear, and stepped outside.
Considering I had not eaten anything since I returned from the fifth floor, I decided to head to the dining hall to start my day.
Upon entering, I discovered Pauline, Giacomo, and Linnie in the kitchen already busy preparing for the morning breakfast.
"Serafina! You're up early!"
Pauline called out.
"I already got the rest I needed."
"Are you sure? Because yesterday little Tarran found you passed out in the magic hall when he was bringing your dinner. Jonah had to carry you back to your room."
"Did he now? And was he responsible in changing me into my nightgown as well?"
"Goodness, no! Trudy and I did that for you. We also cleaned your dress, by the way."
Good.
Because otherwise I would need to have a long conversation with a certain shepherd.
"Thank you for the help, Pauline. I hope it wasn't too much of a bother."
"Oh come on! It's the least we could do when you were the one who is out there fighting the big battles for us."
She said while serving me my plate.
The big battles.
She must had heard about the fifth floor.
I wondered if master would be sending the other parties to that trial.
It would be useless, really. Like sending lambs to a slaughterhouse.
The current combatants outside of Party 1 were just amateurs who never had battle experience before coming here.
We had Cecily previously who had handled a weapon before, but now she was gone.
I hoped master would not commit such useless sacrifice.
It would be more beneficial if master just used synthesis. More power for us and they could die a painless death.
Then again, if the sixth floor upward were to be as difficult if not more than the fifth floor, then the people in the other parties would had no chance whatsoever in surviving the trials.
If the hypothesis about the trial difficulties being the same or worse afterwards were to be true, then the only way for the other parties to survive the upcoming trials were by having strong people by their side.
The first to the fourth floor could not ever prepare the current combatants to face a mission like the one in the fifth floor.
Only by having already-strong allies that they would stand a chance.
In other words, master needed to summon stronger people to join our ranks. Such as 3-star folks or above.
That being said, Party 1 was also down two members. We needed to reinforce our number as well.
Cecily's and Gerson's deaths provided us a clearer idea on what sort of person we would need as our comrades.
And speaking of comrades, my mind turned to the ones I still possessed.
"Are Jonah and Shanny in their rooms? I wanted to speak to them."
I asked Pauline.
"You just missed them. They've gone to the training ground with Trudy."
They were up already?
Those two just experienced intense trial yesterday.
Even veteran soldiers would have trouble getting up from their bed after such battle.
I would expect them to rest a little bit more.
Then again, I, myself, was already up and about. So I really did not have a say in the matter.
As soon as I finished my meal, I made my way out of the lodging and headed to the training ground.
Clang!
Clang!
The sound of swords and shields clashing reached my ears.
A duel was taking place.
Thud!
"Dammit, Trudy! Keep your wits together! Do you want to die?!"
Shanny angrily yelled at her blue-haired comrade who had collapsed to the ground, full of wounds which were soon healing.
There was no doubt who just won the duel.
Shanny did not even hold back fighting against Trudy, when she knew well she very much surpassed Trudy in combat abilities.
Seeing the two's fight had just concluded, Jonah approached them.
"Shanny, you're done here? Let's fight."
"Sure. And after Trudy's rested, let's have two on one kind of duels after that."
"You got it."
The two immediately engaged in a furious sparring session.
They swung their weapons with every strength they got. Each movement was aimed to kill.
Both Jonah and Shanny were focused on keeping their training going and turning it harder than ever.
I had not seen them this driven before.
"I see that you both have got plenty of rest."
I called out to them, interrupting their session.
"It just didn't feel right to not train."
Jonah said.
"I could see that. You even increased your training load so much that Trudy could not keep up with you."
I told them while staring at their terribly wounded ally.
"We don't want to die, Serafina. Any training less than what we're doing now won't ever get us prepared to face that kind of hellish mission again."
Shanny said while tightening the grip on her sword, recalling the nightmare of the fifth floor.
Trudy nodded vigorously.
"She's right. I heard what happened in the fifth floor. It's really terrifying to know how difficult the trial could become."
The blue-haired woman said while getting back on her feet.
The fifth floor trial did make a great impact on my comrades.
It definitely would to those whom survived it and others whom believed the tale.
Now that we understood how big the mountain we had to climb to reach the top of the tower, we could not help but to force ourselves to work harder.
"Well then, by all means, carry on with your training."
I said as I began running around the training ground.
"What are you doing?"
Jonah asked as he watched me jogged.
"I'm performing stamina training. I want to integrate physical exercise in my regiment from now on. You're not the only ones who wants to train harder, after all."