After Trudy went into the rift of space-time, Jonah, Shanny, and I made our way further into the lobby's second floor.
"Will you two explore the new training ground?"
I asked my comrades.
"Of course! Since we'll be spending a lot of time training there, we need to grasp the lay of the ground."
Jonah replied.
"Maybe there's something that will help us with our training in this new facility."
Shanny added.
I nodded my head and began walking to the direction of the magic hall, waving my hand to the two.
"Alright, then. See you both at dinner."
After an eventful afternoon, I could finally resume my work.
I entered the walled gates leading to the magic hall and found myself in front of a splendid manor.
Even from outside, I noticed the structure inside the building must had changed.
I made my way inside and found myself in an expansive library.
Instead of the large hall equipped with bookshelves, research table, and alchemy lab, this room was only filled with dozens of bookshelves.
The collection of the magic books inside had grown extensively, it almost compared to the library at my academy.
After walking to the other side of the library, I found two set of tables, each placed in a corner of the room.
They were both research tables, equipped with the paper drawn with magic problems that needed to be solved.
Apparently the research activity could be performed by two people at once now.
Beyond the two research tables were two doors.
One led underground while the other led further into the magic hall.
I examined the underground one's first.
I discovered that the magic training chamber had doubled in size, it would be more appropriate to refer to it as a hall.
It would be possible to practice greater form of magic now.
Not only that, there were now smaller confined practice chambers attached to the training hall. We could use these places to practice magic individually.
Of course, these places would only be useful once there were more mages present in the lobby.
But for now, these facilities were only for me to use.
I then made my way back up and passed through the other door.
I now found myself inside an improved alchemy laboratory.
There were more tools and equipment I could use which allowed me for more complex form of alchemy.
And as if master had read my mind, there was now an enchantment station. A place installed with an enchantment pedestal where one could craft magic items or enchant existing items.
I was thinking about alternative methods of crafting enchantment stones, but now I did not need to do that anymore.
And now, the most of important part of the magic hall examination, I walked toward the potion-making station.
Phew…
Thank the universe, my filtration process for the Dara extract was not disturbed.
In fact, the first filtration had been completed. I could now begin making basic health potion if I wanted to.
But right now I intended to create intermediate health potions.
As such, I put away the Dara extract, replaced the filtration tools with smaller-scale units, and poured the Dara extract once more and wait for it to be filtered for another hour.
I needed to do this three more times before I could start brewing.
As I waited, I returned to the library and grabbed myself some books.
While waiting for the second filtration to be done, I sat by my alchemy tools and studied the magic texts in front of me.
'Wind Elemental Magic.'
I read the title on the page.
The wind element was one of the most versatile element existed.
It could have as much as destructive power as the fire element without burning effect.
Also, the wind element worked well with fire, which I already mastered.
There were numerous combination spells between wind and fire which ranged from Fourth Circle to higher tier magic.
If I wanted to learn another elemental magic, wind was the suitable first choice.
While working on obtaining the proper Dara extract, I spent hours analyzing the magic formula for wind elemental magic.
I needed to quickly understand the foundation of its spells so I could start practical training as soon as possible.
By the time evening came, I finally began the last filtration process to obtain the Dara extract needed for the intermediate health potion.
I shut the wind elemental magic book and carried it with me as I exited the magic hall.
Since I still needed to wait for the last filtration, I might as well head down to the lodging for now.
It was time for dinner and I needed to retrieve the Tawa mushrooms and the Surya dusts from the storage anyway.
I noticed that Jonah and Shanny were no longer in the new training ground. They probably had gone down as well.
I made my way to the giant stairs by the square and descended to the first floor of the lobby.
As I walked through the first floor on the way to the lodging, I noticed few people coming in and out of the storage. They were taking materials to be brought to the equipment workshop.
Not only that, although it was nighttime already, there were still people training at the first floor's training ground.
At this hour, it was usually only Jonah, Shanny, or Trudy who stayed there. But those were not their faces that I saw this time.
I guessed our conversation in the afternoon paid off. The others were starting to do their part.
I entered the lodging and was immediately welcomed with antagonizing stares of the first floor residents.
Given they got nothing but the cold hard floor to sleep on, I would not be surprised their mood was not that cheerful.
Though I suspected they had other reasons to despise me.
Whatever they were, I decided to ignore the awful crowd and made my way up to the second floor of the lodging.
I treaded through the extravagant hall until I reached a fancy dining room.
A long table adorned with candles and patterned cloth. Spread all around were various delicacies made from the bounties of the Weekday Dungeon.
From meat dishes to even baked desserts.
It was the best feast ever presented since I came to the forged land.
"Serafina, over here!"
Jonah called up to me from a corner of the table.
He and Shanny were in the middle of enjoying their dinner.
"How was the new training ground?"
I asked them as I took my seat.
"There are small training chambers now. They are each confined and we can lock ourselves in, so it'd be perfect as a private training ground."
Jonah said.
The same was added for the magic hall as well. Those places would be suitable to work on individual improvement.
"You should use those rooms to train your skills. The ones that are not suitable to be practiced with the others present."
I told my comrades.
"I've been meaning to practice my 'Berserk' skill there. I'm still trying to figure out how to use that ability at will."
Shanny said.
Indeed. That Berserk skill of hers was what saved us in the fifth floor when the ogres were throwing giant debris at us.
It would only benefit us greatly if she mastered it.
"Ooh, we also figured out what the caged field is for!"
Jonah said.
"You did? What is it for then?"
"The place stops the lobby's healing ability. If we're wounded there, the wound stays until we leave the cage."
Shanny explained.
"It is able to simulate situation like in the trials then."
I commented.
"It's a perfect place to train for real combat."
Jonah added.
Having figured out these new facilities, we needed to make use of them for the sake of our betterment.
Considering the sort of challenge that awaited us, like the one in the fifth floor, we needed to improve ourselves significantly if we wanted to reach the top of the tower.
"Knowing these facilities are at our disposals, I think we need to reevaluate our training and--"
As I was speaking to my comrades, Trudy suddenly walked in.
Her face had darkened. I noticed a slight trembling on her body.
Whatever happened in the rift of space-time, it was not a pleasant experience for her.
"Trudy, you're back! Come have a meal with us!"
Shanny invited her.
She took a seat within our midst and glanced at us with terrified gaze.
"I saw what happened."
The woman said.
"You saw what happened?"
I asked back.
Trudy threw her glance to the window, toward the rift of space-time.
"The fifth floor. I saw everything that happened on that hellish trial."