[Move it, slowpokes! I don't have all day!]
The fairy shouted as we were making our way to her.
Despite only the five of us were called, everyone gathered in the square, curious as to what was about to happen.
{Everybody here? Great! Let's get this over with!]
Once the fairy made sure the people she named had arrived, she turned to the large stone gate which depicted the twin goddesses.
[Open the rift of space and time!]
A bright blue line tore through the stone gate like a scissor running through fabric.
The blue line expanded like a tear and it continued to widened that way.
In place of the stone gate, a large shining blue rift sat in front of us.
The glimmering blue haze was inviting us to step into it.
The fairy turned back to us.
[The five people I called earlier, go enter that gate!]
Though I was almost certain to where we were being sent to, I still had to confirm.
"Is the master sending us for the trial?"
[You sure are smart. And yeah, master wants you to go through that gate and fight whatever is in there.]
I shifted my gaze to the storage which was full with weapons that master summoned.
"Then could we arm ourselves before going in? Surely master wants us to succeed."
[Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. But don't take too long!]
I looked to Jonah and gestured to the storage.
"Go get a spear for yourself."
"R-right!"
The blond-haired shepherd rushed to the storage and looked through the items in there.
"H-hey, what's going on here?!"
Orvis, the angry old man from last night, called to me.
Incidentally he was also one of the people named by the fairy.
"What else do you think? We're going for the trial, of course."
I answered.
Orvis as well as the two other people called went into panic.
"T-trial?!"
"Master is sending us for battle?!"
"But I don't know how to fight!"
I sighed at their outburst.
"I told you last night to start training if you haven't wielded a weapon before."
With an infuriated expression, Orvis stomped his feet and looked to the fairy.
"In that case, I'm not going!"
The fairy was shocked to hear him. As if she just heard the stupidest thing ever.
[What nonsense are you talking about, old fart?]
"Y-you heard me! I'm not going! I refuse to obey this master's orders!"
[What?! Are you insane? How come you're not obeying master?]
"I refuse to obey someone who kidnapped me!]
[Hey, you need t--]
The fairy suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked up to the sky. Something unperceivable to us once again had occupied the fairy's attention.
I knew what it meant: Master was relaying their orders.
The little winged creature grinned at whatever she was seeing.
[Finally! It's about time they finish the tutorial!]
The door to the other circular building opened.
Jonah walked up to me. He had grabbed a plain-looking spear from the storage.
"Serafina, that building…"
"The one that opened and closed again after our trial together."
"What do you think it's for?"
"I guess we'll soon find out."
The fairy flew over to the opened door and called out to us.
[Jonah, Orvis! Get into the synthesis chamber now!]
Synthesis, I knew it!
Jonah immediately looked to me with concern.
I grabbed his shoulder and calmed him down.
"Don't worry. I'm certain you'll be fine. Master has seen you fight, after all."
Jonah nodded and stepped into the circular building.
"AHH! LET ME GO!"
Orvis shouted as he was being dragged by the fairy to the door.
"I'm not going! I refuse to enter!"
The fairy chuckled at his reaction.
[Well, old man, this is an order you cannot refuse.]
Orvis caught my eyes and shouted.
"Hey, you! Where is this fairy taking me? What's going to happen to me?"
I simply sighed and threw him a pitiful gaze over his tantrum.
"I did say you'd face a grave consequence if you disobey master. You just refused to listen."
"What?! No! No! This isn't fair! This isn't fair!"
Orvis shouted as the fairy threw him inside the synthesis chamber. The winged creature vanished afterward.
The door closed by itself and the old man's shouts were cut short.
A bright light suddenly peered through the gaps of the building.
Once the light dimmed, the chamber soon reopened.
Jonah, and only Jonah, walked out.
"What happened in there?"
I asked.
"The old man and I walked in and he somehow turned into light. It was very weird."
That confirmed it.
What Jonah just experienced was the synthesis the voice talked about. An act of gaining powers through sacrifice.
And in that case, Jonah must had gained something from sacrificing Orvis.
"How about you? Do you feel anything different?"
Jonah furrowed his brows upon my question. He clenched his fist very tightly.
"I'm not sure, but I feel somewhat stronger all of a sudden."
The people in the square were surprised to see Orvis did not come out.
"Miss witch, where did Orvis go?"
One of the two other people in our five-membered party approached and asked.
"He was sacrificed."
I answered bluntly.
The whole crowd in the square went into panic.
"Sacrificed?!"
"You mean he died?!"
"Kyaa!"
I pointed to the synthesis chamber and spoke to all the people in the square.
"In this land, master can make people stronger by sacrificing other people. It's called synthesis."
I watched them trembled upon those words.
I continued to ensure that they understand.
"Keep that in mind when you're planning to disobey master in the future."
[Haha! As usual, the witch is right!]
The fairy reappeared in front of us.
[If you don't want to end up like that old man, be sure to obey master and make yourself useful!]
The fairy looked up again, distracted by the master relaying their orders to her.
[Serafina, Jonah, Roan, Lumi, and Horace!]
The fairy called another name this time in place of Orvis.
She pointed the shining stone gate once more.
[The five of you, hurry enter the gate! We've been delaying things enough already!]
Jonah and I nodded to each other and approached the stone gate together.
Once I touched the haze, I noticed a slight rippling distortion among the light on the gate.
The moment I pushed my hand into the gate, it went through like nothing was there.
Jonah and I then walked through the gate and found ourselves in a vast room decorated with three giant mirrors within.
Two out of three mirrors darkened, reflecting us and entire chamber clearly.
One was shining with bluish-white light. It was the one on the furthest left.
There were words hanging over the only shining mirror.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered – 0 –]
The term 'tower' and 'save the world' were what interested me the most.
The fairy made a mention of it before.
But before I could revel about this even further, the three other people called walked in. They were so frightened that the fairy had to push them inside.
[You bastards are so troublesome!]
As the rift on the stone gate was closing, the fairy smiled and waved at us with a sly smirk.
[Well then, have fun out there!]
The same as the trial before, bluish-white light engulfed the five of us in the room.
"Serafina!"
Jonah shouted to me, recalling the light.
"I know, get ready!"
The three others were kneeling on the floor, panicking over the light.
"Ah! What's happening to us?"
"Mother, save me!"
"Kyaaa!"
The light soon subsided and we found ourselves in an open grass plain.
It was different from the burning village we were brought to previously.
Kekeke!
As I was about to observe my surrounding, a disturbing laugh caught my attention.
I turned around and found four goblins staring at us with their hideous smiles.
All four of them were carrying bent and chipped daggers as weapons. Their bodies were thin and frail, but overflowing with bloodlust.
"Kyaa, monsters!"
Someone from the cowardly three screamed.
I noticed each of them suddenly had a rusty iron sword in their hand.
Meanwhile, Jonah was equipped with the spear he took from the storage.
"Um, Serafina, can I ask you a favor?"
Jonah asked as he tightened the grip on his spear.
Seeing him gearing up for battle, I understood what he was trying to say.
"Want me to leave some for you?"
He nodded.
"Yes, please. I need to learn how to defend myself. I don't want to be a burden to you."
I smiled at his request.
The shepherd turned out to have a little bit of a warrior spirit in him.
"Very well, let's each take two. Is that okay?"
"Of course!"