With Jonah, Shanny, and Trudy leaving for the training ground, I was left alone in the mirrored chamber.
I looked over to the only mirror shining in there.
[Climb the tower and save the world!]
[Main Dungeon]
[Floor conquered – 1 –]
We were still on the first floor. Our climb was just getting started.
From what we had seen so far, up to five people could enter the trial.
At the moment, Jonah and I could handle the enemies just fine.
But I was certain we would need other comrades to rely on as we climb the tower and the enemies get stronger.
Shanny and Trudy had proven themselves that they were willing to fight.
After some time, Jonah and I could probably rely on them too.
Even with them, though, we still lacked a member.
And who knows? We would probably need more than five people in the trials ahead.
I sure hoped master would summon more people, preferably strong ones.
I stepped out of the mirrored chamber with this wish in mind.
And as if master had heard me, the circular building where I appeared from, the summoning chamber as I would call it, glowed with bright light.
I found the fairy lingered by the summoning chamber's door.
[Oohh! An advanced summon. I hope we get someone strong!]
Advanced summon?
I wondered what she meant by that. But I doubted she would tell me.
Nevertheless, the fairy was excited about this new arrival.
The light on the summoning chamber subsided and the door opened.
A burly old man walked out.
"Hm? Where am I?"
Contrary to her excitement earlier, the fairy's expression suddenly turned sour.
[Ugh, a dud! Well, he's a 3-star, so he's gotta be useful for something.]
She said before vanishing.
"Huh? A 3-star?"
The old man wondered.
"I believe it's a ranking system or some sort."
I said as I approached him.
"Hello, I'm Serafina. You are?"
"I'm Gerrits. Gerrits Sahan."
Or so he introduced.
"Well then, Gerrits, do you remember anything before finding yourself here?"
"Hmm… I can't remember much but I believe I was working in my workshop."
"Anything else noteworthy happening back then?"
"Ah yes… There were monsters gathering at the border of my city. The army were preparing to fight them."
"Is that so?"
Interestingly Gerrts was the only one so far, other than me, who recalled something amiss back home.
"Do you know anything about this land and why you're here?"
I asked him, trying to see if he had prior knowledge like I did.
"I…don't know about this place. However…"
"However?"
"I feel as if there is something I need to do here. As in I need to do whatever ordered to me."
I raised my eyebrows upon that last sentence.
"Does that mean you know about master's existence?"
"That's right. I believe I need to do what this 'master' say to me. Though I don't know why I have to. My head hurts when I try to think about it."
Given his last memory, I could see why he would not know why he had to obey master.
The headache might indicated a restrain in his memories.
But still. Unlike him, the others like Jonah did not know anything at all about this place.
I wondered what else he knew.
"Do you know about synthesis?"
I asked. The voice made a particular mention of this back then.
"Synthesis, a method of gaining power through sacrificing others. I'm not sure how I knew this though. The words are just suddenly there in my head."
Gerrits said with doubting tone.
It was definitely interesting how he possessed knowledge that others did not.
I took notice of what the fairy said about Gerrits being a 3-star.
The fairy classified me as a 4-star while Jonah and the crowd as 1-star.
From my observations so far, the more star you have, the more knowledge you possessed about this place.
And from what the fairy told before, I did not think the stars were limited to just pure knowledge.
"So, Gerrits, you mentioned working in a workshop before coming here. Are you a craftsman?"
"Why yes! I can do carpentry and tannery. But I specialize in blacksmithing."
I frowned upon the introduction.
There were carpenter and tanner among the 1-stars.
I doubted just being a mere blacksmith made Gerrits ranked two stars higher than Jonah and the others.
Could it be it was merely because he had all three crafting skills?
Or perhaps he had other skills he had yet to mention.
"How about fighting? You seem to have the physique for it."
"Not really. I believe those three people in the training ground over there could beat me."
He said while pointing to Jonah, Shanny, and Trudy who were swinging their weapons at the scarecrows amateurishly.
So his fighting skill was not exceptional.
"Is crafting all you can do?"
"Hoho, you're underestimating me, miss! I'll have you know many warriors and mages travelled far just to commission my service."
Mages? Why would a mage seek him?
Could it be?
"Gerrits, are you a mage craftsman?"
"Why yes! I'm one of the best in all southern Tsatu Empire."
No wonder he ranked above the others.
Though not necessarily a mage themselves, a mage crafter was someone who could produce magical equipment.
A mage crafter could create many things. But they were mostly known for creating enchanted weapons and enchantment stones.
A skilled mage could create those things, of course. But we often employed mage crafters to help ease our work.
They would also help mages on huge projects such as airship construction and golem production.
After finding out Gerrits's capabilities, it would be best to have him start helping us with his skills.
"Follow me to the storage, Gerrits. I have something I need you to do."
I asked him.
We both made our way to the modest storage near the square.
Inside, we found the weapons master provided us.
I also noticed a few boxes of iron ore and wood planks were now in the storage.
They were not there before our trip to the first floor trial.
I did not think it was up to master to summon these materials, since master would had summoned it already once the carpenter and tanner were called yesterday.
These additions must be due to the first floor's completion.
The fairy did mention about not having the materials for the equipment workshop, perhaps this was what she was referring to when she asked the craftsmen to wait.
I turned my gaze over to the collection of weapons master summoned for us.
There were swords, wooden shields, spears, bows, and arrows placed here and there.
None of them looked well-crafted.
They seemed like the weapons used by bandits for far too long already. All worn and ready to break at any moment.
It would be risky to keep relying on these tools for the trials ahead.