Published: January 22, 2026
Without any major trouble, we progressed smoothly and reached the 20th floor ahead of schedule.
In less than ten minutes, we could arrive at the floor boss. The floor boss should be easy to defeat for the leaders, so it seemed like today would end just like this.
The tenth squad had already engaged in multiple battles on the way here.
Although I had concerns about having only three members, I began to think that a three-person team wouldn't be a problem during training explorations.
First, there’s Logan.
His choices of support magic, timing of activation, and the magnitude of his support magic boosts were all at a high standard.
Since we were on the upper floors today and the battles ended quickly, there were aspects I couldn’t fully evaluate, but if he can maintain that level during long fights, honestly, he could thrive even in an a rank party.
He also met the level required for offensive magic as an enchanter, so I could understand why he sometimes acted so arrogantly. Truly a genius.
However, his instructions were regrettably poor.
Well, that requires a lot of combat experience, so he’ll likely improve going forward.
Next, Caroline.
As she aimed to be an evasion-type defender, she was highly agile and even managed to outmaneuver horned rabbits and white wolves, which are among the fastest on the upper floors.
However, there were some problems.
First, she would rush in as soon as she spotted a demonic beast. Being a defender, approaching is fine, but in her case, it seemed she fought with the mindset of “attack before they attack me!” which made me quite nervous watching her.
Also, her weapons were two daggers. While daggers suited her nimble movements, this party only had three members and she was the only frontline fighter. That left some worry due to low attack power.
Finally, Sophia.
Compared to the other two, she did pale a little, but her magic power and casting speed were surprisingly high for a rookie.
Maybe because of her personality, she hadn’t taken very proactive actions yet, but I think that will improve as she grows closer to her teammates.
Compared to advanced explorers, she still has a long way to go, but as a newcomer, she has no glaring flaws, and I look forward to her development.
As for the ninth squad… well, I guess we can look forward to what they do next.
While thinking about all this, the three leaders excluding me and Ms. Selma defeated the floor boss on the twentieth floor.
For now, that’s the end for today.
I thought more problems would arise, but perhaps there are agreements within the clan.
Even when encountering situations that could cause hesitation, no one panicked and they handled things smoothly.
Honestly, I didn’t expect it to go this well.
I must have underestimated the organization called the silver rabbits of the night sky.
That said, from tomorrow, we will enter the middle floors.
We will progress through fewer floors than today, but the difficulty will definitely increase.
After reaching the 21st floor, the rookies took turns holding their Guild Cards to the crystal. Once that was done, everyone moved back to the surface.
Although we finished earlier than planned, the sun had long since set.
Among the rookies, several looked exhausted, their fatigue at its peak, partly due to nervousness.
Today’s exploration was pretty harsh on the newcomers.
I really want to give a scolding to that careless, foolish noble who made this plan.
We all moved back to the plaza where we gathered in the morning, and Ms. Selma offered words of encouragement to the rookies, bringing today to a close.
I was a little tired myself, so I planned to have a simple dinner and go to bed early, but Ms. Selma called out to me.
“Orun, how were the rookies?”
“Well, the ninth squad looks promising for the future. The tenth squad was as you said, Ms. Selma, full of hopeful rookies, but their teamwork was completely absent. Especially Caroline—I honestly have nothing but worries about her.”
“Hahaha… even so, she’s much better than before,” Ms. Selma muttered with a disappointed look.