PICK ME UP, ANOTHER LOBBY!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The sound of pickaxes hammering on blocks of rocks resounded throughout the cavern.

Gerrits, Trudy, and Tarran were spread all over trying to collect iron ores from the mine.

I had also told them to be on the lookout for a bright yellow grains called Surya dust, the final key ingredient for the health potion.

Thankfully, Gerrits knew what it was and how to differentiate it from mere gold.

While they were busy mining the cave, I trekked deeper into the underground labyrinth, hunting down any monster present.

Tssss!

Once I reached the depth of the cave, I found snakes the size of a grown man slithering about.

Apparently I just discovered their nest.

[Maha Agni]

The blast of my fire quickly engulfed the monsters and sent them to their deaths.

Unfortunately, I did not find the giant snake Jonah talked about earlier.

None of the monster was emanating with magical energy just like how I sensed it from the giant wolf in the plateau. I sensed nothing ever since we arrived here.

I walked among the monsters' charred body and examined their corpses.

They were no good.

Each of them had been burned entirely. None of their body parts could be useful enough to be brought back.

I manifested a flame on my right palm and stared at it reflectively.

Fire was the only elemental magic I had been practicing.

I was compatible with the other elements, but fire was the only one I focused on.

Given my role to support my party during the trials, I needed to be more flexible in my offensive strategy.

I could not keep relying on the fire element.

There would be times when fire would actually become a disadvantage.

Once we returned, I needed to address this matter.

I traced my steps back to my comrades.

Along the way, I observed the walls of the caverns which was adorned with beautiful glowing crystals.

Though they looked pretty and magical, they did not actually worth anything in witchcraft or alchemy.

They were simply glass. Empty fragile glass.

If we needed to make some sort of glass construct, it would be much better to create it from melting sand or other better materials.

That being said, my staring at the cave wall did not prove fruitless.

As I was walking along the cave, I noticed a strange striation all over a corner of the cave.

I walked up to it and examined the striation more carefully.

It was faint, very faint, but I could sense a strange energy from it.

"Gerrits!"

I called up to him.

Considering his expertise in ores, I wanted his opinion about this striation.

"What's the matter?"

He asked as he walked to me with his pickaxe.

"Do you know what this is?"

I showed him the patterned streaks on the wall.

The craftsman immediately frowned.

"Hm. I've never seen anything like this. It's not similar to the ore veins I'd find. The pattern on it is peculiar."

He then raised his pickaxe and started digging through the striation.

Shinggg….

As soon as he tore through the wall, a magnificent blue stone greeted us.

"Hm? What's this?"

Gerrits asked while plucking the stone.

"I don't know. This is my first time seeing such kind."

I told him.

Indeed.

From untrained eyes, one might think it was a water elemental stone.

But its shape, folds, and patterns did not resemble any elemental stone. It also did not exude with the similar magical energy an elemental stone would.

If I had to put a comparison to the energy I had been sensing from this blue stone, it would be similar to the sensation of being engulfed within the bluish-white light that transported us to the trials and the Weekday Dungeons.

"Let's toss it into the dimensional portal. We could find out what it is from the notification window."

I suggested to Gerrits.

We then walked back to the dimensional portal and threw the mysterious blue stone to the glowing haze.

['Gerrits (★★★)' has collected Replay Stone x1!]

Replay stone. That was what the object was called.

"What do you think this stone is for? I've never used it for crafting weapons."

Gerrits asked.

"It's not used for alchemy either."

I said.

I suddenly remembered about the promotion stone the fairy told us about.

"Perhaps it's used for something unique in the lobby. We'll see if the fairy will tell us anything about it."

We decided not to dwell much on the mysterious stone and resumed gathering materials.

The four of us worked together to collect anything useful until the timer ran out.

[Mission Complete!]

[The heroes will return to the lobby!]

[Items Obtained:]

[Replay Stone x1]

[Iron Ore (C) x12]

[Surya Dust (B) x57]

[Coal…]

We were soon engulfed in the bluish-white light and returned to the mirrored room.

"We collected quite a haul this time. We'll be able to make even more fine weapons from now on!"

Gerrits said with a big smile.

"Do you think the weapons will be able to hold stronger enchantments?"

I asked.

"Definitely. I'll show you some samples later so you could check the improvement."

I then remembered about Jonah's throwing spears which I enchanted with my fire spell.

It would had been better if we had prepared that kind of armament ahead of the trial so I would not need to spend my mana during battle.

Almost two hours would had passed by now. The first filtration for the Dara extract was almost complete.

Now that we had acquired Surya dust and Tawa mushroom, I could finally create health potions.

With hurried steps, I walked through the rift of space-time to bring me back to the square.

I should not waste any more time. I needed to get back to the magic hall. Especially since I needed to resume magic training as well.

Hm?

As soon as I stepped into the square, an unfamiliar sight welcomed me.

The others who followed me from behind was also thrown into confusion as they got out from the mirrored chamber.

"What in the goddesses' names?"

"Where are we?"

"W-what happened to the lobby?!"

Lied in front of us was a giant square adorned with majestic fountain.

Beyond the square were stretched tiled-roads with well-constructed buildings all over.

What used to be a plain field we called the training ground had now been garrisoned with tall brick walls and iron gates. Its expanse had doubled too. Almost tripled.

In place of the lodging was now standing a wide two-storied building. It had this fancy appearance of the famous inns I would find in big cities.

Not only that, the storage and the equipment workshop had turned larger as well.

"What's happening? Why everything changed?"

Trudy asked with confused gaze.

"The lobby looked so much nicer!"

Tarran said.

"The workshop seems better equipped too! Are we sure we're back where we came from?"

Gerrits remarked.

They were all astounded by this change of scenery.

But I was not.

Something was missing.

The magic hall was no longer sitting across the training ground.

"Do you guys see the magic hall?"

I asked the others.

"Hey, where does those stairs lead to?"

Tarran asked as he noticed something behind us.

I turned around and found two giant stairwells stretching from the square, to all the way around the rift of space-time, to above it.

"The lobby has a second floor now?"

Trudy stated.

I wondered what was beyond those stairs, but I could guess the magic hall was probably moved there.

It was around then that we heard great commotion inside the newly-transformed lodging.

Everybody else must had went there.

"Let's go to the lodging and find out what's happening."