Riveria sighed and held her forehead in frustration, "Looks like I've been too focused on my own personal matters that I forgot to properly read the reports."
"Riveria-sama! Please don't blame yourself! I also haven't heard anything about it." Lefiya grabbed her staff and got ready to get out.
However, Asfi immediately stopped her and said, "There's no one to blame. They only appeared in small numbers and were already routed. But the responders took more damage than expected, so if they keep appearing now, our stock of Intermediate Potions would immediately plummet. Not to mention that most of us have only just started learning how to use Ki so we can't reliably protect our weapons, so this might overdraft our smiths too."
A few seconds later, a member of the Ganesha Familia arrived to inform them that an emergency meeting was being called and that all of the executives were to attend.
.
.
.
Ilta Farna, the current Vice-Captain of the Ganesha Familia was walking beside her Captain while passing her report, "...As of now, there is still no other apparent reason for this expedition other than passing on these body strengthening techniques. Although as revolutionary as they are, the rate of mastery isn't ideal, especially for those who are in the lower bracket. It seems that it's very hard to learn it without much experience in being an Adventurer, according to the data we've gathered at least."
"How about the systematic learning of Magic?", asked Shakti.
Ilta shook her head and said, "The entry bar seems to be a lot higher than everyone has expected. The main problem stems from the Magic Power control and manipulation that's needed in everything within that course. We thought that it was the same with Ki that needed to favor those who have more experience in fighting, but it seems to be that Magic is tied to the individual levels. We came to this conclusion after we had everyone do some basic instructions and those with lower levels struggled to do it even worse than those who aren't taking the course and didn't have a single Magic in their arsenal but higher level. Instructor Serafall also approved of this conclusion."
Shakti, after hearing that, had her expression loosened up and sighed in relief.
"Captain? What's wrong?"
"There's nothing wrong. I'm just glad."
"Glad? Of what?"
Shakti smiled at her and said, "It seems that you've been busy enough not to think about the implication of this."
"Magic... It's the power to bend the natural laws. Those who have it would be seen differently and most of those who don't have it will strive to get one. Aside from Levels, it is another indicator of how much firepower an Adventurer could have. It's also the reason why Mages are highly sought after."
"However, everyone could only have three of them at maximum, and people like Riveria and Lefiya could circumvent this due to their unique Skills. This all-powerful force has a clear limitation to it."
"But with the introduction of Magic that anyone can use as long as they work hard enough, I'm afraid it'll send waves of unknown consequences throughout the whole of society. Most likely, wars would erupt in many places around the world. I'm relieved that it's still tied to everyone's level."
Ilta understood her point and said, "But Ki isn't subjected to the same limitations. Why only Magic?"
"Because it isn't woven into the fabric of society. It might cause the same amount of suffering as if Magic became wildly available, but it's not a very well-known thing and we'll probably be ready enough to deal with the consequences once it begins."
The duo reached the main tent where the meeting will be held and it seems they are the only ones they were all waiting for, "We're sorry that we're late."
"It's fine. The Ganesha Familia members are the ones maintaining and moderating the peace of these rowdy Adventurers, so you can take it easy on other fronts.", replied Finn while offering them a seat.
As the meeting opened up, the topic went straight to the appearance of the irregular monsters and their current supply drought. After some back and forth among the members, it was decided that only those who are capable of coating themselves with Ki and Mages would respond to the threat. Since they already knew all the paths toward the 64th floor, they would just assign people to watch over them.
"This will be the top priority, so if you're doing something or fighting monsters, immediately disengage the moment the signal is released. Although their numbers will be limited by the number of entrances, we can't let them take any space on this floor or it'll go out of our control." Finn declared the resolution.
"How should we go about with the lack of supplies then? Everything else can be gathered and be made, however, we don't have anyone capable of making Elixirs.", Tsubaki Collbrade pushed the meeting forward, "We can send a group of elites to the surface, but it's too risky for only a week or two of relief."
"Wouldn't it be fair to ask Yoruichi for some responsibility in this? Someone like her could easily get to the surface and back." Allen suggested.
While it's true that an elite team could go to the surface, no one actually wanted to do it. Even though they're all in one team right now, the rivalry between them never ceased. A few days or weeks of not fighting monsters will definitely create a gap that would be hard to catch up to.
However, Mia, who was in the room, immediately scoffed at him and said, "Stop this childish passing of responsibility. It's your guy's fault that more Elixirs were used in the first place. All for the name of your pride."
Allen clicked his tongue, but didn't say anything else.
Mia then turned to Finn and asked, "Where are the two of them anyway?"
Finn leaned back and answered, "The moment those monsters appeared, they both rushed to the next floor. What're they planning and when are they coming back? They didn't say anything."
"Can we retreat?"
"I'm sorry. Loki asked me not to retreat until we got permission from both of them. And even if I wanted to..." Finn's eyes landed on Ottar who's sitting quietly, "He also received the same words from Freya."
Everyone in the room followed his line of sight and thought that this stubborn and faithful Captain of the Freya Familia who would probably lay his life on the line just to stop them if they ever wanted to retreat.
Mia sighed and said, "I'll go with my girls to the surface."
But before Finn could examine this proposal, it suddenly became noisy outside, "What's going on?"