Sophia had rested on that idea.

In the end, there was simply no way around it. To survive that encounter against the many enemies guarding that second elevator, they needed allies. And to get them, they had to proactively recruit, which meant either looking for people in a similar situation as they were, or going out of their way to help people out of the forges, in the hope of getting their help in return.

For that purpose, Sophia would act as the team's primary scout. And Prince would double as their secondary scout and watcher, while Michel and Paolo would be responsible for reinforcement and public relationships.

Prince could fly above the entire floor faster than any of them but could not establish contact for fear other teams might wrongly assume he was one of the floor monsters. Which makes him perfect for searching for larger groups. Sophia on the other hand felt she would be best at proactively helping smaller groups or single individuals. Which left Michel and Paolo to handle everything else.

That plan was far from perfect but with limited times and means, they all reluctantly agreed it was the best option. As ideally, they wanted at least three allied teams on their side before they tried their luck with the central forge roof.

But in the end, it was mostly about rigorously scouting each floor through a sieve method until they found anyone. At some point, they were bound to find what they were looking for, out of sheer luck if nothing else. And then, it was about capitalizing on her good reputation to earn people temporary trust.

But at the end of the day, that very method did bear fruits far beyond their initial expectations. Of the eight teams they encountered, only three flat-out refused to cooperate and a single one turned out hostile. And that did not account for many lonely couples or single survivors which Sophia had lost account of.

Most of the time, their stories had been a repeat of Michel's own misadventures, a testimony of the sentient armors' brutal effectiveness. And then, the survivors had been wandering the forge, too shaken and focused on avoiding the patrol's attention to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

At this point, everyone had experienced death at least once, either indirectly or intimately. Needless to say, morale was low and many people suffered from varied degrees of PTSD, Sophia included.

Though this floor elementals were incomparably smaller and weaker, her body betrayed her at the mere idea of getting close to one. And so she had been avoiding them entirely, often taking detours, purposefully wasting time despite knowing her weavesinging kept her safe. Some others however were so far gone that even the sight of a dead armor remains was enough to turn them unresponsive.

Yet, they had managed to gather a group of fifty or so individuals. Of which Sophia cynically dared hope she could find a couple fit enough to join her team. And some others sane enough to ally with, for the sake of everyone's continued survival. And so, like every member of her team, she had started 'auditioning' in earnest, talking to everyone.

Her main target had been couples, survivors she had found in pairs and that she hoped, had some loyalty and trust in each other they might, in time, extend to a new team, and preferably, hers. Her reasoning behind it was still the same as the first time the idea occurred to her with the first Chained Chest. People who already demonstrated they could cooperate with one another were more likely to integrate into a larger group if given enough good reasons to do so. Conversely, complete loners were too much of a liability.

And finally, one such a pair had stood out for her. They were twins. Brother and sister, Fighter and Rogue, by the look of their clothes and were conveniently desperate to find a group. And so she had tentatively approached them, testing the water:

"I learned you've been searching for a group," She greeted them, straight to business.

"We are holding up our own in combat but without magic and only the two of us, it's starting to get difficult." The Fighter answered straight to the point. "Why? Interested?"

"I'm merely scouting." She temporized. "My teams also encounter difficulties and though not as pressing as yours, we decided it was time to address them. I'm just testing the water, trying to get to know you, and determine if we are compatible."

"Then by all means, please ask your questions." The Fighter replied with a mix of amusement and resignation.

"Well, first, I'm sure I already asked when we first met but I honestly can't remember: what's your name? Mine is Sophia by the way." She responded awkwardly.

"You actually never asked." The man retorted sympathetically. "But it's okay. You had an eventful day. The names are Moana and Lono."

She would indeed most probably remember the girl's name otherwise. And though she would never dare to ask, the two did have that Southern Asian look to them.

"I'm glad to finally get to know you properly then." She slightly lowered her eyes and head in shame and continued. "My team consists of two wizards hybrids, my familiar and I. All of us are irregulars by most spellcasters' standards, relying on unusual or frowned-upon tactics to get the job done. Do you have any issue teaming up with a band of misfits?"

"Nope." The Fighter said confidently. "Although my sister might have something to say about this."

And so we both looked at the girl as she was clearly building up the courage to say something.

"I made an oath not to bring unnecessary harm or injustice to others. So I do not condone cruelty, violence, or bloodshed of any kind. Is that okay with you too?"

The girl's words were soft spoken but the determination Sophia could hear behind them was genuine.

'A woman after my own heart,' The thought was wild and seemed to come from nowhere. But yet, she found herself agreeing to it. She did not like combat and would rather avoid them entirely whenever she had the chance. But then, who didn't?

"Not sure how to respond to such a declaration," Sophia admitted. "But we are no murderhobos or edgelords and we found no satisfaction in the pain or death of monsters, if that's what we are talking about."

"It's okay." It was the boy's turn to temporize. "We had just been unfortunate with our previous teams and she needed to get it out of her system, right Moana?"

And the girl quietly nodded before letting her brother do the talking once again.

"What else do you wanna know?" He asked.

"You mentioned teams, as in plural, so I'm a little bit concerned about one thing: how are you feeling about long-term commitment?" Sophia asked, trying not to stress out too much how important that question actually was.

"How long-term are we speaking?" The boy asked in return, though she could say he was seriously considering her own question.

"I won't beat around the bush" She finally decided to show her hands. "Our team stumble onto one lesser-known tutorial rule and have every incentive to stick together until the very end. It's a risky gamble we all entered willingly sealing our fate together for better or for worse. But the tutorial seems to like the number six and we are short of two."

"So I won't beat around the bush either," The Fighter replied in the same fashion. "I'm a pure Fighter but my sister is a Rogue Field Surgeon. Which is exactly what the name implies and the reason we have been kicked out, thrice. If you are willing to take my sister in for who she is and protect her, I'm willing to live and die for your team."

Sophia knew that some cultures took familial bonds extremely seriously but she could tell from the boy's grim tone alone that he meant every word. If anything, that made him already more trustworthy than Michel. But still, she needed to hear more from the girl too.

"Your loyalty is to your sister and you want what's best for her." Sophia summarized. "Dully noted. Now, I need to hear your sister answer."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

This took the boy slightly aback but the girl smoothly went back into the conversation.

"You mean it? Sticking together until the bitter end?" The soft-spoken girl asked.

"If you don't like this team or how we are doing things, you might have until the next floor before you have to truly commit to it." Sophia immediately compromised, "But yes, even in death, and I speak from personal experience, we are doing everything we can to find our way back together."

"If you want us, and I truly mean want US, no false hope or empty promises, " She insisted, "I'm willing to give it a try. We are tired of being alone anyway."

"I will talk about you with my team and let you know what they think." She said with an encouraging smile before waving goodbye.

Personally, she was sold. They needed a healer anyway. One that was not as limited as her healing song, at least. And a pure fighter also shored up all their weaknesses, allowing them more flexibility in combat. Plus, she wanted a couple and those two were twins. And the brother just professed his willingness to die for his sister and sounded deadly serious about it. The only thing she could have asked for would have been more guarantees such as a magical contract written in blood, not that she ever seriously considered that option.

The only thing she had left to do was to ascertain were truly the hidden gems she thought they were and convince her teammate that it was a good idea.

And Michel happened to be the perfect man for both jobs.

★☆★

That night, her team and everyone else had settled camp at Paolo's forge, facing the central forge, only two mine cart trips away. And so Sophia's team was anxiously waiting for Michel for their impromptu team talk before bed. Until the man's invisibility spell wore off only one meter away from her, startling the witch out of the flame-induced stupor.

"You had fun?" She greeted him back aggressively before reigning her temper: "So what's the news?"

He settled down and bit on some food before he bothered replying:

"It's everything as you said and more. They told you the truth. They are genuinely desperate, craving companionship and dreaming of belonging to a community once more. It almost made me feel bad for them." He summarized before shrugging, as he clearly did not sympathize with their feelings.

Michel was not a bad guy by any means but was also clearly the most morally grey. In the four days they had spent together, he had proved a good and easy-going teammate. But he clearly had no emotional attachment, for this team or the last one. He simply had read her mind and determined she was his best shot to survive. Which was a good reason as any to join them. But still, Sophia knew to be cautious around him.

"So that confirms it." Sophia concluded before asking: "Is anyone against them joining us?"

Prince raised his head but said nothing. Though he didn't need to, having voiced his opinion more than enough already. He was strongly against the very idea of building up the team. But he was also outvoted by everyone else.

Paolo was enthusiastic. Having someone to share the front line with would truly empower him. And Michel truly didn't care, though he recognized the necessity of having six members for the sake of the tutorial puzzle requirements. Unlike Paolo, he was more motivated by greed than companionship. But Sophia was in no position to blame him for it.

"Then that's settle it. I will ask them first thing in the morning." She said before going back to their shared meal.

She looked intently at the central forge, from the opposite side of the fire, while Paolo and Prince were settling back for bed. They already had spent two days on this floor. And they weren't even sure that this second elevator was the halfway point.

So one way or another they had to push through tomorrow and make their way to the fifth floor as fast as possible.

Tomorrow, they would be back into the fray.

★☆★

The main issue of the upcoming battle was mine carts. There were only two of them per adjacent forge, one of them unavailable until the second wave of the assault, with four adjacent forges and only room for three people per cart.

It meant that even coordinating their effort from a long distance, the first wave would have to consist of no more than twelve people against thirty monsters, isolated by groups of three and essentially sent to their deaths to secure a front long enough for the reinforcement to come in.

So, of course, no one wanted to volunteer to be part of the first wave and that plan was scratch entirely. Anyway, there was not enough trust, organization, and logistics to allow for such a level of fine coordination.

So it took several more hours but in the end, a plan had finally been agreed upon.

There would only be three people leading the first wave, creating a single front for the entire fight. After which eight subsequent waves would be tasked to turn the tide of the battle from a defensive to an offensive stance, hopefully overwhelming the enemy with sheer numerical superiority by the end of it.

As for the three 'courageous' people that would lead the charge... it would be a Shieldmaiden, an Abjuration Wizard, and Sophia with a really simple strategy: charm the enemy, if it failed, rely on the magic shield until it failed, in which case, relying on the shield Maiden to keep them alive just long enough for the second wave to come in.

It was a reckless plan, one that was more likely to fail than to succeed. There were just too many unknown factors.

But they didn't have time for endless arguing to come up with a better plan.

And so Sophia was gone on what she 'hoped' to be her last cart trip.

In anticipation, she had started lure-singing long before they reached the central forge. And she felt it as soon as the sentient armors had fallen under her charm.

'We are allied. Protect the arrival point.' It would have been an effective summary of the nonsensical lyrics she had come up with on the fly. However, it only affected the armors, the lava golems, and the constructs workers remaining insensible to her charm.

And so, just like that, the sentient armor had been gathering in a defensive line and were now defending that part of the forge against their fellow defenders. Which they had not been that difficult to convince: protecting that place was their mission. And under her charm, they had shifted their perception into thinking their mindless former allies were dysfunctioning and that their group was reinforcement coming to help them just in the nick of time.

The lava golems, however, had been quick to react to those new parameters. The sentient armor might be immune to fire, but they were still susceptible to heat, their metal becoming more malleable under the golems' constant assault.

"Woah" The Shieldmaiden reacted as they safely landed and sent back the cart and its twin to the other side. "I'm sorry I did not take you seriously. Almost feel sorry for those wretched armors too. Though, I have to warn you: try that on me and you are dead."

That was a fair sentiment. Her mind tricks were truly overpowered. Although they just proved their limits with the golems and constructs. They had no mind she could influence and so none of her songs would have any effects on them. And once all the sentient armors would be dealt with, her usefulness in the battle would also come to an end.

Still, the armors managed to hold the lines longer than she thought and the second wave all safely landed and repositioned before a single lava golem managed to break through. Only to be halted in its charge by the mage shield.

Yet, this small victory for the lava golems had emboldened the other artificial defenders passing through the breach. And soon, the surviving armors were left with no line to defend, isolated, and their signature crowding strategy used against them, they lasted only long enough for the third wave to disembark.

They were now fifteen attackers against twenty or so defenders, of which only the four lava golems were a true menace.

They were built like tanks, had lava-flavored magic and each of their punch was burning through their opponent's defense like it was paper. Had it not been for the mage shield keeping them at arm's length, they would have been wiped out by the overwhelming strength of those four.

At this point, Sophia's utility had downgraded to merely creating small distractions with her prestidigitation cantrip, trying to slow down the enemy counterattack and or even, try to trick the enemy into some friendly fire.

But the artificial defenders were not so easily fooled.

Then the fourth and fifth wave came in with some more mages better equipped to exploit the lava golems weaknesses and the tide of the battle slowly started to shift in their favor. And finally, as predicted the overwhelming numbers of the three final waves did the trick, and the constructs, outnumbered two to one, then three to one, had been mercilessly slaughtered until only the four lava golems, still standing but considerably weakened were left.

Even in this weakened state, they managed to take down fourteen people before they finally collapsed into a pile of half-molten rocks and embers. In the end, that battle had cost the lives of twenty or so good people. 40% had died so everyone else could live. Had they not been granted three lives for the entirety of the tutorial, that battle would have broken everyone's spirit.

But it had been a shitty battle, fought with a shitty plan. And so, it was not surprising at all that so many had died.

Yet, despite the loss of their comrades, most people were cheering.

I'm fine. Well, not really but I will live. Don't wait for me. I know you've been worrying for me since the Raptor incident. But I will make it back to you on my own. I promise. — Paolo

'Paolo, you jerk! Of course, I'm going to get worried for you anyway! You just freaking died on me!' She thought staring at his corpse. In the action, she had not even seen it happen. Only in the aftermath did she realize that one of her teammates was missing and found his corpse, half-cooked, and buried under one of the molten rock piles.

She had lost her first companion. And now, all of them had experienced death once.

And at this rate, all of them would eventually die for good to the tutorial.