Charging through the monster horde with her spear in hand, Lefiya felt like a hero straight out of a tale.
Chop.
Slash.
Swing.
Thrust.
Over and over again.
The four most basic techniques were repeated endlessly, yet backed by her overwhelming base abilities, each strike carried decisive force.
Monsters fell one after another.
She pushed forward without hesitation, cutting a path straight through the crowd.
Only when the last monster collapsed did Lefiya finally stop.
Standing in place, she suddenly felt it.
Exhaustion.
Before, excitement had drowned out everything else. She hadn't noticed how much stamina she'd burned.
But the moment she stopped moving, fatigue surged in all at once.
Even so, Lefiya was smiling.
A genuine smile.
She had done it.
She had overcome her fear.
She had become stronger.
As that thought settled, another figure came to mind.
Shirou.
He had been worried about her. He had guided her. He had stayed with her the entire time.
Turning around, Lefiya looked for him, wanting to thank him properly.
And then she froze.
Not far away, Shirou was casually chatting with Ais and the others.
"Eh? Why is Ais-san here?"
Her surprised voice carried over.
The four who had been talking turned their heads at the same time.
When Shirou saw Lefiya standing there, clearly finished with her battle, he raised a hand and waved.
Calling her over.
Jogging toward them, Lefiya still looked confused.
"They were just passing by," Shirou said with a smile. "But after seeing you, they decided to stay."
"Who decided to stay?"
Tiona shot Shirou a sharp glare, then bounced over to Lefiya. She slung an arm around her shoulders without warning and declared loudly,
"I'm here to make sure our Familia's future Great Mage doesn't get led astray by you!"
"G-Great Mage...?!"
Lefiya's face instantly flushed red.
"That's still very far away for me," she said hurriedly. "Only when I reach Riveria-senpai's level would I deserve a title like that."
"Don't sell yourself short."
Shirou stood up from the ground and spoke calmly, his tone reassuring.
"Riveria said it herself. In terms of pure attack power, your magic has already reached LV.5. That's her personal evaluation."
"R-Really?"
Lefiya clasped her hands tightly to her chest.
Her eyes lit up, practically sparkling.
"Riveria-senpai really said that?"
"Of course," Shirou replied without hesitation.
"I heard it too," Tione added from the side. "She wasn't exaggerating."
Ais, meanwhile, said nothing.
She simply reached out and gently patted Lefiya's head.
"Lefiya," she said softly, "you've become stronger."
"...Everyone."
Lefiya's voice trembled slightly.
"Thank you."
Hearing their words, her chest felt warm.
For the longest time, she had believed herself to be a burden.
Someone who slowed everyone down.
Yet no one had ever abandoned her.
No one had told her to give up.
They had always encouraged her.
Always waited for her.
That realization moved her deeply.
Her resolve, already firm, solidified even further.
Gripping her spear tightly, Lefiya looked straight at Shirou.
"Shirou-san, please keep training me."
"I want to become a mage that everyone can rely on."
Hearing that, Shirou felt genuinely pleased.
Conviction mattered.
A clear goal would keep her moving forward.
The people he worried about were those who wanted to try, but didn't know where to go.
"In that case," he said, "we'll head to the middle levels next. The upper levels won't trouble you anymore."
"Yes!"
"Wait," Tiona interrupted. "We're coming too."
Shirou glanced helplessly at Tione and Ais, silently asking them to stop her.
Unfortunately, both of them were troublemakers in their own way.
Noticing his gaze, they both turned their heads aside at the same time.
Pretending not to see anything.
"...Aren't you supposed to be exploring the Dungeon?" Shirou asked. "The middle levels won't increase your strength."
"It's fine," Tiona said cheerfully, patting his shoulder. "We've only been back two days. Let's call today a rest day."
Tione nodded.
Ais nodded as well.
Seeing that there was no escape, Shirou gave up.
"...Alright," he said. "Then we'll go together."
"Yay!"
Tiona laughed loudly, clearly pleased.
"Lefiya, we're going to train you properly," she said. "I've already come up with lots of fun training methods!"
"Eh?"
Lefiya's unease flared instantly.
Compared to Shirou, Tiona was far too unreliable.
"Just as I thought."
Shirou didn't even need to think.
That girl definitely wanted to torment Lefiya.
He sighed internally.
Poor Lefiya.
Accept your bleak fate.
He couldn't deny that he was looking forward to it.
-
"Waaah! Tiona-senpai is too much!"
Having finally emerged from the Dungeon, Lefiya complained nonstop.
Her clothes were dirty, her hair was a mess, and her expression was full of grievance.
"They really went too far!"
"That's right," Shirou said seriously as he walked ahead. "Tiona, you went overboard. How could you throw Lefiya into a monster horde?"
He glanced back at Lefiya.
"Look at her. She's covered in footprints from being trampled."
Despite his stern tone, the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.
Watching Lefiya get bullied by monsters was simply too funny.
"It couldn't be helped," Tiona said casually. "Her stats are way too overwhelming. She can already handle Twelfth Floor monsters easily."
"If we don't increase the difficulty, how's she supposed to grow?"
On the middle levels, aside from powerful monsters, the most dangerous aspect was the nonstop flow of enemies.
Normally, that pressure alone would be overwhelming.
But with the four of them around, Lefiya was never in real danger.
After quickly adapting, she had already reached the point where she could comfortably handle multiple LV.2 monsters at once.
So Tiona had made a careful choice.
She selected a group of Horned Rabbits.
Without stone axes.
Horned Rabbits that lacked their weapons were far less threatening.
Perfect training material.
And so, Lefiya had been kicked around quite a bit.
After that, Tiona escalated.
One training method after another, all taken from the Amazon tribe's unique techniques.
The sheer cruelty of it made Shirou want to look away.
He covered his eyes.
Then peeked through his fingers.
Smiling.
"I never want to train with Tiona-senpai or Tione-senpai again!"
Lefiya looked utterly miserable.
Suppressing his laughter with great effort, Shirou stepped in.
"Don't be upset, Lefiya," he said. "Even though it looked brutal, everything was under control."
"More importantly," he continued, "look at how fast you're reacting to close-range enemies now."
That was the true focus of his training.
Lefiya's fear wasn't of monsters themselves.
It was of high-level monsters getting too close.
Once she could instinctively react to enemies in close combat, fear would no longer interrupt her chanting.
Hearing his explanation, Lefiya gradually calmed down.
Thinking about it carefully, she realized he was right.
The process had been rough.
But she hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
With that realization, her resentment toward the Amazon sisters faded considerably.
At the front of the group, Tiona and Tione let out quiet sighs of relief.
They had gone a little too far earlier.
Now that they thought about it, they felt a bit guilty.
Ais, meanwhile, walked calmly beside them.
Her expression never changed.
Watching her, Shirou couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
When Ais wanted to hide her emotions, no one could tell what she was thinking.
Soon, the five of them returned to Twilight Manor.
The moment the Familia saw Lefiya's current state-
The entire place erupted into chaos.
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter