"I see…"
After Tsunayoshi's detailed explanation, Tione and Tiona finally understood what had kept him so busy at the Hephaestus Familia—and how "Great Feats" could be turned into an actual forging material. Unsurprisingly, the key to that miracle was Tsunayoshi himself.
"Tsubaki's goal is to become the strongest female smith. She'd never pass up a chance like this," Tiona said, picturing the woman utterly absorbed at the forge.
"Not just Tsubaki," Tione added. "Hephaestus-kami has probably never seen anything like it either."
Two of Orario's rare female master-smiths—one a goddess—would, of course, be intensely curious about forging with "Great Feats." Both sisters then looked back at the only person who could condense that intangible merit into a usable material: Tsunayoshi. Now they understood exactly what he'd been doing these past weeks.
Still, Tiona sought one last confirmation. "So, Tsunayoshi, Hephaestus-kami and her familia asked you to stay and help with the forging?"
"Mhm." The answer was clear: confirmed.
"Then… did you stop training entirely during that time?" she pressed.
Tsunayoshi gave her a wry look. Maybe Tsubaki and Hephaestus-kami left too strong an impression—she sounded like he'd been hauled off as manual labor.
"Tiona, I wasn't tuning things every waking second," he said. "I kept up my daily training."
He lifted his right hand. A brass ring gleamed on his finger.
"For regular conditioning, I don't overthink it. I spend four to five hours a day living under one-times gravity. It's simple and easy to fit into daily life. The intensity isn't extreme, but the method is straightforward and consistent."
"Even with such simple accumulation, I broke through my basic limits a month ago," he continued. "Now, the only thing left is Great Feats."
Advancing to Level 3 required them—nothing more. And he didn't seem worried. Crossing rank thresholds wasn't especially hard for him; the real need was opportunity. Besides, Loki's check-in with the "original world coordinates" had confirmed time there might be frozen. With that reassurance, Tsunayoshi could advance steadily instead of rushing his promotion.
"Tiona, Tione—same for you two, right?"
The sisters exchanged a glance and nodded.
"Our stats finished accumulating ages ago," Tiona said. "What's blocking us from reaching Level 5 now is Great Feats."
Just thinking about the shortage soured her mood. "Tione and I have also mastered the powers of 'Storm' and 'Sunlight,' and we've already beaten the black Goliath in the Challenge Space. But on the 17th Floor we've wandered forever, and every time the Goliath spawns, it's just the regular one."
Tsunayoshi understood her frustration. "You know the condition for a black Goliath is a massive upheaval in the Dungeon. Last time, a dark faction triggered a 'Janitor' event—that forced the Dungeon into an emergency response, birthing a black Goliath on the 17th Floor and a three-headed dragon on the 27th. That kind of thing is the Dungeon being cornered; in normal times, it stays stable and won't make waves like that."
"Right now, the largest disruptions are the Monster Feast events. Under those, the Dungeon won't go as far as spawning mutated floor bosses. So, a black Goliath? Don't count on it."
"I know…" Tiona puffed out her cheeks. She knew it wasn't realistic—that was why it stung.
"Ugh, where can we get the Great Feats for our promotions?"
"How about challenging the twin-headed dragon?" Tsunayoshi suggested.
"Not enough," she shot down immediately. "Unless it's single combat—me or Tione alone against the dragon—the Great Feats won't cut it. Also, we've gone to the Great Falls every time Amphisbaena should refresh these past two months, but it looks like someone keeps killing it ahead of us. We haven't gotten a chance at a solo attempt…"
Tsunayoshi's expression froze a little.
He had a guess who "someone" was.
"Ahem… Tiona, you and Tione actually went looking for Amphisbaena?"
"Yep. Twice in the last two months," Tiona said, still grumbling. "No idea who's so 'helpful'—they keep taking it out first."
The quicker-on-the-uptake Tione had already turned her eyes on Tsunayoshi—and caught the hint of embarrassment on his face. An answer formed in her mind.
"Tsunayoshi… the person who beat us to Amphisbaena—was it you?"
"!?"
Tiona whipped around, stunned. "Tsunayoshi, it was you?"
He looked even more sheepish. "Tsubaki and Hephaestus-kami needed a certain amount of Great Feats for the forging. Even after I optimized that space to save on consumption, the gap was still… sizable. So I went to 'replenish' from Amphisbaena a few times."
A few times…
So Amphisbaena had become his Great Feats dispenser.
The sisters couldn't help the collective, silent groan in their hearts. Well, at least now they knew who kept beating them there. On the plus side, they could be fairly sure no one would get there before them next time.
"Tsunayoshi, are Tsubaki and Hephaestus-kami going to hog all the floor bosses for a while?" Tiona asked, nervous again.
"It won't come to that," he said quickly, waving his hands. "Their biggest need for Great Feats is purely for forging. We only required extra during the exploratory phase of the new method. After this, they'll only use Great Feats when crafting special weapons."
Only then did Tiona and Tione relax. If Tsubaki and Hephaestus-kami were still stuck in the experimental phase, the sisters' path to promotion might have stretched into the far horizon.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]