"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"
The next morning, a group of people were woken up by a scream before they even fully woke up.
"Hestia?"
Everyone saw Hestia, disheveled, rush straight to Fu Hua, who had just come out of her room, and hug her tightly: "Yesterday! Yesterday! Fu Hua defeated Loki's LV5 subordinate, is it true! Am I dreaming?!"
Yesterday, Hestia and Loki had a drinking contest, and she got completely drunk, so she didn't react much when she saw Fu Hua win. Now, the next day, after sobering up, she finally realized.
It took everyone half a day to make Hestia accept the fact that Fu Hua had defeated a LV5. Hestia immediately pulled Fu Hua into the room: "Quick, quick! I want to see your stats!"
Fu Hua LV1
Strength: I (0) → H (103)
Endurance: I (0) → I (87)
Dexterity: I (0) → H (114)
Agility: I (0) → H (153)
Magic: I (0) → I (18)
"Hestia, are these numbers normal?"
As a novice, Bell naturally didn't understand, but he quickly received Hestia's explanation.
"Of course not normal! In just one afternoon, you gained 475 stat points! At this rate, you could reach S in less than half a month! However, stat growth slows down the higher it gets, but even so, Fu Hua should be able to reach LV2 in less than a month."
For her Familia's children, the more growth, the better. Hestia was eager to see the growth efficiency of the others.
After an hour, everyone finally finished updating their stats. There were no changes in skills, and the stat growth varied, some high, some low.
Among them, Takatsuki had the lowest, growing by 50 points, followed by Bronya with 77 points, then Bell with 89 points, Kiana with 181, and besides Fu Hua, the highest was Mei, who grew by 239 points.
"Well, it's reasonable, considering there are skills that enhance growth efficiency."
Fu Hua herself has a skill that automatically increases stats and also skills that enhance the growth of others.
Mei has a greatly enhanced self-growth, and Kiana has something similar.
Takatsuki, Bronya, and Bell do not have skills that enhance growth efficiency. Among them, Bell and Bronya took on most of the monsters on the way to the Dungeon, so their growth was higher than Takatsuki's.
"However, only Takatsuki and Fu Hua's magic grew. Fu Hua's should be due to natural growth."
Looking at the various growth numbers, 21 of Takatsuki's 50 points of growth were in magic, which was quite skewed. Takatsuki estimated it was because he was attacking with Dragon blast, which might have been judged as consuming mental power, or magic.
"Today, let's train in the morning, then continue challenging the Dungeon in the afternoon. We'll go down to the eleventh floor today, no problem, right?"
After reviewing the stats, Takatsuki made today's arrangements.
Bell's short sword skills still needed practice, and Takatsuki also planned to learn Hokushin Ittō-ryū from Mei, so he wouldn't just rely on brute force and end up fighting like a mage every time.
"What about me?"
Kiana pointed to herself, and then Fu Hua stepped forward: "Kiana, you'll train with me. Your combat technique in the Dungeon yesterday was completely disorganized. I'll teach you how to fight barehanded."
"No way!!!"
Then Kiana was dragged away by Fu Hua.
After morning training and a shared lunch, everyone went to the Dungeon as they did yesterday and reached the eleventh floor.
The eleventh floor was similar to the tenth, still considered the upper levels, and the monster strength hadn't changed much.
"Mei, I remember you have a magic, don't you?"
After everyone cleared a wave of monsters on the eleventh floor, Kiana suddenly spoke: "Our magic didn't grow because we don't have magic, but you have magic, so it should be fine, right? Aren't you going to use it?"
"Magic, huh…"
Mei actually didn't really want to use that magic, because its name reminded her of some things, and it didn't seem like an offensive magic either.
"Indeed, Mei, just try using it. We're all here now, so it'll be easy to deal with any problems."
After hesitating for a moment, Mei nodded: "Then I'll use it."
Magic in DanMachi comes with its incantation upon acquisition, but Mei's magic had no description or incantation, meaning she could use it instantly just by thinking of it.
"Come out… my other self."
Although she didn't know why she had to say it, Mei subconsciously added "come out."
In Takatsuki and Kiana's eyes, Crazy Diamond suddenly appeared, and a purple energy enveloped it.
"What's going on?"
Mei clearly felt her mental energy draining, indicating the magic was successfully used, but why did Crazy Diamond come out on its own, and what was happening now?
"What happened?"
Fu Hua, Bronya, and Bell all looked at the trio's reactions with confusion.
"You can't see it?"
Takatsuki suddenly thought: "Right, this is a Stand. People without Stands can't see it. Mei's magic actually linked with a Stand?"
Upon hearing the word "Stand," Fu Hua immediately activated Fenghuang Down. Although there was no Honkai Energy around, Fenghuang Down still stored a lot of Honkai Energy, so using it for a while was not a problem.
Soon, she saw the purple cocoon.
Just as a few people were wondering, cracks suddenly appeared on the purple cocoon. A slender, fair hand broke out of the shell, and then more cracks appeared on it. Soon it completely shattered and disappeared, and what appeared in its place was…
"Another Mei!?"
Kiana looked in surprise at the appearing figure, 90% similar to Mei, but she wore black and red clothes, and she looked much more mature than Mei. There was a slight eyeshadow at the corner of her eyes, and her pupils were a strange light purple shape.
"Hmph, I didn't expect the coward's magic to reach this point. A body of spiritual energy? Although it has limitations, it's better than one made of Honkai Energy."
Ignoring Kiana's exclamation, the newly appeared Raiden Mei looked at her arm and made a comment.
"Herrscher!"
Fu Hua instantly identified the true identity of the figure before her.
"That's right, I am the Herrscher of Thunder, human. What do you want?"
The Herrscher of Thunder looked at the ready Fu Hua, crossed her arms, and floated into the air, looking down at Fu Hua.
"Wait, Class Monitor… she… has no ill will."
Mei quickly stopped Fu Hua, who was ready to act at any moment, and said somewhat uncertainly.
"Mei, do you know what you're saying?"
Fu Hua frowned and looked at Mei.
"Um, Class Monitor, I think I can feel her thoughts."
Hearing Mei's words, the Herrscher of Thunder immediately bristled like a cat: "Coward! Don't pry into my thoughts!"
"Yes, yes, I understand."
Mei smiled as if she had heard something amusing, which in turn angered the Herrscher of Thunder.