Middle floors, Floor 16.
Leon's party was resting in a cavern chamber, recovering their stamina.
Leon swallowed the last bite of the sandwiches Rose had carefully prepared for everyone, casually wiped the corner of his mouth, and turned to Jeanne beside him.
"Now that you've reached Lv. 2, when you fight monsters, does it feel much different compared to when you were Lv. 1?"
"Different?"
Jeanne's hands paused briefly in their task of sorting gear. She mulled it over for a moment before answering.
"Overall, not that much. But in the small details, it really is different."
"Like what?"
Laurier and Aura beside them immediately perked up their pointed ears, clearly full of curiosity about this topic.
"Hmm..."
Jeanne tried to put it into words.
"Put simply, dealing with monsters is just easier now. To be more specific, let me give an example."
"Back at Lv. 1, when facing a full-power strike from a monster of the same rank, I needed to put seventy percent of my strength into it to properly parry it."
"But at Lv. 2, facing the same rank of monster, I probably only need sixty, or even fifty percent of my strength to easily fend it off."
Then she added:
"And that's without activating any skills or techniques. If I were to activate a skill... it would be an entirely different picture."
Laurier and Aura: "..."
The two stared at Jeanne, and almost simultaneously, silent admiration welled up in their hearts: As expected of big sister Jeanne! So strong!
Leon wasn't surprised by her answer.
The reason for this kind of result came down to Development Abilities.
Especially Jeanne's exclusive follow-up ability, Judgment, which gave her far more leeway when defending.
On top of that...
The rise in Jeanne's base stats had given her already polished techniques more room to shine.
As is widely known, some techniques simply can't be pulled off without a certain level of physical strength.
For instance, that famous high-tier anti-monster technique: the one-shot kill.
That technique was essentially built on top of outstanding Dexterity as an individual. Without innate talent and physical aptitude in that area, no amount of practice would let you master it.
"All right, chitchat ends here. We've got guests!"
With Revelation kicking in, Jeanne's sharp gaze instantly locked onto one of the cavern walls.
Leon stood up, pulled his mask up, smoothly smoothed out the creases in his salamander-wool cloak, and his fingertips habitually traced the fine grain of his staff.
He narrowed his eyes, watching the monsters pour endlessly from the wall like water gushing from an underground spring, and clicked his tongue.
"The respawn rate on Floor 16 is already this high? It hasn't even been fifteen minutes since we took down the last wave, has it? I can't imagine what the state of the lower floors is like. They're not going to be so crammed with monsters that they fill up the whole space like a subway at rush hour, are they?"
Laurier and Aura nocked arrows to their shortbows, faces tense, braced for combat.
Sharp-eared Laurier caught Leon's grumbling and blinked curiously.
"Subway? What's a subway?"
"Uh... a subway is..."
Just as he was about to explain, Jeanne raised a hand to cut him off.
"They're here. Get ready to fight!"
Leon's expression went taut.
The next second, the light of a magic circle lit up beneath his feet, and surging Magic began rushing madly toward the tip of his staff.
"Frost Armor!"
"Fireball!"
Boom!
The monsters that had just landed were blown head over heels on the spot!
...
At the same time, within the deep, winding corridors of Floor 16.
Two figures, one tall, one small, moved silently through the long passageway.
Suddenly, the muffled booms of explosions and the sharp ring of weapon clashes drifting from ahead made both of them stop in their tracks at the same time.
"There are Adventurers fighting nearby?"
The elf royal with jade-green hair falling to her waist, Riveria, folded her arms and turned a searching gaze to the silent "daughter" at her side.
"Ais, what do you think we should do?"
The blonde girl swordsman, Ais Wallenstein, didn't even turn to confirm Riveria's look.
She simply adjusted her direction slightly, took a step, and walked straight toward the source of the combat sounds without the slightest hesitation, showing no intention whatsoever of going around.
Seeing this, Riveria rubbed her temples in exasperation, sighed inwardly, and followed.
There was nothing else to be done. She knew Ais too well at this stage.
The girl in this phase was going through a kind of "rebellious" period, driven even further by that inner fixation of hers on monsters.
Expecting her right now to understand concepts like "avoidance" or "weighing risks" was simply out of the question.
If not for her, as Ais's strict guardian, keeping a constant leash on her, no one could predict what reckless actions this version of Ais might take.
...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the vast, massive cavern chamber, searing fireballs trailed long tails as they sliced through the air one after another, then plunged into the monster pack and burst apart with thunderous roars. The savage waves of fire blasted monsters into vapor where they stood.
The air warped violently from the heat, wisps of smoke rose from the ground, and the rapidly climbing temperature had everyone in the chamber drenched in sweat.
Aura quietly sidled two steps closer to the figure raining down destruction. Only when she felt the cool current of the Frost Armor did she breathe an inward sigh of relief.
Ever since Mr. Leon became Lv. 2, the impact his magic had on the environment really had grown more and more astonishing...
The rolling wave of heat and the stray embers drifting through the air made Aura's delicate little face scrunch up slightly.
So scary!
Compared to the two elven rearguards enduring the environmental pressure, Jeanne on the front line looked decidedly more "cranky."
Her combat style had visibly become sharper and more ferocious!
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
"Fireball Multi-Cast Thirty!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Listening to that certain someone behind her laughing maniacally with his true nature fully unleashed, a vein at Jeanne's temple twitched repeatedly. She nearly ground her silver teeth to powder.
"Sizzle..."
A stray fire shockwave grazed right past her, scorching a few black spots onto her precious salamander-wool cloak.
"Skssh!"
With more than a little venting intent, the Banner Lance in Jeanne's hand punched clean through the skull of a One-Horn Rabbit!
She snapped her wrist to fling off the tainted blood, while simultaneously sweeping aside a single-handed axe natural weapon coming at her from the side.
Her foot came down hard, her body twisted like wind, and she charged ferociously into the monster pack surging in from the other flank!
...
"This... this is?"
The few caught up in the fierce battle hadn't noticed, but at some point two figures had quietly come to stand at the entrance of the corridor behind them.
None other than the big-and-small duo of Loki Familia.
At this moment, Ais's golden eyes were locked tight on the center of the battlefield. Her tone was almost accusatory as she turned to the woman beside her that she "disliked."
"Riveria! That mage! Why can he cast magic without Chanting?! And... he's casting in succession, with no interval at all!"
Riveria pursed her lips, her finely shaped brows drawing together as she fixed her gaze on the man firing off fireball after fireball in relentless succession.
"It's 'Swift Magic.'"
Her voice carried a trace of barely noticeable gravity.
"This type of magic is known for dispensing with Chanting in pursuit of the utmost casting speed."
After explaining that much to Ais, a deeper unease churned in Riveria's mind.
But this kind of power, no matter how you look at it, has nothing to do with Swift Magic, does it? Even with the magic circle amplification that comes from being a mage, it absolutely shouldn't reach such horrifying destructive force!
Watching the magic circle at the tip of his staff that kept lighting up, as if it would never stop, this mage, the strongest in Orario, felt ripples stir deep in her heart.
A pure Lv. 2 mage? To already have this kind of terrifying firepower at this level, if he continues to grow in the future, wouldn't he be...
That thought sent a chill through her. And when her gaze swept over the layer of Frost Armor flowing steadily around him, still holding stable even amid the sea of flames, something even harder to put into words flickered in her eyes.
"So strong!"
But Ais's gaze had already left Leon, and was now locked with shining eyes on Jeanne, who was fighting valiantly in the thick of the monster pack. With a tight little face, she spoke coldly.
Riveria blinked, and her line of sight followed Ais's away from Leon.
"Hm?"
When she clearly saw the combat skills Jeanne was displaying, even this worldly elf royal couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath!
Combat technique like this!? Such seasoned experience, such exquisite movement, such perfect control of timing...
When did a prospect like this show up in the city? How do I not know!?
Wait, that human woman... she looks a bit familiar...
The striking signature golden braids that had left such a deep impression on her, the fleeting glimpse of light purple eyes in the midst of battle, and that austere, inviolable saintly aura that even slaughter couldn't mask...
Is that her?
The image of the uniquely striking girl from the Hostess of Fertility tavern instantly sharpened in Riveria's mind, and her face took on a look of realization.
Then, as she turned her gaze back onto Leon's back, her expression became thoughtful.
If the front line is that girl, then this human man, could it be... Leon Hart of Demeter Familia?
While Riveria was still mulling it over, at some point...
Ais beside her had already charged off.
"Hey, Ais! Damn it!"
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