"Iri, hurry up and heal Leon!"
"After watching that fight, I can't hold back anymore!"
Kureha briskly tied up her silver hair and strode back onto the wrecked field on those long legs of hers.
Her blazing eyes swept over the crowd, her whole body radiating scorching battle lust!
The spectators went quiet. The blood-soaked Leon could only stare. And the hardworking, much-deserving Lady Holy Maiden of Winter let out a tiny sigh.
There was no time to mourn for Mr. Leon, because the next to step up was: the second-time entrant, Lady Sword Saint Kureha, the battle-crazed, combat-obsessed Grenade!
Feeling the dense battle lust pouring off her, Jeanne and Rose, who'd just fought a fierce round against Leon, exchanged a glance and then nodded toward the Sword Saint:
"Perfect timing. Our bodies haven't been pushed to the limit yet. Mm... a state like this isn't great for the Baptism's effect, it kind of wastes all of Iri's effort."
Feeling the heat still in her blood, Jeanne nodded in agreement:
"Right."
At that, Kureha grinned and leveled her blade's tip forward:
"In that case..."
"Come on!"
Watching these three ladies launch into battle again like no one else existed, Leon, lying against the wall getting healed by Iri, couldn't stop his eyes from rolling hard.
"This pack of crazy women, I figure they've just been bottling it up too long. Now that they've got Iri here to backstop them, they can't even be bothered to keep up the act!"
The Holy Maiden of Winter, holding her healing magic steady, blinked, then let out a "pfft" of laughter.
Leon's face stiffened, and he huffed:
"What's so funny."
Iri's lips curled up despite herself, and she said with barely contained amusement:
"Never mind the others, but weren't you having the time of your life out there fighting too, Leon?"
"..."
That was only because I'd just gotten the hang of new magic and wanted to show it off, that's the only reason I agreed to spar, okay...
Once the novelty wore off, who'd actually want to fight and kill all day?
Brew a cup of hot tea, sit by the fireplace, snack on something, read a book in peace, wasn't that the good life?
As for the Dungeon, if it weren't for grinding Excelia and farming coin.
That hellhole, wild horses couldn't drag him there.
"Ugh, every single one of them."
"My life is so hard!"
Looking at the three already locked in hand-to-hand combat out on the field, he let out a long, wistful sigh.
But that little movement tugged at his wounds, sending him sucking in sharp breaths all over again!
"Ssss, hah, ssss, hah!"
"Ow ow ow!"
...
Time passed, and several more days went by.
From when the Familia first started its "Baptism" limit-training mode to today, the better part of half a month had gone by.
Astonishingly, in this span of less than a month, the growth in everyone's Basic Abilities had actually far outstripped the total of the past several months.
Of course, those several months referred to ordinary day-to-day exploration.
Set aside Laurier and the other Lv. 1 and Lv. 2 members; with Lv. 3 and Lv. 4 fighters like Jeanne, Rose, and Leon as their daily sparring partners, they were already growing at breakneck speed. Even adding "Baptism" to the mix, it mostly served to hone their on-the-spot judgment in real combat, their battle experience, their composure, and the refinement of their own techniques and tactics, accelerating the formation of their personal combat styles. As for the growth rate of their Basic Abilities, the impact was relatively limited.
Compared to them, the meaning of "Baptism" for Jeanne, Rose, and Leon was considerable.
As the top combat power in the Familia, they'd always lacked chances to cross blades with stronger opponents and sharpen themselves, left with no choice but to spar against one another.
But as everyone knew, any fight could throw up accidents.
If someone failed to control their force or didn't pull a blow in time, a minor scrape or bruise was no big deal; worst case, you'd shed a little blood and spend a little coin over at Airmid's, no real trouble.
But if one side slipped up and seriously injured the other, that wasn't something a bit of money could fix.
In that case, the long recovery period would cancel out the growth from high-intensity combat, ending up as a net loss.
That was exactly why Leon and the others usually held back and couldn't go all-out in their daily sparring.
But after Iri joined, this damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation flipped around fast.
You could see it plainly in Jeanne's and Rose's updated Basic Abilities.
...
Name: Jeanne d'Arc
Title:Holy Maiden
Race: Human
Profession: Priest, Adventurer
Affiliation: Hart Familia
Level: Lv. 3
Floor Reached: Floor 27
Basic Abilities:
Strength: F301 → D501
Endurance: F320 → D555
Dexterity: F333 → D567
Agility: F350 → D571
Magic: F388 → D533
Development Abilities:
Judgment H, Abnormal Resistance H
Magic: Omitted
Skills: Omitted
...
Name: Rose Marbleheart
Title:Pure White Shield
Race: Human
Profession: Knight, Adventurer
Affiliation: Hart Familia
Level: Lv. 3
Floor Reached: Floor 27
Basic Abilities:
Strength: F351 → D577
Endurance: F377 → D587
Dexterity: F301 → D521
Agility: F300 → D567
Magic: F322 → D555
Development Abilities:
Guardian H, Abnormal Resistance H
Magic: Omitted
Skills: Omitted
...
In the little courtyard.
Leon sat on a small folding stool, warming himself by the stove and heating up some liquor while repeatedly studying the parchment in his hands that recorded Jeanne's and Rose's Basic Abilities.
On the charcoal fire, fat dripped from the skewers now and then, popping into enticing little crackles.
The aroma of spices drifted lazily through the courtyard, mingling with the crisp winter air, sharp and refreshing.
He took a sip of whiskey, idly turning the skewers, but his gaze stayed fixed on the parchment, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Tsk, Freya-Curated Selection, no doubt about it."
"This Baptism worked out even better than I expected."
"And in how little time. After you got back from the Dungeon, you let things settle for a while before updating your Basic Abilities."
"And now today, your average stats have already hit D. Tsk... if this were any ordinary Adventurer, they'd probably have rushed to level up by now. After all, you two already met the Great Feat for promoting to Lv. 4 right after slaying the two-headed dragon."
Jeanne brushed the snowflakes off her shoulder, looked over at Iri and Laurier happily building a snowman a short distance away, and gently shook her head:
"With the Beloved's Crest, how could we be in any hurry to level up before our Basic Abilities reach their limit? Besides, Rose and I never doubt our own potential. It's just Lv. 3 to Lv. 4, it's not like we can't make the climb."
...
...