Heading to the Hephaestus Familia

The Dungeon's Ninth Floor.

In a maze of convoluted passageways, a young man was slaughtering monsters in a cavern teeming with them.

Wielding Twin Swords, he swung his weapons without pause. Every sweep of his blades reaped the life of another monster.

Despite carrying a heavy backpack, there was not the slightest sign that his agility had been affected, as though he were carrying no weight at all.

He nimbly shifted left and right amid the horde, like a willow swaying in the wind, making it impossible to catch sight of him.

With eyes watching in every direction and ears listening on all sides, he closely observed every movement of his enemies. Even though his strength already overwhelmed them, he still held no trace of contempt.

With no blind spots in his field of vision, he could always casually reduce his enemies' attacks to nothing.

He either blocked them or dodged them.

The Shirou Emiya of today was completely different from the Shirou Emiya of ten days ago.

This figure was none other than Shirou Emiya, the Loki Familia's newest member and a traveler from another world.

After eliminating the last monster, Shirou Emiya turned around and looked at the Magic Stones scattered across the floor. His mood grew even more cheerful. "Another day of great harvests!"

As time passed, Shirou Emiya's every basic stat had now reached at least 600, while his Magic stat had surpassed 800.

As a result, facing these former opponents had become exceptionally easy for him.

For the past ten days, he had been fighting on the Eighth and Ninth Floors without any intention of entering the Tenth Floor. After all, from the Tenth Floor onward, he would enter an area filled with mist.

The terrain there was broader, but visibility was limited. That kind of terrain was still somewhat dangerous for him.

After all, Shirou Emiya understood himself very well. It might seem as though he had once fought his way through the Holy Grail War in a single night, but that had all happened in the past.

The current him was merely an ordinary magus who had learned Reality Marble ahead of time.

The current him was unexpectedly similar to the protagonist Bell from the original work.

Setting aside their growth rates, both of them were whales wielding first-tier weapons.

Whether it was Bell's Hestia's Blade or the Gan Jiang Mo Ye projected by Shirou Emiya, both were Divine Weapons far beyond what adventurers of their level could use.

In terms of magic, without using the ultimate move known as Reality Marble, his Illusionary Collapse should be slightly more powerful than Bell's Flame Volt.

Combined with his experience participating in the mythological war, he understood: I am an enhanced version of the protagonist.

Jokes aside, Shirou Emiya had previously worried that his combat strength was insufficient, so he had no intention of heading to the Tenth Floor.

But now, he felt that the time was ripe.

Before that, however, he needed to go to the Hephaestus Familia to learn blacksmithing techniques.

Although Loki had arranged for him to learn blacksmithing long ago, Shirou Emiya had not immediately gone to study it. At the time, his hardware simply had not been good enough.

Come on, he had previously been nothing more than an ordinary high school student. Where would he have gotten the stamina to do that kind of heavy labor?

Without stamina and strength, learning blacksmithing would only produce half the results with twice the effort.

But now, with every stat above C, he was fully qualified.

"That's enough for today. Tomorrow, I'll go to the Hephaestus Familia to learn blacksmithing. Once I've mastered it, I'll charge ahead with everything I have, delving deeper without pause until I level up."

Shirou Emiya had already planned out the direction and path he would take in the future.

Now, he only needed to follow the route he had mapped out in advance.

After some twists and turns, Shirou Emiya still returned safely to the surface. Although the various settings of this world resembled a game, the fact that there were no teleportation devices and everything had to be done on foot was truly a negative review.

Not to mention, he was carrying extra weight.

He had only taken on the role of supporter to train himself. With his combat experience, it was difficult for monsters to hit him, so his Endurance was also the slowest-growing of all his stats.

But with extra weight, although his growth rate was not much faster, it was still better than having no weight at all.

As the saying went, even the tiniest mosquito was still meat!

As for what he would do if he encountered danger? Once he activated Reality Marble, no danger could be considered dangerous.

If simple slaughter had not been useless for improving his abilities, Shirou Emiya would have killed his way into the Middle Floors long ago.

After storing away the pouch of Valis he had just exchanged for, Shirou Emiya left the Guild and took a deep breath of the cool air.

Sure enough, the surface was still better!

Looking at the vast world aboveground, Shirou Emiya could not help complaining, "The Dungeon's environment is far too oppressive. Although it isn't as dark as I imagined, the cavern terrain is simply too cramped."

"People who live in caves for a long time can't have good mental health. We should hurry and enter the Tenth Floor. The terrain beyond that will be much more spacious."

Carrying his bulging pouch of spoils, Shirou Emiya did not return to the Familia immediately. Instead, he headed to the shopping district to make some purchases.

After ten days of hard work, Shirou Emiya now had quite a bit of Valis in hand. He was no longer the impoverished version of himself from before.

Now that he had plenty of spare money, he also began furnishing his room.

"Perfect!"

After some arranging, Shirou Emiya's room immediately became warm and cozy.

Shirou Emiya was extremely satisfied with the room he had decorated. After all, he possessed Household Arts EX!

Lying comfortably on his soft bed, Shirou Emiya could not help thinking of his younger sister, Miyu Shizuki.

"I really wish I could bring Miyu here too!"

As he reminisced about the beautiful days of the past, Shirou Emiya soon drifted into a hazy sleep. That night, he slept soundly.

"So this is the Hephaestus Familia's headquarters? It truly lives up to being Orario's most famous blacksmith Familia."

Looking at the building before him, which was no less impressive than the Loki Familia's Twilight Manor, Shirou Emiya entered somewhat nervously and asked, "Is anyone here? I'm Shirou Emiya of the Loki Familia. We spoke beforehand."

"Oh, you're the Loki Familia member who wants to learn blacksmithing?"

Hearing Shirou Emiya's call, a black-haired, red-eyed woman with an eyepatch over her left eye appeared before him.

"I'm Tsubaki of the Hephaestus Familia. The goddess has entrusted me with teaching you blacksmithing!"

"I never expected Lady Tsubaki to teach me personally. I'm deeply grateful!"

Shirou Emiya knew the identity of the woman before him very well. She stood at the pinnacle of the Hephaestus Familia and was Orario's greatest blacksmith.

She was the captain of the Hephaestus Familia, Tsubaki.

Seeing how respectful Shirou Emiya was toward her, Tsubaki stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a laugh, "Don't be so formal. Our two Familias are good friends. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Finn and the others in a long time. How have they been lately?"

Shirou Emiya rubbed the back of his head and said awkwardly, "I'm still a newcomer. I haven't even met the captain and the others since joining the Familia."

Indeed, Shirou Emiya had only been a member of the Loki Familia for half a month, and the Loki Familia's main expedition force had yet to return.

Tsubaki slapped her forehead regretfully. "Look at me and my memory. I didn't expect that staying in the Blacksmithing Room for so long had made me forget even something like this. Finn came here to purchase supplies before he left."

Then she said boldly, "Come on, kid. I'll personally teach you blacksmithing! This is the true inheritance of Orario's greatest blacksmith, so you'd better study hard!"

"Yes, Lady Tsubaki!"

Shirou Emiya quickly replied.