Choosing Weapons

Seeing that no one stepped forward to challenge Al, Falan grumbled to himself.

The adventurers of the Soma Familia really have no backbone, do they?!

That was indeed the case. Most adventurers in the Soma Familia had once become addicted to Divine Wine.

Even the surviving adventurers were still young and had not suffered under Divine Wine for long.

But they had still been affected to some extent, becoming lucky, cowardly, and afraid of death.

Instead, those at the very bottom of the Soma Familia—the ones who could only work as supporters—had far more spirit than this lot.

Hadn't Falan just proposed selecting one from among all the supporters? Several had died in the ensuing fight.

In other words, the list Soma gave me does make some sense.

Al is strong enough, and his will is firmer than the others'.

Yunika and Liliruca are simply too weak. They usually couldn't compete with the others, so they drank less Divine Wine.

In fact, that was the plight of most supporters. They might have been addicted to Divine Wine, but they drank very little of it. Even the money they earned was often taken by the adventurers above them, making them some of the few people in the Familia with any real backbone.

Of course, someone like Liliruca, who would draw a Magic Sword and kill someone for a chance, was one of a kind.

"All right. It seems none of you have any objections. Al, Yunika, Liliruca? Come with me."

Only the three who silently followed remained, while the other Soma Familia members looked at one another.

They all felt unwilling to accept it. After all, this was a chance to change their lives.

But they had all waited for someone else to go first and wear Al down. In the end, no one stepped up, and they missed their chance just like that.

Naturally, Falan did not care what they were thinking. The four people he had originally intended to bring had now become three.

And so, they arrived at the room in the very center of the Soma Familia's second floor—the room of their god.

Knock, knock, knock. As the door opened, Soma smiled. "Lord Soma, the selection is complete."

"Mm." The sounds of fighting downstairs could not possibly have escaped Soma's notice. Seeing the three timid children behind Falan, he turned and headed back into the room, leaving only a faint voice behind. "Follow me in."

Falan then leaned against the wall and watched as Soma used his divine power to update the Blessings of the three children.

It had to be said that Al truly deserved to be the second-strongest member of the Soma Familia after Falan. His attributes averaged C across the board. By this world's standards, he could have leveled up long ago. The reason he had not was probably because Soma believed he had enough potential.

Soma intended to have Al join the expedition and see whether he could raise all his attributes to SS like Falan had. Even if he could not reach an average of SS, having even one attribute reach S would be more than enough.

As for the other two, Yunika was no surprise. Like Falan, she was magic-oriented. Her Magic attribute had already reached C, but her other four attributes were all below F. Liliruca was the weakest of the three.

Four of her attributes were H. She only had the support skill Unsung Hero and a spell called Cinderella, which barely brought her Magic to G. If she had not fought her way out among the supporters, Falan would have almost wanted to return her.

"What's wrong?" Soma asked Falan after updating the three of them.

"Nothing much. It's just that Liliruca's attributes are too low. I find it rather troubling."

The three children had only just gotten back on their feet and were looking at their own attributes.

But when they heard Falan's words, Liliruca's expression turned awful.

Was she going to be returned? But she had clearly done everything she could to obtain this qualification to join the expedition.

She had even used the Magic Sword she had bought with her savings for protection. It might have been the cheapest kind of Magic Sword, but it had still cost a great deal. Now that it had been used, the remaining energy could probably only power it one or two more times.

Liliruca could clearly foresee what her future would be like if she had used a Magic Sword in the "duel" and still lost this spot.

"Troubling or not, this was a fair selection. Take them to the Captain's Office later and let them choose suitable equipment."

"Mm, understood. Follow me." Falan led the three children out of Soma's room.

After making a U-turn, Falan opened a door with his key and brought the three children into the Captain's Office.

The three of them could not help widening their eyes, and Falan nodded.

When he had first entered this place, he had probably looked much the same.

"Captain, can we choose any of these weapons?"

"Yes. According to Lord Soma, these were all used by the first generation of Soma Familia adventurers."

"..." The three children fell silent at once. From this equipment, they could see how powerful the Soma Familia had once been. Yet now, it had declined until only a handful remained, and even its sole Level 2 had only leveled up recently.

"Don't overthink it. Go choose your own weapons. Oh, and my advice is not to pick anything too heavy."

Al had already run to the deepest part of the room and tried to pull out the former captain's two-handed greatsword. Yet no matter how hard he pulled, it would not budge. He even used so much force that he lost his balance and fell headfirst.

The two girls, on the other hand, knew their limits. One went to choose a staff, while the other picked arrows with special abilities. Falan could not help feeling impressed. Soma's experience as a god had made him an excellent judge of people.

"Captain, I've made my choice." The somewhat shy Half-Elf held a staff in her hands.

"This staff is...?"

"According to my feeling, it can increase the power of my nature magic. I hope I can use it to defeat monsters."

"Mm, you will." Falan replied with a faintly amused smile. Honestly, rather than having Yunika defeat monsters, it would be better for her to restrain them and let her teammates kill them. Of course, he did not say that aloud. It would hurt a girl's confidence.

"What about you two?"

"Captain, why can't I pull this two-handed greatsword out?"

"That's a first-class weapon. Even I can't pull it out, let alone you. If you want to wield it, you'll need to be at least Level 4, and you would have to level up with all your Strength attributes at A or above. Didn't I already tell you? Choose something you can actually lift."

Liliruca approached from the side. "Didn't you say not to pick anything too heavy, Captain? I've made my choice."

"Those mean the same thing. You've chosen... a short bow and the entire stock of special arrows?"

"Yes. Compared to Captain Falan and the two of them, I'm far too weak. After all, I'm a Pallum... I don't have much talent for combat or magic. Compared with a sword or staff, a short bow and specially enchanted arrows suit me better."

"All right..." Falan thought about it and found that reasonable. After all, the three children were only Level 1, so their horizons were still limited.

Of course, it was also possible that they thought being brought into the Captain's Office to choose one weapon was already an honor, so they felt too embarrassed to choose much. Thus, Falan arranged more equipment for them.

Al was also given a third-class two-handed greatsword, said to have been used by that first-generation captain, along with a matching suit of full-body armor. This was fairly standard adventuring gear in Orario.

Besides the staff, Yunika was given a mage outfit that enhanced her magic power—clothes and a hat—as well as several accessories that increased speed and magical power. The Half-Elf girl burst into tears as soon as she received them.

As for Liliruca, Falan did not know what to give her. Remembering that she had used a Magic Sword before, he took several from the remaining stock from the previous expedition. The Pallum's eyes widened when she received them.

These were the highest-grade Magic Swords forged by the Hephaestus Familia, completely different from the one she had used before.

She could not help feeling that she had struck it rich. Not only had she exchanged an inferior Magic Sword for a place on the expedition, she had also received so many high-grade Magic Swords for protection. At that moment, she realized that the Soma Familia was no longer the Soma Familia of the past.

Under the guidance of Falan, its newly appointed captain, the Soma Familia would surely reclaim its former glory, just like the greatsword standing at the center of the room.