A rare opportunity to learn about the preferences of two Heroic Spirits.
"Heave-ho—let's pull one more wave of monsters, then head back."
Ritsuka rose from the corner. The Sword Axe emerged from the Crystal Dice and landed in her hand.
The labyrinth was exceptionally quiet. There were no monsters to be sensed nearby, and damp air carrying the scent of stone drifted through the gray cavern.
It was a somewhat unsettling atmosphere.
The cave-like passage was quite dim. The few light sources near the ceiling flickered like campfires, cutting the faintly lit scenery into irregular shapes.
With the silently burning phosphorescence dimly illuminating her profile, Ritsuka narrowed her golden eyes.
"Awwoo—!"
A howl. It was a wolf-type monster.
Ritsuka turned her head toward the corner where red light flickered. Several monsters from the fifteenth floor had spotted her, though she did not know their names.
Hellhounds?
Their howls sounded like wolves, but their overall appearance was somewhat similar to Cerberus, her Noble Phantasm.
The only differences were probably their size and the number of heads.
Around seven flame-wolf monsters and four Minotaurs native to this floor closed in on Ritsuka, instantly crowding the already narrow space.
At around thirty meters away, the hellhounds stopped and prepared to launch a fiery assault.
Aim, fire!
Seven fireballs shot from the hellhounds' mouths. At the same time, heavy footsteps thundered out as the Minotaurs charged forward in great strides.
The fireballs flew over the Minotaurs and headed straight for Ritsuka by the wall.
The roars grew increasingly intense. The walls trembled without pause as countless Minotaurs squeezed out from them, completely surrounding Ritsuka from every direction. The dungeon's abrupt mutation was startling.
"..."
A sword condensed in her hand. Dazzling radiance illuminated Ritsuka's face, and her golden eyes turned cold and fierce.
A golden blade, a holy sword inscribed with elven runes. Its form resembled Excalibur—the Eternal Distant Golden Sword had been projected into Ritsuka's hand.
She could not actually make projections last for long, but in a sense, she possessed infinite Magic Swords. As long as she had unlimited mana, she could use Magic Swords without limit—something equivalent to magic.
"Excalibur..."
Specks of golden light gathered together as Ritsuka raised the imitation holy sword.
The tip pointed toward the incoming monsters—
"Image."
Sword light flowed. In the next instant, amid her calm voice, a blazing torrent of light roared forth.
A holy sword that transformed its wielder's mana into light, then discharged it from the blade's tip like a laser beam to destroy whatever stood in its path. Its immense magical power was enough to burn away everything, making magecraft on the level of gods possible.
Several hundred meters vanished in an instant. The restrained radiance of the holy sword turned everything in the passage into ash with unstoppable force.
"Even output at B-ranked Anti-Army level is already too much to sustain?"
Magic Stones and materials alike turned to ash. Looking at the cave that seemed ready to collapse, Ritsuka sighed helplessly.
If she only needed to release this sword once, then with Broken Phantasm added on top, it could rival the genuine holy sword—a Noble Phantasm of A++ Anti-Fortress rank.
Putting away the holy sword, Ritsuka headed for the Upper Layer. Today's training was over.
With several trips through the dungeon under her belt, the way back was quite easy. After all, ordinary monsters rarely posed a threat to her.
Ritsuka was not particularly sturdy, but she was still around the level of a typical level 5 adventurer.
Nothing eventful happened along the way.
If she could kill Goliath once after receiving a Blessing, her improvement would definitely be enormous.
Unfortunately, Goliath only spawned about once every two weeks. The last one had already been nailed to a crystal wall by her and left for Finn and the others to finish off for materials and Magic Stones.
The trip upward took only half as much time as the trip down.
Ritsuka quickly passed through the relatively safe Upper Layer, left the dungeon, and returned to the city. The colors of dusk were rather beautiful.
After hesitating briefly, Ritsuka decided to return to the familia immediately instead of exchanging her loot for Valis at the Guild.
Although the Magic Stones and materials in her hands could fetch a high price, even for the Loki Familia, a Level 1 adventurer casually slaughtering elite Level 2 monsters like Minotaurs was truly unbelievable.
The Loki Familia held an extremely high status. A tall tree caught the wind, and it was inevitable that they would have rivals and hostile familias.
If someone made an issue out of her, and certain familias pulled some strings behind the scenes, the Loki Familia might very well draw the Guild's intervention and investigation.
That would inevitably cause disputes, and the familia's expedition might even be delayed.
They showed me kindness. It'd be way too shitty to turn around and drag them down.
At worst, she could hand all the resources over to the familia and have members of the appropriate level exchange them at the Guild. Surely the familia would not cheat her out of that money.
The Loki Familia was one of Orario's only two ultra-large familias. The money from hunting a few hundred Minotaurs was really nothing to them, though it was still an enormous sum for an individual adventurer.
It could be used to buy equipment or some decent potions.
A scorching gaze arrived right on schedule. Ritsuka's steps paused slightly as she broke out of her thoughts.
She gave the Tower of Babel an international gesture of friendship over her shoulder...
After that brief interlude, Ritsuka returned to the familia.
Amid the smiles and welcomes home from the adventurers guarding the gate, Ritsuka responded as she made her way to the warehouse management office.
"Hello, I have supplies to turn in."
"...You are Emiya Ritsuka?"
The adventurer guarding the warehouse narrowed his eyes, then the corner of the mouth lifted.
The adventurer personally named by Lord Loki had arrived. He rose and led Ritsuka into a warehouse filled with all kinds of Magic Stones stockpiled for exchange into supplies.
"Goddess Loki already gave us advance notice. She said Emiya would be coming back to hand in Magic Stones, so I've been waiting for quite some time."
"Sorry for the trouble."
Then, before the stunned eyes of the guards, Ritsuka—the famous Level 1 rookie adventurer of the Loki Familia—raised one hand.
Flashes visible only to Ritsuka appeared, and several hundred Magic Stones crashed onto the floor along with nearly a hundred special materials.
In a sense, Ritsuka's luck was quite good.
"Th-these are mostly Minotaur Magic Stones? And rare materials too?"
"Mm-hm."
Ritsuka nodded obediently, while the guard squatted down on the spot in utter disbelief.
He began counting the supplies.
Waiting was a little boring. After receiving permission from several guards, Ritsuka decided not to wait any longer and slipped back to her room.
She had fought all day. Her strength had improved, and her experience had been fully integrated, but she simply could not stand being covered in fragrant sweat.
Ritsuka was quite clean by nature. She entered the living area for first-tier female adventurers, and that was when she saw a leisurely approaching, squinty-eyed pervert goddess.
Riveria and Ais followed behind Loki, and they looked as though they had just finished washing up.
"Eh, Ritsuka-tan!!"
Loki cried out excitedly, then pounced at Ritsuka.
Ritsuka had expected it. The instant a certain pervert leaped, she sidestepped two paces and let Loki fly past her.
Then she ignored the goddess rolling down the stairs and greeted Riveria and Ais.
"From the look on your face, you had a pretty good haul today?"
Riveria looked at Ritsuka's slightly upturned lips and cheerful expression, smiling as she asked. She understood Ritsuka's strength fairly well.
Among the dungeon floors explored so far, anything not too deep posed no threat to Ritsuka.
"Hehe, it was all right. I'm still Level 1, so I only farmed a few Minotaurs."
Riveria nodded at that. Minotaurs were among the more elite Level 2 monsters, so they had some prestige, and the value of their drops was not low either.
For an irregular like Ritsuka, they were perfect for practice.
"Wah... Ritsuka-tan is so cold. I was going to be the first to update your Ability Value today!"
"Unless you let me knead those well-developed boobs, I'm not working today!!"
Loki rolled around on the floor, utterly lacking any dignity as a god. Riveria's face immediately darkened.
Ritsuka, who had originally planned to update her Ability Value today, exchanged a glance with Ais. They nearly reached the same conclusion—better wait until tomorrow.
Riveria grabbed Loki by the ear. "You should be setting a good example for the children in the familia."
"Eek—Mama Riveria, I know I was wrong! It hurts, it hurts..."
Without using Divine Power, most gods were physically weaker than even Level 1 adventurers.
Thus, despite being a mage who was not particularly good in close combat, Riveria still easily subdued Loki and punished her until she howled.
Just earlier, she had been someone who could pose a huge threat to Ritsuka while incomplete. She was as strong as that old man who had been taken down by Mapo Tofu.
Come to think of it, after coming to another world like this, Ritsuka wondered whether Kishiya was still at the Anorectal Hospital...
"Today, let Ritsuka update her Ability Value first. You don't mind if we take a look too, right?"
"Of course. Riveria and Ais are fine."
Ritsuka gave a thumbs-up. Riveria then dragged Loki along as they followed Ritsuka to her room.
After brewing a pot of black tea for the others, Ritsuka grabbed a change of clothes and ran to the familia bathhouse for a quick wash. She then returned to her room dressed in masculine clothing.
A white shirt paired with a black suit-style jacket.
Whenever Ritsuka glanced sideways, the unconscious coldness in her eyes made her golden gaze seem intensely imposing.
She looked so handsome that all three people in the room fell silent.
"Who are you?"
Loki, playing the comic relief, was the first to ask that idiotic question. Then Riveria smacked her on the head.
Ritsuka took the initiative to undo her upper clothing and lock the door. Sitting on the chair beside the bed, she prepared to update her Ability Value under Riveria and Ais's expectant gazes.
Taking out the toolkit, Loki picked up a needle and pricked her finger.
As blood dripped onto Ritsuka's back, the clown-like pattern on her fair skin unfolded, and blue radiance flashed past.
As divine power entered her body, Ritsuka felt herself boiling from within. The sensation of improvement was not especially obvious, but her strength had indeed increased to some extent.
It was probably an increase of around five percent—a rather exaggerated improvement.
Loki skillfully took a piece of parchment and pressed it against Ritsuka's back. She then locked the Blessing and began reading Ritsuka's Ability Value.
Riveria and Ais hurriedly leaned closer as well.
"...What the hell is this?"
With Riveria and Ais speechless, even absent-minded, Loki was the first to exclaim and complain. Her expression became incomparably strange.
But on second thought, considering Emiya Ritsuka's talent, this was also to be expected.
Loki casually handed the parchment to Ritsuka, who was waiting nearby—
"Your total Ability Value increased by 1,549 points. Take a look yourself. At this rate, you might be close to the peak of Level 1 before the expedition."
Ritsuka, now dressed and sitting on the chair, looked at the parchment in her hands with a trace of surprise on her face.
She finally understood why the four people behind her were acting so strangely.
Before you continue