"I'll handle the explanation with the Loki Familia, and I expect they'll agree immediately anyway, because when it comes to having sufficient strength down there, the more accompanying blacksmiths you have, the better."
Noah thanked Tsubaki and promised to use the Spell-Weaver to help her refine several materials later, so she departed looking quite pleased.
Opportunities for deep-floor expeditions with a Level 6 escort were insanely rare, meaning his safety was basically guaranteed, and moreover, this was an absolutely perfect chance to test just how effective the "Empowerment Protocol" would be on high-level adventurers.
At the same time, collaborating with the renowned Loki Familia might even earn him some considerable prestige, so after comprehensively considering everything, Noah really didn't want to pass up this opportunity to join as a supporter responsible for logistics alongside his senpai Tsubaki, who was also tagging along as a supporter despite being a Level 5 from his own Familia.
Regarding what Tsubaki had mentioned earlier, Noah actually knew his own limitations perfectly well, because while the Spell-Weaver's effects were incredibly powerful and somewhat defied conventional magical understanding with tremendous development potential, its restrictions were equally glaring.
First was the sheer consumption, because even though the Spell-Weaver didn't drain vast amounts of mind like regular magic, using it in actual combat meant you had to prepare "ammunition" that was pre-woven with spells in advance.
During his earlier fight with Tsubaki, aside from just manipulating basic elements, he could only use the pre-woven artillery strikes and resonance detonation spells loaded inside Raven Feather, since directly controlling mind and elements on the fly was not only massively time-consuming to activate, but the resulting power was also significantly diminished.
If typical magic users were considered mages, then his combat style honestly resembled that of an alchemist, making him pretty similar to that "All-Round" type.
Asfi Al Andromeda, the "Perseus" of the Hermes Familia, was one of the very few people in the entire dungeon city who possessed the "Mystery" development ability, and in combat, she primarily relied on the high mobility from her flying shoes "Talaria" to maneuver around.
Or used magic tools with invisibility effects to totally conceal herself, while her core offensive methods basically consisted of self-brewed explosives, freezing agents and other throwing potions.
It was super effective against monsters or in ambushes, but comparatively weaker in direct, one-on-one personal combat, so Noah envisioned his own completed form as her vastly superior replacement, coupled with a level of battlefield dominance that could rival even the Sword Princess.
If other people's combat outcomes depended entirely on their performance during the actual battle, then his results were one hundred percent determined by how much preparation he made beforehand.
...
Now, only three days remained until the expedition.
"Anyway, I guess I should start by reducing my sleep to under four hours a night," Noah muttered as he stretched his aching body, which was still sore from Tsubaki's relentless pounding.
Even though he wasn't directly hit by her weapons, just the sheer wind pressure from her attacks had caused minor damage to his body, not to mention the nasty side effects from that final point-blank resonance detonation, meaning that contrary to how things looked on the outside, he was actually in way worse shape than Tsubaki appeared to be.
Taking out a recovery potion and bringing it up to his lips, Noah suddenly fell into deep thought while staring intently at the glass bottle, wondering if there was an even quicker method than just drinking it, since drinking was already faster than pouring it directly on a wound.
Something like... an injection?
"I remember a professor from the neighboring medical university back on Earth once mentioning during a lecture that oral administration relies on intestinal absorption with only about 60% efficiency, whereas a direct injection could easily achieve over 90%."
Secondly, the medication absorbed by the intestines is immediately transported to the liver where it undergoes first-pass elimination, and due to the liver's natural metabolic function, this process ultimately reduces the drug's overall potency and significantly diminishes its effects.
'Hmm... I might as well just make a few syringes while I'm at it.'
With his objectives completely clear and everything prepared, Noah was incredibly eager to dive straight into development, but he still had one last thing to take care of first: the delivery.
It was the commission initiated by the "Gale" on behalf of the Astraea Familia members to craft a custom weapon for Alise Lovell and after his repairs and restoration work, the Crimson Guardian had been successfully renewed, totally lifting the forced "shutdown" state that was caused by using the Bloody Terminator.
It was finally time to collect the hard-earned Valis paid through the blood and sweat of those beautiful girls!
Noah prepped a high-end weapon case from the Hephaestus Familia, carefully wrapped the Crimson Guardian in a highly valuable fire spirit cloth and securely placed the sword inside the box before casually writing out a small blessing card that read.
'May this sword bear witness to this friendship in its entirety. —Noah.'
Even though it was worth a staggering three hundred thousand Valis and was an absolute necessity for exploring the Middle Floors, the Fire Spirit cloth was basically just being used as fancy wrapping paper for the Crimson Guardian to completely max out the sense of ceremony so he could negotiate the price accordingly.
It was exactly like a certain tech brand's flagship "extravagant eye" product from his past life, where the moment you finally get your hands on it and start unwrapping layer after layer, tracing your fingers over that subtle premium texture, you suddenly get the total illusion that even though it's insanely expensive, it's somehow completely "worth it."
That kind of consumer illusion can even gradually evolve into a literal cult-like faith, and when it comes to faith, who gives a shit about spending a little extra money?
Noah brought the perfectly packaged magic sword all the way over to the Astraea Familia's base, and looking up at the massive, exquisite Western-style mansion, he couldn't help but sigh, thinking it really did look exactly like the kind of place where a huge group of beautiful girls would live together.
He wasn't even sure if it was just a hallucination, but it honestly felt like simply walking past their front gate made you smell a pleasantly sweet fragrance in the air.
"Oh, hey there, little brother! What are you doing here?"
A girl who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old seemed to be on guard duty, and she immediately walked over with a bright smile when she spotted him standing outside the gate.
The girl's name was Ryana, and in fact, while she was asking the question, her mind was already running through quite a few different guesses as to why he was there, because the Astraea Familia was widely known throughout the city for their acts of justice and for helping countless people.
On top of that, since literally all the members of the Familia were beautiful girls, they had practically become massive folk idols to the public.
The absolute most popular among them was obviously their goddess, Lady Astraea!
With a stunning beauty that could easily look down on other goddesses, a melodious voice, a perfectly righteous and principled character, and a gentle, comforting onee-san-like aura, the sheer amount of male gods relentlessly pursuing her could literally form a line stretching across several streets.
Because of this crazy popularity, people would constantly come straight to the Familia's base from time to time just to express their gratitude, hoping that if they were lucky enough, they might even get to see the beautiful goddess in person and actually speak with her.
Seeing the young boy standing in front of her while holding a fancy box, Ryana automatically started imagining a whole series of cliché heartwarming scenarios.
Noah instantly shot her a visibly dissatisfied and utterly disgusted expression at being called "little brother," causing the girl, who had just been all smiles, to completely stiffen up in shock!
'What the hell is going on? What is with that grossed-out look?!'
She was such a cute, beautiful girl—no, wait, in front of this child, she was supposed to be a gentle, pretty, and totally welcoming big sister!
Did she really just get completely disliked by some random kid?
Impossible!
"Um..."
"Hello, my name is Noah from the Hephaestus Familia, and I'm here to look for Miss Ryuu or Miss Alise, so could you please go relay the message for me? I'm in a hurry."
'I'm in a hurry. In a hurry— In a hurry... ????'
Ryana's brain literally just cracked in half.
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