The morning sun in Orario gilded the magnificent city walls with a warm, golden rim.
Today, Jeanne had changed out of her battle attire and was wearing a slightly youthful, beautiful set of casual clothes.
A blue crop-top outlined her graceful figure, paired with cool hot pants. Her long, perfectly straight legs were wrapped in black pantyhose, adding a touch of contrasting allure to her holy aura.
Her signature long golden hair was casually tied back with a blue ribbon, swaying gently in the breeze.
Standing opposite her, Aiden was also dressed casually, hands stuffed in his pockets, looking exceptionally relaxed.
"Come on, let's begin."
Aiden curled a finger at Jeanne.
Jeanne nodded earnestly. In the next second, the stone bricks beneath her feet seemed to tremble.
With a fierce lunge, she launched herself toward Aiden like a fired cannonball. Delivering a crisp, high kick, her black-stocking-clad leg carried a vicious wind that tore through the air, aimed viciously at Aiden's head.
She didn't hold back at all with this strike.
No, it would be more accurate to say that the recently leveled-up Jeanne couldn't hold back even if she wanted to.
She was still unable to perfectly control the surging strength brought on by leveling up.
This was a phase almost all adventurers experienced.
That was why Aiden had specifically brought Jeanne to the city wall for sparring today. The goal was for her to familiarize herself with her post-level-up strength as quickly as possible, avoiding fatal mistakes in actual Dungeon combat.
Faced with a blow capable of shattering boulders, Aiden merely tilted his head slightly, dodging it with effortless grace.
Jeanne's combat instincts were exceptionally outstanding. Upon missing her first strike, she instantly twisted her waist, using her other leg as a pivot to deliver a spinning second kick.
Aiden reached out a hand, accurately blocking Jeanne's incoming shin.
A dull thud echoed out as immense force traveled up his arm. However, because the gap in Status between Jeanne and Aiden was massive, this heavy, powerful blow didn't even force Aiden to take a half-step back.
And so, Jeanne continued her fierce assault relentlessly, while Aiden maintained a defensive and evasive posture throughout, only occasionally stepping in to parry. He dedicated his full effort to helping her familiarize herself with every minute change in her body.
As for Robin, who had also leveled up, she was currently sitting on a nearby battlement, leisurely sipping fruit juice with absolutely no intention of joining the training.
She was different from Jeanne. As a rearguard mage, she didn't need to engage in high-intensity melee combat.
The passage of time would naturally allow her to master her new body. Unlike vanguards and mid-guards, she didn't need to adapt to strength changes in such a short window.
Furthermore, Robin genuinely didn't know how to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Asking her to spar with Aiden like Jeanne was doing would be asking far too much of her.
Aiden was well aware of everyone's different roles and naturally wouldn't force the issue.
On the other side, Daphne and Tifa's sparring session was far more intense.
Compared to Aiden's "tutorial session," the two of them were engaged in a real, live-combat drill with live weapons.
The rapier and long whip in Daphne's hands danced up and down in a fierce offensive. Tifa, relying on her astonishing martial arts techniques and reaction speed, dodged and wove through the dense barrage of attacks while launching her own counter-offensives.
Both of them were Level 2 adventurers. When refraining from using skills and magic, they were the most suitable sparring partners for each other.
Besides entering the Dungeon to acquire Excelia, adventurers could also raise their Statuses through personal training or sparring with companions.
However, this "peaceful" method of improvement was nowhere near as fast as facing monsters directly and experiencing life-and-death struggles in the Dungeon.
This was also why the average level of Orario's adventurers was far higher than those in the outside world.
Hunting monsters, fighting monsters, and the thrill of walking the line between life and death—that was the only way to maximize a person's potential.
Simple training inherently had its limits.
Of course, there were always exceptions.
Even without hunting monsters, one could acquire enough Excelia and growth simply through killing other humans.
For example, the kingdom established by the distant Amazons—Telskyura. They grew stronger through incredibly brutal arena slaughter, killing their own companions.
In such an extreme environment, they even boasted multiple First-Class Adventurers.
If placed in Orario, that would be a powerful Familia easily graded as A or even S-class.
Another example was the Freya Familia.
They rarely entered the Dungeon for adventures, unless it was a mandatory expedition mandated by the Guild.
Otherwise, the vast majority of their time was spent within their own stronghold, Folkvangr, engaging in unreserved, mutual slaughter among companions.
The Freya Familia possessed the highest number of healers outside of the Dian Cecht Familia. These healers formed a dedicated team known as the Sated Cinderellas.
Their existence allowed the members of the Freya Familia to revel in combat to their hearts' content. As long as they weren't instantly killed on the spot, even if they had half a foot in the underworld, the Sated Cinderellas could forcefully pull them back to continue the next bout of slaughter with their peers.
The Freya Familia's playstyle was basically that of a "pay-to-win" player, coming equipped with infinite resurrection coins and a top-tier healer squad.
Under such a high-pressure environment that could be crowned the "King of Internal Grinding," their growth rate was not one bit lower than exploring the Dungeon.
And precisely because of this, the Freya Familia boasted the highest number of high-level adventurers in Orario.
Although the outside world always grouped the Freya Familia and the Loki Familia together as the "Twin Kings of Orario," anyone with a discerning eye knew that, at this current stage, the Freya Familia was stronger.
If a genuine, all-out War Game were to break out, the Freya Familia's chances of winning were overwhelmingly high.
The morning training came to an end. On top of the city walls, Jeanne, covered in fragrant sweat, was panting slightly. A few strands of sweat-soaked golden hair clung to her flushed cheeks, adding a touch of moving, enchanting charm to her appearance.
In contrast, her sparring partner, Aiden, remained perfectly composed without a single drop of sweat on him, even after continuously enduring the tempestuous barrage of Jeanne's post-level-up assault.
For his current self, this level of sparring truly only counted as a warm-up exercise.
On the other side, Daphne and Tifa's intense sparring session also drew to a close.
Cassandra walked over hugging her staff, chanting an incantation. A soft healing light enveloped the two girls.
After all, they were engaging in live-combat drills with real weapons. Though there was no murderous intent, weapons had no eyes, and they inevitably accumulated a few minor injuries.
Returning to their temporary headquarters in the Seventh District, everyone took a shower and changed into clean clothes.
Just as they gathered around the dining table to enjoy the lavish breakfast Tifa had prepared, their patron deity, Furina, suddenly leaped up from her chair.
With her hands on her hips, her face brimming with uncontrollable excitement and pride, she announced loudly: "My dear children, I have wonderful news! A message from the Goibniu Familia—our glorious, majestic, entirely new headquarters symbolizing justice and judgment has been completed! We can move in!"
Hearing this news, everyone froze for a second before erupting into massive cheers.
"That's amazing!"
Genuine joy surfaced on the faces of Robin, Hyacine, and Tifa.
Daphne and Cassandra were even more thrilled.
Lately, they had been staying in a local inn, as the rooms in this temporary headquarters were simply too limited.
Now, they finally wouldn't have to stay in an inn anymore.
After a hasty breakfast, an enthusiastic Furina couldn't wait to lead Aiden and the others, marching grandly toward the location of their new Familia headquarters—the First District Main Street.
----
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations