Chapter 97: The Floor Master About to Refresh, Rozz Will Definitely Resist the Temptation! (Patreon)

Myriad Phenomena

The principle behind magic is actually very simple. As long as you master the incantation and the specific effect, you can reproduce it.

The Cinder Ella magic Lili possessed worked on exactly the same principle.

That said, though.

When Rozz tried to replicate Futsu no Mitama, he slipped in a little something from a modern transmigrator's point of view, like putting a new spin on the classic dish Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce.

He stripped out most of the spell's drawbacks: the self-restriction, the inability to tell friend from foe, and the original's painfully long incantation. All that remained was the core gravity effect.

"Not gonna lie, it really doesn't feel much different from a trip through hell. The mental strain of maintaining Futsu no Mitama is just huge."

It would work on Adventurers of his own level and on small fry weaker than himself. In that case...

The improved Futsu no Mitama could basically sweep them up like mobs, though it was a bit underwhelming against stronger Adventurers.

"Pretty good."

"If it comes to the Apollo Familia, even with all those Adventurers, I could wipe the targets out with an AoE."

"We'll win."

What he had to think about next was how to reach that effect in real combat. The thornier problem was the Apollo Familia's Lv3 Adventurer.

The gap in level and stats.

He felt it especially keenly in dream training. No matter what he tried, he couldn't even scratch the sole of Senior Ryuu's shoe.

Rozz let Futsu no Mitama's effect lapse and turned to the girl who had held nothing back from him.

All he saw was an extremely strange look on her face. After some thought, he figured a brief explanation was in order.

"Um..."

"Basically, the magic I have is kind of special. I can borrow other Adventurers' magic, which is why I wanted to learn it."

"..."

"Rather than learning, I'd say you're more like robbing me outright?!"

What the hell.

All she'd had to do was master the incantation and the specific effect, and after one simple demonstration, this guy could replicate it.

Worst of all, Mikoto had the feeling that the Futsu no Mitama Rozz had learned was even stronger than the one she cast herself.

That's not right, is it!

She looked up, her mouth twitching. "Also, I noticed you seem to skip a huge part of the incantation."

"Yeah."

"In an actual fight, a chant that long is impossible unless your opponent cooperates."

Rozz didn't hide it. Being able to use Futsu no Mitama at all was entirely thanks to her generosity. Relying only on theory he'd long since returned to his physics teacher, hand-crafting it by reshaping his mental energy would have been truly difficult.

Finally, he thanked Mikoto Yamato again. "Thanks. Without your guidance... um, going forward, could I borrow this gravity magic of yours?"

"Mostly because I feel..."

"This gravity magic of yours doesn't seem to be the same type as mine, and it'd be my honor to help you out."

She had taught the magic to Rozz, and after his improvements it might even make a name for itself across Orario. There was no reason to refuse.

Not only in Adventurer talent but in magic too, Mikoto could feel how wide the gap between them was. She had a feeling that what he'd mastered was the advanced version!!

Since...

If Rozz could improve the magic and optimize Futsu no Mitama, didn't that mean she could learn from him as well?

But as the thought took root, her eyes grew deeply complicated. A moment ago Rozz had been the one asking her for lessons, and in the blink of an eye the roles had flipped.

She set the thought aside for now.

Soon the conversation circled back to where it began, and she asked curiously, "Actually... I'm rather curious."

"Do you have some goal you need to achieve lately?"

It concerned the future.

That was what she truly cared about. Judging by Rozz's strength, formidable even for a Lv2, ordinary Dungeon exploration shouldn't cause him any trouble.

"Sort of, yeah."

Rozz hadn't planned to explain, but he noticed the strong curiosity on her face. After a moment's thought, he said, "I've run into a bit of trouble."

"I might have to face quite a lot of Adventurers, so I want more tricks up my sleeve. At the very least, enough to protect myself."

"...?"

Given this guy's earlier feats, Mikoto felt she should confirm. "Are you sure that... mastering my magic is all it takes to handle a situation like that?"

"We'll win."

Rozz wasn't all that confident himself. "Once I take care of those small-fry Adventurers, what I have to think about gets a lot simpler."

"Such as?"

"How to beat a Lv3 Adventurer."

"..."

Question marks slowly surfaced in the girl's eyes.

This guy was always muttering to himself, saying things that were hard to follow. Improving magic, beating Lv3 Adventurers.

Was he even human!

But Rozz gave her no chance to press him. He truly didn't want to drag unrelated Adventurers into his feud with the Apollo Familia.

He flashed a cheerful smile. "Shall we head back to Rivira first?"

"Okay."

From his brief summary alone, Mikoto understood that Rozz didn't want to tell her the reason, so she chose not to press.

She watched his back as he stood and started toward Rivira. After a short deliberation, she followed her heart. "If there's anything I can do to help you..."

"Please just tell me."

"You've already helped me a lot. But if I really do need help, I won't be shy about asking."

*

Back in Rivira.

The reason Rozz had come here the first time had left a deep impression on him, never mind that the streets and buildings were rather crude.

The bustling crowds of Adventurers gave him the feeling of being back in Orario. His gaze swept over the shops along the way. The goods, none of them marked with prices, were like Dragon-Slayer sabers that could drop on your wallet at any moment. They were waiting for the highest bidder.

What truly surprised Rozz was the number of Adventurers gathered nearby. "Miss Mikoto, do you know what's going on?"

The girl answered quietly, "...This is actually my first time here too."

"Then let's go find Lili, Kashima, and the others first."

Mostly it was because he didn't know any of these Adventurers. Even without his social anxiety, Rozz couldn't have flagged down a random passerby to ask.

They went to the agreed meeting place, and he met up with the Supporter Lili at the inn. Before he could even ask, Lili looked up and explained concisely, "The floor boss of Floor 17 spawns in these next two days."

"I'm sure I mentioned it to you before."

Rozz remembered it clearly.

Great Feat.

For ordinary Adventurers, the minimum stat requirement for a Level Up isn't hard to meet. It's the Great Feat that's the hardest to scrape together.

Floor 17's floor boss, Goliath, was a team target for many small and mid-sized Familia. What Rozz hadn't expected was to run into a boss that only spawned once every half month during this very Dungeon run.

The Adventurer Guild rated it at Lv4.

So...

If they could kill Goliath, he might be able to earn his Great Feat ahead of schedule.

When he thought of that, Rozz looked at Lili. "Since we're already here, why not farm the floor boss while we're at it?"

"With this many Adventurers gathered, we should be able to take it down. And it'd get you the Great Feat for your Level Up ahead of time, Lili."

"Then you won't have to worry about that later."

"Me?"

Rozz nodded earnestly. "Yes."

Rather than the Great Feat, the Supporter girl suspected this guy simply had itchy hands, given the pressure the Apollo Familia was putting on them.

Hmm...

If she wanted to keep exploring the Dungeon at Rozz's side from now on, her current Lv1 wouldn't cut it.

Lili raised her head and didn't refuse. "Then I'll go gather information."

"..."

Kashima was there too. When he heard the proposal, he was just as eager. A chance to help the team ride along for a Great Feat like this was absolutely not to be missed.

The rugged young man scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Um, if you're going after the floor boss, can we join?"

As he added the explanation, Kashima clearly lacked confidence. "Mikoto and I are both Lv2 Adventurers. We should... we should be able to help a little."

"No problem."

"..."

With the next goal settled, Rozz looked out the window at the street. After intense Dungeon exploration and magic training, it was nearly dusk.

Thanks to his Stamina development ability, he didn't feel tired. But considering his strength was, after all, on the level of a Lv4, resting up was surely the right call.

He turned to Lili and asked curiously, "Did you find us rooms at the inn?"

"Mm..."

The Supporter girl nodded lightly, though she didn't look Rozz in the eye as she explained. "Because the floor boss is respawning..."

"You must have noticed. More Adventurers have come down from Orario, so the inn doesn't have many free rooms. There's only one left."

Lili raised her face, her voice timid. "You... don't mind, do you?"

"..."

Could it really be such a coincidence?

Rozz frowned slightly and turned toward the inn's front desk. A female Adventurer there seemed to have overheard the conversation. Without batting an eye, she swapped the "Rooms Available" sign for "Full."

"Then..."

Something felt off, but after thinking it over, Rozz didn't refuse. "Let's make do tonight."

"Hehe!"

Once Rozz's back had vanished around the staircase corner, Lili, her huge Supporter pack on her back, blushed faintly under the clerk Adventurer's teasing look before she left.

"Thank you!" she said softly.

*

Hephaestus's weapon shop

How to put it?

For Hestia, this was an utterly dreamlike experience she'd never dared imagine: transferring her own child to another Familia.

Mm...

And it was her best friend Hephaestus's Familia, no less. The goddess had never doubted that her closest friend would betray her, but whenever she thought of it, she couldn't help feeling hollow.

Still,

once the Apollo Familia business was fully settled, she believed she and Rozz could go back to their original life together.

"Let me see..."

"When is Rozz coming back to Orario?"

Hestia decisively shifted her attention. She opened the translucent screen of the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan and checked the Exploration Log feature.

Detailed updates promptly appeared before her eyes.

"After the dream training plan, Rozz's strength let him and the Supporter Lili reach Floor 17 without a hitch."

"There,"

"Rozz met members of the Takemikazuchi Familia. After exchanging greetings, he chose to travel with them to Floor 18, the safe floor and Under Resort."

"He took a keen interest in the gravity magic of Mikoto Yamato, a Lv2 Adventurer of the Takemikazuchi Familia, and asked her to teach him."

"..."

"Using Myriad Phenomena,"

"Rozz successfully mastered her gravity magic, Futsu no Mitama, and thoroughly adjusted the spell's shortcomings."

"He succeeded."

"Using the creativity of Myriad Phenomena, he rewrote the spell's lengthy incantation and its drawback of being unable to move freely while casting."

"Rozz has unlocked a new Skill."

[Gravity Domain: Lv1]

The smile spread across the goddess's youthful face said everything about how thrilled she was as she read the Exploration Log.

That's right!

Her Rozz was a genius.

When Rozz first acquired Myriad Phenomena, Hestia had honestly thought it would only copy his companions' magic.

The result in front of her completely shattered her expectations. It could not only copy, but also patch up a spell's flaws and create brand-new techniques through imagination.

"Pfft, Apollo Familia. Small fry."

"I guess there's no need to worry so much. With our Rozz's talent, breaking through to Lv3 is a sure thing, right?"

Hestia kept browsing with a hopeful heart.

"Learned that Floor 17's floor boss, Goliath, is about to spawn."

"Desperate to raise his strength, Rozz chose to linger in the Floor 18 Under Resort, wanting to test his current power against the floor boss."

"Earn the Great Feat for a Lv3 Level Up ahead of schedule."

"The Takemikazuchi Familia Adventurers traveling with him hope to take down the floor boss together, and Rozz, considering their relationship, did not refuse."

"However..."

"With Goliath about to spawn, the number of Adventurers in Rivira has surged, leaving the inn without any free rooms."

"Rozz had no choice but to share a room with Lili for now."

"??"

The goddess's face instantly turned ashen.

Hestia suddenly remembered that back on Floor 12, when Rozz was threatened by the Rare Species monster, the young dragon...

her Rozz's first kiss had been stolen by Lili.

And now, a night under the same roof on Floor 18, in the safe floor's Rivira. She didn't dare imagine what might happen next.

The girl kept murmuring to herself.

"So..."

"Rozz can surely resist temptation, right?!"

[Author's Note: The holiday is over. I'm barely managing a daily 4k update, with a short two-day rest. This is today's first update.]