The Dungeon, Twelfth Floor.
As the final floor of the upper levels, the monsters on the Twelfth Floor had reached their peak in strength, numbers, and refresh rate for this stage.
Within the thick mist, Shirou and Lefiya were locked in continuous combat against the surrounding monsters.
Wielding her spear without pause, Lefiya, though still unskilled, adopted a kind of 'hack-and-slash-random' style, swinging the spear almost like a club.
Fortunately, Shirou had anticipated this and had lengthened the spearhead, making it effective even with chopping motions.
But most important was Lefiya's overwhelming basic stats.
Her wildly swung spear crushed all enemies nearby, a clear demonstration of sheer stat superiority.
"You see, your enemies can't withstand even a single blow from you. Relax, and deal with them consciously, rather than just relying on brute force."
Shirou, effortlessly cutting down monsters around him, still had energy to guide Lefiya.
He couldn't help but acknowledge how much she had improved since leveling up.
Lefiya gradually regained composure. After battling through the previous floors, she now clearly judged her enemies' strength.
Even by wildly swinging her spear, she had taken down many monsters.
Her resolve began to solidify.
Facing an Orc charging at her, Lefiya gripped the spear tightly.
Though unfamiliar with this weapon, she had learned its use during their expedition.
A spear is for stabbing!
She raised the spear, aimed at the Orc, and charged forward with a shout.
This time, she kept her eyes open, imprinting the moment firmly in her mind.
With her yell, the huge Orc was pierced instantly. Its limp body collapsed and gradually turned to dust.
Looking at the spear in her hand, Lefiya's eyes shone with triumph.
This was her first monster personally slain in close combat by her own will.
Though as a magic-specialized orthodox mage, her strength buildup in the first two levels was modest, the qualitative change from leveling up was significant.
After all, how could killing a LV.2 monster with LV.1 strength be considered an achievement?
Shirou's ability to defeat LV.2 monsters at LV.1 stemmed from his superior weapons and martial arts, far surpassing others at his level.
Otherwise, a LV.1 adventurer with ordinary gear couldn't even penetrate the hide of a LV.2 MinOttarur.
His martial arts allowed him to attack effectively while evading strikes.
Facing an unskilled LV.1 Orc, the LV.3 Lefiya, also untrained in combat, had a massive advantage in level.
After defeating the Orc, Lefiya's confidence soared. She advanced boldly towards the next monster, no longer waiting passively.
For Lefiya, strengthening her fighting spirit meant the monsters here posed no real threat.
Though clumsy with the spear, her level advantage let her rampage through the foes.
Watching this, Shirou ceased fighting momentarily to observe Lefiya's emerging combat stance.
"As expected, with Lefiya at LV.3, these monsters barely threaten her. The gap between levels is overwhelming!"
Seeing Lefiya recklessly charging into monster hordes, taking hits but barely damaged, Shirou sighed at the clear level disparity.
Dungeon monsters had blank-slate stats—high base stats but no special skills or magic.
Strong adventurers wielding martial arts, skills, and magic could defeat tougher foes.
Some elite monsters, like the Hellhounds in mid-level floors, possessed unique abilities.
Without fire-resistant gear, a direct hit from a Hellhound's flames would carbonize a LV.2 adventurer instantly.
These monsters were troublesome.
"With Lefiya's stats, she could handle even the middle levels as frontline, but her weapon needs changing."
Observing her fighting style, Shirou felt a sword might suit her better than a spear.
Since Lefiya was an orthodox mage, her main focus would remain magic. For close-range defense, she shouldn't exhaust herself; learning spear fighting is difficult.
"I shouldn't have made her use a spear just because she used a staff before. A sword might be better. Or maybe fists and feet?"
Ultimately, the weapon wasn't the crucial part.
What mattered was that she could counter sudden attacks and confidently chant magic.
While trusting teammates is important, one's own strength is more vital.
In Attack on Titan, when chased by the Female Titan, Eren relied on comrades, resulting in Levi's squad nearly wiped out.
In the end, self-strength is paramount.
As the saying goes, "Having it from your parents is not as good as having it yourself."
Improving one's own power is never wrong.
"No way? Is that really Lefiya?"
A familiar voice made Shirou turn. It was Tiona, accompanied by Tione and Ais.
"Why are you here? Didn't ?"
Tione rolled her eyes. Were they really that bad?
"We were retrieving weapons from the Gobniu Familia, so we were a bit late. We just happened to run into you two."
Oh, that explained it. Shirou recalled seeing the three take their weapons for maintenance yesterday.
"That doesn't matter! What matters is—how did Lefiya become a warrior? She's an important sorceress!"
Tione's expression seemed to say 'what a waste of talent,' and Shirou sighed inwardly, as expected.
Mages in this world were like the orthodox mages in Western fantasy—noble and powerful.
Unlike later eras influenced by game balance, where mage was one of many classes.
Here, mages held high status.
Indeed, magic was very powerful.
Compared to Heroic Spirits, most adventurers were blank-slate Heroic Spirits without innate skills or Noble Phantasms.
A few elites had Noble Phantasms and skills but were primarily melee-focused.
Mages were Heroic Spirits capable of wiping out areas with Noble Phantasms.
Unlike the Caster class in the Nasuverse, magic here equated inherently to a Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm.
So, a mage's magic attack was essentially a Noble Phantasm attack.
A Heroic Spirit who uses only Noble Phantasm attacks—are you scared or not?
This explains the mages' high status here.
However, Shirou was not reckless. After explaining his purpose to Tione and the others, they pondered deeply.
"Using close combat to boost courage? That's bold."
Though absurd sounding at first, Tione felt some truth after reflection.
After all, Lefiya was a prime example now.
Watching Lefiya fight relentlessly, Ais, rarely showing emotion, chuckled lightly: "Lefiya has grown stronger!"
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter