Mr. Rastiara, can you please level up?
Oh, yes.

　As he was told, Rustyala leveled up Maria and Dia.
　Since the monsters of higher rank were destroyed, they had accumulated more than enough experience.

--Name Diablo Sith HP220/244 MP629/1030 Class Swordsman
　　　Level 16.
　　　Strength 8.81 Strength 7.19 Skill 4.01 Speed 4.21 Wisdom 14.11 Magic 58.16 Elemental 5.00　
　　　State: blessing 1.00
　　 Inherent Skill: Divine Magic 3.81 Divine Blessing 3.08 Absolution 2.00 Focused Convergence 2.06
　　　　　　　　　　　Attribute magic 2.10 Overcapture protection 2.20 Life extension 2.24 Aiming 2.03　　
Acquired Skill: Swordsmanship 0.11
　　　?　???? -- ?

--Name Maria HP159/233 MP601/1005 Class None
　　　Level 15.
　　　Strength 8.87 Strength 8.73 Skill 7.40 Speed 4.81 Wisdom 9.89 Magic 53.22 Element 4.13
　　　Status:.
--Inherent Skills None.　
　　　Acquired skills hunting 0.69, cooking 1.08, fire magic 3.54--

　The scary thing is that with less than half of the proper level, our wizards were overrunning the enemy.

''Now we have even more magic power. It looks like we'll be able to increase the number of flames even more.''
I'll be able to get more and more power out of this one.

　As they grew even stronger, they said horrible things that made the monster feel sorry for them.
　After repeated trial and error, the resonant magic that they had perfected turned their strength into something rock-solid.

''Dear, what do you want to name this resonance magic?''
Name?　Yes, it would be more convenient to have it. Hmm, shall we let Kanami decide?　It's like they're making all kinds of magic.
'Yes. Can you decide, Kanami-san?

　I came back to myself, still dumbfounded when I was called out to him.
　By the way, Rustyala still hasn't returned.

'Name ......, er, 'Aegis' is a good name, isn't it?　In my world, it means armor to protect someone.
'Good. This magic is designed to protect Kanami-san. --Should we call it the Resonant Magic 'Flame Guardian Flame (Aegis)'?

　The name of the foul fire magic was decided upon and we resumed our search.
　The 33rd layer has a structure with a lot of water air, such as rivers and shallows, and the types of enemies have changed to match the changes.

　The number of hard mineral-based monsters has decreased, and the number of aquatic monsters has increased.
　I light up my face.

　If it's an aquatic monster, it should have a high resistance to fire magic.
　I continue on my way, thinking that me and Rastiara's turn will come back, but--

Resonant magic, Aegis Flame Guardian Flame.
Resonant magic, Aegis Flame Guardian Flame.

--that wasn't true.

　Deere's rays could easily penetrate even the monsters that were lurking in the river.

　A little or a little bit of water is meaningless in front of the overwhelming amount of heat. It doesn't matter if it's aquatic or mineral, because it evaporates the moment it comes into contact with you.

　Me and Rastiara are wary of the aquatic monsters, so we keep our swords drawn.
　However, the sword will not be wielded.
　The fight is over as we stand there with our swords at the ready.

Mo, the monster evaporates before it can get close: ......
'There's nothing to do, Kanami ....... No, when it comes down to it, it's important for me to escort you both ......, you know?

　Rastiala's "Hey? The meaning of

　This, there's no reason for us to be here. I don't feel like a monster can get to this point by bypassing the Flame Guardian Flame (Aegis).
　To be honest, Dia and Maria are enough for me.

　With this, it wouldn't be any wonder if they were said to be parasites on the two of them.
　But it wasn't possible for me and Rustyala to put it into words. I felt that if I admitted it, the pride and pride I had built up until now would be destroyed.

　The two rearguards smiled with a calm expression on their faces.

''Because of Rastiara-san and the others, we are able to shoot magic without worry.

　Those words are kind. Gentle, but--

'That's right. Lastiara and Kanami should just step backwards.
'Yes. It's something we like to do. Leave it to us, Kanami-san, and take your time.

　...... It sounds as if you're indulging a no-good man who is pimping.

　I can't hide my impatience and Rustyala and I can't hide our impatience.
　But the reality is harsh. As long as we can't propose a battle strategy that surpasses the two of us''s resonance magic, Flame Guardian Flame (Aegis), we won't have a chance.
　I've pulled out my sword and quietly put it back into its scabbard. It's very sad to repeat the process. I'm really, really sad that I can't play any role in the game, as I have more room and an increased percentage of game-like thinking.

　We rely on the two rearguards and proceed through the 33rd layer.

''-- Resonance Magic, Flame Guardian Flame (Aegis)!
Resonant magic, Flame Guardian Flame!

　Bits of fire flew all over the corridor, and the monsters evaporated the moment they entered the realm.
　This is no longer a battle or anything else. It's just a slaughter - it's become work.
　As I gathered up the magical stones that had fallen, I was reminded of the game's dungeon attack.
　If the player becomes too strong, no matter what kind of enemy they're up against, they can overwhelm them just by holding down the decision button - that's the current state itself.

　I walk with Maria and Dia in tow. That's all it takes to skip all the battles with monsters.
　In the end, we make it to the 34th layer safely without seeing a single shadow of the enemy.

　During that time, the only thing Rastiara and I did was pick up magic stones.

　I'm not as much of an adolescent boy as Rastiara, but I'm also an adolescent boy who yearns for adventure. I formed my first party of four, and I was hoping in a corner of my mind that it would be a varied and fun fight from now on.

　But the reality is grim. The only role left for us is to pick up things .......
　Me and Rustyala dropping their eyes with a dark expression.

　And on the way to the 35th layer from the 34th to the 35th layer, Maria spoke to us, who were in the midst of their heartbreak.

''I'm about to run out of MP. 'Connection' please, Kanami-san.
Oh, yes.

　I will do as I am told and create a 'connection'. If I'm already doing everything Maria says, there's no doubt about it. There's no doubt about it: .......

　I walked through the Connection with a tottering gait. Rustyala, who is on the verge of losing the meaning of his existence, follows suit.

　And the blue sky that spreads beyond the door.
　We're back on board the Living Legend.

　We finished our first labyrinthine search and confirmed our results on the deck.

--Name Aikawa Uzumi HP303/331 MP366/849-400 Class Searcher.
　　　Level 19.
　　　Strength 10.65 Strength 12.02 Skill 15.62 Speed 18.84 Wisdom 16.13 Magic 42.52 Element 7.00--
--Name Rustyala Hoozeyers HP 735/783 MP 338/353 Class Knight
　　　Level 19.
　　　Strength 14.99 Strength 14.12 Skill 8.59 Speed 10.44 Wisdom 14.21 Magic 10.57 Element 4.00--
--Name Diablo Sith HP220/269 MP182/1107 Class Swordsman
　　　Level 18.
　　　Strength 9.19 Strength 7.54 Skill 4.41 Speed 4.62 Wisdom 15.80 Magic 65.26 Elemental 5.00　
--Name Maria HP159/264 MP23/1065 Class None
　　　Level 17.
　　　Strength 9.50 Strength 9.31 Skill 8.00 Speed 4.98 Wisdom 10.23 Magic 58.12 Elemental qualities 4.13--


　In just a few hours, he had advanced to nearly half of his goal, and also acquired a large amount of experience. They had successfully averaged out the levels, and no one had been hurt.
　It was a perfect search.

　Today's search was what I had hoped for in the past, "A search like reaping rice". I have nothing to complain about.

　I have nothing to complain about, but...!

'Well then, thank you for your help. I'll get back to my chores.
I'm going to rest in my room ....... Maria rubs me the wrong way and I'm pretty tired.

　After finishing their work, Maria and Dia disappear into the ship together.
　Their rear view is filled with a sense of accomplishment, as if they had cleared a shooting game.

　Then Rustyala and I are left behind on the deck.
　My body trembles, probably due to the surplus of power I have from the incomplete combustion.

You will need to level up and recover from the ......?

　The first thing that comes out of the opening is that Rustyala starts to confirm his location.

'Bo, I'm useful as a spotters too, and ......!

　If they didn't put it into words, they were going to admit that they were useless.

'But Maria, you were able to search for them too!
'If you say so, then Dear can do sacred magic too!

　For some reason, we were two people who started grinding away at each other where we stood.

　That's how upset we were.
　If it wasn't egotism, I was trying to lead everyone as a leader. Rastiara should have been aware that I was at least a sub-leader.

　However, if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to stand as a leader and sub-leader.
　It would become a piggyback party for girls smaller than me.
　I want to avoid that.

　I'm not complaining that Maria and Dia are strong. I'm not complaining that they are strong, but we can't let this happen.
　Hence, we make a decision.

"--Yo, okay, let's train up!

　I have plenty of strength and MP left. I draw my sword and invite Rastiara to join me.

''Right!　Come on, let's work out!　This is another royal heroic tale!

　Rustyala also responded by drawing his sword.
　Thus, the special training by the two pale men began.


◆◆◆◆◆ ...


It's not the time to dress up and say you're bad at magic. Swords and such are already outdated. After all, sword-fighting heroic tales were just a fairy tale. ......!

　Rastiara clenched her fists and tears streamed down her face as she spoke forcefully.

''Ah, it's magic after all. If you think about it, even in my world's games, relying on dungeon miscellaneous enemies and overall magic was the most efficient. Single-attack and all that is seriously nonsense.
The magic ......!　We can use range magic there too: ......!
Yeah, let's get to work on that!　Rustyala!

　We clap our palms together, confirming our intentions.

'So, what kind of training are you going to do?　I don't really have a plan.
'Hmm. For now, I think it's important to learn some new magic.

　This is the only way to rapidly become stronger.
　If you have an idea, basic magic can become dozens of times more powerful, like my compound magic 'Winter in the Dimension (Di Winter)' and Maria and the others' resonance magic 'Flame Protection Method Shield (Aegis)'.

''But I don't have room to learn new magic, so I guess applied magic will be my main focus.
Or me and Rustyala can learn some resonant magic.
Oh, yeah. Do you want to try it?
But Rastiara can't do dimensional magic, you know.
''Dimensional magic is too minor, and it doesn't even register in my blood. There's a lot of ice-cold magic out there, though: .......
'On the other hand, I'm not much of an ice-cold magician. I only have 'Freeze' and 'Ice'.

　Both of them are keen on resonance magic, but there isn't much magic to match.

'Really, the magic Kanami can use is very sharp: ......
'You couldn't master it, so I don't blame you. ......

　Once, I drank the magic stone of the freezing magic "Little Snow" but nothing changed. Perhaps the only magic I can increase is dimensional magic.

''So, do you want to try different things?''
In the meantime, let's combine some simple freezing magic. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start out by imitating Maria and her friends.

　He started with the ice-cold magic "Ice" and "Freeze" and developed a variety of magic. They tried to mix with each other's magic, but they only succeeded in imitating the precedent of Flame Guardian Flame (Aegis).

　After all, magic relies a lot on image. It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you can get a new job.

I'm not going to be able to get it right.
"-- 'Dimensional Winter' and 'Dimensional Snow' magic.
"Resonant magic, 'Ice Protectorate Ice.'
"Resonant magic, 'Ice Protectorate Ice.'

　An icy ward is stretched across the deck, and 'Dimensional Snow' (Dee Snow) dances on the deck.
　And the icy arrows fired by Rastiara pierce the sky, guided by the path of my refined snow.

　The imitation is a success.
　However, the accuracy and power are too low. I tried to target a moving object, but I couldn't even drop a single flying bird.

...... It's no good. We're missing something fundamental.
'Kanami is inferior to Maria in the accuracy of magic manipulation, and I am inferior to Dia in the power of magic ....... Hmmm, it doesn't work. ......

　There was no point in adding the consumption magic power to increase their numbers.
　Even if he could hit a bird, it wasn't something that would work against monsters from the 30th layer of the labyrinth and beyond.

''It can't be helped. First, let's aim to be able to manipulate our own magic power more finely.''
'It sounds like I should rethink my magic construction too ....... It's not as convergent as Dear, so it's not as powerful .......

　We continue to grunt and groan as we knead our own magic.
　I could clearly see the difference in the same magic we used. As we practice our magic, we figure out how to solve it.

　We build a magical snowman together to play with our hands, have a snowball fight, and continue to worry about it as we get our bodies covered in snow.
　After playing as much as they can, with their cheeks upturned and white breaths exhaled, Rustyala's face lights up.

''Ah.''
What did you have in mind?
'No, I just remembered. It's a rule we use when wizards duel with each other, ......, and this is how we make our positions ......--

　Rustyala uses her feet to draw a line on the ground of snow that has been piled up from too much practice of freezing magic.

''- We're going to enter this line and shoot magic at each other. If you use anything but magic, you lose. If you move, you lose.
Wow, that sounds interesting. It's good training for us.

　I imitate and draw the line.
　I go in and we look at each other.

"Let's try something light, shall we? -- "The Ice Arrow!
Dimensional Winter.

　Deploying Magic Winter, shifting Lastiara's magic construction (...) and fogging it up.

''Mmm, you're still fond of 'magic offsetting' (counter-magic).'''
''It's bad that your magic construction is lax. How can I not aim for 'magic offset' (counter magic) with these rules?
'So, you mean, if it's well constructed, it won't be 'magic offset' (counter-magic)?'
'Yeah, you can't do it if there are no gaps. You should try to keep that in mind.
I see.

　While advising each other, we built up our magic one after another.
　Since we were of equal magical ability, the battle was unexpectedly protracted.

　I have a higher amount of magic power than you. However, a wide variety of magic and experience is written in Rastiara's blood.
　I'm going to use that experience to solidify my magic construction, sometimes changing hands or products to try to slip through the 'magic offset' (counter magic).

　As I thought, Rastiara's battle sense is extraordinary.
　In this short amount of time, he fundamentally overturns his own magic construction. He goes beyond chantlessness to the shortening of his magic construction. You can't be too careful, because he also uses a small technique of changing the magic generation point from hands to feet and hiding the source of the magic well.

　Rastiara deploys magic of other attributes simultaneously in all directions.
　It's difficult to dissipate the magic at first sight with "Dimensional Winter (Di Winter)". In addition, Las Tiara is gradually getting used to being 'magic offset (counter-magic)' and the gap in magic construction is decreasing.

　It must be said that he is outnumbered.
　My advantages don't work at all in a magic competition with my feet stopped.
　I'm going to have to switch to a tactical approach that makes use of my magic power.

''-- 'Midgall's Freeze'!
We've been waiting for you, "Ice Battling Rum"!

　However, that big swing was aimed at.
　The moment to stop 'Magic Offsetting (Counter Magic)' is reckoned with, and Rastiara also moves into a big move.

　Rastiara's giant ice hammer destroys the giant ice snake I refined into pieces.
　The Ice Battling Ram then drove me out of my position with its momentum.

　The wizard's duel was won by Rustyala.

''Oh no. ....... It's quite interesting. It's quite logical and I like it.''

　He approaches Rustyala, brushing the ice from his body.
　Showing off a peace sign, Rustyala speaks with a serious expression on his face, despite his pose.

'It's good practice. If you create even the slightest opening, Kanami will cancel (counter) it, so it was very easy to understand. It also made me realize how messy and useless my magic construction had been up until now.
I also learned a lot from repeating 'counter-magic' and seeing a lot of different magic.

　There's a big difference between offsetting (counter) once and not having done so.
　I'm sure you'll be canceling (countering) a lot of enemy magic in the future. Before that, it might be a good idea to prep with Lastiara's magic.

　We felt a certain refreshing feeling in our empty MPs.

''Phew. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever made an effort to be strong.''
'Me too. I had dimensional magic from the beginning, and because of the leveling up, I didn't have to train for it.
''I've been a master of sword fighting and body arts and all magic from the start. There's no way I'm going to make an effort.

　We laugh at each other, wiping the slightest drips of sweat.

'It's a fresh sensation: ......

　It's a feeling I've never experienced since I came to another world.

'Yeah, it feels good to sweat it out.
Thanks to Dia and Maria. I didn't expect us to be in a hurry because we weren't strong enough.
'Nice, youthful. It's an adventure story!

　To see the results of my training, I check my status.

--Inherent skill: sword arts 4.89 Ice magic 2.58+1.10
　　　Acquired skills: body arts 1.56 dimensional magic 5.25+0.10 sensory perception 3.56 parallel thinking 1.47
　　　　　　　　　　　Knitting 1.07 Deception 1.34 Magical Combat (・・・・) 0.72
　　　?　???
　　　???　????? -- ?

--Inherent Skill: Weapon Combat 2.20 Swordsmanship 2.12 Pseudo-God's Eye 1.00
　　　　　　　　　 　Magical Combat 2.27 Blood Arts 5.00 Sacred Magic 1.03
　　　Acquired skills: reading 0.52 Elemental 1.00 Focused convergence (・・・・) 0.21--

　Both Rastiara and I had mastered one new skill at a time. However, the numbers are still low. It would be like we had a clue.

　My cheeks were smiling as I confirmed our solid progress.
　Rastiara must be seeing an increase in her skills as well. She smiles happily like a girl who has been given new clothes as a gift.

　Naturally, I control my emotions. I'll try not to make her the only one special.
　And with my usual response, I give Rustyala a high-five.

　Rustyala, still in good spirits, asks me, "Hey, Kanami.

''Hey, Kanami. Is there anything else I should be training for?

　I guess I've never gotten anything out of my own efforts before.
　He rubs up against me in an excited manner. I want him to stop because it makes it hard for him to control his emotions.

'Right, and then we can go to .......

　As a result of thinking in "Parallel Thinking", I took out the "Treasured Sword of the Aleiss Family, Rowen" from "Possessions".