The return of the Loki Familia became the talking point of the city of Orario.
Nearly every passerby stopped to stare at the familia marching their way back home, uplifting the mood of the crowd.
Children and young people who aspired to become adventurers couldn't help but cast admiring looks toward them.
Of course, to the members of the Loki Familia, such looks directed toward them were nothing new.
Those with more reserved personalities didn't pay it any mind, but for the more prideful ones, they couldn't help but puff their chests with smug smiles, feeling proud to be part of such a legendary faction.
For Judas Spade... it would be a lie to say he wasn't looking forward to their first meeting.
'The personalities of the characters I've met so far seem no different from the ones I remember from the show.'
Although Belle was definitely different, her core personality remained the same.
'They might be a rowdy bunch, but I think I can get along with them... well, except for Bete, I think.'
That was what he thought.
This line of reasoning was the basis for his expectations.
...
"A match between our new prodigious rookie and our Sword Princess? This will be exciting!"
"Go Ais! Teach this rookie a lesson!"
"With this, let's see what this new Record Holder is made of!"
"Be careful, rookie. If you don't want to get hurt badly, you can call the match off anytime you want."
"My money's on Miss Ais."
"Me too."
"Me three."
"How much money are we betting? I'm betting on Miss Ais, by the way!"
"Wait! This isn't even a bet if all of us put our money on Miss Ais!"
The lower-class members were clamoring loudly among themselves, causing a commotion.
"If that's the case, then I'll put all of my life savings on Judas."
It was Ren who spoke, dropping a large sack of valis on the betting table.
Seeing this, the crowd slowly turned to Ren with wide eyes, looking at him like he was insane.
"Ren? Are you out of your mind?"
A bearded man... one of Ren's friends... exclaimed in shock.
"Heh... I'm perfectly sane. I just think Judas will win, that's all."
Ren chuckled, his gaze drifting from left to right, taking in all the confused expressions of the people around him.
"Then don't cry when you lose all your money, because I'm not taking pity on you."
His friend patted him on the back.
"Look at everyone... it's so lively around here."
Loki said, overlooking the situation with a sly smirk.
"I'm surprised you guys aren't putting a stop to this... especially you, Riveria."
The goddess added as she turned to the three most senior members of her familia.
"Haha... I guess we're also curious about this kid that everyone's been hyping up so much."
Gareth replied with a hearty laugh, to which Finn nodded in agreement.
Riveria remained silent, her gaze fixed on the two figures standing in the middle of the training grounds.
'That aura... why do I feel a subtle resonance of nature coming from that boy?'
Rather than Ais, her eyes were mostly on Judas.
Her senses as a high elf had been stirred the moment she laid eyes on him.
Seeing this, Loki... who already had an inkling of what was going on.... snickered to herself.
'I never thought it would come to this on our first meeting.'
Judas didn't expect it... for the Sword Princess, the main heroine of the anime itself, to be standing across from him in the training ground, asking him for a sparring match.
'How did I get here?'
Judas blinked when Ais drew the scabbard of her sword, eyes locked on him.
...
Let us rewind time a little bit.
Some time before the Loki Familia arrived...
In the same training grounds, after a few hours of sitting in lotus position, Judas exhaled a breath rich with mana.
'I've completely exhausted the mana stored in the magic circle I set up... and the mana in the environment.'
Thinking this, he stood up.
Since there was no point in continuing, he might as well wait for the magic circle to gather more mana before starting again.
He closed his eyes and looked inward, at the mana core in his chest.
'It looks much better compared to two weeks ago... back when it looked like it would collapse at any moment.'
Wiping off the sweat with a towel, he grabbed a bottle of water and took a drink.
'Hmm... if I had to give it a percentage... I'd say the progress I've made in repairing my mana core has reached about twenty percent.'
He calculated silently.
'Now then... about that thing I wanted to do... I think it's time to give it a try.'
Now that he had some free time, Judas wanted to conduct some experiments.
He grabbed a few cheap metal armors and weapons from the armory and lined them up in front of him.
"Alright... let's get started."
He cracked his knuckles, then stretched out his hand and opened his palm.
A burst of light... starting from small particles that grew into shining orbs... coalesced together, weaving and forming a distinct shape made of light.
"I don't really dabble much in Runecraft, so I'm a little rusty."
Judas muttered, his eyes reflecting the glowing symbol hovering above his palm.
The pulsating construct before him was a rune... a magical language or symbolic system used to channel, store, or manipulate magical energy.
Runes often function as written words of power.
Each rune represents a concept, force, or element... like fire, wind, life, or protection.
Instead of magic circles, some mages preferred to use runes.
Runes could also be inscribed on weapons, armor, or accessories to imbue them with magical effects.
In Celestia, mages were divided into different disciplines:
Battle Mage.
Support Mage.
Necromancer.
Enchanter.
Magic Item Craftsman.
Curse Mage.
Summoner.
Alchemist.
Estelon was mainly classified as a battle-oriented mage.
Following him, Judas was the same.
Technically, the study of runes was mostly associated with Enchanters and Magic Item Craftsmen.
Judas stared at the rune for a few moments, then shifted his gaze toward the gear and equipment laid out on the ground.
His intention was clear.
"The Rune of Aegis."
"If I manage to inscribe this rune onto this chestplate, it should be able to grant extra magical protection... just like that protection enchantment from Minecraft or something like that."
"Here we go."
He carefully commanded the rune to move, guiding it above the metal chestplate in front of him.
"Slowly..."
With sweat trickling down his chin, Judas took a deep breath and clenched his fist.
The floating character of light pulsed brightly and sank into the armor.
"I did it!"
As the rune imprinted itself onto the armor's surface, the chestplate began to glow.
Judas celebrated—
But despite his careful control, the rune reacted violently.
"Huh?"
His eyes widened as the chestplate suddenly floated in the air, like it was possessed.
The sound of cracking metal filled his ears... the armor simply couldn't handle the strain and started shattering like glass.
'Shit... the rune must've overloaded the material with too much magic power.'
Judas cursed under his breath and hurled the chestplate into the sky.
A loud explosion resounded, creating a cloud of smoke above the manor.
Staring up at the smoke, Judas' ears caught hurried footsteps approaching.
"An attack?"
"What just happened?"
"What's going on here?"
When he turned around, he finally saw them—
The Loki Familia.
The first encounter started with a blast... literally.
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