Images from the Record of the Peach Blossom Spring unfurled in Takumi's mind:
"Following the stream to its source, he came upon a hill.
The hill had a small opening that seemed to give off light.
He left his boat and entered through the mouth.
At first it was extremely narrow—barely enough for a person.
After walking several dozen paces, it opened up to a broad expanse."
"Go on, and on, and then on again—until you step into Peach Blossom Spring," he murmured. "In the end, it still lies in repeated forward steps, until the road is worn into the shape that's mine. And once the footpath is trodden, you can strike out on a byway and move with well-placed finesse."
Training alongside him, Lili absorbed more than a little from those words as well.
During this session Takumi also felt, in full, how powerful the trait [Immortal] truly was. Lili was Pallum—barely 1.1 meters tall—something he could lift with one hand like a doll. By ordinary reckoning, she would have crumpled from the strain and fainted dead away. Yet she didn't; instead, she showed astonishing adaptability.
"Immortal gives her an immense vigor of life," Takumi noted inwardly. "Her body's regenerative power has spiked—she's nearly at the point of limb regrowth."
Lili had noticed the same and grew bolder by the minute. She even invoked her innate magic Cinder-Ella. With a single turn, she became a cat-eared girl; a mid-air double spin later, she landed as a rabbit-eared girl. If Takumi wanted, she could even shift into a sultry, statuesque big-sister type—truly a "one-woman army."
Even so, Lili preferred to keep herself as the core—only tweaking the exterior. If she changed too far, it wouldn't be her. She wanted Takumi to like her and to remember her devotion.
As Lili's bout drew to a close in defeat, a prompt popped up on Takumi's panel.
[DING! Liliruca's favor reached the threshold; copied trait defeated: Cinder-Ella (Purple)]
"Perfect." The new transformation magic in his mind brought a pleased curve to Takumi's lips.
When the two stepped back out of the Time-Space Realm, Lili's face was chalk-pale, yet she moved without issue. Takumi hadn't even cast Recovery on her, and she was already more or less fine. He hadn't gone all-out, true—but for him, this was a major step forward. Before, he had to keep everything restrained; now, apparently, he didn't.
"Takumi-sama, Lili still has strength. I want to head into the Dungeon!!"
Lili hopped onto his back, arms looped around his neck, wheedling. Every jump just now had felt like the end for her—yet each time, she endured and pushed through. Even she found it uncanny and a little terrifying how capable she was now. She couldn't wait to feel that strength in real combat.
"Okay, okay—we'll make that wish come true." Takumi gave her a fond squeeze at the perky curve of her backside and nodded. After how hard she'd worked, how could he not indulge a small request?
They made straight for the Dungeon, hands empty, and walked down. Taking the lead, Lili met the first monsters with fists and feet.
Bang! Bang!
The shock of her blows rippled the air; goblins and kobolds burst apart into chunks on impact.
"This is Lili's strength~~!!"
Savoring the power coursing in her, Lili quickened her pace again. They kept descending while she charged and smashed the path clear. Takumi noticed something amusing—monsters killed by Lili also counted toward his own tallies. At bottom, it was because with the chess piece fused into her, she was—at some level—an extension of his power.
[DING! Randomly looted traits: Hardened Carapace (Green), Toxic Scale Dust (Green) …]
"All junk." The steady drip of terms couldn't stir him; few had any value to him. They were spun from monster traits, which meant extra materials if he integrated them—more downside than upside for Takumi. Early-floor mobs simply weren't strong and didn't yield anything worthwhile.
Not until they reached the Tenth Floor did Lili feel even a hint of pressure. Monsters poured out in swarms—far too many for comfort. Boar-headed, man-bodied orcs nearly three meters tall; imps with craftier wits than goblins; Bad Bats whose sonic shrieks scrambled minds from the air. In numbers, they were nasty. For a lone Lv.2 adventurer, it could be lethal.
"Here they come, here they come!"
Fear never touched Lili's face. She finally stopped trading blows up close and instead called on her innate magic.
"[Cinder-Ella—Fox Form]!"
Light shimmered over her; a pair of adorable fox ears sprouted at her crown, and a fox tail unfurled behind.
"Guren Flame!"
She gathered mana and raised both arms; three clots of crimson fire bloomed before her. At her thought, the three flames streaked away and plunged into the massed monsters.
Boom!!
Each fireball erupted, layering the corridors with wave upon wave of flame. The rampaging blaze didn't match Takumi's Ultimate Flame, but it was more than enough to incinerate this lot.
[DING! Randomly looted traits: Mighty Strength (Green), Hale and Hearty (White), Cunning (White), Echolocation (Green)]
[Echolocation (Green): You can emit sound waves and use their echoes to determine the position of objects.]
"…Marginally useful, but not much." Takumi muttered, though he still integrated a few. His Beast-King's Power already covered abilities like Echolocation, so one more or less scarcely mattered. For now, he treated the flood like a scrap-heap.
They pressed downward faster than before. In Fox Form, Lili's power had soared; even against upper-tier demons, she could now take a swing. In short order, they stepped into the Eighteenth Floor's safe zone—the Under-Resort.
Standing there, Lili's cheeks still bore a lingering flush of excitement. "Mm~ what a pity. The Floor Boss on Seventeenth was already taken down."
"Loki Familia just returned from expedition; of course they wouldn't leave it up," Takumi said. "All right, you've had your fun—time for me to update your Falna and see if we can stabilize you at upper tier."
"Mhm~ whatever you say, Takumi-sama."
Perfectly docile, Lili nodded, eyes shining with adoration. With the Divine-Envoy chess piece fused into her, she was—when you came right down to it—his child. Takumi was her god now; only if he performed the update could Lili take the next step up.
They both stood and took in the Under-Resort, wonder writ plain across their faces. A vast underground world of crystalline groves and living nature, it was dazzling to behold. A few days ago, Lili would never have believed she could set foot here.
....
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