Leaves rustled with a soft sususu sound. A flock of birds suddenly took flight and streamed off into the distance, vanishing before long into the deep blue sky.
Anya wore an expression that was strangely professional and serious. It was like she wasn't just familiar with Dungeon expeditions—she was even more practiced at mock battles with other adventurers.
She stood still.
Then, from within her pure white apron, she produced a small bell and tied it to the waist of her dark green tavern skirt.
"As long as Evan can touch this and make it ring, that counts as a win, nya!"
Evan felt an odd sense of déjà vu and thought, Is this a reference to something…?
On top of that—
She took out a wooden practice spear. The tip was wrapped in cloth to minimize injury, and using herself as the center, she drew a circle on the ground about one meter in diameter.
"Nya can't leave this area either, nya."
Those were restrictions Anya put on herself.
Otherwise, this training wouldn't even be meaningful. Between adventurers, the suppression of level difference was absolute—nothing like the rare cases of defeating stronger monsters across a level gap.
"Let's start, nya!"
"Alright!"
The Shinobi Prosthetic on Evan's left arm fired its grappling hook in an instant, yanking his body up into the trees. He disappeared into the dense leaves almost immediately.
"Nya?"
Anya looked confused for a split second.
But the next moment, shuriken fell from all directions like black ink rain.
"Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang—!"
Anya whirled her wooden spear into an airtight shield, knocking every shuriken aside. At the same time, her slightly drooping cat ears snapped upright. She spun and raised the spear, blocking Evan's surprise attack as he dropped from above!
CRACK!
Wood chips exploded into the air.
Evan gripped his blade with both hands and slashed relentlessly at the girl in front of him—perhaps thanks to the "Sword Saint Secret Art" skill granted by the [Reed Country] character card.
In a haze, he could see "afterimages" of what Anya would do next with her spear.
Defense or attack—
Every possible move she might make flashed through his mind in an instant.
His body reacted on instinct… and Evan quickly realized his mind couldn't keep up with his body's speed!
This was the post-level-up lack of coordination caused by his sudden increase in power!!
The "vessel's" ascension didn't just reset his ability values so he could earn them again.
It also massively strengthened every function of his body.
That was why level gaps between adventurers were so brutal. Even a veteran Lv.1 with A- or S-rank stats would still be easily defeated by a completely average Lv.2 whose stats might only be E or even F.
What Evan was experiencing right now was—
His sword swings were several times faster than before. His thoughts couldn't catch up to his motions, creating this frantic sensation where his mind had to chase after his body.
Then… I'll rely on instinct!
Evan abandoned thinking and simply let his body "move on its own."
That was clearly a good idea.
The sticky sluggishness between techniques vanished. In practical terms, his sword-light became even faster.
But it still wasn't enough—still not enough!
Anya was only defending, yet Evan still couldn't break through her spear's perimeter.
And as time went on, he began to notice something clearly: there were plenty of holes in her "technique."
She was relying purely on speed and reflexes to intercept his slashes—nothing more.
That was a common flaw among most adventurers.
They depended on raw power instead of combat skill. In fights against monsters, they also tended to rely on backline mages with overwhelming firepower to kill the enemy, rather than personally engaging, probing for weaknesses, and finishing the target.
If that was the case…
During a gap between swings, Evan reached his left hand toward a nearby tree. With a sharp click of a spring-loaded mechanism, the Shinobi Prosthetic fired its grappling hook again, yanking him into the forest and away from where he'd been standing.
"!"
Anya was already prepared for Evan's sudden disappearance this time.
A few more shuriken came flying—yet using the grappling hook's speed, Anya only had time to see the rope streak past her, and then Evan was dragged in a blink right up to her.
In that instant—
Evan cut the rope himself.
Anya hurriedly swept her spear, batting away the incoming shuriken again, then tried to block the blade coming down from Evan's other side.
But this time was different, because as Evan swung—
The Shinobi Prosthetic on his left arm shifted and transformed into a hand axe!
Besides the basic grappling hook, the Shinobi Prosthetic had ten completely different "shinobi tools." The shuriken Evan had been firing were one of them.
And the mechanism axe he used now was the second.
Don't ask why this rough, brutal-looking thing—basically iron plates, bone, and hemp rope—could hide ten different tools and transform between them at will.
The answer was "skill power." Quantum mechanics.
Evan had tested it when he leveled up yesterday: it couldn't be damaged at all. But when it was on his left arm, it offered no protection either—if a weapon struck it, his arm would still be injured, as if the thing didn't exist.
Ridiculous.
But putting that aside—
Right now, Evan's mechanism axe followed right behind his right-hand slash.
His goal—
Was to chop Anya's wooden spear in half!
Once she lost her weapon, the catgirl's combat power would naturally drop sharply.
Of course, if she were using that golden, ornate spear that clearly wasn't ordinary, Evan wouldn't dare try this tactic.
But she was using a wooden spear right now.
Adapt to the situation.
Anya realized what he was aiming for—so she did something insane.
She let go of her weapon with both hands and allowed it to fall to the ground—
Then turned, twisted her waist, and kicked at him.
A stroke of genius!
Was this really Anya?!
Evan barely managed to cross his arms and block the kick—then his whole body flew away in an instant. He smashed through several trees before finally stopping amid a mess of splintered wood.
"Evan, are you okay, nya?!"
Anya's voice carried over from far away.
"I'm fine."
Evan stood up and took a sip from his healing gourd, instantly restoring his condition to full.
After leveling up, the healing gourd could be used four times per day, and his daily revives had increased to two.
So this was nothing.
Again. Again.
Evan was brimming with excitement—just as he thought, clashing with the strong always made his blood burn and his head heat up…
…
Meanwhile, in Orario—
Cecil and Lefiya were driving a carriage around the city delivering vegetables. From afar, they could already see the Hostess of Fertility tavern. And farther ahead still was the central plaza, and Babel Tower stabbing straight into the sky.
The elf girl subconsciously lifted her gaze, as if trying to find something at its top.
Rumor had it that Freya—the goddess of the city's strongest familia—often stood at the very top of Babel Tower, looking out over the labyrinth city. A privilege only a familia that had reached the very peak of Orario could enjoy.
"By the way, Cecil… do you know what familia Miss Anya belongs to?"
"I don't."
The two girls chatted as they always did.
Lefiya was clearly curious. After several trips into the Dungeon together—during which that idiot kitty would show up every Monday on her day off, shouting that she wanted to take Lefiya out to play—Lefiya had come to fully recognize just how powerful Anya really was.
If Anya still had a blessing, that meant she had to be a member of some familia.
So which familia was it?
Mia, the tavern's "Mama," wasn't a goddess.
Cecil was curious too, because learning that Anya was actually strong had been genuinely shocking to her.
Especially when she thought about it—
The Hostess of Fertility had been operating in the city for five or six years already. And Anya had bragged that she was part of the very first batch of employees—an old-timer senior!
But if you worked as a tavern waitress, you probably wouldn't be going into the Dungeon to adventure, right?
Which meant…
Anya had already been a Lv.4 adventurer five or six years ago?!
She was only seventeen, wasn't she…?
If you did the math, that meant she'd already been Lv.4 at eleven or twelve years old?
How old had she been when she joined a familia and became an adventurer?
The more Cecil thought about it, the more unbelievable it felt.
And she couldn't help thinking—
Could it be that this idiot cat… was actually a genius after all?!
-------
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