Chapter 15: Amazoness’s Resolve

  This is a dream.

  Many years seemed to have passed since the swordsman was made commander; and many things had happened since then.

  After his battle that saved the fort from colpse, a lot more warriors had signed up to be part of his forces; many of which were big fans of his who had heard of the battle from the bards with several of them even pleading to be his squire.

  They were even calling him the second coming Minos, the legendary general from the tales of Argonaut.

  That increased the fort’s numbers at least twice over, allowing the swordsman to better allocate more breaks from the frontlines, which in turn greatly increased the morale of his troops. Though that also led to him having to hire more support staff to provide for them all; thankfully, their budget had increased in accordance as well.

  Among those warriors were people that were also blessed with spirits like him, skilled and powerful fighters possessing weapons like Indra that had also made names of their own.

  He made them leaders of their own ptoons, which became known as his Spirit Brigades, much to his embarrassment.

  With them along with the drastic increase in manpower, he had been able to push the monsters back to the Hole further than ever before and formed an even stronger front against the monsters.

  And with that recimed nd, they managed to expand the fort’s boundaries further, turning it into a fortress worthy of being humanity’s st line of defense.

  The swordsman’s legend was on its way of carving itself into the annals of history.

  “The bright light that…!”

  An inaudible cry escaped Tetra’s lips as she was once again interrupted in her chanting by Jeanne’s spear; the young amazoness twisting her body to avoid said weapon while attempting to hold the Mind she had managed to build up.

  An attempt that was somewhat successful as she continued her chant into the next verse, surprising the elf of her speedy progress.

  ‘She really is learning very fast…!’

  It had been about six days since Tetra had begun her lessons with Jeanne on concurrent chanting, and six days of constant failure to do so.

  Time and time again, the young amazoness had her chant cut off and allowed the Mind she built up to dissipate by the elf’s spear, with either it smming into her body or a st-minute dodge. Amazingly, she had not caused an ignis fatuus in any of her attempts.

  Regardless of the many failed attempts, Jeanne had noted that Tetra had improved leaps and bounds from when she had first started; she was now able to get through most of the chant before failing, which was way better than when she first started.

  Of course, there was that one misfire when she forgot to channel her Mind, but it hadn’t happened again.

  “Be burnt to ashes and returned to dust; be judged by the fming skies.”

  Tetra channeled her Mind while her spell began to manifest up on the tip of her staff as she successfully completed two-thirds of her chant, all the while she was dodging the swift spear strikes.

  “Fear it! For it will be–GAH!!”

  Unfortunately for her, she was unable to detect the sudden change in Jeanne’s movements which led her spear to swing into her side hard, forcing air out of her lungs and interrupting her chant once more.

  And with how much Mind she had built up so far, an ignis fatuss was inevitable.

  “GAHHH!!”

  An explosion erupted from within the young amazoness as she let out a loud, pain-filled cry, sending the elf flying with its aftershock; Jeanne barely managed to readjust herself in the air before nding on her feet with a soft thud.

  When the smoke cleared, Tetra stood at the epicenter of the crater caused by it, covered in soot with smoke coming out of her mouth as she fell face first onto the floor.

  “T-Tetra!!” Jeanne quickly ran up to Tetra and poured several potions onto her, the amazoness’s burnt skin slowly returning back to its tanned state.

  “Owww…” Tetra letting out a pained groan, “It hurts so much… ignis fatuus suuuucks…”

  “…Indeed, it does.” Jeanne let out a sigh, “Do you feel alright?”

  “Y-Yeah… I think so…”

  Despite the assuring words Tetra gave her, her shaking knees when she struggled back up on her feet told a different story.

  An ignis fatuus was a literal explosion of magical energy from within the caster’s body, which often was enough to incapacitate most mages especially when the spell that backfired was a powerful one.

  In all honesty, Tetra shouldn’t be able to move at all let alone stand; no doubt perks from her amazoness physique.

  “Let’s continue—”

  “No, we’re done for today.”

  “H-Huh!? Already!? But I can still go on!!”

  “In case you have forgotten, we have an expedition tomorrow.” Jeane told her, “Not to mention you have just experienced an ignis fatuus; I can’t have you colpse during the march.”

  The pn was for the expedition team to make a rush towards the eighteenth floor as fast as they could to avoid an encounter with the Goliath; their objective was the Lower Floors, so it would be best if they could conserve their strength for it.

  That was especially true for Tetra, considering her age in retive to the rest of the expedition team.

  “But I’m so close to doing it! Just once more! Please!”

  “No, Tetra. We’re heading up.”

  “Mmhh…”

  The young amazoness’s cute pout nearly made the elf want to change her mind, but she steadied herself to be firm with her.

  “Hey, there is no need to rush this. We’ll have plenty of time to continue after the expedition.”

  “…Fine…”

  Seemingly accepting her reasoning, Tetra followed the elf back up to the surface; all the while grumbling under her breath.

  Little did Jeanne know, an ingenious pn was already forming in the young amazoness’s head, one that she was already thinking of executing real soon.

  ‘No way I’m stopping now, not when I’m so close…!’

  Those were the thoughts going through the head of Tetra as she snuck out of her room te in the evening; her legs dangling upon the makeshift rope she had made.

  This was her ingenious pn, sneaking out of her room into the Dungeon to practice concurrent chanting.

  After making sure the members of her Familia were busy with the expedition’s preparations, she snuck out a few potions before excusing herself to her room, where she stored in a small bag which she then secured around her waist along with her staff.

  She then proceeded to climb out via the window with a rope made from bnkets and bed covers, and slowly and clumsily descended down from her room at the manor’s third floor towards the courtyard.

  When her bare feet touched the grass, she made sure to duck under the windows as she slowly and quietly made her way towards the main gate—

  “And where do you think you’re going?”

  “Geh!?!?”

  And into the st person she ever wanted to run into, Drake giving her the death gre as he leaned against the gate with arms crossed.

  “Err… I… wanted to go for a walk.” Tetra told him with as much of a straight face as she could muster.

  “At this hour? With your staff?”

  “I-It’s for—”

  “Tetra, you literally snuck out of your room.”

  Each me excuse only made him frown more and more, the young amazoness trying very hard to not flinch under his sharp gre, and failing very badly.

  “…I was heading for the Dungeon…”

  “Hah…” A loud sigh escaped Drake’s mouth, “You do realize that we have an important expedition tomorrow, right?”

  “I know, but—”

  “But nothing; go back inside. Now.”

  Tetra let out a grumble as she turned around and began walking back towards the manor.

  And then she swerved around and made a mad dash straight at Drake as fast as she could.

  "Wha—"

  "Sorry!!"

  "GUH!?"

  Before the older man could react, Tetra had stabbed her staff and smmed the metal skull into his family jewels as hard as she could; Lisa had taught her to aim for that when dealing with men, that it would topple even the ones ten times her size.

  And did it topple Drake, as the pain caused by her sneak attack was way worst than all the monsters he had ever faced in his entire career, forcing him to keel over into a fetal position on the ground.

  “Te…Tetra… you… little…!!”

  “I’m really sorry!!”

  With a quick apology, Tetra quickly dashed out into the streets and made her way towards the Babel Tower.

  “And this should be all of it.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jeanne did a sweep over the papers he had given her, the invoice for all the money they had burnt for the expedition tomorrow; one that had her sighing in annoyance.

  “We really overdid it in the preparations…” She pointed out.

  “I have no excuses…” Garos answered with his head down in shame.

  Given the nature of the floors they were aiming towards, they had binged a bit in the preparation front, in hopes that they wouldn’t have a repeat of what happened months prior.

  That was especially true on the equipment side, with them stocking up on more than enough arrows for Drake to use that they would need another bag to store it all; he was literally their only long ranged fighter other than Tetra, Dae and herself.

  Contrary to their initial estimate, they had gone way over the budget and their coffers were in the red.

  “Hey, we can also earn the money back from the expedition.” Jirou told her.

  “I don’t want to hear that from the one responsible for our current financial situation.”

  “Geh.”

  Jirou had gone out of his way to request water resistant equipment from Otto, which was what truly pushed them into the red; mostly battle cloth for the frontlines like himself, Kyumaru and Jeanne.

  It didn’t help that he had also asked him to come along with them as an additional member, mostly to help better maintain their weapons.

  The bcksmith agreeing on a few conditions, one of them was that he would get paid with a fraction of their earnings when they returned, along with a percentage of all Drop Items gained during the expedition.

  “W-Well, better to be overprepared than underprepared, right?”

  “…I guess that’s true…” Jeanne reluctantly agreed much to the relief of Jirou.

  “We will need to increase the loot we can take if we were to at the least break even.” Garos pointed out, “We probably need to focus on money making for the next month or so.”

  “Eh, we can worry about that after the expedition.” Jirou told him.

  “Agreed; for now, let’s review our battle pns one more time.” Jeanne noted as she pulled out several chess pieces from her desk drawers, “Garos, have you come up with the new formations?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  Aside from the aquatic monsters, the Water Capital was also home to several avian monsters like the sirens and harpies, as well as the infamous iguazu that literally everyone was wary of.

  And that was not including the fact that the entire area was filled with canals and rivers that all lead to a giant waterfall that span three whole floors; one misstep could lead to an early watery grave.

  As such, along with their usual aggressive tactics would not be optimal for that stretch of the Dungeon, Garos suggested they also went for a more defensive formation, switching between the two depending on the situation.

  “For our first formation, Jeanne, Jirou and Kyumaru will take the front.” Garos noted as he arranged the pieces, “I and Lisa will take up defensive positions at the center, and Drake, Dae and Tetra will bring up the rear with Otto.”

  “So, our usual go-to formation.” Jirou noted, “And the other one?”

  “I was thinking something like this.” The vice-captain moved the pieces into different positions, “Drake, Tetra, Jeanne and Otto will be the center while I and Jirou will be at the front, and the rest will be at the rear.”

  “You want me to be in the center of this formation?”

  “Magic will be the main focus on this formation.” Garos expined to the elf, “You and Tetra will chant your magic while the rest of us defend you from the monsters.”

  “Simple, but effective.” Jeanne nodded, “But my magic might destroy the magic stones as well; best if we save this formation for when we are in a dangerous situation “

  “Got it.”

  After a few more minutes of review and discussions, Garos left the office back to his room to rest up.

  “Speaking of magic, how are your lessons with Tetra going?” Jirou asked, “You’re currently teaching her concurrent chanting, right?”

  “Pretty well, all things considered.” The elf told him, “She has managed to do better than me with it; she might have a real talent for magic after all.”

  “Well, she did get that insane spell from the get-go; can’t get a clearer sign then that.”

  Most Adventurers hardly ever gain any magic spells in their entire career, even a few exceptions even getting the Mage Development Ability when they reached Level 2 if at all.

  The fact that a child was able to get one as powerful as Tetra’s came as quite a shock, especially considering that she was an amazoness, a race more known for their physical prowess than anything else.

  “So, did she managed to do it?”

  “She was close, but ended up causing an ignis fatuus at the very st moment.”

  Jirou winced at that, “Yikes, that must have hurt.”

  “Indeed, it did.” Jeanne nodded, “Though it didn’t seem to deter her much, she was bouncing back up to try again.”

  “Which you didn’t let her.”

  “With the expedition coming up? No way.”

  “And I take it she didn’t like that decision.”

  The elf let out a sigh in response which caused a chuckle from Jirou, “It’s not that I don’t understand why, but getting too impatient is the number one cause of deaths in the Dungeon.”

  “I agree with you there.” He nodded, “But you can’t really bme her; what with how much Emma and Tris have been improving as of te.”

  “Yes, I’m aware. I’m only hope she didn’t do anything reckless because of it.”

  As if on que, the door to the office sprang opened and Lisa entered with Drake over her shoulders, his face pale with his knees bent inwards.

  “What’s up with him?” Jirou asked.

  “That’s what we’re here to tell you.” The pallum told him as she let Drake down on the couch which seemed to agitate him even more.

  “Gah! Oh, that little…” He mumbled under breath before telling them, “Tetra just snuck out on her own moments ago.”

  “WHAT!?” Jeanne immediately stood up from her desk, “And you didn’t stop her!?”

  “I tried to, but…”

  Lisa let out a cough with red cheeks, “…Tetra got him in the balls…”

  “Pft!!”

  “Jirou!”

  “What, that’s hirious!!” He ughed, “And impressive, managing to nd a solid hit on Drake like that!”

  “Gd to see that you are enjoying my pain…” Drake groaned out.

  “Any idea where she’s going!?” The elf asked, a bad feeling beginning to rise up from within.

  “She said she’s heading for the Dungeon–”

  “Shit!!” A curse left her lips as she made a mad dash to the door, “We need to go after her! Woah!

  Just as Jeanne was about to leave the office, she was stopped by Hecate stepping right in front of her with a knowing smile on her face and in a dramatic pose.

  “Lady Hecate, please move aside!” The elf told her patron goddess, “I have to–”

  “Rex, Jeanne.” The goddess told her, shifting to another pose, “For you see, I have already tasked Kyumaru with following her.”

  “Wait, you already knew!?”

  “It’s hard not to notice her climbing down on bnkets and bedsheets.”

  “Then why didn’t you stop her!?”

  “Because!” Hecate spun around and struck yet another pose with her hand pointing up, “The stars had predicted she would sneak out today!”

  “Urgh! I have no time for this!”

  Jeanne let out a frustrated cry as she tried to get around Hecate, only for her to block her way at every turn.

  “Lady Hecate, please!” The elf shouted, “I need to get to Tetra before–”

  “If you go now, you will only stifle her growth.”

  Those words hit her like a stone brick, stunning her silent goddess continued, “As I had said, the stars had predicted her actions today, and that she will undergo a trial that will be of great influence to her path forward.”

  “But Tetra’s just–”

  “Young she may be, but she is also a seasoned Adventurer like you, like everyone in this room. She has gone through many battles and has grown from them, and will do so again today.”

  “Still, she’s…!”

  Dropping her act, the goddess of witchcraft pced her hand on the elf’s shoulder, giving her an assuring squeeze, “Jeanne, I’ve told you years before; Tetra is destined for great things, none of which can be achieved unless you stay put.”

  “…But what if she can’t handle the trial before her?” Jeanne asked as she pced her hand on her goddess’s hand, “What if she failed?”

  “Why else would I tasked Kyumaru with following her?”

  “…I see…Hah, fine; you win.” Jeanne let out a sigh, “I’ll wait; but if she is not back by nightfall, I’m heading out.”

  “That you will.” Hecate nodded with a smile, “But it will not be necessary. For I am confident that she will overcome this trial, and inch ever so closer to her destiny!”

  Upon reaching the Tower, Tetra immediately descended down into the Dungeon’s Upper Floors and began searching for monsters to help in her training.

  Lower and lower, she kept up her pace until she reached the fifth floor, where the monsters she had in mind was located.

  ‘Frog shooters will do… dodging their tongues is simir to Jeanne as her spear, and I can kill them on my own no problem…’

  “Kero.”

  “Ah.”

  It didn’t take long for her to find the monsters she was looking for as she immediately ran into a couple of them when she turned a corner, their lone eyes locking eyes with her and immediately unched their slimy tongues at her.

  Tetra barely managed to avoid their gross appendages as she quickly backpedaled back the way she came, the frog shooters immediately came hopping after her.

  ‘Wait, what am I doing…!? This is just what I was looking for…!’

  The narrow corridor they were in limited the Frog Shooters in their options on how to attack her, not that they had many options aside from their tongue and big size; not only that, but they were also only a couple of them.

  This situation was perfect for her purposes.

  With that settled in her mind, she stopped and turned around to face them and began chanting her spell. The frog monsters responded to her actions in kind with their tongues that shot out of their mouths like speeding arrows.

  However, the slimy appendages were not all that fast or threatening, especially when compared to the speeds Jeanne’s attacks were, which allowed her to easily dodge them.

  Though if they were more disgusting to get hit by, which Tetra experienced first hand when she got hit in her exposed stomach by one from a misstep; the feeling sending shivers down her spine that got her to immediately knock the tongue off her.

  Tetra dodged the attacks while words of her spell’s chant left her lips, her feet shifting in quick steps in a somewhat awkward one-man waltz as she slowly and steadily built up her Mind.

  “Be burnt to ashes and returned to dust; be judged by the fming skies.”

  Two-thirds of the way into her chant and she had yet to be interrupted by any of the monsters’ attacks, which boosted her moral even more.

  ‘This is it! I am going to do it this time!!’

  But just as that thought crossed her mind…

  *Crack* “Greeuh!!”

  The wall next to her cracked opened, revealing the bck featureless face of a War Shadow that burst out towards the chanting amazoness, its sharp cws swiping down at her head.

  Tetra quickly twisted her head which allowed her to avoid getting a fatal injury, the monster’s cws leaving a shallow cut on her cheek as she quickly backpedalled away from the monster; all the while she barely keeping her chant going.

  ‘That was close…! To think a War Shadow would appear…. But if it is just one…’

  As if hearing her thoughts, more cracks soon appeared which half a dozen more War Shadows soon climbing out of.

  Adding the two Frog Shooters, Tetra found herself facing ten strong monsters at once; the realization nearly made her stop her chanting at the sheer terror of her current situation.

  ‘This… this is bad… no, I must not think like that! I’m almost done with my chant, so if I can hold on for a few more seconds…!’

  But those optimistic thoughts were dashed as all the monsters attacked her as one, the tongues of the two Frog Shooters shooting past the War Shadows like arrows.

  Tetra quickly avoided the slimy appendages, and barely twisting her body to avoid the strikes from the cws from multiple dark humanoid monsters.

  That was followed up by more War Shadows swiping their cws at her that the young amazoness avoiding to the best of her abilities.

  “Fear… it…! For it… will… be…!”

  She struggled to keep up her chant against their unrelenting attacks. But even so she kept at it, especially when she was down to its st line.

  She was not going to give it up just yet!

  “The ground will–Guh!?”

  “Kero!”

  But in her hastiness to complete her spell, she misread the Frog Shooter’s tongue’s trajectory and allowed it to sm into her gut hard, forcing her to a stop in both her chant and feet.

  ‘Shit! At this rate, an ignis fatuus will…!’

  One of the War Shadows took notice of her plight and immediately leaped at her, cocking its arm back before stabbing its cws right at her.

  And with her struggling to keep her mind from imploding, Tetra could not dodge it.

  “Grgk!!”

  The sharp cws pierced into her shoulder barely above her colrbone, blood spurting out of her wound like a leaking pipe.

  On que, the rest of the War Shadows jumped at her as well, all prepared to end Tetra’s life right then and there.

  “…will… be… scorched… and reborn…!

  But through the pain, the young amazoness finished the st words of her chant, eyes abze as she aimed her staff at the War Shadows in front of her.

  No doubt sensing the danger, the War Shadow that hurt her tried to move out of the way.

  But it was no use.

  “Ignitis Lumine!!”

  With a scream, Tetra unleashed her spell at them, balls of fire trailing through the air and destroying every monster in that corridor, engulfing every one of them in explosions of fmes.

  The bombardment went on for a minute or so and left no trace of its victims in its wake, be it Drop Items or Magic Stones; it was a complete eradication.

  When it was clear that no monster survived, Tetra dropped to her knees in exhaustion and relief, having burnt through most of her Mind in that one spell.

  “I…I did it…! Ha…hahaha…! I did it…!”

  It however did not dampen the joy of having successfully concurrently cast her spell for the first time.

  ‘Finally… I finally performed concurrent chanting successfully…! With this… I will not be a dead weight to them anymore…!’

  That was the real reason behind her desire for strength.

  Ever since that incident months prior, the image of Drake lying in the pool of his own blood had forever ingrained into her mind, and made aware of how weak and powerless she was.

  Of how much she was holding everyone back with her weakness.

  It was why she tried to push away from Drake, tried to get stronger and better with her magic.

  But while Dae, Tris, and even Emma got more powerful and stronger, she was barely making any progress; it was making her ever the more anxious.

  That was when her patron goddess paid her a visit one night.

  Hecate had pointed out that she was looking at this the wrong way, that she shouldn’t try to compare herself to her fellow rookies.

  For she was a mage, not a fighter like them.

  “It’s like comparing the deliciousness of sweet and savoury!” The goddess had told her, “Your strengths are ultimately different to theirs! As so is your path to getting stronger!”

  It was here that she suggested that instead of increasing the strength and speed of her spell casting, she should try to find new ways of casting.

  And thus, she went and asked Jeanne to teach her concurrent chanting, and now she succeeded in performing it.

  “Now, to keep practicing until I can–”

  “GRAH!!”

  From within the clouds of dirt, a dark figure shot out towards Tetra, the War Shadow’s cws clearly aiming for her head for a fatal blow.

  And in her weakened and injured state, she could not avoid it.

  “Hrmph!!”

  “Gregk!?”

  Moments before it could reach her, a bde of an eastern sword flew past the young amazoness’s head and pierced the monster’s face, its one and only physical weak point that instantly killed it and turned it into ash.

  Tetra’s eyes followed the bde to its owner, Kyumaru wordlessly withdrew his bde and sheathed it; his sharp eyes met hers that caused her to flinch.

  His hand reached into his robes and took out a potion, “Here. For you shoulder.”

  “Oh. Uh… thanks, but I have my own.” She hesitantly voiced out, taking out the potion she swiped earlier and began pouring over her wound.

  “…I see.” The renard nodded as he returned the potion back into his robes.

  “So… you’re here to take me home?”

  “Lady Hecate just tasked me to keep an eye on you. Nothing more.”

  “Oh. R-Really…?”

  “Yes. Really.”

  Tetra was not sure what to make of that; the renard had been hard to read ever since she joined the Familia, not without a ck of trying on her part.

  But seeing as he only came in when she really was in danger, so she could at least take him for his words.

  Then the words finally hit her, “Wait, then you were around when the War Shadows…?”

  Kyumaru nodded in reply to her question, “Yes. I was close by.”

  “Why didn’t you come help me!?”

  “You looked to have it under control.”

  As always, she was not sure whether he was being genuine or sarcastic with that reply; though she believed he was genuine, the renard was not the type to throw sarcastic remarks.

  “Then… I will be looking for more monsters to train with.”

  “Understood. I will be following close behind.”

  “O-Okay…?”

  “And Tetra.”

  “Yeah?”

  Kyumaru gave him a thumbs-up, “Well done.”

  “Eh?”

  “I meant it; you did well against those monsters, even with the odds stacked against you. I am sure the others will be ecstatic when they heard what you have accomplished here.”

  The young amazoness blinked at the gesture, before smiling, “Thank you, Kyumaru.”

  Without another word, she went off to search the Dungeon for monsters, with the renard swordsman quietly following close behind at a distance.

  The moon had risen quite a bit when she left the Dungeon.

  In the time before then, she had found a few more Frog Shooters which she used to practice concurrent chanting, successfully pulling it off a few more times.

  It helped that Kyumaru was closed by; the swordsman making sure no other monsters interrupted her fights.

  Satisfied with her results, Tetra ascended with Kyumaru close behind and they made their way back home.

  When she made it to the entrance of the Arcane Manor, an uneasily feeling dropped into the pit of her stomach as the realization of what might be waiting for her behind the door would not be pleasant.

  After all, she did kind of severely injured Drake with her actions, and disobeyed Jeanne’s words for her to rest up for the expedition.

  And seeing the lights were still on, they were made fully aware of her delinquency.

  “They are going to rip me to shreds.”

  “Every action has consequences.”

  Tetra gred at Kyumaru in response, who only stared back with a raised eyebrow, “I’m only saying it as it is.”

  “…hah… Might as well get this over with.”

  With a heavy heart, she opened the door and entered the entrance lobby, where two people were standing with arms crossed and a deep frown.

  “Welcome back.” Jeanne said with a tone that screams disappointed, “Enjoyed you little night trip?”

  “…I’m sorry…”

  “I’m not the one you should be apologising to.”

  Flinching, Tetra walked up to Drake, whose gre was borderline terrifying, “I-I’m sorry, Drake, for hitting you in the balls–Geh!!”

  “You better be!!” Drake growled as he nded a chop on her head hard, “It hurts like crap!! And thanks to your little escapade, we have to dey the expedition! Do you have any idea how much trouble you have caused!?”

  “Guuh…”

  Tears threatened to fall from the edge of Tetra’s eyes, both in a combination of pain, terror, and shame.

  While young, she understood that what she had done was incredibly irresponsible, that there was no possible way she could be excused for her actions.

  “Hah… bag.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your bag, where you kept the potions, which you stole?”

  “A-Ah! R-Right!!”

  Tetra quickly handed her bag to him, and he immediately reached in and retrieved the potions inside.

  “…Where’re the rest of them?”

  “I… used a few of them…”

  “You’ve–Hah…go figure…”

  Drake looked just a straw away from screaming at her but decided to hold it in instead, though it was clear he was incredibly upset.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Huh?”

  “Are. You. Hurt?”

  “N-No, sir!!”

  Drake let out another long sigh from relief, “Good. Jeanne?”

  The elf nodded and stepped forward towards the young amazoness, her gre boring a hole into her head, “You are confined to your room until the expedition starts; you are not allowed to leave your room for anything, and you are to be escorted if you wish to use the restrooms.”

  In other words, she was grounded to her room till the expedition.

  “If you try to leave your room without supervision, your punishment would be more severe. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, ma’am!!”

  “Then to your room. Now.”

  With great haste, she bolted up the stairs without a second beat.

  “Did you do it?”

  “Huh?”

  Jeanne turned to looked at her, gre softening as she asked once more, “Concurrent chanting. Did you do it?”

  “…Yes. Yes, I did it.” Tetra told her with a grin and a thumbs-up.

  The elf looked to Kyumaru for confirmation, the renard nodded in response. A smile crept up her face as well, “Good job.”

  “Heheh…”

  “Punishment still stands.”

  “Geh! I-I know that…”

  …To be continued…

  This arc is done! Took me quite a while to finish this up, let me tell you what.

  The next one would have its focus back on Dae and her adventures, so keep a look out for it!

  With that, I thank you all for reading this!