Niran charged forward alone, challenging the three orcs.
Orcs were monsters with strength capable of harming some Lv.2 adventurers, but the cow-kin stubbornly blocked their attacks with her shield.
Her endurance and strength had exceptionally high values, and combat prowess wasn't entirely determined by stats.
Even with the same level and stats, a pallum's strength could never match that of a cow-kin or boaz. With equal stats, an elf's magical firepower would always be more powerful.
This was the innate attributes of race and bloodline.
Watching the cow-kin wrestle with the orcs, the pallum Yuri gazed with envy.
The pallum race had the weakest base stats among all races: strength, agility, endurance, and magic were all lacking. Their only notable trait, dexterity, was merely on par with humans, and they lacked the dwarves' smithing talents.
Humans, despite having no particularly outstanding abilities, still produced numerous heroes due to their sheer potential. They don't have beastkin's strength, elf's magic power, or dwarf's smithing talent but they can achieve whatever they want with sheer will.
For pallums, achieving the same feats as humans required several times more effort.
"A feat for adventurers…" Shirou murmured softly.
He drew his bowstring taut, an arrow piercing the thick wooden club in an orc's hand. The sudden impact interrupted one orc's attack.
Niran's shield was no ordinary item, but it still couldn't deflect all the force. She was injured by the orc's heavy blow, yet let out a thunderous roar instead.
Another attack was neutralized by Shirou's arrow, while on the other side, she abandoned defending with her greatsword and instead rammed her shoulder armor into the orc's strike. Then, under the orc's stunned gaze, she raised her greatsword.
[Skill [Wild Rage] activated:]
[attack power increases when injured, scaling with severity of wounds, while judgment deteriorates.]
Her greatsword suddenly accelerated, smashing unexpectedly into an orc's skull with a roar.
Blood splattered. The crimson fluid seemed to further enrage the cowkin. She hurled her shield like a projectile, breaking another orc's nose, then leaped into a heavy slash, crushing half the orc's torso from the shoulder.
"ROAR!!!" The cowkin let out a savage howl even more terrifying than the monsters.
The last orc seemed frightened, dropping its weapon and fleeing.
Emiya raised his bow and shot an arrow through the monster's knee. The orc collapsed, and Niran, catching up, discarded her sword and wrapped her arms around its neck from behind.
"RAAH!!!"
CRACK!
She twisted the orc's head clean off.
Then, blood-soaked Niran turned with a grin and gave Lefiya and the others a thumbs-up.
With that, Niran have achieved her great feat for leveling up to level 2. Now it's time for treatment...
"The bones in your shoulder must be fractured. I can't believe you kept swinging your sword like that."
"I couldn't feel any pain at the time… Ow, ow, ow! Be gentle, Lefiya-chan!"
"..."
"Should we use a Panacea?"
"Panacea? That's 500,000 Valis per dose! I'll tough it out…"
"Hold on a bit longer. I'll cast a healing spell."
"Lefiya knows healing magic too? Amazing!"
Niran's challenge had succeeded. The next time they met, she might have already leveled up to Lv.2.
Lefiya, being another girl, supported her, though the height difference made it awkward.
"Niran, thank you." Lefiya said.
"Huh? For what, Lefiya?"
"Like how Mr. Emiya's fighting inspired you, the way you fought moved me too…"
"No, actually, I think I was influenced more by 'you', Lefiya."
"Eh?"
"I joined the [School District] a year before you, yet you got achievements first. I couldn't help feeling pressured…"
What started as an ordinary adventure ended with a slightly extraordinary conclusion. Raul could only sigh, marveling at how incredible these newcomers were.
And how exhausting it was to mentor them. The mental strain had been immense—he'd nearly intervened multiple times. Thankfully, everything turned out fine.
The group didn't delve deeper, returning to the surface without further incidents. Any monsters they encountered along the way were swiftly dispatched by Emiya Shirou.
Their first task upon returning was converting their loot into Valis.
The guild directly purchased magic stones and common drops, but high-value items like Blue Papilio powder fetched low prices there. Selling them to healing-focused familias like the Dian Cécht Familia was better.
After discussion, they decided to sell the powder to Raul at 90% of market price, letting him resell it to the Dian Cécht Familia. The 10% difference served as a thank-you. Whether Raul could negotiate a higher price for extra profit depended on his skills.
"I never expected we'd earn so much Valis."
"This isn't normal. It's because of Mr Emiya's insane killing efficiency… and our luck with the Blue Papilios."
When splitting the earnings, Emiya suggested equal shares, but others opposed. In the end, Emiya took 40%, while the rest received 20% each.
"Hey, those guys made a fortune…"
"They are just a kids. Should we…"
"Are you insane? That's the [High Novice]'s team. Do you know what that meansa…"
Raul noticed the murmurs of thuggish adventurers. His icy glare swept over them, silencing the area.
"Move." Raul said coldly.
"Y-Yes!"
The previously greedy men fled in terror. Even though Raul was just average Lv.3 they didn't dare to provoke the backing behind him, The Loki Familia.
Though bullied by Lv.4, Lv.5, and Lv.6 adventurers within the Loki Familia and seen as a pushover by newcomers, Raul was a demonic figure to ordinary adventurers. Such was the disparity of the world.
"Mr. Emiya." Lefiya called out as Shirou prepared to leave, "Th-thank you so much for your help!"
"If possible, I'd like to repay you in future!"
———
"I'm back!" Shirou said as he entered from the back door of the tavern. Then he went to backyard for practice.
As usual, Anya came and started his traing in hand-to-hand combat.
"Shirou's purposely training Dexterity, nya?" Anya asked.
"Correct!" Crossing his arms to barely block Anya's heavy straight punch, Shirou replied, "Mama Mia said since I didn't have falna, so my strength increase will be minimum to become a strong adventurer, I need to increase dexterity which will improve my weapon handling."
"True, nya~ Those adventurets who rush to level up after barely reaching D (500) in one or two stats are doomed. Anya always raises Agility to A before leveling." The cat-girl boasted.
"No wonder…" Shirou dodged her strike, "You feel much stronger than Mr. Raul."
"Raul? The [High Novice]? He's the poster child for mediocrity. In the Loki Familia, you can level up through expedition feats, but his stats are too average—barely passing each time. That's why he never got skills or magic though he is in verge of touching Lv. 4."
"I see." Shirou retreated, breathing heavily.
"Shirou needs more endurance training to build up stamina, nya~" Anya grinned, "Heads up—Anya's getting serious."
Shirou braced himself. Then Anya opened her mouth, rapidly chanting.
"Bad!" Syr, watching nearby, yelled at Ryuu, "COVER YOUR EARS!"
"Eh?" Ryuu obeyed instinctively—
"NYAAAAAAAAAAA~~~"
[Magic [Remiste Felis(Lost Kitten)]]
"Ugh—"
By the time Shirou realized he should cover his ears, it was too late.
A sharp, ear-piercing, horrendous cat screech reverberated. It felt like a sledgehammer to the skull, robbing him of thought and balance. He was sent flying.
[Remiste Felis (Lost Kitten): a wide-range sonic magic that debuffs all who hear it. While not level-reducing, it's among the strongest weakening spells, even hindering development abilities, skills, and magic.]
"Hearing cat songs boosts your chance to gain the [Magic Resistance] development ability, nya~" Anya declared proudly, though this wasn't exactly praiseworthy.
"STUPID CAT! STOP HOWLING AT NIGHT!"
A slipper flew out of the tavern window, smacking Anya's head and knocking her flat.
"Anya never thinks. Let's bail before Mama Mia's rage hits us!" Syr decisively dragged Ryuu and the dazed Shirou away, abandoning all loyalty.
"By the way, Shirou~" Syr casually shifted topics, "You seemed to get along 'very' well with a certain elf mage today~"
Her eyes narrowed slightly, tone deceptively light.
"Oh, you mean Lefiya? She's a good elf. She didn't discriminate against other races." Shirou answered frankly.
Though Shirou didn't know, but those words stab like arrows to a certain nearby useless elf's heart.
Syr's mouth opened, then closed'…So calm. No guilt... means no flaws? This boy's tricky.'
"How did you know, Syr?" Shirou asked.
"Hmm? At dinner, a certain [High Novice] came by. A little flattery, and he spilled everything~ You weren't back yet." Syr smiled, shooting Ryuu a disappointed glance.
Ryuu collected herself then said earnestly, "Shirou, protecting others makes me happy."
'Shirou seemed to be able to replace herself and inherit the justice of the Astraea Familia...' Ryuu thought with relief, but why did she feel a bit uneasy in her heart?
Listening to Ryuu's words, Syr couldn't help but facepalm. 'Why are you so happy? This useless elf still hasn't realized what's happening. At this point, you're still thinking about your "legacy of justice"?'
'If this continues, your future will only lead to the "Blonde defeated dog" ending, becoming a tragic heroine who hides under the covers every day, secretly wiping away tears.'
As the leader of the "Shirou×Ryuu" faction in the "Hostess of Fertility" tavern, Syr was currently very troubled. As Shirou becomes an adventurer, he will come into contact with more girls, and this useless elf has no initiative at all...
Syr Flova: 'The useless elf is incompetent, it seems I must step in!'
Syr is Ryuu's most steadfast supporter.
At least for now.
The girl clenched her small fist and said with determination, "Shirou, Ryuu's happiness, I will protect it."
Shirou was puzzled: "Huh? Well, good luck?"