The Goliath Subjugation Battle.
With so many First-Tier adventurers present—many of whom could easily handle lvl 4, lvl 5, or even lvl 6—the battle lasted no more than five minutes in total.
The Amazon sisters went all out, pummeling the massive Goliath with a brutal flurry of punches until the Floor Boss couldn't even stand on its own two feet.
The rogue adventurers from Rivira, seeing the sisters' ferocious display of violence, were too intimidated to even approach the monster.
"Monsters... which side are the real monsters here?! The Floor Boss is being beaten so badly it can't even fight back! This is totally messed up!"
"The Loki Familia executives are ridiculous, but don't you think that kid standing in the back is even more absurd?!"
Several people turned their gazes to Noah.
Standing safely in the rear guard, the boy was continuously firing various glowing buff beams from a massive, white heavy sniper rifle.
He constantly reloaded with specialized ammunition, flawlessly supporting the adventurers on the front lines.
Each magical beam that landed caused one of the Loki Familia's combat abilities to suddenly skyrocket.
This was especially terrifying when they watched the notoriously 'average' Raul grievously wound the Goliath with a flaming blast from a 'Crozzo' Magic Sword, his power boosted far beyond his normal limits.
"What the hell was that light?!"
"Was it that boy over there who just did that?"
"Is that an enchantment-type magic? And it can be fired at allies from a distance?! I have never heard of such a thing!"
"It is not just that. Look closely at his target selection! He is simultaneously handling healing, buffing, and attacking! He is like an entire backline party rolled into a single person!"
This was the first time the true "power of support" had been displayed so publicly, and the rogue adventurers seeing it for the first time were utterly shocked.
Those who were fortunate enough to accidentally catch the area-of-effect of the buffs felt as if their own bodies had been replaced by gods.
But the moment the buff's duration ended, the sudden feeling of their strength "draining away" left them with a crushing sense of emptiness.
In reality, they had merely returned to their original, normal state.
"I know who he is! That boy is the 'Artisan Spirit' from the Hephaestus Familia!"
"What? Aren't Artisan Spirit is just a master blacksmiths?"
"I heard rumors that he forged a one-of-a-kind magic sword for the astraea Familia and that he is a rare, once-in-a-century genius. But I never expected a blacksmith to have such an overpowered, unique support magic!"
In the end, Tione, with her equipment effects fully stacked and Noah's buffs surging through her veins, completely blew the Goliath's head off with a single, devastating punch.
The Amazon girl leaped down from the crumbling Goliath's body.
She was completely covered in blood—but all of it belonged to the boss.
"Well, that was an excellent punching bag!"
From a distance, Tiona waved enthusiastically at Noah, but his work wasn't quite over yet.
Finn had officially assigned him to the rear guard for this operation.
Next, he had to work with the other supporters to treat the wounded from the brief battle.
"Ten lightly injured, twelve heavily injured," Noah called out, asking the others to help gather the wounded adventurers together.
Perhaps because of his awe-inspiring performance during the subjugation battle, his words carried an unusual authority.
The rogue adventurers who heard his request practically carried it out as if it were a direct command from a captain.
With all 22 injured adventurers gathered in a circle, Noah raised the Annihilator.
He pulled the bolt back to eject the spent casing and reloaded with a specialized healing-type ammunition.
Three rounds carefully crafted from high-grade Elixirs were magically compressed in the chamber.
Then, Noah raised the rifle, aimed directly at the crystal ceiling of the 18th Floor and pulled the trigger.
"Healing Rain."
After the ultra-short chant, a brilliant beam of blue light shot into the air, expanding into a massive, glowing magic circle big enough to encompass all 22 people.
Then, gentle specks of warm light began to fall.
As the rain of light descended, the condition of the adventurers covered by it improved at a terrifying pace.
Their deep wounds closed, healed and vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even their deep physical fatigue was completely washed away.
For this one-and-a-half-million-valis man-made rain shower, Noah made a mental note to claim his proper hefty share from the Goliath's spoils of war later.
"Incredible..."
"To heal over twenty people at once..."
"This scene... I've heard rumors about this! To think a blacksmith can do the exact same thing as the Dea Saint! What an unbelievable talent!"
For the adventurers familiar with the rough gossiping town of Rivira, they were already used to loud voices.
Even when the rogues deliberately tried to lower their voices to whisper, the people around them could still hear their awe perfectly clearly.
Noah felt a bit helpless hearing someone compare him to the Battlefield Saintess, Airmid.
Ultimately, the three Elixirs he had just used had been personally concocted by Airmid herself.
He had merely used her flawless medical work as the base to form the magic circle for his Healing Rain.
If it were Airmid standing here, she would only need to chant Dia Flatel to instantly heal everyone in the room without relying on expensive items, and in even less time.
'I really want that magic,' he thought.
Noah let out a slight, disappointed sigh, which Tsubaki happened to catch.
She strutted over, hooked her muscular arm around the boy's neck and grinned.
"Let me guess what you are pouting about. How about it?"
"Huh?" Noah blinked.
He didn't think Tsubaki could possibly guess what he was thinking.
"You are a little frustrated about being compared to Airmid, aren't you? Mostly because you know you can't actually beat her raw healing output without spending money?"
"Wha...?"
The boy looked at the half-dwarf woman beside him in total shock.
She had actually guessed his thoughts perfectly!
No, it was more like she had seen right through his soul.
"Noah-boy, how long have we known each other?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"I am your captain. Do you honestly think my understanding of my own Familia members is that shallow?"
Noah, whose hair was currently being roughly ruffled by Tsubaki's heavy hand, was a bit stunned.
So Tsubaki is the type who feigns foolishness to hide her deep wisdom?
She had been right beside him this whole time, yet he had never truly realized how perceptive she was.
In contrast, in Tsubaki's eyes, he couldn't even hide what was written plainly on his face.
"You have still got a long way to go if you want to successfully act like a grown-up, kid! Hahahaha!"
Tsubaki laughed heartily, patting him on the back twice before swaggering off toward the loot distribution.
She left Noah standing there, a little dazed, until another acquaintance walked up to him and started a conversation on a different topic.
...
The departing Tsubaki arrived where the Goliath's massive drops were being sorted.
She walked right up to Finn and slapped the Pallum hero squarely on the back.
Even Finn, a Level 6 warrior who could handle a 1v6 brawl without breaking a sweat, was nearly knocked face-first into the dirt by the heavy blow.
"You really hit the nail on the head, Finn," Tsubaki said, her smile fading into a serious expression.
"Seeing Noah-boy's face just now, I knew everything you told me earlier was true. It's amazing you could guess exactly what he was thinking."
"Ugh... Tsubaki, your physical strength is as monstrous as ever," Finn groaned, wiping a drop of cold sweat from his forehead.
If he, the great hero of Orario, had face-planted into the dirt in front of so many people, it would have been a massive embarrassment!
"Noah is a very strange child," Finn said quietly, his blue eyes shifting to watch the boy in the distance.
"I first started paying close attention to him back when he almost killed Jura in the alleyway."
"That time?"
"Yes. Although I only officially met him after the incident, his demeanor at the time left a deep, unsettling impression on me."
"His demeanor? What kind of demeanor?"
Finn hesitated for a moment before finally answering.
"He was way too calm."
Finn shook his head slowly. "I don't know how to properly describe it. In short, a normal child—no, even a grown adult adventurer—will always fundamentally change after their first true life-or-death crisis in the Dungeon. It wouldn't even be strange for them to be so mentally broken by the trauma that they give up being an adventurer entirely."
"But that day..." Finn narrowed his eyes. "I couldn't sense any of that from him. Even though he was almost killed and had nearly killed a man himself, he reacted as if it were just a matter of course. But he didn't give me the feeling of a hardened veteran who was simply used to the bloodshed, either. It was more like... he was living his life with an attitude of total indifference, as if he held an extreme, deeply rooted distrust for the world itself."
Finn's expression turned grave. "You understand what I am saying, right, Tsubaki? A brilliant child with a dark, detached personality like that is always..."
The half-dwarf woman's face grew darker and darker with every word.
Finally, she couldn't help but interrupt the braver.
"That is enough."
Tsubaki's single eye flared, and she suddenly radiated an astonishing suffocating aura.
With a light, angry tap of her boot, the solid stone ground instantly cracked beneath her.
"Noah would never fall to Evilus. He is the absolute pride of our Hephaestus Familia. If you keep talking like that, you better watch your back, or I will smash your pretty face in, Finn!"
The half-dwarf woman was glaring at him like a furious, protective lioness.
No one would dare doubt the truth in her words, least of all Finn.
"I am sorry, Tsubaki. I apologize for overstepping."
"Hmph. You know absolutely nothing about that kid." Tsubaki said the complete opposite of what she had said at the start of their conversation, then turned on her heel and walked away.
Finn could only watch her leave with a wry, self-deprecating smile.
He had his own severely troublesome problem children at home that he hadn't managed well—like Bete and Ais—yet here he was, cynically meddling in another Familia's affairs.
He had indeed overstepped his bounds.
Fortunately, the new generation of executives within his Familia seemed to get along wonderfully with the boy.
That being the case, it was probably best for him not to interfere too much.
Trust.
That was something the Braver himself was sorely lacking.
To this brilliant, paranoid hero, blindly trusting others was far more terrifying than having others blindly trust him.
....
"Welcome back, Noah-sama!"
Haruhime, blissfully unaware of the bloody conspiracies and chaos that had unfolded, greeted him warmly as usual when he returned to the workshop.
It would be terrible if she found out about everything that had occurred in the Dungeon today.
To avoid worrying her fragile heart, Noah decided it was best to keep today's dangerous events a strict secret.
"Haruhime, can you accompany me in my room for a bit after dinner?" Noah asked casually.
"Eh?!!"
In that instant, the little fox's innocent mind was flooded with a vast overwhelming number of R-rated romantic fantasies, causing her to completely miss what Noah said next.
One hour later.
"I... I cannot go on anymore, Noah-sama..."
The completely exhausted Haruhime collapsed onto the hard floor.
She was breathing heavily, her face flushed a bright, feverish red, and her body covered in sweat.
Her hazy tear-filled eyes pleaded with him for mercy!
"Can we please stop for today? Otherwise, i won't have the energy to work properly tomorrow!"
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