"Now's our chance!"
Faen seized the opening instantly. He surged back into the enemy ranks, blade flashing in coordinated rhythm with Tifa's sweeping strikes, beginning the final cleanup.
With Faye's powerful healing and battlefield control supporting them, the remaining monsters were swiftly eliminated.
Silence gradually returned to the cavern.
"Whew… that was close."
Tifa leaned against the wall, breathing lightly.
"Faye, your Magic is incredible. You can heal and attack."
"Hehe, that's all thanks to Little Ika!"
Faye hugged the tiny pegasus as it flew back to her, nuzzling it affectionately. "I'm just the logistics support who keeps morale up."
"That's far more than morale support."
Faen walked over, rolling his completely restored left shoulder in amazement.
"You're practically the lifeline of our Familia."
"Agreed."
Robin nodded with a gentle smile, admiration in her eyes. "With Miss Faye here, we can execute much bolder tactics."
With Faye, their healing angel—the Focalors Familia had finally completed its final piece. They were now a fully formed team, balanced in offense and defense, with extraordinary endurance.
After a short rest inside the cavern, Faen led everyone back.
The Dungeon's echoes faded behind them. By the time the four emerged from Babel Tower, the sun had already begun to set.
But they were no longer returning to their original cramped lodgings.
With Faye's arrival, the Familia now had five members—including their goddess Furina.
Their previous residence had grown inconveniently small.
With Eina's assistance, they had rented a standalone three-story house in the Seventh District as their new headquarters.
The new home was spacious and bright, filled with the faint scent of fresh wood and lacquer.
Furina was extremely satisfied—she had already claimed the entire top-floor room as her private quarters.
---
After returning home and removing their heavy equipment, everyone finally relaxed.
Tifa naturally headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Robin began sorting the day's spoils.
Faen sat on the soft sofa in the living room, reflecting on the battle.
Their exploration had steadily progressed to the Twelfth Floor. Beyond that lay the "Middle Floors," where both environment and monster strength would change drastically.
Yet even at the upper floors' edge, Level 2 monsters had begun appearing.
The Kairagi: Fiery Might that had easily driven him back earlier—there was no doubt it was a Level 2-class humanoid monster.
Otherwise, with Faen's current solid Basic Abilities, he wouldn't have been forced back so easily.
More importantly, he had noticed something peculiar.
He encountered these powerful Kairagi frequently.
Other adventurers, however, seemed to rarely encounter them.
In a way… that was fortunate.
Given the average strength of upper-floor adventurers, frequent encounters with such monsters would result in devastating casualties.
This was undoubtedly the effect of his Skill—
[The Abyss That Gazes Back].
Like a magnet, he was drawing out more dangerous and more "abnormal" entities from the Dungeon.
However—
Though the Kairagi were difficult opponents, their drops had given him a tremendous surprise.
Faen reached into his pouch and retrieved an item.
It was neither a magic stone nor a monster material.
It was a peculiar flower—shaped as though formed from stardust and faint glimmering light.
[Artifact: Adventurer's Flower]
This information was visible to any adventurer.
An 'Artifact'—clearly something not native to this world. One of the "possibilities" brought forth by his unique Skill.
He pinned it to his chest.
Immediately, a gentle current of power flowed from the flower into his body.
He could clearly feel a slight yet definite increase in vitality and Endurance.
A treasure capable of directly enhancing an adventurer's strength—
Its value far exceeded ordinary drops.
If released onto the market, it would likely trigger frenzy among every Familia.
Unfortunately, the drop rate was extremely low.
Since reaching the Twelfth Floor, he had slain over ten Kairagi—yet had only obtained this single Adventurer's Flower.
...
After a hearty dinner came the long-awaited Status update.
A week of high-intensity exploration had yielded visible growth for everyone.
Furina excitedly prepared the recording parchment and, as usual, had members enter one by one.
—
[Name: Tifa Lockhart]
[Level: 1]
Abilities:
[Strength: I50 –> F350 (+300)]
[Endurance: I10 –> H110 (+100)]
[Dexterity: I32 –> F300 (+268)]
[Agility: I30 –> F350 (+320)]
[Magic: I28 –> H163 (+135)]
Tifa's growth remained steady and efficient. As a close-combat fighter, her Strength, Dexterity, and Agility had increased dramatically.
—
[Name: Robin]
[Level: 1]
Abilities:
[Strength: I21 –> H111 (+90)]
[Endurance: I28 –> H103 (+75)]
[Dexterity: G105 –> F356 (+251)]
[Agility: G160 –> E460 (+300)]
[Magic: E480 –> A890 (+410)]
Robin's growth heavily favored Magic. Her Magic was now brushing the edge of S-rank.
—
[Name: Faye]
[Level: 1]
Abilities:
[Strength: I0 –> I20 (+20)]
[Endurance: I0 –> I32 (+32)]
[Dexterity: I0 –> I65 (+65)]
[Agility: I0 –> I75 (+75)]
[Magic: I0 –> H102 (+102)]
Development Abilities:
[Abnormal Resistance: I]
[Healing: I]
Magic:
[We Who Fly into Dawn and Dusk]
Type: Life-Summoning Magic - Mid-to-Long Chant.
Effect: Summons a lifeform from memory—the pegasus "Little Ika."
While present, Little Ika grants all allies the continuous buff state [After the Rain], gradually restoring HP and stamina and providing extremely high resistance to poison, curses, and other abnormal conditions.
Under Faye's guidance, Little Ika can perform powerful instant healing on targets or manipulate wind for combat and crowd control.
Chant:
"Hear me, whisper of dawn and dusk entwined—
Spirit who lingers gently between the seams of memory—
Once more, for me, for us,
Let healing rain descend, and clear the sky!"
Skills:
[Dawn That Heals the World]
Type: Passive Skill
Effect: As long as Faye is in the party, increases Endurance for herself and all allies, improves HP and Mind recovery rate, and automatically grants the Development Ability [Healing].
[After the Rain]
Type: Passive Skill
Effect: Increases resistance to all abnormal status conditions, accelerates stamina and Mind recovery, and automatically grants the Development Ability [Abnormal Resistance].
[Magic Release (Wind)]
Type: Active Skill
Effect: Converts her Magic into pure wind-element output for attack, defense, or support. When healing allies, wind energy can be integrated to accelerate recovery.
...
The Focalors Familia had grown far stronger than when they first stepped into the Dungeon.
And yet—
This was only the beginning.
=====================
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