Sybilla has taken Emmy along with her to investigate which gave me the time to work on my magic. I feel like I still have lots of energy to spend thanks to how Sybilla treated us yesterday. I have to do my best in return. [Let's start with ] (.......) I keep the difference in timing of the chant with the words in my head before I release the arrow. Black arrows made of dark mana are being released one after another from my left and right hands hitting the wall before they vanished. [Yosh. It's been a while but looks like I can still make it work. Next is…] Then, I remember Sybilla and the alternate casting she talked about. The places I can practice my dark magic outside is limited because of the possible reaction from the believers of the Sun Goddess but this place should be enough. I pulled my wrist out of my sleeve and scratched it a bit. [] () That's right. What I'm trying to learn now is what Sybilla had mentioned back when we fought the fire dragon. The ability to cast offensive magic and recovery magic at the same time. Mastering it isn't something that can be just called as an advantage. It's an idea that will overthrow the whole concept of attacks and heal themselves. I wanted to start with but… the scratch in my wrist didn't heal by the time the dark magic activated. Looks like it failed. [I guess it won't work right away huh. One more time….*Inhales*….] (…) The dark arrow flew but I didn't watch it reach the wall as I immediately turned into my wrist. The scratch is now gone. [Yosh… At least the first step's a success.] It doesn't need to be smooth and perfect immediately. As long as I'm steady, at least one step at a time, I'll definitely be able to make this successful. I now have the leeway to do so. –And I want to tell Emmy the same too. Even if we aren't perfectly in sync, as we move forward even just a single step at a time, she'll definitely be able to blend in. I don't think the feeling of me and Sybilla talking to each other being watched is just my imagination. Perhaps it's Emmy who's probably observing how close we are with our exchanges. …One more reason why I wanted to master this method of casting is because I'm worried Emmy will carelessly push herself once again. My includes a priest magic called which I cannot use. Emmy told me that she felt she lost all of her tiredness when I used it which also means… She has no intention to tell us she's tired until I used my magic. Tiredness could lead to danger. Especially in Emmy's case where she always needs to be in top condition. Emmy's enthusiasm and liveliness are her most favorable feature. And upon seeing her not being able to speak even a single word when she received the self destruct magic of the Demon Lord brought me grief that I can't even imagine. I'll never let that happen again. [] () Another success. [] () I can feel the magic broke down inside my head. I was thinking of being able to use Extra Heal Link without chanting enough that I'll never commit any mistake using it but… I didn't think that the starting point could be this difficult. I've practiced a few more times and I was able to pull of some extra heals occasionally when the floor's door opened. It appears they've finished looking around as I let out a sigh seeing Sybilla's usual casual expression. [We're back-] [Yeah, welcome ho – this isn't our home though.] [But wherever Russell is will always be my home.] [You could have just said that this base might as well be our homes…] So wherever am I is your home, huh. I give the idea some thought and… there's no way that this girl would let this chance slip to add more fuel to the fire. She then took hold of my cheeks as she looks like she's ready to pull a prank while wearing a mischievous grin. […! A~re~~~~ Oh no~~ Don't tell me…. Did you get turn on? Is the thought of being able to live lovingly together with Sybilla giving you beautiful delusions? How sweet it is living our daily lives close to ea— oucch!] [You just never learn…] I chopped her head to cut her off but I feel like she's been prepared to say those words even knowing the consequences… I can see Emmy coming closer behind Sybilla who's trying to ease the pain as she strokes her head. She's facing towards my direction and I can see her sullen face. [Hmph!] Emmy's eyes are yelling [Get a hint!] or something like that but… Isn't your whole face just saying everything? …Seriously? [Hya.] […Nfu.] I chopped Emmy's head which made her loosen her cheeks before backing off. Is this really alright…? I was confident that I was the one who've known you for the longest time but I'm starting to understand you lesser and lesser though… …Wait? I just thought of something all of a sudden. [Sybilla, did you talk to Emmy?] [N? Well, kind of. But that doesn't concern you. Me and Emmy-chan are hitting it off, see?] [Yep!] Emmy's smile with Sybilla is now brightly different from what it was earlier. They have gotten along better than I thought… I can't see the shadow looming anymore behind Emmy's lively smile. …I see. Ofcourse that would be the case. You were able to know the burden of that orphan and saved Eve even you've just met so how would it be possible for you to not know Emmy's dangerous tendencies when even I can see it. Emmy held her shield as she walks on to the floor's door brimming with energy. I walked up next to Sybilla and talked to her in a small voice. [Sybilla.] [N?] [Thanks.] […Well, I'll received your gratitude for now.] She didn't have to guess as she precisely know what I'm talking about. For you to notice that weirdness from the childhood friend I deeply treasure, just how caring despite being cheeky you can be? There's one thing I know I am better off compared to Emmy. It's your existence. My reliable partner that I will never ever hand over to anybody. Next time, I'll make sure to tell it to you. Emmy is holding her shield as she opened the door. What's inside is as what we had expected. There are stairs heading down. […Well then, there's something I'm worrying about but… I'm sure everyone understands, right?] [We're most likely to meet the group which entered before us in this floor, right?] [Yeah.] Sybilla's worry. It's because Seiris Third Dungeon is known to be the most difficult dungeon of the city and no party will ever dive into its middle levels, but so far, we still haven't met the party that have entered before us. [I've tried to challenge this Third Dungeon before but eventually failed. That's why I was able to look into this place beforehand and I know for a fact that there are no other paths into this place. If they try to use the other paths, they'll just be finding dead ends.] [Then there should be no other explanation than them diving directly in the middle levels.] Sybilla then nods as Emmy's face hardened as we continue to make our way down the stairs. [Russell, defensive magic.] [] [You too, Emmy-chan. I was able to determine that its alright to just wait and see in the upper levels but the next one will include black goblins in their midst so we have to prepare for physical defenses. There will always be the possibility for an attack to get past the shield.] [Understood! Now then, .] Emmy then casted her defensive magic. Emmy's body started to gently emit a yellow light which immediately faded. Its one of the magic I had wanted. A defensive magic that would allow me to protect the party. If I'll be asked if I still feel envious, then the truth is I still feel the same about the abilities that I can't do. However, unlike that time, I'm no longer depress and devastated. Sybilla probably set this up so I don't have to worry about any injuries. If that's the case then it's kind of rude of me worrying about Emmy who will be protecting us too. Two of the highest-level defensive magics were granted to the person and class who wanted to protect someone the most. The Holy Knight, Emmy. Then, for Emmy's sake… Right, for Emmy's feelings as well, then I should accept that this magic should be used to the fullest. [I'll explain Wind Barrier too just in case you need, Emmy. It will be able to deflect projectile attacks and offensive magic to a certain extent. It's double casted as well so this should be stronger than the usual ones.] [This is incredible… Got it, thanks!] It should be me giving you gratitude. For Emmy to be able to remain this steady even after being a Holy Knight which is one of the highest class is one of her good qualities. The first enemy we encountered is… a giganto. As I was thinking it will start to make its way to us to start a melee onslaught, an arrow flew over towards our direction. Ofcourse, the arrow struck the wall and made a shrilling noise. [A black goblin archer, it seems. As you can see, it can't pass through Russell's magic so it doesn't matter how poisonous its arrow is. Emmychan!] [Understood!] Emmy then marched forward towards the giganto on its way to tackle her with its body which she received with her shield. Naturally, the dragon sword on Emmy's right hand isn't just idly sitting by as they clash. I… I can't decide yet if I'll use my dark magic. Maybe it's because of the wind barrier's effectiveness that I don't really feel pressured from the enemies but … there's still the uncertainty that I don't know where and when will we meet the other party. Sybilla took care of the black goblins using her offensive magic and the monsters were wiped out immediately. [Yosh, looks like there's nothing to worry about in the middle levels, isn't it?] [Yes! Russell's defensive magic is really strong and it doesn't really feel any different than the upper levels.] [We can relax that much. The gigantos in this floor changes from green to red along the way which are stronger than the previous ones but we'll be just fine with your skill, Emmy-chan. Don't worry about them too much, okay?] I casted Extra Heal Link and have everyone recover just to be safe. After making sure that everyone's condition is on their top forms, we continued the exploration. […Shh.] Sybilla then grabbed Emmy's shoulder and pulled my sleeve. It seems like she's noticed something. […I did not tell you this earlier but I decided to use the magic Floor Search ahead. Its level is pretty low so the search area is relatively small but it still puts a heavy burden in my head so I didn't use it right away… Anyway, it's a detection magic.] A surprise magic explanation by yours truly, Sybilla. Before I could ask her what she really wanted to say, Sybilla abruptly then took a step. [–A new party has come to explore the dungeon—-!] How can this girl be so loud fully knowing we're in a place filled with monsters? It took us a moment before me and Emmy's shock towards Sybilla changed into an understanding. […Here…] There's no mistaking it. Just now, a small voice could be heard. [Yosh. Now we're able to make the other party aware of us. I'm just trying to avoid a futile scuffle before we proceed so I said our intention out loud you know.] [b-by proceed, where exactly?] (Emmy) [We'll be going to the left.] We've moved towards the direction Sybilla has said which led us to a narrow entrance of a small room. Inside are the people we've been looking for since earlier. [We-we're saved…] It's the group of five adventurers that went in before us and had used this place as a temporary base. Then I heard a guy whisper in relief. There are a lot of things I want to hear from them. But among all of those, the most important and mysterious question should be 'what are you doing on this level?'. It's usually inconceivable for people to run towards the lower floors. I can't imagine a party who's able to survive this far would make such mistake in judgement. –I feel like there's an unknown enemy lurking nearby. I examined the expressions of the supposed to be veteran adventuring party as we set our foot toward their temporary base.