Investigating the Ruins — Part 1
Monsters and traps ran rampant throughout ancient ruins. Clearying them out alone yielded no small amount of experience. As brilliant a prodigy as Lena was, she could never properly realize her innate genius without real combat experience under her belt. Given how cripplingly timid and lacking in confidence she was, I had spent no small amount of time fretting over how best to ease her into real battles. This was a golden opportunity.
"Um... but exploring ruins is exceptionally dangerous," Baltin began, casting a wary glance in Lena's direction. "We have no idea what you're capable of, and..."
He clearly didn't seem thrilled by the sight of Lena, who was shivering like a leaf and shrinking away from the surrounding stares.
"Communication is vital for adventurers," he continued. "If even one person acts independently, the entire party can fall apart."
He wasn't wrong. After all, why did party members always end up banished from the Hero's party, only for everyone to drown in regret, obsession, and ruin later on? Because of a lack of communication. Looked at from that angle, it was only natural that he would hesitate to accept Lena, who struggled to string two words together in front of strangers.
"Hmm. So... you're saying you don't want the key to the ruins?"
Of course, keeping the team together was the party leader's job, not mine or Lena's. Whether his party crumbled to dust or held together mattered little to me; all that counted was building up Lena's combat experience. I took the pendant from Luceia and spun it lightly around my finger. Seeing this, Baltin scowled.
Go ahead and scowl. What are you going to do about it?
"M-M-M-Master... W-Will this really be okay?" Lena stammered.
Even if they snapped under the provocation and attacked us like Lena feared, that wouldn't be a bad outcome either. After all, monsters weren't the only source of experience in this world.
"...Baltin, what are you going to do?"
"You're the leader, so you decide. Though I'm against it. We've been doing fine on our own..."
"I vote no, too. I don't want some random girl barging into our party."
Baltin's companions were unanimous in their disapproval. Aside from Baltin himself, his party consisted of three women—and from the looks of it, all three harbored feelings for him. To be fair, the guy was tall and handsome, and he carried himself like someone who genuinely knew how to fight. With pretty little Lena trying to join Baltin's side, it was only natural that the women found her presence an eyesore.
"Hrmmm... I'm afraid it won't work out after all. I apologize," Baltin said.
"Then how about this?" I proposed. "We hold the key, and you hold the information on the ruins. Neither does any good on its own. Let's settle this with a contest—winner takes all."
"Oh-ho! Now you're talking!"
A muscular female warrior stepped forward eagerly. Baltin let out a sigh and nodded in resignation, prompting me to pat Lena on the back.
"Think you can handle it?"
"H-Eek...! M-Me...?"
A third-rate warrior like that looked like she could be handled with ease. I held fast to the trembling girl to steady her. The warrior across from us, clearly pleased by Lena's terrified demeanor, began swinging a massive battle-axe through the air with swaggering bravado. Watching her brandish the heavy blade only made Lena turn paler.
"W-What happens... if, um, if I lose...?"
What happens? We move to Plan B, obviously.
"Nothing much," I said aloud instead, gesturing behind us. "Except Luceia losing her late husband's keepsake, I suppose."
Lena gasped and glanced back at Luceia. The older woman's eyes were brimming with unwavering faith and trust. Perhaps crushed beneath the weight of that expectation, Lena started shivering all over again.
"Come on! Let's get this started!" the female warrior growled, swinging her axe once more as if growing impatient.
She was acting cocky as if she'd already won, even before testing the waters. According to my Exploration Eye, Lena outclassed her in every conceivable metric.
"So do your best."
"U-Ugh... Y-Yeees..."
Shoulders stiff as a board, Lena took awkward, halting steps forward.
The sudden escalation from conversation to an impending duel startled the market crowd, who quickly backed away to give us room. An impromptu ring opened up in the center of the square. Standing in the middle, the female warrior glanced over her shoulder. Catching the eye of Baltin, who wore a wry smile, she declared with feisty confidence, "If I win, you'd better be ready to grant me a wish!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't go too hard on her."
"Haha! We'll see about that! Hraaaah!"
Stamping her foot down with a booming roar, she lunged forward. Was that the warrior skill War Cry? A technique that bolstered defense through a battle shout...
"M-Master, w-what... should I do?"
"Just do what you know."
Currently, the only offensive spell Lena had at her disposal was Magic Arrow. But she had already mastered both chantless casting and multi-casting to perfection; that alone should be more than enough to claim victory. The only missing piece was confidence.
"If you win..."
"...Huh?"
"I'll take you to the grand metropolis."
"T-T-The c-city...?"
"We'll spend a wonderful day together there. How about it? Sounds like a good reward, right?"
Nod, nod. Lena's eyes sparkled, her head bobbing up and down enthusiastically. Giving her back a firm pat, I took a step back.
"Are you ready?! Then we start now!"
"Go ahead," I replied to Baltin's call.
The instant I gave my assent, the female warrior charged.
And then—
"Aaaaaaaagh!!"
Bombarded by a barrage of over twenty Magic Arrows in rapid succession, she was blown off her feet and knocked out cold on the cobblestones.
"H-Huuuh?"
Silence swept the crowd. Everyone stared in shock, none more so than Lena, who looked utterly bewildered by the aftermath of her own attack.
"S-She... c-couldn't block that...?" Lena whipped around to look at me in disbelief.
It was only natural. Up until now, her sole sparring partner had been me. I had effortlessly deflected her multi-shot Magic Arrows every single time, which had led her to believe the spell was nothing more than a minor diversion to keep opponents at bay. Reality, however, told a very different story. A barrage of Magic Arrows cast by Lena packed more than enough firepower to obliterate a run-of-the-mill warrior in a single salvo.
"Well then. Who's next?"
Baltin's expression hardened. Only now did it dawn on him that Lena was no ordinary girl. Realizing that the rest of his party couldn't even touch her, let alone win, he stepped forward himself.
Lena, too, seemed to sense that Baltin was on an entirely different level compared to the warrior from before. Flinching under his sharp gaze, she scurried over and ducked behind my back.
"M-M-Masterrrr..."
"The grand metropolis."
"...Sniff."
"A wonderful day."
"...Wahhh."
"Plus a brand-new, lovely outfit."
"B-But..."
"And I'll throw in an artifact."
"Auuu..."
Look at her. She actually knew how to negotiate.
"We'll even go see a play."
"I-I-I'll... I-I'll do m-my very b-best!!"
Only then did she muster up her courage, timidly shuffling back into the ring.
Tension settled heavily over the square. Neither side made a sudden move. Swallowing hard as she fixed her gaze on Baltin, Lena raised her hand.
"Syl—"
"Hup!"
"—phid!!"
Eyes flashing, Baltin sprang forward with blinding speed.
Oho. He's reached the Unity of Sword and Body. Quite impressive for someone so young. Still, it wouldn't be enough against Lena.
Fwoooooosh!
Sylphid's summoning completed in an instant. A fierce gale erupted around Lena, utterly neutralizing Baltin's strike and blowing him back.
"Magic Arrow!"
Before Baltin could recover his footing from the rebound, another volley of twenty Magic Arrows rained down upon him. He slashed his sword in a blur, deflecting the light darts and preparing to lunge forward once more, but Lena was already one step ahead.
"Create Water!"
Splash!
A deluge cascaded over Baltin's head as he tried to sprint. Soaked to the bone and unable to dodge, he pressed forward to slash at her—only for Lena to thrust her hand forward again.
"Freezing!"
Craaackle!
A biting frost seized his drenched body. The water clinging to his limbs froze solid, drastically slowing his movements. Seizing the opening, Lena used Sylphid's wind to widen the distance before raising her hand once more.
"Lightning Shock!"
Bzzzzzzzt!
"Gaaaaagh!!"
Currents of electricity surged through Baltin's waterlogged body. As a basic lightning spell, Lightning Shock normally packed about as much punch as static electricity. But the one casting it was none other than Lena. Backed by her boundless mana and peerless talent, the fully charged spell possessed the devastating destructive power of an intermediate magic circle. Baltin had no choice but to take the brutal brunt of it.
"D-Damn it all...! Like this could stop me!!"
Well now. Look at him endure that.
Even Lena seemed caught off guard that he could withstand it; she flinched, and Baltin seized that fraction of a second to shatter the encasing ice and charge.
D-Don't... don't touch my f-friend!!
Whirlwind howl!
A violent vortex sprang to life, wrapping around Baltin. Sylphid, the spirit contracted to Lena, had unleashed her power to protect her summoner. Lena didn't waste the opening.
"M-Magic Arrow!!"
Another barrage of light arrows rained down, and this time, Baltin was blown clean off his feet.
"Please don't get up... please don't get up... stay down..."
Talk about desperate.
She still had plenty of mana left to keep fighting, yet she muttered pitifully toward the fallen adventurer like a child praying for a miracle. Perhaps to grant her wish, Baltin staggered to his feet for a fleeting second before his legs gave out, collapsing onto the ground unconscious.
"W-Waaaah!! I-I w-won! I won!!"
"Yeah. Well done."
Though Baltin sat dazed for a while even after regaining consciousness, struggling to accept his defeat, he ultimately let out a weary sigh and handed over a map.
🏛 Type: Ancient Ruins
⚔ Difficulty: Intermediate Tier
📍 Location: Outskirts of Greenhild
"We suspect the ruins located here are of intermediate grade," Baltin explained.
"Is that so? Much obliged. I imagine tracking down the location took quite some effort."
"Haaah..."
Baltin let out a heavy sigh and turned away. The shoulders of the defeated adventurers hung low with shame.
"I will never forget this defeat. Next time our paths cross, victory will be mine."
I gave a light nod toward the man and his companions as they steeled their resolve.
"You heard him, right?"
"...H-Eek...! C-C-Could you... p-please just... f-forget it...?"
As Lena whimpered in tears, trembling from head to toe, Baltin stared at her in silence for a moment before turning on his heel and walking away. His companions trailed quietly behind him.
At least they were graceful in defeat. If they'd whined or clung on stubbornly, I was fully prepared to slit all their throats.
"M-M-Master! W-W-What... what do we do? Huh? What do we dooo?"
What else could we do?
"Guess you'll have to train extra hard, won't you?"
I smiled and gently stroked the teary-eyed girl's head.