In the wild, Firefly watched Elis as she hurried toward her, panting heavily, and said with some helplessness:
"How did you get so tired after such a short distance? Are you sure you're a B-rank Esper?"
"Fi... First of all, my ability is a support type. Although it can enhance my physical fitness a bit, it's only a little bit."
Running up to Sam, Elis leaned against a nearby tree and gasped for breath before continuing:
"And another thing, I clearly only suggested doing this in the wild, but I didn't say we had to run over ten kilometers! This distance isn't short at all!"
'Hmm... Only ten-odd kilometers; it really is quite short...'
After complaining inwardly, Firefly continued:
"Alright, since there's no one around, go ahead and use your ability on me."
"Okay!" After saying that, Elis immediately began to distance herself from Sam, only stopping once she was about a hundred meters away.
Watching Elis's confusing actions, Firefly was somewhat puzzled.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to use your ability?"
"I'm afraid that after I use it, you'll come straight at me! So I want to keep a safe distance, just in case you kill me before I even have a chance to withdraw my ability!"
"..."
Firefly was rendered speechless by her once again.
She really wanted to say that with Elis's strength, she truly couldn't affect her. And even if she did, a distance of a hundred meters was no different from one meter to her.
But seeing Elis's naive, college-student-like gaze, Firefly ultimately didn't say anything more.
"Then, I'm starting?"
"Mhm."
Hearing Elis's voice, Firefly nodded, indicating she could proceed.
Then, she saw a white light tinged with red shoot out from Elis's palm, merging into her body a second later.
Following that... nothing happened.
"Eh? You're actually completely fine?"
Watching Sam standing motionless, Elis, hiding in the distance, exclaimed in surprise.
"Normal."
Hearing Elis's exclamation, Firefly simply gave a brief reply before continuing to sense the power within her body.
To be fair, this power did have a special feel to it.
When the power poured into her body, Firefly could clearly feel her emotions being slightly affected, but it was only for an instant before she automatically filtered it out.
Although it was only a momentary, slight change that couldn't affect her strength at all, it was enough to surprise her.
She had originally thought there wouldn't be any change at all.
At this time, Elis began to approach Sam from a hundred meters away, speaking as she did so:
"When I used this ability on others before, they would instantly go crazy, immediately lashing out at everything around them. Their eyes would become incredibly fierce; it was very scary."
"But I didn't expect you to have no reaction at all, Mr. Sam. I thought she was the only one who wouldn't be affected by this..."
"She?"
Hearing that keyword, Firefly turned to look at Elis. This ability could even slightly affect her, yet someone could be completely immune to it?
Was it because they were very strong? Or did they have a special ability to negate the influence?
Seeing that Sam seemed puzzled, Elis began to explain:
"She's one of my teammates. The injured teammate I mentioned was her."
"The two of them said they were going to find someone for revenge, but because I have no combat ability and I didn't share their grudge, they went out behind my back. When they returned, she was severely injured due to Ability Overclocking, and my other teammate had to support her just to get back!"
At this point, Elis stomped her foot in frustration.
"They talk about protecting me, but they can't even protect themselves. If they had taken me along, she probably wouldn't have been so badly hurt!"
'A familiar script. But logically, her teammates should have all died in this incident, and then, overcome with grief and rage upon learning the news, she would explode with hidden power and start seeking revenge against the killer who murdered her companions, right?'
Listening to Elis's description, Firefly, who had read many novels and played through many game plots, unconsciously entered a mode of wild speculation.
But that was only a brief thought. Soon, Firefly said to the frustrated-looking Elis:
"Your ability is very strong. At least in my view, its potential is definitely beyond B-rank; you just haven't fully awakened it yet."
"Really?" Elis's eyes lit up. "I don't know if you're being honest or just comforting me, Mr. Sam, but thank you anyway!"
"Let's go. It's time to do the mission."
Ignoring Elis's words, Firefly turned and continued walking toward the target of the commission. They had already walked over ten kilometers, and there were likely about twenty more to go before they reached their destination.
"Oh, okay, coming."
Seeing Sam turn to leave, Elis bent down to rub her calves before hurriedly catching up...
"You're too slow."
After walking a few more kilometers, Firefly stopped and turned to look at Elis, who was trailing behind.
Although she was indeed so bored that she intended to walk step by step to see the scenery along the way instead of flying directly to the destination, that didn't mean she wanted to stop and wait every few steps.
"Sor... sorry, my physical condition really isn't that good..."
Elis ran toward Sam, drenched in sweat. "B-but, I still want to ask, roughly how much further is it..."
"Estimated to be about twenty kilometers more."
"...Mister Sam, how about I refund you eighteen hundred... When you finish the mission and come back, I'll be your tour guide instead..."
Upon hearing there were still twenty kilometers left, Elis's face immediately crumpled into a look of despair, and she spoke as if on the verge of tears.
"Are you afraid of heights?"
"Huh?"
The sudden "Are you afraid of heights?" left Elis momentarily dazed, but she quickly snapped out of it and shook her head.
"I'm not afraid of heights. Why?"
"As long as you're not afraid of heights, that's fine."
Firefly didn't answer her, instead speaking to herself.
Then, while Elis was still bewildered, Firefly directly grabbed one of her hands.
Immediately after, crimson flames began to erupt from the sides of Sam's calves, and in the next instant, Sam vanished from the spot.