Noah Heal—a single-target recovery magic. Its healing effect is excellent, but it takes effect slowly. When used in forest terrain, its effectiveness is further enhanced.
A trace of excitement surfaced on Roy's face. In this world, each person could possess at most three spells. Yet Elf King's Authority allowed him to ignore that aptitude limit.
There was no upper bound to the number of spells he could learn.
Roy was still holding Ryuu's soft, boneless hand—cool to the touch, like the finest jade in the world. Earlier, he had been fully focused on learning magic, without the leisure to savor it.
Sensing Roy's deliberate mischief, Ryuu's pretty face flushed red as she quietly withdrew her hand.
Roy felt a pang of regret.
Ryuu looked at him. "What is going on?"
Roy knew what she wanted to ask and replied, "It's actually a newly awakened skill of mine. I can learn the magic of friends—yes, that's how it works."
He absolutely did not dare tell her the truth about Elf King's Authority. If that skill were exposed, elves from all over the world would come running to interrogate him about why he possessed such an ability. Answer wrong, and he'd be cut down on the spot.
Learning elven magic out of admiration was one thing—if one's faith and longing were strong enough, perhaps such a miracle skill could awaken.
But forcibly suppressing an elf's body and soul was something else entirely—terrifying.
Elves would never allow a human to possess such a skill. They would band together and kill him without hesitation.
With the facts right before her, Ryuu had no choice but to believe him.
She pressed a hand to her forehead, looking at Roy with a mixture of shock, awe, and finally a complicated expression.
She had already thought his previous two skills were absurd enough. Now he had revealed yet another—one that allowed him to learn others' magic, with no limit.
It was as if miracles themselves existed for his sake.
Ryuu smiled. "Miss Ryuu, let's strike while the iron's hot. Why don't we also learn Luminous Wind?"
Ryuu's expression stiffened. If Roy learned all her magic, wouldn't she become a useless elf?
"Let's talk about it some other time. There's something more important right now," Ryuu said vaguely, taking a document from a cabinet in the hall and handing it to him.
Roy accepted it and glanced down. Seeing the Guild's seal, he frowned.
"This is…?"
"An expedition."
With that, Roy immediately understood. He sighed inwardly—what was coming would always come.
After all, the Guild's ultimate goal was the same as his: to explore and ultimately conquer the Dungeon.
Any Familia registered in Orario as a Dungeon-exploration type, once it reached a certain level, would receive mandatory expedition orders from the Guild.
They would be required to enter a designated floor of the Dungeon—discovering new monsters, materials, or even mapping terrain was fine, as long as they brought back something new.
Gather as much unknown information as possible—that was the purpose of an expedition.
Still, Roy found it a little outrageous. It hadn't even been two months since the Astraea Familia's annihilation, yet the Guild already dared to send them on an expedition.
He skimmed through the document at a glance. It required them to reach at least the twenty-fourth floor.
From a combat perspective, that was reasonable.
The Astraea Familia's faction rank was B. At their peak, they had once reached as deep as the forty-first floor.
If the Guild had ordered them to go back to the forty-first floor, Roy would've rather gone and chopped that pig Royman down himself.
An elite Lv.4 Ryuu, plus an elite Lv.2 Roy, plus two Lv.1 newcomers—the twenty-fourth floor carried risks, but not too many.
The expedition deadline was three days later. If Roy hadn't returned in time, Ryuu had planned to cancel the expedition. She would never take two newcomers along to die.
But now that Roy had returned in such a high-profile manner, using that excuse to stall the Guild was impossible.
"Welcome back!"
"Welcome back, Mr. Roy!"
"Ro—y—Mr. Roy, welcome back."
As Roy and Ryuu discussed the expedition, the door opened again. Three graceful figures entered, their eyes lighting up the moment they saw Roy.
It was the goddess Astraea and the other two.
Astraea was gentle, elegant, and dignified, yet not aloof—approachable in a way that naturally inspired goodwill.
Daphne was confident and forthright, brimming with heroic vigor.
Cassandra was shy and withdrawn, timid and melancholic.
Three women, each with her own distinct charm and style.
"Let's prepare dinner first," Roy said, putting away the Guild's expedition document.
"Mr. Roy, you've worked hard. Leave dinner to us!" Daphne and Cassandra said together, one on each side, pressing Roy back onto the sofa.
Their eyes shone with admiration. On the way back to the Stardust Garden, they had already heard of Roy's feats—his annihilation of the remnants of the Rudra Familia.
Over a hundred people, wiped out by his own hand.
With that, the two of them hurried into the kitchen.
Roy looked at Ryuu, helplessness on his face.
The two went out into the courtyard. While Astraea, Daphne, and Cassandra prepared dinner, Roy successfully learned Ryuu's magic Luminous Wind.
Though Ryuu worried about becoming a useless elf, she was even more afraid that Roy might one day need this spell and suffer an accident because he hadn't mastered it.
When Roy had completely grasped both of Ryuu's spells, the elf girl wore a gloomy expression, her gaze tinged with resentment.
In the words of the gods, their settings overlapped.
Once Roy's level caught up to hers, her role in the team would be greatly diminished.
Anything she could do, Roy could also do.
And even things she couldn't do—Roy could.
Smack! Smack!
Ryuu clapped her cheeks. She still had her own skills—experience and techniques honed as an adventurer. Those were hers alone.
"Let's learn concurrent chanting!" Ryuu glared at Roy like a fired-up child, determined to compete.
Like the "Sword Princess" Ais Wallenstein, she had reached Lv.2 within just one year of receiving a blessing—before Roy's appearance, she had been the fastest-leveling adventurer, Orario's most dazzling "star of tomorrow."
Roy's innate lightning magic required no chant, but the spells he learned from others did.
Concurrent chanting was a technique he had to master.
Seeing that Miss Ryuu was fully fired up, Roy welcomed the challenge. If she dared to teach him, he dared to learn.
In concurrent chanting, Ryuu finally regained her confidence.
The facts proved that while Roy could rapidly master swordsmanship, combat techniques, and ability values, his talent for concurrent chanting was merely average.
He kept biting his tongue until his mouth was full of blood, even triggering mana misfires that nearly blew the manor apart.
Handling high-speed attacks, movement, evasion, defense, and chanting simultaneously was impossible.
At best, Roy could manage movement and chanting together.
Seeing Roy in such a sorry state, Ryuu's spirits lifted considerably. This boy was far from "omnipotent." From now on, she would teach him properly!
Through the window, the goddess Astraea watched the two training, the corner of her perfect, delicate lips lifting slightly.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
The first stage of saving (and conquering) the elf girl whose body and soul had fallen into darkness—complete.
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