Early that morning, at Twilight Manor...
Ryoji practiced his swordsmanship alone in silence.
His blade flashed so quickly that merely watching it made people's scalps tingle. Facing him in battle was almost unimaginable.
Even more astonishing, the sound of each swing kept growing quieter.
At first, every strike carved through the air with a sharp whistle. Now, unless someone listened carefully, all they could hear was the faintest breath of wind, as soft as a sleeping cat.
It was almost impossible to believe.
Whether it was Ais or Tiona, both Level 6 adventurers, every punch and sword strike they threw easily broke the sound barrier. Naturally, that meant their attacks became louder and more explosive as they grew stronger.
Ryoji was the exact opposite. The stronger he became, the less noise his sword made, as if he were defying common sense itself.
"You've gotten a lot stronger again." Ais walked over, unable to hide the admiration in her eyes.
She had learned a little about the Twin Wings Sword. Although she couldn't master it herself, she understood how terrifying the technique truly was. The quieter Ryoji's sword became, the closer he was to perfecting it. When even the last trace of wind vanished, it would mean he had reached the pinnacle of the technique.
"How much did your status improve after last night?"
"About seven or eight hundred points in total."
Although she hadn't specified what she meant, Ryoji immediately understood. He had updated his status after the battle in the artificial labyrinth, and his ability values had increased by roughly eight hundred points altogether.
"...Amazing." Ais lowered her head, disappointment flickering across her face.
She had updated her own status as well, but all her abilities combined had only increased by a little over sixty points. For a Level 6 adventurer, gaining more than sixty points in a single update would make almost anyone green with envy.
But compared to Ryoji's eight hundred... it barely seemed worth mentioning.
"I still don't have strong enough opponents." Ryoji lowered his practice sword, clearly dissatisfied.
He wanted stronger enemies. He wanted fiercer battles to push himself further and let him grow even faster.
"Let's have breakfast first."
"Sure."
The great clock chimed seven times. The two ended their morning training and headed toward the dining hall.
In the past, Ryoji always needed a shower after training to wash away the sweat. But now his stamina had grown so overwhelming that a normal morning practice didn't even leave him breathing hard. He hadn't needed a bath afterward for quite some time.
"Tiona? Tione? What happened to you two?"
Outside the dining hall, they ran into the Amazon sisters. Ais stared at them in shock.
The two were practically covered in blood. Their bodies were riddled with cuts and bruises, and there were even obvious signs of broken bones.
At first, Ais thought they'd been attacked by some powerful enemy. But judging from their relaxed expressions, that clearly wasn't the case, leaving both her and Ryoji thoroughly confused.
"We were training!" Tiona answered with her usual bright smile.
"Training...?" Ais looked at their injuries, her understanding of the word beginning to crumble. Was training supposed to be this brutal? Some of those wounds were so severe that if they'd been just a little worse, dying on the spot wouldn't have been surprising.
"This is how we train," Tione shrugged as though it were nothing. "All Amazons from Telskyura are raised this way."
They fought each other without stopping, until both sides collapsed from exhaustion, or one of them died. That was how the Amazons of the Kali Familia lived.
'No wonder they reached Level 6 at such a young age,' Ryoji thought.
The Amazon sisters had grown up in that kind of environment since childhood, forging a ruthlessness that had become part of who they were. It was the same for him back then. Only, as he had grown stronger, he had gradually forgotten that ruthless edge.
'I need to be like them again. I have to reclaim that ruthlessness.'
'Just as I thought. If I want to grow stronger as quickly as possible... then there's only one place I need to go.'
"That's going too far!"
"No true comrade would ever say something like that!"
The moment they stepped into the dining hall, they were greeted by complete chaos. Raul slammed his hand on a table in anger. Alicia's face was dark with fury, and a crowd had gathered around them, every single person visibly outraged.
"What's going on?"
"Ryoji-san! Ais-san! Perfect timing!"
"...Why are you suddenly calling me '-san'?"
"Because someone who led all of us safely out of the artificial labyrinth deserves that much respect!" Raul looked at Ryoji with open admiration before his expression darkened again. "But compared to you, that werewolf has gone way too far!"
The werewolf? Bete?
This was the first time Ryoji had ever heard Raul refer to him like that. What happened?
"Do you know what he said, Ryoji-san? When we found Line and the others' bodies, that werewolf actually called them weaklings and trash! He said they died because they were useless, that they didn't deserve anyone's sympathy! He kept insulting them even after they were dead! Can someone who says things like that really still be called a comrade?"
Everyone around them clenched their teeth in anger.
It had happened when Riveria returned to the artificial labyrinth with reinforcements and discovered the bodies of Line's group. While everyone else mourned the fallen, Bete alone had stood there hurling insults at the dead, showing not even the slightest trace of sympathy, as though they had never been his comrades to begin with.
Ryoji frowned. Did Bete really say that?
It was hard to believe. Ryoji already knew Bete had a habit of saying the opposite of what he felt, but he never expected him to say something like that in front of everyone. No matter the reason, insulting fallen comrades like that was crossing the line.
"Huh?" The white-haired werewolf strolled into the dining hall. "What's wrong with calling trash... trash?"
Surrounded by furious, hateful stares, he simply raised his chin and sneered.
"Do you really mean that?" Ryoji fixed him with an unwavering gaze.
Ais frowned deeply as well, clear displeasure showing on her face.
Although they had been in the same Familia for years, Bete had never been particularly well-liked. Now that Ryoji and Ais had stepped forward, Raul and the others wasted no time piling on.
"You're always so full of yourself!"
"You've always done whatever you wanted!"
"You're not even qualified to be one of us!"
Bete didn't respond to a single accusation. He only kept smirking.
'Who'd want to stand alongside a bunch of weaklings anyway?' Ryoji could almost hear those exact words running through the werewolf's mind.
Ryoji rubbed his temples. One problem after another...
The Familia had only just begun grieving their losses, and now they were already facing the threat of internal division. At a time when everyone should have been uniting their strength, this was the last thing they needed.
"Enough." Ryoji raised a hand, stopping the argument. "We'll leave this to Finn. I'm sure he'll handle it properly."
At the mention of Finn, everyone reluctantly swallowed their anger. Even so, the glares they shot at Bete remained as sharp as ever.
(End of Chapter)
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