With a slew of monsters all around, Ardee eventually managed to pick one to fight. A level 3 dragon type monster about twenty times her size. I won't stay too far behind him. He's a hero, and their heroines need to be strong too!
Ardee began combat with the dragon, Shurry kept all of the other monsters away from the area while she went on her adventure. She started with some simple slashes, and maneuvers, dodging & weaving through attacks.
A minute into the fight, she kicked it up a notch, her fighting style began to change… Faster, more elegant, and refined! Scales flew off, her blade finally started dealing damage… Stronger! She double timed a turn around…
The dragon arched its neck back over top of its body, it was already charging its fiery breath, Fires that would consume her in a blaze she had no hope of resisting at the moment. It unleashed its breath attack, a sign of its revulsion towards the creature that caused it harm.
Ardee dove down, and ran straight forward, the fire slightly singeing the tip of her hair before blowing out. She used the dragon's body as a stepping platform, jumping up, performing a short twirl, and slammed her feet directly into the dragon's lower jaw.
Far too surprised, the dragon's fire turned against it, blowing down through its neck, and out the rear end. Killing itself with its very own flames… Ardee was victorious.
"That was amazing Ardee! You're getting so much stronger!" Shurry cheered, as a mountain of monster corpses lay about.
"Hehe, I'm still nothing compared to you-"
"What are you talking about? Compared to me, you're a girlfriend! My girlfriend!" Shurry retorted in the moment, admitting the feelings he'd been barely holding beneath the surface. He blushed realizing what he just did.
Ardee's expression turned from pure exhaustion to a happily embarrassed one. She ran over and gave him a hug, and for the first time, a quick kiss. "I'm so happy!"
From then on, their adventure became a bit different, more of a wondrous adventure than anything. Though they would hunt, and train daily, making sure to eat their fill. They spent a few months down in the dungeon like this. Largely because Shurry needed to grind out some Excelia, and some really meant a lot, more than others would gain in 3 or even 4 levels. For he now knew that there was an absolute upper-bounding limit that not even he could cross, the thought of missing any of that was too much to bear.
…
The pair arrived on the surface after their long excursion deep down into the dungeon. Ardee rode on Shurry's back, hugging him tight.
"Wow, you've been down there for a while now. What were you doing?" One of the guards posted asked, he was from the Ganesha familia.
"Oh, we were training. And did a lot of hunting." Ardee answered in her sweet giggly voice. "Alright, can you walk me home Shurry?"
With Shurry's speed, he reached the Ganesha familia rather quickly. With enough speed it actually induced a mini-heart attack from one of their newer guards.
Ardee hopped up to, and then off of Shurry's shoulders, doing a couple of flips in the air, landing inside her familias home. Turned to look at her boyfriend, and made a cute little heart. "Love you!" She said, then remembered that they weren't alone anymore, got embarrassed, and then ran off to find Ganesha.
"Pfft, she's changed so much in the last few months. How'd it go down there?"
"Huh? Oh, um, we had lots of fun, fought a lot of monsters, and trained a whole bunch. How did things go up here?"
"Shakti was, uh… In a rather terrible mood the whole time. We trained so hard every day. Though we might get a break soon. Now that Ardee's back to control her big sister."
"I don't think so… Ardee improved a lot while we were down in the dungeon… Anyway, I've gotta go home and see my Mother! Bye!" Shurry said, moving away so fast a powerful gust of wind caused more than a few men to witness the holy sight under some skirts, only then to receive a slap to the face.
"That kid… He's something else-"
"I AM GANESHA! YOU GREW SO MUCH!"
"Uh oh, there's no chance she leveled up again, is there?"
"No, surely not."
…
"Hehehe! I told you! I want to get strong enough that I can finally do that thing, safely!"
"I know, but… I am Ganesha?"
"Hmph!" Ardee crossed her arms, still not putting her shirt back on, protesting the unfair practice of banning her from what she earned. "You said I could level up, so why aren't you leveling me up!"
"Please Ardee, wait. If you level up now, you'll have a lot of wasted potential. Sure a few of your stats are nearing 600 now. But it would be better for you to reach higher numbers. Aim for S rank, or at the very least A rank. One's strength isn't solely determined by one's level. In fact I've suggested changing the concept we've been using so far, I'll just tell you, leveling up is equivalent to roughly 300 stats in each of your basic abilities. It sounds like a lot, but in reality it really isn't. With proper effort, and training, even a level 1 can beat a level 2. A feat that only becomes easier the higher the level goes."
"So you don't want me to be weaker than I could be?" Ardee asked with a curious look, sighed, and then smiled. "Fine, but I want to level up faster. So I'm going to train at Hathor familia for a while now. I gotta go pack." She said loosely putting on her shirt, and ran out of the room, and passed by Shakti. "Hi big sister! I earned the right to level up. Are you going to let me catch up?" She teased, smiling as she disappeared down the hall.
"What? Lord Ganesha, explain!" Shakti all but demanded.
He leaped behind the desk, peeking out from behind it. "I am Ganesha… Yes, she did. But I didn't level her up yet."
"Good…. That damn boy. He's going to steal my sister away!" A regretful tear rolled. "I'm tripling everyone's training! Starting today!"
"Oh come on, captain, that's not"
"Complaint and I'll make four times!"
"Woo hoo! I love more training!"
"Good, then four times it is…" Shakti smirked.
Even Ganesha was quivering behind the desk.
And so began their training from hell, under the strictest, and most demanding captain ever.
By the time it all began, Ardee had already packed her bag, with all of the things she needed to stay multiple nights over at Hathor familia. And she left, running through the streets with a big smile on her face. I can't wait to tell him!