Aria and Tomoya took Lala to the church.
There, there were several other children. It was similar to an orphanage where the caretakers were the nun sisters.
Tomoya didn't express his support with words, but rather, he handed ten gold coins to the head nun upon seeing that the children there were happy and well cared for, and later brought a sack full of food.
He himself became an orphan very early and had to fend for himself with an allowance he received from his maternal grandparents, so he sympathized with these children.
At the guild, Vulcan met up with them.
This time, they took on a total of 5 Rank C missions: 1x Rank C Poisonous Serpent, 1x Rank C Poison Bee, and 3x Rank C Minotaur.
In addition to the Rank C missions, they also took on a Rank B one. It was to exterminate a Rank B Wyvern.
"It's hard to believe that two grown men dare to beat a little child – Nyah. They deserve a painful death," Vulcan said as soon as he heard about what happened earlier that day.
"Well, from what people commented, a little boy in a big coat and hood appeared out of nowhere and took the two away," Aria touched her lips: "I wonder where that little boy took them? Now that those two lost their legs, if it's to a dangerous place…"
"Maybe he took them to the labyrinth?" Tomoya pretended to deduce: "It could be that this little boy or girl – since no one could really tell if it was a man or a woman – awakened a teleportation ability and was one of the victims of those scoundrels and wanted revenge."
"Makes sense – Nyah!" Vulcan agreed.
"Well, looking at it from that angle, it could really be something like that," Aria crossed her arms, thoughtful.
"Anyway, let's think about that later," Tomoya said: "Let's get going so it doesn't get too late."
"Yes, but before that, I want to eat," Aria touched her flat stomach.
"Agreed~" Vulcan extended his hand with a cheerful smile.
...
...
In the labyrinth. It didn't even take an hour for them to reach the fifth floor.
This time, Tomoya took on most of the attack. Even when the Ropers appeared, he simply released a freezing air, making the Ropers slow down and gradually freeze. Then he only needed to shoot a water arrow into each one's eyes.
As they crossed the entrance to the fifth floor, slow and heavy footsteps stopped inside.
It was like a pattern, walking to a certain spot X and then returning. The Minotaur made the same movements, following a pattern.
In silence, Vulcan signaled with his hand.
Tomoya and Aria nodded as if agreeing with what she wanted to convey.
Then, Tomoya used buffs on both of them.
In Vulcan's hand, a War Hammer appeared. It was different from the one she usually used; this one had a hammerhead the size and shape of a wine barrel.
However, before Tomoya's eyes, she made the hammerhead visibly shrink to be as large as a 13-kilo domestic gas cylinder.
'Is it possible to do that?'
He hadn't considered this possibility before. Perhaps because he felt that the default form of the 9 forms was the ultimate form.
This made Tomoya's eyes shine a little.
If that's the case, could he even make the magic scepter look like a wand?
He tried to convey his thought directly to the magic scepter, and indeed, it began to undergo a change.
From a magic scepter measuring 1 meter and 50 cm, it visibly changed to become a kind of 50 cm stick.
Although the shape itself remained the same, with three claws around a green crystal, this was already enough for him to plan different ways to use it.
For now, he made the magic scepter return to its previous size.
At the same time he did this, the Minotaur was killed.
Aria deeply cut its thighs, making it kneel on the ground, and Vulcan crushed its chest with a single hammer blow, killing it instantly.
Quick and painless? Maybe...
But if it really felt the blow before dying, it must have hurt a lot.
"We finished a Minotaur in a matter of seconds~!" Aria said, beaming with joy.
"Yes – nyah~!" Even Vulcan, who had already teamed up with Rank A and S people, was amazed at the speed with which they killed a Minotaur.
The fact that the Minotaur was thick-skinned was well known; because of this, although it's not the most powerful monster, even Rank A needs to put in some effort to kill it.
Tomoya's eyelids lifted slightly, his eyes clear and bright.
His buffs had gotten stronger. Even if just by one level, it was enough to further increase Vulcan and Aria's power.
He also leveled up twice just today. If he keeps up this pace, it won't take long for him to reach level 99.
"!"
A kind of alarm went off in Tomoya's mind. Instantly, he looked in one direction and saw a Roper appear. This one was clearly different from the generic Roper. It was larger and had a vibe of being a more powerful creature on the same level as the Minotaur.
Tomoya simply vanished from where he was using 'Distance Shrink' and reappeared in front of the Roper.
At the tip of his magic scepter, a sphere of water formed. In the next instant, that same sphere shot a jet of water toward the Roper's eye.
[Level Up!]
[The following Mage class skills became available: [Water Phoenix Lv.1], [Ice Phoenix Lv.1], [Fire Phoenix Lv.1], [Earth Phoenix Lv.1], [Wind Phoenix Lv.1], [Lightning Phoenix Lv.1]]
A single shot, and a Rank C monster fell.
Tomoya didn't have any weird fetishes and didn't want to see a disgusting scene with tentacles and beautiful girls, so he finished it quickly.
And seeing that new skills became available made him smile.
Meanwhile, Vulcan and Aria, who noticed what happened, were stunned.
There was silence for almost three seconds!
Whistles…
Time seemed to stretch infinitely in that moment!
Coming back to their senses, Vulcan and Aria approached.
"Tomoya, that just now was…" Aria began.
Vulcan finished: "Teleport – nyah!?"
Turning to them, Tomoya replied: "Almost. It's a skill of mine capable of shrinking my distance up to 20 meters. Unfortunately, I can't use it to shrink more than 20 meters."
'At least for now,' he added in his mind.
"Even so, that's fantastic!" Aria said: "Unlike the teleportation magic I've seen and heard about, what you used was instantaneous."
"Yes – Nyah – I agree with Aria, your distance-shrinking magic is really good, since I didn't even feel any energy fluctuation until you vanished right before our eyes~!"
"Leaving that aside," Tomoya said: "Let's collect the mission parts and continue."
"Okay."
With the cooperation of the two, it didn't take long for them to cut the necessary parts for the mission and sell the corpses.
"By the way, that Roper was a surprise. It's rare to see an Irregular Roper. They're worth even more than Minotaurs," Vulcan said.
"Wait," Aria signaled with her hands.
Not far away, there was a group of goblins. Ten goblins in total, three of them being Goblin Mages.
"Now it's our turn – Nyah~" With her mouth in a feline shape, Vulcan charged with the War Hammer at her side, holding it with both hands.
Aria was even faster. She started running, and even without using her unique skill, her speed was no joke.
Pointing the scepter at them, Tomoya applied three different buffs to them.
Enhanced by the buffs, their speed increased by at least 50%.
With the buffs applied, Tomoya just watched in case other monsters appeared and tried to interfere.
In a matter of seconds, Aria and Vulcan finished off all the goblins, not even giving the Goblin Mages a chance to deal any significant damage to them.
Vulcan used the Goblin Mages' own attacks as a source of her power, while Aria cut through the flames with her long swords.
In the first place, Aria was already a skilled Swordswoman. The advice she received from Tomoya earlier was about her caution and reliance on her speed skill, without showcasing her real abilities. When she changed her fighting style, starting to visualize mentally before engaging in combat, her momentum improved significantly.
Vulcan… Well, she was a veteran adventurer. From what Tomoya saw, if she wanted to, she could advance to Rank B. She simply didn't because she chose not to.
Approaching, Tomoya used 'Wind Blades' and cut off the goblins' ears.
The three staves of the Goblin Mages were stored in the Item Box.
"That storage ring of yours is really convenient – Nyah~" Vulcan said with a smile on her lips and closed eyes.
Tomoya didn't comment, just smiled.
After he sold the goblins' corpses, they continued.
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
At the sound of a bellow, they saw a Minotaur with a wooden club turn the corner.
The Minotaur's white eyes fixed on them.
The Minotaur's expression twisted. In the Minotaur's view, they were something abominable that needed to be killed.
Charging toward them with heavy steps, the Minotaur, which reached over 4 meters in height, froze midway.
With the magic scepter pointed at the Minotaur, Tomoya made ice appear on the ground, freezing the Minotaur's legs.