The group dined together until evening, and after everyone had bathed, Hestia, for the first time in a while, updated everyone's status.
It's worth noting that after Bell woke up, Hestia had already updated his status while the others were preparing for the War Game. Perhaps because the Minotaur was an unconquerable foe for him, after that adventure, Bell also reached LV2, immediately leaving more than half of the Familia members behind.
"Everyone, after you've bathed, come to my room one by one!"
Amidst what sounded like an awful declaration, Hestia led the other girls of the Familia into the women's bathhouse.
"Let's go, Bell. Even though it's just the two of us men in the Familia, the size of the bathhouse hasn't shrunk."
"Okay, Takatsuki."
After washing his body, he immersed himself in the bath. Takatsuki looked at Bell, who also looked comfortable from the hot water, and asked, "Bell, how is Haruhime doing?"
"Huh?" Bell was startled and said somewhat shyly, "Well, still the same, I guess."
"Have you two made no progress?"
"Progress? I often go to chat with her, and Haruhime is very happy. That's how it is."
Looking at Bell's flushed face, Takatsuki wasn't sure if it was due to the water temperature in the bathhouse or shyness.
"Then do you want to borrow some money? To redeem Haruhime?"
Although he said that, Takatsuki knew that even with money, Haruhime couldn't be redeemed. She was one of the Ishtar Familia's trump cards. Although he didn't know if their head god had a problem, forcing everyone in the Familia to be prostitutes, regardless of their value or wishes, he knew that Bell could only forcibly take Haruhime out.
"No need, Takatsuki. The money I earn now can cover Haruhime's time every day. I will slowly earn money and redeem her."
"So, does that count as you having a mistress outside?"
After a single sentence rendered Bell speechless and after they finished bathing, Takatsuki and Bell left the bathhouse together.
While sitting on the living room sofa waiting for others to update their statuses, Hestia's shriek once again echoed throughout the Hearth Manor.
"A LV5 has appeared!!!!!"
LV5, an average adventurer would need several years to reach this level. Reaching LV5 meant becoming a top-tier adventurer and joining the upper echelon of Orario.
Even the Loki Familia and Freya Familia, the two largest Familias, relied on LV5 as their main force.
And continuous advancement was something that hadn't happened in thousands of years, with Takatsuki being the first to break the precedent.
And this precedent was broken again in just a few days, and by the same group of people.
"Class Monitor! You're too amazing! How did you do it?"
"Class Monitor has left us behind in an instant."
"Bronya thinks it should be because the Class Monitor's injuries have healed, so her recovered strength was calculated into the Falna."
By the time Takatsuki and Bell arrived, the three girls were already looking at Fu Hua's updated Falna results.
"Although no magic was manifested, a new skill appeared, and the last skill can now be used."
Hestia was also dizzy from the sudden good news, and only summarized it after Takatsuki arrived.
"Edge of Taixuan? It can be used!?"
Takatsuki looked at Fu Hua, who was standing quietly nearby, and asked with some surprise.
"Yes, actually, after the treatment was completed, I had a faint feeling. After just leveling up, I suddenly had a feeling of enlightenment."
Hearing Fu Hua's words, Hestia said somewhat proudly: "Of course! When you leveled up, I saw that you had the potential to refine and optimize it, so I unearthed it. How do you feel?"
"It's very good. The current Edge of Taixuan no longer requires Honkai Energy to be activated, but the drawback is that if there isn't enough energy around, it might need to draw upon external objects to provide energy. I'll teach you the improved Edge of Taixuan later."
Fu Hua nodded and then said to the others.
A golden Hamon suddenly appeared, and a magic stone fell from mid-air into Takatsuki's hand.
"Try if magic stones work. If they do, we'll just collect more magic stones later."
Taking the magic stone from Takatsuki's hand, under everyone's gaze, the magic stone shattered like a monster from the Dungeon, turning into dust and disappearing, while a burning flame ignited in Fu Hua's other hand.
"Class Monitor!? You don't have magic, do you? How did you do this?"
Kiana asked, looking at the flame in Fu Hua's hand in astonishment.
"This isn't magic, but rather internal energy transformed from Edge of Taixuan. You'll be able to do it too once you reach that realm."
Shaking her hand to dispel the flames, Fu Hua looked intently in Takatsuki's direction. Takatsuki was currently holding a piece of paper he'd gotten from Mei, looking at Fu Hua's updated abilities. Besides the unsealing of Edge of Taixuan, there was also a new skill:
[Ten Thousand Years of Persistence]
-Conviction and Persistence
-The stronger the persistence, the greater the ability displayed
These two introductions were very brief, but as is widely known, the simpler the introduction, the more overpowered the effect.
Takatsuki looked up just in time to see Fu Hua staring at him.
Before he could ask anything, Hestia ushered them out of the room. Hearing the uncontrollable laughter from inside through the door, the group exchanged glances, not knowing what to say, and simply returned to their respective rooms.
However, later that evening, Takatsuki quietly arrived at Fu Hua's room door and gently knocked twice.
"The door isn't locked."
A clear, cool voice came from inside the room.
Upon pushing the door open, the room wasn't dark as Takatsuki had imagined. Fu Hua was sitting on the bed, wearing a pristine white shirt, her neatly managed long hair tied up and resting on her right shoulder. In her hands, she held an open book.
"Is something the matter?"
Hearing Fu Hua's question, Takatsuki's throat bobbed before he spoke, "Fu Hua, have you remembered your past memories?"
"Yes."
Hearing Fu Hua's answer, Takatsuki confirmed his thoughts. He remembered that when the Herrscher of Sentience appeared, it was Ottar who had completely healed Fu Hua's injuries and restored all her memories.
Initially, Takatsuki thought the Herrscher of Sentience regained all memories because she herself was the Herrscher of Sentience, but now it seemed Fu Hua's injuries were the biggest reason.
"Then the questions you suddenly asked me this afternoon, was it because you had seen me before?"
Takatsuki's words made Fu Hua's gaze turn strange.
"Have you ever lost your memory?"
Fu Hua's words made Takatsuki roll his eyes, "How could that be? My memory is perfectly intact. Just say what you want to say, aren't we companions?"
Takatsuki pulled a chair in the room and sat by the bed, looking at Fu Hua. He already had some faint guesses, but he needed Fu Hua to confirm them before he could be certain of his thoughts.
"Ha…"
Placing the book on the bedside table, Fu Hua looked at Takatsuki, "I don't know how to explain it, but I did see you, fifty thousand years ago."