The Class Up ceremony was extremely simple.
After the priest poured the container's liquid into the slot beneath the Dragon Hourglass, all the ones undergoing Class Up stepped forward, closed their eyes, touched the Dragon Hourglass, and focused their consciousness.
A large tree-shaped array of icons appeared, familiar to anyone who'd played RPGs—it allowed them to select their future growth paths.
Raphtalia chose a path emphasizing magic, while Gabriel picked one focused on close combat.
Naofumi's companions also underwent their Class Ups, significantly boosting their abilities.
Not only could they break past their Growth Limits, but one particular stat would double after Class Up—though in Raphtalia and Gabriel's case, all their attributes increased by 1.5 times.
Maybe that was what people meant by "growth rates."
Now that their Class Ups were done and they'd confirmed the time remaining until the next Wave, there was no point sticking around any longer.
Before leaving, Kiriko glanced at the nun, unconscious, covered in blood from the two stab wounds.
She didn't feel she'd gone overboard at all.
They were summoned here specifically to fight the Waves—and the second Wave was almost upon them.
At such a critical moment, these people were still using so-called "divine revelations" to block the Zero Hero's and Shield Hero's companions from Classing Up…
What was the difference between these guys and traitors to their country?
During wartime, execution by firing squad wouldn't even be excessive.
Yet all Kiriko had done was stab her twice—wounds that could be easily healed without any lasting harm if treated by recovery magic later.
Shouldn't she be thankful just to escape with her worthless life?
Kiriko's group exited the tower, but immediately ran into someone they absolutely didn't want to see.
"Naofumi? And… Kiriko-san, you two are…"
Motoyasu Kitamura froze in place, along with his three female companions.
Of course, among the Spear Hero's companions was Malty—the one who framed Kiriko and Naofumi.
"Motoyasu-sama!"
Seeing Kiriko and Naofumi, Malty immediately shrank back in fear, hiding behind Motoyasu.
Recovery magic in this world sure is convenient, huh.
Kiriko distinctly remembered ripping out Malty's tongue, yet recovery magic had evidently reattached it without issue.
Looking at Motoyasu and Malty, Kiriko couldn't help but recall a famous line from Naruto:
Wherever couples flaunt their love, fire will burn. That's the Will of Fire.
Kiriko snorted and began walking past the Spear Hero's party.
"Um, Kiriko-san…"
Motoyasu seemed about to say something, but Kiriko swiftly cut him off.
"Shut up, you fucking normie."
Normies and virgins—two camps utterly irreconcilable since the dawn of civilization.
Every time she thought about how Motoyasu was basically a walking shared power bank for girls in both worlds, Kiriko was filled with uncontrollable rage.
"Naofumi, let's go."
...
After leaving the Dragon Hourglass, Naofumi anxiously greeted Kiriko before swiftly leading his companions outside the city.
Only twenty hours left—any levels they gained would be limited, but it was better than doing nothing at all.
Kiriko's group headed directly for the slave trader's camp instead.
"A Filolial capable of transforming into human form?"
The shady merchant adjusted his glasses, dumbfounded.
"Zero Hero-sama, surely you're not teasing me? How could Filolials possibly assume human form?"
As he spoke, he carefully examined Gabriel, still in Filolial form.
Kiriko hadn't directly told him that her Filolial could transform; she'd only asked if it was possible.
She observed the merchant carefully as he answered, noting no signs of deceit.
Besides, merchants always aimed to profit—passing off inferior goods as superior, not the other way around.
"Well, back in my world, guns and ships could transform into humans, so I wondered if it might be the same here… Ah, never mind. If it's not possible, forget I asked."
"However," the slave trader added cautiously, "legend has it the Filolial Queen possesses advanced transformation capabilities. Yet there's no consensus whether such a leader truly exists."
"Really? Got it."
Maybe Gabriel was just special—or maybe there was another reason. Whatever, she'd deal with it when the time came.
Compared to that, Gabriel's clothing situation gave Kiriko the biggest headache right now.
She'd originally planned to visit Erhard's weapon shop, but now they had to stop by a magic item shop first, hoping to find suitable clothes for Gabriel.
...
"Oh, I see—you want clothes that won't break upon transformation? I'm terribly sorry, but we don't sell anything that magical here," the magic shop owner said apologetically after Kiriko explained her request.
Of course not…
Kiriko felt mildly disappointed.
Thinking logically, it made sense. The reason anime characters' clothes magically reappeared after transformations wasn't because of some mystical item—it was simply because artists were too lazy to redraw them each time.
But now this was genuinely troublesome.
She couldn't constantly carry around spare clothes for Gabriel, could she?
Hmm. She supposed they could store clothes in the Dimensional Bag, but that still wasn't exactly convenient.
"But while we don't sell ready-made clothing like what you described, we do sell a tool capable of creating clothes exactly like that," the shopkeeper said, smiling slyly.
After the shopkeeper explained, Kiriko quickly understood.
The shop had a special spinning device that turned magical power into thread. Tailors could then use that magical thread to craft clothing.
Clothes made from magical thread would automatically revert into magical energy during transformations, then reappear as clothing afterward.
The shopkeeper produced something resembling a sewing machine.
"Simply place your hand here, turn the handle, and it will produce magical thread."
"Does it have to be the user's own hand, or will anyone's work?"
"Anyone with magic power can operate it."
"I see."
Kiriko didn't have Gabriel step forward—instead, she approached the device herself and started turning the handle.
As she turned it, Kiriko felt a slight tug, like a thin thread of energy being drawn from her body.
If she checked her Status Magic now, she'd probably see clearly:
Magic points continuously draining: -1, -1, -1, -1, -1…
But the depletion rate was still slower than her passive regeneration.
---
T/N: this is a chill read