Three days later, Ronan and Jeanne took some time to visit Tsubaki's workshop to pick up their custom equipment.
Inside the workshop, Ronan couldn't stop running his hand over the brand-new armor. He was amazed. "This workmanship is incredible! I can't even see where the damage was before. It looks completely new!"
Tsubaki crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with a scoff. "Stop flattering me. Even if you talk until your throat hurts, I won't give you a discount."
"..."
On the other side, Jeanne had already put on her custom armor. She carefully adjusted the fit and tried moving her arms and legs.
"How does it feel, Jeanne?" Tsubaki asked, her eyes checking for any flaws.
Jeanne clenched her fist. She felt the thin, breathable material of the gauntlets. It wrapped around her hand perfectly and felt almost weightless. She was surprised. "It's amazing. There is no discomfort at all! Collbrande, your skills are impressive!"
Hearing that, Tsubaki straightened her back proudly and laughed out loud. "Smithing is amazing, isn't it? But compared to Lady Hephaestus, I still have a long way to go."
"The Goddess Hephaestus..." From Ronan's earlier explanation, Jeanne knew this goddess specialized in smithing. Her skill was the best even among the gods. Even with her divine power sealed in the lower world, she could still make things far beyond what mortals could make.
Jeanne then tested the feel of her main weapon and side weapon. She was just as satisfied with them.
Seeing this, Ronan quickly paid the rest of the money. He also bought maintenance oil and sharpening stones to care for the weapons and armor. After that, the two said goodbye to Tsubaki and returned to their base.
...
During the following days, while waiting for the staff to be finished, Ronan threw himself completely into Jeanne's strict training again.
"Why is your body so stiff? Relax. Let your body loosen up. Only when you are relaxed can you use your strength properly and change your moves smoothly."
"I told you not to raise your shoulders. Why are you tensing up again? Lower your center of gravity. Your base must be stable."
"Distance. Watch the distance. In a melee fight, you must control the space. Use the advantage of a long weapon against short blades. You are training in staff techniques, not dagger fighting."
Jeanne's strict teaching made Ronan feel like he was back in school with a very strict teacher.
"Teacher Jeanne~" Ronan purposely dragged out his words. "If you put on a pair of glasses, you'd look even stricter."
"You... what are you daydreaming about? Focus!" Jeanne's cheeks turned slightly red, and she raised her voice in anger.
...
Time flew by quickly, and soon a week had passed.
For Ronan, this period was hard but satisfying. His daily routine was either being beaten by Jeanne or being on his way to be beaten by Jeanne.
Because of the fatigue, Jeanne took over the cooking and housework. Ronan could only help with small tasks.
If it weren't for his skills helping him endure the training, and the fact that Jeanne controlled her strength perfectly, he might have had to spend more money on treatment from Airmid.
Thinking about the hard week behind him, Ronan sat at the stone table and opened his panel. He sighed in satisfaction. "It was a hard week, but the results were great."
...
Strength: G223 → G273 | Cap: S923 | +50
Endurance: G266 → F355 | Cap: S966 | +89
Dexterity: G278 → F348 | Cap: S978 | +70
Agility: G258 → F329 | Cap: S958 | +71
Magic: E489 → D569 | Cap: S989 | +80
...
Through his own hard work and sweat, together with the boost from his skill [Sharp Mind],
under Jeanne's pressure, he had grown quickly. His basic stats had all made big progress.
Strength +50, Endurance +89, Dexterity +70, Agility +71, and Magic +80.
The total was 360 points. It was a bit of a shame that this week of training had not pushed him any closer to a breakthrough by itself, but that was fine.
Seeing the numbers on the panel go up made Ronan very happy. It felt good.
Looking back, he remembered the frustrating days when he couldn't raise even a single stat point because he lacked the money to unlock his potential. Those days were gone.
Compared to that, his current growth made him smile.
He raised his hand and made a fist, looking at his muscles. Ronan grinned. "This feeling of getting stronger is great."
Jeanne held her teacup and sat neatly across from him as she sipped her tea with calm grace. Seeing how pleased Ronan looked, she could only stare at him for a moment before rolling her eyes slightly and whispering, "Is it really that exaggerated? You narcissist."
"Uh..." Ronan's proud expression froze, and he slumped onto the table in disappointment.
This week, he wasn't the only one who had grown stronger.
Jeanne, who had gone through the same level of training, had a growth speed that could only be described as terrifying. Every time Ronan updated her Status, the numbers on the panel hit his confidence hard.
"You only understand the gap in talent once you feel it for yourself," Ronan said with mixed feelings.
As a newbie who had just received a Falna, Jeanne was in the fastest growth phase of her level.
She was already highly skilled and experienced, so once she received a Falna, of course she grew quickly. She already knew how to fight and had a clear path to getting stronger.
But when you added the experience boost from the skill [Crest of Favor], which was triggered by how quickly their relationship was growing closer...
Those two things together made her growth speed frightening. Even though Ronan had prepared himself mentally, he was still stunned after updating Jeanne's Status that night.
[Name]: Jeanne d'Arc
Strength: I0 → G299
Endurance: I0 → G284
Dexterity: I0 → F343
Agility: I0 → F355
Magic: I0 → F399
...
Six days. Only six days.
In such a short time, Jeanne's stats had increased by a total of 1,680 points.
Anyone who didn't know the truth would never be able to imagine such a ridiculous number.
For example, if you ignored potential and wanted to max out all stats to 999 before leveling up, you would need 4,995 points. In just six days, Jeanne had already finished more than a third of that.
That showed just how fast Jeanne was growing.
Knowing this, Ronan spoke seriously. "Never, never, never tell anyone how fast your stats are growing. Do you understand, Jeanne?"
"Even if your level increases later, you must hide it. Don't worry about the Guild's investigation."
Wasn't that lying and hiding things? With Jeanne's strong sense of right and wrong, this was hard for her to accept.
"Is this... really okay?"
Ronan looked at her with a teasing smile.
"Jeanne, your moral standards are a bit too high. If you want to survive in Orario, you need to be more flexible. You need to adapt."
Ronan then explained to her:
"Do you think we are the only ones hiding things or misreporting levels?"
"Then you are looking down on those old monsters who have lived for who-knows-how-long. Aside from the big powers that everyone watches, who have to follow the rules for the sake of their Familia's honor and reputation, which other group isn't hiding a few tricks?"
"Everyone knows this is happening, but nobody says it out loud. It's just normal procedure. Only naive people believe all the information that is made public."
"Specifically, the Hermes Familia. From what I know, they are the best at this. We should learn from them."
"Hermes Familia?" Jeanne heard another unfamiliar name. Since even Ronan spoke so highly of them, she immediately looked at him with curiosity.
Ronan chuckled.
"The Hermes Familia... nobody is better than them at hiding things."
"That Familia is special. Their specialty is gathering information, not just about Orario, but about the entire continent. Because of that, they have a special privilege, similar to the Ganesha and Demeter Familias, to enter and leave Orario freely without the Guild's permission."
At that point, Ronan smiled and winked at Jeanne.
"Even though the Hermes Familia is registered with the Guild as a commercial-type instead of an exploration-type, don't look down on them. Other Familias might hide the level of one or two members, maybe by one level."
"But the Hermes Familia takes it even further. From the captain down to the lower members, many of them seem to hide their real level. And not always by just one."
"What? That's..." The girl was stunned by this information. Wasn't everyone supposed to announce their level after a Level Up? What was going on?
Ronan leaned forward, getting closer to Jeanne. "You're too naive, girl. Orario has more secrets than you think."
Jeanne took several deep breaths, trying to digest this shocking information.
"So that's why you act so cautiously and steadily, Ronan..."
She could finally understand. A trump card is only a trump card because it is unknown.
Just like the Hermes Familia. If anyone tried to mess with them without accurate information, they would definitely be taught a lesson they would never forget.
After being "educated" by Ronan, Jeanne puffed out her cheeks and looked at him, pretending to be annoyed.
"Then let me ask you..."
"If my situation is special, what about you? You are the most mysterious one here."
"Using the power of a god while being a mortal..."
"Inviting me here from another world..."
"All of this..."
Ronan laughed and leaned closer to Jeanne. Under her gaze, as her cheeks turned slightly red, he reached out his index finger and gently pressed it against Jeanne's lips.
"Shh."
He said it with a playful smile.
"Secrets make a man more charming!"
Feeling the warmth of the man's finger on her lips, Jeanne's body went stiff, and her face turned completely red.
"I... I hate you!"