In the yard, Ronan lay comfortably in a rocking chair with a smile on his face.
Happy thoughts kept flashing through his mind.
The evening felt especially pleasant to him, and he felt completely satisfied.
"I didn't expect Jeanne to get that angry."
"She usually holds herself back, so when she finally snapped, it was scary..."
Ronan muttered to himself, quietly pleased.
"Jeanne looks different with her hair tied up. Interesting."
He remembered the chaos from earlier while absentmindedly training his magic.
Open, close. Open, close. Open, close...
At last, the flickering stopped, and the Status panel appeared clearly before his eyes.
Strength: G273 → F313 | Cap: S923 | +40
Endurance: F355 → E401 | Cap: S966 | +46
Dexterity: F348 → F391 | Cap: S978 | +43
Agility: F329 → F387 | Cap: S958 | +58
Magic: D569 → C633 | Cap: S989 | +64
His five basic abilities had increased by a total of 251 points. That was nowhere near Jeanne's increase, but compared to ordinary adventurers, it was still outrageous.
Among his skills, the "Diligence" effect of Sharp Mind had played a vital role.
"Only 251 points?"
Ronan muttered to himself, then smiled.
"But that's still not bad. I'm not a genius like Jeanne."
"I've been an adventurer for a long time, and this is the first time my stats have improved this much."
Ronan had already done the math.
If he had gone alone, he would have gained only about one-fifth of this in the same amount of time, and that was assuming everything went smoothly. After all, the Dungeon was unpredictable, and anything could happen.
It never missed a chance to throw a surprise at you. Thinking you could safely hunt monsters and make money every day?
That was just wishful thinking.
This showed the biggest difference between a solo adventurer and a team.
A solo adventurer not only killed monsters slowly, but also had to carry all the danger alone. If something went wrong, they would most likely die.
A team was different. Even with only two people, having one more person gave you a safety net. You had more ways to deal with danger, and your chances of survival were much higher. It was not as simple as 1 + 1 = 2.
Adventurer teams had clear roles. With coordination, tactics, and different jobs supporting each other, they could get results closer to 1 + 1 = 3, or even 4.
A solo adventurer could never do that.
Unless he had advantages other people did not.
Thoughts flashed through Ronan's mind, and in the end he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Luckily, my improvement doesn't depend only on combat and training."
"I still have another way to raise my stats."
"Otherwise, with my talent, I probably wouldn't even be able to catch up to Jeanne."
"Should I spend money on stats now?"
Jeanne's rapid improvement made Ronan feel both pressure and urgency.
He was the captain of the Veyr Familia, the one who had brought the Saint here. How could he let his own Saint leave him so far behind in strength?
But the moment he thought of the huge amount of Exp and Valis needed to raise his abilities, he immediately calmed down.
Building up Exp was fine. Every trip to the Dungeon added a lot to his pool. When he had been alone, earning 30 to 50 points in a day had not been hard. Now that he was fighting together with Jeanne, that number would only go up.
Take today, for example.
Since it was their first time exploring a new floor, their efficiency had been low. But the irregular event Monster Party had made up for that. After dealing with it, he had gained more than 100 Exp at once.
Including the monsters they killed on the way back, he had earned nearly 200 Exp in a single day.
Compared to Exp, money was the real problem.
Exp: 9,100 points
Savings: 6,677,455 Valis
Originally, after his last big round of stat increases, he had still had about 12 million Valis left.
But after a shopping trip to buy gear and daily necessities for Jeanne, he had spent 900,000. Then forging his main weapon with the Great Holy Tree Branch and the Scholar's Staff Blueprint had cost 5 million in total for materials, processing, and labor.
Looking at how low his savings had become, Ronan gave up on the idea.
"I'll wait. Spending precious Valis and Exp now, while I can still improve quickly through training, would be stupid."
He pushed that thought aside and focused on his current weaknesses instead.
"The fight with the Orcs showed me a lot of problems, especially in close combat."
"As a mage, I should be standing in a safe place and supporting the fight with magic. But accidents happen."
After being rushed down by enemies several times, Ronan had made up his mind to improve his style.
"Martial arts and staff training have to be my top priority."
The old saying was right: I might never need it, but I still need to have it.
"And then there's the future. The Familia has to keep expanding..."
"With just Jeanne and me, our income has already gone up. If we get more people, we'll get stronger and make money even faster."
He opened his eyes and picked up a black envelope from the stone table.
"This time, I want to recruit someone for the front. Safety comes first."
"Saint Jeanne, bless me. Go!"
In the Kingdom of Spondylardvania, on the road to the neighboring capital of Balthrain.
A traveler was walking through the summer fields with a simple pack on her back.
She moved with light, steady steps. The weight of the luggage did not seem to slow her down at all.
She had long blue hair and golden eyes. Even in the heat, there was not the slightest sign of irritation on her face.
She wore a collared white shirt and a dark blue floral skirt. A brown belt was tied around her waist, matching her short boots.
A pink shawl rested over her shoulders, and her long blue braid swayed with each step.
Her clothes were neat and practical for travel, and she carried herself with quiet confidence.
"Oh? What is this?"
The woman suddenly stopped and whispered in confusion.
A black envelope appeared out of nowhere and floated down into her hand.
She stared at it blankly for a moment, unsure how to react.
"This... doesn't make much sense, does it?"
She turned the envelope over and saw the emblem stamped into the wax seal. Before she could react, the envelope opened by itself.
A piece of parchment floated in front of her, revealing a written contract.
"What kind of writing is this?"
"How strange... I can't read it, but I understand what it means immediately."
"Veyr Familia? A contract? How mysterious."
Since she was already traveling, she quickly became interested after reading the contents.
She reached out and took hold of the parchment. At once, she felt a strange energy flowing from it.
The woman was surprised for a moment, then smiled gently.
"Interesting. A Familia?"
"I accept!"
In the Labyrinth City, Orario.
At the Veyr Familia home in the Seventh District.
Ronan, enjoying the evening breeze, still did not know it yet.
The woman called by that strange letter had already begun her journey to Orario.