"It's time to eat!"
About an hour later, Ronan's call interrupted the quiet conversation between the three girls in the room.
Jeanne stood up first. She naturally took Aura's hand and led her toward the dining room, with Lorie following close behind.
"Come on. Your bodies are still weak, so make sure to eat plenty later," Jeanne said softly.
After a night of rest, both Lorie and Aura were feeling much better. Their faces were still a little pale, but at least they could walk on their own now without needing help.
The dining table in Ronan's house was rectangular.
Everyone sat facing each other. Ronan greeted them with a smile.
"Don't be shy. Just eat. If there's anything you don't like, or if you have any dietary restrictions, tell me. I don't know much about what elves usually eat, so I'll take this chance to learn."
Even though Ronan was an adventurer, he never stopped wanting to learn more.
Back when he had still been a solo adventurer, he spent a lot of his free time in the Gnome Grand Library. He read all kinds of things, miscellaneous books, biographies, geography, history, even heroic legends. He was interested in all of it.
In the eyes of the gnome librarian, this young adventurer who often sat quietly in the corner was a serious bookworm.
He could even sit through dry journals and personal memoirs that most people would never touch.
"Thank you," Aura said.
She was still a little stiff because of her elven manners, but Lorie had already started eating happily.
"Mhm! This is delicious! What is this wrap, Ronan?" Lorie asked.
She took a big bite, and bright red salsa ended up smeared around her mouth.
Ronan handed her a napkin and explained,
"It's a taco, a kind of wrap. I changed it a little, so you can call it Ronan's secret taco."
"Ronan's Secret Taco? I love it!" Lorie declared brightly, raising the taco in her hand.
Jeanne smiled and added, "Then eat more if you like it."
For a cook like Ronan, seeing the people eating enjoy the food was the best reward.
Watching Lorie eat so enthusiastically, Aura also began tasting it in small, graceful bites. Her expression stayed calm, but her movements made it obvious that she liked Ronan's cooking very much.
Elves don't seem as picky about food as I thought... maybe they just prefer lighter flavors, Ronan thought to himself as he ate.
The atmosphere at the table was warm, and everyone enjoyed the peaceful morning light together.
"Phew, I'm so full. I've never eaten this much before," Lorie sighed.
After breakfast, Lorie and Aura wanted to help wash the dishes, but Jeanne sent them back to the sofa, saying they still needed to recover.
Now Lorie was lying lazily on the soft sofa, rubbing her stomach and letting out a contented sigh.
Jeanne, who was washing dishes with Ronan at the sink, heard her and asked curiously,
"How can that be? Even if elven villages are hidden deep in the forest, they wouldn't let young elves go hungry, would they?"
This time, Aura answered instead of Lorie.
She sat with her legs neatly together and tilted slightly to one side. Her feet in slippers rested steadily on the floor, her hands lay on her knees, and her back remained straight. Her posture still carried that natural elven formality.
"In the village, our usual food is bread, fruit, and vegetables. The older elves prefer it that way," Aura explained.
Lorie could not hold back once the subject came up.
"I just couldn't stand those old-fashioned people who refuse to change! That's why I left the village and came out traveling. You can't eat food like this back there!"
Ronan laughed. It seemed Lorie was quite the foodie.
Aura did not say it directly, but she clearly felt something similar. Otherwise, she would not have come on the journey in the first place.
The two of them had very different personalities, which made them an interesting pair.
Around eight in the morning, Ronan and Jeanne finished the housework. After a short rest, they got ready for the main task of the day.
The first thing they needed to do was perform the Falna ceremony for Aura.
It was the same familiar process. A silver needle pricked a finger, a drop of blood fell, sacred letters were written, the ceremony was completed, the Falna appeared, and then it was locked.
After so many attempts and so much practice with his magic, Ronan had already become very skilled at handling Falna.
"Aura, this is your Status."
Aura took the parchment. Before she could look at it carefully, Lorie's face had already leaned in beside her, full of curiosity.
"Let me see, let me see!"
Aura kept a stiff expression and looked to Ronan and Jeanne for help.
Ronan smiled faintly and said,
"Haha, inside our Familia, we don't need to hide everything from each other. It's fine if she sees it."
Then his expression turned serious, and he looked at Aura and Lorie as he gave them a solemn warning.
"But once you're outside, you have to remember this: if someone outside the Familia wants to see your Status, refuse them firmly. I've already locked your Falna. Under normal circumstances, people outside our Familia shouldn't be able to open it."
"Of course, there are exceptions. Some illegal methods and rare black-market items can interfere with Falna locks. But those things are extremely rare, so the chances of running into one are very small."
"A person's Status is one of the most important secrets in a Familia. That's an unspoken rule among all gods and Familias. Do you understand?"
Aura and Lorie looked at each other. Their expressions tightened, and they both nodded seriously.
"Understood. I didn't realize Falna data was that important."
Jeanne added at just the right time,
"Yes, it really is that important. Every adventurer has their own trump cards, especially Magic and Skills. Think about it. If an opponent already knows your Status, then your information is exposed, and they can build a plan specifically to deal with you. In a fight between people of the same level, once that happens, you're already at a disadvantage before the battle even starts. It can even drag down the whole team."
That explanation sent a chill through the two girls. The more they thought about Jeanne's words, the more uneasy they felt.
Watching Jeanne scare the two elves so effectively, Ronan found it a little amusing. At the same time, he thought to himself:
No matter how mature or tough they tried to seem, they were still people with very little real experience. In terms of judgment, tactics, and experience, they still had a long way to go.
At their current level, if they ran into someone experienced with similar ability values, the other side could probably trick them with something simple.
While Ronan was thinking, Aura and Lorie were already fully focused on the parchment in their hands.
[Name]: Aura Moriel
[Title]: None
[Race]: Elf
[Class]: Mage
[Affiliation]: Veyr Familia
[Level]: 1
[Reached Floors]: 0
[Ability Scores]:
Strength: I0
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I0
Agility: I0
Magic: I0
[Development Ability]:
None
[Weapon]:
None
[Equipment]:
None
[Magic]:
Harvest Feast Carnival
Uses magic to rapidly grow countless vines across a wide area, binding and tearing apart enemies within range. Absorbs the target's stamina and Mind to restore the user.
Large-scale attack magic.
Ecstatic Feast Ritual
Places allies within range into a "Carnival" state. Raises all ability scores, increases attack power and attack speed, and removes fear and pain-based paralysis.
Large-scale support magic.
[Skills]:
Fairy Chorus
Boosts magic effects.
Improves Mind efficiency.
Rhapsody Crest
Greatly increases magic effects after drinking alcohol.
Increases magic range.
Hazy Spirit Succubus
Increases all ability scores.
Aura's Status was clearly excellent.
Ronan had hidden Emblem of Favor and the unnamed potential skill from the parchment, just as he had done with Lorie's Status.
Those two hidden skills were not something Aura needed to know about yet.
Ronan guessed that Aura's strong Falna result was not only because she was an elf with high natural potential. Blessing of Favor had likely played a major role as well.
Clearly, Blessing of Favor and Emblem of Favor were connected.
As long as the right conditions were met, every member of the Familia would gain them.
By now, Ronan had a rough idea of what those conditions were.
As for the cost, he also had a general guess.
Did Aura's potential react with that hidden skill during the Falna ceremony?
That was the only explanation Ronan could come up with.
In the end, he decided not to think about it too deeply.
There were still too many unknowns. Since the result was clearly good, he would let things develop naturally for now.
Aura held the parchment in both hands and read it in silence.
Unlike Lorie, she did not react right away. Her eyes moved slowly over each line, stopping on her Magic and Skills again and again.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the parchment.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Lorie leaned closer, unable to hold back her excitement. "Aura, Aura, look! You have two Magics! That's amazing!"
Aura did not answer immediately.
Her gaze stayed on the parchment, but her expression had changed. The usual calm on her face was still there, yet her eyes trembled slightly.
"This... is far more than I expected."
Her voice was quiet.
In her village, Aura had never been treated as someone with outstanding talent. She had always been considered careful, proper, and steady, but not exceptional.
She had accepted that.
She had never hated it, but she had always known where she stood.
Yet now, the Status in her hands told her something completely different.
Two Magics.
Three visible Skills.
Even if she did not fully understand how strong they were yet, she knew enough about Falna to understand one thing.
This was not normal.
Aura slowly lowered the parchment and looked at Ronan.
"Is this really mine?"
Ronan nodded.
"It is."
Aura pressed her lips together.
For the first time since waking up, the stiffness in her expression began to soften. It was not excitement like Lorie's. It was something quieter.
Relief.
Fear.
And a small hope she had not dared to feel before.
"I see..."
She held the parchment close to her chest and bowed her head.
"Then I will not waste it."
Lorie blinked, then smiled brightly and hugged her from the side.
"That's so like you, Aura."
Aura's ears turned slightly red, but she did not push her away.
Ronan watched them and smiled faintly.
Compared to Lorie's open excitement, Aura's reaction was much calmer.
But that made it feel more real.
For someone like her, this Status was not just a surprise.
It was a responsibility.