Timaias Adama
Level 4,
Swordsman: F, Spirit Healing: F, Strong Body: F, Hunter: G, Mage G, Chain Attack: G, Abnormal Resistance: G, Mixing: H
Strength: G298 -> F394
Defense: H199 -> G225
Dexterity: G240 -> G292
Agility: H140 -> H176
Magic: F332 -> E418
Spells:
Rippling Sword
- Swift Strike Magic
Endless Sword
- Mid-Grade Magic
- Chant: “Endless Sword”
Hidden Sword
- Low-Grade Magic
- Chant: ”Look for a Weapon”
Skills:
Predator
- Increased Growth
- Killing Monsters provides increased Growth.
- Killing more Monsters in a short period of time results in an even greater bonus
Mind of a Swordsman
- Automatic Reception of the Swordsman and Spirit Healing Abilities. These Abilities are automatically raised to grade H upon reception.
- All Grade I Abilities the user possesses at the time this skill is obtained are also promoted to grade H.
- Swordsman and Spirit Healing increase in potency as long as the user can maintain a cool head in grave danger.
Flowing Sword
- Active Skill
- When Activated, the User’s weapon is coated in silver light. The effects of the Ability Chain Attack are multiplied exponentially.
- Obtain the Ability Chain Attack and upgrade it to Level G
Not too shabby for a single day’s work. He’d only been Level 4 for a few weeks, but he’d done some solo work in the jungle floors below the Water Capital. That had seen him moving through the early portions of Level 4 quite smoothly. He could’ve been growing even faster, but he’d also been taking some time to train Take Familia and Aiz. That was fine by Adama, mostly because he’d learned his lesson from his past life. He’d spent all his life as the Sage of the Endless Sword focusing purely on personal power and skill. He’d been a true lone wolf, only adopting a disciple near the end of his life. Had he possessed a group, even a small one, that could’ve helped share his burdens, then he might not have met such an ignominious fate.
He doubted his allies would ever fully catch up, but it paid to have decently capable friends. Ideally, they’d all advance together.
In keeping with that, Adama sat up for the next two hours. The girls went to bed, but he continued sitting there, stoking the fire and thinking. Eventually, he got up, put out the fire, and walked out the door again. Stepping out onto the streets of Orario, he turned toward Babel. It was time to go fetch the fifth member of his Familia.
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He found her on the tenth floor, surrounded by legions of dead monsters and huffing like she’d just run a marathon. Theresa val Alf, the most recent addition to his Familia, was a fair-haired elf girl with emerald green eyes similar to his own. She was still Level 1 and thus hadn’t been allowed to come with Adama and the gang to subjugate the Amphisbaena. Privately, the swordsman would have been willing to allow her to come, but several things had held him back. The Guild would’ve had a stroke if he’d deliberately brought a Level 1 combatant to a Monster Rex fight on the 27th floor. It was one thing to have a supporter like Lilli there to coordinate the fighters and use items, but having an actual combatant at such a low level would’ve been frowned upon. It might have even provoked censure and other punishments for recklessness. Even bringing the Level 2 Take Familia members was pushing it.
Theresa’s skills and abilities would have likely made her a more effective combatant than Chigusa, Asuka, or even, in those circumstances, Ouka. But even if Adama were willing to ignore the Guild taboo, he’d need to consider his newly minted alliance with the elves. If Theresa died under those circumstances, it would’ve seriously damaged their relationship. Skilled or otherwise, Theresa’s low level would’ve made her very vulnerable in that fight, and Adama didn’t need the hassle that would’ve come from her death.
Theresa had chosen to train in the Dungeon by herself while they were gone, something she’d been doing quite a lot since joining the Familia. The young elf had proven herself willing to work harder than anyone else Adama knew, besides himself. She reminded him of Yerin, though they looked nothing alike, which caused the swordsman to look with some fondness on the young lady before him. Tim had neglected Theresa over the past few months. He’d have to change that.
For her part, the elf girl met his eyes, then turned aside. A blush crept into her cheeks, but she tried to sound casual while addressing her captain, “What? Come to make fun of me?”
“I never make fun of serious training,” Adama said gravely, giving her a once-over before continuing, “Well done.”
Her blush grew even deeper, though her tone was mildly combative as she responded, “Well, I would have gotten even better training if you’d brought me along! You’re still treating me like a little girl.”
Adama shrugged, “Yeah, that’s on my account. I’ll make it up to you.”
He’d been planning on doing more solo Dungeon diving tomorrow afternoon, but he could make the time to give Theresa individual training as well. But right now, he had something else in mind: “Let’s grab a drink.”
He’d mollify her with a bite to eat and a tall glass of ale first. It was the sort of thing she could probably use after a long training session. To Adama’s surprise, her blush grew even stronger, Theresa’s face positively glowing in the dim Dungeon light as she stuttered, “Th-th-th-th-that s-s-sounds nice! I-I’d like that!”
Adama considered teasing her for her stuttering, but thought better of it. Instead, he shrugged and said, “Alright, let’s go.”
…
“Patronizing Mama’s establishment twice in one night! You’re a good man, Adama!”
A large, stocky woman stood behind the bar of the Benevolent Mistress, barking out her comment good-naturedly as Adama and Theresa walked in and sat at the bar. Mama Mia, the woman in question, was actually the owner of the entire restaurant. Mia apparently operated as the bartender because she enjoyed the work, not because she had to. The Mistress was frequented by much of Orario’s adventuring community, the restaurant known for its rich food and tasty beer. Mia herself was an ex-adventurer who’d retired to open the place, and she was known to provide sound advice to struggling rookies and solid veterans alike.
Adama had heard about the place through the grapevine and had become fast friends with the gregarious proprietress. He lazily saluted the big woman, commenting dryly, “It’s clear as good glass you’ve got the best beer in the city. That’s the only reason you can get these bums to part with their hard-earned cash.”
That earned a round of chuckles from the men at the bar, and an even wider grin from Mia, “You know it! Now what’ll it be?”
Adama and Theresa ordered food and drinks and had a pleasant rest of the night. Literally, since the sun was just coming up as they walked out of the establishment. Well, Adama walked, Theresa stumbled, as she’d had too much to drink. The elf girl had been looking expectantly at him for the past few hours, but when it had become clear that Adama didn’t have anything else planned, she’d become surly and indulged in some heavy drinking. The swordsman didn’t know what she was thinking, but he’d given up trying to understand women long ago. As he half-carried Theresa out of the place, he commented, “Don’t worry. We’ll do some more training this afternoon. Get some rest now.”
He heard some drunken mumbling, with the only clear word being ‘…idiot.’, so he ignored the rambling. Once he’d dropped her off at the house, he moved to make his morning appointment. Level 4s needed less sleep than normal people, so he’d sleep when he was dead. Again.
Adama found Aiz and Take in their usual spot atop the wall, but they were doing something different today: “Follow me.”
He said that, then jumped over the lip of the wall and onto the field outside Orario. His two training partners looked at each other, shrugged, then followed.
Adama and Aiz were rapidly getting to the point where training with Take was getting useless. At Levels 4 and 6 respectively, they were so physically gifted that the divinity struggled to keep up. It wouldn’t have been a problem if they were normal adventurers, but Aiz had been advancing in skill by leaps and bounds, and Adama had regained much of his old ability. As the only one already at the peak of skill and unable to grow physically stronger, Take had fallen behind. But Adama had devised a way to fix that situation and improve their training more broadly.
He led them into the forest surrounding the city, the trio walking several minutes through a glade before they reached their destination. Aiz gave a small ooh of surprise while Take commented approvingly, “A good idea.”
A sea of wooden poles spread out before them, stuck into a large square hole in the ground. The tops of those poles were flat circles, just wide enough to step on, and they were spaced out enough that walking on them would be tricky but not impossible. Their purpose was obvious, but Adama had a second twist in mind. He turned toward Aiz and withdrew a thin forest green cloth from his pocket—a blindfold.
“Put this on.”