"Uwaaah!"

Ribbon cried freely as Kira picked her up, swinging the Kobold around with little effort. Her joyful tears sparkled against the cream color of her fur, reflecting the light from the magic orbs illuminating the hall in front of the Boss Room.

"Dessert for dinner!" Kira said, grinning wide. "Brigit promised!"

"I... I did it! I really! I'm 5-F, I did it! I got my first Eir Acolyte spell! I! I'm a real Acolyte now!" Ribbon sobbed, rubbing her paws against her face to dash away the tears. "To get here so fast, I... I... T-thank you both so much!"

Kira set Ribbon back down, and Brigit ruffled the Kobold's fur between her big ears. "Good job, Ribbon! You'll have to work even harder from now on."

"I will!"

"Can I see it? The spell you got." Kira said, once the sparkles of determination and pride emanating from Ribbon's eyes had toned down a bit.

"Mm! I h-haven't checked yet either, so... L-let's see together!" Nodding, the excited little Kobold opened up her System and made her status page visible.

After thinking for a moment, Kira attempted to use her higher quality Scan to get the new spell's juicy details.

-----

【 Barrier 】

Lv. 1 / 20

ELEMENT: Holy

BASE COST: 1 MP per 1ft²

REAGENT: 50 grams of solid material per 1ft²

Use mana to create a barrier via sacrificing a small amount of solid material. The barrier is capable of blocking attacks or spells, as well as liquid, solid, or gas matter. The barrier cannot block light.

Amount of damage able to be blocked by the barrier is dependent on the amount of MP poured into it. 1 MP will block 10 HP worth of damage.

The barrier's shape and position can be manipulated by the caster at no extra cost.

The barrier can be combined with other spells to create further effects.

The barrier has a maximum duration of 1 hour per MP used in creation. Pouring MP into the barrier extends its duration by 10 minutes per 1 MP added.

-----

"Ah, it worked! So I can Scan your abilities if I can see the page... Oh! This is a really good spell!" Kira said, looking more excited than she had when Ribbon first reached Level 5. "It's super overpowered!"

"What do you mean?" Brigit asked, leaning over Kira's shoulder to read the description. Ribbon, meanwhile, seemed to have been immensely shocked by the sight of what spell added itself to her repertoire. "That's just a holy barrier spell, right? I didn't know barriers could be combined with other spells, though, that's pretty interesting..."

"That's not even the overpowered part! I mean, it could be. But! Firstly, 50 grams of solid material is like, super premium for a reagent cost. Right? There's like 400 or 450 grams in a pound I think, so 50 grams for a square foot of barrier is practically nothing! You could pick that much off the ground! Plant leaves by the handful, a bit of your coat sleeve in an emergency, it's not picky about the type of material, just the amount and the fact it has to be solid.

"Secondly, being able to change the shape and position of the barrier for no extra cost means you can move it as needed, which is super convenient for all sorts of reasons. You can adapt to different situations on the fly, which is always useful, and together with the cheap reagent cost could absolutely save lives in emergencies.

"Thirdly, it says it's capable of blocking those things it listed, but not that it always will. So, you can probably set barriers to block certain things while letting other things through, which could also be very convenient depending on how you use it. Like, what if you made a wall in a river that only let water through? Wouldn't it catch impurities and make the water on the other side clean and drinkable?

"And finally! It says the amount of damage a barrier can block is dependent on the amount of MP poured into the barrier. Not how much MP was used to create it! Ribbon could make a big barrier, then I could dump half my MP into it and make the barrier super strong! Plus it says adding MP to an already created barrier extends its duration! Two times in the spell description, TWO times it doesn't specify caster MP only! That's an implied pattern! The System is specific when it needs to be and would use 'caster's MP' if it excluded other people's contri... bu... tions..."

Brigit and Ribbon stared blankly as Kira went off on a rant, gesticulating more and more wildly with each word. By the time she finished, Kira was practically panting from the exertion. Catching sight of her friend's expressions, she hesitantly trailed off and lowered her hands, her cheeks warming in shame. "Ah, sorry, it's just... That... It seemed. Really neat, so... I got excited..."

Brigit gently tapped her knuckle against Kira's forehead. "We were just caught off guard. It's always surprising when you talk so much since you're usually quiet, give us a minute to process! I forgot how much magic interests you."

"Magic's neat," Kira muttered petulantly, but seemed mollified by the gentle smile on Brigit's face.

"Is it... Is it okay f-for Eir to b-bless me so?" Ribbon whispered, staring in awe at her own paws. "That's..."

"You should flip that way of thinking around," Brigit said, tapping Ribbon's forehead too. "Eir thinks you'll be worthy, so just keep doing your best like you have been. She's rewarding you for your efforts so far, isn't she?"

Kira frowned, furrowing her brows in thought. From the way they were talking... "Rewarding? Then... 【 Barrier 】 isn't the standard 5-F spell...?"

"Things work a bit differently for Classes that depend on faith," Brigit explained. "But all Classes have a set variety of different spells one might learn at certain levels. Not every Mage who hits 5-F will automatically get 【 Magic Missile 】. What would happen if they already learned it due to luck or familial connections? Then the 5-F benchmark would be useless. So there's actually a few spells or skills you have a chance to receive for free per benchmark."

"Oh... How is it different for faith Classes?"

"The strength of their awarded spell is determined by the god they believe in, their own personal faith and convictions, as well as various other circumstances beyond mortal ken. It's possible to receive higher quality spells than your Level and Rank would usually allow due to divine intervention. Ribbon, for example, just received a higher Rank spell from her goddess."

"【 Barrier 】 is... R-Rank D, but..." Ribbon's fur tinged pink as she covered her face with her paws. "My first... My first s-spell is so..."

"Spells have their own Ranks too, huh..."

"Have you checked out your Ability Tree?"

"I looked, yeah."

"There's a tab that's grayed out and unselectable, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Once you hit 5-F, that part of your Ability Tree unlocks. From there, you can start purchasing certain spells depending on your Level and Rank, using copious amounts of EXP. Basically, do you want to take less time to reach the next level, or add a new useful skill or spell to your kit? That's the choice it has you make."

"Ah... Then the spell Rank..."

"Is what Rank you become able to buy it from a Class Ability Tree, should you have the appropriate Class."

"I see..."

"A Rank D spell..." Ribbon whispered, over and over to herself beneath the conversation between the other two girls.

PA!

Brigit clapped her hands together with enough force to startle both Kira and Ribbon. "That's right! I can buy something too, since I'm earning EXP again!"

"What are you buying?" Kira asked. To distract Ribbon from sinking once more into whatever thoughts had her stuck in a whispering loop, Kira pulled a lollipop from her inventory and passed it to the Kobold, who immediately popped the candy in her mouth and looked very pleased about its flavor.

"A Stance. It's kind of like a passive effect that improves my fighting ability, and increases the chances of me learning certain kinds of skills." Brigit hummed to herself as she scrolled through the System screens to open the Ability Tree. "I can buy one Stance at each Rank's 5th Level, and it'll form my personal Style. I was so busy with thoughts of helping you two clear the Dungeon, it completely slipped my mind that of course I'd be earning EXP now as well! I can finally buy myself a Stance!"

"Do you have one picked out?"

Brigit froze, her finger hovering above the System window. Kira glanced up in time to see color drain from the other girl's face. "Ah, that's... I have to... Pick one... Only... One..."

"Want help?"

"No, no... This is something I have to do myself. It concerns my future, after all! My... My entire future... My fighting ability... And potential... Everything..."

Ribbon and Kira exchanged glances. Then, Kira grabbed hold of Brigit's elbow while Ribbon pushed the back of Brigit's leg. "C'mon. Let's go."

"Go?!"

"Back to the Sanctuary."

Ribbon pulled the candy out of her mouth and waved it emphatically. "W-we need a b-break, Brigit! We cleared the floor! Except the B-Boss, but..."

"I have snacks. And blankets. Let's rest." Kira tugged, and even Brigit couldn't resist the girl's gentle but firm strength.

Heaving an exaggerated sigh, Brigit smiled inwardly and went along with their insistent pushing and pulling. "Alright, alright, if you insist... Let's go take a break."

Back in the Sanctuary, Ribbon practiced using 【 Barrier 】 next to a clump of Safirite for its increased MP regen, while Kira sorted through various snacks from her inventory and distributed them evenly amongst the group. Meanwhile, Brigit spent thirty minutes reading through the four Stance choices available to her, over and over, until she could recite their descriptions by heart.

Not that she hadn't done it already. Many a sleepless night was spent considering her Stances and her future path. But that was back when she wasn't getting EXP, working her tail off for a Company who would no doubt weigh in on her eventual inevitable 'choice', should she ever get far enough out of debt to earn the right to level again.

But now it was in front of her again. Looming menacingly, a clear and suddenly very present choice to be made, since the longer she went without a Stance the more difficult it would be to adjust in the future.

So Brigit reviewed her options side-by-side, a strange combination of excitement and trepidation churning in her chest.

【 Ancient Tortoise 】, a strong and grounded Stance that gave bonuses to defensive abilities, significantly raised HP and HP gains, and was obviously intended for Squires intending to pursue a tank position in Parties.

【 Nimble Bird 】, a light and agile Stance for Squires willing to sacrifice power for accuracy and agility. It had huge bonuses to evasion, and even a boost to future INT gains. An excellent choice for those seeking to combine magic with sword techniques, Squires who aspired to evolved Classes like Spellsword or Sword Dancer favored this Stance.

【 Wise Serpent 】, an all-rounder Stance that was overall weaker in each category than the others, but formed a decent foundation for the future. It didn't increase any stat gains, instead increasing the ease at which abilities could be mastered in the future.

【 Roaring Tiger 】, a fierce and merciless stance that sacrificed defenses for pure offensive power. Its STR gains were enormous, and was ideal for Squires aiming to be a Swordsman-type in the future. The Stance was a popular first choice for any Squire who wanted explosive damage output, and was originally the Stance Brigit had her eyes on...

But she wasn't running in a Company Party anymore. She didn't need high damage output to prove her worth and earn the right to receive EXP. Instead, it was her overall ability and experience that made her valuable as a Team leader to Ribbon and Kira. She knew how to use the limited kit at her disposal, and could react in battle to various unexpected situations.

Going into a highly specialized stat path wasn't necessary anymore. With a slight smile, Brigit spent her accumulated EXP on the 【 Wise Serpent 】 Stance.

"I never thought finally buying a Stance would feel so exhausting," Brigit laughed, accepting the cup of juice Kira passed her way. "But I'm relieved, too. I don't have to worry about it anymore, what's done is done."

"What's your Stance?" Ribbon asked, before shoving a pawful of chips in her muzzle.

Brigit chuckled and waited for the loud crunching to cease before she answered. "【 Wise Serpent 】. It's an all-rounder Stance that will help me master my abilities. Other Stances would have raised a single stat and its future gains significantly, but it would always be at the cost of other stats. Relying on my abilities is what got me this far in the first place."

"Can I Scan it?" Kira asked, and Brigit nodded, pulling up the appropriate window.

Kira raised her eyebrows and made the Scan window visible. Brigit, slightly alarmed by Kira's reaction, quickly glanced at the window... And gaped at the sheer amount of information. "I... This..."

"Yours is different?" Kira asked, eyebrows still raised, but the expression on her face said plenty about her expectations.

Sheepishly, Brigit nodded and brought up her own Scan window. "Well mine is..."

-----

【 Wise Serpent 】

Passive Stance

A balanced Stance for those who favor mastering abilities rather than focusing on a single stat.

This Stance has room for future growth.

Rate of Mastery for Skills and Spells increased. Amount of Mastery needed for each ability level is reduced.

-----

Compared to Kira's...

-----

【 Wise Serpent 】

Passive Stance

A balanced Stance for the wise few who favor the long-term benefit of mastering abilities rather than focusing on the immediate short-term benefit of a single stat.

The cry of the heavenly serpents echo within this Stance. Future evolution is possible. Stay the path and strive for balance to ascend.

Comprehension of abilities increased. Rate of Mastery for Skills and Spells increased by 100%. Amount of Mastery needed for each ability level is reduced by 50%. Mastered abilities are 100% more effective.

-----

"Your Gold-quality Scan is a cheat, you know that right?" Brigit muttered, shaking her head in awe. "It's basically telling me the way to evolve my Stance, that's really..."

"That description is... K-kinda dragging other Stances through the muck though, huh?" Ribbon said with a giggle.

"I'm sure they all do that, to be honest. Squires with different Stances are fiercely competitive with each other. Since the first choice shapes your entire future and fighting style, everyone wants to prove their choice was 'correct'."

"Can't they all be correct in their own way?" Kira mumbled, chewing rebelliously on a piece of spiced jerky. "What works for some won't work for everyone. There's no one size fits all for life, you know..."

Brigit and Ribbon exchanged glances. Whenever Kira muttered like that, talking more than usual about a subject she didn't already have an established interest in, was often due to some touched nerve that she wouldn't elaborate on even with gentle coaxing. They agreed secretly between themselves that the best option in those situations was to change the subject until she was ready to bring up the reasons herself, rather than let Kira stew in whatever negative experience she was reflecting on.

"Shall we head over to the Boss, then?" Brigit said with a smile, stretching out her limbs as she stood. "I wanna see how my Stance affects my fighting style."

"I... I w-wanna try out my new s-spell!" Ribbon said, clenching her paws into tiny little fists. Excitement sparkled in her eyes, an eagerness for challenging herself in combat that was missing in all their previous skirmishes. Brigit smiled in approval, then glanced over at Kira.

Kira wolfed down the rest of her jerky and nodded her assent.

Since a Variant group appeared in the Dungeon, it wasn't a Cave Goblin Boss waiting behind the Boss door. A Cave Goblin King, with a crown of stone and a ragged mossy cape, stood in the center of the room waving its stone club of a scepter in place of the usual Boss monster.

"Gatta!" The Cave Goblin King roared and pointed its scepter at Brigit, since she was the first to enter the room.

As though to accept its challenge, Brigit shouted "【 Steadfast 】!" while clanging her sword against her buckler. Hearing their leader's thunderous voice, Ribbon followed up immediately with a 【 Ward 】 spell while moving to keep Brigit between herself and the Boss, as Kira stuck close to the wall and circled around to look for an opening.

'They learn so fast,' Brigit thought proudly to herself in the brief moment before she charged forward.

Fighting the Boss was actually easier than dealing with the Variant group simply because it didn't have any adds - no additional monster lackeys to cause a ruckus. They didn't have to worry as much about protecting Ribbon, or listening for ambushes down the hall. The floor was cleared, the mobs were dead, and they could run wild.

Well, Brigit could. Kira was still banned from using too much of her ability, since the whole point of the run was to give them all experience working together, and for Kira to practice hiding her ridiculous strengths.

Before they even entered the room, the Team came up with a plan for Kira. Use 【 Earthshape 】 on some marbles to split them into even smaller beads, and use them for minimal-power 【 Throw Rock 】 on exposed limbs of the poor, unsuspecting Boss monster. If she didn't think she could make a clean hit without potentially hurting Brigit, then don't try it.

From what Brigit could discern through their many goblin skirmishes together, Kira had an innate talent for spotting openings, as well as enough ruthlessness to take the shot even if exposing certain weaknesses was considered rather shameful. She didn't hesitate to strike the joints, between the legs, or even the throat if she thought she could safely reach.

Her already powerful strikes were made all the more effective due to her subconscious talent for striking weaknesses. That sort of skill could certainly be learned through experiencing many dangerous situations, but to have a natural raw talent for it was something that would serve Kira well if it was polished.

In fact, it was all the more important for Kira to learn the ways to utilize that particular talent. If it was controlled entirely by her subconscious, she might use it during a sparring match without intending to, and seriously injure her opponent.

Kira was a good kid. If she hurt someone innocent, she'd carry that guilt for the rest of her life. Even worse, if it ended in death...

Psew!

"GRAH!"

The Cave Goblin King shrieked as an explosion of blood splattered on its leg, the flesh torn open by one of Kira's carefully aimed bullet beads. It staggered mid-step, allowing Brigit to swipe her blade across its abdomen and siphon off another chunk of its precious HP.

'I should send a message to Mrs. Reid,' Brigit thought as she slammed her buckler against the side of the Cave Goblin King's head, dancing away from his swinging scepter to make an opening for another of Kira's attacks. 'I'm sure she noticed, maybe she'll have tips on what I can do to help with Kira's training... Who would've thought being too strong was its own kind of burden, eh?'

CLANK!

Brigit flinched as the Cave Goblin King's scepter nearly smashed into her face, blocked by a sparkling yellow barrier mere inches from her nose.

"Made it!" Ribbon exclaimed with a relieved sigh, her paws trembling.

Brigit shook herself from extraneous thoughts, shouted a quick "Thanks!", then returned her focus to the battle at hand. A Boss fight was no place for internal monologues or retrospectives!

Psew!

Another bead struck the side of the Cave Goblin King's neck, whizzing well over Brigit's head to embed itself in the wall behind her. Taking advantage of the monster's momentary confusion, Brigit swiftly swung her blade at its neck, severing an artery and causing a Bleed effect.

"It's Bleeding!" Brigit shouted, jumping backwards to gain some distance.

If a monster had a status effect, two things would happen - first, it would suffer from the effect of the status. For Bleed, it would continuously lose HP until the effect wore off, was otherwise removed, or the monster died. Second, unless the status effect was Sleep or something else that made the creature lose consciousness, for the entire duration it was affected by the status, the monster would Enrage.

"GROAR!" The Goblin King shrieked in rage, its beady little eyes turning red. Its wiry muscles bulged, and it suddenly slammed its scepter against the floor with such force it shattered the stone underfoot.

Enrage increased all the monster's base stats in exchange for losing its reasoning. If one was prepared, Enraging wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But no matter how prepared they were, it was still dangerous.

Swords and other bladed weapons were naturally prone to causing Bleed effects in battle, and were some of the earliest sources of status effects young fighters would come across. Before Mages or Druids or other caster classes learned spells for paralysis, burns, freezing, or poison, a Squire could cause a Bleed with one powerful swing. Awareness of Enrage effects was drilled into everyone from a young age, but due to Kira's special circumstances, it was a lesson Ribbon and Brigit both had to repeat.

Luckily, Kira was Human. Adaptation was the name of the game!

Dashing to the side at top speed, Kira used 【 Earthshape 】 as she ran to create a wall for Ribbon to hide behind after the Kobold refreshed the Team's 【 Ward 】. Though Kira hadn't personally come across a monster afflicted with a status yet, Brigit made it a point to drill into them the signs and response tactics between each goblin pull so she had a good idea of what was expected of her particular set of skills.

The Cave Goblin King's movements became faster, wind whistling from the force of its swinging scepter whipping through the air. Brigit kept its attention using verbal taunts, side-stepping so the Boss moved further away from Ribbon's hiding place. In its single-minded fury, it didn't even notice the multiple strikes Kira aimed at its back, and didn't try to evade any of Brigit's attacks.

While it's blows would have been dangerous if they landed, Brigit was skilled at evasion. She ducked and weaved beneath each swing, narrowly missing the scepter by mere inches each time, just to make sure the Boss kept its attention on her. Ribbon used 【 Refresh 】 from a safe distance to keep up Brigit's HP regen, since the wind pressure from the Enraged Boss was occasionally enough to shave off a few points if the missed blow would have been a critical hit.

And when the Cave Goblin King finally fell to its wounds, Brigit allowed herself a deep, relieved sigh. She sank to the ground as the Boss chests appeared, one for each Team member who took part in the fight.

"Ah!" Kira exclaimed. Ribbon and Brigit immediately prepped their weapons again, only to relax when they saw a familiar golden screen hovering in front of her. "I leveled up!"

She grinned proudly and displayed her Level Up screen, more excited by the little notification than she was about the sparkling chest sitting on the ground at her feet.

-----

【 LEVEL-UP 】

Level: 2 ► 3

HP: 40/40 ► 60/60

MP: 28/70 ► 28/90

STR: 10 ► 13 (+3 BI)

INT: 10 ► 16 (+4 BI, +2 VTB)

AGI: 7 ► 12 (+4 BI, +1 VTB)

DEX: 9 ► 14 (+4 BI, +1 VTB)

-----

Brigit and Ribbon both leveled too, and all three of them shared the same exhausted but excited grins on their faces.

"We did it!"