Chapter 448 - 448 - Mindless Slaughter, So Good!!!

He did it this way both to hone their combat technique and decision-making under the pressure of real fighting, and to temper their mental state along with it.

He knew perfectly well that levels alone, without matching technique, tactics and iron-hard resolve, made for nothing but a hollow display piece, an account with nothing but the starting kit.

People like that fall apart the moment real pressure hits, full of openings, not worth a single blow. A clown, nothing more.

He had no intention of raising the beauties of his own household into something like that.

If he coddled them and carried them the way those adventurers who charge to escort rookies do, the likely end result would be that they'd grow up crooked, and that was absolutely not what he wanted.

What he wanted were strong adventurers with genuine substance, able to hold a line on their own.

"Haah, I really do wear myself out for this family."

"Life is so hard for me."

He said it out loud, but there wasn't the slightest trace of complaint on Leon's face. On the contrary, there was even a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Setting the raising-sim train of thought aside for now, he raised one finger, sent a pulse of intent, and began refining magic with practiced ease, the process crackling faintly. Blue light flickered in his eyes, and the next moment a small flame leapt quietly up from his fingertip.

"Past Lv.5, my control over magic really has gone up another step. It's smoother than ever."

After stepping into the Hero Candidate tier, his three innate magics and seven skills had all gotten some degree of reinforcement, so naturally the whole basket of spells he'd learned through his third magic, Leon Hart's Magic Notebook, had been boosted to match.

The slow effect and area of Blizzard and Ice Ring, for instance. Or the strength of Fireball, Ice Lance and Frost Armor. Even his handling of the ice clones flowed more freely.

Looking at the little flame on his fingertip, a thoughtful look crossed Leon's eyes. Then he shook his wrist to snuff it out and turned his palm over, closing his hand.

Frost spread with a brittle cracking, and a slightly "plump" mass of ice shaped something like a football, in which the rough outline of an Ice Lance could just be made out, took form in his palm.

"Casting speed and switching speed are both faster and smoother. With True Essence of All Magic I already had chantless Instant Cast, and after hitting Lv.5 even the process of refining magic has been optimized again."

"I can fire off a spell faster than I can lift my arm now!"

"Is this the legendary cast-on-thought?"

"Badass."

He got to his feet with enthusiasm, feeling the Mind inside him brimming over, and took a light step forward.

An ice-blue magic circle flared under his feet.

"Arcane Intellect!"

"Frost Armor!"

"Ice Clone Technique!"

"Frost Nova!"

"Blizzard!"

"Ice Lance!"

"Ice Lance!"

...

"Ice Lance!"

Impacts hammered the water in a long, unbroken string of bursts.

"That feels great! Hahahaha!"

Leon couldn't even be bothered with the throwing motion anymore. He just raised both hands, curled his fingers into claws, and emptied the whole magazine into the water in front of him.

"Look at that startup speed, look at that flight speed, hahahahaha!"

Feeling the Mind pour out of him like floodgates opening, he grinned.

"Heh, I can go faster!"

"...Ice Lance! Ice... Lance!"

"Ice Lance... Ice Lance, Ice Lance, Ice Lance Ice Lance Ice Lance Ice Lance Ice Lance Ice Lance Ice Lance!"

The lances tore out one after another and burst across the water in a continuous rolling barrage.

"Hahahahaha!"

...

...

The assorted beauties sprawled lazily on the grass, snacking on the precious treats and drinks they'd brought down from the surface while enjoying their leisure after the fighting, were suddenly jolted by the chaotic explosions not far off and by Leon's excited shouting.

Laurier sighed, pulling a sour face as she watched a certain man carpet-bombing the stream, and said resentfully:

"His energy is ridiculous. A day and a half of nonstop high-intensity fighting and he isn't tired at all? Even at Lv.5 nobody should hold up that well."

"He really can, though..."

Kureha lay on her side on the grass, cheek propped on one hand, her face full of envy.

"Never mind the stamina boost from Lv.5, he has a skill like the Demon Lord's Crest. Forget you mages, even a swordswoman like me is dying of jealousy. A hundred times the base Mind, and on top of that the Siphoning Hand property of Arcane Ward, which returns part of his Mind every time he casts a spell or attacks. As long as a fight doesn't drain him dry all at once, he can keep casting without a pause, and all of it Instant Cast. Tch, he's basically a perpetual motion machine. If I had a stamina version of that, think how good killing monsters would feel!"

There was a clatter. Margaret's snack box hit the ground, and she didn't even notice, just stared at Kureha wide-eyed like she'd seen a ghost.

"Uh...?"

"If you had one too...?"

"That would be the end of everything!"

The others all turned to look at the utterly oblivious Sword Saint as well, a certain deeply horrifying picture rising in their minds, their faces growing more alarmed by the second.

Give you a skill that multiplies your stamina a hundred times? There'd be no stopping you. You'd be off into the sky.

Jeanne could already imagine the headaches. Kureha would cut loose completely. Teamwork, tactical formation, all of it tossed out the window while she put her head down and charged, killing to her heart's content first and worrying later.

Don't ask. Ask and the answer's: mindless slaughter, so good!

"...Thank goodness she doesn't have that skill."

"Mm, mm, mm."

"Everyone, time to eat!"

"Coming!"

Persephone wiped her glasses, stood, and walked toward the stream.

"Leon, dinner."

Leon, who had just poured out every drop of his overflowing Mind and was bent over with his hands on his knees catching his breath, let out a long sigh at the sound of her voice and straightened up. The exhilaration of having released his Mind completely washed through him. Far from leaving him mentally exhausted, it felt like a weight lifted, clean and refreshed.

Like finishing a session in the gym, showering, and changing into fresh underwear.

"So good!"

"Finally got that out of my system!"

Persephone watched him in silence until he'd finished a round of stretches, then spoke.

"Tomorrow you won't need to hold back anymore. In the Sand Land on Floor 32, the monsters are uniformly high-end Lv.3. At that point, even if you want to train the girls, they won't be able to hurt those monsters at all. Without magic, they'll have trouble even getting through the defense."

Leon stretched, nodded, and his eyes glinted with anticipation.

"Mm, I'm looking forward to what surprises the Sand Land has to offer. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint me."

...

The next day.

With everyone recovered and their gear packed, they force-marched along the standard route they'd finished mapping over the past few days, punched straight through Floors 30 and 31 in a single morning, and arrived at the gateway to Floor 32.

Leon exchanged a look with the others.

"Let's go!"