[Hestia Familia], Base of Operations.
By the time they returned home, it was exactly 9 p.m.
"How strange."
"It's already this late—why isn't Lady Hestia back from work yet?"
Looking around the empty room, Raven Eltharion felt a bit puzzled.
Alfia asked, "Do you want to go out and look for her?"
Raven thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe something delayed her."
"But it's nothing serious."
This era of Orario wasn't like the previous dark ages.
In terms of public order, things were well managed and very secure.
Serious crimes like murder or arson were rare.
What's more—
Hestia was a goddess who could unleash her Divine Authority if needed.
To ordinary people, gods were beings of absolute reverence.
All adventurers, deep down, held the gods who bestowed Falna in high esteem.
So really, there was nothing to worry about.
Raven didn't dwell on it any longer.
After all…
Gods had their own affairs to handle too.
Raven turned to [Silent] beside him and said,
"Teach me some hand-to-hand combat skills."
"Sure," Alfia nodded lightly.
As a transmigrator, Raven was, at his core, just an ordinary person.
When it came to things like technique, he was a complete novice.
Though he was a mage…
Basic grappling and self-defense skills were still necessary.
As everyone knew—
An average adventurer couldn't level up just by defeating monsters.
They had to defeat stronger enemies—though that was often hard to achieve.
That's where technique came in: the art of flexibility and resourcefulness.
But even then, one couldn't win with technique alone.
Most fights required teamwork.
As long as you fought alongside complementary allies, you could take down stronger foes.
Put simply—
If you wanted to level up, you had to adventure in the dungeon.
According to party battle rules:
The "EXP" earned would be shared among all participants in combat.
The more active your performance during the battle, the more highly it would be rated.
Meaning most of the experience points from a fight would go to the main attacker—the carry.
Just like Raul from the [Loki Familia], who tagged along with the elites on expeditions and rode that train all the way to Level 4.
Even though he reached the exceptional Level 4 rank, he still had zero skills or magic.
In short—Raul was definitely a freeloader.
Soon after.
The two of them walked out of the church to a wide open space outside.
Alfia said calmly,
"Treat me as the enemy."
"Then, using your own fighting style, try to land a hit on me."
"—Got it."
As her voice fell—
Raven clenched his fists, leaped forward, and charged at [Silent].
His fists tore through the air with a howling wind, as if even the atmosphere was being ripped apart.
Alfia lightly hopped backward, dodging with ease.
"Too slow. Completely full of openings," Alfia said honestly.
Hearing that, Raven immediately launched into a storm-like barrage of attacks.
But without exception—
[Silent] evaded them all with flawless movement.
After this flurry, not only had Raven failed to even touch her, he had exhausted himself.
In front of a Level 8 adventurer like Alfia…
Even among all Level 2 adventurers—
Any close-range melee assault would be nothing but flashy nonsense to [Silent].
"You should just use your staff," Alfia said as she observed him.
"Fighting barehanded is pointless."
As his missed punch slammed into a wall, cracks spread across the surface.
Retracting his fist—
Raven sighed and stopped attacking.
"As I thought, melee combat isn't for me."
Given the terrain—
Using magic here wasn't a great idea either.
If he blew up the house, it would be a serious loss.
Raven understood:
His three "skills" mostly had passive boosts tied to magic.
The power they unleashed—
Would absolutely affect the Familia's base of operations.
Obviously, offensive magic was out of the question.
Even defensive magic was meaningless in front of Alfia.
Her single Gospel Fist could instantly break through his magic shield.
Thankfully…
[Silent] was an ally, not an enemy.
Otherwise…
Should he try using summoning magic against her?
That thought sparked a glint in Raven's eyes.
"Thinking of using magic?" Alfia's gaze sharpened.
Raven nodded.
"Yeah, your ghost-like speed is too fast."
"So, I'd rather focus on perfecting my magic techniques!"
Instead of flashy combo punches—
He would rather hone the four key elements: offense, movement, evasion, and chanting.
Things like improving chant proficiency, parallel chanting, and high-speed combat casting.
Multi-chanting allowed Raven to simultaneously release different types of offensive spells.
Chain chanting referred to reducing cooldown time, enabling no-CD consecutive casting.
Most mages—
Had to stay still and focus completely when chanting spells.
Otherwise, they were prone to interruption and failed casting.
Even [Riveria] of the "Nine Hell" needed allies to protect her while chanting.
"——O supreme god of darkness reigning in the underworld."
Raven began chanting with strong rhythm and smooth, elegant tone.
Before him, a magic circle expanded, radiating a dark glow.
Countless shadowy particles danced within the circular formation.
Mysterious and intricate black runes began growing in size, slowly spinning.
This time—
The summoning magic circle was even larger than the one used to summon [Silent]!
"Summoning magic, huh?" Alfia looked at him with a satisfied expression.
She was quite curious—who would he summon?
"——I beseech thee, I plead to thee, offering the life around me as sacrifice."
"——In exchange for your mercy, by the greatness of your power."
As Raven poured in massive amounts of mana and mental energy—
The dark radiance before him grew increasingly brighter.
"——Grant new life to the ones I cherish most!"
["——Reincarnation Summon!"]
As the chant ended—
His mana, mental energy, and stamina were instantly drained by two-thirds!
Well—
Raven now understood:
Every first-time summon of a new "undead" would require a massive consumption of energy.
The lost mana, spirit, and stamina went into rebuilding the "undead's" body.
Once the body was formed—
Future summons wouldn't cost that two-thirds anymore.
Within the massive dark magic circle—
Receiving the enormous energy gifted by Raven, ten female figures…
Slowly began rising from below.
Until they were fully visible, Raven—panting—froze as he saw them.
They were members of the [Astraea Familia]!
Except for a certain "useless elf," all the fallen Familia girls were standing there inside the magic circle!
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