Seraphina led the way deeper into the dungeon, with Ariel quickly following in tow. Whenever a stray troll that was on the lazy side and wasn't drawn in by the noise popped out, Ariel would swiftly eliminate it with a few shots to the head.
Their progress was quite fast, considering they had already cleared most of the first floor, so it didn't take long before they reached the second. The setting was still a cavern, the same as before, so Ariel repeated the process. She shot out a few rounds to draw attention, killed anything that dared to show up, and quickly allocated her stats.
"What level are you now?" Seraphina asked.
"Level 27."
"Hm… it's definitely slowing down. Let's hope we run into higher-leveled trolls soon."
"Please no. Can't we just come back tomorrow and continue hunting like this? It wouldn't take me a year to reach Rank 1 at this rate."
"But you're probably leaving before the end of the day, right?"
"What do you mean?" Ariel asked, concerned.
She was under the impression that she would be staying permanently, given that the whole point of today's meeting was to arrange her marriage to the Duke.
"Well, my husband and I—" Seraphina started before giggling to herself. "Ahem, my husband and I have done a bit of research on your father and have found him to be quite greedy."
Ariel sighed with dismay. She fully agreed with the statement and would even say he was more than just quite greedy. Still, she held her tongue and continued to listen.
"We don't think your father would accept any reasonable deal. He has a bad habit of renegotiating once a deal is struck. This means he will go over my husband's bottom line while pushing his luck. These negotiations will likely take a few more months, if not years, before they get finalized."
Ariel stood there with disappointment in her eyes. She didn't doubt it. Her father would likely reject out of principle and renegotiate as much as possible. He had always been the type to press when he knew he had the advantage. Since he knew the Duke had been interested in her for so long, it was a foregone conclusion that he wouldn't give up.
"Is there anything I can do?" Ariel asked, almost begging.
"You could leave on your own and decide your fate."
"Would… would you take me in?" she asked, her eyes unintentionally wide and pleading. Her shoulders pushed slightly forward and upward, as if begging with hope, while her hands clasped together. Her wings subconsciously folded back, tucking behind her form and making her look smaller and more vulnerable.
"Gah! Critical hit!" Seraphina said while clutching her chest in an exaggerated manner.
"Please…" Ariel said while dialing up the charm.
"Of course we would, sweetie," Seraphina said, while grabbing her into a hug. "You can even join us if you want. We can have all the adventures together, kill all the things, and see the world."
"See the world?"
"Oh, I guess no one knows outside just us, but Bastion, Lilia our wizard, Elyra our assassin, and myself are planning on leaving the kingdom once we all reach Rank 2."
The original plan was to make as much money as possible and reach Rank 3, but when Aurelia paid them 100 magic crystals each, the need for money vanished. They were good in terms of finances, so the new plan was to create an inventory to sell outside once they left. There was no point in trying to build a market in this kingdom when anyone could produce the same things they were making. It was better to sell it directly at places where the local resources were different.
As for their plans to leave at Rank 2 rather than Rank 3, that was because they could hardly justify staying for thousands of years to farm in an inefficient dungeon. It was a better use of their time, money, and effort to get their levels elsewhere, hopefully somewhere Bastion's weapons could be maximized to return the most on their investment.
"Whe—where are you going?" she asked timidly.
"Our primary destination is the Magic Empire to the east. Along the way, we'll probably stop in other kingdoms and take a look around. Fight monsters, earn resources, sell goods, live life. Then, once we're at the Magic Empire, we'll likely stay for a while, reassess our situation, and go from there. We don't know what our ranks will be once we get there nor what to expect, so we're keeping an open mind and an adventurous heart in the meantime."
"What… what if you encounter danger? What if you die when you leave the kingdom? I heard there are Rank 3 and up enemies who could erase us with a glance."
"That's part of the adventure, isn't it? So long as we stay here, we'll never grow up properly. We'll probably stop at Rank 2 and simply die after a few millennia. If we leave, however, we get to see the world and go off on adventures."
"What if you get to the Magic Empire and there's nothing there?"
"It's the journey that's important, sweetie. It was never about just the destination. It's about what we do along the way there. Besides, if the Magic Empire is a disappointment, we can just go somewhere else. There's the Feudal Empire to the south, the Desert Empire to the west, the Frozen Empire to the north, or even the prosperity of the Central Empire. Maybe we'll even discover a different continent we can visit along the way. Who knows?"
Ariel fell into quiet contemplation, and Seraphina gave her time to process.
Seraphina knew this was going to be a hard sell for such a fearful little girl. Ariel couldn't even muster the courage to leave her controlling father. How could she not be afraid of the future Seraphina and her family were planning?
"Come on, we still have a few more levels to earn before the day ends."
The pair continued on their dungeon dive, speeding through floor after floor. They employed the exact same strategy every time. Draw the entire floor's attention at the entrance and massacre at a choke point. They continued in this manner until they finally encountered a problem on the fifth floor.
Ariel fired shot after shot as usual, but there was something different with this horde of Rank 1 trolls. They were darker in color and slightly larger, yet her shots barely went skin deep and never penetrated any bones. The trolls were grouping up, yet she hadn't killed a single one.
"My Lady, what do I do? They're not dying!" she screamed in panic.
"Hm… I guess their limit is around level 140 at best. Any more and they have no effect. I should let hubby know."
"My Lady!" Ariel screamed louder.
"Oh, right. Akari, would you be a dear?"
The phoenix let out a sharp cry before charging into the clustered trolls, its wings spreading fire, drawing their attention. Meanwhile, Seraphina pulled out the autocannon, planted it on the ground, and used Earth Magic to firmly cement the tripod base in place.
"This," she said, slapping it before leaning against it proudly, "is an autocannon capable of taking out Rank 2 with ease. It works exactly the same way as your hand cannons. Simply aim the barrel at anything you want to destroy and send mana into it."
Ariel handed the hand cannons to Seraphina before taking up the handles on the sides of the autocannon.
"Akari!" Seraphina called, pulling the phoenix back to their side. "Let her rip."
Ariel took that as her cue and opened fire. A relentless stream of bullets erupted from the autocannon, hammering the cavern walls with a thunderous roar far beyond her hand cannons. Flesh and bone tore under the barrage as the clustered trolls screamed and fell, while chunks of stone and debris were chipped from the cavern walls. The immense vibration rattled through her entire body, making it difficult to keep steady, but she gritted her teeth, maintaining her aim as the horde was shredded before her eyes.
From her initial shock, she slowly felt that familiar surge of excitement return. Her wings stretched wide, her breathing came heavier, and her smile grew even wider. She was having the time of her life.
As the last troll collapsed with a final, groaning thud, Ariel stopped firing. The cavern fell eerily silent as her hands continued to tremble from firing the autocannon. She looked over at Seraphina, who gave her a proud nod, and felt a rush of satisfaction. This was more than just surviving; this was living. For the second time in her life, she truly understood what it felt like to live, to go on an adventure, and to win.
"What level are you now?" Seraphina asked, prompting Ariel to check.
"Level 45."
"Hah… It's too slow. We would have to redo this 4 or 5 more times before you reach Rank 1. I'm sorry, sweetie, we couldn't get you there in time."
"It's alright, My Lady. You've done more than enough. Thank you so much for allowing me to freely level up."
"Don't mention it. And you can stop calling me 'My Lady.' I think you've earned the right to call me by name."
"I could never."
"When you feel comfortable, then. Come on, let's go back for now. Your father is probably throwing a fit and making my poor husband play babysitter."
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