Name: Kureha Clyret Title: - Race: Human Class: Swordsman, Adventurer Affiliation: Hart Familia Level: Lv. 1 Floors Reached: -
Basic Abilities: Strength: I0 | Endurance: I0 | Dexterity: I0 | Agility: I0 | Magic: I0
Development Ability: -
Weapons: -
Equipment: Casual wear
Magic:Holy Sword: Projects sharpened magical power outward to enhance the weapon, greatly boosting all abilities and expanding attack range. Enhancement magic. Gold-class magic. Chant: "O Holy Sword!"
Skills:Beloved's Crest: Obstructs perception. An ordinary disguise that deceives divine lie-detection and investigation. Raises potential and vessel capacity, accelerating growth to extreme speeds. Sword-Fighting Sword Saint: Attack power and attack speed greatly increased when wielding a weapon. All five senses greatly heightened in close-quarters combat. Walking speed greatly increased. Clyret Bloodline: Slight increase to Strength and Endurance. Large increase to Agility and Dexterity. Skill effects amplified during close-quarters combat. Battle-Warrior Strife: During combat, temporarily acquires the Development Abilities Strong Body and Magic Resistance. All temporarily acquired Development Abilities are enhanced during combat. Sword of Atonement: Massive increase to all abilities. Weakness Perception: instantly perceives a target's weak point; strikes on that weak point deal critical damage.
...
Leon gripped the parchment recording Kureha's Falna tightly in both hands, his fingertips faintly trembling.
So this is the foundation of the woman hailed as the Sword of the Kingdom? If not for his "past life" cheat, which let him bypass the limits of level and equipment, then in pure swordsmanship no one would have been her match.
The name Sword Saint was fully deserved.
And now...
After performing the Falna ceremony through his magic, Heaven and Earth: Fortune's Blessing, Kureha's cheat had clearly kicked in.
As a top-tier swordsman, her personal build was brutally straightforward.
Looking over her Falna panel, whether it was [Magic] or [Skill], every single one was pointed at offense.
Defense? That didn't exist.
This extreme combat style suited her perfectly.
Attack, attack, attack. Nothing but attack.
As a swordsman who pushed speed to its absolute limit, a storm-like offensive in place of defense was her strongest wall.
Leon, Jeanne, and Rose exchanged a shocked look and said in unison:
"With Kureha joining us, our party's offensive power is going to break straight through the ceiling."
The original five-person squad:
Two vanguards, both defense-heavy warriors. In gaming terms, they were like tanky top-laners with attack-defense balance leaning toward defensive gear, mainly responsible for holding the frontline.
One midguard as the core damage dealer, whose duties included supporting the vanguards, clearing waves, and relieving pressure on the frontline.
Two rearguards. Since their levels weren't yet high enough to safely explore the target floors, under non-extreme circumstances they mainly served as Supporters, handling logistics and backup; only when a fight turned truly intense would they directly join the battle.
A composition like this had an obvious weakness.
Leon's squad desperately lacked roles that could quickly cut into the battlefield as a forward, or flexibly roam as a skirmisher.
Especially a high-mobility, high-speed warrior for flanking strikes, the type the party needed most.
Kureha's arrival was precisely the choice Leon had carefully made to fill that critical gap.
What made it even more exciting was that her extreme-offense combat system meshed almost perfectly with the party's existing tactical needs.
A flawless piece of the puzzle.
...
When Kureha took the parchment recording the details of her Falna, her eyes sweeping over it, all that showed in them was the faintest hint of surprise.
And then, nothing.
She herself seemed quite unfazed.
Leon and the others noticed her reaction, and instantly understood.
Clearly, this female Sword Saint hailed as the Sword of the Kingdom had absolute confidence in her own talent and gifts.
To her, having a panel like this was only natural, the obvious outcome.
"All right, Kureha just woke up and she's still weak, and it's getting late. Let's not disturb her rest."
Gentle, considerate Rose had picked up on the faint exhaustion buried deep in Kureha's eyes, and spoke with a smile.
"Whatever else needs saying can wait until tomorrow."
"Kureha, if you need anything, call us anytime. Don't be shy about it."
Rose turned back to add one more word.
Kureha's cheeks reddened slightly. She pulled the blanket up, nearly covering half her face, her voice coming out muffled from beneath it.
"O-okay..."
...
...
After Kureha joined the Familia, the days that followed settled back into quiet rhythm.
Study, training, exploring the Dungeon, refining cooking skills, discussing tactics... daily life flowed along in an orderly fashion.
Whoever was in charge of going out for groceries and daily necessities each day would make a detour to the Guild headquarters to regularly collect information on the city, inside and out.
On weekends, when they had time off, they would occasionally wander around nearby. The Free Market was the most popular spot, with its dazzling rows of food stalls, where strolling and eating at the same time felt especially pleasant.
One such day, in the courtyard.
Leon moved a rattan chair into the shade of a tree, flipping through a book while sipping tea, living the easygoing life.
And on the open ground in the middle of the courtyard, two figures were locked in intense exchange.
"Bang! Bang! Bang...!"
The sound of wooden swords clashing came in an unbroken rainstorm, sometimes swift as wind, sometimes heavy as stone.
One figure in blue, one in silver, weaving and spinning without pause, every movement a pleasure to watch, as graceful as dance.
"Tch, now this is a real master."
Leon set down his book and offered his heartfelt admiration.
"The rhythm of the fight is being perfectly controlled, which is why it looks flowing and so satisfying to watch."
When it came to swordsmanship, a self-taught adventurer like Leon, from the rough-and-tumble school, really only understood a tiny sliver.
Picking up a sword and hacking at monsters, sure, he could do that. It was all practical technique he had figured out in actual combat, things that worked for him. But aesthetics? Forget about it.
It didn't amount to a real system.
Yet even a layman like him, watching Rose and Kureha spar, could catch glimpses of the refinement embedded in their swordplay.
This was the benefit of having masters around.
Anytime, anywhere, he could observe top-tier technique clashing, and over time, through sheer exposure, even just as a bystander he would absorb some nutrients, never mind the direct pointers from the masters themselves.
"So this is the real advantage the big Familias have."
Leon murmured to himself with a sigh.
"Veterans training newcomers. Just the tiered talent development alone puts them miles above the small Familias."
Thinking back to how hard it had been when he was completely alone, Leon shook his head with a rueful smile.
"Thankfully, all of that's behind us now. These days... life's finally looking up for us."
"BANG...!!!"
At that very moment, the courtyard gate was violently slammed open by a tremendous force.
Before anyone even saw her, Laurier's panicked cry came rushing in ahead:
"Leon! It's bad! There's a fight breaking out outside!"
"Huh?"
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