"That's a very good ability," Rayleigh praised her.
He then used Kidō to generate flames to burn along the spider silk.
Seeing his actions, Lyra smiled and said, "You think spider silk is afraid of fire, right?"
Lyra channeled her Spiritual Pressure into the silk.
The threads actually secreted a mucus, and this mucus possessed a fire-resistant effect.
The flames could not burn through the silk.
At least, this level of firepower wasn't enough.
"How about it? Pretty amazing, right!"
Lyra didn't continue messing around, instead, she reached out and retracted all the spider silk in the room.
This surprised Rayleigh a little. "You can actually retract it?"
"I was quite surprised too, hehe."
Lyra looked very happy.
After all, in every aspect, there was quite a gap between her and the three monsters in her Familia.
When she initially chose to use half of her soul to forge her Zanpakutō, she had done so with the thought of catching up to those three.
Who could have imagined that the Zanpakutō would remain completely dormant?
However, just yesterday while dreaming, she unexpectedly entered the world deep within her consciousness and had a face-to-face conversation with her Zanpakutō.
Her Zanpakutō was very introverted.
Lyra couldn't imagine how such a shy, introverted Zanpakutō had been forged from her own soul.
Could it be that she actually had a quiet side that was just hidden very deeply?
The spider silk is very tough, capable of binding Level 3 adventurers with ease and its constricting strength is not small.
It's fire-resistant, so there's no need to worry too much about being countered by elemental affinities.
And the toxin that affects the senses—if an opponent is careless, they will pay an unbearable price.
'It truly is an outstanding Zanpakutō,' Rayleigh thought to himself. 'Maybe it even has Captain-level potential.'
'Lyra's strength lay in her agile mind.'
'This Arachne could handle flexible tactics and was perfectly suited for her combat style.'
"Congratulations, Lyra," Rayleigh offered his sincere congratulations.
He actually knew that this Pallum girl had always had things weighing heavily on her mind.
He just hadn't intervened or interfered too much. Because she was a strong person who didn't need unnecessary comfort.
The results proved it.
It was exactly as he thought.
"Hehe, after I showed it to Alise and the others, I ran straight here! From today on, I'm also a Zanpakutō wielder."
"Yeah, yeah that's amazing. I hope you master Bankai soon." Rayleigh smiled and raised his hand to pat the girl's head.
After giggling a few times, Lyra suddenly registered what was happening and pushed his hand away.
"Hey! Don't treat me like a child!"
"Oh, I couldn't help it."
"You bastard! Careful, or I'll string you up!" Lyra threatened, pretending to look fierce, and then added.
"By the way, how about we organize an expedition together next week? It's a level-up quest for the Astraea Familia. You don't mind helping out, right?"
An expedition?
Hearing this, Rayleigh pondered for a moment.
Having survived the war, the Astraea Familia had now become a force within the city that could not be ignored.
Three Level 4s, six Level 3s, and two Level 2s.
This strength was sufficient to explore the Deep Floors.
"Of course I'll help. Besides, there aren't many opportunities to go down to the Deep Floors."
"I knew you'd agree." Lyra smiled and then left.
Rayleigh, however, began to wonder what to do about the person in his attic while he was away.
...
When he voiced his concerns, Alfia looked at him with an expression reserved for an idiot.
"Have you forgotten what people call me? I'm not a child. I'll be fine without your care," the woman said haughtily.
It seemed she wanted to prove a point.
However, her reaction also put Rayleigh at ease.
With the magic item for disguise, even if she went out, she wouldn't be recognized.
This expedition with the Astraea Familia was a good opportunity. It might be the perfect chance to grind excellia.
Maybe he could use this to fill up his status and level up to Level 4.
Making up his mind, Rayleigh went to the Guild to look up information about the Deep Floors.
The Deep Floors were different from the Middle Floors, not only were the monsters stronger, but their intelligence was also quite high.
While they might not go so far as to deploy military formations, they had plenty of tricks for wearing down adventurers and successfully hunting them.
Therefore, the mortality rate for adventurers in the Deep Floors was much higher than in the Middle Floors.
After reviewing the terrain, environment, drop materials, and monster types for each floor of the Deep Floors, Rayleigh memorized them all.
...
Returning home and seeing a relaxed Alfia, he suddenly smacked his forehead.
'Am I an idiot? Don't I have the most veteran adventurer right here?'
Rayleigh asked Alfia about the Deep Floors.
However, the result was completely different from what he expected. Alfia said she didn't have a very deep impression of the Deep Floors.
Right.
With the strength of the Hera Familia, breaking through the Deep Floors could be done in the blink of an eye.
The floors they had once reached, because they were never made public, were entirely unknown territory for the current Orario.
....
A week passed.
On the morning of their departure.
Rayleigh arrived in front of the Astraea Familia's headquarters.
The girls had already assembled.
Standing before them was the beautiful Goddess of Justice Astraea, with her holy appearance and a 10/10 figure.
Upon seeing Rayleigh arrive, she gave a sweet smile and took the initiative to step forward and hold the young man's hand.
"Rayleigh, please be careful on this expedition. I'm leaving my children in your care."
'God damn, this goddess's charm was truly irresistible!'
Rayleigh couldn't help but feel his heartbeat accelerate a little.
"Yes, I will do my best."
Seeing his slightly unnatural expression, Alise tilted her head, then sidled up to Rayleigh and nudged his ribs with her elbow.
"You're not allowed to have disrespectful thoughts about Lady Astraea."
"Ahem, what are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb! Who do you think sleeps next to this body every day!"
"Huh?"
Alise's words instantly broke Astraea's composure.
Unable to maintain her dignified appearance, she scolded the red-haired girl. "Alise! Don't spout some nonsense!"
The girl stuck out her tongue, trying to play it off.
But she was rewarded with a swift karate chop to the head from the Goddess.
Looking at this harmonious Familia, Rayleigh felt very happy.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this beautiful scene a treasure of the world!
'I can't let it be ruined by rats in the gutter.'
The Rudra Familia.
In the great feud, they had run away as soon as things looked bad. And because everyone had to focus on the "Necessary Evil," there had been no time to deal with them.
He had to wipe them out before they could pull any little stunts.
He had to nip the seeds of destruction in the bud.
"Then let's head out!" Alise energetically announced the start of the expedition.
The Goddess Astraea said, "Have a safe journey."
As a Goddess, she was the parent of all her children.
It was natural to worry when her children went out on an adventure.
But she couldn't stop them.
Because an adventurer's life is defined entirely by the word Adventure.