“Yes, m’lord,” Cynthia replied with a slight bow. “As Hestia stated, with my Talent, I can help act as a mobile defense with her, or a mobile offense if, and I do mean if, I allow someone strong like Pasiphae to ride.” She said, unable to hide her bitterness towards Martel. “For up-close fighting, I charge in with a lance and then use two long swords. I can act as a mobile archer with my longbow or long-range bombardment with a heavy crossbow. I can also kite enemies if needed. I plan to focus on my AGL and STR while splitting the rest between DEX, SPR, and CON. That is all.”

“That’s all? What about your Soul Armament?”

“That is all.” She replied stoically, but her expression turned a little dark.

“Now I’m a little curious,” Rio said, which prompted many members of the party to glance at Cynthia, who could not help but flinch.

“I can even wake up my Soul Armament, and you only show us?” Asuka said, almost looking like she was about to cry.

“That… Is… All.” Cynthia said through gritted teeth.

Martel couldn’t help but glance at Cynthia in surprise. Naturally, if he wanted to, he could find that information easily. However, he decided to respect her privacy. “Cynthia, if you don’t want to share, you don’t have to. However, I have yet to see a Soul Armament that is useless. No matter what your Soul Armament is, I’m sure it has its unique features. I would like to know so that I can take into account the party’s strength and abilities. Who knows, you just might save someone with it.”

Cynthia’s expression immediately became torn. “… Fine. But you have to promise you won’t laugh.” She said in a tone of resignation as the air in front of her began to shiver.

Martel was surprised that she thought he would laugh, and he couldn’t as he was dumbfounded by what he saw.

Whitehorse (Mortal-1)

It’s a Whitehorse whose stats are greater between a normal horse or 10% of the User stats. It is incapable of conscious thought but can follow the User’s simple commands. It can merge with an equine and increase its capabilities by 10%

Wind resistance and affinity +10%

Martel forced a small smile as he tried to hide a look of pity. It was no wonder that Cynthia didn’t want to show her Soul Armament. He wouldn’t call it completely useless, only slightly useless.

Luckily for Cynthia’s embarrassment, no one laughed as there was more confusion amidst the room than anything else. “It might be better if it acted like an actual horse, but this thing is just an empty shell.”

“Well, don’t worry about it,” Martel said with consolement. Regardless, it is a strength increase from a source that no other indigenous people have besides our party. Besides, it’s not impossible for it to improve in the future.”

“Really?” Cynthia asked with a look of hope.

“It should be possible. I will look into it. On the other hand, think of it this way. Your Talent can make up for it because you can utilize Hestia’s Talent and Soul Armament benefits. You are a backbone of our party.”

“I… I suppose so.” Cynthia tentatively replied but had begun to feel better.

“Kappa, how about you?”

“Yay, it’s my turn!” Kappa shouted as she stopped rocking from her chair and jumped in the air. “Oh, wait, whoops.” She suddenly said as the water atop her head almost spilled.

“That reminds me,” Martel said as he walked over to Kappa before he placed and secured a skin-tight helmet on her head. “That should handle that problem.”

“Really?” She said as she tilted her head down completely. “It works! It works!”

“That’s good. Now about your introduction.”

“Oh, yes. Up until recently, my focus was purely defense and kiting until...” Kappa began as her Soul Armament appeared in front of her.

Black Snapping Turtle (Mortal-9)

When fused with the User, the User will gain increased defense and bite force.

Water Affinity and Resistance +50%

“My bite became pretty deadly.” Kappa continued with a haughty expression. I will be boosting my AGL, CON, and SPR to help my focus on defense. I will be splitting the rest between STR and MAG so that I can also play an offensive role.”

“Excellent,” Martel replied. “With your speed, being able to act offensively and defensively where needed will be helpful. Next up is Pasiphae.”

“Oh, right... Boss.” Beth replied as she awkwardly looked between Martel and Eferhild. It seemed as though the slightly socially awkward Pasiphae was getting hints. “My abilities are offense-oriented.”

Talent

Glass Cannon LVL 5 (MAX)

The User is capable of dealing tremendous damage at the cost of their defense. This ability is both passive and always active.

STR, DEX, and MAG +50% (+10%*LVL)

All damage *25% (*5%*LVL)

STA Regen *100% (*20%*LVL)

All Affinities +50%

CON and SPR -50%

Soul Armament

Jagged Ax (Mortal-9)

When fused with an ax, it increases the critical rate and causes bleeding, which does damage over time and is more difficult to heal.

Increases ax affinity and Metal Affinity +50%

“I will be focusing on my STR, AGL, and VIT so that I can quickly kill and have staying power on the battlefield. I will put some in DEX for increasing critical probability, but I’m not sure if I will focus on it yet.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Martel replied. “Next up is Ariel.”

Ariel rested her head atop the back of her head as she chuckled. A light flashed at her hips and extended beyond her wheelchair as her body suddenly rose, lifted by a pair of scaled, feathered wings that appeared from the light.

Race: Siren

Racial Traits

Amphibious: has separate respiratory systems, gills, and lungs that allow the absorption of oxygen via the water and air, respectively.

Racial Magic

Song of the Siren: a type of magic that utilizes singing as a medium for magic. While not inherently unique, this magic is more powerful when the User and/or castor is near or in water. This magic can buff allies and debuff enemies (including distracting and creating illusions). However, the more targets, the weaker the effect. Valid targets must have their existence known by the User and hear the song, and freely targeted.

Soul Armament

Water Wings (Mortal-9)

These wings allowed the User to treat air as if it were water.

Wind Affinity and Resistance +50%

Talent

Blessed of the Sea LVL 5 (MAX)

At will, the User can reduce water resistance up to 0 (.5-.1 Per LVL). Alternatively, they can increase it by a factor of 5(1 per LVL), up to 5 feet (1 per LVL) away from the User via thought. Damage caused by water manipulated with magic +25%.

As Martel appeared to be watching her swim through the air but was engrossed in her Status, Ariel suddenly broke into a sly grin. Then, the wings at her hips suddenly flashed and disappeared before a feigned trace of panic appeared on her face. “My Prince, save me!” Ariel shouted as her arms flailed madly before she splendidly face-planted at his feet.

Martel came out of his line of thought in shock. Although he was distracted, he was still paying attention but somehow was unable to register what happened. “Are you all right?” He asked as Ariel groups around his legs to look up with the face scrunched up in pain.

“My Prince… So painful, so cruel, so… wonderful.” She replied as her eyes turned in the shape of hearts.

Martel’s eyebrow twitched. He believed that his curse was the reason why he hadn’t noticed Ariel’s plight until it was too late, so he could not react. However, what troubles him was his curse seemed to be setting unintended flags for him, and they show no sign of stopping. “Even though this was only a little joke, pay attention to your mana. If this were a fight, no one would be able to help you.” He said as he picked her up and began to take her back to her wheelchair.

“I understand.” Aerial replied, a little disappointed.

Martel’s face suddenly had black lines as he felt that her downtrodden appearance was not because he didn’t catch her. His suspicions were immediately confirmed when her face briefly lit up at his next statement. “This is supposed to be a serious meeting, and we can’t have you goofing off, so you’re going to be punished.”

“Really? What is it? I can take it!”

“You can’t eat Hestia’s cooking for 24 hours.”

Ariel immediately froze into a statue.

“Master can turn people into stone too?” Echidna mumbled.

“My Prince, no, Master! You can’t do this to me! You might as well kill me!”

Martel rolled his eyes and was about to respond, but Hestia spoke before him.

“Ariel, I know you like my cooking, but acting like that will only extend the punishment.”

Ariel immediately covered her mouth and opened her eyes wide as if she had just heard some unspeakable horror.

Martel’s eyes narrowed, which caused Ariel to flinched backward slightly. “Back to the topic at hand, because your Soul Armament lets you treat air like water, does that extend your Talent?”

“Yes, I’ve already tried it,” Ariel replied, with a clear look of relief for no further punishment.

“Can you try it now?”

Ariel nodded as her water wings appeared on her hips. Even though Martel couldn’t see anything different, he could feel the difference by sweeping his arm in the area in front of her. “It’s quite interesting. I guess it’s because you can treat it like water, but the air resistance has increased by a factor of five, which is less resistant than water. However, what intrigues me most is that you can remove resistance to zero. If you get enough momentum, you could reach incredible speeds.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“Have you tried to before?”

Ariel nodded as she gently rubbed her forehead.

“Well, that excludes a lot.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ariel suddenly shouted as if she were a cat that had her tail stepped on.

“… The bruise you had when I found you.”

“Speaking monotone does not make that sentence believable.” She replied, also monotone and angry.

“All jokes aside, you should introduce your fighting style.”

“Well, I haven’t exactly been in a fight before, but I’m quite efficient at water magic and have musical magic via my voice. Although I would like to conserve my mana, I can act as an ariel scout. For my Stats, I want to focus on my MAG and SPR for my spellcasting. I’m not sure what else.”

“That’s fine. Do you have any weapon training?”

“Not much, but I received basic training with a trident.”

“That will work. Next is Megumi.”

Megumi flinched from her solitary seat, obviously flustered from the sudden social interaction that she had been deprived of for so long.

Martel smiled. “Don’t worry. I will help you get used to working together with everyone as well as finding your strength. We will start by going over your Talent.”

Race: Vampire (Human with thick dragon ancestry. Unknown problems detected.)

Talent

Blood Burning LVL 5(Max)

The User burns the energy in their blood, powering them up comprehensively. The increase in power and the duration depends upon the Bloodline Rank, determined by race and/or bloodline, and LVL. It can also draw out latent abilities within the bloodline that may not otherwise be available to the User. Blood Burning can be deactivated early at no penalty until 75% of the duration is used. Every additional 5% will result in a -5% (-10%+LVL) penalty when Blood Burning is not used. Reusing Blood Burning before the duration is reset decreases the effect by 5% on each additional use to a minimum of 5%. The penalties and the duration is reset after a full night’s sleep.

Bloodline Rank: 5

Power Increase: *25% to all stats (BR*LVL)

HP Regen: *0%

Duration: 5 Min (.2min*LVL*BR)

“Any luck with a Soul Armament?” Martel asked.

Megumi tentatively shook her head.

“Did it fail?”

“Nothing broke.”

“So it’s the same as Asuka then,” Martel replied. This further solidified the fact that race was a potential factor in the creation of a Soul Armament. From what he could tell, Megumi’s problem was less severe than Asuka’s, but the System was not capable enough yet. He wasn’t sure if this was an issue with his Stats, abilities, or the System itself. Perhaps, when the System upgraded, it would shed more light on the subject.

Seeing that Megumi wasn’t going to continue to speak, Martel began to speak again. “Megumi, I plan to have you be a frontline fighter. From your Expertise, you seem to have a high affinity with martial arts. I will get you some appropriate gloves and boots to utilize that to your full potential. You won’t have as much attack power as Pasiphae, but she will most likely be set to hit and run tactics to minimize her damage taken. You would most likely be best in a drawn-out fight, then finishing it quickly with your Talent. I recommend that you focus on your STR, AGL, VAT, CON, and SPR to maximize your survivability. We can figure out the rest later, but we will focus on your training first.”

Megumi nodded but was still quite tense. From what he could tell, she seemed to lack much social interaction with others besides her mother. Hence, she was already socially awkward at the very beginning. It would take some time, but he believed that she would eventually open up her heart to someone. “Next up is Eferhild.”

“You got it, Boss.”

Race: Orich

Talent

Rage LVL 4.14

The User enters a temporary state of rage, increasing the strength of the body at the cost of mental acuity.

STR and CON: *20%(5%*LVL)

DEF and WIL: *8%(2%*LVL)

INT and WIS: *-30%(-50%+5%*LVL)

Duration: 8Min(2Min*LVL)

Soul Armament

Totem of Nature (Metamorphic-9)

A wooden totem carved with three animals, a Bear, an Eagle, and a Tiger. When activated, a single animal can be utilized at a time but freely switched for the following effects:

Bear: CON/VIT +25%. Damage Taken *-50% at the proportional cost of mana when not wearing medium or heavy armor. This bonus applies to abilities, like magic and ki, when used to block damage on the User’s body.

Eagle: Vision *100%. DEX +25%. Can ‘walk’ on the air up to 10sec every other 10sec at the proportional cost of mana.

Tiger: STR +25%. Damage Done *50% at the proportional cost of mana.

“Someone’s going to be jealous,” Rio mumbled under her breath.

Martel was completely frozen with an open mouth. What the hell! The Talent was pretty good, but the Soul Armament was practically broken, even more so when used together! There was only one word to describe her, berserker! She was a combination of Hestia and Pasiphae, with the primary difference being she could only do one at a time at the cost of mana.

Eferhild began to talk nonchalantly, but the smile on her face betrayed how prideful she was. “My fighting style is pretty straightforward. I run up and smash stuff. As for exact battle dynamics, I was thinking of focusing between Hestia, Pasiphae, and myself. Hestia can attract the enemies, and I can help her tank enemies if she gets overwhelmed or quickly finishes them off. In either instance, Pasiphae can also attack enemies. Of course, I can also play a pure tank or damage dealer, depending on the situation. For my stats, I will have the same spread as Megumi, STR, AGL, CON, VIT, and SPR. As for weapons, I like to dual wield maces. My only complaint with them is their reach, but I’m not particularly good with ranged weapons.”

Martel fell into thought as he listened to Eferhild give a detailed explanation. A glance at her stats revealed that her INT and WIS were comparable to Hestia and Kogane, only inferior to Rio, which implied she had an educated background. This was reassuring as her Talent impaired those Stats. A lack of those stats could cause stupid decisions on the battlefield, but that probably wouldn’t be a problem for her. “I will keep your weapons in mind. Let me know if you want to train in anything specifically.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

“While then, the only one left is Echidna.”

“Yes!” Echidna immediately replied in anticipation before a look of embarrassment appeared on her face. “I don’t know the first thing about fighting, so I don’t know how to answer.”

“Well, why don’t you show your Soul Armament, and then we’ll figure out where to go from there, taking your abilities and consideration.”

“Do I have to?” Echidna asked as her face went pale white, and she closed her eyes.

“Yes,” Martel replied with a nod, although he was confused by her severe reaction. However, he immediately understood when the severed head appeared in front of her.

Race: Medusa

Racial Magic

Paralyzing Glare: with a single glance, the User can paralyze targets with fear rendering them incapable of moving. The target can resist dependent upon their Magic Resistance and WIL. The exact effect is gradient depending upon resistance from a slight flinch to temporary complete paralysis. The spell potential only achieves 10% if the target’s eyes do not meet with the User.

Soul Armament

Head of Medusa (Saint-9)

At the cost of mana, the head can petrify targets that it looks at. The petrification begins on a random part of the extremities before consuming the entire target. After the petrification achieves complete skin deep penetration of the body, it will begin to affect the internals, which will lead to death without the intervention of powerful magic. However, this process takes a long time, and the target is put into a state of semi-suspended animation. It is possible to resist the petrification process based upon CON, Earth resistance, and Curse Resistance. The petrification can weaken overtime when the target is not exposed to the magic, so continuous application is recommended. The spell potential only achieves 10% if the target’s eyes do not meet with the User.

The nine snakes that make up Medusa’s hair that can extend slightly beyond arm’s reach have petrification poison with the same rules as above. However, it only achieves 50% of the eye petrification.

The head can fuse with the User, turning their hair into snakes, enhancing the petrification, and enhancing any other eye-based magic.

Earth and Curse Affinity and Resistance +50%

“This is quite impressive.” Martel said as Echidna quickly released her Soul Armament. “Do you guys have any input?” He said as he turned to the rest of the party.

“I have some ideas.” Rio said with a smile. “First, we should start with the process of elimination. I’ve dealt with Lamia’s, which she is physically almost identical to, before. Due to their muscles, they are strong, flexible, and fast. However, this means that they can’t wear heavy armor, and their tails are difficult to cover in any armor. As such, I don’t recommend that she be a frontline fighter. I also don’t recommend she become a back-line fighter because this would lower the effect of her eye magic. Thus, I recommend she be a mid-fighter.”

“Echidna, what do you think?”

“I think that makes sense. I don’t think I would be well suited for frontline fighting.”

“Very well. Next, we should figure out some weapons.”

“I might be able to help with that.” Cynthia replied. “She has a similar problem to me which is that I have a longer body. However, I also feel we should figure out her Stats first. It sounds like VIT because of her Talent and CON because it will be difficult to attach the armor to her tail. SPR and MAG to fully utilize her Racial Magic and Soul Armament. What do you think?”

“That sounds like a plan.” Martel replied.

“I feel like she should put full focus on those four Stats, which only leaves an additional 20 points per level for STR and DEX. Given that her STR is high, she could put the remaining into STR. However, I recommend her to do a 3:1 split to STR and DEX, respectively.”

“Why is this?”

“Because of her long body, she will want to use a reach melee weapon for better self-protection. If she plans to be a middle fighter, she should also have a ranged weapon. In both of these instances, you can pick a weapon that focuses on STR but still requires some DEX. I would recommend the spear and the crossbow. The spear will also give her the additional reach to attack enemies engaged with our frontline fighters without completely exposing herself to danger. With some training, her tail can also give her an angle advantage. If she can lift the front two-thirds of her body, she can attack over the tanks with the spear and the crossbow.”

“That is an interesting analysis. Echidna, what do you think?”

“I can see vertical for the crossbow, but extending my body at an angle is going to be quite difficult. Otherwise, it sounds fine to me.” Echidna tentatively replied.

Martel could tell that she lacked the knowledge and self-confidence to give a differing opinion. “You can try those weapons, but feel free to switch if you don’t feel an affinity with a particular weapon. Now we’ve got that figured out. We will spend three days on individual training, two days of group exercises, and then a free day. After that, we will head down to the labyrinth. Any questions?”

"""No."""

“Good. You guys can finish today’s training schedule on your own. Dismissed.” Martel replied as he looked amongst the party. The majority of their faces were excited, though some were neutral. However, there was one face that was a little disappointed. Martel glanced at Crystal before he understood what was going on. “Perenelle, has the material been processed?”

“Only about half. Sorry, I’ve been focusing on my training.” She replied as she handed him a storage bag.

“No problem, I completely understand. It’s enough for my purposes. Crystal, up to forge?”

“Really?!” Crystal suddenly exclaimed as her eyes sparkled like diamonds. “Yes, please, Teacher!”

…

“I’ve never seen a forge like this.” Crystal said as she inquisitively glanced around.

“I modified it from normal for convenience.” Martel replied. “What do you think of this metal?” He continued as he withdrew a metal bar from the space bag he had received from Perenelle.

“This is… very good.” Crystal mumbled, clearly unhappy as she understood the source of the metal. “I barely sense any impurities which will drastically speed up the creation process. It probably only needs to be tempered a couple of times before it can produce a finished product.”

“Yes, and the quality will also be better. I’m going to make a custom spear tip for Echidna and will narrate the process so pay attention.”

Martel became fully engrossed in the smithing process, even slowing down, as he explained. However, he played little attention to Crystal, who was next to him. It wasn’t until he began tempering the spearhead with a hammer that he glanced at her. Her eyes were completely focused following the hammer and her breath tensed at each strike as the impact resonated through the room. She licked her lips as she was practically panting as she watched forge, and her face was abnormally red. Worried by her state, Martel stopped and placed a hand on her forehead. “Are you okay? Do you need water? If the forge is too hot, you can step back.”

Crystal completely froze that his touch, which she did not expect before recoiled, began to fall from her stool. Seeing her begin to fall, Martel quickly got behind and caught her. “Sorry, did I startle you?”

Crystal’s face turned a deeper shade of red as her body broke out into goosebumps, and she slightly fidgeted in her arms. She couldn’t help herself. Although she had witnessed him forge once, she didn’t pay much attention due to respect. Watching someone smithing in detail was considered bad manners due to potential theft of trade secrets. However, the close-up view, along with his detailed explanation, completely dumbfounded her. His every strike was perfect in timing, position, strength, and care. Even among the dwarves, such ability was extremely rare, and she found it so appealing. It completely lacked brute force and was more of an art form. To her shame, halfway through the hammering process, she found herself being envious of the piece of metal! She quickly pushed those thoughts aside and tried to focus on him smithing wholeheartedly, but every strike seemed to affect her. She focused on watching him work and didn’t register when he reached out to her. Now, her face was inches from him as she was in his embrace.

“Do you need some water?” Martel asked.

“Okay.” She flusteredly replied as she jumped out from his support.

Martel smiled in amusement when she looked away from him. He quickly guessed what happened to a certain extent and couldn’t help but be a little surprised. However, he felt that the cause was the conversation with Rose that had put some strange thoughts in her head. “It’s done at this point besides one last step.” He said as he handed her some water. Then, he returned to the spearhead and engraved a magic circle on it.

“What’s that? It looks like that circle when you teleport.”

“It is the same school of magic. By putting mana into this circle, it will create a razor-sharp blade on the edge of the spear, improving the penetration power.”

“Can it be copied?”

“It only has a .3% margin of error, so it’s hard to successfully do it with this world’s technology. Of course, I will cover the circle anyway, so they won’t be able to copy it in the first place.”

“I see.”

“Well, if you don’t have any questions, you can go back and continue to practice until dinner. I’ll be utilizing the forge because I got an idea for Eferhild’s maces that I want to try.”

End of Day 94