Nalia and Nina nodded at Elise’s words, but then the former spoke “Er… This might have attracted some attention, so you should probably go back inside the armor.”

“Ah! Right, I didn’t even think of that.” Elise admitted.

The rabbit girl had the armor put onto her again without incident, then Nalia decided to ask Elise something:

‘Is it really possible for someone to get so much stronger so quickly? With the way things are going, Nina will be able to take on the entire forest by herself pretty soon.’

‘Ah, but that’s just the way it’s going now.’ Elise explained ‘The initial stages of power are relatively easy to go through, plus increasing one’s physical abilities is a very straightforward path to power, so this explosive growth is to be expected. But after reaching a certain level it will quickly become exponentially harder to advance.’

‘I see… Then the reason why I’m not really growing that fast is because I’m already strong and because the path of magic is a lot less straightforward? Doesn’t that mean I’ll eventually be left behind?’

‘I see… So that’s what you were worried about. No, that’s not the case.’ Elise gently replied ‘You’re actually wrong on two accounts: First of all, the ease or difficulty of a path isn’t really the main factor on how fast one goes through it.’

‘Then what’s the main factor?’ Nalia asked curiously.

‘The… I guess you could say “pressure”. The obstacles one faces on the path. As a general rule, more pressure means a faster improvement. Even with a simple path, Nina wouldn’t have advanced this fast were it not for how we’ve been constantly fighting these last few days.’

‘So you just need to fight a lot and you’ll get strong quickly?’

‘Not quite.’ Elise replied ‘Fighting does not equal pressure. If you’re not being pushed to your limits, no amount of fighting will make you stronger. Conversely, it is also possible to face pressure and get stronger without ever fighting anyone, which was the case for my sister Manami. But the main point is: You’re both my partners and will fight together, so you’ll receive more or less the same pressure, and thus grow at the same pace.’

‘I see… Ah, but you said there was something else I was wrong about?’

‘Yeah, the other thing to note is that you actually are growing remarkably fast, you just haven’t noticed it.’ Elise said cheerfully ‘Having to constantly keep up the boost, stealth and movement spells on Nina at the same time as you also use other spells in combat, often multiple complex ones at once… Well, it is certainly an effective training method.’

‘I really didn’t notice any…’ Nalia started to reply but then paused ‘Now that I think about it… I think it’s been getting easier to manipulate spell formulas on the fly, and I think I might be getting faster in channeling larger amounts of magic…? I mean… Yeah, this might be an improvement, but none of those really feel that significant, I guess?’

‘I guarantee you’re going to realize how much stronger you’ve actually gotten next time we face a Stranger.’

‘… I suppose I’ll wait and see.’

That conversation done, Elise decided to speak with Nina again. That previous conversation had been done via contract bond as Nalia felt a bit awkward at the prospect of having the rabbit girl listen to her worries, but there were no such considerations this time, so she talked out loud:

“Now that you’ve had the time to calm down from your excitement, do you have any questions?” She asked.

“Err… Exactly how strong am I now, actually?”

“You’re still some distance away from the strength you have while receiving Nalia’s boost.” Elise explained “I think you’ll get to that level by the time you’re halfway done with step three of your training. Until then Nalia will still need to boost you, but it will take less energy to get you to that level now that you’ve got some strength.”

Nina nodded and fell into thought for a bit before speaking again “So she won’t boost me anymore after I get to that point, right? Well… That’s completely fine by me, but I expected you’d want to keep using the boosts to make me even stronger.”

“That’s not really how it works.” Nalia was the one to answer “The boost magic isn’t simply something that says ‘get 30% stronger’, it is a complex series of magical operations interfacing with physical laws. In the simplest terms, it is something that increases your strength to a specific level, so it would be useless if you’re already at that level.” She shook her head “It would require completely different operations if I wanted to boost your strength higher than that, which would require developing entirely new spells.”

“Indeed.” Elise agreed “And instead of trying to do that, it is much better for Nalia to focus on improving her other spells while you get stronger by your own merits.” She grinned “I’m sure you prefer it that way too.”

“… Yeah.” Nina’s voice was bright “I’m gonna get stronger and stronger.”

+0+

Elise, Nalia and Nina went back to the base they were currently stationed at. Hiroka came to greet them, but they could tell there was something going on from the serious expression on her face.

“Did something happen?” Elise asked her.

“You’ve been called to the commander’s tent. It sounds like you’re needed for something important.” She replied “I’m not even allowed inside.”

Elise thanked her for informing them and promised to be careful before they went inside the tent as asked. There were two people there, one of them being the same commander of their original offensive operation (who was the general commander of their front line troops) while the other one was another familiar face: The owl woman Amara.

“Ah, you’ve arrived, good.” She said upon seeing them.

“Welcome back. I know you’ve just returned, but there’s an important mission that command has decided to give you.” The commander said “Amara will explain.”

She nodded at that and began to speak “First of all, this is a dangerous mission, so only accept it if you’re willing to face such danger.” She gave them a moment to think “The objective of the mission is simple: Heading to the village of the Makos tribe of deer and helping defend it. Said village is currently under siege by a large traitor force, and it is located quite a bit behind enemy lines.” She took a deep breath “We have no way of taking a force capable of relieving them that far, but we believe that your unique skills would be enough to break through the enemy forces and give their village the support they need to keep up the resistance.”

“I see.” Elise said “Give us a moment to discuss this.”

‘So what do you think?’ She asked both of her partners.

‘This could be quite dangerous, but based on how we’ve been doing in battles involving beastkin, I think we should at least be able to escape even if the situation gets bad.’ Nalia gave her opinion.

‘If you think we can do it, I have no objections.’ Nina commented simply.

‘Seems like the two of you are okay with the idea.’ Elise kept communicating with both of them ‘For my part, I want to do this mission not just for the sake of the job itself, but because I think this could shed light on this whole situation.’

Both of them questioned what exactly she meant by that, her reply was ‘Why do you think the traitor forces are expending so much effort on an active siege despite the current war situation?’

‘So you think…’ ‘But that means…’ The two understood what she was getting at.

‘That’s right. There’s probably something significant in that village, or maybe under it.’ Elise said ‘I have a theory on what exactly is going on in this forest, and this will be a good chance to check whether my theory is accurate.’

‘And if it is accurate, then we’ll be able to make proper plans to deal with whatever happens, right?’ Nalia replied.

‘Indeed.’

There wasn’t much more discussion to be had after that, so Elise turned back to Amara and replied “We accept.”

+0+

Subsequently, options on how to give Elise’s group the best chance of reaching their destination were discussed. Sneaking through was pretty much out of the question since she had appeared in the battlefield often enough during those days for the enemies to be thoroughly familiar with her scent.

Eventually it was decided that the most reliable method was distracting the enemy forces with an attack aimed at a certain point in their defense lines in order to lure enough enemies away to create a weak point in another section of those lines. The only reason this could work was the sheer speed and mobility Elise’s group was able to achieve, which would allow them to rush through without being stopped.

The second, harder part of the plan was figuring out how to break through the forces currently sieging the deer village and go inside without allowing enemies to invade as well.

“So, how exactly do the defenses of their village work?” Elise asked, trying to get enough information to form a plan.

“Their particular tribe is extremely good at all matters related to wood.” Amara started explaining “The magic they’ve developed is capable of growing and shaping trees in rather extreme ways, as well as altering the properties of the wood they produce.

“The walls of their village are made of wood that has been modified to the point where they are exceedingly resilient, which is made even more effective by the fact that they can repair damage to it via their magic, as well as putting out any fire the enemy tries to set. That’s the main reason why they’ve been able to hold out for so long.”

“And what about their air defenses?” Nalia asked.

“The area above their village is completely filled with layers and layers of tree branches stacked on top of one another and sharpened into lethal weapons.” Amara answered “It’s pretty much like a giant porcupine. There’s very little space to squeeze through even if you can avoid being cut all over, and they also have soldiers prepared to punish anyone who manages to make it through anyway.”

“And I suppose the roots of the trees were modified to create a barrier so that people couldn’t dig their way into the village either. Sounds like their defenses are really quite good. So why are they in trouble exactly?” Elise asked.

“Because repairing wood with magic takes energy, and the enemies are attacking on rotation to force them to keep constantly repairing, until they run out of energy.” Amara said.

“Makes sense.” Elise admitted “Well, I think going at it from above is probably the best method. We’ll have to launch ourselves there from a distance, but that will make it more difficult for the enemy forces to intercept us. And Nalia’s protective magic plus our black armor will allow us to force our way through without getting seriously injured.”

“That sounds possible.” The fairy agreed “But we will definitely need a way to inform the deer of what we’ll do so they don’t attack us on sight.”

“We can send a message to them about the plan and also describing you.” Amara suggested.

“That’s something, but it would be very easy for the tired defenders to forget about it in the moment.” The commander said “It would be good to have a way to signal them when you were about to go, since that would give them time to mentally prepare.”

“If a signal is needed, then how about Nalia making a big red firework in the sky at the time? That would also serve to distract the enemies in the siege to make it easier for us to get by them.” Elise gave her suggestion.

The others agreed with that idea, and after some more conversation the plan was decided and set in motion.

+0+

It took some time for the distraction attack to be prepared and carried out, so the trio had the chance to eat and restock before moving forward with their next mission.

The mobilization of the alliance’s troops was not something they could have hidden from the enemies in any case, so the traitor troops were already gathering together in defense before their enemies even started marching. Alliance scouts began reporting those movements and their information highlighted one particular path as being the most likely candidate.

Elise and her partners had been moving in parallel with their advancing allies, so they kept even pace while directing themselves towards that path. The enemies came to block the alliance’s advance once again, and the moment both forces collided, Nalia triggered the magic she had been preparing.

It was the best version of her mobility magic. As soon as it affected the trio, they dashed forward with incredible speed, dodging around trees and irregular terrain without slowing down in the slightest. Their advance was impossible to conceal, so enemy beastkin quickly gave the alarm and moved to try and intercept them.

It was no use. The amount of guards on that section of the line was far too little, the gap was far too wide and the trio was moving far too fast. There was no way for them to block the path of Elise’s group, and the ones that had bows or other ranged weapons were also unable to hit as Nalia’s magic enabled quick dodges that didn’t even slow them down.

The first line was breached. The enemies in the second line had already been alerted and were moving as well, but they still couldn’t come close. There was an even larger gap between it and the third line, but even then the traitor guards weren’t quite fast enough to block the trio’s path, though Nalia was forced to create quick barrier spells to block their ranged attacks.

And they were through the most dangerous zone. The enemies sent frantic messages to their forces in the further areas, but Elise’s group had one more trick up their sleeves. As soon as they were out of sight, they changed their route sharply and Nalia prepared two new spells.

Their route change quickly led them to a river, which they jumped into without hesitation. Nalia cast her new spells, one to allow them to breathe underwater while the other manipulated the water’s current to drag them forward. That was the Shishime river, and they had planned on using it after realizing that a section of it came pretty close to their destination.

Moving underwater allowed them to avoid detection and mask their real goal, and Nalia’s magic made it so they weren’t moving much slower than previously. Combined with how the deer village wasn’t too far away, it meant the trio soon reached their destination, leaving the river close enough to their target that they were able to hear the sounds of battle.

Nalia did a quick spell to dry all three of them before they moved a bit further, soon reaching close to the spot where the trees gave way to a huge open area where the village and the forces attacking it were. They couldn’t go any further without risking being detected too early, but they had no need to.

Once again Nalia began preparing two new spells, having it easier this time due to not needing to keep her mobility magic going at the same time. Nina also stepped forward and placed herself in front of Elise. The fairy finished her preparations and cast her spells one after the other, first shooting a red spark that flew to the skies, going past the huge mass of enemies before exploding into red fireworks.

The spark had been too tiny for anyone to notice it going, so the attentions of most people on the battlefield were drawn only by the light show that was on the completely opposite side from the trio. That was the best chance they were going to have so Nalia’s second spell did its job.

It had already started activating before the explosion, magic pulling both Elise and Nina into the air (Nalia was already on the girl’s shoulder by that point) before manifesting a blue glow that spread and materialized into a form around them. The form of a cannon, to be exact.

A smaller explosion resounded as the magical cannon fired, shooting the group through the air at extreme speed. They crossed into the wide open area in an instant, rising up to just above the height of the deer village walls thanks to Nalia’s on the spot adjustments.

The distraction had not been perfect, and some beastkin had even heard the muffled explosion of the cannon, so the trio was spotted midway through, but their unusual traveling method helped by being so unexpected that the enemies were unable to react as fast as they generally could.

The hesitation from struggling to figure out only lasted a few moments, but they were moving fast enough to cross a significant distance during those moments. And finally, most of the enemies who had realized something was going on the quickest couldn’t actually do much due to being grounded.

It was only a scant few who had ranged weapons and managed to shoot at the group, which Nalia managed to block with quick barrier spells, and it was only one flying beastkin who was close enough to intercept them, but Nina was in front, and threw a powerful punch that broke the enemy’s lance and forced him away.

Then they dove into the branches, the armored rabbit opening a path through with a combination of strength and momentum. Elise flew right behind her, squeezing through the gap her partner created with the help of some extra protection magic from Nalia.

It was a whirlwind of quick and furious action, but then they got through the branches and dropped down inside the village. Looking up they could see a ton of deerkin looking at them in surprise, until Elise stood up and spoke:

“Hello. We are the reinforcements.”