"I'll teach you if you want to learn," Upon hearing that Ais wanted to learn his swordsmanship, Emiya agreed almost without hesitation.
In fact, Emiya had a very favorable impression of the cute and pure Ais. Even if Ais had only casually mentioned wanting to learn, Emiya would still have agreed.
It's just that before that, he might have confirmed it with the goddess Hephaestus, and the goddess most likely wouldn't mind such a thing.
However, at that time, the relationship between the Loki Familia and the Hephaestus Familia wasn't that close. Whether it was Finn or Riveria, both believed that such presumptuous words shouldn't be said lightly.
As for Ais fabricating her identity and even disguising herself as Riveria earlier, it was probably due to various complex reasons.
"Ma-MASTER!", Ais suddenly shouted excitedly, her voice full of admiration and reverence.
"Master?", Emiya was momentarily stunned, then gave a helpless smile. That one word "master" suddenly made him feel as if he had aged a whole generation.
"Alright, master it is then," He felt helpless inside, but didn't refuse.
"Speaking of which, Shirou, how do you plan to explore the dungeon next?", The goddess Hephaestus asked.
Emiya pondered for a moment. Since he began adventuring in the dungeon, he had mostly operated solo.
When he was Lv.1, his activity range was mainly up to the twelfth floor; after reaching Lv.2, he expanded his exploration to the thirteenth to seventeenth floors.
But now, having leveled up to Lv.3, the previous areas, aside from the solitary labyrinth king Goliath, no longer posed much of a threat to him.
The goddess Hephaestus seemed to understand this too and continued, "Your strength has increased significantly, but the monsters before the seventeenth floor no longer offer much training value for you."
Emiya nodded, agreeing with the goddess's assessment.
"But, if you plan to go alone beyond the nineteenth floor...", The goddess Hephaestus's tone grew slightly serious, "That would be far too dangerous."
From the nineteenth floor onward, the danger of the dungeon increases dramatically.
"The difficulty of the middle floors escalates greatly. Theoretically, Lv.2 adventurers in teams can hold their ground in that area."
Hephaestus continued analyzing, "But at the same time, even first-rate adventurers might lose their lives if they make a single mistake."
The monsters in the middle floors are not only stronger, but also have special mechanics like "vertical pitfalls." Any adventurer who's careless could fall to even deeper levels, such as the twenty-fifth to twenty-seventh floors.
That is where the labyrinth's solitary king, the two-headed dragon Amphisbaena, resides.
This is also the reason Riveria initially forbade Ais from entering beyond the nineteenth floor. Although, as a dragon-type monster, the two-headed dragon is indeed countered by Ais's [Avenger] skill, even so, the [Sword Princess] still couldn't defeat it.
Because Ais cannot swim.
Hephaestus said, "In the lower and deep floors, the strength comparison between monsters and adventurers is no longer the only key factor."
"The real danger isn't a single monster, but the dungeon itself. Traps, environmental changes, even sudden dungeon mutations, all could threaten an adventurer's life. In such places, teamwork is absolutely necessary."
The goddess's meaning was clear: she didn't want Emiya adventuring alone anymore. Now that he had advanced to Lv.3, it was time for him to join, or form, a team.
If he were to consider joining another team, the simplest option would obviously be the Loki Familia. No doubt, Riveria and her companions would gladly welcome him.
After all, the Loki Familia had already worked with him multiple times, and having him in the party, especially during expeditions, would greatly enhance their combat power.
Aside from that, in the Freya Familia, he got along well with the [Black and White Knight], though he wasn't that familiar with the others.
As for forming his own team, Emiya already had a few ideas in mind.
———
[Seven Days Earlier]
After Riveria fainted, Emiya was "detained" by the Loki Familia.
The reason couldn't be simpler, Riveria collapsed the moment she wore the crown he gave her. Obviously, he couldn't escape blame for this.
The members of the Loki Familia were quite anxious, especially the elves who admired Riveria. Their emotions were especially tense.
Though Alicia, Lefiya, and a few others strongly believed in Emiya, the other elf girls clearly harbored hostility toward him, and mixed with that hostility was deep fear.
Alicia, Lefiya, and Ryuu were exceptions.
The elves felt that Alicia-oneesan had been a Disciplinary Committee Head for too long, so her overly upright nature made her more susceptible to attraction by someone as drastically contrasting as the [Elf Slayer].
As for Lefiya, she was still young, pure of heart, and it wasn't strange for her to admire a powerful peer.
And Ryuu? Well, she was a useless elf, so it wasn't surprising that she was easily captured by a young man. Not too unexpected.
But who would've thought, even the usually calm and wise Lady Riveria, the spiritual pillar of the elves, fell to him (in the literal sense).
The nickname [Elf Slayer] had already widely circulated within the Loki Familia.
And now, in the eyes of the elf girls, that unofficial title seemed to have become all too real.
So much so that whenever they even thought of opposing him, they could feel the pressure Emiya emitted. An oppressive aura that filled them with instinctual fear.
Just when the tension reached a breaking point, Loki finally stepped in to explain Riveria's condition to everyone.
Although Loki was filled with resentment, desperately wanting to kick out this [Elf Slayer] who snatched away her beloved elf girls, she knew she couldn't.
The elf girls were already trembling with nerves. If this continued, they might actually break down.
More importantly, if Riveria woke up and found out the goddess handled Emiya without her consent, she definitely wouldn't let it slide.
Loki couldn't help but picture Riveria's cold expression, holding her magic staff. Just thinking about it gave her chills.
That elf princess was no joke when she got serious. Little Ais was a prime example.
Loki honestly told her Familia members that Riveria's body was fine. The crown had simply entered a special state due to its power. It wasn't a bad thing, in fact, it would benefit her.
Only then did the hostility from the elf girls die down. Now, only fear remained.
Although Emiya was "detained" by the Loki Familia, they actually treated him quite courteously and kindly.
For example, [Braver] Finn had believed from the start that Riveria would be fine. If their vice-captain were truly in danger, there's no way his thumb wouldn't react.
Still, regardless, Riveria had collapsed. With something like that happening, the Loki Familia couldn't let Emiya leave easily.
Finn acted cautiously. He negotiated with the goddess Hephaestus as amicably as possible, hoping that Emiya could stay with the Loki Familia for a while. The reason given was to allow him to spend some time with Ais.
The Loki Familia had already planned to ask Emiya to forge a sword for Ais.
To ensure that the weapon would perfectly suit Ais's fighting style, they hoped Emiya would first understand her combat patterns and personal habits in depth to create the most suitable weapon.
The reasoning they gave sounded logical enough, and the Hephaestus Familia reluctantly agreed. But the goddess Hephaestus didn't fully buy it.
She inwardly grumbled, 'At a time like this, they're still using the [Sword Princess] as an excuse. Do they really think I don't get it? It's clearly because of Riveria.'
In the goddess's view, this was all Riveria's arrangement. The elf princess vice-captain clearly wanted to spend more time with Emiya, so she found this grand excuse to keep him.
Hephaestus felt a bit sour but also amused, 'Sigh, Riveria, your patience is way too thin.'
She didn't even dare imagine what the elf princess and the boy close to her would be up to these days.
And honestly, the goddess wasn't wrong, but she wasn't completely right either.
Regardless, Hephaestus generously allowed the Loki Familia's request to temporarily keep Emiya at their base.
And so, the Loki Familia got their wish.
After Riveria fell unconscious, Emiya volunteered to help take care of her.
Even though the goddess Loki had judged that Riveria was fine, Emiya still felt responsible and wanted to do something for her.
Naturally, Loki opposed this firmly.
But her objection was ultimately overruled, because [Braver] Finn approved of Emiya's proposal.
Within the Loki Familia, although Loki was the goddess, when it came to matters that didn't concern life and death of the Familia, the leader Finn's decision carried more weight.
As for why Finn sided with Emiya, intuition. [Braver]'s intuition had always been remarkably accurate, getting them out of countless crises.
Though Loki complained nonstop about it, she couldn't change the outcome. So, she proposed a compromise: always have two people watching over Riveria, meaning whenever Emiya was on duty, someone else must be present too.
The day was split into three shifts. Emiya was responsible for one shift, while other Loki Familia members rotated through the rest.
On the first day, Finn assigned the cautious [Noble Cat] Anakitty Autumn, also known as Ana, to watch over Riveria with Emiya.
"Come to think of it, I should be thanking you, Emiya-kun," Ana broke the silence in the room.
The two sat inside Riveria's room. Riveria lay quietly in bed, already changed into clean clothes by the elf adventurers arranged by Loki.
Emiya looked puzzled at Ana, "Thank me?"
Ana smiled softly, "Yes, thanks to you, I made a lot of money."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Ana: "I bought a bunch of your forged weapons earlier. Now, those weapons have increased in price at least fivefold."
"Earlier… ah, so you're the one who bought those weapons," Emiya suddenly understood.
Back when Alicia took the [Skadi of Ice], some Loki Familia adventurers had rushed to the Hephaestus Familia's exclusive shop and bought up all the weapons signed by Emiya.
The goddess Hephaestus had told Emiya about this but didn't specify who did it.
Ana: "Because of that investment, my current assets exceed quite a few first-rate adventurers."
Just as she said, Ana had made a tidy profit by purchasing Emiya's forged weapons in bulk.
Those weapons weren't proto-Noble Phantasms like [Higanbana], [Tsubame Gaeshi], or [Skadi of Ice], nor were they first-class gear.
However, just because they had Emiya's signature, their price in the weapon trading market had skyrocketed.
And that wasn't too surprising.
Take weapons forged by [Cyclops] Tsubaki, for example. Their price inflation far exceeded the actual quality difference compared to other high-end blacksmiths.
Especially the ones she forged in her early days. Even though their quality was lower than her more mature work, their rarity made them fetch even higher prices.
Emiya was now enjoying a similar treatment, even surpassing it in some respects. Because there were so few of his works in circulation, most being his practice prototypes.
"It's because of the previous dungeon riot," Ana explained, "At that time, a massive wave of deep-floor monsters surged into the upper levels of the dungeon."
To the vast majority of adventurers, that was an absolute nightmare. Over half had never even set foot in the lower levels, let alone the deep floors.
Deep-floor monsters with potential abilities reaching Lv.4 or even Lv.5 were nothing short of nightmares.
"In that battle, the most outstanding ones were undoubtedly Lefiya and Alicia," Ana continued.
While Riveria was absent, Lefiya used the [Elf Ring] to replicate [Vas Windheim], becoming the strongest magic caster in the Loki Familia.
Alicia, commanding the Ice Giant, played a crucial role in the final defense battle.
The Loki Familia adventurers were split by [Braver] to various zones to clear high-threat monsters. They adopted a "gather enemies and concentrate firepower" strategy.
Alicia moved around with Lefiya, using her Ice Giant to build defenses and shield Lefiya, giving her ample time to chant.
Lefiya unleashed wave after wave of powerful magic, wiping out swarms of monsters, while Alicia protected her until the very end.
Only when Lefiya's mana was completely exhausted did they finally stop.
"After that battle, Lefiya's overwhelming firepower and Alicia's performance commanding the Ice Giant made them the center of attention among adventurers from various Familia," Ana's gaze gleamed slightly as she continued, "And the sword in Alicia's hand was clearly no ordinary weapon."
[Skadi of Ice] entered the spotlight of many adventurers, and as its forger, Shirou Emiya's fame also reached an entirely new level.
In truth, Ana originally collected Emiya's weapons planning to wait until his reputation rose over time so their value would naturally increase.
What she didn't expect was that due to this unforeseen event, that day arrived so quickly.
And the one who first realized this potential was actually [High Novice] Raul, who had keenly sensed Emiya's potential.
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