DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

Emiya: "...Then, I'll leave it to you seniors!"

After a brief moment of surprise, Emiya immediately realized that this was a precious and rare opportunity.

The targeted training for Lv.6 [Black and White Knight] is a privilege that many people would rather die for.

Ryu hesitated, then said, "In that case, isn't Shirou under too much pressure...?"

"Hey girl over there, don't just sit around doing nothing."

The Millennium Holy Staff looked at Ryu: "Princess Riveria and I are here to spar with you."

Ryu: "...I'm also involved in this."

For the young human boy and the elf girl, the journey to the Great Tree Sea seemed far from easy.

137

Chapter 137 Teaching and Training.

During the day, Riveria and Emiya rode together on a dragon, while Freya and Ryu rode together on a dragon.

Now, Emiya finally understands the deeper meaning behind this travel arrangement.

The professor from the school district, even during a short trip, did not miss any opportunity to mentor young people, fully demonstrating the serious and rigorous spirit of the "older generation" of educators.

The reason for having Riveria ride a dragon with Emiya was not, as initially stated, for Riveria to protect the lower-ranking Emiya. Rather, it was to encourage Riveria, who was of royal elven birth and had ample knowledge and adventure experience, to teach the young adventurer.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, it's clear that if it's really about safety, it's the two gods who sealed their divine power in the lower realm who need the protection of experienced adventurers more.

Emiya was in charge of Riveria, while the other young woman in the team, the eighteen-year-old Ryu, was personally instructed by Professor Freya, the "Millennium Staff".

Although Ryu is now a Level 5 adventurer, capable of standing alone in the labyrinth city, she is still a naive child in the eyes of the long-lived elven elders.

Freya simply called Ryu a "good-for-nothing fairy who doesn't know anything."

Her statement was: "Instead of studying properly in the Elf Forest, and instead of attending the [School District], she ran off to Orario to hang out with adventurers at such a young age. Apart from being a little strong, she's a complete idiot who doesn't know anything."

Such an assessment is truly...unassailable.

Moreover, compared to Riveria's gentle approach, Freya's education was much stricter.

She took out a small wooden mallet from her bosom and began to teach Liu various kinds of knowledge by dictation, followed by a question-and-answer session. If Liu couldn't answer a question, she would tap her on the head.

By the end of the day, Liu had several bumps on her head, and her features had become quite prominent.

Faced with this outcome, the useless fairy was heartbroken but dared not complain.

This is one of the most senior professors in the [School District], a Lv.6 [Millennium Holy Staff] providing full-day, one-on-one personalized guidance.

You should know that in the school district, students have to fight for a spot in Freya's magic class. Now she's teaching you for free, what more could you ask for?

In the evening, before resting, Freya would invite Riveria to join her in two-on-one combat training with Ryu, while Emiya would fight against the [Black and White Knights].

The result was obvious: both Emiya and Ryu were easily crushed by the Lv.6 spirits, suffering heavy injuries and broken skin.

At this point, Riveria will unleash her magic, [Divine Sky], to heal them, and then the battle will continue after the healing is complete.

They wouldn't be allowed to rest until late at night, but in reality, most of them would faint during training.

However, although Ryu was very troubled by her academic classes during the day, she was full of motivation for training in the evening, and Emiya also valued this opportunity.

Even if you are crushed and battered, you must try to stand up and hold on for as long as possible.

This level of instruction and training is of immense significance to them; in fact, it could be said that they owe the Loki Familia, the Freya Familia, and the [School District] a considerable debt of gratitude.

In the training ground carved out on the desolate mountain, Freya floated in mid-air, asking questions while unleashing magical attacks on Ryu.

"Li'ang, what is the current policy of the elven royal family towards the grace of the gods?"

Ryu tumbled to dodge the attack, shouting, "Yes...yes, we remain neutral. The royal family does not favor any particular clan, but allows elves to join any clan as individuals."

Freya continued, "Who originally invented the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ryu then replied, "It is [Sage] Fels."

Freya temporarily halted her attack: "Let me demonstrate the technique I taught you earlier today—the speed-up chanting technique."

"Yes!"

Ryu took a deep breath and began chanting the magic [Memoirs of Astrea].

After Ryu finished chanting, Riveria on the ground also waved her wand.

—O harbinger of the end, snow-covered peaks. As dusk approaches, let the winds howl.

Enclosed light, frozen earth.

Snowflakes fall heavily, three harsh winters have passed—my name is Alfred.

Three blizzards swept towards Ryu, who hurriedly raised his red longsword in his left hand to block them.

Enchanted with the magic [Red Flower Bloom]!

The blade slashed at the blizzard released by Riveria. However, faced with the elven princess's profound and terrifying magic, even the flames that Liu had fully activated quickly went out, leaving only the residual heat hidden in the sword.

The Sword of Alyssa barely managed to protect Ryu's upper body from being frozen, a result that surprised Riveria.

"Given the enormous difference in magical power between me and [Gale], it's amazing that I could still achieve this."

Riveria thought to herself, "The younger generation is truly formidable."

Ryu is a recently upgraded Lv.5, while Riveria is Lv.6 and her current magic power is S960.

Riveria followed up with a question: "Identify at least three factions with Level 1 adventurers, besides the Labyrinth City and the School District."

"The Kali Familia of the Amazon Kingdom has no fewer than four Level 5 warriors, the Magic Great Kingdom has Level 5 mages, and the Far East Kingdom also has warriors who have reached Level 5!"

Freya asked again, "What is the ancient monster sealed away in the Far East?"

Ryu: "It's...it's...it's Kaguya Gojou?"

"Wrong answer."

Freya floated to Ryu's side, took out a small wooden mallet from her bosom, and struck Ryu on the forehead with a "bang".

"Well……"

Liu crouched on the ground, holding her head and with tears welling in her eyes.

While Ryu was enjoying this "edutainment" activity, at the other end of the training ground, a "magnificent" and "grand" swordsman battle was taking place.

Emiya projected various swords, which clashed with the Dark Fairy's sword.

[Gan Jiang and Mo Xie], [Pseudo-Red Plains Hound], [Pseudo-Durandall]... or perhaps a sword crafted by Emiya himself.

However, no matter what kind of sword one uses, the outcome of fighting Hegni, the "Black Demon Sword," will always be the same.

Whether severed or thrown away, Emiya would project new swords after losing his weapon. Unbeknownst to him, the area around him was filled with swords, some intact and some broken, like a graveyard of swords.

It wasn't because the weapon Emiya projected was fragile, but because his stats were far inferior to those of Hegni, who was at level 6 with Strength S920, Dexterity A899, and Agility A840.

However, Emiya was not discouraged by the gap; instead, he fought even harder.

As for Hegni, he remained expressionless, only continuing to unleash his slashes.

138

Chapter 138 Arrival at the Great Tree Sea

"Sister Riveria, could you tell me about the 'Zeus' Familia' and the 'Hera' Familia?"

On the dragon, Emiya asked Riveria a question that had always been on his mind.

"The 'Zeus' and 'Hera' Familias... How did Shirou learn about these two Familias?"

Riveria thought for a moment, and then asked Emiya this question.

Emiya replied, "In the warehouses of the Adventurers' Guild and the Hephaestus Familia, there are some materials marked as belonging to the Familia of Zeus and Hera."

Many of those materials were produced in the dungeons at levels sixty or even seventy and beyond. In Orario today, they are rare, limited-edition items that are becoming increasingly scarce.

"I see. These two clans have left few traces in the city now, but they were once a more prominent faction than the Freya clan is today."

Riveria recounted:

"Before the Freya Familia and our Loki Familia, the rulers of the Labyrinth City were the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia. The leader of the Zeus Familia was a Level 8 adventurer with the title 'Hero'; while the Hera Familia boasted the highest-ranking adventurer since the gods descended to the mortal realm, the Level 9 'Empress'."

Lv.8, Lv.9, just listing these levels is enough to be awe-inspiring.

Currently, the Labyrinth City only has one Lv.7 [Fierce Warrior], and if the scope is broadened to the entire world, there is only one more [Knight of the School District], a mere two.

"Not only that, but there are also powerful individuals in the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia who are only level 7, but whose strength is no less than that of the [Hero] and [Empress]."

Riveria spoke, but did not mention the names or titles of these powerful individuals.

Emiya said softly, "However, have these two powerful clans been completely defeated and destroyed?"

Riveria nodded: "That's right, the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia accepted the legendary three great commissions, namely to defeat the three monsters: Behemoth, Leviathan, and the one-eyed black dragon."

She paused for a moment: "The Zeus Familia defeated Behemoth, the Hera Familia killed Leviathan, and then... the two Families joined forces to fight the Cyclops, but in the end, they were almost completely wiped out."

The two nearly wiped-out clans, and the members they left behind almost caused the destruction of the entire labyrinth city—that's another story.

"Behemoth, Leviathan, the Cyclops Black Dragon... Are they monsters from outside the dungeon, just like Andaris?"

Emiya asked.

"That's right, they are all monsters that have existed since ancient times."

Riveria: "However, among these monsters, the three monsters are the strongest and most dangerous, so they are listed as the three major commissions."

"Andaris's potential ability should be between Lv.5 and Lv.6, but in the era in which it was born, there were no adventurers with divine favor, nor were there any ancient heroes powerful enough. Therefore, the fairies chose to seal it away..."

Riveria stopped speaking and noticed that the boy's body was leaning forward unnaturally, and his breathing was becoming heavy.

The elven princess gripped the reins, thought for a moment, then placed her hand on Emiya's shoulder, gently letting him lean against her.

Riveria let Emiya lean his upper body against her, which made Emiya's breathing more even as he slept.

"Sure enough, the training intensity during this period has been far too high."

Riveria sighed softly.

After the journey began, Emiya and Ryu underwent grueling training. For Ryu, the physical strength of a Level 1 adventurer allowed her to withstand the pressure, but for the boy who was only Level 2, it was still too strenuous.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone knew that all of this was for the final battle against Andaris.

In that battle, the boy had to shoulder an extremely important and heavy mission.

Riveria looked at the spear hanging behind Emiya, and a vague sense of negativity churned within her.

Now that things have come to this, Riveria has realized that something is very wrong with this expedition.

So far, there has never been a precedent of any monster requiring a specific weapon to defeat, let alone one that requires a specific person to use.

In Riveria's view, the simplest and most effective way to defeat a monster like Andaris is to gather enough firepower from the Mages and wipe the monster, along with the entire ruins, off the map.

In fact, the magical power in this team is sufficient to do this.

However, the guild specially organized this subjugation team of four Lv.6 and one Lv.5 members, all of whom possessed the [Magician] rank and powerful magic. Their most important role was that if Emiya was ultimately unable to use the spear, they might be able to use their powerful enough magic to forcibly activate it.

It was only "maybe," and even the god of the Adventurers' Guild wasn't sure if this method would work. You could say it was a last resort.

Therefore, the heaviest responsibility actually rested on Emiya's shoulders alone.

"What a joke!"

Whenever she thought of this, Riveria would get so angry that she could barely maintain her composure and rationality.

"Do you even know how old this child is? How long has he been an adventurer?!"

Countless times she wanted to grab Hermes and Artemis by the collar and confront them, but each time she saw Artemis's eyes filled with unbearable sorrow, she gave up.

Riveria was certain that the Adventurers' Guild and the gods were not telling the truth about the monster; they had concealed crucial information about it.

And the fact that they are still covering it up is what makes her angry.

Riveria gently stroked Emiya's hair. Now, as they drew closer to the Great Sea of ​​Trees, her unease grew stronger.

Besides, Riveria has also suffered quite a bit of annoyance from Senior Freyanna these past few days. This petite elven senior has a rather wicked personality.

In her eyes, Riveria and these "young people" were all uncultured nobodys, and she often made sarcastic remarks about them.

Among the group, Emiya is tolerant, the Black and White Knights don't care much about things unrelated to the goddess Freya, and Ryu is indeed an uncultured nobody.