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「Just as I thought, which means the fundamentals are highly important?」
「It appears that way. I’ve practically done nothing but the fundamentals for nearly 10 years straight without any sleep.」
「That ’without any sleep’ part is quite crazy, if you ask me.」
「Well, you’re not wrong about that…」

We were close to reaching the 30th stratum.
The attacking monsters were all of B-rank, and normally, it wouldn’t be possible to have a peaceful conversation like this… I think.
However, my barrier is sure to remain unscathed even against A-rank monsters, while Carol instantly defeats every approaching monster.

Carol only utilizes ice-based sorcery as usual, but she uses it in a variety of ways.
From piercing a monster’s vitals with ice spikes, freezing them solid, crushing them with sheer mass, to even tearing them apart with sharpened ice.
And she does all of this without using chants or magic circles.

I’m sure that it’s due to her Job. Unlike uniquely specialized Jobs like ours, hers has a level of reliability.
It’s a display of strength that’s easy to understand; it’s like seeing how a true sorcerer should be.
Seeing her sorcery like this does make me feel a bit jealous. It’s different with Ciel.

『Is it better to not sleep?』
『There is a chance that you’ll forget the insights you’ve acquired before going to sleep, you see. In that regard, you could consider it regressive.』
『In that case, maybe I should try to stay awake?』
『On the other hand, it does lower your efficiency, so it’s better off to go to sleep. Sleeping also serves to reset your thought process, so it’s also common to find better ideas afterwards.』

Hearing my reply, Ciel muttered ‘This is complicated.’ with a heavy sigh.
Even if she were to try abstaining from sleep, I’d force her to sleep.
Ciel’s health is first and foremost.

「Nonetheless, being able to use sorcery chant-less is quite convenient.」
「It’s only limited to ice. However, thanks to a certain someone’s suggestion, I was able to increase the power of my sorcery while decreasing the magic power consumption.」
「Then you should really be grateful to that certain someone.」
「Yes, I truly am.」

I realize it’s pretty shameless coming from me, but there’s a reason why I verbalized it this way.
It’s because Carol has been directing sorcery feints against me.

「For all that appreciation, aren’t you targeting me a lot?」
「I’m just directing my magic power, not targeting. I’m holding myself back, you know.」
「Well, I can see that…」

Carol proclaimed so with a self-satisfied look. Why that expression?
She’s already walking on thin ice with this, if you ask me.
But, well, I can tell that Carol has no intention of harming us.

「Can you tell where I’m directing my magic power?」
「Right now, you’re targeting my arms and legs.」
「Not targeting, just directing.」

I suppose that part’s important. She probably wants to say that she means no harm.
After all, Carol hasn’t directed her magic power towards my vitals. This is why I can remain calm while walking next to her. She hasn’t done anything that would force me to raise my guard.

「So, what do you really want?」
「Could you let me hit you with sorcery?」
「If that will satisfy you, then alright.」
「I appreciate it.」

Carol thanked me with a beautiful smile.
You could have shown that kind of smile in any other situation.

So, regarding Carol’s request, this could be either because she didn’t want to be outdone by Friere or because she simply wants to test out her sorcery.
Being as obsessed with sorcery as she is, it’s likely the latter.
As an A-rank hunter, there’s unlikely to be many opportunities for Carol to use her sorcery in full strength.
This is a den that houses A-rank and maybe even S-rank monsters. It shouldn’t break that easily, making it a good place to unleash one’s full strength.

This isn’t a mock battle like the last time, so let’s just take it easy.
However, just to be sure, I’ll increase the firmness of my barrier.
I’m sure that barriers B-rank and below are going to be meaningless, so I move the A-rank barrier to the outermost.

After that, I shift the usual close-fitting barrier to be the second outermost and create a divine power-imbued one to replace the close-fitting one as the innermost barrier.
As expected, doing this much cost plenty of magic power, but it only took a tenth of my reserves, so it’s not an issue.

As I did this, Carol began her preparations as well.
The sorcery she’s using seems to be Glacio Lentso like before, but things seem different this time.

The 10 ice spears floating midair are smaller compared to last time.
However, they employ greater magic power than before, so they should be more powerful. Did she increase the spell’s damage capability by condensing it?
Also, the spears look more intricate than before.

「Now then, are you ready?」
「Yes, feel free.」

Hearing my reply, Carol snapped her fingers.
Simultaneously, all 10 spears of ice flew towards me.
It’s much faster than before. Even if I try to run or evade them, they’ll surely catch up to me in an instant.

While I might be able to outrun them with the use of physical reinforcement, with it being 1 against 10, I’d be caught depending on Carol’s manipulation of the spears.
I have no idea whether the spears’ trajectory can actually be manipulated, but it would be best to consider the possibility.

As I was pondering the possibilities, the first spear hit the outermost barrier.
Immediately after, the barrier froze. The second spear then collided, breaking the barrier as if it were glass.
This was the barrier that withstood the blue hellfire, but as I thought, Carol’s sorcery has grown stronger.

The second shattered on impact, and a third spear hit the barrier within.
Unlike before, this barrier didn’t freeze instantly. However, the area around the point of collision froze.
The fourth through eighth spears completely froze this barrier like the previous one, with the ninth breaking it.
This surprised me a little, but at the same time, I could tell that this was the limit.

As the last spear collided with the final barrier, it simply vanished without doing anything.
In this case, I should be able to defend against repeated use of this spell. Finding this time considerably worthwhile, I called out to Carol.

「Are you satisfied now?」
「Yes, very. As I am now, I can’t reach you. Even if I take you by surprise, you’d be prepared for it. Actually, is a surprise attack impossible to achieve to begin with?」
「Right. If it’s a mass of magic power that dense, then it’s unthinkable for me to not notice.」
「Is that also the result of your solid fundamentals?」
「I believe so. Carol, you can instinctively sense it, can’t you?」

I can’t say that I completely understand magic power detection.
I just became capable of it after continued practice of magic power circulation and control. All I can say is that it’s likely a boon from having solid fundamentals.

And that ends our sorcery lecture for today! (lol) It’s nice to see Carol enjoying herself and thriving~

This chapter half is a bit heavy on the sorcery exposition this time, which I’m sure is how Carol likes it best. Ciel’s “So is not sleeping better?” interruption and Ain then trying her best to convince her against it was funny, too. Also, the way Ain speaks to Carol like they’re peers (and Ain occasionally sounding like she’s tired of Carol’s antics) is always funny and heartwarming to me for some reason. Maybe because Carol is the closest Ain has to a same-age friend. At least that’s how I see it, and I can be wrong.

I personally like how smartly Carol handled the Ain barrier problem. Now her ice spears are not only deadly lethal, but it can also serve as an anti-defense tool. While it’s not defense-piercing like a certain Z spell a certain twintailed elf loves to abuse the use of, it’s undoubtedly an armor-breaker. I can definitely see it working even against physical armor. What the ice spears doesn’t pierce through, it freezes thus making more brittle the enemies defenses until it eventually does pierce through. It encapsulates Carol’s persistent nature, in my opinion at least.

Oh wow, I got a lot out this time around.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!