Danma: Danganronpa, but Monster Hunter!

Having received permission, Ais's eyes lit up. Ignoring the fact that she wasn't armed, she walked directly to the flames and said:

"Blazing Flame, I will fight you now. I will suppress my abilities and fight you bare-handed."

"Ais..."

Flame glanced towards the sidelines, then saw Riveria slowly nod.

Since the parents have already agreed, why should he refuse? Let's go!

Chapter Thirteen: Blazing Light

"Uh, I lost."

In the training field, Flame lay face up, easily knocked to the ground by Ais, who was in full swing.

"Yes, but the flames are also very strong."

The aloof girl nodded, then seemed to remember something and added.

"It's not even close."

Blazing Flame shook its head, feeling the stinging pain around it, gasped for breath, and lifted itself off the ground.

Just like the sparring match with Lefia, the battle with Ais also ended quickly—in a complete defeat for Blaze.

After his duel with Ais, he finally understood how terrifying it was for an adventurer to level up, or rather, to elevate their abilities.

Ais, who suppressed her physical abilities to LV·2, easily dismantled all his resistance. She could keenly seize every flaw in his movements and take the opportunity to strike him. He could hardly see Ais's movements and was like a stupid bear being played around.

Fortunately, although his movements were a bit clumsy, he was also incredibly resilient. In the end, he managed to slightly graz Ais with a surprise shield thrust, which saved him a little face.

However, Flame hadn't forgotten that this result was achieved with Ais unarmed. If Ais had been equipped with a sword and had treated this battle like she trained Bell in the original story, he probably wouldn't have been defeated in just a few moves.

With a soft sigh, Flame sheathed his shield and axe.

This crushing defeat in the sparring match did not break Lieyan's spirit. Although it was indeed a little humiliating to be defeated by a girl who was almost a decade younger than him with her bare hands, it also made Lieyan realize the gap between himself and truly high-level adventurers.

The main difference lies in the skill gap between players.

Unlike Ais, Flame had no experience in human combat.

Monster hunters are professionals who hunt monsters. The knowledge and combat skills they learn are used to fight monsters, not to fight people. Hunters must never turn their weapons against their own kind. Even in wars involving national powers, hunters are not allowed to participate. This is an ironclad rule that was instilled in Flame from the very beginning of her hunter training.

On the other hand, Ais, although she hadn't fully matured during the period when the Dark Faction was rampant in Orario, she already possessed LV·2 strength at that time, meaning she must have had contact with the Dark Faction. Furthermore, there were conflicts between the Loki Familia and Freya Familia, leading to battles when they encountered each other in dungeons. In addition, there were many humanoid monsters in the dungeons, giving her considerable experience in human combat.

This created a gap between the two from the very beginning of the battle.

"There's still so much to learn," Lieyan exclaimed with emotion.

"Miss Ais is amazing! Miss Ais is so incredible! Miss Ais is so cute!" Lefia ran over at this moment. Just as Riveria had predicted, after Ais defeated the Flame Demon King and avenged her, all her frustration, self-doubt, and tendency to withdraw into herself vanished without a trace.

"Lefia..." Ais looked at the Yamabuki-colored fairy circling around her, a hint of helplessness appearing on her delicate doll-like face. Then, as if she had thought of something, she reached out and covered the fairy's hair, gently ruffling it.

Two blushes crept onto the elf's face, and a puff of steam rose from the top of her head with a "pop." Sensing Ais's movement, the elf felt completely dizzy.

Miss Ais actually touched my head!!

Ahhh, I have no regrets in this life!!

The method of using flames to soothe onions is indeed very effective!

Looking at the Yamabuki-iro sprite with its eyes closed and its slender neck raised, a knowing look flashed across Ais's eyes. If it had a tail, it would definitely be swaying back and forth.

I learned a trick.

"Don't be discouraged if you get defeated. Ais is a genius, and she's a speed type too. It's normal that agile people like us can't handle her. As long as you train hard, the problems of slow speed and slow reaction will become smaller as your strength increases. If you don't understand anything later, you can come to me and I'll teach you."

Grace patted Flame's arm, looking at the strong young man with great satisfaction. The more he looked at him, the more he liked him. This was what it felt like to have a worthy successor. Loki had really made a good move.

“Okay.” Flame was equally pleased. There are two different learning efficiencies: having someone guide you or figuring things out on your own. Moreover, what the senior members of the clan imparted to him was not just knowledge, but also the experience and lessons learned during the adventures. Such conditions would make even some weaker clans drool.

"It seems I've missed something really exciting."

Just then, a slightly amused voice rang out at the entrance of the training ground. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw the village chief Puxian in full armor and their beloved leader.

"Captain!"

Tione's eyes lit up, and she rushed to the side of the little warrior. "Have you finished your negotiations with the village chief?"

"Ah, it's over," Finn nodded, giving a hearty smile.

He was very satisfied with the negotiations, both in terms of the process and the outcome.

Finn gathered everyone present and began to announce the agreement he had reached with Samantabhadra.

"Starting today, the Loki Familia will form an alliance with Fire Village. Whenever Fire Village or the Loki Familia encounters trouble, the other side must do its best to help. Blaze, because you are the only link between Fire Village and the Loki Familia, this task can only be entrusted to you. You need to travel back and forth between Blaze and the Loki Familia once a day to ensure smooth communication. Can you do that?"

"I can't ask for it."

Flame also revealed a relieved and joyful smile; this was exactly the scene he wanted to see.

Then, Village Chief Puxian continued the topic of Finn, saying:

"I will establish a Loki Familia branch in Flamefire Village, with Firecloud in charge of liaison with everyone. You can select some reliable members from your own Familia to be stationed in Flamefire Village for routine gathering, reconnaissance, and cleanup missions."

Palicoes, Wirebugs, and Hounds will be allocated to Loki Familia senior members and Monster Hunter division personnel accordingly. However, since Palicoes and Hounds require training, and the number of Wirebugs is insufficient to meet your current needs, I will prioritize the Monster Hunter division personnel for this allocation. But don't worry, I will arrange for Blade Spine to complete the training as soon as possible to achieve this goal.

"Village Chief Puxian also promised to let us take some minerals and monster materials for research. In return, we will provide some materials from the dungeon. In short, it's all mutually beneficial."

Finn smiled, his eyes brimming with joy, while Tiony stood beside him, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes sparkling with hearts.

She really likes this kind of team leader!

"We also want to thank you, and Flame, well done."

Puxian's tiger-like eyes looked at the upright Lieyan, a hint of encouragement and relief in his gaze, like an old father seeing his child grow up and share the responsibilities of the family. Then he raised his arm and solemnly pounded his fist against the armor on his chest:

"Radiant light."

"Radiant light."

Blazing Flame responded just as solemnly.

Chapter Fourteen: This Hunter is Clearly Strong Yet Overly Cautious

"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed!!"

A mournful cry suddenly echoed from the Loki Familia's encampment. Inside the room, Lefia buried her head deep in her pillow, her entire being filled with a tragic sense of shame at being unable to face her elders back home.

"Lefia...it's so noisy..."

The voice of her fellow clan members came from under Lefia's bed, sounding utterly drowsy.

"Feel sorry……"

"It's okay. By the way, what exactly happened to you? Why did you suddenly become like this?"

"What happened... Does being defeated three times in a row count?"

Thinking about her recent crushing defeats, Lefia felt an urge to burst into tears, clutching a handkerchief in her mouth. While she was indeed weak, what was wrong with that person?! They leaped over in a flash, their weapon transforming rapidly, and they even unleashed an attack that was almost magical! Their combat power was simply outrageous!

Fortunately, Miss Ais avenged me.

Thinking of how the fiery rags that had defeated her were easily knocked to the ground by Ais, who was unarmed, and how Miss Ais had even affectionately patted her head afterward, Lefia cupped her cheeks in her hands, two blushes appearing on her delicate face. Her head also became dizzy, as if she had been drinking.

Hehehe, Miss Ais~~~

"Oh."

"...Aren't you surprised?" The lily fairy, who had just been immersed in her fantasies about Miss Ais, suddenly realized what was happening and expressed her dissatisfaction with her fellow familia's composure.

"Nothing to be surprised about. After all, Lefia, you're a magic idiot, and everyone in the Familia knows that. It's not surprising that you were defeated." The Familia member yawned, speaking in a tone that said, "Don't make a fuss."

"Magic Idiot..."

After being mocked by this rather malicious word, Lefia immediately froze in a state of shock.

"whee."

The fellow clan member under the bed seemed to have expected this. After covering her mouth and chuckling, she changed the subject, "Speaking of which, what do you think of that newcomer who just joined the clan, Lefia?"

What can I say? He beat me three times in a row! What can I possibly say? That Miss Ais played well, played brilliantly, played with dazzling skill?

Lefia rolled her eyes: "My opinion is that I have no opinion."

"Lefia is so cunning. But speaking of which, that newbie is going to the dungeon today, right? I wonder how he'll perform, and whether he'll be scared by the monsters, hehe."

“Although that muscle-bound idiot has only recently joined the familia, the strength he honed before joining is genuine. I think the problem isn’t him, but the monsters in the dungeon,” Lefia said, tucking herself further under the pillow. Her voice was somewhat muffled. “Besides, the high-ranking adventurers from the familia will be with us, so there’s no need to worry.”

"That seems to be true, everyone goes through this."

"Forget about that guy, let's rest. Elfi, didn't you just come back from the dungeon?"

"whee."

……

"Today is the first time that Blaze has entered the dungeon. I wonder if he can adapt to this unprecedented adventure."

In the commander's office, Finn sat on the desk, looking out the window, his legs gently swinging back and forth, feeling pleasant and content.

This is the second day since the entire Loki Familia leadership and key combat personnel went to Fire Village to establish a defensive alliance. As agreed yesterday, earlier today, the Loki Familia secretly dispatched several personnel, including Grace, into Fire Village.

However, although an alliance has been established, considering the special nature of Fire Village, Finn decided not to announce it directly to all members of the Familia for the time being, a decision that coincided with Loki's thoughts.

Whether they wanted to keep things under wraps for now, quietly developing their skills and then surprising everyone, or whether they still had some reservations, it doesn't matter.

In conclusion, both of them acted with considerable caution regarding this unprecedented upheaval.

The Flame Village side also adopted an indifferent attitude towards this. After all, the Loki Familia was a powerful ally who fell from the sky to them. They didn't have any demands on this ally. It would be great if they could help, but if they couldn't, it would be the same as before, they didn't care.

“It’s definitely possible. Judging from Flame’s various actions, he’s quite adventurous,” Riveria said.

“Adventurers’ adventures and hunters’ adventures are not the same kind of things. Even if you’re used to hunters’ adventures, you’ll still be flustered when you first encounter adventurers’ adventures.” Finn laughed. “Hunters and their prey usually fight one-on-one, but there are very few opportunities to fight alone in dungeons. Enemies are almost always in groups. I hope this adventure will make Flame realize this.”

“It definitely will, but with Raul around, any danger in the upper echelons is nothing to worry about,” Riveria said.

"So I instructed Raul not to intervene unless it's a critical moment. This will usher in a new chapter in the epic tale of heroes, a chapter that will change the world. How that story will unfold depends on Blaze himself." The leader of the dwarfs pouted, like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.

“You…” Rivera looked at the captain, who seemed to have regained his youth, and couldn’t help but shake her head, but in the end, she didn’t say anything.

After all, this little human in front of her had devoted himself to the cause of his clan and his own race, constantly restraining and contemplating, as if an invisible beast was chasing him from behind. In all the years they had worked together, she had rarely seen him relax. It was nice to see him relax like this once in a while.

But will it be a heroic tale that will cause a global upheaval...?