Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

After more than a week of marching through the forest and killing monsters, Zach and the others were starting to feel like it was enough.

"Dukiel, what's our progress?" Finally, Zach had to ask their guide.

Dukiel didn't answer at once.

"...I think we're getting closer. But it's impossible to tell when we will arrive at this rate."

"And that's assuming we will find what we're looking for at the place we're trying to reach," Julius added. It was clear he didn't have high hopes for their expedition.

"Then I guess I have to be the one to bring it up. Do we turn back?" Zach asked and looked at the others. Alzara still hadn't joined the battles yet. But even if she did, there was a limit to what she could do when the other familiars and summoners were tired and weary, at least Zach assumed so. Enjoy new stories from M V L

The others also looked at the rest of the group and all the familiars, inspecting everyone's states. They had to admit that they weren't in the best shape. Continuing would be dangerous. But no one wanted to retreat.

The fact that they were facing monsters that were closer to being underworlders than contaminated surface-dwellers was proof that they were moving in the right direction. As long as they continued, they would find something. They weren't sure what that something was, but that didn't matter as long as they could get closer to finding out the source of the contamination.

It was frustrating, but when they didn't know what to look for, how far away it was, or if what they were looking for would be at their intended destination, the students couldn't recklessly continue heading deeper into the forest. It wasn't even a matter of being safe or taking a risk.

They wouldn't gain anything by continuing. They only increased their chances of getting stuck and ending up too tired and injured to defend themselves against the monsters on the way back to the Academy.

Even if they found the source of the contamination, they would be too weakened to do anything about it. There might be underworlders guarding it. They would be too weak to defeat them and destroy the source.

There might be stronger monsters close to the source…The source itself might be resistant to violence…The underworld energy might be too thick for them and their familiars…

There were too many obstacles and too little jump in their legs to overcome all the hurdles laid in front of them.

Since that was the case, they had to take a step back and gather their strength before charging again.

No one wanted to be the first to give up, even if Zach had been the first to suggest it. So, as if they could read each other's minds, all six of them turned around simultaneously. They returned to the Academy without mentioning the fact that they had been forced to retreat.

As soon as they returned to the Academy, they split up and focused on their own things. All of them had felt and noticed the things they needed to improve on if they wanted to head deeper next time.

Violina needed to train her control over her Frost Imp and teach it how to regulate itself. It couldn't go all out from the beginning and waste its strength until it had to fight tooth and nail with the monsters.

Anerias wanted to increase the firepower of his Hound and give the Hellcat some strength training.

Julius wanted to evolve his Mannequin, so he would continue trying to do that by using all the materials they brought back from the forest.

Dukiel was a little disappointed with his Transformation Cube's performance, so he had to figure out a way to make it stronger and more useful until next time. He had an idea but didn't want to share it in case it didn't work.

Nessa was satisfied with her performance. For the first time, she felt like she was actually contributing to the fights. Ever since the field trip during the first year, she had mostly been in charge of transport, thanks to her Millipede's size and smooth movements. She had only watched while others fought and then dealt with the aftermath.

Now, both because the Millipede evolved and because she summoned an A-rank supporting familiar, Nessa played a major part in all battles. But she also had room for improvement. Her Butterfly's magic wasn't very effective against the stronger monsters or the S-rank familars, so she wanted to focus on strengthening that first.

She also had to work on her contract skills. If she could combine it with her Butterfly's abilities, they could start bringing down monsters without so much as harming a hair on them. At the moment, it was nothing but a far-fetched dream, but Nessa could see it, she could see the possibilities.

Zach…

Zach wasn't sure what to do. Yanael had done as well as she could, and the only way he knew she could do better was if she was overall stronger. But he wasn't sure about asking her to do some strength and stamina training. It didn't fit her image.

His first contract skill was strong. It could probably get stronger, but it would have been the one thing that could have kept them going deeper into the forest, and Zach had yet to use it to its full potential when they decided to turn back.

That left Alzara and his second contract skill. His second contract skill wasn't suitable for combat. That left Alzara.

Zach turned to his tall and tan maid, who seemed to be doing her best to regain the dignity she had lost while losing herself in potion-making. She was standing next to the wall in Zach's living room with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Alzara."

"Yes, Master?"

"Do you not like fighting?"

"Are you referring to my inactivity during the expedition into the forest, Master?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"I do not mind engaging in altercations, physical or otherwise. I am a battle maid, after all. However, I saw no reason to partake in the ongoing collisions between familiar and monster."

"If you 'partake' in battles, you and Yanael can kill more monsters. Aside from you two getting stronger, I will gain more levels." Zach hid his curiosity about Alzara's combat ability with other selfish reasons.

"I see…I will take that into consideration in the future, Master." Alzara nodded solemnly, accepting Zach's implicit order. She also hid the regret she felt about being unable to tell Zach about his condition.

"Good." Zach nodded.