Chapter 352 - 352 - Bloodline, Pretty Amazing, Right?

The gap between these old-guard Familias (the heavy hitters) and the mid-tier or up-and-coming Familias wasn't just a matter of raw, surface-level strength. The deeper and more crucial difference lay in things that couldn't be measured by level or money: the cohesion within a Familia, the experience and skills passed down generation after generation, the resources accumulated over the long haul, and the tangled web of connections.

These invisible "foundations" were what truly determined whether a Familia was strong.

Just look at the old Zeus Familia and Hera Familia. These two overlords stood at the pinnacle of the Lower World for over a thousand years. If the battle against the One-Eyed Black Dragon hadn't wiped out both their foundation and their people, the other Familias of Orario probably wouldn't have a shot at the top even to this day.

Even Freya Familia, with several centuries of development behind it, had once been nothing more than a latecomer in their shadow. As for Loki Familia, formed only a few decades ago, that went without saying.

And as for Leon and his crew...

Lucky for them, there was a certain cheating bastard around who shamelessly handed everyone a cheat system, plus a few individuals who happened to be second-playthrough players.

Otherwise, a team starting from scratch and trying to catch up to the first tier through normal means? Without decades of all-out struggle, they shouldn't even bother dreaming about it.

Of course, all of this came with a hard prerequisite: the team's members had to possess the potential to climb to the summit in the first place. If you didn't even have that potential, then sorry... forget walking through the door, you wouldn't even qualify to find it.

The competition in Orario, the rivalry between Familias, the contests between adventurers... it was all that realistic, and all that brutal. This legendary city, hailed as the City of Heroes, the City of Adventure, the center of the world, had never been some utopian fantasyland.

Here, standing still meant falling behind.

If you didn't push yourself, there would always be someone sprinting ahead at a speed you couldn't imagine, somewhere out of your sight.

No wonder some gods who'd descended to the mortal world were still coasting and lying flat centuries after founding their Familias. Did they want to lie flat? Obviously... aside from bad luck, the more realistic reason was that they simply couldn't keep up with the grind.

...

...

After the little morning episode, aside from Rose noting down the arrangement to send someone to attend tomorrow's "year-end meeting," everyone's pace of life returned to the familiar daily routine.

Time flowed slowly.

By the time the eighth chime from the great bell tower faded away, the deep-winter sky had brightened completely.

"All right, everyone!"

"Wash your hands... it's time to eat!"

Before long, Rose, apron tied on, leaned out from the kitchen and called toward the living room with a spoon raised.

"Yay, food, food, food!"

If you're not eager about eating, something's wrong with your mindset.

Don't let Laurier's small frame fool you. When it came to enthusiasm for food... even Leon couldn't hold a candle to her.

"Come on, Iri! Margaret!"

"Coming!"

After spending some time together, Irisviel and Margaret seemed to have caught Laurier's "gourmet radar" too. Their eagerness for meals was leagues beyond what it had been when they first arrived. You could get a pretty good sense of it just from the shift in their daily three meals... they no longer ate to fill their stomachs, but had started to savor the food itself.

"Lydia, eat first. You can read the book later. Studying isn't something to rush in this one moment."

Noticing that the princess was still seated gracefully on the sofa, absorbed in a thick tome, Kureha glanced at the title, smiled faintly, gently closed the book and set it on the coffee table, then took her hand and led her toward the dining room.

The book was Encyclopedia of Dungeon Monsters and Materials I.

This book was already something of a "veteran" within the Familia.

Including Leon, everyone's first understanding of the Dungeon, monsters, and materials had started, almost without exception, from this thick, hefty volume.

It had silently accompanied everyone's growth, and its contribution couldn't be overstated.

In the dining room, morning light spilled through the window, lighting the fine snow falling outside.

The firelight from the fireplace danced across the walls. The long table was laden with a generous breakfast, heat and fragrance curling upward. Easy laughter and the soft clink of dishes wove together in the warm air.

These quiet, warm scenes made up the most ordinary, and most precious, peaceful daily life of Leon's home.

...

...

After breakfast, once the table was cleared, everyone sat on the sofa for a short while with hot tea or coffee, then set off on their own plans for the day.

Leon brewed a pot of hot tea, picked up that Christmas present... a pricey magic item, the Thermos Cup... and was about to head down to the underground workshop to keep working on his Pharmacology and that Wild Mixture formula. But as he turned, he saw that Jeanne and Rose had already changed into thick, casual winter clothes, draped with mink cloaks against the cold, clearly preparing to head out.

"Huh? You two are going somewhere?"

Jeanne and Rose had just tucked the big stack of documents and books they were carrying into the Wonder Pack and were heading for the door.

"Yep."

Bending down to pull on their ankle boots, the two explained:

"We're planning a trip to the Guild. Besides returning the materials we've got on hand, we want to borrow some documents and intel on the Dungeon's 'Lower Floors,' to get a head start on prepping for our next 'Expedition.'"

"Mm, and while we're at it, we can check the bulletin board in the Guild hall, see what's been going on in the city lately, gather some news."

Rose hooked her index finger over her boot heel, and noticing that Leon's gaze was fixed squarely on her ankle, wrapped in flesh-toned tights, the corner of her lips curved as she let out a soft laugh.

"We won't be back for lunch, so don't bother setting out our portions."

With that, she tossed Leon a flirtatious wink, then waved a hand toward the room and strode out briskly without looking back.

"Okay~"

Leon shrugged, watching the two figures disappear past the courtyard gate, then turned and headed down to the basement, humming a tuneless little melody.

"Iri, Margaret, Lydia, I'm off to work too."

"Don't forget your daily meditation. It's important for mages."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm."

Meanwhile, Kureha's figure came down the stairs.

She'd already changed into a sharp, spirited training outfit. Clearly, she was about to begin her daily, never-skipped physical conditioning.

As for that training intensity, well... forget Lydia, who'd only just joined the Familia. Even Margaret and Iri turned pale at the mention of it.

They couldn't imagine it... was that kind of training intensity really something a human could endure?

Especially after seeing Kureha push herself to the absolute limit, then, after a brief catch of breath, pick up her sword and throw herself back into training as if nothing had happened, the two of them couldn't help but wonder, more than once, whether this Sword Saint's physical makeup might be a little different from an ordinary person's.

As for Leon, he'd suspected it for a long time already... that Kureha's condition was, in all likelihood, connected to the Clyret Bloodline she carried.

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