Ocean’s feat left Diana even more captivated by her.

  So captivated, in fact, that she began gently stroking her. Ocean didn’t pull away; she actually seemed to enjoy the affection.

  This time, it was Alexander’s turn to be surprised. This didn’t match Ocean’s usually reserved demeanor around strangers. “There’s something special about her… maybe it’s her {Talent}?”

  Alexander didn’t think Ocean’s behavior was just a stroke of luck. Ever since he’d met Diana at the academy, his instincts had told him she was genuinely good.

  At first, he hadn’t paid much attention, but Ocean’s reaction reminded him that something unusual was happening. His instincts, meant to detect danger and protect him, weren’t supposed to respond this strongly to simple goodwill.

  “She’s not faking it, not acting on purpose,” Alexander thought as he studied Diana. “That must mean her intentions are spilling over naturally, creating some kind of aura that makes my instincts recognize her as good…”

  “What {Talent} allows her to generate an aura like that so effortlessly?” he wondered. “Ridiculous. In a situation where a creature isn’t hungry or enraged, her mere request could literally prevent it from attacking.”

  After spending some time with Ocean, Diana finally made her decision and spoke to Alexander.

  “I accept your offer.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Yes. I need to change,” Diana said, determination shining in her eyes. “When do we start?”

  “Today. I want to start improving as soon as possible,” Alexander replied without hesitation. “But you don’t have to rush. I can go ahead alone for a few days while you prepare.”

  “I can start today too,” Diana said. “I don’t have anything planned.”

  “All right, then,” he agreed. “Tell me, what kind of support magic are you learning at the academy? We’ll start from there.”

  “Light magic support,” she answered. “I can do minor healing, weaken negative effects, and illuminate an area.”

  Perfect. That way, I won’t have to stop, Alexander thought. Then he asked, “Do you have any offensive spells?”

  “T-two,” Diana replied timidly, a little embarrassed but honest. “But they’re basic and weak.”

  “That’s fine,” Alexander reassured her. “I’ll be the main force.”

  After exchanging a few more details, they discussed the terms of their arrangement and dungeon strategy.

  Once finished, he paid the bill and they went to register as a team at the adventurers’ guild.

  Formal adventurer teams are a simple form of organization, allowed only for silver-rank adventurers or higher.

  They have three main advantages: completing missions they couldn’t handle alone, sharing rewards equally, and ensuring the leader is accountable for members. In return, the leader receives a larger share of the rewards and decides which missions the team will accept.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  At the guild, Alexander looked for Mary to register the team, but she wasn’t there. “What a shame. She must be off today.”

  Unable to rely on Mary, he chose the emptiest counter and requested a team with just himself and Diana.

  Once registration was complete, Alexander picked up all beginner dungeon missions and nearby herb-collection quests.

  This way, he could earn extra XP while helping Diana—still at iron rank—improve her guild evaluation. Two birds with one stone.

  With everything set, they headed to the nearest beginner dungeon. Upon arrival, Diana grew anxious.

  Seeing this, Alexander reassured her, “Don’t worry. Ocean will stay by your side, and no creature here is stronger than her.”

  Diana relaxed slightly, though her hand still trembled as she held her small wand.

  Alexander didn’t need to use |Appraise| to know her wand was modest at best.

  Thinking it over, he handed her his scepter. “Use this. It’s a little heavier, but it’ll help you cast spells more effectively and increase their power.”

  Diana could tell he was right, but the difference in quality between the wand and the scepter made her uneasy. “I-I can’t accept this. It must’ve been expensive.”

  Alexander didn’t care about the cost—he had plenty—but he also didn’t want to force her. “Use it for now. You can return it when we’re done. It’ll help me if you do.”

  Still hesitant, Diana agreed, seeing the logic in his words.

  As they entered the dungeon, she remembered that Alexander practiced hybrid combat and tried to return the scepter, thinking he might need it.

  Alexander just smiled and handed her his spear. She felt calmer, impressed, and a little intimidated—the spear was clearly superior.

  “Courtesy of our academy for winning an internal competition among hybrid combat novices,” he explained, before clearing a path through the dungeon’s undead and skeletons.

  Restricting himself to the spear slowed Alexander’s progress, as {Undead} were unusually tough opponents.

  These creatures, mostly found in dungeons, didn’t feel pain, didn’t stop until destroyed (or damaged enough), and had physical and magical strength far beyond their decayed appearance.

  One advantage of this dungeon was the chance to train against humanoid opponents, gaining experience useful for battles against other adventurers. Most of his prior experience had been against monsters, beasts, and magical beasts.

  XP from beginner creatures wasn’t significant. Alexander encouraged Diana to attack only once enemies were already weakened.

  He wasn’t sure if she gained XP from the kills, but he earned a little—likely from weakening the undead or being linked to her through the team.

  Unbothered by the minor loss of XP, he continued urging her to attack. The more combat experience she gained, the better she could support him.

  Diana struggled to cast spells at first, but with his patience and insistence, her improvement became noticeable and consistent.

  By the time they reached the BOSS room, her accuracy had risen from laughable to 25%. Still low for basic spells, but such rapid progress was impressive.

  “If she keeps improving at this rate, maybe we can move on to intermediate dungeons soon,” Alexander thought as he advanced toward the large skeleton before him.

  [{Large Skeleton} – Undead – 1st Evolution]

  Since skeleton-type {Undead} are among the worst opponents for spear training, Alexander opted to finish it quickly.

  As soon as the {Large Skeleton} swung its rusty sword, Alexander stopped it with one of the spear’s hooks and pushed it back.

  With the skeleton off balance, he channeled energy into the spear, flipped it in his hands while leaping, and smashed its skull with the counterweight.

  “This weapon is amazing. If piercing or slashing doesn’t work, I can still deliver blunt strikes with the counterweight.”

  Though clearing the dungeon was easier than expected, restricting himself to spear training slowed progress and made it more challenging.

  He suffered minor cuts and bruises from maintaining his stance against large groups.

  The bigger issue was time: rushing would have killed enemies by strength alone, not skill.

  As a result, he could only clear one beginner dungeon per afternoon.

  With no other option, he set a schedule: one dungeon on school days and extra runs on days without classes.

  They followed this routine for two weeks until Alexander could no longer improve his spear proficiency.

  Under this training regimen, fully focused on spear use and control, he achieved significant results. On the third day, a familiar notification rang.

  Ding!

  [You developed the proficiency skill |Spear Mastery|]

  [|Spear Mastery|: Aids in using spears; Helps learn and create spear skills; Increases spear damage by 5%.]