Shouting the name of her magic, Alicia launches her attack.

Swords made of Crystals flew on top of Alicia, and as she points her staff towards the enemies she's targeting, the swords came flying at them.

The swords collided with the thick and hard bones of the orc skeletons, breaking and cutting them as they did.

The battle had already started since a while ago. The enemies are now starting to thin out and Alicia could already see their victory.

Together with the guy who beat one of her companions with one shot, she's expecting that they will be able to win, but she was not expecting that she was the one to kill all the enemies herself. Vlad, who she thought will clear the enemies together with her, or rather, will kill all the enemies without her help at all, is only occasionally attacking the enemies when necessary.

He only focuses on blocking and s.h.i.+elding Alicia from the enemy's attacks.

And one thing Alicia was just only able to notice was that he's also supporting her magic; making her spells stronger and lesses the mana they originally take.

( I wonder why he's only supporting my magic...? If he's so strong then shouldn't he at least try to kill half of them...? Is he so strong that he feels that the enemies are not worthy of his magic...? No... He's not that kind of person...? ) she thought as she turns an eye to Vlad's direction for a second.

( But still... I never thought he would be able to support some so good with his magic... Is he the type of mage that focuses on support magic? No way that's possible, considering how he took out Arthur with one shot... )

[ Great, their number is now cut in half. Do you still have mana? ] Vlad casually asked as he continues to block all their attacks with his 's.h.i.+eld'.

[ Ah! Yes... I can still keep going! ] Saying so, Alicia raised her staff again and started to chant. But as she did so, she unconsciously looks at again at Vlad's direction.

She was still confused about whether or not Vlad was really a good guy or not. Considering how many times he had saved her already, it's only logical that he's a good guy. But despite this fact, in the back of her head, there's a voice that says he's a bad guy - in the form of Arthur's Voice who was supposed to be in the capital.

What if he's only doing it to gain her trust? What if he's only doing it to influence and brainwash her.

But that was not possible - she thought.

Just what would he gain from doing those things? From their first meeting, they have asked him what does he want and he can't figure out what it is.

They have offered him money, influence, and women, but none of them had piqued his interest.

But one thing Alicia has figure out today was that he's not just powerful, he also has a lot of knowledge with dungeons and monsters. He acts as if he had already gone to many of them, and the way he reacts to the monsters inside that were suppose to be powerful says that he had already fought monsters that were stronger.

She wonders why such a delicate looking person would be someone much experienced that her at all these things.

( Just what is he about? )

There are still many things she doesn't know about him. But one thing she knows is right now, she could definitely trust him.

[ In front, Alicisan! ]

[ Ye-Yes! ]

With Vlad pointing out the enemies that are gathering in front of them, Alicia had launched her attacks towards.

With that attack, their enemies had finally decreased by less than half their previous number.

( It's an absolute win now, right...? With the number of spells I've thrown, my mana should already be wasted... But I guess with Vlad's help I was able to survive... )

***

[ Vlad-san... Why did you not use any attack spells earlier...? ]

[ To reserve my mana. ] Vlad answered the soon as he hears her question, it was as if he already knows that she was going to ask about it.

But despite what he said, Alicia still doesn't believe his reason. That's because after thinking about it hard, she finally realized what he was doing earlier when he lets her deal with all the monsters they have fought.

[ I have to reserve my mana. Considering that we're about to fight the boss next, I need to reserve it. I will only attack if I consider the enemies as danger. ]

( As danger... Does he mean that those enemies earlier were really no threat against him...? But still, something feels off... I wonder why he had let me fight all of those monsters... Someone who is less powerful and has less experience than him... What if he's letting me kill them because it will help me grow? ) as she started to think those thoughts, her mind started to wander off to the past, Alicia started to reminisce the time when she was still studying.

Still at the academy, Alicia would always go to the library, and on one particular day, she got the urge to find a way to make her friend Arthur and herself get much stronger.

She had search and browsed many books in search of the most effective way of making someone strong. Be it magic, techniques, ancient beings, foods, and even prayers that could possibly help him.

And so she read hundreds of books. And with her incredible and unworldly brain, she was able to remember them all.

And there was a book that caught her attention the most, as that book was everything but useful. A book with an ancient name of "Touya Katsuma: HardcoreGamer132"

It was stated in that book that the strength of all races are written in numbers he calls "Level", and he said that he can see those said levels.

Many people have considered the book as blasphemy and the work of an idiot. Especially as it was stated in it that the hero of 700 years ago was at the 'level' of 108 while he was on 150, which is basically saying that he's stronger than the hero himself.

Alicia too considered the book as something that was written by someone who doesn't even know magic at all. It was written in a way that's if magic doesn't even exist. It was like the author of that particular book doesn't even know the basics of magic.

But there were many things that left her baffled. Like how many words in that book were not even real words, words like, XP, Level, Skill Points, Games, j.a.pan, and many other things. The book itself was a mystery.

And the only known fact about the author was his name and the long list of his wives, which is composed of many different races.

Observing Vlad's behavior, she was reminded of the book, as both of them are filled with mysteries.

"Monsters that are not conscious of themselves all have what I call "XP", or rather Experience Points. To make it easier to understand how they work - imagine that all those monsters have souls that govern their strength, and once you kill them, their souls would die and their strengths would be left out. Those left out strength would then be consumed by the ones who kill them."

What if maybe that's why Vlad had let her kill all those enemies? To make her get stronger?

"You can't judge a person by how they look, even a normal plain guy like me can be the strongest."

It may be stupid, but what if that explains why despite his delicate looks, Vlad is pretty much very strong?

And lastly, the word that pretty much ties Vlad to that book...

"My name is Touya Katsuma. I live in a country called j.a.pan. It has Mangas, Animes, Books, and much other stuff. That place is close to heaven and you can even call paradise, especially the place called Akihabara!"

[ Akihabara... Anime and Mangas... ] she whispers with the intention of letting Vlad hear.

And as expected, Vlad reacted to those words.

[ Where... Where did you hear those words from...? ]

( I knew it! )

[ VlVlad-san! The country you said you were living at! Is it a paradise called j.a.pan!? ]

[ Hu-Huh!? ]