The story of the black silk female knight

"Does the old gentleman have any further advice regarding this dungeon raid?"

"Oh?"

The old fisherman was clearly surprised. He put down the goose wing, which was now almost nothing but bones, and smiled with interest.

"Your headmaster must have already told you a lot of things to be aware of, right?"

"Yes, the headmaster did give me some guidance."

Valensa nodded, and with a rather natural motion, took out a bottle of liquor from the cyberpunk world from her storage space and placed it next to the old fisherman's barbecue:

"But sir, as one of the three giants of the Gourmet Association, you must have had a wealth of adventurous experiences in your youth, right? Please, I beg you to give me some more guidance~~"

"Mmm..."

The old man fishing immediately turned his attention to the bottle of wine, sniffing the air.

As expected...

Valensa chuckled inwardly.

The fact that the old man fishing could become good friends with the bald-headed principal suggests that, even if he wasn't as addicted to alcohol as the principal, he must still be a big drinker.

While the cheap liquor produced using industrial technology and chemicals in the cyberpunk world has various health risks, it smells absolutely delicious, a fragrance that neither grain-based nor fruit-based liquors in this world can replicate.

The old fisherman remained silent, simply grabbing the bottle and tilting his head back to drink, while gently tapping the grill plate with his other hand.

Valensa immediately understood and quickly took out two more identical bottles of wine and placed them next to the old fisherman.

"Ha ha……"

The old fisherman swiftly collected the wine, then laughed with satisfaction.

"O'Neill's assessment of you is absolutely right... You really are a reliable, well-behaved, and sensible girl~~"

"You flatter me, sir."

Valensa politely and modestly replied before sweetly smiling and asking:

"The matter of guidance?"

"Hmm, let this old man take a look."

After drinking about a third of a bottle of wine in one gulp, the old fisherman picked up a goose leg and looked at the young people playing not far away. He frowned slightly and looked serious.

After a moment, the old fisherman withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"I'm sure Onison has already told you the more important points, so I won't go into detail here."

I personally participated in the preliminary exploration and reconnaissance work of that underground city, so I have a fairly good understanding of the strength of the monsters there and the level of danger of the environment.

"If you're only staying in the outer city areas, you'll definitely be fine; you can come and go as you please. But it's not so certain about your classmates... You might not be able to take good care of them all by yourself."

"What is your suggestion, sir?" Valensa asked quickly.

"Your team has 10 slots, right? Just find another skilled player to join you."

The old fisherman chuckled:

"Considering that the dungeon is a Moonlit Lich's dungeon, and most of the dangerous monsters are undead... Hmm, it would be best to add a powerful Cleric to your party. This might be difficult for others, but it should be a piece of cake for you, right?"

"That's true, after all, I am a paladin myself."

Valensa smiled and nodded, then thanked the old fisherman again.

"Thank you for your guidance, sir. I will definitely give your opinion a careful consideration."

. . . . .

The next day, while everyone else was at the War Academy preparing for the dungeon raid, Valensa went to the Church of the Sun in the capital.

Valensa took the old fisherman's advice very seriously.

To ensure everyone's safe return from this dungeon raid, Valensa plans to bring along another Radiant Cleric, either Rika or Sila.

After greeting the paladins, priests, and nuns she had become acquainted with along the way, Valensa went straight into Lika's office and made her request.

"I'm sorry, I probably won't have time to go with you."

Lika politely declined Valensa's request and pointed helplessly to her desk, which was piled high with intelligence documents from all over France:

"I don't know what's going on lately, all sorts of small cults are popping up one after another. I wipe one out and two more pop up. I'm so busy."

"That's it..."

Valensa was somewhat disappointed, but she didn't insist.

After all, the work Lika is doing now is theoretically Valensa's responsibility, and Valensa would never let Lika give up her regular job to take on her own side jobs.

"Then I'll go ask Sister Xila."

"and many more!"

Valensa was about to leave when Lika called her back.

Lika suddenly smiled mysteriously:

"If you're looking for someone to help you take care of your friends in the dungeon, why don't you consider Fran?"

"Francine? This..."

Valensa hesitated noticeably.

Fran is very strong, definitely at the peak level of the Lighthouse.

Judging from the old man's tone last night, it seems that the team needs another Radiant-rank Cleric to guarantee absolute safety... So, is Fran not enough?

"What? You think Fran isn't strong enough?"

Lika's smile became even more mysterious:

"Hmph... Your information is outdated. Fran should be at the training ground right now. You can go and check it out for yourself."

"My intelligence is outdated?"

Valensa paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

She suddenly remembered that last year, Fran had said that she was about to break through to the Radiant Rank, but she still needed to stabilize her mindset.

Could it be that Fran has already broken through? But when I asked Fran for those few drops of blood last month, Fran was still at the peak of the Lighthouse, and I didn't see her making any preparations for a breakthrough.

Breaking through to the Radiant Rank from the peak of the Lighthouse is not like the protagonist in Valencia's previous life's cultivation novel who suddenly attained enlightenment while fighting a powerful enemy.

This breakthrough takes time. Generally, from the start of preparation to the completion of the breakthrough, it takes at least several months or even one or two years. How could Fran be so fast and so sudden?

"I'm going to check on Fran!"

Driven by curiosity, Valensa didn't linger in Rika's office and dashed off towards the underground training grounds.

Upon arriving at the location, Valensa discovered that there were quite a few paladins and priests gathered there, while Fran was the only one in the training ground.

During training, Fran certainly wouldn't wear that gothic dress; instead, she wore a black, tight-fitting soft armor that had a very female investigator vibe.

At this moment, Fran seemed to have reached a certain stage in her training and was standing still with her eyes closed, meditating. Scattered around her were fist-sized stones.

That was a type of stone that cultivators used specifically to test their attack power. The Academy of Stone Wars also had many of the same stone, so Valensa was familiar with it.

When Valensa first mastered the spiked sword, she could pierce through a rock about a meter thick with a single strike. Now, she can easily shatter a rock of the same size with a single punch.

But those stones around Fran...

Valensa couldn't help but frown, somewhat surprised.

The stones had been cut into cubes of almost equal size, with very smooth cut surfaces and still warm. They did not look like the work of violent smashing or holy light slashing, but rather the result of laser cutting using large CNC equipment by a technological civilization.

Valensa pondered for a moment and had to admit... she could smash the stone into even smaller pieces or even blast it into dust, but she really couldn't cut it into such smooth and even small cubes like Fran did.

How exactly did Fran manage to do that?

Valensa became even more curious. Instead of showing herself to greet Fran, she hid among the paladins and priests watching and continued to observe.

The training grounds of the Church of the Sun are far more advanced than those of the War Academy; at least the broken stones don't need to be manually cleaned up.

Fran closed her eyes and meditated for about half a minute. Then a golden light swept across the training ground, clearing away all the neatly arranged small stone blocks on the ground and creating several large stones, each bigger than a person, for Fran to try out.

Fran suddenly opened her eyes, her body vanished instantly, and the sonic boom caused by her super-fast movement lifted up the skirts of many priestesses, causing a chorus of shy screams.

Normally at this time, Valensa would take the opportunity to study what kind of underwear and stockings the church sisters liked to wear, but at this moment, she stared intently at Fran in the training field with her enhanced vision.

"3 times... no, this is almost 4 times the speed of sound, much faster than before... it seems that Fran has indeed broken through."

Valensa murmured something to herself, then looked at Fran's hands.

The tips of those ten small, adorable fingers were now glowing with intense light.

It was those lights, like laser cutters, that precisely cut large rocks into fist-sized cubes, with smooth cuts and residual high heat.

"Normally, only Radiant-Rank Clerics can practice the Sunfire Divine Art... There's no doubt, Fran has definitely broken through."

Valensa made another judgment.

Soon, Fran cut all the newly spawned large rocks into small cubes, leaving no suitable targets in the training ground.

"Woohoo~~"

Fran clapped her hands in a very cute way, then stretched, seemingly intending to end the training session.

But just as she was stretching, her eyes met Valensa's.

Those blood-red eyes immediately lit up, becoming extremely excited.

"You came?"

The sonic boom resounded again, and the various colored stockings of the priestesses, billowing in the airflow, were faintly visible. This time, however, Fran didn't use her supersonic speed to cut through the large rock. Instead, she instantly appeared beside Valensa, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her to the center of the training field.

"You've come at just the right time... Sister Rika is too busy with work, and Sister Sila is a lazy person who doesn't want to move unless there's something important... Neither of them wants to spar with me, but you must be pretty free, right? Come and spar with me for a bit... Hmph, I'm a Shining-rank expert now, I'm really powerful, and I'll never be bullied by you again."

I don't think I've ever bullied you before, have I?

Valensa smiled helplessly but didn't refuse, and was pulled by Fran to the center of the training field.

The paladins and priests who had been watching Fran's training became even more excited when they saw that Valensa had also arrived.

Those within the church were well aware of Valensa's various outrageous battle records. They knew that although Valensa seemed to only have the Lighthouse skill, she definitely had the practical ability to fight against Radiant-ranked beings head-on.

Although Fran has only recently broken through to the next level, she is already a true Star Glory Paladin, and she also has the talent bonus of the vampire race.

So, between the two of them, who is more powerful now?

Chapter 17 Gungnir, the Divine Gun

Valensa soon started sparring with Fran in the training ground, much to the slight disappointment of the paladins and priests watching.

There was no barrage of high-level divine magic, nor any clash of secret techniques or magical artifacts. The sparring between Valensa and Fran was very restrained, a pure contest of physical skills, without even the use of weapons.

Even though it was a purely physical sparring match, the onlookers, while slightly disappointed, couldn't help but occasionally reveal expressions of envy.

Maintaining supersonic speeds of more than twice the speed of sound, every punch and kick is powerful enough to destroy a main battle tank head-on. The kinetic energy shockwaves generated by the collision of fists and feet alone can make some less capable trainee priests lose their footing. The priestesses have to cover their skirts at all times, as they will be exposed by the shockwaves if they are not careful.

This kind of power and speed is almost one of the hallmarks of a Radiant-rank expert. Only a very few people with exceptional talent below the Radiant rank can achieve it, and even then, it's only a short-term burst.

Valensa, however, fought Fran for half an hour without showing any signs of fatigue, proving once again that her outrageous record was not just due to luck, but also to solid skill.

Snapped!

As Fran's flying kick collided violently with Valensa's fist, a strong gust of air erupted once again in the center of the training field, causing many of the clerics watching on the sidelines to involuntarily take several steps back.

Valenza was also kicked back two steps by Fran before regaining her footing, while Fran was punched backward by Valenza, and had to do a backflip to adjust her posture before landing lightly.

"Whew~~" x2

After exchanging blows, both of them let out a long breath and stopped fighting at the same time, just like everyone else.

"Did you enjoy that?"

As Valensa spoke, she wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead with her left hand, while her right hand tugged at the black stockings on her legs that were already soaked with sweat.

She wasn't a true Radiant Rank cultivator after all, and she didn't want to use too much of the Evil God's power in front of so many people. Fighting Fran was quite tiring for her; she was constantly sweating, and her stomach was growling.

While the black pantyhose made by Ms. Dana had excellent sweat-absorbing properties, there was a limit. Valensa experienced the feeling of her pantyhose being soaked with sweat again after a long time, and her body smelled very strong.

"Mmm, that was awesome."

Fran was in a much better situation; she didn't break a sweat, although her face was flushed, but that was just from being excited.