Punching away a monster in front of her, Tiona glanced towards the other side of the battlefield out of the corner of her eye.
At the same time Lynn went all out, carving a path towards the depths of the Colosseum...
As the main focus of this training session, Aiz was not idle either.
Splitting from Lynn, she fought her own path, sword in hand, cutting through the monster army from the opposite side.
Watching the two of them fight with such exhilarating intensity, Tiona's own battle spirit began to rise.
"Tione, I want to go too."
"No!"
Tione flatly refused.
Compared to Tiona, who was getting a bit carried away, she had a clearer understanding of their current priorities.
Tione: "There are too many monsters here. You need to stay and help me protect Lefiya."
Although Lynn and Aiz had drawn the attention of most monsters, a significant number still charged towards the area where they stood.
Coupled with new monsters being born nearby, Tione alone couldn't hold them all off. She needed assistance to properly protect Lefiya.
"Don't get carried away. Fighting here requires careful management of stamina and magic power."
"Lefiya, keep an eye on Lynn and Aiz's situation. If they get into trouble, use your magic for long-range support."
"Yes!"
Acknowledging the order, Lefiya entrusted her back to Tione and Tiona. She raised her staff, focusing intently on the depths of the Colosseum.
Though worried Aiz might get hurt, she directed most of her attention towards Lynn.
After all, Lynn was only LV2. His stamina couldn't compare to that of an LV5.
In a prolonged battle, if anyone was most likely to show an opening, it would undoubtedly be Lynn.
Thinking this, Lefiya focused with unprecedented intensity, monitoring Lynn's every move, ready to cast her magic at a moment's notice.
One hour later.
Lefiya watched Lynn with complete concentration.
Three hours later.
Lefiya gripped her staff tightly, eyes wide and fixed unwaveringly on Lynn.
Nine hours later.
Lynn returned to the edge of the Colosseum, looking curiously at the Elf Maiden.
"What's wrong with your eyes?"
"...It's nothing, just a bit tired."
Lefiya rubbed her eyes.
Lynn and Aiz moved too fast. After watching them intently for nine hours, the two fighters were perfectly fine, but her own eyes felt sore.
"I'm back."
Aiz fought her way back from the other side.
"Since you're back, let's pull out."
Lynn cleaved a monster in front of him with his sword, then led Aiz and the others out of the Colosseum, finding a nearby chamber to rest and recover.
Even Lynn felt a trace of fatigue after nine consecutive hours of high-intensity combat.
Of course, this didn't mean he had reached his limit.
If he continued fighting, he could probably last another day or two without issue.
But since this was only the first day of training, there was no need to push to the absolute extreme.
Having recovered a bit of stamina, Lynn looked at the Blonde Girl across from him. "How do you feel?"
Aiz thought for a moment. "Haven't reached my limit yet. I'd like to extend the combat time."
After mastering the basics of Ripple, a user could rapidly recover stamina during combat.
Like Lynn, Aiz still had plenty of stamina left after nine hours of continuous fighting.
If possible, she wished to push herself into a state of exhaustion, constantly maintaining her breathing rhythm at the limit to achieve the best training effect.
Tione frowned. "The monsters in the Colosseum are all LV3 at minimum. If conditions allow, I think it's better to conserve some stamina."
Aiz pretended not to hear. "Lynn, can we extend the combat time?"
Lynn pondered briefly. "We can."
Tione: "..."
So, you two are just completely ignoring what I said, huh.
A vein throbbed on Tione's forehead, her blood pressure steadily rising.
"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong."
Noticing Tione's displeased expression, Lynn retrieved a pile of potions from his backpack.
"Ripple has healing effects. Combined with the potions I've prepared, even if Aiz gets injured, she can be healed quickly."
"If you're still concerned, I can appropriately reduce the combat duration and take shifts with you or Tiona, joining the battle in turns."
"I'll recover stamina in the rear while you fight in areas near Aiz. If she encounters danger, you can assist immediately."
"As for the specific timing... let's rotate every three hours. That means fighting for three hours, then resting for three to six hours. What do you think?"
Tiona raised her hand. "I'm fine with that!"
Having watched from the sidelines for half a day, she was already itching for action.
Compared to staying back and dealing with the occasional monster that broke through, she much preferred fighting inside the Colosseum itself. That was far more thrilling.
Seeing Tiona agree to extend the operation, Aiz looked at Tione. "I promise I won't sustain any serious injuries. Please."
"Sigh, what a hassle."
Tione scratched her head in irritation.
Coming to the Colosseum for training was already dangerous enough. Now they wanted to extend the combat time?
To some extent, this already conflicted with the task Finn had assigned.
However, ...
Looking at the Blonde Girl's pleading eyes before her, Tione ultimately couldn't bring herself to refuse.
"Just this once. If you sustain a serious injury during combat, you must immediately stop the Colosseum training and return to the surface to recover."
"Okay."
Aiz agreed directly.
In fact, after the battles with the Labyrinth King and today's combat, she had already begun to grasp the method of maintaining Ripple during high-intensity fights.
Utilizing the spiritual energy of Ripple, her stamina recovery rate had greatly increased, creating a cycle that further enhanced her endurance in prolonged combat.
As long as Tione agreed, she could probably fight for three days and nights straight without a problem.
Lefiya: "..."
Was no one going to ask for *her* opinion?
Watching the others happily and cheerfully finalize the operation plan before her...
Lefiya's little face scrunched up, donning a mask of suffering.
As the sole member of the long-range support group, she had to stay constantly vigilant, monitoring the battlefield.
A dozen or so hours was manageable, but if this went on for a day or two without end...
"Lefiya, what's wrong?"
Aiz's voice came from beside her.
Seeing the Elf Maiden's expression was off, a hint of worry appeared on her face.
Seeing this, Lefiya instantly came back to her senses, shaking her head quickly: "I'm fine, Miss Aiz. Thanks to Tiona and the others' protection, I'm in great shape now."
Aiz breathed a sigh of relief:
"That's good. If you're tired, you must say so. We'll retreat, recover our spirits, and then continue fighting."
Lefiya: "Yes!"
Over-expended energy? Eyes can't take it anymore?
At this moment, Lefiya cast all her previous worries to the back of her mind.
In battle, there is no retreat!
...
Ten days later.
Aiz and the others returned to the Loki Familia.
"Finn! We're back!"
Tiona waved her arms, greeting Finn who was walking towards them.
"Welcome back, everyone."
Finn responded, his gaze involuntarily falling on the figure behind Aiz.
"What's the situation?"
Aiz averted her gaze: "Lefiya hadn't slept for too long, so she fell asleep as soon as we got back to the surface."
Finn: "...?"
She's at least LV3, she shouldn't be that weak.
He recalled that when he was LV3, two hours of sleep was enough for a whole day's energy.
How tired must Lefiya have been for Aiz to carry her all the way back to the Familia?
Seeing Aiz's slight guilt, he simply looked at Tione, the supervisor who had been sent with them: "Tione, what exactly happened?"
Tione: "We fought continuously in the Arena for eight days. After leaving there, Lefiya fainted from exhaustion and has been asleep ever since."
Finn: ('?_?`)
Did he just hear things?
...