Chapter Eleven: The King's Guidance

The metallic spikes unleashed by the self-destructing sea urchin slime crackled violently through the air. Zhao Tianhe had already slipped into a side passage, while Artoria, merely stepping back and swinging her sword with casual grace, deflected the magical bolts as if they were little more than crossbow quarrels.

“Come out, Master,” Artoria called, her voice deeper and far more earnest than during their usual tasks.

Zhao Tianhe stepped into view, greeting Artoria with a cheerful smile.

“Master, even though this place isn’t supposed to be dangerous in theory, there’s always a chance for the unexpected,” she said, fixing him with a stern look as his easygoing demeanor persisted. “This is a monster lair, a battlefield! Battlefields can change in an instant—only by remaining vigilant at all times can you adapt to danger and the unexpected!”

“You say that, but the thing you just took out in a second was already the most dangerous creature here,” Zhao Tianhe replied with a grin. “By the way, do you think I should unlock your Talent System or your Class System first?”

“Hm... If you choose the Class System, my offensive abilities will improve greatly. The Talent System, however, is better for survival. Personally, I lean toward the Class System, but the decision is yours. What role do you want me to play?” Artoria explained, then asked.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re already so strong—if you prefer the Class System, we’ll go with that.” Zhao Tianhe laughed as he allocated all the experience points toward unlocking her Class System.

“Battle is no trifling matter!” Artoria’s brows drew together as she planted her sword before her, her expression severe as she looked at him. “I can only assist you for one hour a day. Most of the time, you’ll be on your own!”

‘Well, if you weren’t here, I wouldn’t have risked coming to this godforsaken place anyway...’ Zhao Tianhe wanted to retort, but realizing she was only concerned for his safety, he lowered his head and asked, “You’re absolutely right, Your Majesty. So, what should I do?”

“I am no king now, only a heroic spirit,” Artoria shook her head. “Don’t call me that anymore—just use my name, or Saber as my codename. As for what to do, that’s simple. I’ll teach you myself. Since you use a longsword too, I do have some pointers when it comes to sword and spear techniques.”

With that, the two continued deeper into the labyrinth, marking their path as they went.

“Your senses are very sharp, which is good. But your mind is too scattered. You must assign each sense a responsibility,” Artoria instructed gravely. “Smell, hearing, touch, sight—each should have its own task. Stay alert to everything around you—that’s fundamental. Back in my day, I survived countless assassination attempts, so I know a thing or two. Here’s how you do it...”

“Your steps are too slack! Don’t think you’ll survive on a battlefield moving like that!” “Raise your shoulders!” “The way you draw your sword...”

Artoria, always earnest in everything she did, became even more so when she took on the role of teacher.

Zhao Tianhe sliced down a fire-elemental slime with a single strike, then rolled away from the blast radius like a lazy donkey—perfect!

“That won’t do!” Artoria frowned at the display, stepped forward, took the longsword from his hand, and walked over to a nearby side passage. “Let me demonstrate the proper way to attack using your strength and weapon.”

Zhao Tianhe nodded without protest, recognizing that words alone wouldn’t satisfy Artoria in this state—only meeting her standards would do.

‘She’s stricter than the instructors at Hero Academy...’ Even the slightest misstep in his movement drew a sharp look from Artoria.

With her keen senses scanning their surroundings, they soon encountered an ordinary earth-elemental slime.

Artoria planted her greatsword in the ground, took Zhao Tianhe’s longsword, and strode forward. In a burst of speed, she thrust the sword through the slime’s membrane, then slashed sideways to widen the wound, finally flicking her wrist to send the creature spinning. The unfortunate slime crashed into the cave ceiling, splattering its earthy digestive fluid everywhere.

“If you attack as you did, facing multiple slimes would quickly overwhelm you. But if you do it this way, no matter how many ordinary slimes there are, they’ll never lay a scratch on you. It’s also less exhausting than dodging,” Artoria said matter-of-factly, tossing the sword back to Zhao Tianhe. “Your agility isn’t low, so you should be able to manage this technique. Never mind mutant elites, but at the very least, you ought to handle a hundred ordinary slimes at once.”

“Got it!” Zhao Tianhe gripped the longsword, rehearsing the moves in his mind. “I’ll do my best!”

“But... it’s about time for a snack,” he added, changing the subject as he pulled a few bags of cookies from his pouch. “Here, have a taste.”

“This is... wait, is it really fresh from the oven?” Artoria had meant to refuse, but the aroma was irresistible.

“Yep! Jeros taught me the temperature-holding spell. Not bad, right?” Zhao Tianhe replied, smiling.

Though Zhao Tianhe’s elemental sense was so poor that his spell success rate was abysmal, he’d discovered something—if he was quick enough, he could seize that fleeting moment when he did sense the elements, and successfully cast a spell.

Simply put, if your agility is high and your reflexes sharp, you can indirectly boost your spellcasting success rate. For humans from Earth with a negative magic talent, it’s actually more efficient to increase agility than spirit if you want to learn magic...

Honestly, it was the only option available and hardly efficient; it only worked for spells that could be cast instantly and silently. But since Zhao Tianhe had no intention of pursuing the mage path, being able to reliably perform cantrips was enough. Just yesterday he’d bought a book from the bookstore—“One Hundred Safe Spells Even Kids Can Use”—intending to learn some useful daily cantrips.

“Mm, very milky, and delightfully crisp,” Artoria said, nodding in satisfaction as she ate the cookie.

At the same time, Zhao Tianhe received a notification: “Artoria’s favorability +1. This session’s Battle Servant Mode duration +10 seconds. Permanent Battle Servant Mode duration +1 second.”

‘Just as I thought—feeding her during Battle Servant Mode does increase favorability! And it even extends the mode’s duration—what a wonderful surprise!’ Zhao Tianhe clenched his fist in excitement and pulled out several more meal boxes from his backpack. “Here, try this egg roll and sandwich too.”

During Battle Servant Mode, no matter what Artoria ate, each treat would only increase favorability by one point, but it would also add to both the current session and permanent duration of the mode.

By the end of this little feast, favorability had increased by five points, but the session’s Battle Servant Mode duration had risen by fifty seconds, and the permanent duration by five seconds.