It seemed like a choice to compensate for her small stature’s weakness. She looked like a fierce wasp driving a venomous stinger downward. Daisy, who had seemed like nothing but a child, now looked distinctly different. She was a dryad too. An attack-type one, at that.

I recalled Mesquite’s sharp gaze as she impaled the nasty gangsters in the alley with her lance, and the Elder’s indifferent look as he skewered opponents like meat on a stick with his branch. Along with them, Daisy was also a dryad.

A loud noise erupted as if a bomb had struck, and a dust-laden wind mixed with black ash spread wide, centered around the flame and Daisy. It was just wind with no real damage, only stinging the eyes a bit, but Mesquite stepped in front of me and the Elder, raising a shield.

Was it nothing to worry about after all? Did Daisy take it out in one shot? Given Daisy’s tremendous momentum, it almost felt like the flame had just been snuffed out.

It made Mesquite’s warning seem pointless, and I even wondered if it was really just a beginner monster that could have been taken out in one kill.

Suddenly, the Elder swung his staff wide. Through the dust cloud, a massive blaze was chasing after Daisy as she sprang out.

Daisy dramatically twisted midair to dodge it. At the same time, a white light shot by the Elder clung to him. As soon as Daisy’s feet touched the ground, the relentless flame chased her once more.

My heart dropped at that dangerous moment. I almost screamed and covered my mouth.

Every time I saw Daisy barely dodging the flames, my heart sank endlessly like tumbling down a flight of stairs.

The three defenses Mesquite mentioned became clear when a wall of sand rose from the ground to block the flames the child failed to avoid.

Two more left. A sudden wave of anxiety washed over me.

“What should I do… Should I tell her to come back now?”

“Jae, Daisy is doing better than you think. Her feet are so fast she’s already escaped crisis three times, right? The battle has already begun. This isn’t something you can easily call off.”

I hesitated, considering sending Mesquite out because the monster’s difficulty was higher than expected, but I steeled my resolve. If that’s the weakest level, then future ones will only be harder, not easier.

I can’t keep testing the waters and pulling the child out every time, so now I should trust and cheer her on, right? Pulling her out now might make her think I don’t believe in her. She’s trying so hard!

Daisy just dodged another rising flame by sliding across the ground. She realized it’s harder to evade attacks when leaping into the air and getting ambushed on descent.

Although low-ranked, she’s the only offensive-type dryad I have. Even with such a clear specialization, if I keep letting fear prevent me from deploying her, it’ll only harm her. I can’t let my fears steal her chance to grow.

Seeing another sand barrier rise against a flame shot like an exploding fire almost shook my resolve. Despite the fiery menace, Daisy was calmly evading attacks and looking for openings.

Finally, a decisive hit landed, but the fire only faltered briefly, showing no real damage.

“You have to go for one big hit! Fire has strong vitality! Forget about wearing it down slowly!”

Mesquite loudly instructed Daisy.

If you blow a small puff of air at a candle, it flickers but relights and burns brightly.

But if you fan it hard or blow it out forcefully, it can’t resist and goes out. That’s what Mesquite’s words sounded like.

What did she mean by the advice before the battle: if you can’t swallow it in one go, swallow it in parts? There must be a trick, so why not tell me clearly?

The last sand wall rose, and all of Daisy’s invincibility opportunities were used up. I gnawed on my parched lips, praying with clasped hands for Daisy’s victory.

Frustrated by Daisy—who seemed just out of reach—the fire, as if enraged, began splitting its thick flames into thin streams to restrict Daisy’s movements from multiple directions.

And finally, the flames caught up to the tip of Daisy’s boot. But at the same time, the white light Elder shot by swinging his staff blocked it before smoke could even rise.

Come to think of it, Elder’s reaction speed was terrifyingly fast. Whenever a moment of crisis approached Daisy, even slightly, Elder’s white light would accompany it.

“Get as far away as possible! Once it catches fire, you can’t put it out!”

Elder shouted while watching Daisy.

Daisy, who had to dodge multiple flames at once, was still fast but seemed a bit strained. Gradually, the number of times she was touched by the flames increased. Accordingly, Elder’s white light flashed so brilliantly it was blinding.

I clenched my hands, forcing myself to hold back, afraid that if I threw a fit, Elder might lose focus.

Then, I saw Daisy muttering something from a distance. But she quickly avoided the flames, stabbed a dagger into the ground, and backstepped away, so I couldn’t confirm what she said.

But that fire… hasn’t it gotten a bit bigger than before? Am I mistaken? At first, it was only the size of my head, but now it’s the size of the book bag I used to carry? From a distance, it looks like a full-on campfire?

“The fire’s grown! Mesquite! The fire’s grown! What, does it level up in real time too?”

“Jae, that’s because it absorbed Daisy’s power. I said Dryads can become prey for fire, right? Right now, Daisy is no different from firewood laid in front of a fireplace. This is why I said a prolonged battle could be disadvantageous. The fire is gaining power by burning Daisy.”

What a horrific thing like that…! Forget growing or anything now; I have to call her back urgently. I don’t want Daisy to close her eyes again. Just as I was about to shout for her to return, Mesquite raised a hand to stop me.

“My master, Jae. Your anxiety will infect Daisy through your tightly connected soul. Of course, I know you’re anxious now. But you need to trust her more. That’s what Jae has to do.”

“Don’t worry too much. I think the kid has finally caught the hang of it. It seems she’s finally understood Mesquite’s advice. The reason Mesquite didn’t give precise guidance is because even she’s dealing with a modified Daisy for the first time. Without fully grasping Daisy’s traits, she feared her advice might poison the kid, so she wanted her to figure it out on her own.”

Elder spoke in a gentle voice as if to soothe me. But his eyes were fixed on Daisy. Since even they trust Daisy like this, I, the master, shouldn’t be trembling.

Even though Daisy couldn’t hear it, I shouted inwardly to her, ‘I believe in you.’ It was the best I could do without interfering with the battle.

The flames grew thinner. Spreading like a spiderweb, they began to tighten around Daisy from all directions. Even though it was dangerous, I brainwashed myself into believing Elder would use recovery skills in time, trying to keep my anxious heart at bay.

Daisy, who had been keeping her stance low to evade, suddenly straightened her back. Then she twisted her upper body sharply and swung both hands holding the dagger as if swinging a baseball bat.

A fierce wind stirred, scattering red petals… and the flames split in two.

Holy cow! It was the first time the flames properly reacted to Daisy’s effective hit.

Did we finish it? I was about to clench both fists in joy and celebrate… but the flames split in half writhed. Damn, that thing won’t die.

Split apart and only shrunk in size, the flames wriggled and moved just fine. Daisy, wary of them merging, sent another sharp wind scattering petals one after another.

The flames split into small pieces, becoming four. But doesn’t increasing in number make them more dangerous instead?

Suddenly, Mesquite stepped forward and swung her lance. Clumps of sand rising from the lance struck three of the flames.

The flames hit by the sand stopped attacking Daisy and turned direction, charging at Mesquite.

“Let’s step back further.”

Elder pulled me back. Even so, he diligently swung his staff at Mesquite to cast a buff.

Is that aggro pulling? Seeing the taunt skills tanks use for real! For a moment, I thought I was watching a game live-action trailer video.

Daisy plunged the dagger into the exact center of the now much smaller flame. As if the initial struggle was a lie, the flame vanished with a pop. Then, without delay, she ran toward the flames charging at Mesquite.

As the two daggers thrown fiercely struck the two lagging flames on both sides, they extinguished like candles on a cake, poof.

Her running speed didn’t slow. Thin plant vines shot out from both of Daisy’s hands. As soon as they coiled around the dagger handles like whips, the child stopped and put heavy force into both arms.

The vines gripping the daggers swung a heavy final shot, like a flail, at the last flame.

Finally, all the flames were caught!

For a moment, a refreshing feeling surged deep in my heart. It was a wave of refreshment that seemed to wash away fatigue along with the tension.

Daisy, panting from the lingering heat, stared blankly at Mesquite’s shield.

“Excellent! You showed a splendid performance for your first battle.”

Mesquite smiled and praised Daisy. Then he glanced at me slightly. I was in a daze, lost in the frantic final battle that ended abruptly. It was only belatedly that Mesquite’s glance snapped me back to my senses.

“…Impressive! My girl! Daisy!”

I ran over to Daisy in a single bound and hugged her. Daisy was battered all over. Now I understood why the dealer had her wrapped up tightly. With sparks flying everywhere, you couldn’t go into battle with bare skin.

Only then did Daisy let out a big sigh of relief and completely relax. Her tightly tensed body went limp.

“Hehe….”

“You were so cool! Totally! I thought Daisy was flying like a bee! You were so fast my eyes couldn’t even keep up!”

I hid all the moments I had been trembling with anxiety and enthusiastically praised Daisy.

How nimble she was dodging the flames, how cool she looked landing effective hits, the courage to not be scared despite the danger, and even her combat sense to find a breakthrough in urgent situations.

I was still vividly describing every single frame of the fierce battle before us, when Elder quietly walked over.

“To be so flustered by that little fire. You’ve still got a long way to go, kid.”

“Daisy, he says that, but he’s amazing at healing. He was the top supporter!”

If this game had a meter, Elder’s healing output would have broken the ceiling. His always-arrogant attitude was completely justified.

“Thank you. You were a huge help! Every time we were in danger, the light kept pouring down, so I could fight with more peace of mind!”

Daisy smiled broadly and said to Elder.

The two had been on bad terms before, but now there was no sign of that. Elder just scoffed and said it was merely his duty.

The way he pestered me to hurry up and get the diamond seemed strangely like he was embarrassed by Daisy’s gratitude.