400 Send Off

Before noon, Kisuke first goes to meet the three that are about to leave on their first long Dungeon dive. Although Riveria didn't give her assurance regarding the acceptance of the trio, he's pretty sure that they'll be accepted due to their sheer curiosity of the group.

Aika, Sona, and Koneko are each carrying a backpack that is imbued with space magic. The space inside is 10x10x10 meters. While only 1/10 of it is filled with necessary supplies, more than half of it was filled with various food or tools related to food due to Kisuke chucking them in like an insecure grandma to her grandchildren.

"Now then to the real thing. Take this." Kisuke gave each one of them a silver bracelet around half an inch wide. On the outer surface, there's nothing on it except for its shiny radiance but on the inside, various complicated inscriptions are embedded and in the middle of it is an icon of a skull engulfed in flame.

The three wore it on their right arm and Sona asked, "What are these for?"

"Sacrificial accessories. If I call it like that, then I assume you already know what it's for?" Kisuke replied with a smile.

The three of them immediately nodded and Aika followed up a question, "What's the limit?"

"Any fatal attack that lands on you will break it, however, its limit is a single attack from the Monster Rex of the 50th Floor. I doubt you'll use it in this outing, however, please make sure that this only breaks when it's most needed. I was only able to make three of these because of its complexity. It's my luck that I was able to finish all three of them before this came up."

Aika, Sona, and Koneko looked at each other before jumping towards Kisuke and giving him a group hug, "Thank you!"

Kisuke just let them hug him for a few seconds before asking them to separate from him, "I dragged you into my mess, so this the least that I could do." Patting each one of their heads, Kisuke's expression then became serious, "However, in this Dungeon dive, it'll be truly dangerous for the three of you. Unlike before with the Minotaurs, where we're all watching your progress and could immediately respond when something goes wrong, this time, once you send out an SOS signal, it'll take us some time to arrive at your side.

"If it's just feelings alone we're talking about, I don't want you to leave my side, however, logically speaking, you have to take this risk or you'll be forever reliant on, not just me, but every one of us. And if we don't take initiative, it'll get worse in the future. So please keep in mind that you might actually die this time around."

The three of them nodded seriously and Sona answered, "We understand. We also don't like a future where we have to rely on you on everything. We're glad to take this risk in exchange for a very valuable experience."

"Good~!" Kisuke's smile then returned, "Now with the last reminders, first, Aika."

Aika stepped forward and answered, "Yes!"

"You can use everything you've learnt, however, only use your Shikai when it's a dangerous situation. I trust your judgment."

"Understood!"

"Koneko-chan."

Koneko then stepped forward, "Yes, senpai!"

"You can use your Senjutsu, but only a part of your Sage mode. I heard from Kuroka that you still keep losing control of your emotions if you use it too much. You're the vanguard and the tank of the team. You can't go far away from both of them."

"Understood!"

"Sona."

It was Sona's turn so she also took a step forward, "Yes."

"You can use everything you've got. Compared to your previous state, your magic is still weak, however, this time thanks to the Falna, your physical abilities are stronger than before so make sure to leverage that. But remember that although you magic can take on a Level 3, a Level 4 can still tear through it using just their physical bodies and if your opponent is a veteran Adventurer, even if it's a Level 3, he or she can trick you with his or her battle experience and catch you off-guard.

"You're good at reading the overall situation and giving commands to respond to that, but your combat experience is very low. Be sure to watch everyone from the Loki Familia to learn a thing or two, or engage in close combat when you think the risk isn't too high."

Sona understood that she's currently the weakest among their team and is doing her best to watch and give suitable commands to everyone as compensation. But Sona knew that it can't continue this way forever and happily accepted Kisuke's advice, "I understand."

"And one last thing. Keep this in your pocket." Kisuke then passed a small token to Sona, "Since the rest of us will be busy with our own things and can't go into the Dungeon for long periods of time, I can't let this opportunity go to study it. This token will passively scan the Dungeon and gather all sorts of information while you carry it, so you can just forget about it in your pocket."

"Got it." Sona pocketed the token and looked up to Kisuke, "It's time to leave. We have to go." She then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Kisuke's neck before planting a deep kiss on his lips.

Sona separated from Kisuke a few seconds later with a bit of a blush on her face and stepped back. Cue, Aika also stepped in and did the same as Sona, followed by Koneko that had to jump to reach Kisuke's height. However, before Koneko could steal a kiss, Kisuke stopped her and just gave her a kiss on her forehead, resulting in a pouty and angry kitten, "Please look forward to it once I've mastered my Senjutsu!"

Kisuke chuckled and replied, "I'm waiting~."

Koneko became happy after finally getting a good response from Kisuke. She then ran towards her sister who's watching with the rest of the girls this entire time, "Kuroka-neesama, I'm going."

Giving her little sister a hug, Kuroka gave a reminder of her own, "Be careful, Shirone. And always remember this, the flames are yours, not the other way around."

"I'll remember it." Koneko separated from her sister and Sona and Aika took turns to say their farewells with the rest of the girls before the three of them left for good.

While watching them leave, Yoruichi approached Kisuke and said, "Let me guess, instead of just one fatal attack, those bracelets will probably still be intact after two attacks. And the moment you felt that it activated for the first time, you'll forcefully tear through space to go to their side despite the restriction of space around the Dungeon."

Kisuke looked towards Yoruichi with an embarrassed smile, "Is it really that obvious?"

Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa started chuckling and Yoruichi said, "You're someone who's obsessed with safety and security and everyone knew that. Those three probably have some idea, but don't worry about them not taking your words seriously. Those girls will treat this outing as you said it."

"Well, I guess that's fine."