Chapter 29: Choice
"This is Vahn-sama's power? Incredible..." muttered Asia, her eyes wide as she marveled at the Corridor of Intertwined Fate's fantastical terrain and layout. After everyone had lunch, Rias asked Vahn to take her, Issei, Kiba, and Koneko inside to get her acclimated to her duties as the group's healer, so they were presently outside the safe zone of the First Floor of the Inner Sanctum's First Stratum.
As Rias had placed him in charge, Vahn stated, "The monsters on this Floor are only around as powerful as the average human, but that's no reason to lower our guards. Issei, you'll take point. Kiba will watch your back while Koneko protects Asia. I'll take up the rear, provide overwatch, and issue orders as needed."
Though he was a little annoyed that Vahn would be at the rear, allowing him to stare at Koneko's and Asia's bottoms as much as he wanted, Issei raised his crimson-gauntleted left hand, responding, "Right! Just watch as I pummel every monster we come across!"
BOOST!
With his Sacred Gear doubling his physical parameters, Issei felt like he could take a Truck-kun head-on, and it wouldn't be him but the driver who got sent to another world. Fortunately, while it was obvious to Vahn, Kiba, and Koneko that he was trying a little too hard to show off, his experience with fighting and farming on deeper Floors made the First a cinch...
...
..
.
"So time passes six times faster in here than it does the outside...?" asked Asia, prompting Issei, who was the one explaining things to her, to beam as he affirmed, "That's right. And, get this: it gets faster the deeper we go! And, who knows, by the time we reach the one-hundredth Floor, we might be able to stay here a full year with only a single day passing outside!"
"Truly!? That's incredible!" exclaimed Asia, matching Issei's energy as the two sat beside each other around the endlessly burning campfire located at the center of every Checkpoint. Outside was brightly lit, but within the sealed-off enclosure, it was like the dead of night, ostensibly to facilitate rest.
"Wait, but doesn't that mean we would grow older very quickly?" asked Asia, touching her chin with her right index finger and tilting her head to the side.