'Maybe I overdid it.' I thought, looking at Ais, who's on the ground looking at the sky.
'Don't tell me I made her question about her life.'
"Allen, what's that move you did?" Finn asked as he looked at me, then at Ais.
"That, my friend, was a nail art technique."
"Nail art technique? How does it work?"
"You need to be clear-minded and measure the strength of your blade."
I feel weird copying sly words to me.
"Do you think others can learn this move?"
"There are but few after all, there are only two who can use all nail arts."
"Who?"
"My master and me."
"Hmm"
"Maybe Ais can learn it, but she needs to calm her mind down."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was fighting her, I felt she wanted more power to achieve something."
Finn froze for a second, then started to say:
"Isn't that what everyone wants to be strong to be able to do whatever they want?"
'He's hiding something.'
"Finn."
"Yeah?"
"Who is the person that Ais wants to kill?"
"..."
"Haah, come with me."
I followed Finn to the goddess room.
"I can't tell only if Ais allows it."
"No problem, but are we going to wait here?"
"Just a little. I just want to know something about your world."
"And that is?"
"Is there anything that can stop the void?"
'Ok, that's weird, but I could understand why, because my influence on the dungeon created more monsters.'
"No, there's no single force that has been shown to completely stop, destroy, or contain the Void forever."
Finn seems to be in a whole thought.
"But there is an item that can stop it."
This pulled Finn out of his thoughts.
"What is it?"
" Delicate Flower"
"It is described as a sacred object with a pure aura that "glows with soft, pale light that wards against the Void. My mother once referred to the Everbloom as "the first light" and "the only means we possess to resist that void with which our family is forever linked."
"So this might help us."
"Yes, the Everbloom is one of the very few known forces in the world that can actively repel and neutralize the raw power of the Void."
"Do you know where it is?"
"No"
"..."
"Finn, I told you he's not coming, so relax."
"You're right, I'm overthinking."
'Nope, you have every right to be worried, and he's here somewhere.'
The door of the room opened, showing Loki, Riveria, Gareth, and Ais.
"I didn't expect you to send the sword princess flying into a wall." Gareth laughed while hitting my back.
"Please, if Ais wasn't holding back, I would be dead."
"True, but you manage to defeat her, which is a big accomplishment."
[Optional Quest completed: Defeat Ais]
[Rewards]
system update
[Update loading]
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'...'
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'OH HELL NO THIS IS GONNA TAKE A WHILE.'
"Let's get back to the topic." Finn said, gaining everyone's attention.
"Ais, I want to know why you want power so much." I said, looking at her.
"Hey, what's wrong with someone wanting more power to rise to the top?"
I didn't answer Loki's question as I kept staring at Ais.
"Is it for glory or wealth?"
She answered in a quiet, clear, and unwavering voice:
"My strength is not for glory, nor for the piles of wealth that adventurers seek. It is a debt I owe to my past, a promise to a future that feels impossibly far away. There is a power that stole my beginning. It took the hero who was my father, and it took the gentle wind who was my mother. The One-Eyed Black Dragon still exists. It is the end of all things, and it is still out there. I must be stronger than a God's blessing. I must be stronger than a thousand years of waiting. Every swing of my sword, every step deeper into the Dungeon... is to close the distance between myself and that beast."
"I must be strong enough to avenge my father, and strong enough to free my mother."
"Until that day, nothing else matters."
'...'
'I didn't expect that.'
"I see, then do you want to learn the nail art?"
"?" x4
"Why did you change the subject?"
"I wanted to know her reason for power, if she wanted it for something like money or fame, then I would be disappointed, but hearing her to challenging the impossible is something to be proud of."
"Listen, Ais, it's good for you to have a goal like this, but you must know that power can have consequences."
"So, you're going to train me?"
"Yep, but you have to promise me that you will use this power to protect the weak and the innocent."
I said as he nodded.
'She's an airhead, right?'
"Good, the training will start tomorrow morning, so you have to sleep well."
'System, can you tell me about her parents?'
[Gladly Host]
[In the past, a terrible beast known as the One-Eyed Black Dragon (OEBD) brought ruin upon the world. A legendary hero named Albert Waldstein, along with a powerful Wind Spirit named Aria, faced the Dragon in a climactic battle. Though the hero was lost, and the Wind Spirit vanished, they left behind a legacy: a child named Ais.
For reasons unknown, little Ais was not simply left orphaned; she somehow ended up deep within the labyrinth known as the Dungeon. Some whisper that she was trapped, perhaps frozen in ice for a thousand years by a powerful magic, hidden away from the world that had shattered her family.
Nine years before the great adventurer stories began, a search party from the Loki Familia—a group of powerful adventurers—found a small, seven-year-old girl in the dangerous lower levels of the Dungeon. This girl was Ais. She was silent, guarded, and carried a sorrow that ran deeper than her years.
The great trickster Goddess, Loki, took her in.
Ais dedicated her life to one thing: getting stronger. She was driven by a single, burning purpose—the search for her missing mother and the overwhelming desire to defeat the monster responsible for her parents' loss.
Her growth was staggering. She mastered the blade until her movements were as swift and invisible as the wind.
Despite her fame and beauty, Ais remains a quiet, stoic figure, often appearing emotionless or like an "airhead." This is because her focus is absolute: to hone her sword and her unique wind magic, "Tempest," until she is ready to face her destiny. She has no time for the normal distractions of the bustling city of Orario.]
'I just asked for her parent's not her history.'
The father is a hero, and the mother is a spirit.
'What about her mother?'
[Aria was a legendary figure from the ancient past of Orario, a being of extraordinary power known as a Wind Spirit. She was described as having a strikingly beautiful appearance and a nature like the wind itself.]
'Hold on, how did they...make Ais. I mean, the spirit can't have a child, right?'
[You're right, Host Spirits are generally not capable of having children.
Some believe Aria and Albert had a child together, despite the impossibility, due to Albert's great power.
Others speculate that Ais is a "semi-spirit" or a special kind of clone or split-off piece of Aria's soul.]
'...'
'For some reason, I feel like she will be a headache.'
"Loki, I want to upgrade my falna."
"Fine."
We did the same process, remove shirt, lie down, needle, and upgrade.
"What. Is. that?"
---------------------
Name: Allen
Familia: Loki familia
Level: 1
Strength: 1999 SSS
Endurance: 1999 SSS
Dexterity: 1999 SSS
Agility: 1999 SSS
Magic: 1999 SSS
Skill:
Embrace the void: using void tendril to consume the enemy gaining 500% of Excelia.
Drawbacks: The user must be in a state of calm focus and emptiness (a "void" of thought) when delivering the final blow for the skill to activate. Any attack made out of pure rage, fear, or panic will prevent the skill from triggering, as the emotional turbulence disrupts the "void."
Warrior Dream: gains a continuous, slight boost to his Endurance and Magic stats the longer he remains separated from his Familia.
Magic:
1. Desolate Dive / Descending Dark
Chant: "Fall to Nothingness
Effect: The user generates a dense, pressurized sphere of black energy (Void) around their body. They then forcefully slam downwards, creating a powerful shockwave that damages all enemies in a small area around the impact point.
Trait: It would have a powerful Guard Break effect, capable of shattering monster carapace or temporarily collapsing weak points in the dungeon floor.
2. Shade Soul / Vengeful Spirit
Chant: "Empty Flash"
Effect: The user fires a fast, crescent-shaped wave of Void energy that travels forward, piercing through the first target it hits and continuing to the next with reduced power.
Trait: It would have an exceptionally high Magical Penetration rating, making it effective against high Magic Resistance targets, but its area of effect would be very narrow.
3. Abyss Shriek
Chant: "From the Deepest Silence"
Effect: The user channels a massive amount of Mind to release an intense, sustained burst of black, coalesced Void energy straight upward. This damages all enemies directly above the user within a significant vertical range.
Trait: This spell would have the highest damage output of the Knight's magic, but it would have a very high Mind cost and a vulnerable full-body-chant time, making it situational.
4. Phantom Arrows
Effect: chants a short line, and metallic, ethereal spears (Nails) manifest rapidly around him, homing in on the target.
5. Shield Circle
A magic that summons two durable, floating, luminous shields that continuously orbit the user, blocking incoming attacks and dealing contact damage.
6. Eridani's Storm
An extension of Shield circle. The user spins the shields outward in an accelerating, widening spiral, making an area around him deadly. This is his close-range deterrent and area-denial attack, consuming a moderate amount of Mind.
--------------------
[Secret quest completed: Reach the limit of level 1]
[Rewards]
Markoth Powers
-------------------------
'MARKOTH?!'