"After I returned to Nazarick, I checked Iri's status and found that Iri's level was still one."
At this moment, Ainz, the Guild Master, sat in his office, explaining to Iri, who was sitting on his leg bone, and Shalltear and Cocytus, who were standing in front of the desk.
"Huh? Little Yi is still level one? Didn't she take down so many Ogres?" Shalltear asked, surprised.
"The experience points from those Ogres should have been enough to level up!" Cocytus said, exhaling a cold breath.
Iri had already tested this when she first returned to the Arena, so she naturally knew.
"At first, I suspected that Iri might not be able to gain experience points." Ainz, the Guild Master, continued to explain. Hearing this, Iri's heart instantly sank by half. What was the point of playing if she couldn't gain experience points?
Although she had divine equipment, if she encountered something that rendered attacks ineffective below a certain level, wouldn't she be completely helpless?
Not to mention whether the natives had such equipment, if she couldn't gain experience and level up, how was she supposed to be a magic caster? Just casting Ultimate Magic wasn't a solution.
"However, after seeing Iri cast Skyfall, which consumes experience points, I changed my mind." Ainz continued.
"Does Skyfall consume experience points?" Iri asked in great surprise, blurting it out directly.
"Heh heh! My daughter, if you don't even know this, you won't be able to become an independent magic caster!" Ainz replied with a smile.
"Uh…" If she had known this thing consumed experience points, she wouldn't have used that move!
Could it be that using this move consumed all the experience points she had earned before?
That's not right. After returning, she had already tested casting Fire Arrow without using Ultimate Magic. Wasn't it because she couldn't cast it that she recklessly used Ultimate Magic?
"Then let's get straight to the conclusion. In fact, Iri can gain experience points. The Ultimate Magic Iri cast in one attack consumed the experience points gained from dealing with the Ogres before, so Iri couldn't cast it a second time."
"Then why was it cast a third time?" Shalltear asked. This was also what Iri wanted to ask, although Iri knew that the third time it could be cast was definitely due to that candy.
"The third time, Iri had experience points again, so she could cast it again. The candy I gave Iri allowed Iri to gain experience." Ainz said.
"Hmm! Why didn't you take out such a good thing earlier, Ainz, the Guild Master!! Candy that gives experience points when eaten! I'll eat as much as there is!!" Iri instantly became excited.
Iri herself hadn't thought of an excuse to ask Ainz, the Guild Master, for that kind of candy, but Shalltear spoke first.
"In that case, couldn't Little Yi just eat that candy directly to level up?"
"Heh heh! That won't do." Ainz said with a smile.
"Is it something very precious?" Iri felt disappointed. That's right! How could there be such a cheap thing! Something that directly increases experience points must be very precious!
"It's not like that, it's just…" Ainz, the Guild Master, finished speaking and pulled out a large handful of the same candy Iri had just eaten from thin air.
There's so much of it! Don't be stingy! Let me eat it all! Iri thought.
"This candy is called Fool's Candy. Eating one only increases experience points by 10%, which just covers the consumption of Skyfall, right?" Ainz explained.
10% per piece isn't that great! Couldn't I just eat 10 pieces at once to level up?
If I had 1000 pieces, wouldn't I be max level?
Uh… Although eating 1000 pieces of candy would indeed be a bit difficult, for the sake of level! Forget 1000 pieces! I'd eat 10,000 pieces!
Hmm? Wait a minute, since it's such a powerful item, why is it called Fool's Candy? There must be a trick! Iri noticed something was wrong.
"But!" Ainz, the Guild Master, scattered the candies on the table and then picked up one. As soon as Iri heard Ainz, the Guild Master, say "but," her heart already sank. There was a trick after all!
"The experience points provided by this candy can only be used for consumption. Furthermore, if you eat a second piece before the 10% experience provided by the first piece is fully consumed, you will fall into a chaotic state, regardless of race, special characteristics, or armor and accessory effects. This chaotic state will only be lifted after the previous 10% experience points have been fully consumed." Ainz, the Guild Master, said with a smile.
Wow! This thing has such a nasty taste! No wonder it's called Fool's Candy. It's probably a consolation prize from Ainz, the Guild Master's, past gacha spending! Iri thought, then showed a look of disdain.
"This thing can still be useful at critical moments, it's just not very useful." Ainz saw Iri's sour face and suppressed his laughter.
Ainz also guessed that Iri had always been very concerned about her level, and now that there was an item that could directly increase experience points by eating it, she should be very happy!
But in the end, it was something that wasn't very useful, so she must be very disappointed.
"Alright, alright, don't be unhappy. At least now we know that Iri can gain experience points, and we also know that Iri can cast Ultimate Magic. Iri, you should be happy." Ainz comforted Iri.
Indeed! Iri herself had too many mysteries. The physique that could gain experience but not level up was already very strange, after all, Iri was not an NPC designed by his companions from Yggdrasil.
Instead, she was a new life created by his and the Guardians' power after traversing here, and could not be bound by the rules from Yggdrasil.
Although there were still too many mysteries in this world that Ainz did not understand, almost all the magic used by the people here came from Yggdrasil.
However, Iri, born in this world, could disregard the game rules from Yggdrasil, yet these game rules from Yggdrasil still restricted the NPCs originally created by his companions, including Ainz himself, who currently could not break free from these rule limitations.
For example, Ainz himself had to use the Perfect Warrior magic to equip warrior gear, and the side effect of not being able to use magic after using Perfect Warrior still restricted him.
But Iri was not affected by this rule. Whether it was the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, which only the Guild Master could equip, or the Champion Armor, which only those with a world champion title could equip, or even an unfinished warhammer, Iri could equip and use them perfectly.
Ainz looked at Iri's slightly disappointed profile as she sat in his arms and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, wondering how many more mysteries Iri still held.
Fortunately, judging from Iri's current personality, at least she hasn't shown too much of an "evil" tendency. She mostly behaves like a naive and romantic child her age, which somewhat reassures Ainz.
Ainz himself didn't really want to see Iri turn into a bloodthirsty Great Demon, but looking at the Guardians around him, basically every single one of them regarded human lives as ants. He just hoped Iri wouldn't be too influenced by them.
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