"Are you feeling unwell?"
Seeing Noah's pale face, Ais suddenly leaned close and asked him.
Noah had intended to say he was fine, but when he looked at the girl, he nearly bumped noses with her.
'So close!'
He instinctively wanted to step back but stopped himself immediately, choosing instead to raise his hand and press it against the girl's shoulder, pushing her away slightly.
With that single touch, Noah suddenly realized how narrow the girl's shoulders were.
Such a slender body and shoulders... Yet her title was "Sword Princess."
Suddenly, the expressionless girl reached out and pressed her palm against his forehead.
Noah stared blankly at her and asked, "What the hell are you doing?"
In response, the girl—still expressionless but somehow looking serious—replied, "If you catch a cold, you'll lose your energy. So I thought you might have caught a cold."
"Are you dense? That kind of thinking is way too extreme," Noah couldn't help but complain.
At any rate, he could feel the girl's genuine concern.
Ais Wallenstein was a girl who completely sucked at expressing herself—cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
This seemed to be true even several years earlier, as if it had never changed from the very beginning.
"Noah."
"Hm?"
"Can I become stronger too?"
"Of course, definitely. In the near future, you'll become a first-class adventurer at Level 5, and then Level 6. And you'll even have the title 'Sword Princess,' renowned as Orario's strongest female swordsman."
When Ais heard Noah say she could reach Level 6, her gaze subtly shifted.
She shook her head and said, "No, I mean right now. Like Raul and Aki."
Only then did Noah realize she was talking about temporary buffs.
"You can, as long as you don't use your wind to deflect my 'arrows'."
The Swift Wind and Extreme Sharpness buffs weren't very useful for Ais.
Because they were just inferior, shitty versions of Ais's own Ariel magic to begin with.
Moreover, Ais's additional magic required an ultra-short chant and had extremely low consumption, making it perfectly suitable for prolonged battles—there wasn't even a need to conserve her mana.
Wind-attribute additional magic was just that powerful and all-encompassing.
The swirling wind could not only increase speed but also serve as propulsion to enhance explosive power.
Beyond that, it could strengthen attacks and even use wind barriers for defense and blocking long-range attacks.
Not even poison could penetrate that badass wind wall.
Offense and defense combined with super speed enhancement—Ais had the capital to be completely reckless.
If anyone else tried the same crazy fighting style, they wouldn't need multiple mistakes—just one fuck-up would be enough to reserve a seat at the funeral banquet.
"Really?" Ais's eyes sparkled, becoming as lively as a cat's, her fluffy golden hair seeming to perk up like a pair of ears.
It was clear she was already extremely eager.
Seeing the girl's reaction, Noah suddenly regretted what he had just said.
'That's right, this should work.'
He thought of something and said to the girl, "Ais, actually, while my support can make people temporarily stronger, I also have a method to speed up the process of becoming stronger."
As soon as he finished speaking, the doll-like face in Noah's eyes suddenly magnified before him.
Ais had pressed her face right up to his.
From such a close distance, he still couldn't see clear pores—the girl's skin was truly as fine and smooth as pearls.
"Too damn close..."
Noah had to push her away again; otherwise, even having a conversation would be difficult.
"I want to become stronger."
"Ah, I know."
"Help me, Noah."
The girl straightforwardly expressed her inner feelings.
This raw honesty made Noah's heart tremble involuntarily.
Help me... Noah.
This heartfelt voice stirred him deeply.
In his impression, the girl was the type of stubborn person who would never show weakness in words, even if she was dead tired.
If she could learn to rely on others, she would surely live a much easier life.
He never expected to hear such words from her.
But this also confirmed his thoughts.
No one can handle everything alone forever.
"Come a bit closer, and try to relax. Don't resist what happens next."
Ais nodded and came right up to him.
The distance between them was less than 1cm, their face almost pressed together.
"You don't need to be this close!" Noah sighed.
He took hold of one of Ais's hands and used Spell-Weaver to begin redistributing the force field.
The girl suddenly felt an all-around pressure descend upon her, her face showing slight surprise.
"This is..."
After finishing, Noah released her hand and explained, "I altered the gravity. You're now operating under four times your normal gravity. Try getting used to it first."
Ais wanted to nod, but even such a small movement was difficult for her.
Seeing this, Noah readjusted Ais's gravity, lowering it to three times.
"This so int-ting, No-ah."
"If it's hard, don't speak for now. Take some time to adapt to this state. This should significantly speed up the growth of your ability values."
The girl's eyes sparkled, but this time she didn't attempt to speak.
She tried to press close again, but her speed was so slow that Noah easily noticed her intention.
"As long as you stay within three meters of me, this effect will continue."
Noah watched the girl's mouth opening and closing.
Though no sound came out, he could roughly tell from the shape that she was saying, "Thank you, Noah."
Weight training.
Theoretically, it significantly improves efficiency for all attributes except magic.
During the skin contact earlier, he had used Appraise on Ais and discovered her main attribute history.
Next were agility and dexterity.
Strength and endurance were relatively low.
But that was only relative.
Ordinary adventurers would be perfectly happy with one or two D or C rank ability values, but Ais was currently Level 4, with both strength and endurance already at C rank.
Magic was the highest, currently at A rank.
Agility and dexterity were both on the verge of reaching A rank, each nearing the maximum value of B.
[Ais Wallenstein]
・[Strength]: C635
・[Endurance]: C612
・[Agility]: B789
・[Dexterity]: B783
・[Magic]: A865
She had only recently leveled up to Level 4, yet she had already achieved such tremendous growth.
These ability values were already equivalent to an upper-tier Level 4.
Having frequently accompanied the Loki Familia on deep floor expeditions, she might have already accumulated enough great feat to level up—she just hadn't done it yet.
Probably wanting to polish her ability values to their absolute limits.
Indeed, ability values could reflect a person's tactical arrangements and fighting style.
Her main means of output was Ariel, hence her exceptionally high magic.
Under the enhancement of Ariel, her speed and accuracy surpassed ordinary standards and rose the fastest.
Similarly, because she relied way too heavily on Ariel's all-in-one offense and defense characteristics, Ais's own arm strength and defense weren't particularly outstanding.
Of course, relying on one's own magic wasn't wrong—since magic is part of one's own abilities, it's only natural to use the damn thing.
Ais's combat style was perfectly reasonable.
He had no place to comment on that shit.
"Everyone, be careful. We've reached the 25th floor of the Dungeon. Speaking of which, this is Noah's first time coming down to this floor, right?"
"That's right..."
"Hehe, then prepare to witness something."
'Witness what?'
Noah looked at Riveria who had trailed off, just realizing that this elven royalty also had a side that enjoyed teasing others.
Or was it because he was a child that made him an easy target for teasing?
At any rate, as they moved, Noah suddenly realized what the hell that sound echoing in his ears was.
The sound of water.
No.
A waterfall!
Whoosh—.
Whoosh—.
Whoosh—.
Such a tremendous sound made Noah feel a massive sense of "grandeur."
The group exited the tunnel connecting the upper and lower floors.
At the edge of the tunnel, Noah noticed the vegetation had suddenly changed.
So had the humidity in the air.
Even the scent of the air was vastly different from the 24th floor.
As they stepped out of the tunnel, Noah suddenly found they were on a cliff wall.
If it were someone's first time here, they might fall victim to a bullshit "terrain kill."
Looking out from the cliff wall, a breathtaking scene unfolded before their eyes.
A waterfall...
An immensely huge waterfall that could only be described as majestic!
At that moment, Riveria explained, "This is the center where all the water from the 25th floor converges—a super-large waterfall originating from the 25th floor and cascading all the way down to the 27th floor. Adventurers call it the Great Fall."
Noah's eyes widened as he gazed at the massive waterfall before him, over 400 meters wide and bottomless, leaving him in sheer awe.
The Dungeon truly lived up to its name as a secret realm that nurtures miracles.
This was the Dungeon, so naturally, it couldn't rain.
Such an enormous volume of water was all nurtured by the Dungeon itself—just like those rare materials and monsters, all were "children" of the Dungeon.
His heartbeat involuntarily quickened.
Was this excitement due to being moved? Noah himself didnt know.
"Plus, this entire area has another name."
"The Water City."
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