17th Floor of the Dungeon.
"Huff... huff... I was... careless."
Kael gasped for breath, his backpack bulging like an oversized ball as he stumbled forward.
"I... I forgot my supporter skills were reset, leaving my endurance even worse than a normal person's."
Carrying several dozen kilograms of weapons and a large bag of Jagamarukun while chasing after the wind-spirit-running troublemaker to the 17th Floor — eight straight hours of forced marching had utterly depleted his stamina.
Of Ais's fifteen stamina potions, Kael had already consumed ten. All the weapons were broken too, and they'd barely made it to this part of the 17th Floor.
Now he crouched down, gathering scattered bull horns among countless other rare drop items.
During the latter part of their Dungeon run, Ais had focused mainly on collecting magic stones, which helped reduce Kael's burden. Even so, he struggled to match her pace.
After winding through several intersections, guided by the sounds of fierce combat and howling winds, he finally spotted her fairy-like figure dancing in the distance.
Enshrouded in blue wind currents with golden tassels, she darted between four Minotaurs. Her sharp sword sliced through bull thigh muscles, and she used the wound as a stepping stone to topple one beast while spinning to deliver a horizontal slash that drew a crimson arc.
Bull blood and severed limbs scattered across the small battlefield until only her radiant figure remained standing.
Sensing movement at the intersection, Ais slowly turned her head, eyebrows slightly furrowed as she regarded Kael.
"Too slow."
Her suspicious look clearly questioned his competence.
"You're just too fast. These monsters are no match for you. Fighting such weak opponents probably won't help you improve much either." Kael deftly crouched down to extract the Minotaur magic stones while adding casually, "Looking at you, you probably didn't come to the Dungeon to earn Valis anyway."
Ais's lips turned down, her cheeks slightly puffing up, "Riveria won't let me."
Kael paused for a second.
That made sense — given Riveria's conservative parenting style, allowing Level 2 Ais to operate in the middle floors meant for Level 2 Adventurers was already an exception. The 17th Floor, where floor bosses appeared, was likely forbidden too.
Yet with her two exceptional abilities "Avenger" and "Ariel", Ais might even stand a chance against the Level 4 Goliath!
Her sulky dissatisfaction showed clearly through her naturally blank expression.
Kael smiled mischievously. "Want to go see the deeper floors?"
"But Riveria..." Ais furrowed her brows slightly in protest, but her golden eyes stared at him expectantly.
Kael understood immediately.
This was just like a child afraid of getting scolded — finding a friend to go along with, someone to encourage them. That way, if something happened, they could say "Ah, it was all so-and-so's idea! It's all their fault!"
This won't do, good children must never learn this!
Stay far away from bad people like me... Kael criticized himself internally, while smoothly saying:
"The era of the Nine Hell is over. She's lost the courage to challenge the strong, and that's where her path ends. Tell me, how many years has it been since she last leveled up? Do you want to end up like her, still only Level 5 when you're a hundred years old? Besides..."
His voice, like a demon's, softly reached Ais's ears.
"She's not here right now... is she?"
Ais wasn't happy with Kael belittling Riveria, but what he said wasn't wrong — elves had incredibly long lifespans and plenty of time to progress steadily, but she didn't!
Moreover... Riveria wasn't around!
Ais's troublemaker soul burned fiercely!
Coming alone to the 17th Floor, she had already broken the rules. If discovered, she would definitely get scolded. Since she was going to get scolded anyway, why not become stronger?
Ais's ability scores already met the conditions for leveling up, but she still hadn't achieved the feat needed to become stronger. Riveria kept saying she was looking, telling her to keep training, but...
Three days turned into five, then ten, and now half a month had passed! When would she finally achieve her wish?
Ais stared blankly at Kael, "What about you?"
She was questioning his survival ability. Taking a Level 1 supporter to the lower floors was far too dangerous — she couldn't let him get hurt.
Kael saw through her concerns and raised both arms to form a star shape. "Don't look down on me! I have dreams — no, ambitions! I want to become stronger than everyone! Stand at the peak of this era, where even the Gods can't control my fate!"
"You'll die." Ais emphasized.
"Then let me die! If living isn't for becoming stronger, how is it any different from being a rotting corpse?"
Watching Kael's heightened emotions, she could see the boy proving his determination through actions.
Infected by his passion, Ais bit her lip and spread her arms like a child throwing a tantrum, "I... I have ambitions too! My ambition is to kill that Black Dragon! That's why I'll be the strongest in the world! You can only be second!"
Kael said mischievously, "Then I'll be the strongest man in the world!"
"No!" Ais protested, "I'm number one! I'm also the strongest woman!"
"Alright! Deal! It's promised! Let's go to the Great Tree Labyrinth! This is our secret between us!"
Ais's lips curled up, "It's promised! We won't tell anyone!"
Speaking thus, her body trembled, shattering the sword in her hand, and she reached out to Kael.
"Here, exchange swords!"
Kael: (*′☉.̫☉)?
"Sorry, we don't have enough spare weapons. We're also running low on potions."
Ais: ヾ(⊙▂⊙ )? Oh! Great undertaking unfinished, path blocked midway!
Kael kept the cursed dagger without giving it to Ais — firstly because he needed it for self-defense, and secondly because the weapon might need to be used as proof of identity later. If they encountered the Evilus in the Dungeon, he could shout "Don't shoot, I'm one of you!"
He grinned, "Don't worry, the 18th Floor is the trading post. We can use our Familia emblems to trade directly with them for supplies!"
Ais: ???!
Kael held out his palm, and she slapped it.
The two troublemakers high-fived and set out on their adventure again.
❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈
17th Floor, Wall of Sorrows.
Like a giant crystal wall carefully carved by master craftsmen, it stood majestically on one side of the room. It was both throne and barrier — the Dungeon's first true test of strength, intimidating all who dared not approach.
Now...
"Ahhh, I told you not to show off! Why did you break the sword? Why break the sword!" Kael tumbled into the chamber.
"Sorry!" Ais turned the sword into wind, scattering countless ruins and limbs.
"Don't break my dagger!"
"Sorry!"
Two small Adventurers, one male and one female, burst through the passage lined with hellhounds and Minotaurs, crashing into the Wall of Sorrows.
"Phew, we're relatively safe now." Kael said, sprawling on the ground.
This was the chamber where the floor boss Goliath incubated. The last floor boss had been defeated just a week ago, and normal monsters wouldn't dare enter this domain on their own, even with Goliath yet to hatch.
"Here, this belongs to you." Ais handed the cracked cursed dagger back to him.
"Let's go quickly. If a Goliath suddenly spawns, should we fight it or not?"
"Fight!" Ais shouted.
Thump—
Kael swatted her golden head, "Stop that — you don't even have a weapon now!"
"But... we finally made it, Riveria!"