Enhanced Species.
These were essentially unique entities born by chance.
Monsters spawned by the Dungeon generally only fulfilled the "mother's" will—the Dungeon's own intentions.
They had no concept of race; no matter how many of a single type of monster existed, they could be seen as one massive collective consciousness.
Without individual awareness, they naturally lacked desires and did not engage in aggression.
Monsters did not attack each other but uniformly targeted "enemies" that appeared within the Dungeon.
In 99% of cases, these enemies were adventurers from Orario.
As far as Noah knew, the conditions for an Enhanced Species to emerge mostly involved monsters that had accidentally consumed magic stones and consequently remembered their taste.
These monsters, having remembered the flavor of magic stones, developed a continuous craving for them.
Since magic stones came from within monsters themselves, this led to situations where monsters turned on and killed each other.
By devouring the magic stones of other monsters, they could grow at an astonishingly rapid pace—an efficiency unmatched by any race on the surface.
There were even bizarre skills in this world that allowed one to grow stronger simply by eating.
Just looking at the skill descriptions, his Truth Seeker was utterly outclassed in comparison.
Yet even such an overpowered cheat ability paled in comparison to the efficiency of monsters consuming magic stones.
The more magic stones they absorbed, the stronger they became, eventually even developing intelligence.
This was what was known as an Enhanced Species.
"Level 2? Noah, are you sure?"
Although Alicia already believed him about eighty percent, she was still constrained by common sense.
She had been able to easily one-shot weaklings like One-Eyed Lizards for years now, never needing a second strike.
But a Level 2 One-Eyed Lizard?
Not only had she never considered it, but probably most people in Orario hadn't even heard of such a thing.
"Please trust me." Noah's tone was firm, and he himself was prepared to activate his gauntlet at any moment.
Against a Level 2, his gauntlet attack power was practically negligible.
But if used on himself as propulsion to evade attacks, it was still possible.
Doing nothing was absolutely unacceptable to him.
Seeing his reaffirmation, Alicia immediately restructured the party's formation.
"I understand. Then, Taro, please fall back. Noah, check on Ais. Don't hesitate to use potions. I'll handle the Enhanced Species!"
"Alright."
Noah didn't waste any words.
If it were Level 1, relying on equipment, skills, and the experience gained from other adventurers, dealing with it wouldn't be too bad.
But Level 2 was different.
A single level's difference in combat power was like another dimension altogether.
Alicia, gripping her short sword, charged proactively toward the Enhanced Species.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't make such a rash move, but she was the only one on-site capable of matching a Level 2.
Noah, carrying his large pack, hurried to Ais's side.
"Ais, are you okay? Hang in there."
He lifted Ais to lean against him and quickly took out a potion, intending to feed it to her.
As he opened the potion and brought it to her lips, suddenly, Ais's head lolled to the side, nearly spilling the potion.
Noah steadied the potion in his hand, repositioned Ais and tried again to bring it to her mouth.
This time, it was absurd.
Ais's head actually twisted toward his chest, burying her face directly into it!
That's when Noah understood.
'She was totally faking it!'
Whether it was being smacked and sent flying by the Enhanced Species or crashing into the wall—
She was completely fine!
"Hey…"
Noah let go of her with both hands.
Ais fell flat on her back onto the ground.
Even then, she kept her eyes tightly shut, pretending to be injured and unconscious.
'This drama queen!'
Anyone who said this girl was a natural airhead, wow, she was actually full of mischief!
What was the point of Alicia's efforts then, huh?
"Truth Seeker, Appraise."
"Ais Wallenstein"
・Lv. 2
・Status ――
・Magic ――
・Skills ――
・Condition: Alive and kicking
'Tch.'
'Just as I thought.'
Come to think of it, even with the potential of a Level 2 Enhanced Species, given Ais's endurance, she wouldn't be seriously injured even if she took a few direct hits.
Of course, one of the adventurer's principles was to avoid attacks whenever possible rather than tanking them—the experiences summarized by seniors still took priority.
"Ais, get up now. If Alicia finds out you're faking, she'll definitely be angry. If you get up now, I won't tell her you were pretending."
"..."
"If you don't get up, I'll put a stink bag right on your face."
"NO!"
Hearing "stink bag," Ais immediately sprang up from the ground.
After that, she fixed a resentful glare directly at him.
"Wrong! That's not how you should address me! You shouldn't call me Ais! Right?"
'Huh?'
'Then how should I call her?'
"Sorry, Lady Ais Wallenstein?"
"..."
''Urgh.''
Ais clenched her fist and thumped him on the chest, simultaneously whining.
"Noah, you idiot!"
That punch.
Noah didn't know how to describe it.
He could only associate it with some high-level terms he didn't understand, couldn't imagine, but somehow grasped intuitively.
For example… yes.
That punch could grind down the very laws of the universe.
"Holy crap, that hurts!"
'So this is the fist of a Level 2?'
He had been sent flying just now.
And to think he was currently under the effects of gravity manipulation—yet he was sent spinning mid-air.
This reminded him of something.
According to the original timeline, a few years later, Ais in a drunken state would beat up every member of her Familia one by one, nearly taking out their god Loki in the process.
Yes, this prodigy had terrible drinking etiquette!
And she wasn't even drunk now, yet she hit without restraint.
If he ever encountered her after she'd been drinking, wouldn't he be pummeled on the spot?
"Ais! You're okay!"
Ais nodded with an unnatural expression, drew her sword and joined the battle against the Enhanced Species.
At first, Noah's attention was on the two beauties, but gradually, his gaze became irresistibly drawn to the sword in Ais's hand.
"Desperate"
・Indestructible
・light Sword
・User: Ais Wallenstein
・Crafted by Goibniu
・Value…
"99 million valis!!!" Noah was stunned.