"This is the first time I've seen that child show such interest in anything outside the Dungeon."
Alicia's expression was thoughtful, her gentle gaze drifting as if watching a figure in the distance.
"Ais... she never allows herself to rest. Whenever she has free time, she'll disappear into the Dungeon day and night, fighting monsters."
"She carries something that I—no, all of us—cannot possibly understand."
"But seeing her return from the Dungeon covered in wounds each time makes me so, so worried that I could almost cry."
"What surprised me is that even someone like Ais has truly changed."
"Though just slightly, her expression has indeed become softer than before."
The elf lady kept talking about Ais Wallenstein.
Her words made Noah think of something.
In Ais's memories, there was another version of herself that no one else knew about.
That version of her was once a happy child with loving parents.
She adored her gentle mother, deeply admired her heroic father, loved listening to heroic tales, yearned for the heroes in those stories, and longed for the day her own hero would appear.
That innocent Ais was a thing of the past—the current Ais lived solely through her hatred of monsters.
She wanted to become stronger and kill all monsters that threatened humanity.
Among them, the one she most wanted to destroy was the monster among monsters that killed her parents.
The one-eyed black dragon.
The black dragon's power perfectly embodied the concept of apocalypse.
Even the two strongest Familias in a millennium—the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia—joining forces to defeat it ended in complete annihilation.
The Empress of the Hera Familia had reached LV9.
Though the Zeus Familia had no LV9, it possessed two LV8 adventurers.
Since these two great Familias were nearly wiped out by the black dragon, Orario has yet to produce any adventurers surpassing LV7.
Those once-happy times were shattered by the black dragon, never to return.
Ais was consumed by hatred.
The existence of a skill like "Avenger" revealed her true wish.
In the future, Ais would see her childhood self in Bell Cranel, making her particularly concerned about him.
She would repeatedly try to protect him regardless of circumstances, essentially to preserve his original innocence—so he wouldn't be consumed by hatred like her and become a tool for slaughtering monsters.
'Could it be that she now sees me as her childhood self?'
'That would be a huge misunderstanding!'
"I'm not someone worthy of such expectations..." Noah murmured softly.
Even Alicia didn't catch what he said.
What happened to Ais was heartbreaking even for bystanders, and he felt the same.
But he understood—it was an unresolvable knot in her heart.
If he truly wanted to do something for her, he should be a real man and confront the black dragon head-on.
That girl had always yearned for her own hero to appear, but the hero never came.
She had heard enough heroic tales and believed heroes existed in this world, but the hero meant for her never existed from the start and never would.
The girl no longer dreamed of being a princess waiting for a hero to save her—instead, she wanted to become a swordswoman stronger than anyone, capable of protecting everything.
This was the "Sword Princess" Ais Wallenstein that Noah know!
These secrets might be unknown even to her Familia members who ate and slept together daily, yet he knew them.
So what could he do?
Ais was destined to become one of Orario's strongest fighters, infinitely more powerful than him—a rookie still struggling at LV1.
It wasn't his place to help her.
He wouldn't arrogantly assume he had the right to pity her just because her experiences were tragic.
He simply continued repairing equipment brought by adventurers, same as always.
That was all.
There was no end to pretty words.
What mattered was steadily growing stronger.
The day for answers wasn't now.
If he could grow strong enough to help that girl, and if she needed his help, then he wouldn't hesitate to lend his strength when the time came.
...
Time passed.
Repeating nearly identical daily life in Orario made Noah increasingly familiar with its streets and people.
Finally, one year later on this day.
Noah was about to undergo his first level-up.
[Name]: Noah
[Level]: LV.1
[Status]:
Strength: A885
Endurance: S909
Dexterity: B770
Agility: B763
Magic: S996
[Magic]: (Empty)
[Skills]:
[Truth Seeker]
-Can appraise objects upon contact; effect strengthens with closer contact
-While repairing equipment, chance to gain user's experience and grow
-When crafting items, chance to raise finished product by one grade
[Spell-Weaver]
-Can directly manipulate magic
-Can directly manipulate elements
[Denier]
-Nullifies one instant-death effect and removes all abnormal statuses; can only activate once every 24 hours
"I can feel that i hit my limit. I could keep going to raise all my basic abilities to S-rank through Truth Seeker's effect, but that would waste too much time."
Another year? Or two more years?
No—no need for further polishing.
Now was the time for level up!
Unlike the Rabbit's Liaris Freese, that cheat skill with 10x experience and breaking limits was unique to him.
Well, not everyone could be a status monster.
His achievements were more than sufficient.
With his basic abilities hitting their limits, only by leveling up and elevating his level could he advance futher!
Under Hephaestus's update, the status on Noah's back began changing rapidly.
The "1" in the Level column changed to "2."
Simultaneously, all his basic ability values reset to a new page, starting again from I0.
"Wait! What's with this Development Ability?"
The usually calm and steady Hephaestus stared at the selectable Development Abilities displayed on Noah's back, falling into self-doubt.