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Chapter 58: Lefiya
"It seems that's our only option," Robin nodded helplessly.
Tifa and Hyacine agreed; it was the only way forward.
Aiden took a deep breath. Just as he was about to turn and rush into the dim passage to "fundraise" for this bottomless portal, a crisp voice, tinged with curiosity, rang out behind them without warning.
"Mr. Aiden? What are you all doing? And... what is that?"
Aiden and his team froze. They turned around simultaneously.
Under the dim phosphorescent light, two slender figures stood not far away, curiously observing them and the blue-purple vortex glowing eerily behind them.
In the lead was a girl with golden hair and golden eyes. Her features were as exquisite as a masterfully crafted doll, her temperament cold and distant. She wore a light blue and white combat outfit that outlined her fine figure, and at her waist hung a rapier of elegant design—Orario's renowned first-tier weapon, [Desperate].
It was the Loki Familia's "Sword Princess," Ais Wallenstein.
Following behind her was an Elf girl. She had bright golden-yellow hair tied in a clean ponytail. Beneath a cute pink and blue outfit, her long, straight legs were wrapped in white stockings, giving her a unique charm that hovered between childishness and elegance.
She was Lefiya Viridis, the "Thousand Elf."
Seeing the arrival of these two, who were essentially the icons of Orario's high-level adventurers, Aiden's mouth twitched.
Well, so much for hiding it.
He sighed internally. These two, especially Ais, a top-tier explorer, knew the Dungeon's environment like the back of their hands. They had walked the entrance from the 12th to the 13th floor countless times. Trying to pass off a massive, never-before-seen portal as "normal dungeon phenomena" would be a fantasy.
"Ugh..." Aiden let out a long sigh, abandoning any struggle. He simply jutted his chin toward the blue-purple vortex behind him. "Come see for yourselves."
With a dungeon portal that big stuck there, it was better to let them confirm it than to waste breath lying.
"Eh?"
Although confused, Lefiya and Ais stepped forward as invited. They exchanged a glance, and Ais, being the bolder of the two, reached out first, carefully touching the rippling halo. Lefiya followed close behind.
Instantly, just like with Aiden's group, the massive stream of data regarding the Domain Instance flooded their minds.
"This... this... what is this?!"
After digesting the information, Lefiya was completely bewildered. Her beautiful blue eyes widened into circles, her small mouth hanging slightly open. She couldn't grasp the situation at all.
Instance? Copy? Clear? Adventurer's Experience Book? Every term felt like language from another world.
Ais's reaction, however, was starkly different.
She silently withdrew her hand and stood rooted in place, not saying a word. But her right hand, gripping the hilt of [Desperate], tightened slightly.
Her gaze was locked onto the description of the [Adventurer's Experience Book] in her mind—Randomly increases an adventurer's ability stats by 1-100 points.
Her own stat growth had become very, very slow. With every status update, seeing those numbers barely inch forward caused her deep anxiety and frustration. For someone who yearned for power from the depths of her soul, desperate to take revenge on the One-Eyed Black Dragon, this stagnation was torture.
And now, a treasure capable of directly increasing stats had appeared right in front of her.
Even on her usually doll-like, expressionless face, a violently complex emotion flickered briefly—a mix of shock, longing, and struggle.
After a long while, the intelligent Lefiya managed to sort out the situation. She glanced worriedly at Ais, whose breathing was noticeably unstable, then turned to Aiden. Lowering her voice, she asked tentatively, "Um... Mr. Aiden, may I ask how many Magic Stones you've already thrown in?"
Given the mix of resignation and financial pain on Aiden's group's faces, and the way the four of them were guarding the spot, the answer was obvious.
"Our entire stock. All in," Aiden smiled bitterly, spreading his hands. "I was just about to go kill some monsters alone to gather more when you two showed up."
A troubled look appeared on Lefiya's face.
She hesitated for a moment, seemingly fighting an intense internal battle, before whispering, "You found this first. We can't take it from you. We have some Magic Stones on us; we can lend them to you to open it first, and you can pay us back later. Besides... doesn't the info say there are three chances?"
She then turned to Ais, her tone becoming decisive. "Miss Ais, let's wait for the second chance. You should run back to the Familia headquarters at top speed and bring back as many Magic Stones as possible."
Ais's body trembled slightly, a flicker of struggle passing through her golden eyes. But eventually, she nodded slowly, agreeing with Lefiya's proposal.
Not snatching monsters or treasures discovered by others was an unwritten rule of the Dungeon, a cornerstone of the fragile trust between adventurers. Even facing an unprecedented Domain Instance, as members of one of Orario's top Familias, they had to uphold this rule.
Of course, this unwritten rule only constrained people like the Loki Familia, who leaned toward lawful alignment and cared about their reputation. If it were a more domineering Familia, they likely would have cleared the area by force and driven Aiden's group away without a second thought, rather than kindly lending stones and waiting for a turn.
"How about this?" Seeing Lefiya's sincerity, Aiden wasn't one to be unreasonable.
He immediately smiled and proposed, "Let's go in together. The limit is 10 people anyway. Including you two, we're only six. There's plenty of room."
"However," Aiden added quickly, "The Sword Princess probably can't come in with us."
"Why?"
Hearing this, Ais pouted almost imperceptibly. Her golden eyes revealed clear dissatisfaction as she stared straight at Aiden.
Why was she being singled out and left behind?
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