Ais Wallenstein

Ais Wallenstein

Tower of Babel, plaza.

Night had fallen, and the Magic Stone Lamps around the plaza had been lit one by one, casting brilliant light over the towering Chalk Giant Tower that pierced the clouds.

Ais emerged from the giant tower. Her dazzling golden hair remained immaculate, but her body was covered in dirt and grime.

Even so, the girl still drew countless gazes, becoming the center of attention across the entire plaza.

"Look, it's the Sword Princess."

"The one from the Loki Familia?"

"She's as beautiful as ever. She's not inferior to the goddesses at all."

"Judging by how she looks, she must have just returned from the Dungeon, right?"

"She's so hardworking. The Loki Familia only got back from an expedition not long ago, yet she dives into the Dungeon every day."

"She's already Lv.5, yet she's still Orario's number one Female Swordsman."

"I wish I could become a First Class Adventurer."

"As if it were that easy?"

Amid the murmurs, gazes filled with all sorts of emotions converged on Ais—some filled with admiration, some with affection, some with envy, and some with jealousy.

As one of Orario's most famous figures, Ais, the face of the Loki Familia, was destined to attract attention wherever she went. Not to mention that she possessed beauty comparable to that of a goddess.

Ais had long since grown accustomed to it. Or rather, she no longer cared.

The girl merely lowered her head slightly as she walked through the crowd, her mind occupied by other thoughts.

Or rather, she was thinking about herself.

Her gaze briefly swept over her back, and the first thing Ais thought of was today's battle, as well as the results she had received yesterday.

Ais Wallenstein

Lv.5

Strength: D535 → D536

Endurance: D531 → D532

Dexterity: A813

Agility: A810

Magic: A888

Hunter: G

Abnormal Resistance: G

Swordsman: I

These were Ais's latest results after Loki had updated her Ability Values yesterday.

If these results were leaked, many people in Orario would probably be astonished.

Both her "Strength" and "Endurance" had reached Stage D.

Her "Dexterity," "Agility," and "Magic" had all reached Stage A.

She even possessed three Development Abilities, which could only possibly be acquired upon Level Up. Though none of them were high-ranked, compared to those who gained no Development Abilities at all when leveling up, these results could still be considered outstanding—more than enough to make others envious.

Without exaggeration, Ais's Ability Values ranked among the very best even at Lv.5.

In Orario, and even throughout the entire world, there were only a handful of people at Lv.5 whose Ability Values surpassed Ais's current ones.

Yet when she thought of her Ability Values, a faint gloom spread through Ais's heart.

"Too slow."

That was what the girl was thinking.

Over the past few days, Ais had constantly explored the Dungeon, venturing deep into floors that ordinary adventurers found difficult to reach.

The floors she reached were always below the twentieth floor, and the monsters she faced every day were all classified by the Guild as at least Lv.3.

On such floors, amid such hordes of monsters, Ais killed an unknown number of enemies every day. She fought from the dawn before daylight broke until the darkness of night, returning covered in dust and looking thoroughly bedraggled.

Yet despite working so hard, after several days, only her relatively lower "Strength" and "Endurance" had each increased by a single point. Her other abilities had not budged at all, leaving Ais in a foul mood since last night.

Seeing the girl in that state, her goddess had offered a few extra words.

"I'm telling you, Ais-tan, you're already doing incredibly well. You're Lv.5, and you can still grow after spending a few days exploring floors where the monsters are far weaker than you. If it were anyone else, they definitely couldn't manage that."

Her goddess opened the divine eyes she usually kept narrowed and, in a rare show of seriousness, looked directly at Ais as she spoke.

"How many children at your level didn't struggle for years, even over a decade, to achieve results like yours?"

"It's only been three years since you reached Lv.5, yet you've already raised your Ability Values to the very top among Lv.5s. Your potential is the greatest in our Familia. Even Finn and Gareth didn't grow as quickly as you did when they were Lv.5."

"I do hope that all of you can become stronger and more outstanding, but there has to be a limit to everything. Even we gods wouldn't demand that you children become heroes overnight, you know?"

"You're already running very fast. Any faster, and you'll fall."

"So, sometimes you need to know when enough is enough, understand?"

The goddess's heartfelt advice remained vivid, echoing in Ais's heart.

Yet Ais was still dissatisfied with the pace of her growth.

More than three years had passed since she reached Lv. 5, and Ais knew that she had achieved results at this level worthy of the gods' praise.

But lately, the growth of her Ability Values had been negligible, and it had begun to make Ais feel anxious.

Like now—she worked hard hunting monsters in the dungeon, fought for several days, and yet her overall Ability Value increase amounted to only two points. How could that make Ais happy?

The same had happened some time ago. She had gone on an expedition with her familia and fought in the deep floors below the 50th Floor for roughly two weeks. During that time, she had cut down countless monsters classified as Lv. 4 or even higher, yet in the end, all Ais gained was barely over ten points of proficiency in total.

It was too slow.

So slow that Ais was dissatisfied.

So slow that her heart was clouded with gloom.

Especially after seeing someone grow at a speed that could only be called unfair, what welled up inside Ais was no longer merely dissatisfaction, but urgency and impatience.

At this rate, when would she ever become strong enough?

"Fool's Obsession...?"

Ais recalled that unprecedented, unheard-of skill, her mind filled with chaotic thoughts.

A skill that could accelerate growth and raise one's potential limit.

Why didn't she have a skill like that?

"What kind of obsession... could make a skill like that appear?"

Whether magic or skills, the abilities discovered through God's Blessing were tied to a person's nature or interests.

In other words, they were the crystallization of one's thoughts, the fruit of one's fantasies.

It sounded like a miracle that could turn fantasy into reality, making wishes come true through thought alone, but that was not the case.

There were countless people in this world who wished to become stronger quickly, yet none of them had awakened such an unfair skill that accelerated growth and raised potential, had they?

If all it took was wishing for it, then why didn't she have one?

Could her desire and determination to become stronger truly lose to anyone else's?

Therefore, mere fantasy was surely not enough to gain a skill like Fool's Obsession.

The more outrageous the skill, the more astonishing its effects, the more it tested a person's heart and nature. Only when that part of one's heart and nature was acknowledged—only when it was intense enough—could it take tangible form as an ability within the Blessing.

Therefore—

"What kind of obsession made him awaken a skill like that...?"

Ais sank into thought over that question, her mind filled with the face of that man who seemed calm and composed, yet whose eyes held sharpness and burning passion.

Ais Wallenstein yearned for strength.

She yearned for it beyond measure.

Because she had a sorrowful wish, and a grudge to avenge.

For that, she had to become stronger as quickly as possible.

Holding on to that sorrowful wish and that grudge, the girl continued searching for the secret to becoming stronger today.

However, just as Ais was about to leave the plaza and enter the main street, she noticed a disturbance.

"Get to the Guild, quickly!"

"We have to report this!"

"Something happened! Something terrible happened!"

"An Abnormal Situation has occurred on the 6th Floor! Adventurers have already been injured and killed!"

A group of adventurers who had clearly just returned from the dungeon were shouting in a panic on the road. Their terrified expressions and blood-smeared bodies made Ais stop in her tracks.

"An Abnormal Situation?"

Hearing that term—the one that always made adventurers tense—Ais frowned slightly.

The words that followed concerned her even more.

"Someone witnessed a human male Swordsman fighting an unknown monster, with an elven girl Mage beside him?"

Unfortunately, Ais happened to know of such a pairing.

A pairing that had only appeared today, one that had even caught Ais by surprise.

That morning, when Ais had left home, she had happened to overhear members of her familia discussing it and had only then learned of it.

"Could it be Riezel and Lefiya?"

Ais felt uneasy.

In the Upper Floors, where groups usually consisted of three people, could there really happen to be another party made up of a human Swordsman and an elven Mage?

Ais didn't think so.

"6th Floor."

Ais muttered under her breath, turned around, and began to run.

Her destination: the Tower of Babel.

The dungeon's 6th Floor.

The moment she entered, the unease in Ais's heart became reality.

There was no other reason.

On this floor, which was normally explored only by novice adventurers, Ais saw numerous corpses sprawled across the ground. They had been well-equipped and were clearly far from weak—adventurers who should have been making their way through much deeper floors.

Their deaths were horrifically gruesome. Some had been disemboweled, while others had been reduced to severed limbs and mangled remains. Scarlet blood stained the ground and walls, making even Ais feel deeply unsettled.

It told Ais that an Abnormal Situation really had occurred here—that a powerful monster had appeared.

The images of the human man who had left a deep impression on her and the junior members of her familia she was close to lying in pools of blood flashed through her mind. Ais forcefully shook her head, casting them aside, yet her speed unconsciously increased.

"Is it this way?"

Before long, Ais detected a tremendous noise, like the sound of something battling.

She hurried toward it.

Not long afterward, Ais reached the battlefield.

Then, she saw the familiar figure of a junior member.

"Lefiya!"

Ais cried out without thinking.

But the junior who would normally come running over with a touched and delighted expression at the sound of her call merely stared blankly ahead.

Ais followed her gaze—and likewise fell silent.

"Roar!"

The enormous body unique to a Large Species filled the narrow passageway, unleashing an earthshaking roar.

That roar held anger, savagery, frenzy, and hysterical madness—yet, in the end, there was even a trace of fear.

Ais saw a gigantic monster she had never encountered before, roaring in agony.

Before it, a blood-soaked figure was charging forward at full speed.

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