(Heartfelt thanks to 'World's End Ballad' for the 10,000 reward! And thanks to 'Fei Ye | Sleepless City', 'I Don't Play 300', 'zckira', 'Call Me White Horse', 'awalon', 'Invincible Origin', 'Super Energetic Good-for-Nothing', and 'Famous Ideal' for their rewards!)
Dungeon, Floor 4...
"Haah—!"
"Roar—!"
In a dimly lit tunnel, Bell, fully armed and holding a short sword whose blade gleamed bright silver, was locked in battle with a werewolf much taller than himself, trading blows back and forth.
A closer look revealed that although Bell's movements were somewhat clumsy, he was gradually becoming more proficient.
That was because, from behind Bell as he fought the werewolf, little stones would shoot out whenever he got flustered, striking a joint on his slight body and naturally forcing his body to move.
As time passed and Bell's movements became increasingly skillful, the number of stones flying at him gradually decreased. In the end, not even a single stone remained.
Thanks to that, while Bell's movements became more and more polished, the stones no longer helped him evade whenever he came under attack, causing him to be struck repeatedly by the werewolf's sharp claws and fangs.
If Bell had still been wearing that lowest-grade standard-issue armor from the Guild, he would probably have suffered quite a few injuries by now.
But that was exactly what Noah needed to do.
Noah's goal was to help Bell grasp a certain level of combat skill, not to keep helping him defeat monsters.
If Noah had to look after Bell all the time, then when Bell entered the Dungeon alone someday, could he still rely on Noah's help?
That was obviously impossible.
Therefore, once Bell had gradually mastered some combat techniques, Noah stopped intending to intervene and let Bell get used to fighting monsters on his own.
Only