Chapter 35: Level 3!

The magic stone lamp on the table emitted an orange glow, illuminating the parchment in hand.

Placing the parchment over the magic stone, it quickly caught fire and was soon reduced to ashes.

Shiro then turned to Loki and said,

"It's my turn now, right?"

Upon hearing this, Ais also left her stool, giving her seat to him and headed towards the door, seemingly to avoid suspicion.

However, her constant looking back made her departure less convincing.

"You've already seen my abilities; there's no need for you to leave."

Shiro wasn't so pretentious that he would be shy about showing his upper body, especially since his abilities were already known to the other party.

With permission granted, Ais trotted back and stood beside the white-haired boy, waiting for Loki to update his status.

A sensation like blood trailing over his skin brought back to Shiro memories of the past few days' thrilling expeditions.

"Hey, hey, this is outrageous!" Loki's shout interrupted his reminiscing and nearly deafened him.

"Can you quiet down?" Pushing away Loki, who was peeking over his shoulder, Shiro rubbed his ears and said, "Where is my latest status? Show it to me."

"Here," Loki handed the parchment to Shiro.

Curious about his updated status, Ais leaned closer, their heads touching as Shiro could even feel her breath.

Putting aside the strange feelings rising in his heart, he looked at the parchment.

Torajirou Shiro Lv2

Strength: I0 → SSS1156

Endurance: I0 → S996

Dexterity: I0 → SSS1163

Agility: I0 → SSS1170

Magic: I0 → SSS1399

Hunter: H

Magic: [Device] [] []

Skills: [Desperado] [Celestial Star Spirit's Protection] [Intuition]

[Companion's Bond]

"1100..." Ais exclaimed in awe.

After this expedition, aside from the endurance stat, which didn't surpass the 1100 mark due to him receiving few attacks, all of Shiro's other stats had exceeded 1100.

Despite being accustomed to the exaggeration of Shiro's skills, seeing an SSS rank in front of her still caused Ais to breathe heavily.

"Is this achievement enough to level up?" Shiro was prepared for the improvement of his ability values.

After all, he didn't care about honor or fame; he participated in the expedition only to defeat stronger monsters.

"You've had enough high-quality excelia to rank up multiple times. Do you want to level up now? Don't you have to improve your endurance stats?"

"No need, a difference of one or two hundred won't affect me much. Plus, the growth of other stats will slow down at this bottleneck. Rather than grinding these few points, I'd better level up and move to the next stage."

"Then I'll rank you up now. I really don't get why you seem more anxious than I am," Loki said, moving her hand behind the white-haired boy's back.

"This time's potential development abilities are swordsman and abnormal resistance. Which one will you choose?"

"Let's go with abnormal resistance this time. I hope something better shows up next time I level up."

"You really are greedy. Alright, upgrade complete, congratulations, you're now a Lv3 adventurer."

As Loki spoke, the symbol, resembling both a stele and a crest, vanished from Shiro's back as if it were locked away.

"To be honest, ranking up for the second time still doesn't feel real," Shiro said while trying to move his arms.

"Speaking of which, there's only half a month left until Denatus," Loki, struck by a thought, touched her lips and murmured.

"So what?" Shiro stopped moving his arms and looked at Loki, who suddenly flashed a sly grin.

"It's incredible that you upgraded to Lv2 in a month, and now you've reached Lv3 in just half a month of the expedition. I really can't wait to see that shorty's face."

"Huh?" After expressing his opinion on Loki's childish behavior, Shiro left Loki's room.

After he had left, Loki turned to look at the contemplative sword princess.

"You performed very well this time, not coming back in a wrecked state like before."

With eyes that seemed to see through everything, Loki just stared at Ais.

Without saying more, she just smiled silently at the blond-haired girl before turning to seek out other members of her Familia.

Ais left the room alone, walking down the stairs.

Laughter and light spilled from Familia quarters, but Ais paid no attention, walking alone in the dimly lit corridor.

She didn't go anywhere else but chose to return to her own room.

Opening the door, the room was devoid of excess decoration, containing only the desk, bed, and curtains provided in every bedroom.

Compared to Loki's chaotic, bottle-strewn chamber, Ais's room was as neat as if no one had lived here before.

Moonlight streaming through the window tinted the room with a pale blue glow.

Ais walked past the tidy furniture and collapsed on the bed.

A sword came into her field of vision.

The sword, sheathed and reflecting the moonlight, exuded a cold, proud aura.

Her consciousness gradually slipped into darkness.

Ais had a dream.

Endless roars echoed, cold walls spread around, and in the dim labyrinth below, a blonde girl was attacked by hideous monsters.

Tears streamed from her fearful eyes, her skin marred by scars, her body stained with mud, and her clothing torn.

Her legs felt heavy as if burdened with a weight.

The dark shadow loomed larger, its claws reaching out towards her, and then—

Knock, knock, knock—

A knocking at the door awakened Ais.

After calming down, she went to open the door and found it was Shiro who came to visit her.

His white hair seemed to glow under the moonlight.

"Have you seen Lefiya? I've looked everywhere and couldn't find her, so I came to ask you."

"She's usually at Riveria's place around this time," Ais responded, after giving him directions, was prepared to go back to rest.

"Then I'll be off. Oh! By the way, this is for you!" Shiro, who was about to leave, suddenly pulled out a red candy from his Gift card and handed it to Ais.

"This is a snack I brought from my hometown," his voice faded as he left.

After he left, Ais placed the candy on a corner of the desk, bringing a striking red contrast to the gloomy table.

Once back in her bed, her consciousness sank into darkness again.

She dreamed of the same labyrinth and the same girl.

When the monster's claws swept through, a streak of silver flashed, and a youth wrapped in a black scarf took the place of the fallen monster.

The girl, crying, threw herself into the youth's arms, and he placed his hand on her head.

"Sorry, Ais, I can't be your hero."

The harsh words entered the girl's ears.

"Because I already have your mother. I hope one day, you can find your own hero."

With those words, the scene slowly faded away.

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