Chapter 57 - So Strong!
"In other words, you couldn't sit still, so you came back to the dungeon?"
Orsted and Ais sat side by side under a large tree.
"Yeah," Ais nodded gently, then turned to look at him.
She didn't say anything, just gazed at Orsted quietly.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Her unwavering attention made Orsted shift uncomfortably.
Though Ais's gaze lacked the intensity of Freya's, it carried a sharp, piercing quality.
Noticing his discomfort, Ais realized she'd been too obvious.
She quickly averted her eyes. "Sorry."
Seeing Orsted had rekindled her desire to spar with him—a urge she couldn't suppress, leading to her staring.
When she apologized, a thought struck Orsted.
He recalled the anime—how Ais had taken an interest in Bell Cranel due to his rapid growth, curious about how he'd gotten stronger so quickly.
Was she giving him the same look now? Was he getting the protagonist treatment?
Just as Orsted opened his mouth to speak, footsteps approached.
He and Ais turned toward the sound.
Lili, her hair still wet, emerged alongside Tifa and Naaza, walking toward them.
"Sword Princess?"
As they drew closer, Lili spotted Ais beside Orsted.
Her voice faltered, caught off guard. She clearly hadn't expected to see Ais here.
Naaza, however, remained unfazed, her expression calm as ever.
"Naaza, who is she?" Tifa whispered to Naaza.
"Sword Princess, a first-class adventurer of the Loki Familia…" Naaza murmured back, briefly explaining Ais's identity to Tifa.
"Orsted-sama, what's going on?" Snapping out of her surprise, Lili turned to Orsted for an explanation.
"When you were bathing, Ais happened to show up, so we started talking," Orsted replied simply.
"Very suspicious…" Lili muttered, eyeing Ais with a skeptical squint.
That was classic Lili—wary of any girl who got close to Orsted, especially potential rivals.
Even Tifa hadn't escaped her scrutiny.
Only Naaza seemed exempt from this treatment.
After the brief exchange, the group set out to find a campsite.
They soon located an open space and quickly pitched two tents—one large, one small.
"Ais, you can rest with Lili and the others," Orsted offered.
As the Hestia Familia grew stronger, they'd inevitably cross paths with the Loki Familia.
Building a rapport with Ais couldn't hurt—especially at no cost to him.
"Thank you," Ais replied, accepting without hesitation.
She'd entered the dungeon on a whim this time, unprepared with a tent or supplies, planning to stay at an overpriced inn in Rivira.
A ready-made tent was a welcome alternative—she'd rather avoid Rivira's exorbitant rates if possible.
With the tents set up, the group cooked a simple dinner to tide them over.
"Alright, dinner's done. Now I'll give you some special training and share all the experience and skills I know."
Lili, Tifa, and Naaza hadn't yet responded, but Ais's eyes lit up beside him.
She'd been pondering how to broach the topic of sparring with Orsted to test his strength—now he'd handed her the perfect opportunity.
Lili and the others had no objections.
Orsted's demonstrated prowess was more than enough to warrant learning from him.
Since it was training, they went one at a time.
Lili was first.
For nearly a decade, Lili had been a supporter, observing countless adventurers in combat and secretly picking up fighting techniques.
Her frail physique had kept her from practicing—until she met Orsted.
After he taught her Sun Breathing, her strength grew through training, finally giving her the ability to fight monsters.
Over time, she'd begun adapting those learned skills into her own.
But her knowledge was haphazard, lacking structure.
Before his the system sign in, Orsted hadn't possessed reliable combat skills to teach her.
Now, with Eternal Arms Mastery, it was different.
Even a sliver of this expertise was enough for her to study and learn over a month.
Lili was trying her best.
Faced with Orsted's skills, she couldn't fully grasp their depth.
Instead, she committed every word and movement to memory, planning to apply them in future battles.
Naaza and Tifa followed the same approach—memorizing rather than learning in the moment.
Ais, watching from the sidelines, was a different story.
As a Level 5 adventurer, her strength, experience, and insight into fighting were exceptional.
While Lili and the others couldn't appreciate Orsted's lessons, Ais could.
Each explanation and demonstration struck her like a revelation.
Her eyes grew brighter with every word.
"So strong…" she murmured.
---
Read advance chapters at:
patreon.com/verse7
Powerstones:
200 Stones = 1 chapter
400 Stones = 2 chapter