Kanae looked somewhat puzzled by Ais's stare and politely asked.
"Miss Ais, may I ask... you keep looking at me, is there some problem?"
Seeing this, Loki couldn't be bothered arguing with Phaethon anymore.
She hurriedly and nervously moved closer to Ais's side, looking warily at Phaethon, afraid that her beloved Ais-tan would be kidnapped by this "walking beautiful girl magnet."
She muttered quietly: "Ais-tan, let's stay away from him, this guy is suspicious..."
However, Ais seemed not to hear Loki's words, still tilting her head.
Looking seriously at Kanae, she spoke in her somewhat wooden yet very sincere tone.
"Why... it feels like... after just half a day apart, your swordsmanship... seems to have already surpassed mine..."
"Huh?!"
The moment Ais finished speaking, standing among the Loki Familia crowd.
That gray wolf-eared, wolf-tailed werewolf Bete with his arrogant expression immediately exclaimed in shock.
"Impossible! Ais, are you mistaken?"
Bete looked at Kanae with disbelief: "When we met in the dungeon yesterday, she felt like just a relatively strong novice adventurer at most!
How could her swordsmanship surpass Ais after just one day apart?"
Indeed, when they met yesterday, although Ais had also evaluated Kanae as quite a strong swordsman.
But Ais had absolutely never said that the other was stronger than herself.
How could such earth-shaking changes occur in just one day?
Loki also hurriedly chimed in from the side, laughing heartily.
"Yes, yes, Ais-tan, you must be tired and mistaken, right?
How could anyone make such rapid progress in swordsmanship in just one day?"
However, faced with everyone's doubts, Ais firmly shook her head, her gaze extremely serious.
"I'm not wrong, I absolutely didn't feel wrongly."
She looked at Kanae again, her tone carrying a hint of incomprehensible confusion.
"The sword intent emanating from her body... that sharpness... has completely surpassed mine.
Miss Kanae, please tell me, how exactly was this achieved?"
Faced with Ais's questioning and everyone's curious gazes, Kanae didn't know how to explain for a moment.
She knew her power improvement was entirely due to the deity's blessing and the qualitative change brought by job changing.
But these secrets involving deities and otherworldly powers absolutely couldn't be easily revealed.
Kanae instinctively cast a pleading gaze toward Phaethon beside her.
Phaethon received Kanae's gaze, coughed lightly, and stepped forward.
His face wore a gentle yet mysterious smile, his gaze sweeping over the Loki Familia members, finally settling on Ais.
"There's nothing strange about this."
His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable bearing.
"This is the power I bestow upon my Familia. As long as one becomes my follower and accepts my blessing, they can obtain growth beyond common sense."
Speaking, Phaethon's gaze turned to Ais, his eyes carrying a hint of subtle amusement.
"Ais Wallenstein, if you also yearn to become stronger, yearn to obtain power beyond your current level.
Then you're always welcome to kick Loki aside and join my Phaethon Familia."
"!!!"
Phaethon's words were like dropping a heavy bomb into a calm lake!
Loki was the first to react, instantly bristling!
She abruptly blocked in front of Ais, like a mother hen protecting her chick, glaring angrily at Phaethon.
"Phaethon! You bastard! How dare you poach right in front of me!
I'm telling you! Ais-tan is mine! She'll always be a member of Loki Familia! Don't even think about targeting her!"
After speaking, Loki didn't even bother eating anymore, pulling the still somewhat bewildered Ais and hastily calling to her Familia members.
"Let's go, let's go! We're going back! We're not eating here! Hurry, hurry!"
Afraid that staying even one more second would result in her precious treasure being truly deceived away by Phaethon.
Watching Loki flee like a refugee, leading the Loki Familia members in panicked retreat, Phaethon shook his head somewhat amusedly.
This Sword Princess Ais from the original plot was indeed nearly fanatical in her obsession with strength.
Due to her parents' circumstances, she extremely despised that dragon that brought destruction.
Her lifelong goal was to continuously become stronger, then stronger still, until she possessed the power to slay the Black Dragon.
Speaking of the Black Dragon, one must mention the three great commissions in this world's setting—
Subjugating the Land King Behemoth, Sea King Leviathan, and Sky King One-Eyed Black Dragon.
These three were considered the ultimate calamities threatening the lower world, and subjugating them was the ultimate dream and goal of all adventurers.
In the current timeline, the Land King Behemoth and Sea King Leviathan had already been successfully subjugated by past heroes.
Only that most powerful Sky King—the One-Eyed Black Dragon—still occupied the unfathomably deep depths of the dungeon.
Its strength was immeasurable, unmovable by anyone, becoming the Sword of Damocles hanging over Orario and even the entire world.
It could be said that subjugating the Black Dragon was this DanMachi world's ultimate main quest.
If looking purely at this world's native power system, wanting to subjugate that One-Eyed Black Dragon whose strength surpassed even deities.
It was indeed an extremely arduous, nearly impossible task.
Perhaps only through various fortunate coincidences could there be a glimmer of hope.
But...
Phaethon's lips curled into a confident smile.
For him, a God of Light who could connect to myriad worlds, possessed the Primordial Light system, and wielded terrifying power himself.
For him, an existence who could let Familia members train in various otherworlds and obtain power systems beyond common sense...
A mere Black Dragon?
Perhaps that was just a not-too-difficult trial on the future growth path of [Phaethon Familia] members.
His gaze became deep and distant.
The future blueprint had already slowly unfolded in his heart—
Using this DanMachi world where deities walked the earth as a stable base camp and back garden.
Then, he would lead these beautiful girl followers from various worlds with unlimited potential.
Embark on adventure journeys to more colorful otherworlds filled with encounters and challenges...
Such a future was exciting enough just to think about.