Chapter 56 – Ais’s concern

The battle between Aston and Ais lasted for half an hour before coming to a halt.

The combat situation between the two fluctuated, with Aston initially being completely suppressed by Ais's first strike. However, as his development abilities came into play, the battle reached a stalemate.

After Ais exerted her full strength, Aston found himself at a disadvantage again. However, unlike the beginning, he was not completely suppressed by Ais but rather slightly falling behind.

Even though Ais exerted her full strength, Aston's powerful insight from the Sharingan continuously learned Ais's combat techniques. This made Aston's fighting skills more refined, and his combat experience grew richer, gradually becoming adept at countering Ais's attacks.

The main difference between the two now is their physical attributes. Despite Aston having enhanced abilities beyond his level, he still couldn't match Ais in terms of physical capability.

In the aspect of physical condition, even with the dungeon self-healing capabilities, the area where Aston and Ais fought had turned into complete ruins. The ground was uneven, pockmarked with craters and fissures. Only the area where Ryuu and the others were located remained somewhat intact due to their protection.

"Tsk, tsk, possessing the strength to rival level 5 at level 1; if this gets out, the entire Orario will be shaken," Tiona commented, watching the two figures constantly flickering on the battlefield amid the dazzling destruction.

"That may be true, but Aston's situation must absolutely not be leaked, or it will bring him enormous trouble," Tione warned, agreeing with Tiona but cautioning her not to act recklessly.

"You don't want to miss out on Aston's delicious food in the future, right?" Tione crossed her arms and, while agreeing with Tiona, warned her not to be impulsive.

"I know, I know."

"I'm not stupid."

"And didn't Loki already warn us about this?" Tiona rolled her eyes, holding her hands behind her head, appearing carefree.

"Ah, it stopped."

"Yeah, it stopped."

Ais voluntarily ended the battle.

"Let's call it a day, Aston," Ais said softly, sheathing the Desperate Sword.

"Ah, let's call it a day." Aston nodded slightly and then sheathed his knight sword.

"We'll continue in the future," Ais spoke again.

Aston remained silent, nodding once more.

This was the agreement the two made during their earlier battle.

Although called an agreement, it was more of a request from Ais.

Ais requested Aston to spar with her whenever he had time.

Aston didn't refuse. Ais was now his teammate, providing him with monster experience. Even though Ais was unaware of this, it didn't prevent Aston from reciprocating.

Ais hadn't asked Aston for any rewards. She simply made the request, and Aston naturally had no reason to refuse. Furthermore, fighting against someone with similar strength was beneficial for self-improvement.

Among the three, only Tione hadn't been provided a substantial reward. Ais invited him to spar, Tiona was offered a breast enhancement potion, but Tione had none.

Well, craving his own delicious food probably didn't count. We can think about it another time.

As for Ryuu, Aston didn't know the reason Ryuu sought him out, but there was definitely some request or purpose behind it. However, she hadn't mentioned it yet, and Aston expected it to be brought up later.

"Alright, since the ceasefire is in place, let's continue our journey." The three figures of Ryuu and the others jumped from the ruins to join Aston and Ais. Then Tione spoke.

"Yeah." Both Aston and Ais nodded in agreement.

The current location of the three was the 32nd floor, and the next destination was the 33rd floor.

Ais remained silent, quietly slaying monsters, appearing calm on the surface. However, this was just a facade.

Although Ais's outward demeanor seemed calm, her inner emotions were in turmoil, showing significant fluctuations.

Even if she knew beforehand that Aston would enhance his strength through continuous battles, it wasn't until Ais personally fought with Aston that she truly experienced his power increase.

In the recent battle, she had suppressed Aston twice, but he quickly broke free from her restraint, turning the situation into a stalemate.

During this time, Ais clearly sensed Aston's improvement and personally experienced his strength growth in combat.

However, her understanding is only limited to guessing, and she has no idea how Aston achieved this. That's why she proposed a request to Aston, hoping to continue sparring with him to exchange combat techniques.

...

"Perhaps I can find a way to break through my current bottleneck from Aston." Shifting her gaze to Aston, who is currently engaged in battle with a monster, Ais silently prayed in her heart.

She has been trapped in her current bottleneck for almost a year. Since a year ago, her attribute values have hardly improved. Returning from an expedition only increased her stats by a dozen points—not a single basic value, but a total increase across five attributes. Spread out, each attribute only increased by two or three points, rounding to almost zero.

Sometimes, after returning from an expedition and updating, there was no change in blessings at all. Initially, she didn't think much about it, but after a year, even she became extremely anxious about this situation.

Therefore, witnessing Aston's rapid growth with her own eyes, Ais was greatly moved. She placed her hopes on Aston, wanting to find a way to continue growing from him.

Aston has no idea about Ais's current thoughts.

But Aston is quite happy at the moment because he has leveled up once again.

"Ding! Experience points full, host level up, current level is 25."

"Ding! Congratulations on the host's level up, rewarding the host with Shapeshifting skill."

***

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