Problem Princess

Originally, Riveria had expected things to get better relatively quickly, but this couldn't have been further from the truth. Taking care of Ais was a long-lasting headache!

Every single time she brought her into the dungeon, her weapon ended up breaking very soon. Ais did put in effort to try to control her rampant bloodthirst after Finn, Gareth and Riveria had a serious conversation with her about it, making her aware of it being more of a detriment to her goal rather than a supportive blessing. Still, progress was extremely slow.

Her stats were increasing comparatively rapidly, though, which caused the three of them no small amount of worry. If she advanced too quickly, and before she could handle those violent urges, then all of this spelt nothing but disaster. Therefore, they chose to intensify her lessons back at the Twilight Manor, exhausting her completely every day. Gareth also taught her about how important rest was to an effective training regiment, which she eventually understood.

Over the coming months, her weeks consisted of four days of teaching from her three mentors, one day of dungeon delving and two days off to recover–one before and one after her training.

It was plain to see that Ais was highly displeased by this arrangement, but because she had learned so much from the three of them, she reluctantly complied.

On one of her rest days, more than a quarter of a year later, a major change occurred.

Just as she had done many times before, Riveria was holding her hand and leading her through Orario's streets, visiting the market stalls all around. Seeing more of the city and its people was one of the very few leisure activities that Ais could get behind, purely because everything was still so unfamiliar and new to her.

As it was already late November, it had started to get a little bit cold. Despite Ais being clad in some warm, comfy–and also cute–clothes that the familia's members had picked out for her during one of their shopping trips, it was just the right time of the year for some warm food to eat on the road.

With that in mind, Riveria scanned the area and soon noticed a somewhat unremarkable vendor selling a wide variety of freshly-made potato snacks. Thinking that those should suffice, she brought Ais to the stall and asked her what flavour she'd prefer, listing all of the ones available. When she arrived at "red bean paste", the grip on her hand suddenly increased in strength, and she was astonished to discover a complex mix of emotions colouring Ais' gaze.

"... Red bean paste, please."

Right after she had paid and handed Ais her food, the young girl eagerly took a big bite, before freezing up completely, as if someone had pressed a pause button. Contrary to everything else that she had eaten since her return from abject despair, the moment her tongue met the bean paste, it felt like an explosion of taste went off inside of her mouth. Her food wasn't bland any more!

While she hadn't felt particularly strongly about having lost the ability to taste much–if anything–when she ate, it took regaining it to realize what she had been missing. So much simple, but pure joy had been taken from her. It was painfully obvious to her why exactly this potato snack had such a profound effect on her.

'It reminds me... of mom's cooking...!'

Uncontrollably, she started to shed tears as she ravenously wolfed down the rest of her meal. Afterwards, she looked at Riveria with pitiful, pleading eyes.

Needless to say, that day, Ais ate more than the entire last week combined.

From this point forward, the young girl complained a lot less about the roadblocks constantly put in her way by her worried mentors. Upon learning of how much she loved red bean paste, the Loki Familia's cooks usually always included it somewhere in any of their creations that would end up on Ais' plate. The addition of something else that she could look forward to during every meal did give her one more pursuit other than simply getting stronger. Still, potato snacks with red bean paste stayed her favourite–maybe because they were the ones that had reopened this colourful door of flavour for her.

This positive development aside, not everything was sunshine and rainbows.

Three weeks after Ais' change, due to her good behaviour and increased stats, the Loki Familia's higher-ups decided to take her with them on expeditions as a supporter from now on. This way, she would be able to learn about the dangers that she would be facing in the dungeon in advance–it was also a kind of training.

Initially, all went well, until they arrived at the Under Resort. Because she had been forced to stand back and watch everyone else slay monsters all this time, she had grown increasingly restless and aggressive. She was akin to a bursting powder keg, only waiting for someone to light the fuse.

And that unlucky person... was Riveria. The motherly High Elf had thought it would be a good idea to use this opportunity to teach Ais how to swim. There were plenty of lakes around, even one quite close to the Loki Familia's campsite.

"I remember you've told me that you can't swim. It's time to change that. Come with me, and bring your swimsuit."

Expecting Ais to be obedient, as she was most of the time, Riveria was about to leave the tent that she shared with her student and inform Finn with regards to her plans, when a shocking sentence entered her ears.

"I don't want to! I... I want to fight monsters already, you... old hag!"

Seething with suppressed bloodthirst as she was, the girl was furious at being expected to do yet another pointless thing that she couldn't care less for. In her muddled state, she recalled what some other younger Loki Familia members had called her mentor behind her back whenever they were annoyed with her... and before she knew it, she had shouted those same exact words.

'Uh oh. I shouldn't have said that.'

The instant that they left her lips, she already knew that she had messed up, but stayed silent out of annoyed defiance.

Riveria, meanwhile, froze in her tracks, before slowly turning to face the 'young' girl, a terrifyingly cold glint flashing in her eyes. She absolutely hated it when others called her "old", especially keeping in mind that she was still in the middle of her extended youth. A 91-year-old High Elf could barely even be considered a mature adult!

... okay, maybe she was painting herself as a little bit more youthful than she actually was, but it was undeniable that she had only just entered the prime of her life. And yet, this millennium-old brat dared to call her old!?

'I see, I see. I've been too accommodating with her. Bad kids don't only need the carrot, but also the stick.'

Something snapped in Riveria's mind, and she silently put down her own swimsuit and left their tent, before returning with two items a short while later: A heavy block of adamantite, usually brought along by the supporters for emergency repairs, and a long rope. Without a word, she fastened the metal to one end of the rope, before tying the other end around Ais, making sure that she couldn't easily slip out of it.

"You'll learn to swim, whether you want to or not."

With that said, before the young girl could utter any complaints, she picked her up and dashed out of the campsite, towards the nearest lake. Although she didn't use her top speed, it only took them a few seconds to arrive.

"If you don't want to drown, then learn to swim."

Having conveyed all that she needed to, Riveria threw Ais right into the middle of the lake. She was inspired by the actions of birds which she had observed in the wild–very often, they would literally push their own children out of the nest to force them to learn how to fly in a life-or-death situation. While it didn't always work out, it was undeniable that the extreme pressure had a strong effect.

Of course, she wouldn't do exactly as those birds did–when her student was truly in danger and couldn't hold on any longer, she would intervene and save her life. Still, she hoped that this harsh lesson would not only teach her how to swim, but also to mind her words.

'Wh-What do I do?!'

As soon as Ais' body got submerged in the slightly cold lake water, her fuzzy mind cleared up significantly. Deep regret for how she had treated her mentor filled her heart, but she didn't have the luxury to let it get to her at this very moment.

In a panic, she hastily moved her limbs, trying to get closer to the surface, and initially, she did have some limited success. But then, the adamantite tied to her proceeded to drag her further towards the depths, turning her previous efforts into an utter joke. No matter how fast she moved her limbs, she couldn't fight against the weight pulling her closer and closer to the lakebed. The light shimmering on the surface above felt impossibly far away.

Holding her breath as well as she could, Ais did her best to calm down and attempted to escape the rope that bound her, but even after trying many times, she didn't make any progress. Undoubtedly, it was made from some strong monster's materials that she couldn't damage directly, and Riveria had tied her up expertly in a way which didn't allow her to free herself.

'Is this... the end...? No! I won't allow it to be!'

For a split second, the girl felt like giving up, but then her fighting spirit was ignited, providing her with newfound strength. Still, her continuously diminishing oxygen reserves couldn't be replenished by a mere mindset change.

Frantically, she glanced around, trying to find anything that could help her. The bottom of the lake was remarkably barren, with only a few plants growing below, their long bodies adjusting to the water's every flow. There was no sharp stone or object nearby, and not a fish or living creature in sight.

'Hold on. How do you... swim?'

All of a sudden, Ais realized that she had never ever seen anyone brave the waves. She had no idea what to do to learn how to swim. Moving her limbs in an effort to ascend was an instinctual reaction, but she couldn't even be sure if it was the right one–or how to do it correctly.

The longer that she continued to be submerged, the more faint she felt. Evidently, the remaining oxygen in her lungs and bloodstream would soon be unable to support her bodily functions any further.

'I don't... want to... die...'

Seconds later, even the process of thinking grew more cumbersome and arduous. A deep terror began to shroud her heart, stalking closer with every passing moment and threatening to devour her.

Right then, akin to a candle flickering brightly just before it gets snuffed out by a strong gale, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and had an epiphany.

'The plants... follow the... flow...!'

Instead of fighting against the water like she had done before, she attempted to emulate the flora nearby, soon realizing that a huge burden had been lifted from her body. The water all around her had turned from her foe into a dear friend, seemingly backing her up. It only took relatively little effort on her part to propel herself towards the surface.

By the time that she arrived and took a deep, desperate breath, overwhelming relief spread in her heart and tears burst forth, but because she was nearly instantly dragged underneath again by the weight pulling her downwards, even Riveria didn't notice them.

For what felt like an eternity, Ais repeatedly made her way to the surface to get some air, eventually managing to drift towards the lake's shore. As soon as she reached dry land, she immediately fainted, both her body and mind overdrawn to a ridiculous extent.

While she had managed to save her life, she didn't really learn how to swim. Still, without a weight tied to her, she would have an easier time surviving if she ever fell into the water.

'See? It wasn't completely useless. She did learn something.'

Despite trying to justify her actions like this, Riveria was wracked with guilt. In retrospect, she had definitely overreacted when she tied that block of metal to her student. She should have just thrown her into the lake without it. That way, it wouldn't have been this harrowing of an experience for her.

When she returned to the campsite carrying Ais in her arms and reported what had occurred, Finn gave her a furious scolding, which had never happened before. But she didn't protest, because she knew that she deserved it. It wouldn't have even been necessary to let him know, but maybe in an act of seeking penance for her actions, she did so anyway.

A few hours later, the young girl finally woke up again, but right after she did, she took deep and frantic breaths of fresh air, almost as if she hadn't realized that she was safe.

"Don't panic, you're alright."

Patting her back comfortingly, Riveria showed a slightly forced smile, her heart overcome with guilt. Fortunately, it didn't take long for Ais to calm down and adjust. When she did, the two sat next to each other, awkward silence weighting heavily on their shoulders.

"... I'm sorry. I went overboard. I shouldn't have tied you to adamantite."

The one who broke the ice first was Riveria, who lowered her head in a heart-felt apology. Her pained, self-reproachful expression made it abundantly clear that she knew what she did wrong.

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have insulted you."

Following her mentor's footsteps, Ais also acknowledged her fault in the situation.

Both of them fell silent again afterwards, not really knowing what to say. This incident did drive a significant wedge between the two, even though neither of them had truly wanted to hurt the other.

"Wait here, I'll get you something to eat."

Unable to bear this state of affairs any longer, Riveria rushed outside before returning with some apology-potato snacks from the rations that they had brought with them.

Despite both parties trying to make amends and overcome this event, it took a few months for everything to return to normal. Surprisingly, the two of them actually grew closer than before, possibly because both of them had seen each other's 'dark side' and forgiven the other. There was only one negative development that resulted from it all. Ais grew incredibly afraid of bodies of water. As soon as she couldn't see the bottom and her feet couldn't touch the ground any more either, a panic overwhelmed her, making her scramble for the nearest shore immediately.

Keep in mind, this was how she ended up after close to two months. Initially, even a glass of water would make her freak out. Needless to say, recovery was a slow process.

Towards the latter half of February, the Loki Familia once more returned from an expedition, during which Ais' performance as a supporter absolutely excelled. Not once had anyone noticed her usual bloodthirst bubbling to the surface, even when she was facing monsters in combat on the Upper Floors. Still, her weapon constantly broke.

Over the past half a year, Finn, Gareth and Riveria had helped the young girl to extensively test her Avenger Skill, and they unanimously came to the conclusion that it was the most powerful Skill that they had seen to date. Well, it was the greatest if someone's hatred was overwhelmingly strong, but it would be a minor buff at best otherwise.

Before they had last set off, Gareth had gone and commissioned an extremely sturdy weapon for Ais, one that hopefully wouldn't break easily. It cost him one million Valis, but he didn't utter a single word about this expense to anyone.

During the familia's post-expedition celebration, the stocky Dwarf disappeared for a considerable while, before eventually returning with a sheathed weapon the size of a slightly small short sword.

"Here, for you. It's a gift! I hope this one will be able to last you for a while."

With a gentle smile on his face, he handed the weapon to Ais, who excitedly unsheathed it and gave it a few practice swings. The blade itself was a little bit longer than her arms. If it weren't for her incredible strength now that she had almost reached the usual threshold to Level 2, she would have had to use two hands to swing it, as it was remarkably heavy. There was a wave-like–or perhaps flame-esque–pattern on the Damascus steel blade–a result of the special forging technique that was used to create it.

"Thank you, Gareth, I like it a lot!"

Although there was a lack of a smile to accompany these words of gratitude, the joy sparkling in her eyes still filled the Dwarf's heart with warmth. Patting her head, he grabbed his tankard and motioned at her cup.

"Come, let's have a toast!"

Comparatively cheerfully obliging, Ais grabbed her cup and clinked it against Gareth's tankard, before downing the sweet fruit juice inside in a single gulp.

"... I'll call it 'Sword Ale'. This sword, I mean."

Chuckling at the cute name that she had come up with, Gareth showed a wide grin and nodded.

"Good, good! I like it! May it be your trusty companion in the years to come!"

Amidst this jovial atmosphere, the Loki Familia partied the night away. Even the small Ais stayed with the group until the very end, frequently caressing the sheath of her new blade.

But these good days didn't last. Half a month later, at the beginning of March, the young girl found herself becoming increasingly frustrated. Her stats were only growing a tiny bit each time Loki updated her Status. She was told that this was normal–after all, most adventurers would barely have begun entering the 5th floor just about now, whereas she could already safely challenge the 10th. But despite being leagues ahead of any and all competition, this didn't make her feel any better. No matter how much effort she put in, it felt like the pay-off was minimal.

To make it worse, none of her mentors ever told her how to advance to Level 2. Only excuses like "It's too early" or "Now is not the right time" were sent her way, causing her to feel deeply dissatisfied. So, on one of her rest days, she stealthily slipped out of the Twilight Manor and ran towards the Pantheon, where the Guild stored many documents and books that could be of help to adventurers.

It was far from her first time here, but she had never entered alone. Therefore, unsure of what to do, she searched the room until she found an employee that she recognized. When she finally did, she rushed towards them and asked them if she could take a look at books covering various topics–one of which that she snuck in there was, of course, the process of levelling up.

A bit confused as to why the young girl had come here instead of simply asking her seniors, the staff member eventually reasoned that this might be a test for her. They likely want her to find out about this all by herself as a learning experience.

Soon after, Ais found herself in a private room with a stack of books on the table, left to her own devices. Hastily, she skimmed through them all until she discovered what she was looking for.

'I'll have to perform a worthy feat, for example defeating a far stronger opponent.'

Unsure of how powerful exactly a monster would have to be to qualify, she fell into deep thought. Only a long while later did she finally seem to have come up with an answer and nodded, a resolute expression on her young and adorable face.

'Considering my current stats... if I want to make absolutely certain, then I'll have to challenge an Infant Dragon, at the very least.'

Merely thinking of the word describing those overgrown lizards caused the hatred inside of her to burn brighter, but she expertly suppressed this sensation. By now, she had more than enough experience in doing so.

'Maybe it's a bit early for me to... no, never mind. I've already wasted enough time!'

Deep inside, she was aware that an Infant Dragon had around two times her total stats, if not more. Even with her Avenger Skill, it would be highly challenging to face it–especially considering that she had never fought against one before. She had only seen her fellow familia members doing so during expeditions, but these battles usually ended almost instantly. Still, if it wasn't a real challenge... then how could it qualify as a worthy feat?

With her mind made up, she quickly returned to her room in the Twilight Manor and put on her gear, including the new light armour set that Loki had just recently bought for her. Her blade strapped to her back like a two-handed weapon due to its enormous size in comparison to her tiny frame, she stealthily slipped out of the manor once more. With steadfast steps, she rushed all the way to the dungeon and quickly made her way to the 11th floor, where Infant Dragons would first start to appear.

Sometime after she had left, Riveria knocked on her door, intending to take her out on a stroll around town, as usual. But when she didn't get any response at all, she finally barged into the room, only to find both Ais and her equipment to be missing.

At first, she thought that the girl had simply gone to one of the many training courtyards because she was itching to exercise, but when she didn't find her there, a deep fear gripped her heart.

'Did she... enter the dungeon alone!?'

Immediately, she drummed up the entire familia and notified them of the situation. Less than a minute later, nearly every single adventurer currently in the Twilight Manor bolted towards the dungeon's entrance, fully equipped for battle, causing a ruckus. Needless to say, this incident would soon be the talk of the town.

Although they searched quickly, by the time that Finn eventually detected traces of the familia's foremost problem child, close to an hour had passed. The vanguard of the search party had entered the 12th floor–a place that Ais had never been to outside of when she was accompanying an expedition.

As to why she was all the way here... well, she hadn't found any Infant Dragons on the 11th floor, no matter how much she searched. So, eventually, she decided to delve one floor deeper, despite the risks this action carried. Promising herself to be excessively careful and avoid any and all battles wherever she could, she steadily scouted the desolate hallways.

Maybe the dungeon was playing a trick on her, but she still couldn't find any Infant Dragons, even after dozens of minutes of tiresome searching. While they usually were relatively rare, it wasn't difficult to discover signs of one within a quarter of an hour, so this was unusually bad luck on her end.

As if to make it up to her, she spotted something in a particularly large cavern: A massive Wyvern with black scales and blood-red eyes. She wasn't a stranger to its species, as she had battled a few while being protected by her familia members before. Although she had never really defeated any of them entire on her own, that was simply due to everyone being overprotective–she was certain that she could beat a Wyvern in a duel.

But this one... it was different. Not only did it not look the same, but the danger she felt the moment that she laid eyes upon it told her that it had already far surpassed Level 1. It reminded her of the stronger Level 2 monsters one might find in the Large Tree Labyrinth beyond the Under Resort, not one that could be encountered in the Upper or Middle Floors.

Worst of all... it looked a little bit similar to a certain Black Dragon, the chief culprit behind her parents' demise. Although she usually was able to suppress her bloodthirst... this time, it was simply too overwhelming and arrived too suddenly. Within a fraction of a second, her rationality had left her, only murderous intent remaining in its wake.

Activating her Avenger Skill to the fullest, more than it ever had been before, she charged at the resting Black Wyvern, slashing her sword at its head with all of the power that she could muster.

Slightly flustered by the sudden assault, the knock-off dragon first unhurriedly dodged her strike, then eyed her with utter malice. A rapid counterattack followed, which Ais only barely managed to guard against. Her body was flung backwards for nearly ten meters before coming to a halt, blood seeping out of the corners of her mouth.

Perhaps it was because of the pain, but a bit of clarity resurfaced, hastily taking control of her rebellious body, her expression immediately turned grim. Snapped out of her berserk mode, she dashed behind a pillar, which took the brunt of the wyvern's next attack.

'What can I do?! I'm in way over my head!'

Completely ware of the severity of her present circumstances, she cursed herself for coming here without any backup, but then she threw that thought to the back of her mind–it only served to be a hindrance now, after all.

As she was desperately trying to come up with any sort of strategy, she suddenly remembered something.

'My Magic, Ariel. I've... never used it. What was the chant again? Oh, right.'

"Tempest!"

As soon as these words left her lips, a mighty gale surrounded her, but it felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze on her skin. To her disbelief, her entire body nigh-immediately found itself clad in an 'armour' made of wind, and she felt as light as a feather, or a floating leaf.

A mighty roar ripped her out of this comforting feeling, reminding her of the urgency of the current situation. With a quick leap, she easily dodged the Black Wyvern's attack...?!

Realizing that her speed had increased many times over, excitement sparkled in her eyes as she gripped her blade tighter. Before she knew it, the gale around her had steadily reinforced her weapon, as if it responded to her subconscious desires.

Split between overwhelming hatred fuelling her Avenger Skill and the pure, kind excitement birthed by the loving embrace of her Ariel Magic, Ais decided to simply go for it. She felt unprecedentedly powerful at the moment, as if there was nothing that she couldn't accomplish.

With a simple thought, her body moved more quickly than she could fully keep up with, arriving right in front of the head of the Black Wyvern. With a mighty swing, Sword Ale's edge hit the very top of its skull, momentarily pausing due to the strong resistance, but then slicing through and straight into the brain.

A pained roar escaped the monster's throat as it stretched out its claws in a last-ditch attempt to drag its enemy down with it. But because Ais had quickly let go of her blade, which was stuck in the opponent's head, this attack missed.

When the gigantic body in front of her slumped to the ground powerlessly, a feeling of exhilaration overcome her, and she couldn't help but clench her fists in joy. But before she could celebrate for long, the gale around her disappeared and her mind felt extremely sluggish. Fractions of a second later, she fell unconscious, her head a feverish mess. Due to her inexperience, she had experienced a Mind Down.

It was a few minutes later that Finn finally found her–luckily, no other monsters had arrived here in the meantime. When he saw the remains of the black-scaled monstrosity that his student had evidently slain, he was stunned, but quickly snapped out of it. Now was simply not the time!

Carefully, he checked her condition and retrieved her blade, then he swiftly carried her away to get treatment, and back home to the Twilight Manor afterwards.

Almost a day later, when Ais finally awoke, a widely grinning Loki shoved a sheet of paper right into her face.

[ Name: Ais Wallenstein ]

[ Familia: Loki Familia ]

[ Race: Human, Spirit ]

[ Level: 2 ]

[ Age: 1,000 ]

[ Stats ]

[ Strength: C-699 → I-0 (1,049) ]

[ Endurance: C-653 → I-0 (980) ]

[ Dexterity: A-895 → I-0 (1,343) ]

[ Agility: S-907 → I-0 (1,361) ]

[ Magic: G-203 → I-0 (305) ]

[ Magic ]

[ Ariel ]

[ Skills ]

[ Avenger ]

[ Development Abilities ]

[ Abnormal Resistance: I ]

"Congratulations, my darling Ais! It only took you about seven months to advance to Level 2! That makes you the official 'Record Holder'!"

Before the excited goddess could shower the girl with any more praises, a familiar wooden staff bonked her head, making her exclaim in pain.

"... don't enable her any further, Loki. What she did was unacceptable! It turned out alright this time, but what if she truly gets in over her head next time? Also, why did you even let her level up? Didn't we agree to only do so later, once she accumulated more stats as a Level 1? She has long accomplished many worthy feats before this one!"

With furrowed brows, Riveria stared at the two of them with clear displeasure and worry written all over her face. So far, Ais had barely even recognized what had happened, but when those words entered her ears, she recalled how dangerous the battle had been before she used her Magic and grew pale.

".... I'm sorry. I'll be more careful from now on. Also, what other feats?"

Ais' genuine apology caused Riveria to sigh helplessly. Somehow, she just knew that eventually, something similar to this would happen again. Maybe not any time soon, but in a few years? Who could say.

Shaking her head to get rid of any distractions, she got ready to explain to Ais exactly how an adventurer obtained the qualifications to level up, and why they had refrained from letting her do so. That way, a misunderstanding like the one which led to this state of affairs wouldn't see a season two.