Chapter 341: Amphisbaena
Furthermore, Ais had used several Adventurer's Experience books obtained from Domain Instances to top off her remaining latent potential. All she lacked was a Great Feat worthy of leveling up.
The thrilling battle against Childe and his Flamescion clone had undoubtedly provided her with the perfect stage. During that fight, not only Ais, but Bete, Tione, Tiona, and even Lefiya had all earned a substantial amount of High-Quality Excelia.
Theoretically, they could have chosen to level up at any moment. However, upon Loki's advice, Bete and the others decided to temporarily suppress their status updates.
On one hand, Aiden's terrifying, cross-level combat prowess had deeply stimulated these proud adventurers. They all wanted to accumulate more latent potential at their current levels, ensuring they would become even stronger upon their eventual advancement. On the other hand, the existence of the Adventurer's Experience books opened up new possibilities for them to break conventions and further solidify their foundations. Even though these items were extremely rare within the domains, gathering them was hardly an impossible task given the Loki Familia's immense wealth and power.
Only Ais had truly hit a bottleneck, reaching a point where no further progress could be made. Her urgent thirst for strength pushed her to be the first to make the decision to level up.
Ais lifted a hand, tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, and softly thanked Aiden. But immediately after, her lips parted as if she wanted to say something more. She fell into silence, her expression uncharacteristically conflicted.
"You didn't ask me out here just so I could help you adapt to your new body, did you?" Aiden chuckled, seeing her rare hesitation, and cut straight to the chase. "With the Loki Familia's roster, the other first-class adventurers would be much better sparring partners than me. If you have something else on your mind, just say it. Aren't we friends?"
That final sentence acted like a ray of warm sunlight, scattering the last traces of hesitation in Ais's heart. She took a deep breath, bit her lower lip, and finally raised her head, meeting Aiden's gaze with her brilliant golden eyes.
"That technique... Lumina Slash... could you teach me? Please!" Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried absolute resolve.
"Alright, I'll teach you." Aiden's response came without a single second of hesitation.
Ais's eyes lit up instantly, shining with a mixture of sheer delight and deep gratitude.
"But I have to give you a heads-up first," Aiden said, waving a hand. "My understanding of Lumina Slash is purely based on my own blind fumbling. Everyone's Lumina Slash is different. All I can teach you is my own experience and insights. Whether you can actually master it will ultimately depend on you."
If Lumina Slash were that easy to learn, there wouldn't be only a handful of people throughout Orario's entire history who had mastered it. Ais's talent was unquestionable, and she possessed the necessary magic and skills to buff herself for it, but whether she could kick open that final door would depend on her own luck and intuition.
"I understand. Please... teach me!" Ais bowed deeply to Aiden.
"There's no need for that." Aiden quickly reached out and helped her up. "It's really no trouble for me."
However, the moment Aiden's hands touched Ais's arms, a suppressed, murderous roar erupted from behind the corner of the nearby city wall.
"Waaaah! I'm gonna kill him! How dare he touch our cute Ais-tan!"
"Loki, please calm down." Lefiya hugged her goddess around the waist from behind, looking utterly exhausted as she used all her strength to hold back the thoroughly enraged deity.
"Do you want Ais to hate you, Loki?" A cold voice floated over. Riveria, who had followed them but remained entirely composed, narrowed one eye and spoke flatly. "Let me remind you, she just leveled up. Her control over her strength is still highly unstable. If you rush out there and annoy her now, and she accidentally punches you... you will die."
Hearing Riveria's warning, Loki's rampaging body stiffened violently, instantly deflating. She could only glare viciously at Aiden in the distance, letting out an indignant huff.
"Hmph. That brat got off easy!"
Riveria shook her head in exasperation. Sometimes, their patron goddess really was no different from a child.
Meanwhile, Lefiya shifted her gaze toward the two who were already preparing to spar, her expression complicated and conflicted. On one side was Miss Ais, the person she admired more than anyone, looking up to her as if she were a star in the sky. On the other side was Aiden, someone who had recently sparked a fluttering affection in her own heart.
----
One month later. The 27th Floor of the Dungeon.
This was the domain known as the Water Capital—a fantastical world constructed of babbling streams and glowing crystals. The air was thick with a damp, chilling moisture, and the ceaseless sound of rushing water echoed from every direction.
At the core of this floor was the Great Fall, a massive waterfall that cascaded from the ceiling of the upper levels, piercing straight through three entire floors.
But right at this moment, an unnatural, overwhelmingly violent sound mixed into the thunderous roar of the waterfall.
ROOOOAAARRR!!!
It was a deafening bellow. A colossal, pure-white silhouette slowly emerged from behind the curtain of the waterfall. Throwing its heads back, it issued a declaration of its absolute sovereignty over this domain.
The terrifying sonic wave swept across the entire floor like a physical shockwave. The surface of the waterfall's basin trembled violently, blasting countless water droplets into the air before they rained back down in a torrential downpour. Even adventurers exploring the adjacent floors froze in terror at the sudden, earth-shaking roar.
The members of the Focalors Familia currently stood at the very epicenter of this roaring tempest.
Covered in chalk-white, impenetrable scales, it boasted two long, slender necks that seemed to possess independent wills, attached to a massive body over twenty meters long that radiated an overwhelming sense of power. It was the physical incarnation of violence and destruction.
"Monster Rex... Amphisbaena," Robin murmured. She stared intently at the white two-headed dragon rising from the water, a trace of solemnity in her voice as she spoke the name recorded in the Guild's archives.
"So this... is a Floor Boss of the deep floors?" Daphne craned her neck, barely able to take in the sheer scale of the massive beast. She muttered to herself, her voice trembling with awe.
This was the Dungeon's second Monster Rex, following the Goliath on the 17th Floor. Under the glow of the Water Capital's radiant crystals, those chalk-white scales reflected an almost sacred, majestic light.
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