Chapter 7: The Promise with Ais-tan
Killing a Minotaur that dwelled in the middle levels dropped a magic stone nearly the size of a baby's fist, its value higher than his total earnings so far.
As a spoil of war, Liam didn't even need an auto-loot function; he bent down and picked it up.
When he looked up again, a young woman was walking towards him from the other end of the straight passage. After seeing her face clearly, her identity surfaced.
Ais Wallenstein.
A Level 5 adventurer from the Loki Familia, given the title "Sword Princess" by the gods, a young woman with extremely high attainments in swordsmanship.
Her stunningly beautiful face, like a tranquil lake, gradually overlapped with her image.
Knowing that encountering Ais-tan at this current plot point was inevitable, Liam hadn't thought it would happen so quickly. Calling out her name was normal.
After all, she was an extremely famous adventurer in Orario. It was just that how to greet her was inevitably awkward.
As it turned out.
Liam didn't need to consider it at all. Her eyes, devoid of any emotion, seriously sized up the figure before her.
Ais didn't really care about his attire or appearance.
But Liam's crimson eyes still stirred ripples in her heart. She asked in a soft tone, "Um..."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"This Minotaur escaped from the middle levels. Our Familia didn't handle this matter well. Sorry for the trouble it caused you."
"Your swordsmanship is very unfamiliar, a type I've never seen before."
The young woman's thin lips parted slightly, her cool voice carrying a melodious and pleasant lilt. In the brief battle she had just witnessed.
She could feel the sword intent emanating from Liam.
This wasn't the aura a swordsmanship novice could possess; it was as if he were a sheathed treasured sword, resilient and full of sharpness.
This was Ais's observation.
Possessing such sword momentum, yet Liam's face was extremely unfamiliar. Logically speaking, he shouldn't be an unknown adventurer, right?
Being unfamiliar was normal; after all, it was the Ghost Sword style from the Arad continent.
Facing a Level 5 adventurer, Liam sheathed his weapon. He nodded lightly, his attitude relaxed, "Just something I practiced randomly."
"Does the swordsmanship have a name?"
"I call this style 'Secret Sword Art'."
Most of those who used this sword style were in the neighboring dimension. As the first user in Orario, bringing something new to this world.
Liam felt it was necessary to promote it.
"Secret Sword Art?"
Although they were swordsmen of different schools, intuition told Ais that the swordsmanship created by this adventurer of the same age before her.
Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, it would shine brilliantly in Orario.
As a swordsman, one naturally had to continuously break through and cultivate to reach the peak. She looked forward to Liam making further progress in the way of the sword.
"My name is Ais Wallenstein. Your swordsmanship is very interesting. I hope to have the opportunity to exchange pointers on the way of the sword with you in the future."
"Your name... what is it?"
"Liam Moon."
"I look forward to that day."
Liam nodded lightly, not refusing Ais-tan's advance arrangement for a future sparring match. He watched her figure turn and leave.
His stamina was almost completely depleted.
Considering the timing of the plot point, it was about time to end today's adventure. After all, the return journey also required time.
It was already close to afternoon when he left the Dungeon. Liam weighed the magic stones in his money pouch; today's overall harvest was quite good.
Exchanging them all for Valis at the Adventurer's Guild would allow for a proper improvement in his living standards.
The Dungeon was full of various crises, but this couldn't stop so many adventurers from flocking to it, not just to make a name for themselves.
Even the speed of earning money completely exceeded his imagination.
"First, go to the Adventurer's Guild."
"Then see where Lady Hestia is working part-time. I feel like we can go out for a luxurious meal tonight."
Having made his plans, Liam decisively headed towards the Guild's location, not staying cooped up in the abandoned church for tedious training.
This fulfilling life interested him greatly. At least he had a goal to strive for. Venturing into the Dungeon to adventure and increase his strength, the final rewards would not only improve his life.
He could also save some money to purchase other weapons. As for the Familia's development, Liam was quite laid-back about it; he'd let nature take its course.
He once again visited the Adventurer's Guild.
His gaze briefly scanned the surroundings, quickly locking onto the half-elf figure in uniform, holding a thick stack of documents in the hall.
She was currently talking with a pink-haired girl beside her.
There were quite a lot of documents to process, so much so that Eina's brows were furrowed with fatigue; overtime was unavoidable.
When she saw the young man returning safely after his Dungeon adventure.
A flash of pleasant surprise appeared in Eina's tired eyes, as if seeing a savior. She stuffed the thick stack of documents into Misha Flott's hands.
"Misha."
"The new adventurer I'm in charge of is back. You handle these documents first. I'll come back and help you after I'm done with this."
"Tulle!!"
Ignoring her close friend's indignant outburst, Eina pushed up her glasses with a slender finger wearing a black glove and walked towards Liam.
"Congratulations on successfully completing your first adventure, Liam."
"Miss Eina."
Noticing Eina talking with Misha, Liam hadn't intended to disturb them, but he hadn't expected this responsible Guild employee.
To actually follow up on his subsequent adventures?
He gave a simple greeting, and just as he was about to proceed with exchanging his magic stones and drops for Valis, he saw this meticulous young woman.
Winking playfully at him.
Then, in a voice Misha could definitely hear, she earnestly invited, "I didn't finish explaining the precautions for new adventurers yesterday."
"Shall we continue now?"
Eina's clear, emerald-like eyes looked at Liam imploringly.
She probably wanted to snatch a short break from those tedious tasks. After all, she was a gentle and exceptionally serious person in charge.
Liam didn't refuse, smiling as he nodded, "Then I'll have to trouble Miss Eina."
"Thank you."
"Liam."
On the way to the Guild's library, Eina's tone returned to its usual gentleness. She also prepared a cup of hot tea for Liam.
Sitting on the soft sofa.
She relaxed and crossed her legs, letting down some of her guard when facing Liam. "Sorry for using you as an excuse to rest, Liam."
"The Loki Familia just completed their expedition, which caused the Guild's workload to increase dramatically."
"I'm not interrupting your business, am I?"
Since it involved relatively private work matters, Liam didn't choose to comment. He picked up his cup and took a sip of hot tea.
Facing Eina's serious gaze, he said earnestly, "I think the Guild's tea is very good. It's relaxing."
Eina completely relaxed, looking at Liam sitting opposite her, who was different from most adventurers. His clothes were stained with blood.
It looked like he had just finished his adventure in the Dungeon.
Her gentle smile was like that of an older sister concerned for her younger brother. "Liam, you didn't encounter any danger during your Dungeon adventure today, did you?"
"No."
"That's good!"
According to Liam's personality, he probably wouldn't do anything too reckless. Eina then shared, "I heard from many adventurers."
"That in the afternoon, monsters from the middle levels escaped to the upper levels, causing a big commotion, but they should have been dealt with."
"Fortunately, it didn't cause any adventurer casualties." Speaking of this, her tone was exceptionally relieved. Realizing she had digressed a bit.
Eina looked at the young man before her again, full of curiosity, "Liam, how about you tell me about your experiences in the Dungeon?"
"Although I'm not an adventurer, I should be able to give you some advice in this regard."
Liam pondered for a moment, then chuckled and recounted, "It was just a normal adventure in the Dungeon, and then I encountered a Minotaur."
"?!"
(End of this chapter)
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