The Twilight Manor at night was not dim; on the contrary, it was brightly lit.
Magic stone lamps within the various spires seeped light through the windows, and combined with the lamps embedded in the courtyard, the darkness was all but banished, illuminating the surroundings.
A night breeze blew gently, causing the golden hair of the girl standing in the courtyard to flutter and sway, a sight of breathtaking beauty.
Leon came to a halt, his eyes meeting those of the golden-haired, golden-eyed girl, falling into a long silence.
Looking at the girl who gazed at him without a word—someone who remained so taciturn even after a year of acquaintance—his expression somehow relaxed.
Every time he saw that overly beautiful girl, Leon would react like this: he would immediately stop in his tracks, as if unwilling to intrude upon the picturesque scenery she created or break its mood. In the first moment their eyes met, he found himself unable to speak.
Every time they met, they would silently gaze at each other like this for a while before finally breaking the silence, which never felt uncomfortable.
Sometimes it was Leon, sometimes it was Ais; they always seemed to be waiting for the other to speak first. A certain Amazon girl, who often witnessed this and was very close to the girl, had joked about it several times.
"To someone who didn't know better, it would look like you two are having a contest of patience, and the kind that no one else can join in on."
Recalling the Amazon girl's past teasing, Leon smiled inwardly as he finally stepped forward to stand before the girl.
"Why are you out here?"
Leon spoke the words softly, like someone returning home from work seeing his girlfriend waiting on the sofa. Whether he realized he sounded that way was anyone's guess.
The girl, as usual, was brief.
"Waiting for you."
Her voice was cool and her tone lacked emotion. If one ignored the incredibly blunt content of her words, they would surely think she was intentionally distancing herself from someone she disliked.
"Did it go smoothly?"
Ais's gaze had already swept quickly over Leon. Seeing no obvious wounds and noting that he was remarkably clean, she immediately realized he had tidied himself up at Babel before returning.
"Of course," Leon replied easily, letting the girl inspect him like a visitor. "Just a stroll through the first few floors of the Dungeon; what could possibly happen?"
Clearly, Leon had no intention of telling Ais about the desperate situation where he had nearly lost his life.
However, he didn't realize that as a First-Class Adventurer, Ais's experience and observation skills were far superior to his.
Though Leon had cleaned himself up and returned without a scratch, he had forgotten one thing: he was still carrying his weapons and armor.
Ais took only a brief look at the small straight sword and the small shield strapped to his waist before noticing that both pieces of equipment showed wear that wasn't severe, but certainly couldn't be ignored.
This was equipment refined enough to be considered specialized gear, more than sufficient for the 12th floor, yet it had been worn down like this in the starting floors of the Dungeon?
This proved one of two things.
Either Leon was lying and had ventured much deeper than the starting floors to face powerful enemies, or he had undergone a massive volume of brutal combat that resulted in such wear and tear.
The former was unlikely; Ais knew him well enough to see from his face that he wasn't lying about where he had been.
In that case, it was the latter.
The boy she had brought back had experienced an amount of combat today that far exceeded the norm.
"Which floor did you explore to?"
To be safe, Ais asked the question anyway.
"The 5th floor."
Leon had intended to keep it vague, but seeing the girl staring straight at his face, he gave a wry smile and told the truth.
"Are you... really okay?"
Upon hearing that the boy had gone to the 5th floor, Ais fell silent for a moment before speaking tentatively.
It seemed the girl understood very well that a rookie adventurer who had just debuted should not be going to the 5th floor on their very first entry into the Dungeon.
It was reckless and dangerous.
Even though Ais herself was no stranger to reckless and dangerous acts, she couldn't help but say it, as if she were scolding him.
"I'm fine, I know my limits," Leon explained. "I didn't originally intend to go to the 5th floor, but since I have magic, I realized after trying it out that I could go deeper, so I went to the 5th floor."
"Magic—" Ais seemed somewhat surprised. Looking at Leon, she asked, "You obtained magic?"
"Yeah." Leon nodded and smiled. "A very high-potential magic. I'm not sure how it appeared in someone like me, a human with no innate magical talent."
This seemed to pique the girl's curiosity and her rare sense of interest.
"What kind of magic?"
The girl stared at Leon again, making no effort to hide her curiosity. Someone who didn't know her might not have been able to tell from her cool, expressionless face.
Leon didn't intend to hide it and simply held out a hand.
"Light of the Heavens, Sword of the Stars."
Leon chanted his magic fluently.
"Meteor Dance."
In the next moment, several shooting stars flew out from Leon's raised hand, circling above his palm.
Ais was instantly captivated by the sight. Her golden eyes fixed on the stars flying back and forth over Leon's palm, a rare ripple of emotion appearing in her gaze.
"Such beautiful magic—"
The girl sighed in honest admiration.
"It's star-attribute magic," Leon introduced simply.
"Star-attribute?"
Ais tilted her head, clearly having never heard of such an attribute.
"I don't really know either. Anyway, that's what shows up in the magic slot of my status."
Leon shrugged.
He had cast his magic many times throughout the day, yet he hadn't found any obvious difference between this so-called star-attribute and other attributes.
The only certain thing was that this magic had high versatility and controllability.
Some magics are inherently difficult to control freely. The most typical example is fire-attribute magic; because its offensive and explosive power is so high, it is very difficult for the user to control perfectly, often resulting in excessive collateral damage.
In this regard, Leon's star-attribute magic seemed completely different. It was very easy to handle; even a greenhorn like him could control it with ease.
The reason Leon could make the magic hover and dance above his palm instead of firing it off was because of its excellent controllability.
Additionally, Leon had discovered that he could actually cast the magic without chanting the incantation.
Yes, without an incantation, Leon could still trigger the magic.
However, without the chant, the power of the magic became very small—not even half of its normal strength. Furthermore, if he tried to use extra Mind to increase the number of attacks or boost the power, the consumption of Mind would be much higher than during a normal cast.
This was strictly an emergency method for when one couldn't chant in a crisis. Unless Leon became strong enough that even less than half-power could cause significant damage to a powerful enemy, this method was definitely not worth the cost.
Leon felt that the reason for this strange phenomenon was likely related to the "Outworlder" skill.
The weight of "Removal of All Ability Limits" was likely far beyond his imagination. Not only was it likely the fundamental reason why a mundane human like him obtained such a promising magic, but it even removed the limitation of "magic requires a chant to be activated."
In any case, Leon felt that the "all abilities" mentioned in the skill definitely didn't just refer to basic status, but encompassed everything including Development Abilities, Magic, Skills, and even Level.
This "Ability" didn't mean basic or development abilities, but "Status" abilities—meaning the entirety of the Falna itself.
Leon had a faint feeling that this skill would be extraordinary.
To what extent?
It was quite possible that it was even more extraordinary than the original protagonist's "Bell Cranel."
As a transmigrator from another world, if he wanted to escape a mundane future, he would likely have to rely entirely on this skill.
Unaware of what Leon was calculating, Ais watched the "beautiful magic" for a while before speaking slowly.
"Since you have magic, I can be relieved."
With magic, never mind the monsters in the first few floors, he could probably handle the entire Upper Zone.
Of course, that was provided the magic could be cast smoothly and hit the enemy.
If he were a pure back-line mage who needed protection to chant and cast, he certainly couldn't venture alone into floors beyond his capabilities.
But Leon's magic was clearly a super-short chant, and he had learned some swordsmanship from her; the difficulty of casting and applying magic in combat shouldn't be high.
"You... might be suited for the path of a Magic Swordsman."
Ais suddenly gave this evaluation.
The so-called Magic Swordsman referred to a high-level mid-line role.
They were highly favored and welcomed by various adventurer parties. Unlike ordinary mages, they could fight on the front lines, applying the "trump card" power of magic within the heat of intense combat.
Adventurers of this profession usually relied on rapid-fire, super-short chant attack magic as their primary means of combat. They were exceptionally skilled at chanting while in close-quarters combat—fast, agile, yet possessing high firepower. They were popular teammates no matter where they went.
Ais herself had magic, but hers was a self-enhancement type, not the kind used to kill an opponent in one strike during battle. Thus, she wasn't considered a Magic Swordsman, just an ordinary swordsman who used magic to boost her strength.
But Leon was different.
He had learned swordsmanship and could fight in close quarters on the front lines, yet he possessed this kind of rapid-fire, super-short chant attack magic. He could fully pursue the path of a Magic Swordsman.
If he could succeed on that path, he would certainly earn a place even within the elite Loki Familia.
Magic was already a power only a few could obtain, and attack magic that could be applied in the heat of battle was a rarity among rarities. If Leon could become a Magic Swordsman, his status in the Familia would skyrocket, and he would quickly make a name for himself.
After all, even in the Loki Familia, there were only a handful of people who could truly be called Magic Swordsmen.
Ais saw the potential for Leon to become a Magic Swordsman and gave him this advice.
"Actually, I had the same idea."
Leon's spirits lifted, feeling that Ais's suggestion coincided perfectly with his own thoughts.
He had also realized that his magic was very well-suited for the life of a Magic Swordsman.
At first, Leon had wondered if he should become a mage specializing in magic. After all, although his magic was a super-short chant, its power and number of attacks could be increased by consuming extra Mind. If he ignored the cost, he could use a super-short chant to launch firepower comparable to a long or even super-long chant over a wide area. In that case, being a back-line mage would be more than enough.
Mages were also very scarce among adventurers; no Familia would refuse a mage. Many Familias wanted to recruit healers who could treat wounds, followed by mages who could serve in the back line.
Being able to become a mage was something most people wouldn't resist, including Leon.
However, mages lacked the ability to fight alone and often required team action to fully demonstrate their value. Without teammates, their capabilities would be greatly diminished.
Leon didn't want to become someone who could only be protected by others, someone unable to fight without a partner. So, rather than a pure back-line mage, he wanted to be a Magic Swordsman capable of solo combat.
Therefore, Leon had made up his mind.
"I want to keep learning swordsmanship from you, and if possible, I'd like to learn concurrent chanting as well," Leon said to Ais with a smile. "I'll probably be bothering you a lot in the future, I hope you don't find it annoying."
Hearing this, Ais shook her head, her golden hair swaying with the movement.
"I won't." As if accepting a mission, the girl said very seriously, "I will teach you well."
"You don't have to be that serious..." Recalling the past sessions of being trained by the girl, Leon's mouth twitched slightly as he added, "Just teach me when you're free."
Ais wasn't actually a Spartan, but she often lacked a sense of moderation and couldn't grasp the right amount of force. Combined with being tacturn and clumsy, she usually chose to teach Leon through sparring.
For that reason, Leon had been knocked flying by this delicate-looking girl many times.
Recalling those experiences, Leon's body shuddered slightly.
This path was indeed harder than he had imagined.
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