NOVEL NEXT Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Elven Bond
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Regarding the girl's sense of sharing, Emiya was both amused and exasperated, "Do you only eat fried potato balls?"
In fact, usually, Ais eats the nutritious meals prepared by the logistics staff of her Familia. But today, the girl was adventuring alone, so she indulged herself and only bought the food she liked.
Unexpectedly, Emiya caught her red-handed.
"Because fried potato balls are delicious...", Ais whispered in defense.
Fried potato balls are indeed a popular food among adventurers in Orario. They are not only delicious but also energy-packed, convenient to carry, and most importantly, cheap, costing only 30 valis each.
Emiya understood the girl's love for fried potato balls, but the problem was, eating five of them in one meal was just too unhealthy.
"Come with me first, Riveria.", Emiya said, pulling the girl into a cave.
After moderately damaging the wall to stop the production of monsters, Emiya projected a small table and took out a sandwich from his bag, filled with egg, ham, cheese, and lettuce.
"Projection, (trace on)."
A silver knife appeared in his hand. Emiya lifted the top layer of the sandwich, took a fried potato ball from Ais's food box, and deftly chopped it into mashed potatoes. He then spread it evenly on the bread, creating a new layer.
He placed cheese on top of the mashed potatoes and projected a flame magic sword—its original was a defective item stored in Tsubaki's collection warehouse. The magic circuit of this sword was flawed, with insufficient output, unable to release fireballs, only slowly emitting a weak flame.
Its firepower was at most suitable for cooking, but adventurers would have to be crazy to buy a magic sword worth hundreds of thousands of valis for such a purpose.
However, for Emiya, due to his projection magic, this "defective product" turned out to be unexpectedly useful.
Using the "flame magic sword," he melted the cheese slightly into the mashed potatoes, covered it with bread, and toasted the top and bottom slices until they were slightly golden.
"Here, Riveria.", Emiya said.
"Can... can I really have it?", Ais swallowed her saliva.
"It's fine, you can exchange this for it.", Emiya picked up another fried potato ball, lightly toasted it with the magic sword, and took a bite.
Ais held the sandwich, hesitated for a moment, and then took a bite.
"It's... it's delicious!", Little Ais's eyes lit up, and she quickly devoured the entire sandwich.
"Let's go, it's getting late, time to leave the dungeon.", Emiya said, "I'll take you back."
"Mm-hmm.", Little Ais, still savoring the taste of the sandwich, returned to the Loki Familia.
In fact, it was just a sandwich. How delicious could it really be? But everything is relative. In the dungeon, being able to simply eat freshly toasted food was truly a delightful surprise.
"Eh, I feel like I forgot something... Ah!", Ais realized belatedly, "I forgot to ask him to be my teacher!"
Then, the adventurers of the Loki Familia saw little Ais standing in the hallway, banging her head against the wall, "Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Onlookers, "I don't know what's going on, but it's so cute!"
'...But, my teacher is so good to me, I shouldn't deceive him.', Ais, with a strong sense of morality but a bit of a rigid mindset, thought guiltily.
'I've decided, the next time I see my teacher, I'll confess the truth... Hmm, and I'll ask my teacher to help keep it a secret from Riveria.', The belated little Ais realized that using Riveria's name to swindle outside might, perhaps, maybe, be a little bit inappropriate...
'But, it shouldn't be a big problem, right? After all, it didn't cause any serious consequences.', Little Ais thought optimistically.
———
"Leader, today when I was buying sushi on the commercial street in the north of the city, I discovered something incredible!", A dog-eared girl approached Tsubaki and whispered.
The Hephaestus Familia also had many non-blacksmith members, and this dog-eared girl was one of them, reaching Lv.2. She was well-liked among the upper-level adventurer community, good at gathering information, and served as an informant for the Familia.
Tsubaki: "Sushi?"
"Yes, a small mobile stall, the owner is a male god who seems to have just arrived in Orario from out of town, the shop girl is very cute... No, that's not the point.", The dog-eared girl didn't dwell on the sushi issue and got straight to the point, "I saw Emiya-kun and an adventurer from the Loki Familia walking together on the commercial street!"
Hearing this, Tsubaki's expression became serious, "Who... could it be..."
Dog-eared girl, "Yes, it's the [Sword Princess], Ais Wallenstein!"
Tsubaki was stunned: "Huh?"
'[Sword Princess]? I thought it was Riveria.'
'Why would it be the [Sword Princess]? In the Loki Familia, isn't [Nine Hells] Riveria the one close to Emiya-kun?'
'This is information personally confirmed by the goddess, it can't be wrong.'
'No, no, this isn't that simple...', Tsubaki thought for a moment and suddenly realized, 'Ah~ I see!'
'[Sword Princess] Ais must have been sent by Riveria to contact Emiya.'
Tsubaki quickly came to this conclusion, exclaiming in her heart.
The reason was simple, Riveria's target was too big. The princess of the elf race was always the focus of the elves wherever she went, and obviously, if her relationship with Emiya was discovered, the elves would go crazy.
'So, having [Sword Princess] act as the liaison? Quite cautious.'
As everyone knew, Ais and Riveria were very close, so it made sense that she was the one Riveria trusted the most.
'Although Riveria is the elf princess, such matters cannot be entrusted to her own people.'
Tsubaki thought, 'And Ais is young, her interaction with Emiya would be like friends of the same age, more discreet.'
"Such thorough consideration, Riveria."
Dog-eared girl, "Leader, what have you been muttering about since just now?"
Tsubaki: "Nothing, don't tell anyone about this except the goddess... Forget it, I'll go tell the goddess myself."
Later, Tsubaki reported the information witnessed by the member and her own thoughts to the goddess Hephaestus.
Regarding this, the goddess thought, 'It makes perfect sense!'
"Sigh, if the other party is the elf princess, a shabby gift won't do... Tsubaki, send someone to the Swordcraft City to procure some special materials."
Goddess Hephaestus flexed her wrist:
"I'll have to take action myself."
———
"What's wrong, Lord Loki?"
Alicia put on her shirt and turned to look at Loki.
"Did I gain a new developmental ability?", She first asked this question.
Developmental abilities are different from basic abilities; they often enhance a specific area of an adventurer.
Starting from Lv.2, each level-up has a chance to gain one. It's also possible to gain no developmental abilities during a level-up or have multiple to choose from.
For example, [Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein from the same Loki Familia has had multiple developmental abilities to choose from more than once during her level-ups.
For adventurers, developmental abilities are extremely valuable as they significantly enhance the user's capabilities. For instance, even if two people use the same ingredients and the same method to make a potion, the one with the developmental ability [Alchemy] will produce a higher quality potion.
Some developmental abilities, like [Magic], can even boost the user's attributes beyond their current level; an Lv.2 [Magic] user's magic power can reach Lv.3 levels.
Like Lefiya, one of the main reasons her magic is so powerful is because she possesses the developmental ability [Magic].
Moreover, Lefiya gained this developmental ability when she leveled up to Lv.2, meaning she could start training this ability early, potentially reaching a very high level of [Magic] in the future.
Considering the difficulty of leveling up, every adventurer has limited opportunities to gain developmental abilities, making the number of developmental abilities an important measure of an adventurer's strength and potential.
"Well, you gained the developmental ability [Swordsman].", Loki said, "Only this one developmental ability appeared."
Alicia nodded, "I see."
[Swordsman], as the name suggests, enhances the user's effectiveness with swords. Ais also possesses this developmental ability.
"You're probably one of the less than five adventurers in all of Orario who possess both [Magic] and [Swordsman].", Loki said, "A true 'all-round warrior'!"
'[Gale] has the same role as me, at the same level, I'm not as good as her.', Alicia thought, 'But at least now, after leveling up, I'm stronger than her.'
"Lord Loki, you mentioned earlier that I gained a new skill?", Alicia continued to ask, "What kind of skill is it?"
Unlike developmental abilities, skills are not related to leveling up; new skills can appear during regular status updates.
However, the acquisition of skills is often related to the great feats achieved by the adventurer, so it's common to see skills appearing alongside level-ups.
Skills are rarer than developmental abilities. If gaining the developmental ability [Swordsman] was satisfying, the appearance of a new skill was a pleasant surprise for Alicia.
"Well... it's a very powerful skill.", Loki said vaguely, "As for the specifics, you can see for yourself."
She handed Alicia the paper recording her status.
Alicia took it and looked directly at the skill section.
[Elven Chant] was her only previous skill, with a simple and powerful effect, increasing magic casting speed and control over magic.
The newly added second skill, Alicia saw:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Elven Bond]
— When fighting alongside a "specific individual" or teammates with "bond" type skills, all abilities are enhanced (small extent).
— Skill description is influenced by the user's perception.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
The female elf's hands holding the paper trembled slightly.
Past memories of secretly reading some "literary works" surfaced, and she had all sorts of strange associations.
In terms of effect, it was actually a very powerful skill. Enhancing all abilities is a highly valuable boost, usually accompanied by costs like weakening of reason, significant stamina consumption, or entering a weakened state after the skill ends. But [Elven Bond] only required fighting alongside a specific individual.
However, Alicia had no time to consider the skill's effects now.
'It was just a guess before, but now it's confirmed.', Alicia's voice trembled slightly, "That child's desire is so strong that just him gaining a skill isn't enough; he's left a mark on me directly."
She knew exactly who the "specific individual" was, undoubtedly the child who took her precious first kiss, preserved for eighteen years and three hundred months.
When she saw him unreasonably pull [Gale] into his arms, Alicia had this premonition, and now, through her newly gained skill, she was completely certain.
'[Elven Bond], doesn't this completely treat me as a tied-up possession? Now it's just a bond (rope), but what will this skill become after the hunt is completed, [Elven Collar]?'
'Besides me, who else would the "Elf Slayer" target?'
'Could it be Lady Riveria? That child actually wants to form a bond, leave a mark, and put a collar on the princess?'
'Gulp... truly the "Elf Slayer".'
Alicia trembled all over, "It's so beauti— no, so terrifying..."
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