Chương 343: CH. 351: A loli’s request
The clouds parted, and bright rays of the sun shone onto the pages of a book held in Riveria's hands.
A breeze came through the window, playing with her jade-colored hair.
A flock of birds gathered on the roof chirped. Their chirps came in bursts, creating a dawn chorus as rich as a symphony.
It was nature's attempt at cheering up Riveria. The most it did was soften her frown. She brushed the hair away from her jade eyes and tucked them behind her sharp, elf ears.
"Still nothing…"
The air was sweet, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Yet Riveria's heart was clouded with doubts.
'What can I do to speed up my chants?'
Every battle was fast beyond the 50th floor. Her spells took too much time to form. Asahi's instantaneous chants sowed the seeds of doubt. On top of that, he showed nearly a dozen spells, each carrying a destructive power second to none. Her long chanted spells couldn't output the same power as his swift activation magic spells. The dungeon kept her on edge to have second thoughts. But here, in the calmness of her home, she couldn't help but compare herself to him.
She had spent countless hours in the pursuit of her magic spells. Only then did she learn nine spells and receive the alias Nine Hells. Six out of nine spells specialized in defensive and healing, and the last three were of offensive nature.
She was sure that Asahi was in his early twenties or even younger. Yet, he mastered several spells of different elements. It couldn't be the result of his divinity. After all, he used them inside the dungeon where the divine were not allowed.
'Is this the lineage gap? The gap in intellect?'
She felt her pride crack. To rub salt on her wound, she recalled the way he addressed her.
'Mom...I'm just 99 for heaven's sake.'
She groaned and propped up her elbows before resting her chin in her hands.
'Demigod. Is he secretly a level 10?'
Thinking about him, she let her gaze drift. Most of the adventurers battled each other in the yard. Everyone was in high spirits for training, motivated to never feel like they were a weight on Asahi's shoulders. Even though he was a first-grade scoundrel, she had to acknowledge his ability to rile them up without lifting a finger.
Ais clashed wooden swords with Tiona. Ais took on each of Tiona's fierce strikes without missing a beat. Ais had become thirteen years old a few days ago, yet she seemed small in front of a fourteen year old Tiona. Her serious expression softened Riveria's gaze.
'Adorable.'
Asahi would have called her "Mom" if he was here. At this very moment, she was the embodiment of a mother watching over the growth of her child.
That was when Loki returned with Asahi. He glanced at her and gave his typical, annoying smirk. His lips moved to form a word.
"Mom."
She could easily imagine the word that came out of his mouth. She raised her fist and showed him a punch she would throw at his face sooner or later. Amused by her reaction, he gave a smirk.
Finn shouted for a break. Lefiya bounced over to Ais with a water bottle. Asahi also approached Ais and patted her head.
'I need to go there.'
She quickly descended the tower and reached the yard.
Asahi waved his hand at Riveria. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine…" she replied with a frown. "Loki-sama?"
Her sharp gaze conveyed her question about Asahi's arrival here.
"Aye! He is here to… train y'all!"
"Wait, what?" Asahi stared at Loki. "You said Ais was missing me."
"She was missin' ya, see." Loki pointed at Ais, who was snugly feeling his hands on her head. "Aissu, you called for him."
Ais looked at Asahi and nodded. "Onii-san, train me…"
She wanted to go back to the depths of the dungeon and find her mother. For that, she had to become as strong as she possibly could. Receiving Asahi's training was the fastest way to do this. After all, he held the absolute might in her eyes.
"Oh," Asahi muttered, surprised at her straightforward request.
She was earnestly requesting to be trained. How could he refuse a loli's request? Besides, it might give him a chance to become closer to her so-called mother, the high elf.
'I can't change my nature.'
He sighed at his lecherous nature. Even though he had so many lovely lovers, he couldn't help but be drawn to good women like Riveria and Hephaestus.
'I need that skill.'
He used one of the skills from the Eromancer class—Betrothed Gift, which allowed him to copy skills from his women.
Aimi Akane Skills:
—Firearms Mastery (B-Rank)
—Natural Mentor (C-Rank)
—Stealth (B-Rank)
—Dagger Mastery (B-Rank)
—Tracker (B-Rank) (B-Rank)
—Cooking (F-Rank)
—Darkness Element (D-Rank)
'She made a decent progress in her skills.'
He copied the 'Natural Mentor' skill from her arsenal.
[—Natural Mentor (F-Rank): The user is proficient at teaching Arts, Skills, and Combat.]
'F-Rank will do for now.'
He coughed in his hand and showed a serious expression. "I won't go easy if you plan to become my student."
It was a mere formality since he could never hurt a loli.
Ais's eyes crinkled as a smile blossomed on her cute face. "Yes."
"What do you want to learn anyway?"
Ais's smile vanished in an instant, and a frown replaced it. She deeply pondered on what to learn.
Asahi rubbed her head and looked at Riveria with a smirk. "You also want to receive my profound lessons?"
Riveria's face went crimson from sheer rage.
"You—" she cried out, only to feel a hand on her head. A warm feeling flooded her senses, putting an end to all the fatigue that piled up from staying up late at night.
Asahi had closed the gap and soothed her rage with a non-lewd version of headpats.
"It was a joke, Mom. No need to take everything seriously."
Riveria nodded with a sigh. "I'm tired..."
Asahi could feel her suppressed embarrassment through his instincts.
Everyone, including Loki, gawked at the scene. Loki in particular knew how stern and serious Riveria could get in front of her Familia members. The sight of Riveria quietly receiving headpats from a young man was as strange as things could get.
Receiving the stares, Riveria couldn't stop herself from blushing. She brushed off his hand and assumed a calm expression.
"Am I dreamin'?" Loki muttered. "Rive-chan is blushin'!"
"I did not," Riveria denied. "Please, Asahi. Don't touch me without my permission."
"Mom is angry." Asahi shook his head and returned to Ais's side. "Let's train somewhere quiet."
Ais agreed to his proposal with a nod. Riveria always used to train Ais near a river where her mind was at peace. Riveria once tossed Ais in one of those rivers when she called Riveria 'old woman.'
"Wait," Riveria stopped him before he teleported away. "Take me."
"Anytime, Mom. I can take you anytime," he said with a chuckle.
"Wait," Loki interrupted him this time. "I wanted ya to train everyone."
Tiona and Tione shared a long glance, excitement flickering in their eyes. Tiona would have bounced over to Asahi if it weren't for Riveria's presence. The high elf had acted as their guardian, helping them settle into the Familia. Loki's request brought a smile onto their youthful faces.
"It will cost a favor I owe you," Asahi said, shooting down Loki's hope. "You want it?"
Ais was an exception. He couldn't use his time training others just because Loki asked.
Loki shook her head. The tickets to the dungeon were more precious than training. Besides, Ais and Riveria getting stronger should be more than enough for now.
"Can we negotiate?"
Of course, the woman before him was Loki. She wasn't going to give up like that.
"No."
"For my sake…"
The Amazonian sisters looked at him with a sparkle of hope in their eyes. The catgirl Anakitty held her clasped hands close to her chest, praying to some god unknown to him.
He sighed. "I might do it when I feel like it."
Probably never, he didn't add those words. He had a date with Dungeon-chan then he had to spend some time with Sandalphon. He also had to give some alone time with his women.
"Tsundere!" Loki shouted, exposing her eyes for a moment. "Ya are a tsundere, aren't ya?!"
"How do you even know that word?" Asahi asked with a blank stare. "We're off then."
Riveria gave a last glance at Loki before she walked toward Asahi. He sneakily took her hand and teleported to the forest outside Orario with Klyscha's help.
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