‘Just how can he be that focused?’
Despite having been in great pain just a moment ago, Damian was now smiling as if the only thing he was concerned about was her advancement. Such diligence was truly astonishing to Iris.
‘Or did I just forget what it’s like to give it my all?’
Wasn’t she also that obsessed at one point in her life? Iris could barely remember a past that was so far yet felt so close.
At one point, she also endured everything just so she could take a step forward. Of course, after years of achieving nothing, her spirit was almost completely dead.
However, even in her best state, Iris wasn’t sure if she could compare herself to Damian. He didn’t just endure pain, he also disregarded the various brutal deaths that he experienced, ignoring everything to look ahead.
‘It’s too confusing.’
At this moment, Iris could once again glimpse beyond her physical face to see Damian’s true smile.
She wasn’t sure whether to be happy about becoming a better knight like Damian or be ecstatic that someone this special was helping her out.
It was only a momentary, but Iris suddenly felt that survival was no longer a worrying matter. She was starting to grow expectant of what Damian could achieve.
{That’s true… Even the most talented require at least a year between each advancement.}
“And it’s only just the beginning!”
For some reason, Iris started feeling the persistent awkwardness go away. Just as Damian said, this was just the beginning of their journey.
“Right. Do you know how the people advanced to the second tier at the Duke’s house?”
Considering Iris’ advice, it was obvious that she knew some things, but Damian understood that her information was incomplete.
She couldn’t know how and when he would step into the next threshold, and she couldn’t give advice when handling that. Still, now that he experienced it, he wanted to know these incomplete hints to confirm his guesses.
{The only thing that I know for sure is that someone of a higher stage usually supervises the process.}
‘That’s a given.’
Regardless of whether their presence was necessary for the process itself, it made sense for a person who had more experience with handling Aura to be there in order to ensure the safety of the apprentice knight.
Unlike Damian who could try infinitely, if they messed up, they could end up dead or crippled.
‘It’s also in line with how the game worked.’
Even in Fate’s Guide, certain power advancements could only be achieved by interacting with certain NPCs. From a semi-realistic perspective, it all made sense.
{Oh, I remembered something else. I think they also receive specific supplements for every advancement.}
“So they give them painkillers?”
{Painkillers?}
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
If the pain was a necessary experience for this advancement, it made even more sense for the fledgling knights to receive some sort of painkiller to numb the pain.
After all, not everyone had the same level of will, and fainting in the middle was also likely to render them crippled in the best-case scenario.
‘Well, that’s a chosen one’s disadvantage.’
Just like many of the characters that Damian raised who had fraudulent abilities, the odds were always against them at first.
They had things that would be envied by everyone else, but no one could understand their nature until it was too late.
In that case, the Chosen One had to rely on no one but himself to stumble in the dark and carve his way, and Iris was the prime example of that.
With the right amount of support, she could do in days what others did in years. However, because she didn’t know the specifics of ‘doing’, she was always at risk.
‘And that’s why she needs Plot Armor.’
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Taking all that into mind, Damian wasn’t mad at Iris for providing him with no help. If anything, she was even more lost than he was.
In all honesty, Damian didn’t know why he had to shoulder this burden for playing that game, but since he already decided to go all in, it was too late to question why.
In fact, compared to the similarly dangerous Earth, Damian preferred this place where he could actually do something. Though, it might have been better if he wasn’t stuck in a labyrinth where he only had monsters for playmates.
‘Besides, I’m the one who decided to go in fully blind.’
To begin with, she was the one who was trying to talk him out of attempting anything dangerous or wasteful, and Damian was the one to shoot her down.
[ Mission Subject Status Window(Possessed):
Name: Iris Platina (Damian Tray)
Age: 21 (24)
Level: 3 (FP: 8)
Class: Basic Aura Knight
Title: Failure of The Renowned Knight Family
Strength: 13 [19%]
Constitution: 13 [98%]
Agility: 16 [76%]
Wisdom: 10 (33)
Aura: 20
Free Stat Points: 0
Skills: Swordsmanship Lv.2, Spearmanship Lv.1, Blunt Mastery Lv.1, Shield Arts Lv.1, Aura Nurturing Lv.2
Passives: Combat Instincts (A+), Resource Devouring Genius (S-)
Abilities: Platinum Aura Nurturing [Tier-2] (B) ]
‘Wait…’
After tidying his thoughts, Damian opened the Status Window to confirm the changes in his Aura. However, he was met with something much more.
‘Was there more to that pain?’
The pain that Damian felt in his heart completely closed the rest of his senses, but his physical stats had somehow increased as a result of this advancement!
Did the Aura perform some sort of reverse-feeding process to nourish the body? Damian couldn’t tell, but he was all for it.
Although nothing increased by a whole point, if everything was added up together, the overall effect went beyond 2 points. Just from a statistical point of view, a tier advancement was better than a level-up!
‘It’s starting to look balanced now.’
Agility was one thing, but Constitution and Strength being close to each other was for the best. Damian was only looking to increase his lethality with the upgrade, but it ended up being a complete boost!
In fact, one skill had silently leveled up. Although Damian wasn’t sure what was the difference between the skill and ability form of Aura Nurturing, positive change was always welcome.
‘That’s not even it.’
As excited as Damian was with the surprise bonus, the whole goal behind this was to enhance his Aura Slash. Now that he had two Rings orbiting around his heart, it had to have grown stronger.
‘I have just the thing to test it on. Inventory.’
Taking out the Hobgoblin’s arm, Damian summoned Aura into his blade before slashing at it.
Splat!
Since the muscles didn’t constrict in response, the arm’s toughness was lower than that of a live Hobgoblin, but Damian was still surprised to have cut through half of it!
‘Getting closer to the optimum edge!’
Soon enough, the Hobgoblin would no longer be qualified for the position of Damian’s ultimate enemy!
Of course, what Damian was expecting more was the following wait. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
‘Perfect!’
It only took 15 seconds before the blade shimmered with platinum light! The forced pause was once again cut in half.
‘It’s starting to become affordable.’
Not only did Damian have 20 charges now, but he could also use them more frequently. Rather than being special attacks, Damian felt like he could now afford to use Aura for each and every slash of his!
‘This must be what it’s like to be a real knight!’
“You are the best, Iris!”
Naturally, all of this was only possible thanks to Iris’ cheats. Suddenly, the labyrinth was no longer as dark or scary.
{Not really, all of this is your doing.}
Iris wasn’t trying to be humble. She was happy to share Damian’s smile, but she still felt useless.
“Well, in that case. Why don’t we call it a joint effort?”
{Sure.}
Seeing the smile on Iris’ face, Damian didn’t continue chatting as he went around the new den. It was time for looting!
‘Well, this is one thing that’s still disappointing.’
Aside from another small jar of water that Damian was grateful for, the Den was practically empty.
The day wasn’t over yet, but Damian was tired, so he could only lie down on the ground for a short nap. In the Labyrinth, there wasn’t that much of a difference between Day and Night anyway.
[ Save Point has been created. Main Save Point has been replaced. ]
Of course, Damian didn’t forget to Save before sleeping. However, when he woke up and confirmed the area around to be safe, he renewed his Save Point once more.
It had to become Day 5, but Leo immediately went out after eating a few pieces of jerky and washing them down with water.
Although Damian maintained a cautious attitude, he acknowledged the fact that he was now more capable. With a Save Point on his back, he decided to speed up his exploration speed.
‘Huh?’
Based on his recent experience, Damian didn’t expect any quick encounter. However, after lightly running for an hour, he encountered a little Goblin. Only, this Goblin’s skin was slightly different. It had a yellow shade!
‘Goldie?’