CHAPTER 40: 040 STILL NEEDS TO WORK HARDER

Twilight Manor, the courtyard.

Today, people were still practicing here.

Reiger and Ais were swinging their swords, creating a flurry of light, engaged in an intense sword dance.

Unlike before, today’s sword dance was much fiercer than ever before, and both Reiger and Ais’s forms were exceptional.

Reiger seemed transformed, his figure flickering effortlessly, stirring up whirls of Qi Force with every move. His speed was fast enough to break the sound barrier, and his sword cleaved countless chilling streaks of light, like a relentless, incessant storm, ceaselessly attacking Ais.

Facing such a Reiger, Ais no longer fought with just her scabbard as before, but wielded a silver-white saber. She weaved through the storm of blades conjured by Reiger, slashing and parrying incoming attacks, her every move lacking her usual composure.

One man and one woman, two swordsmen battling intensely in the relatively confined space of the courtyard, chasing each other with terrifying speed. Their crossing figures left trails of sword light, cutting marks into the ground and completely stirring the air, creating a scene as tumultuous as surging winds and clouds, striking at one’s heartstrings.

"Wow, so incredible..."

Rephia stood to the side holding two towels, watching the practice, shaking uncontrollably with fear, looking utterly pitiable.

The sparring between Reiger and Ais was so intense that it left onlookers speechless.

"Clang—!"

At one moment, with the fierce collision of their long swords, the two separated after an intense exchange.

Reiger stepped back repeatedly, retreating several meters.

Ais only took one or two steps back, faring much better than Reiger.

"————"

The two faced each other, maintaining a distance, as the gradually calming air now filled with a tense atmosphere.

It wasn’t until later that both relaxed their standoff and, as if by agreement, sheathed their swords at the same time.

"You’ve both worked hard! Mister Reiger, Miss Ais!"

Seeing this, Rephia came to her senses and rushed forward, handing towels to both Reiger and Ais.

"Thank you."

Reiger and Ais thanked her at the same time, and also simultaneously reached out to take the towels, their movements in perfect sync, like mirror images of each other, giving a sense of incredible rapport.

"Hmm..."

Rephia saw this and puffed up her cheeks, feeling either heartbroken or jealous.

Unfortunately, Reiger and Ais did not notice, as they looked at each other.

"Judging by your movements, you must have gotten quite accustomed to them, right?"

Ais voiced these words with an indistinct emotion.

"Not bad," Reiger said with a slight smile. "Although some of the motion sequences still don’t feel quite natural, I’m almost there. Now I just need to get used to the strength of my current body."

"That’s good to hear," Ais said, nodding while staring straight at Reiger. "You’ve really become strong, it feels like you’re even more capable than many Lv.4s I know, even though you’ve only just leveled up."

Upon hearing this, Reiger’s face showed no sign of pride, though his heart felt otherwise.

In just over a month, he had risen from a lowly Lv.1 adventurer to a substantial Lv.4. Reiger was quite satisfied with this performance.

Even the protagonist from the original story took four and a half months to go from Lv.1 to Lv.4. Since he did it three months faster, he would be inviting divine punishment if he weren’t pleased with such an achievement.

Moreover, whether it was from Lv.2 to Lv.3 or from Lv.3 to Lv.4, Reiger had fully tapped into his potential until all abilities reached SSS before opting to level up, thus accumulating an exceedingly high latent potential. His foundation was much stronger than that of the original protagonist, let alone compared to ordinary people.

With the "Swordsman" ability chosen upon reaching Lv.3 and the "Light Armor" skill picked at Lv.2, which both enhanced his capabilities, as well as the superior sword skills he had honed over the past month with frequent practice against Ais, Reiger may have only just reached Lv.4, but his strength was now on par with the best among them.

This was not even counting his Magic Power.

If Magic, and the extraordinary boost from "Wind Spirit Swift Walk," were taken into account, Reiger could probably hold his own even against adventurers at the first tier of Lv.5.

This was evident from the fact that Reiger had managed to push Ais, who was at the top of Lv.5, back a step or two, and it was no exaggeration.

This was different from the incident over a month ago; it wasn’t a surprise attack while Ais was shaken and unprepared, but rather the result of a head-on battle.

Having such strength immediately after reaching Lv.4, it was no wonder Ais said that.

However, every advantage has its downside. While Reiger’s improvement was phenomenal, it also led to such explosive growth in strength with each level up that his body struggled to adapt.

For this reason, Reiger was practicing with Ais here to adjust to his body and the power of his current level.

All in all, Reiger had indeed grown a lot and become much stronger.

Although he didn’t think he was strong enough yet, the fact that he could achieve such growth in just over a month made even Reiger proud.

Of course, such progress, when seen by Ais and Rephia, who were also eager to grow and become stronger, made for a conflicting set of feelings.

This was especially true for Rephia; as Reiger’s teammate and witness to his steady rise, she felt admiration for Reiger but also disappointment in herself.

"Mister Reiger is already Lv.4, while I am still only Lv.3. It’s just too embarrassing," Rephia lamented.

Ais, standing nearby with a solemn face, felt an indescribable pressure within her.

Even though she could still hold a slight edge over Reiger, watching his growth at such an illegal speed brought a sense of urgency, as if she could be overtaken at any moment.

After all, she was only Lv.5.

If Reiger leveled up just once more, he would catch up completely.

Given the ability, potential, and talent Reiger had shown, would she still be able to outshine him then?

Ais became more and more anxious the more she thought about it, and the greater her anxiety, the more pressure she felt.

"Don’t say that," Reiger shook his head as he spoke to Rephia, "I just took advantage of the skills I have. With your potential, you should be able to reach Lv.4 soon, right?"

At least, as far as Reiger knew, Rephia had already trained her "Magic Power" to a C stage.

And according to the rules of leveling up, one only needs to raise a basic ability to the D stage to be able to advance through a great feat.

Rephia already had the qualifications to level up; the only thing missing was sufficient high-level experience that could be considered a great achievement.

This was not very difficult.

There were so many rank-one adventurers in the Loki Clan that if there was a real desire, they could certainly carry Rephia and allow her to accumulate enough high-level experience.

Therefore, as long as Rephia herself was willing, reaching Lv.4 was not a difficult task.

What was difficult was advancing to a rank-one Lv.5 adventurer.

To rise to this level, ordinary feats of greatness were no longer enough. One must accumulate more high-level experience and defeat even more formidable enemies.

And a feat capable of promoting someone to Lv.5 was something even the Lv.6 clan leaders might not be able to help accomplish by leading a team.

For this reason, within the Loki Clan, there were quite a few rank-two adventurers at Lv.3 and Lv.4, but only four rank-one adventurers at Lv.5.

The high-level experience needed to elevate to Lv.5 was certainly not easily accumulated.

"I wonder how long it will take for me to reach Lv.5?"

As he comforted Rephia, Reiger was thinking the same thing in his heart.

It took Reiger 7 days to reach Lv.2.

It took Reiger 15 days to reach Lv.3.

It took Reiger 30 days to reach Lv.4.

Given this pattern, could he succeed in reaching Lv.5 before the 100-day Dimensional Travel time limit expired?

"It seems I need to work even harder."

The very thought that Reiger had in mind was something that would once again evoke complex feelings in both Ais and Rephia.

"By the way, Mr. Reiger."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Rephia looked at Reiger.

"What is it?"

Reiger came back to his senses and faced Rephia.

"Just now, before I came here, I ran into Lady Revilia," said Rephia, "Lady Revilia asked me to tell you, after you finish practice with Miss Ais, to go to the leader’s place."

"The leader?" Reiger asked in confusion, "Does the leader have something for me?"

"I don’t know," Rephia shook her head, "But since it’s the leader, it must be something important she wants to discuss."

"Is that so?" Reiger pondered, then nodded and said, "Alright, I’ll make a trip to the leader’s then."

"Okay," Rephia had no objections.

"Be careful on the way," Ais also spoke earnestly.

Thus, Reiger entered the residence in front of the two girls.

Miss Ais, do you have some time right now?" as soon as Reiger left, Rephia became somewhat hesitant, and spoke shyly to Ais, "Would you like to go out together?"

Rephia’s invitation was met with an unreserved refusal from Ais.

"No, I still need to practice for a while."

Feeling the pressure and stimulated by Reiger’s rapid progress, Ais had no other thoughts in her mind except to seize the moment to become stronger.

"..."

The shyness on Rephia’s face immediately became forced, appearing a bit stiff, and somewhat tearful.

...

Meanwhile, Reiger was passing through the aerial corridor and entering the tower in the north.

Within the House of Twilight, among the three towers designated for male use, Finn’s personal room and office were located within the tower to the direct north, standing opposite the main entrance.

Guided by his memory, Reiger arrived in front of a room and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The immediate response came from inside, prompting Reiger to push open the double doors and walk into the room.

What met his eyes was the office connected to Finn’s personal room.

As the office of a Clan Leader, the room was naturally quite spacious, not only housing bookshelves that filled an entire wall but also colorful carpets, and even a long-case clock, exuding a feeling of solidity and warmth.

Finn was sitting at the back of the office, behind a large desk that seemed out of proportion to his small stature.

The office was not just occupied by Finn. Both Revilia and Grace, the other two clan executives, were present as well.

"You’re all here?"

Reiger was a bit surprised.

His intuition told him that perhaps something important was about to happen.