"131: The Supporter’s Job, the Master’s Mission"

After descending past the forty-ninth floor of the Dungeon, the monsters' strength had reached the level 5 threshold. If previous floors were places where a careful level 5 adventurer could still manage, this was where even level 5s faced constant risk of death. One misstep could mean instant demise, for these floors housed multiple high-level monsters at once, far beyond what a solo level 5 could handle.

Ais had been here before during previous expeditions, but now, traversing these depths alone with Su Mo still made her a little nervous. Thankfully, with Su Mo leading the way, she felt much more at ease. The two continued advancing at supersonic speed and soon reached the fifty-seventh floor.

Though they could have continued deeper, Su Mo decided this was as far as they needed to go for now. This limit wasn't for his own sake, of course, but for Ais's. With her current abilities, even without relying on her secret skills, she could hold her own against a single level 6 monster. However, survival amidst hordes of level 5 monsters was a different matter entirely. One-on-one and one-against-many were two entirely different kinds of battles.

Su Mo had no intention of letting Ais fight directly for now. However, as a monster-luring assistant, this floor was perfectly suited to her abilities. Deeper floors could wait until she grew stronger. Even at this depth, having Ais serve as his helper allowed Su Mo to collect magic stones far faster and more efficiently than if he were exploring the lower floors alone.

After landing softly on the ground, the stormy wings behind Su Mo faded away. He turned his head toward Ais. "Do you know exactly what a supporter's job entails?" he asked the blonde girl.

"Carrying magic stones, hauling supplies, doing odd jobs, watching the surroundings for dangers…" Ais paused for a moment, listing the duties based on her general knowledge. After all, this was what supporters typically did even within the Loki Familia.

However, to her surprise, Su Mo shook his head. "No, that's not enough," he said.

"A supporter needs to learn much more. Cooking, massaging, brewing tea, setting up tents, making beds, luring monsters, handling weaker enemies, even singing to soothe the master's mood when necessary. You need to know when to act cute, when to keep secrets. Of course, since we're in the Dungeon, there's no need to learn things like driving or warming the bed—but everything else, the more proficient you are, the better."

Ais was left completely dumbfounded. "Huh?" she blurted. Was this really what a supporter was supposed to do? So many skills? She had never heard of any of this before. And besides… "soothe the master's mood"? That term sounded less like a supporter and more like… a maid? Even for a maid, this felt a bit excessive.

Her expression turned somewhat complicated. Just because she didn't talk much and often seemed dazed, didn't mean she was stupid! Ais considered herself fairly smart. She knew full well the difference between a supporter and a maid. These were basics that Riveria had taught her when she was younger. So, gathering her courage, Ais was just about to object when Su Mo, noticing her silence, turned to ask, "What's wrong? Can't do it?"

At that moment, Ais instantly calmed herself. She remembered her goal: to become stronger. Whether she served as a supporter or as a maid made no real difference. As long as it didn't cross her personal boundaries, it was simply another task Su Mo had assigned her. There was no point in getting caught up in whether these were supporter duties or maid duties. All that mattered was staying by Su Mo's side and learning how to grow stronger.

Resolutely, she nodded. "I'll do my best!"

She felt confident about luring monsters and fighting. As for massaging, brewing tea, making beds, or singing… well, she lacked experience. She would just have to work harder and figure it out as she went.

"Excellent!" Su Mo was quite satisfied with her attitude. With this determination, she would eventually become a qualified supporter—albeit by his own special definition, which fused various PRO, PLUS, and advanced versions of the role.

Without wasting any more time, Su Mo assigned her the first task: monster luring. With Ais's current agility, even swarms of level 5 monsters shouldn't be able to harm her.

"Understood!" Ais unsheathed her sword, ready for action. "Awaken, Tempest!" she called out, activating her Wind magic to wrap herself in swift-moving winds. She then tried to apply the wind manipulation techniques Su Mo had previously taught her. Soon, a pair of crude wind wings formed behind her, drastically boosting her maneuverability.

With a light flap of the wings, Ais burst forward, quickly targeting a nearby monster. She struck it, leaving a mark that immediately drew its aggression. Without pausing, she twisted midair with a slight adjustment of her wind wings and darted toward the next monster, repeating the process and provoking its anger as well.

Thanks to the incredible agility granted by her wind wings, Ais smoothly and skillfully attracted one monster after another. Within just a few minutes, nearly a hundred level 5 monsters were chasing after her—a number that was close to her current limit. Any more, and even she risked being overwhelmed by the monster horde.

Reaching her maximum, Ais spun around and began leading the entire swarm toward Su Mo, as they had agreed beforehand.

Meanwhile, Su Mo calmly observed the oncoming tide of monsters, a satisfied smile curling on his lips. "Having a tool… I mean, an assistant really does make things much easier," he remarked.

Ais landed lightly beside him, dissipating the winds surrounding her as she stepped behind Su Mo. Even she felt a bit shaken looking at the charging mass of beasts. For someone of her level, this was a formidable threat—but standing behind Su Mo, she had no fear.

After all, this was the man who had instantly slain a level 7 monster. Handling these creatures would be nothing for him. And as expected, reality matched her thoughts perfectly.

Su Mo clapped his hands together. "Fairy Law!" The familiar brilliant light flashed once again, and when it faded, all that remained was a sea of magic stones scattered across the ground.

Seeing the vast number of stones, Ais finally understood why Su Mo needed a supporter. Collecting all of this would take considerable time. But this was her moment to shine. Without waiting for any orders, she immediately got to work, diligently gathering every last magic stone.

Freed from the collection work, Su Mo sat leisurely on a nearby rock, calmly examining the Philosopher's Stone in his hand as he pondered his future plans. Once Ais had finished gathering all the stones, it was time for the next round of harvesting.

Just as before, Ais flapped her wind wings and darted off, skillfully drawing the attention of nearby monsters. Before long, another group of monsters was chasing after her. Again and again, brilliant light filled the dungeon as wave after wave of monsters fell before Su Mo's devastating magic.

Piles upon piles of magic stones accumulated, forming little mountains. By the time Ais was gathering monsters for the sixth wave, the time she needed to gather each group began increasing significantly. It seemed that most of the nearby monsters on this floor had already been lured out, leaving only scattered and solitary beasts in the more remote corners. Pulling together enough for another full wave was becoming increasingly difficult.

However, through the repeated process of luring monsters, Ais's control over her wind wings had improved tremendously. Though she was still far from matching the level Su Mo had demonstrated, her agility had advanced by leaps and bounds. Calling it earth-shattering might be an exaggeration, but compared to before, her nimbleness and evasive abilities had clearly reached a whole new level. This boost in dexterity also allowed her to search for remaining monsters more efficiently.

Although it took some extra time, she managed to gather a seventh wave of monsters and brought them back to Su Mo. Once this final group was wiped out by Su Mo's sweeping attack, Ais approached him, requesting a break. Though she was a swordswoman, her internal reserves of magic power were not inferior to that of a mage. Even so, maintaining such high-intensity magical usage for an extended period had drained her. This was her limit.

Su Mo, of course, had no objections. Even a cog needs maintenance. And while he sometimes acted like a ruthless capitalist, he wasn't foolish enough to push such a capable assistant to exhaustion and risk losing her. Sustainable development was the proper path, after all.