Chapter 140 - Ais's Shock

The night grew deeper.

At that moment, Raven Eltharion lay silently in the middle, feeling the warmth on both sides of him.

"Hey, Tiona, Ais... are you two asleep?"

No response came for a long while.

It was as if they had both passed out.

In the darkness, both Tiona and Ais, who were lying on their sides facing Raven, suddenly opened one eye.

"Quit pretending. Let's talk for a bit. I can't sleep."

Raven placed both hands behind his head, gazing at the ceiling.

"What do you want to talk about?" Ais asked quietly.

A strand of her golden hair, spread loosely around her, was resting on Raven's pillow.

There was no helping it. The bed was only so big. With three people lying together, things were bound to be a bit cramped.

"Still not sleepy at this hour?" Tiona asked, her arms and legs casually draped over Raven.

"Not really."

"But seriously, Tiona... why aren't you wearing anything?"

Raven spoke calmly.

"You mean this? I'm just used to sleeping like this," Tiona answered without a care.

She didn't think for a moment that someone would be interested in a flat-chested girl like her.

Well… that was just Amazoness custom.

Unlike the cleanliness-obsessed Elves, Amazonesses tended to be far more uninhibited.

Cheerful and easygoing, Tiona didn't even see Raven as a man.

"Aren't you afraid I might do something to you?"

"Eh? You wanna pounce on me?" Tiona said as she suddenly brought her face close to his, their noses almost touching.

"I mean, I'm clean, and I'm kinda curious what it'd be like... Wanna give it a try?"

(Note: Ais is 16, Tiona is 17.)

Raven was left speechless.

Was Ais's presence really that faint? She was lying right there next to them.

Was this really okay?

"Hey hey, stop groping me."

"Hehe, your abs are really firm, Hero-kun. Ais, come feel them too!"

Ais didn't reply, but her cheeks flushed faintly red.

Still… a delicate hand quietly reached over in the darkness, feeling its way across.

Raven sighed internally.

Turns out, the ones making moves were them.

Not that he minded… he'd return the favor tenfold later.

"By the way, Tiona, why do you keep calling me 'Hero'?"

Raven turned his head and asked.

"I really don't think I've done anything worthy of that title."

There was a brief silence.

Then Tiona moved even closer, pressing her face against the side of his.

"Because when I look at you… it's like I can see the light of a true hero."

"That's why I call you Hero~"

She had read the tale Argonaut: The Hero's Ballad.

In her heart, she already saw Raven as the very image of a hero out of a storybook.

Despite her ever-present smile, Tiona's life hadn't been easy.

She was born in the war-torn nation of Telskyura and initially joined the Kali Familia.

Following their brutal custom of sibling combat, she killed her roommate in the arena on her fifth birthday.

That was when she leveled up to Level 2.

During that painful childhood, the tale of Argonaut gave her strength, helping her keep smiling.

When she was seven, she was scheduled to fight her sister.

But she pleaded with Kali herself, saying she didn't want to battle her sister.

After dissolving her契約, she and Tione left the country.

At age 12, five years ago, the sisters were defeated by Gareth and Finn, and soon after joined the Loki Familia.

A thoughtful look crossed Raven's eyes.

In the original story, during the 60th floor expedition when Loki Familia fought the true form of the corrupted spirit, Ais was swallowed, and Tiona was charmed.

The corrupted spirit absorbed Ais's power and leapt from Level 8 to Level 9.

Then it spawned countless Ais clones, turning them against the Loki Familia.

Tiona was one of the victims—she lost an arm.

To Raven, Tiona was actually a pretty tragic figure.

She didn't have any magic.

Only two skills that could be triggered when she was near death.

"Hey Ais, remember what I told you last night? The secret to getting stronger?"

Ais's finger, which had been tracing circles on his abs, paused.

"Mm… Will you really tell me?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Tiona perked up her ears.

To both of them, Raven didn't seem like someone who had only recently joined a Familia.

How long had it been?

And he was already Level 3?

Ais was very curious.

Tiona was no different.

If there really was a secret to getting stronger, she'd be willing to do anything to learn it.

"Okay, I'll say it again."

"But this secret… it's not something that should be casually shared."

"If I tell you, you absolutely can't leak it. Got it?"

Raven spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Understood," Ais replied softly.

"Of course, of course! My lips are sealed! I swear I won't tell anyone!" Tiona promised.

After returning from the expedition, Ais had updated her status—and her total improvement had only increased by 16 points.

Ever since, she had been suppressing her emotions, deep in thought.

Because…

That number was just too low.

Even after slaying countless deep-floor monsters, the stat gains were negligible.

At this rate…

Even killing thousands, tens of thousands of monsters would only raise her stats by a point or two.

It was well-known that the maximum stat for adventurers was 999.

And the closer you got to S-rank, the slower the growth.

Right now, Ais had hit that wall.

Her current status was essentially her ceiling.

There was no more room to grow.

And that had nothing to do with talent or affinity.

"...Okay. I believe you."

"Then I'll tell you..."

He trailed off.

Then, he brought both hands down from behind his head and wrapped them around Ais and Tiona's necks, pulling them close.

"The secret is..."

"Doing it."

Ais's eyes widened slightly.

Tiona also looked completely dumbfounded.

"This is the effect of one of my rare skills."

"And I have no reason to lie to you."

"So... Ais, wanna give it a try?"

Just like how [Gluttony] Zald became stronger by eating, Raven too had his own way.

Though his method of 'consumption' was... a little different.