Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

Rivera, who witnessed everything, was completely stunned: "Is this what you called 'chuunibyou' training for Ais?"

"yes……"

Charles shrugged, reverting to his new codename 'Black Dragon Helmet': "Look, didn't Ais activate her [skill] on a 'human' as well?"

Chapter 495 Ais's Practice

“Gaoh~~~~”

In the Ganesha Familia's arena, a 'mascot costume' made from black dragon materials struck a ferocious pose and pounced on Ais.

Ais's face hardened, and she adopted a Dragon Ball-like, furious stance, unleashing her full power to unleash her black wind, but she failed.

A light blue breeze swirled leisurely around Ais, as if soothing her agitated emotions.

She slumped aside as Charles lunged at her, then squatted down on the ground, drawing circles.

Ciel removed his hood, exhaled, and sweat dripped from his hair as he comforted her:

"It's okay. We've succeeded before, which means this method has a chance of success. We just need to practice slowly."

Ais pouted and used the Sword of Despair to poke the floor repeatedly, trying to adjust her mindset.

Rivera watched for a while, then came to Ciel's side, muttered a few words, and Ciel nodded.

When practice resumed, Rivera, dressed in a 'doll costume' forged from black dragon materials, suddenly appeared from the side.

"Goo!"

When Ais saw the new dragon appear and send 'Charles' flying with a single claw, her face hardened, and a faint black wind began to emanate from her body.

After the two clashed with their claw swords and fought for three rounds, Ais's black wind dissipated once again.

"Very good, continue!"

Ciel realized Ais's problem.

The trigger conditions for 【Revenge Princess】 are still too demanding. If you want to change Ais’s cognition or trigger hatred, having someone like 'Charles' or 'Rivilia' do it is obviously not very effective.

After Ais became familiar with Riveria's movements, the training effect decreased again.

Ais squatted down and drew circles on the ground again.

Compared to her, who is so clumsy, Alpha is clearly much more adept at using his abilities.

At this moment, the two 'black dragons,' Ciel and Riveria, touched heads and whispered to each other:

"I think, should we use the monsters as training targets first? If we can utilize the characteristics of the 'monsters' to activate the Black Wind, and then have Ais treat the monsters as 'dragons' to trigger the special effects, wouldn't that be easier than us?"

“That makes sense.” Riveria nodded gently. “But where do we get monsters?”

Charles looked around and said, “I heard that the Ganesha Familia is preparing to hold a ‘Monster Festival’. I can ask them. If that doesn’t work, I can go and ‘capture’ a couple myself.”

Russian qing.

Charles used his "Eye Crystal" to notify Alpha, who was preparing to "go underground," and handed her the "Beast Taming Ring" from his wrist: "Catch some monsters and bring them back."

Alpha nodded and, before leaving, relayed Alfia's words:

"Our clan is preparing for an expedition. Sharl, would you like to join us?"

"An expedition?" Charles lowered his head in thought.

Right.

Alfia has been stuck at level 5 for quite some time now. Ordinary achievements probably won't be enough to get her past level 6. At her level, she'd need to either solo Udeus or team up to defeat Balor.

Meanwhile, Charles and Alfia have almost become Udeus killers during this period, so using Udeus to level up again seems unreliable.

Therefore, the target can only be Barol.

Perfect timing! It's been over a year since the last time we killed Barol; it should have hatched by now.

Moreover, there were previous reports that Ota went on a solo expedition to challenge Barol, and that they fled after a draw.

In addition, most of the Hera Familia members are stuck at level 4 or 5, and the newly recruited Amazon sisters are not far from level 4. At this time, participating in a high-intensity dungeon raid can raise everyone's level collectively.

Anyway, given Barol's respawn time, dying sooner means a shorter cooldown, so I might as well take this opportunity to collect its experience.

“Okay, I understand.” Charles nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing this, Alpha smiled and happily jogged away.

……

After seeing Alpha off, Sharl found Adi and borrowed several untamed monsters from the Ganesha Familia.

"When is the Monster Festival held?" Ciel asked casually.

"It should be within the next two weeks, shortly after the 'school district' returns." Adi looked at the monster imprisoned in the cage, his heart filled with worry.

The "Monster Festival" is related to the attitude of the people towards "heretics," and at this stage, Marie's "performance" alone has limited effect. After all, everyone takes Marie seriously more as a "fairy" than a "monster."

“Speaking of which, Adi…” Charles began hesitantly.

"Ok?"

"You seem to owe me money, don't you?"

"Huh?" Adi's eyes widened into circles.

"Huh? What's with your reaction? You're not trying to renege on your debt, are you?" Xia Er pulled out the Sacred Tree Speaker and played the old, embarrassing video of Adi's roar.

Adi looked away: "What do you mean by reneging on a debt? You're overthinking it. The payment for that time was already transferred to Amid."

"Really? So Amid embezzled my Fali! I'm reporting her! Righteous Miss Adil, please go and get my money back!"

"Okay, I'll secretly give you a little more Warcraft, is that alright?"

"Hey? You've got more potential than Ryu, little girl, you're really on the uptake!" Ciel grinned. "If you need any help with the 'Monster Festival,' remember to come find me."

With that, Xia Er happily led a dozen or so monsters back to the arena.

The subsequent practice was conducted by Ais and the monster wearing the black dragon head armor. Ciel forbade Ais from using weapons or directly harming monsters, instead instructing her to control her hatred and sense the changes in the black wind.

Meanwhile, Ciel and Riveria, as guardians, stood side by side with their arms crossed.

After a moment of silence, Rivera's lips moved slightly, and she finally spoke, "Thank you..."

"Ok?"

"About Ais."

“Oh.” Charles stared intently. “Ais also has a deep connection with the Hera Familia, so there’s no need to thank her for that.”

"..." Rivera was silent for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Um..."

"You seem to have something to say to me?"

“Yes.” Riveria nodded slightly. “But I don’t know if I should say it.”

"Go ahead and say it. It looks like it's going to be a difficult thing to do, but whether you agree or not is up to me." Charles winked at Riveria.

Rivera pursed her lips, opened her eyes, and said firmly, "I have a childhood sweetheart..."

Riveria recounted how Aina's condition still held hope and how she had asked Charles for help.

“Hmm…” Charles stroked his chin thoughtfully: “This feeling is like ‘altitude sickness’ when you’re used to living in a high-oxygen area and suddenly go to a low-oxygen area.”

“Oxygen?” Riveria tilted her head slightly. She always seemed to hear words from Charles that she had never heard before.

"Yes, it's the 'air' we breathe every day, which contains all sorts of 'elements,' the main element that sustains the human body is 'oxygen.'"

Aina's condition was like someone who had lived in a clean forest for years suddenly entering a factory full of industrial fumes; she was completely unable to adapt to the outside environment. On the contrary, her condition only improved in the 'Free City,' the city with the cleanest air.

Chapter 496 The Method to Treat Aina

"I heard that the Elf King Sen is protected by a barrier, right?" Charles asked.

Rivera nodded: "Yes."

"Then why didn't you have any problems leaving Wang Sen?"

Riveria pondered for a moment and replied, "It is said that this disease is a curse on stubborn royalty, and only elves who yearn for the outside world and have strong wings can remain unharmed."

Strong wings...

What an abstract metaphor.

Charles frowned in thought, then asked, "Then... besides you, are there any other high elves who left Wang Sen without contracting the disease?"

Riviera fell silent.

"No...?" Ciel clapped his hands. "Got it~"

"Hmm?" Rivera's eyes lit up: "You found the reason?"

Charles said in a serious tone, "King Alfred must be very cuckolded!"

“It’s like this…” Riveria’s beautiful eyes swept over them: “High elves all have green hair, is there a problem with that?”

"Oh... I was just thinking about the possibility that you might have been adopted."

"Huh?" Riveria's eyebrows shot up.

"Ahem. Don't get excited, just kidding." Charles played along.

“First, let’s rule out the possibility that you’re not the one who created it. Then it can only be attributed to a difference in physique or aptitude.” Charles gave an example: “Like the once-famous Crozo family, in modern times, only one person remains who can forge the Crozo Demon Sword.”

"Their reason is that the immortals abandoned their race. But why is there one exception?"

Charles knew that Welf was the reincarnation of Crozo, the blacksmith who had saved the Fire Fairy.

Without exception, Riveria was one of the heroes who led the free elves away from Wang Sen and joined Albert in the fight against the Great Pit.

Because of her past achievements, the curse that punished those stubborn, war-avoiding high elves by preventing them from leaving the forest did not apply to Riviria.

“The lower realm has memories; perhaps this is the gods’ punishment for us.” Riveria lowered her eyelids.

The idea that a deity casts a curse is not entirely unfounded.

At least when Bell was 'given' by the Takemikazuchi Familia, Hestia said that if anything happened to Bell, even if she returned to the Celestial Realm, she would cast an eternal curse on them.

For this reason, Ciel dared not use Godslayers to slaughter gods on a large scale. If necessary, he would try to postpone the problem until after the resurrection period of ten thousand years.