After completing the dragonkin hunt across the entire floor, Ais returned to the 79th-floor sanctuary. Her teacher was waiting for her inside.
"Teacher."
As soon as she stepped in, Ais saw Bell sitting on the ice bed.
She couldn't tell if it was just her imagination, but lately, the closer she got to her teacher, the more his presence felt… faint. Not like before, when she simply couldn't sense his aura—this was something far stranger, an uncanny feeling that her teacher shouldn't exist in the first place. That bizarre sensation had been worsening over time, to the point she couldn't hold back her questions anymore.
"Teacher, is your condition still not getting better?"
"Hm? Ah, it happened again? Looks like it's still caused by me not being able to control it properly."
"Not able to control it?"
To Ais, those words were as chilling as the horror story "One-One-Seven." Her teacher's control over his power was absolute; normally, there should be no chance of him losing control. Her voice trembled with worry.
"Teacher, your power is becoming uncontrollable? Should we return to the surface and rest for a while?"
"Eh?"
Bell, faced with such rare concern from Ais, was momentarily at a loss. This didn't match the Ais he knew at all. He found it strange, but still tried to reassure the worried girl.
"It's nothing troublesome. It's just some side effects from my first contact with an Authority, and my own realm isn't high enough yet. It doesn't affect me that much."
"Authority? Teacher, isn't that something only gods can wield?"
Hearing his explanation, Ais's agitation eased, though now she had even more questions.
Bell nodded. "Correct. Authority is the 'rule of the world' only gods can use. For mortals of the Genkai, mastering it is basically impossible."
Ais knew this much already. And that knowledge only made her even more curious about how her teacher could use it.
Meeting her curious gaze, Bell didn't hide anything and spoke frankly.
"Because I'm a little different from ordinary adventurers of the Genkai. So I can use an Authority they can't."
"Normally, I wouldn't be having these control issues. I just didn't expect something unusual to happen to me."
A slight headache throbbed in Bell's temples.
He hadn't used Runes to simulate the Authority. This was a power that had genuinely arisen from within him—"Stealth," a true Authority born from him. Not Rune-simulation. Not stolen from another god. But something that had emerged from within himself.
No—strictly speaking, it wasn't a complete Authority yet. Through the sphere's connection with him, it had formed a premature, artificial Authority. Because he hadn't reached the point of true transformation, this artificial Authority only leaked a small portion outside of the sphere—and that portion was already affecting him.
With all these conditions piled together, Bell now had trouble controlling the Authority, which kept activating on him unpredictably.
"In any case, it's just a special situation. I've been getting used to it these past two days, and I think today should be the last day the symptoms appear."
It was inconvenient having the Authority appear ahead of schedule, but the good news was that he could finally bring it under control. Controlling an Authority was anything but easy.
"Stealth" and "concealment" were completely different concepts. "Stealth" didn't just erase one's aura or presence; it could even obscure the surrounding space and time, nearly creating an independent, isolated domain. In terms of operability, an Authority like "Stealth" was on another level entirely. Its power was simply too overwhelming, which was why Bell—caught in several overlapping conditions—was having such a hard time controlling it.
"I see."
The faint irritation Ais had shown earlier vanished as she returned to her usual expressionless demeanor, almost as if the one showing emotions moments ago wasn't her.
"Understood?"
"Yes. Understood."
Ais still didn't grasp the finer details, but as long as her teacher wasn't in danger, that was enough… Mm, everything else wasn't important.
Seeing that Ais was fine, Bell let the previous topic drop and shifted his attention to her.
"Ais, how did the extermination mission go?"
Mentioning her mission immediately made her serious again.
"All the dragonkin on the floor have been eliminated."
"They never detected my presence. I assassinated them all."
Bell didn't need to check her condition to know—her aura had remained perfectly steady. Her concealment technique was clearly beyond what the dragonkin could perceive.
"Good work, Ais."
"In battle, you have to use everything available to create the most favorable conditions for yourself. If the environment doesn't provide enough, then you must create those conditions on your own."
Seeing how far she had come, Bell didn't hold back his praise.
"As an adventurer, you can't act on impulse. You have to stay calm and judge the situation step by step. We face vicious monsters constantly, but with enough preparation, we aren't helpless."
"There's no such thing as 'underhanded' or 'righteous' in combat—the only thing that matters is victory."
"So don't charge in recklessly when facing monsters. Use what you're best at—that's the right way to fight."
"This is something you should learn from Captain Finn. His strength may not be the highest in Loki Familia, but he's the best at analyzing battlefield conditions and making use of whatever means he has to deal with problems."
This was Bell's guidance for her future growth. Ais couldn't remain a purely offensive fighter. She needed to grow in all areas, or her future would be limited.
After giving his earnest advice, Bell's smile deepened.
"You're ready to graduate, Ais."
It was Bell's affirmation of all the growth she had achieved.