"At this point, they've entered the bottleneck period."
Ais and Lefiya listened to Fron's theory like serious students.
"Raising stats to the S range, which is over 900 points, is extremely difficult. Only a few can reach it and that is also thanks to racial advantages."
Like Finn, Gareth, Riveria, and of course, monsters like Ottar.
"So the question is, what causes the bottleneck?"
"What is it?"
"It's the strength of enemies as experience, and one's own talent."
-----------------------------
"The enemy's strength?"
Question marks appeared simultaneously above Ais and Lefiya's heads.
This is the effect of vision.
At this moment, Fron was only Lv.1, but his vision from his previous life was much broader than the two of them.
He smiled at the two girls, then thought for a moment.
"Let me give an example."
"Take me as an example, do you think my stats would increase if I stepped on ten thousand ants?"
Boom—
Their minds were struck like by lightning, and the two girls instantly widened their eyes.
Fron saw both their reactions and put down his paper and pen, spreading his hands.
"It seems you've realized it. As your strength increases, the monsters' strength can no longer serve as experience points for you to absorb. This is the reason why high-level adventurers level up slower."
"Imagine, if the 13th floor was filled with monsters with the potential of Lv.5, would your stats not increase rapidly?"
"Simply put, you're too strong."
The two girls were shocked by Fron's theory—it was unheard of.
"Of course, even if there are always opponents who can provide experience, whether one can continue to grow also depends on personal potential."
"Humans have limits, but possibilities are infinite."
At this point, Fron paused for a while, giving the girls time to digest.
"To rapidly improve your strength, in addition to having potential, you need strong opponents."
Looking at the two beautiful girls, Fron raised two fingers.
"You both shouldn't lack potential. After all, reaching such high levels at your age is rare even in all of Orario."
After speaking, he lowered one finger.
"Then, strong opponents. Leaving Lefiya aside for now, in Ais' case, with magic activated, she can fight an opponent one level above her, so your options are very limited."
"Hmm—"
Ais fell silent, understanding what Fron meant.
Noticing the girl's mood starting to drop, his tone shifted.
"Since there are no suitable opponents under current conditions, then let's create opponents."
"Create???"
The sudden turn left them caught off guard, staring dumbfounded at the smiling young man, unsure what to say.
"Ah, create opponents."
"Of course, it's impossible to create opponents that could pressure Ais, but what if we reversed it? Wouldn't it work if we made Ais weaker?"
"—Make Miss Ais weaker???"
The elven girl's sharp voice almost blew off Fron's roof.
"Hey hey hey, don't get so worked up. I'm not saying to dismember Ais or anything!"
"Then—then what do you mean!"
Fron sighed, helpless toward this yuri fairy.
"It's useless to explain now. I'm still Lv.1. I'll think of a way once I level up, alright?"
He had to quickly pacify this agitated fairy, or Fron feared he would be even more battered.
"Hmph—so mysterious."
Ais, however, looked at him with expectant eyes, which made Fron feel huge pressure. He deeply regretted his boast.
"I'll wait for you."
"…"
"Wait, wait for you???? You—you all…"
'Miss Elf, are you misunderstanding something!'
Her reaction was both laughable and exasperating.
And so, the interesting day turned into night.
Ais and Lefiya soon took their leave, and he himself became completely absorbed in the magic knowledge written by Riveria, unable to pull himself away.
...
At the Hostess of Fertility tavern.
Today, they welcomed the Loki Familia returning from their 'expedition.'
"Welcome, everyone!"
"It's Syr-chan, still as cute as ever!"
"Thank you for your compliment, then drink a little more tonight!"
Loki greeted Syr, and whether there was an ulterior motive, only the parties involved knew.
"Mama Mia, bring out the booze!!!!!!"
An excited Loki revealed her nature, raising her large mug and shouting:
"Everyone, drink to your heart's content!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu——"
"Cheers——"
"Gulp gulp gulp——"
Everyone tilted their heads back and emptied the liquor from their cups, chatting while eating, the atmosphere lively.
"Come on, come on, Captain, let me fill your cup!"
"——Uh, Tione, I just filled it, don't— don't do that."
"Oh come on, Captain, don't be so modest——"
"Uh——"
Watching the two interact left Tiona speechless. Her sister was acting like a lovestruck girl—it was just too easy for her to get like this.
Seeing this always gave her a headache, so she decided to spare herself the trouble by looking away.
Glancing left and right, everyone was talking about topics they were interested in. She happened to see Ais spacing out and went over to her.
"Hey, hey, Ais. What were you and Lefiya secretly talking about with Fron today?"
Ais hugged her cup (which actually contained water), her arm being tugged by Tiona.
"Mm, about the bottleneck issue."
"Ah, tell me too."
"Okay——"
A certain waitress's cat ears twitched as she served the dishes—she seemed to have overheard an extraordinary name.
Fron?
"Meow, Fron? Do you mean Mr. Fron Argon?"
"Eh? Chloe, you've met Fron? That's impossible——"
Tiona seemed to have discovered something interesting and turned her head to stare at the black-haired cat girl.
Then the black cat ears twitched, and after staring intensely at the "Sword Princess" Ais Wallenstein, she suddenly let out an exaggerated meow of surprise:
"That's right, meow, blonde hair and golden eyes just like the Sword Princess, hmm~ about 185 cm tall, around twice the height of 'Braver,' meow! Oh, and super handsome too, meow!"
"That guy stood outside the tavern yesterday morning for a long time, meow, and even made a bet with me! He said if he returned victorious, he'd come here for a big feast that night. But he didn't show up, meow."
"Don't tell me he really kicked the bucket like I said???"
The others were drawn to the topic. As soon as they heard it was about Fron, and that he had even spoken so boldly, they all looked on with curious expressions.
"Little cat girl, what exactly happened? Tell us."
...
...
"Meow—— that's how it was."
After hearing the story, everyone in the Loki Familia burst out laughing.
"Hahahahaha, he actually said that? That's hilarious."
In Loki's words, this was clearly flag-raising——
"Ha-ha-ha…, it's not as bad as you're saying, but it's true he almost lost his life."
Bete nearly laughed himself breathless, clutching his stomach and nearly crawling under the table.
The conversation attracted other waitresses as well.
Ryu, Lunoire, and Anya came over too.
"What, meow, the guy had such bad luck on his first day exploring the dungeon, meow?"
Finn smiled slightly and took a sip of his drink:
"Ah, I just learned he even made such a promise with you all. Also, he's not nearly twice my height——"
Ryu, however, earnestly placed the dishes on the table, then affirmed his actions in an equally serious tone:
"Returning alive makes one an excellent adventurer. I believe he'll grow a lot from this experience."
Lefiya, looking at her companions, nodded quickly in agreement.
"Mr. Fron is very strong, Miss Ryu, truly."
'It's worth noting that after the young girl said this, none of the first-tier adventurers of the Loki Familia refuted her—including that arrogant wolf——'
'There's something unusual here, meow——'