Chapter 447: Planning What To Do In Beach City

-----

"Indeed, the Divine Lady is a natural!" said Solder. "You see, the better one is at manipulating Mana and other energies, the better they become at utilizing and controlling Magitech! And that’s exactly what Lady Elisa is. She was already an incredible, unparalleled master of Mana Manipulation. It honestly baffles me that she’s not stronger than she is already."

Solder looked at Elisa with a certain degree of admiration, his mechanical eyes scanning her body while several small devices continued to hover around them. The machine she had been using was still connected to her wheelchair, although it had already completed the process of transferring her movements into the mechanical apparatus.

What Elisa had just accomplished was something that would have taken most people an enormous amount of time to learn. Even those who possessed a natural affinity for Magitech usually needed extensive training before they could properly control the more advanced devices.

However, Elisa was different.

Her mastery over Mana Manipulation was already far beyond what most people could achieve, and that allowed her to understand the principles behind the machine almost instinctively. She didn’t need to spend hours studying its mechanisms or learning how to operate every individual component. She simply needed to understand what the machine was capable of doing, and then her own abilities would take care of the rest.

Of course, that didn’t mean she could use it without any limitations.

Her body was still recovering, and the process of moving around with the assistance of Magitech was far more demanding than she had initially expected.

"Yeah... me too," nodded Riven with a smile, as Elisa slowly walked back.

He had been watching her closely throughout the entire process, and he couldn’t help feeling a little proud of her progress. Seeing Elisa move around on her own, even with the help of the machine, was already a great improvement compared to her previous condition.

It was also a reminder that there were still many things they could accomplish together.

"Haaa... I’m tired, though. I don’t think I can do this all day," she sighed, the machine turning into a wheelchair for her to rest. "My body feels sore... I can’t feel my legs, but I know they’re likely tired too."

Elisa leaned back against the wheelchair, allowing herself to relax after the exhausting exercise. Even though she had been able to walk around for a while, the effort had clearly taken its toll on her. Her arms felt sore, and the rest of her body was beginning to complain as well.

She glanced down at her legs, which remained motionless beneath her.

It was a strange feeling.

She knew that she had been walking, and she could even feel the movement of her body as the machine helped her take each step. Yet, the familiar sensation of using her legs was still missing.

It was difficult to explain, and she didn’t particularly want to dwell on it.

Still, she couldn’t deny that being able to move around again, even for a limited amount of time, had made her feel much better.

"Indeed, overuse may strain your body. Although this is good for your paralysis, I recommend not overdoing it. At most, three hours a day should be your limit without causing any sort of tissue damage that might be irreparable," Solder explained.

He raised one of his mechanical hands, projecting several diagrams of Elisa’s body into the air. The diagrams displayed the condition of her muscles, nerves, and other tissues, allowing him to explain the limitations of the current treatment.

"Your body is still adapting to the stimulation. Although the Magitech can compensate for some of the damage, it cannot completely eliminate the limitations of your biological structure. You must allow your body to recover after each session."

"Of course, this is bound to happen if you don’t grow stronger..."

"Leveling..." Elisa muttered in silence, thinking about it more deeply.

She had spent a long time avoiding that particular subject.

Leveling up was something that had once been important to her, but after everything that had happened, she had gradually stopped caring about it. There were so many other things she had to worry about, and she had eventually come to accept that becoming stronger wasn’t something she particularly needed.

At least, that was what she had told herself.

However, seeing the limitations of her current body made her realize that perhaps she had been wrong.

Her paralysis wasn’t something that could be overcome through Magitech alone. There were still many things that required her to improve her own physical condition, and the System might be able to provide her with the means to accomplish that.

"I guess I haven’t even wanted that for a while, but maybe... maybe it’s necessary."

She looked at her hands, wondering how much stronger she would need to become before she could move around without the machine.

It wasn’t that she wanted to abandon the Magitech. Quite the opposite, she was beginning to appreciate how much it could help her. However, she also wanted to become stronger herself, to be able to support Riven and the others without constantly relying on them.

She didn’t want her condition to become a limitation for everyone else.

"Maybe," said Riven. "We can go to a dungeon. It doesn’t have to be this realm."

He wasn’t particularly concerned about Elisa’s current level. There were plenty of ways to help her grow stronger, and he had already been thinking about how to make that possible.

Besides, the dungeons around Beach City were quite different from the ones they had encountered in the Mutant Village. There were many unique environments, monsters, and treasures that could provide them with the resources they needed.

If they chose the right dungeon, they could help Elisa level up without putting her in unnecessary danger.

"Yeah... I guess," she nodded. "Are there any dungeons we could go into in Beach City?"

"Plenty, I’m sure," said Riven with a nod. "I also plan to go there for a special dungeon that has an ingredient for your cure. It’ll appear in the Beach City Casino. That’s where someone I want to recruit is, too, so we’ll be killing two birds with one stone once we get there."

Elisa immediately looked at him with interest.

A special dungeon appearing inside the Beach City Casino was certainly unusual. Most dungeons were located in isolated areas or places where the local authorities could establish some form of control over the entrance.

However, the appearance of a dungeon inside a casino suggested that there was something special about the location itself.

Riven had already mentioned that he wanted to recruit someone there, but the fact that it also contained an ingredient for Elisa’s cure made the trip even more worthwhile.

"B-But can Elisa survive there?!" Daniela asked.

She looked at Elisa with concern, clearly worried about the possibility of bringing her into a dangerous dungeon. Although Elisa had been able to walk around using the Magitech, that didn’t mean she was ready to face monsters that could attack her at any moment.

Daniela knew that Riven was powerful, but she also knew that dungeons could be unpredictable.

Even a dungeon that appeared relatively harmless could contain monsters with strange abilities or hidden dangers.

"I’ll let her have Noir," said Riven, the wolf appearing from his shadows.

He could always count on his most loyal companion.

-----