Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ize: Sneaky Observing.jpg

So, the pristine and tidy room was all just an illusion!

Ize ranted furiously in his mind.

He actually believed it before!

Feels betrayed, thanks for asking.

Unaware of Ize’s inner journey, Loki simply cleared some space near the bed after finding what she needed, dragged over a round stool, and motioned for Ize to sit down.

“Did today’s dungeon exploration go smoothly? Didn’t encounter any danger, right?”

Loki took out a needle from the set of tools on the bed, pricked her index finger, and while using her fingertip to trace patterns on Ize’s back, continued talking.

“Hmm, the monsters in the earlier floors were pretty easy, no real danger.”

“Oh? Is that so? By the way, how far did you and Raul explore today, Ize?”

“Seventh floor.”

“Huh? Seventh floor… wait WHAT?? SEVENTH FLOOR!?”

Since Ize and Raul had come back ready to eat dinner, Loki hadn’t yet had the chance to ask about their day.

Now that she thought to inquire, she nearly forgot what she was doing due to shock.

Most adventurers spend at least a year or two exploring only the first five floors before daring to delve deeper.

Starting from the fifth floor, the dungeon completely transforms, drastically increasing its difficulty.

Even her most talented Ais couldn’t avoid this.

“Wow, you little guy. You went straight to the seventh floor on your first exploration? Raul didn’t help you, right?”

“Nah~”

“Tsk tsk tsk, seems like I underestimated you. Your claim of having combat experience wasn’t just bragging?”

“…”

Why does telling the truth never get believed these days?

Ize could not ride this logic.

“Hmm, okay. Let me write it down, just wait a moment.”

“Alright.”

In no time, Ize’s ability values were updated, and Loki grabbed a quill pen, starting to record the updated ability values onto parchment in Common Tongue.

[Adventurer Name]: Ize Alward

[Level]: Lv1

[Ability Values]: Strength: i0→G202 | Endurance: i0→H198 | Dexterity: i0→G252 | Agility: i0→G248 | Magic Power: i0→E466

[Development Ability]: None

[Magic]:

‘Silver Starfall’

‘Stellar Magic’

‘Earth Magic’

[Skills]:

‘Celestial Favor’

‘Heart of the Earth’

…

In this world where mortals coexist with deities, there exists within people an abstract concept known as ‘Vessel’.

After receiving divine blessings from the gods and gaining ‘Ability Values’, people have the potential to fill up their own ‘Vessels’.

This process is specifically manifested in adventurers enhancing their ‘Proficiency’.

Ability Values are divided into ten stages denoted by S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, representing the level of power. The higher the stage, the more enhanced the adventurer’s abilities become.

The number following the stage letter represents ‘Proficiency’.

When ‘Proficiency’ reaches its limit or a certain extent, adventurers can undergo enhancements beyond basic ability boosts.

This is the elevation of one’s ‘Vessel’, also known as leveling up for adventurers.

Every time the Lv. increases by one, the adventurer’s strength will change dramatically.

Thus, in most cases, the suppression brought by levels is absolute.

However, there is one point worth mentioning.

That is, due to the differing capacities of each person’s ‘Vessel’, their ultimate limits vary.

The upper limit of adventurers’ base Ability Values isn’t necessarily S-level; at least the protagonist in the original story broke through this limit.

Currently, four of Ize’s Ability Values are around G-level, while his magic power stands out exceptionally, reaching E-level.

It must be the skill doubling his mental power that contributed to this.

After all, magic power is linked to mental power.

And this, was merely the improvement he gained after fighting in the dungeon for one day.

Total Ability Value increased by over 1200.

Even if early-stage Ability Value growth tends to be faster, this data was still extraordinarily abnormal.

Totally and utterly ‘anomalous’.

If others’ early-stage Ability Value growth is running, then Ize is flying—super fast flying.

“At this rate, it won’t take you a month to achieve the elevation of your ‘Vessel’. Then Ais’s record of leveling up to Lv2 in a year might be shortened by eleven months. Scary, huh?”

“And you’ve even developed an extra magic, ‘Wall Rising to Immense Heights’? Creating a new magic so quickly? Impressive, little Ize~” (PS – Wall Rising to Immense Heights: Instant Attack Magic)

While stroking his hair, Loki laughed carelessly.

“It’s just the first day, things will slow down later.”

“Don’t say that, Ize. You’re definitely happy inside, aren’t you? You’ve grown stronger~”

“Cough… a little bit~”

“Billion bits? No worries, I get it!”

For some reason, Ize felt this scatterbrained deity seemed to know quite a lot?

A bit dizzy~

After destroying the parchment recording the Ability Values, Ize bid farewell to Loki and prepared to return to his room for a good night’s sleep.

The next morning.

Ize was woken up by the commotion in the courtyard of Twilight Manor.

His room was located in the upper-middle section of the entire Twilight Manor, facing south. It was hard to say exactly which floor since the interior space of Twilight Manor was narrow and chaotic.

Regarding the layout of rooms, they were not only narrow but also inherited the disorder.

The nearby rooms belonged to the second-tier members of Loki Familia. A bit further up were the rooms of the faction leaders like Ais.

Perhaps because he was being groomed as a mainstay, Finn arranged for Ize to be closer to the core members of the faction, hoping for more interaction.

At this moment, the expedition members gathered in the courtyard of Twilight Manor, all dressed and ready, looking spirited.

Loki stood with Finn, listening attentively to Finn’s pre-battle pep talk.

Almost half of the Loki Familia members had gathered. Expeditions were events like this.

Members above a certain rank within the Familia would all gather, then launch a large-scale assault on the dungeon, bringing back bountiful rewards.

Once this team departed, the remaining members of Loki Familia would be reduced to just a handful.

Peeking out the window, Ize quietly stuck his head out to observe the scene below.

Sneaky Observing.jpg

As a rookie, a Lv1 novice, this expedition certainly didn’t involve him, and no one even bothered to notify him.

Still in his pajamas, he looked like a grade school kid living next to a university campus, secretly getting up early during summer break to watch college students’ military training.