Bab 7: 007 I don't have much time
One magic, three skills.
For someone who had just received a divine blessing, this was indeed an extraordinarily exaggerated starting point.
Even Loki, who had brought his familia to one of the strongest positions in Orario over the past few decades, had only seen this kind of potential in one person so far.
This person was the first familia member found by Loki after descending to the lower world, the current head of Loki Familia, one of the less than ten Level 6 adventurers in the Labyrinth City Orario, the Hero, a member of the diminutive race — Finn Timna.
The head of the Loki Familia had, just like Reiger, awakened to one magic and three skills when he first received the divine blessing. Now he possessed two magics and five skills, holding the record for most skills known to Loki, with his magic only one short of being maxed out.
It's true that having a multitude of magics and skills doesn't necessarily mean a person is stronger than those with fewer magics or skills in Orario; after all, there were existences stronger than Finn. However, it does depend on the actual effects of the magics and skills in question.
Magic can be strong or weak, and skills can have useful or useless effects. Just awakening them doesn't guarantee usefulness or a boost to one's strength.
But, have you seen the effects of Reiger's magic and skills?
"This really is..."
Loki stared at the effects of the skills and magic inscribed on the parchment, his rarely opened eyes glittering with a sharp light.
Especially for the skill "Self-redemption," one of its effects was—"It allows for autonomous updating of status values through the consumption of the corresponding amount of Divine Blood."
"Damn autonomous updating of status values," cursed Loki under his breath. "Even those old gods who've been in the lower world for centuries probably haven't seen skills with such effects, have they?"
Loki had never heard of a child of the lower world who could update their status values on their own.
Where does that leave them, the gods? And how embarrassing is that?
After all, once their divine power was sealed, the only use the gods had in the lower world was to give blessings and update the content of those blessings.
Reiger, of course, was unaware of Loki's feelings and was just looking at his own status values.
There was nothing much to say about the basic abilities.
Due to the recent acquisition of the blessing, the five items that hadn't yet had a chance to grow with experience points were all at the lowest I stage, and the proficiency in each was uniformly zero.
Proficiency denotes the progress of that ability.
From 0 to 99 is I.
From 100 to 199 is H.
From 200 to 299 is G.
From 300 to 399 is F.
And so on, when proficiency reaches 900 to 999, it hits S.
It is commonly believed that the highest stage for basic abilities is S and that 999 is the upper limit of proficiency.
And the only way to improve the proficiency of basic abilities and to raise the stages of each basic ability is by frequently using that ability.
To enhance "Strength," you must frequently exercise force in attacks.
To enhance "Endurance," you must frequently endure attacks.
To enhance "Agility," you must frequently sprint at high speed.
And so on. If you want to improve "Magic Power," you need to frequently cast magic.
The more often an ability is used, the higher the proficiency will rise, but the closer it approaches the maximal number of 999, the evaluation of S, the slower the growth in proficiency becomes.
It is said that there are but a few who can raise an ability to the highest evaluation of S stage, with even those reaching stages A and B being rare.
Of course, as someone who knew the plot of the original work, Reiger was aware that for some overpowered individuals, not to mention reaching the highest evaluation S stage, breaching this theoretical limit was not a difficult task.
Yes, referring to the protagonist of the original story.
"I wonder if I could break through that limit too."
While Reiger pondered such matters, he focused most of his attention on his magic and skills.
When he saw "Omnipotent," the only magic he had awakened to, Reiger's gaze paused for a brief moment.
"Memory magic, huh?" Reiger mocked himself internally, "Turns out my only strong point is still memory."
Obviously, this magic was a manifestation of Reiger's exceptional memory, the sole talent from his previous life that he had taken pride in.
The fact that it manifested as magic was probably because the body's original inhabitant, taken over by Reiger, was a native of a magical world with inherently strong magic power.
As for the three skills, they were crystallizations of the obsessions in Reiger's heart.
For the time being, Reiger jotted down the effects of these magics and skills to explore in the future.
At this point, Loki seemed to have sorted out his emotions and started speaking again.
"I will use Divine Blood to lock your status values, which is to say, I will hide your blessing to prevent others from prying into them," said Loki as he picked up the needle again, pricked his finger, and touched it to Reiger's back, while speaking to Reiger.
"Moreover, I must remind you that one's status values are the greatest secret of anyone who has received a blessing. Generally, you should not reveal information about your status values to anyone other than your most trusted familia members and the familia's patron deity, to avoid letting those with ulterior motives grasp your strength, drawing unnecessary targeting and malice," Loki warned with the most serious expression he had ever shown Reiger.
"Especially you, Reiger; apart from familia members, it's best if you don't let any other person know about your magic and skills."
There was no doubt that Reiger's magic and skills were abilities of exceptional caliber.
Reiger might still need to explore, but as a god who was wide-ranging in knowledge and with an exceptional eye for detail, Loki could already discern their capabilities and potential.
That was definitely something that would shock, even drive certain beings into madness.
Therefore, Loki had to remind Reiger of this matter.
"I understand."
Reiger, of course, would not casually reveal his secrets to outsiders.
He was well aware that it was often the hidden things that were the key to victory and the ace up his sleeve.
"Good, as long as you understand," Loki finally relaxed her tone and smirked again, saying, "Of course, you don't have to be so cautious. My Loki's family isn't some stray cat or dog off the street. If anyone dares to lay a hand on you, they'd better be prepared to lose a claw."
Loki's fingertips, wet with Divine Blood, traced Reiger's back. His back instantly rippled like the surface of water disturbed, sending waves outwards.
Before long, the ability value on Reiger's back vanished from sight.
It was locked.
Unless Loki herself unlocked it with Divine Blood, or someone used illegal means to forcefully unlock it, no one could make it appear again.
Reiger, however, felt that with the skill effect he had acquired, he should be able to unlock it himself using Loki's Divine Blood.
But naturally, Reiger had no intention of doing that.
"All done!"
Having finished, Loki clapped her hands together, looking like she had completed a great task and come back triumphant.
Reiger also dressed himself, burned the parchment that displayed his ability value on the nearby oil lamp, and then turned to Loki.
"When can I go to the underground city?"
Reiger asked, just in case.
"What's the rush?" Loki rolled her eyes, saying, "You just received a favor and now you want to dive into the underground city? Aren't you tired?"
According to Reiger himself, he had just arrived in Orario that day.
Although Loki didn't know where Reiger had come from, it was quite the energy to have sought out her family on his first day in Orario, received a favor, and then desired to plunge into the underground city.
"You should rest well first, get yourself organized, and then we can discuss other matters," Loki said with irritation. "I'll have someone find you a vacant room. Tomorrow I'll take you around headquarters, get to know the place and the people."
Upon hearing this, Reiger's brow slightly furrowed, almost imperceptibly, before relaxing again.
"May I take this with me?"
Reiger pointed at the short sword lying casually on Loki's bed as he spoke.
"You're interested in it?" Loki said with an odd expression, "Giving it to you isn't a problem, but it's just something that looks prettier than it's useful. It's far more valuable as a piece of art than as a weapon–you could only use it for self-defense, you know?"
"That will be enough," Reiger said with a faint smile. "I just want a weapon for self-defense. It feels a bit unsafe to go empty-handed."
"Is that so." Loki narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Reiger for a good while before waving her hand dismissively, saying, "Then take it. Consider it a gift from me, the chief god, to a child newly joined to my family."
"Thank you," Reiger bowed his head, making a gesture of gratitude, before picking up the short sword.
Next, Reiger left Loki's Divine Room and exited the room.
Loki watched Reiger go, murmuring to herself after a while.
"I thought he was a steady kid. I didn't expect he also had an impatient side."
"Well, let him go. After all, the children in my family all seem to bear some heavy burden," she mused. "I hope the kid grows up smoothly."
In the Divine Room, the chief god, who appeared unreliable at first glance but was actually meticulous and strategic, quietly closed her eyes.
...
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the House of Twilight, Reiger held the fancily decorated short sword and left the place.
His gaze was fixed on the very center of the city.
There stood a tower tall enough to soar into the clouds, reaching higher than the central tower of the House of Twilight, high enough to overlook the entire city—a tower made of white chalk.
"Is that the Tower of Babel?"
The Tower of Babel, also known as the Divine Tower, was the most important and emblematic building in Maze City Orario.
It served many functions and roles.
Among those, the most crucial was acting as a lid for the underground city, suppressing the entrance to the dungeon beneath the tower.
Yes.
The entrance to the underground city lay beneath that immense white chalk tower.
"Sorry, Loki."
In Reiger's eyes, a cold resolve flickered.
"I don't have much time."
Muttering to himself, Reiger immediately headed in the direction of the Tower of Babel.
His destination, the underground city.
Hadiah
-- Hadiah diterima Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone