"Strange..."
A perplexed murmur echoed softly inside an opulent room, a corner where no one could hear it.
Freya stood by the window, her beautiful eyes wide open, gazing at a corner of the city, filled with confusion in her eyes.
She had witnessed the confrontation between Riezel and Allen—or rather, through some special means, in a manner close to 'clairvoyance', she observed the process of Riezel and Allen's clash.
This was a skill only she could master, beyond the reach of the other gods.
Therefore, even though the place where they clashed was at a considerable distance from her place, she could still 'see' what was happening. But precisely because of this, she was both amazed and puzzled.
"The first time I've seen a soul like that..." Freya's beautiful brows tightly furrowed as she murmured.
The Goddess of Beauty, Freya, possessed a pair of unique eyes.
They were called the 'Discerning Eye', capable of seeing the essence of the souls of those in the lower world. These were eyes one was born with, not falling under the category of Arcanum, which was prohibited for use in the lower world. It was an innate skill, a trait that was practically useless in heaven.
However, in the lower world, with this pair of eyes, she could perceive the potential of mortals more keenly than any other god. As long as she could observe the souls of these mortals, she could judge one's potential based on the brilliance of their soul.
After all, any hero, anyone wielding the power of a hero, would have a soul that shone brilliantly, it was impossible to be as ordinary as a commoner.
In heaven, she used this ability to grasp the colors of the souls of those ascending to heaven (the deceased), selecting favored individuals as her own collectibles and embracing them in her arms.
These so-called 'collectibles' were what mortals called heroes.
Therefore, it was not strange for Freya Familia to become one of the strongest familias in Orario, on par with Loki Familia, and even surpassing them in some aspects. The reason was that the goddess of this familia could recruit children with extraordinary potential ahead of other gods, gradually making her familia stronger.
Freya also had a deep affection for children with extraordinary soul brilliance. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she loved such children deeply.
In light of this, after Riezel displayed exceptional potential, she immediately set her sights on him.
However, his soul made the Goddess of Beauty, who could see through the soul of every mortal, full of astonishment and suspicion.
"It's not the dazzling brilliance or the extraordinary colors, but the difference in 'shape'?"
The soul seen by her Discerning Eye right now was such an unprecedented thing.
In the past, the souls of those in the lower world, when viewed through her eyes, either had different colors or emitted varying degrees of brilliance. Based on the display of 'color' and 'brilliance', she chose whether to add them to her collection based on her preferences.
Up to now, she had seen various souls of heroes displaying different colors and brilliance.
Some had unique colors.
Some radiated brilliant and dazzling light.
All of these were things she liked and loved.
But Riezel was different.
In her Discerning Eye, his soul had neither extraordinary colors nor brilliant radiance, only twisting like a vortex.
No, it wasn't a vortex.
It was a 'hole'.
A colorless, brilliant-less, completely unclear shape, twisting like a black hole, as if it could engulf everything, ferment, blend, and mix inside.
This 'hole' seemed to be telling her not to expect or see what was inside or casually judge its value, blocking her line of sight completely.
From that 'hole', all she could see or feel was only one emotion.
That was the obsession not to accept interference from anyone.
That was the unwillingness to be scrutinized and judged by anyone.
That was the essence of Riezel's soul. He was rejecting those who were reaching out to him, silently indicating to them that his future could only be decided and chosen by himself.
Indeed, it was a kind of obsession.
If one's existence could be observed and scrutinized casually by others, their future from that moment would have been fixed, confined within the range of what others 'saw'.
Riezel would not accept such a future.
"Fufufu~ very interesting..."
After the initial surprise, Freya became intrigued.
"Unwilling to be seen by me (goddess), unwilling to be judged by anyone (world), persistently and twistedly advancing, what kind of existence do you really want to become?"
Suddenly, she developed a burning desire.
A desire to see what was brewing inside that 'hole'.
"Fufufu... So that's how it is... This is the unknown that various gods have been pursuing all along... Fufufu..." Freya chuckled.
Her laughter was captivating, enough to conquer nations. It was a laughter of unparalleled beauty.
"Looks like I'm really going to have a confrontation with Loki this time..." Freya mused. "Even I, just thinking about getting involved with her, can't help but feel a bit scared."
It was not without reason.
Loki was the Goddess of Mischief who once triggered doomsday in heaven, deceived and tricked various gods several times, causing them to turn against each other, nearly unleashing a true calamity.
Even Freya, at the thought of clashing with this Evil Goddess, couldn't help but have reservations.
"But then again, it's a kind of fun."
"Let's take it slow."
"After all, I'm not in a hurry..."
Freya smiled and walked away.
She still had to go check on her little cat (Allen) who got accidentally injured due to her own mischievous sense of humor.
===
At this moment, night had completely fallen.
Riezel, covered in bloodstains, took advantage of the night and walked into Twilight Manor, under the doubtful gazes of the gatekeepers.
He had intended not to attract anyone's attention and go straight to his room, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to do so.
"Riezel?"
Accompanied by a surprised voice, someone had returned to familia shortly after him.
Riezel stopped, feeling somewhat helpless.
"...What happened to you?"
A swordswoman with dazzling golden hair, fully armed, returned from outside and coincidentally met him as he was about to enter the manor. Seeing his bloodstained appearance, her transparent golden eyes were filled with surprise and seriousness.
Although Riezel felt helpless, he turned to face Ais.
"Ais, did you go to the dungeon?" Riezel asked calmly as he assessed the fully armed Ais.
"Um..." Ais nodded. "After you went out with Captain, I went to the dungeon."
She was still so diligent and progressive, obviously affected by him.
"Then you have to be careful." Riezel smiled slightly. "If Riveria finds out, you're in trouble."
At his words, Ais couldn't help but shrink her head.
She was most afraid of Riveria, who was like a mother figure, always accompanying her, guarding her growth, and taking care of her. Riveria had scolded her many times for not resting properly after an expedition and for excessively diving into the dungeon.
Her progress was good and her effort was also commendable, but Ais's amount of effort far exceeded others. There was a concern that she might overwork herself to the point of exhaustion.
In a sense, Ais and Riezel were indeed similar.
Both were someone willing to risk everything, including their lives, to become stronger as quickly as possible, seizing every opportunity for growth.
From Riezel's usual recklessness, it was apparent that Ais's degree of recklessness was no less.
However, there were some differences between them.
Riezel had self-awareness and insisted on following his own path, regardless of how others perceived him. Meanwhile, Ais was still a bit hesitant and timid, always afraid of being lectured by Riveria.
"Don't change the subject." Ais ignored his words and stared at him with a serious expression. "Are you injured?"
"...I guess so." Riezel pursed his lips. "Just a minor injury though, already healed."
A wound that could be healed with elixir should be considered minor in his perspective.
"You're lying." Ais mercilessly exposed his lie. "Your complexion is terrible; clearly, you've been seriously hurt."
That was where his flaw lies.
While a potion could stop bleeding and heal injuries, it couldn't easily conceal the paleness caused by a significant loss of blood.
Ais was precisely concerned about that.
She couldn't fathom how, with Riezel's current strength, he ended up seriously injured. If he followed the usual routine of entering the dungeon and defeating monsters, it wouldn't have led to this. Unless he delved into the deeper floors below the 37th Floor or encountered an irregular.
However, returning on the same day from the deeper floors below the 37th Floor was impossible. If an irregular appeared, it would be reported to the Guild immediately and spread among adventurers, but she hadn't heard any such news.
In a nutshell...
"You fought someone...?" Ais whispered. "A powerful one?"
"..." Riezel fell silent, then pondered. 'This girl, all cool and aloof, is actually pretty intelligent?'
Seeing her intense stare, he could only nod and answer.
"Don't tell anyone; I want to solve it myself."
"..."
Ais remained silent for a while, but eventually, nodded her head in agreement.
"...Okay."
However, from her hesitant eyes, he could tell that she was somewhat conflicted and uneasy. Ais, seemingly cold but inexperienced, clearly didn't know how to handle the current situation.
Observing her behavior, Riezel unconsciously extended his hand and gave Ais a headpat. She froze, involuntarily raising her head to look at him.
Meeting her eyes, he only smiled.
"Don't worry. I'm not one to take a loss easily."
Upon hearing his confident words, Ais lowered her head in silence. Her face, partially obscured by her bangs, turned slightly red.
Support and read advanced chapters at:
pat*reon.com/VALRRR
In the following period, members of the Loki Familia were surprised to find that Riezel, who was already an early riser and dedicated to dungeon exploration every day, became even more diligent than before.
Due to the upcoming expedition, Loki Familia was now extremely busy. Even the executives were ordered not to enter the dungeon and instead stay at the manor, helping with the preparation for the expedition.
Lefiya was also asked by Riveria to stay behind and assist.
This left Riezel once again as a lone wolf.
Initially, everyone thought he would stay in the familia to help prepare supplies for the upcoming expedition. However, after Lefiya was left behind and Riezel became a solo adventurer again, he worked even harder.
He would often leave before dawn and return only late at night, appearing weary and dust-covered, as if he had traveled a great distance.
Oddly enough, the higher-ups in the familia, upon learning of this, chose to ignore his act without any objection.
"Why can't we go, while Riezel can head to the dungeon without pitching in for the expedition preparation?" Tiona protested to Finn.
Before Finn could respond, Tione approached and quickly restrained Tiona.
"Don't question Captain's decisions!"
The elder sister of the Amazoness twins wore a fierce expression, nearly intimidating Lefiya, who happened to be present.
"The expedition is imminent. Even if we let you go to the dungeon for this short period, you won't gain much growth, will you?" Gareth bluntly shuts down Tiona with a lack of patience.
The implication was clear—rather than wasting this time to strive for minimal growth, it was better to stay in the familia, recuperate, and at the same time handle some expedition-related tasks.
However, Riezel was an exception.
"For us, the progress during this short period is indeed minimal, but it's different for him." Riveria added, leaving Tiona speechless.
The executives finally understood why the rest of the familia had been assigned tasks by the higher-ups while Riezel had not.
Preparing expedition supplies—whether there was one more or one less person involved didn't matter. It was better to let Riezel continue to explore the dungeon, utilizing his extraordinary growth speed to the fullest.
This way, he could confidently face his first expedition as an adventurer with an even stronger stance.
"Focus more on the upcoming expedition, all of you." Finn said confidently, observing the silence that had fallen over everyone. "Only through expeditions can we delve into deeper floors, face more challenging monsters, and defeat stronger enemies."
That was the true path to accelerated growth for them.
Without expeditions, the most they could explore would be the middle to lower floors, where the monsters were relatively weak compared to first-class adventurers like them. Killing these weak monsters, no matter how many, would provide little growth.
Rather than dwelling on minimal growth, it was more effective to shift their focus to the upcoming expedition and make thorough preparations. This was the most efficient way for Level 5 and above to grow.
Of course...
"Though it's a different story for that boy..." Gareth muttered, casting a sense of melancholy that plunged everyone into deeper silence.
It was only at this moment that everyone realized something.
Riezel, who only explored up to the 17th Floor, after this expedition, what kind of growth would he achieve upon reaching deeper floors?
With only reaching up to the 17th Floor, he managed to level up from Level 1 to Level 4 in just over a month. So, upon entering floors deeper than the 17th, how much excelia would he gain?
Not to mention, a single expedition, a round trip alone taking more than a week, and adding the time needed for exploration, it could easily exceed half a month.
With at least a half-month expedition, how would his body, which leveled up several times in just over a month, change?
"Perhaps, after this expedition, Riezel will be just like you all..."
Riveria threw out those words to the group of Level 5 executives and remained silent thereafter. However, just these words alone instantly created tremendous pressure in the hearts of every executive.
"No way, right?" Tiona wailed. "Is he going to be Level 5 after returning from this expedition? Is he trying to kill us?"
"He really is a freak..." Tione also had no words. "It seems being caught up is only a matter of time. We might as well lie flat."
"I'm already lying flat though..." Lefiya murmured silently as she heard Tione's words.
As a witness to Riezel's growth, Lefiya transitioned from admiration in the beginning to diligent efforts in the middle. But later on, she decided to lie flat when he officially reached Level 4, surpassing her in all aspects.
It was not because she didn't want to work hard or pursue him; she simply couldn't catch up at all.
She watched Riezel step by step to reach his current level with her own eyes. Her understanding and admiration for his desperate efforts, as well as his repeated help and rescue, made her start to question life.
Now, she admired and idolized him even more, and there were fewer feelings of unwillingness.
After all—
'Mr. Riezel and Miss Ais are becoming more and more alike....' Lefiya blushed unnaturally, stealing a glance towards the corner of the room.
There, Ais sat alone, hugging her knees, staring blankly at everyone, lost in thought.
While outside the door, Bete, who had just been about to protest upon hearing the words of the three top executives, silently turned away upon witnessing the outcome of Tiona's protest.
All these scenes were observed by Loki with interest.
'Kukuku, there's going to be some fun.'
Whether taking pleasure in other people's misfortune or for some other reason, Loki silently giggled while leaning against the window, watching her busy children coming in and out of the manor.
===
Time passed quickly.
As each day went by, Loki Familia started transporting boxes of supplies from various places in Orario back to their base.
Among these supplies were pre-ordered spare weapons, various items and tools that could come in handy for special occasions, and potions packaged in crates, containing all kinds of recovery items.
Some members were busy with various tasks, while others, during their rest periods, collectively headed to Loki's divine room, forming a long line in front of it.
All of this was in preparation for the upcoming expedition, a final round of status updates before venturing into the dungeon.
In places like the dungeon, adventurers wouldn't be able to update their statuses anymore. At this time, it was crucial to make the most of it and enhance their strength whenever possible.
Due to this, Loki hadn't left the divine room in a while, and her faint shouts of complaint could be heard from within.
"Can I even get a break?!"
Although Loki was both frustrated and helpless, she was doing the only thing she could to help her children improve their strength and increase their chances of survival inside the dungeon.
Riezel, watching the long line in front of the divine room, also understood that she was likely busy during this period.
'Well, let's just wait then.'
He thought for a moment and decided to give up on finding Loki for a status update. After all, excelia wouldn't disappear. Even if there were no status updates, it would accumulate over time.
There was no need to rush.
Since the seniors of the familia had allowed him to explore the dungeon on his own when everyone was busy with the expedition preparation, he didn't want to compete with them over who could update their status first, especially when it would happen sooner or later.
As a result, everyone in the familia had their own tasks, and Riezel also had his. Both sides seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement, not interfering with each other, quietly anticipating the day of the expedition.
Until one day, as Riezel prepared to head to the dungeon, he received a summon from Finn.
"Your weapon is ready." Finn informed with a smile.
Hearing that, Riezel's eyes instantly lit up.
===
Northeast Street, Tsubaki's Workshop.
Riezel and Finn, just like the last time, walked hand in hand, once again visiting this place.
As soon as they entered, Riezel spotted Tsubaki.
"Finally, you're here!"
Tsubaki greeted him with a refreshing smile as she walked through the door. Without any unnecessary words, she gestured directly to the side.
"Come take a look at your sword."
Upon hearing this, Riezel glanced at Finn for a moment.
"Go ahead." Finn, with a smile on his face, nodded at him, indicating for him to go forward.
Only then did Riezel approach and stand next to Tsubaki.
There, a long box containing a weapon was casually placed on the table. The box was open, so he almost instantly saw the content inside.
It was a sword with a slender shape and an overall somewhat dark silver-gray color. The sword's edge was thin, almost transparent like crystal.
At first glance, it didn't appear to be a weapon designed for killing. Instead, it reminded him of the short sword he had obtained from Loki when he first joined the familia—a piece of beautiful art specifically meant for collection.
At this moment, Tsubaki's slightly satisfied voice sounded, entering his ears.
"I whipped up this weapon using orichalcum as the main material, threw in some mithril, and imbued it with the tooth of wind beast. It took me seven days, but I finally created this beauty."
Orichalcum was an extremely precious and rare metal, also known as adamantite, universally recognized as the world's hardest metal. Weapons with the Durandal attribute were primarily made from this metal.
Mithril was a refined metal with excellent magic conductivity, favored by most adventurers skilled in magic as the main weapon material.
As for the wind beast, it was a rare species that appeared on the 40th Floor of the dungeon, known for its strange speed. It was a monster with a relatively low classification level but extremely difficult to defeat.
Each of these three materials was extremely expensive and rare. Ordinary adventurers might never encounter one of them in their entire life, let alone acquire them.
Yet, Tsubaki had used all three to forge this sword.
"Now, this baby is yours."
Listening to her satisfied voice, Riezel's eyes focused on the sword in front of him, slightly gleaming with excitement.
Support and read advanced chapters at:
pat*reon.com/VALRRR
あなたも好きかも