Chương 161: First Class?
I shall make some food, see you all later.
I'll be posting zero fate later as well, I have yet to finish writing it and editing it...
Anyway, bye.
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/Back to the present/
'The situation was rather awkward, no one knew what to say…'
'Gareth had already run out of topics to talk about, and now the only words left on his lips were a question…'
'The same everyone else had… Apart from a few who still failed to recognize who the man in front of them actually was.'
'What it meant for him to be here... Alone.'
'To those people, Silver was likely just a strong adventurer, perhaps well-geared as well, though that gear had likely been destroyed by now given his subpar state.'
'But which one of the First Class adventurers had such connections with the Loki Familia to the point it made them surprised to see him here?'
'Still... Who were they to blame? Silver was completely covered in black ash, considerably injured, and his clothes were... Well, he was barely wearing any.'
'There was nothing on him that could make people easily recognize him, only his eyes were there, but was that really enough?'
'For the Executives, it was, for the rest, no.'
'None of his usual disposition could be seen right now.'
'He looked way worse than even a beggar, and albeit he didn't smell, that was merely because the stench of blood on him was so strong, other smells were overshadowed.'
'Even so, no one was actively trying to smell him, even if they were, the smell coming from Raul's armpits would've sent them to the ground already.'
'Especially Gareth's, Dwarves aren't really a flowery race…'
'One of the reasons why Bete always stayed as far away as he could from most people during raids...'
'And good luck living your life if you point your nose towards the Elves and call them smelly, peace, and quiet will be the last things you'll ever have…'
'Seeing that things had slowed down, Silver asked:'
"Are you guys coming from the Deeper floors? I thought the Loki Familia had already passed through here."
"We… Yes." Finn replied after a bit of hesitation
Forget it, right now, why he is here doesn't matter, what we need to do is keep moving.
"You must've seen the main group or at least heard of it… They went ahead while we stayed behind to take on Udaeus, the Monster Rex of the 37th floor."
'While he said that, he pointed at Raul and the extremely bloated bag he was carrying, it was likely full of items including Udaeus's magic stone that was about the size of a person.'
'Silver nodded, this much he had predicted the moment he saw them.'
"I see, that's pretty incredible, you all do look rather tired though..."
The problems of not being able to come and go whenever you want...
"Then, may I ask why are you all here? The Red Plains aren't really part of the usual route adventurers would take, most prefer to stay away from here…"
"For obvious reasons of course."
Especially for a large party of tired adventurers, and unless they came here for an extra challenge and some spare change, I can't see why they would make this deviation in the usual path...
Though, was it me?
"..."
'Finn's lips twitched, it was getting harder to maintain his composure…'
'He may be the Braver, but he is still a person, he simply didn't know how to react.'
"You see… We thought that something had happened… So we came here to check on it."
'To his words, Silver looked around, and he awkwardly scratched his head.'
"I did go a bit overboard… My apologies for dragging you all into this."
I did check for adventurers, but I can't predict if a group will come up or down while I'm at it.
It's not like this is the first time ever such a thing has happened...
"That isn't a problem… But…"
'Finn's tongue moved inside of his mouth as he tried to find the adequate string of words to use, but he failed.'
'It was really fascinating to see the braver so stuck, perhaps a mix of his tiredness plus how sudden this situation was made his brain revolve around on the same spot...'
'Silver obviously noticed this, and he chuckled slightly.'
"It seems I do have some things to explain… Not that I mind, I was planning on leaving anyway."
This may be a chance, I wanted to see the Monster Rex anyway.
Also, why not tag along and see how a proper Familia does things?
I can definitely learn a lot from seeing how the best operate.
"Would you all mind if I tag along?"
"I can promise not to hold you all back at least, of course, if it's too much, I can go back alone just fine, I came down here like that in the first place."
"We…"
"HEY!"
'Tiona suddenly exclaimed as she jumped forward, staying a few feet before Silver.'
"Did you REALLY come all the way here alone!?"
'Silver raised one of his eyebrows.'
"I did, is that somehow, weird?"
'Tiona was stunned.'
'Was it strange? Well… Not really, if she wanted to, she could also do the same, albeit it wouldn't be productive nor smart for her to do so.'
'Unless she ran non-stop, coming down here would take a few days on foot, and even if she defeated some monsters, just how many Magic stones would she get?'
'It was, overall, not worth it.'
"Uh… I guess not?... No… That isn't it…"
What did I want to ask again?
'But someone was there to shine some light into her confusion:'
"OF COURSE IT IS!" Lefiya exclaimed as she clutched onto her staff
'She pointed at him, her hair becoming disheveled…'
"You're only a Level 2 adventurer, what are you doing all the way on the 36th floor?!"
It… It has barely even been half a year since he started!
At this period in time, Ais was still Level 1, and it would still take another half year for her to Level up…
Even if she had reached her limits around that time... Shouldn't it have been the same for him?!
"Ahhh… So that is what's been on your mind."
Their suspicion isn't baseless...
'He looked at her and replied with a serious look:'
"Hunting the Tyrant of the Plains."
""...""
/Silence…/
/Thud/
'Lefiya fell onto the ground, unconscious, her face red…'
"Lefy?!"
'She had to be held by one of the other girls else she would fall face first onto the ground…'
"Is she okay?" Silver asked as he pointed at her
"Y-Yes, don't mind her, it happens from time to time…" Anakitty replied as she looked at Silver and then back at the young elf
'But her curiosity took over her.'
"Aside from that… You… Are you really Level 2?"
I finally recognize him… He's the one Tiona often talks about back in the Manor.
Not only Tiona... Even the Goddess spared a few words for him once in a while.
There was a time she said we were boring compared to him...
The rookie that beat Ais' level-up record by a whole 10 months.
Last time I saw him was from far away, this would make it our first time talking like this, that is how I didn't recognize him at first.
His current look is rather rough, but his eyes are unmistakably bright.
The Captain of the Hestia Familia... He's surely strange.
"Hm… I guess." Silver replied with a shrug
I should be changing that to 3 soon… I ought to.
While the world will see me as a Level 3, I'll raise my Level to 4.
"..."
How can you reply with, 'I guess?!'.
/Tap!/
'Gareth slapped Silver's back, but he didn't move in the slightest.'
'His expression did twitch because that small tap just happened to be on top of a painful area...'
"Boy, how about we get you some new clothes? I think your current look is too much for the ladies."
If we leave him like this... "He" might as well slip out!
And I don't want to see a bloodbath...
/Nods…/
'The girls nodded to the old Dwarf's words.'
"Hah? Ah!"
"Sorry sorry…" Silver said as he faked surprise
'He knew very well his current state, honestly, he was about to create an excuse so he could put on some.'
'Albeit he wasn't embarrassed, this didn't mean he was enjoying it either, he didn't like to show off like this, he wasn't that sort of person.'
'If he were to show off, be it in other ways…'
'Even so, it seemed his acting had paid off somewhat, had he appeared fully clothed as if nothing happened, giving the current situation, everyone would've noticed that something was wrong.'
'The contrary would've happened had he decided to appear naked as he was before, some of his teeth might've fallen by now…'
'So a little bit of embarrassment wasn't much, especially when he didn't really care much, he was very proud of this body he trained so much to attain.'
"Give me a moment, I'll take care of that."
'Silver raised his hand, and water started to rise from the ground, completely covering him in a bubble…'
"??"
Water?... Ah yes… He doesn't need to chant.
'Riveria's eyes twitched, she was used to how other traditional mages looked at her and her disciple due to how they broke the usual 3 magic formula.'
'But what is worse, a mage that can cast more than 3 magic Spells through the Falna system, or someone that simply doesn't chant at all?'
'There aren't even any Magic Spells...'
'Considering their pride and way of be, they may label Silver as a fake mage... Not that he would care.'
'She put his finger on the water, it wasn't an illusion, it was indeed plain cold water.'
'Gareth on the other hand was certainly curious about what would happen…'
...
/Pop!/
'Not long after, the water sphere popped open, revealing a fresh-looking Silver with a new pair of pants…'
'But that wasn't all, his body was clean, and albeit his scars were still visible and their intensity hadn't decreased, they were much cleaner than before.'
'And what sort of adventurer would frown at a scar? They were pretty normal in all adventurers.'
'The important thing was that there were no more dust or blood, he was even sparkling, smelling nice, which was odd.'
'His hair was neatly in place, and his feet were now covered by a pair of leather shoes, and the same could be said for his hands that were now covered by a pair of thin black gloves.'
'For his chest, he a had a simple and cheap white shirt.'
'There wasn't anything impressive about his clothes, they were obviously very cheap, and that was for a reason, Silver always destroyed them, so there was no need for his clothes to be expensive.'
'This was the contrary for the Loki Familia's clothes though… Their clothes were made with extremely resistant materials to the point they could be considered armor.'
'It wouldn't save their lives against a monster that could tear through the metal sheets of their armor, but the little protection it offered could indeed save them, and it did before.'
'And that was priceless.'
'As proof of that, they were mostly intact apart from a few cuts and tears here and there, Riveria's cape was pristine apart from the dirt around it, even so, it was very little.'
'Tione and Tiona's clothes were very minimalistic, but their bodies were their armor, they only needed it to stay intact so they didn't suddenly go nude in the middle of an intense fight.'
'The surprising thing, however, is the fact he managed to clean himself so quickly.'
/Thud thud.../
'Dusting his pants in a carefree way, Silver snapped his fingers…'
/FWOOSH!/
/CLANG!/
'His Halberd flew from the ground, falling next to him in a cool way, it even seemed to shine for a moment under the light coming from the ceiling.'
'He looked at it, feeling a bit remorseful after seeing its current battered state, so he washed it clean with water as well.'
'Raising it to the sky so it could shine even more, he rested it on his shoulders.'
"I'm done now." He said as he pulled his hair back in style with one hand
"..."
/Annoyed…/
'Raul didn't know why, but he became annoyed as he saw the looks of surprise and admiration coming from the other girls.'
"That's probably the smoothest thing I've ever seen." Cruz said as he checked his own dirty spear, patting it with some understanding
If only you could fly like that, I would be drowning in ladies right now…
But don't fret, you're good just the way you are.
"..."
'Narvi, the red-haired girl looked at Silver, stunned.'
Oh no… He's… Hotter than I expected…
'Each of them had their own reactions upon learning who he was…'
'A little bit further on the back, Finn and Riveria talked...'
"He does know how to show off…" Riveria said as she rested her staff on the ground
'Finn was also smiling slightly as he noticed her pensive expression.'
"Did you feel anything interesting?"
"Apart from the rising Magical Power, nothing, it was sudden since just as it came, it left, vanishing."
"It makes me wonder just like the first time I saw it."
"I see..."
"However, I did notice something…"
"Oh?"
"His Magical Power… Has increased exponentially, he's likely lying about his Level."
'Finn felt his thumb ache.'
"So it wasn't just me…"
"Whatever he did wasn't enough to draw it all out, but conservative estimations would put him in the high ends of Level 3, perhaps even higher, albeit it does pain me to even consider that."
"He never showed himself to me as the Mage type, even after what he told me I believed he was akin to a Battlemage, fighting in the frontlines due to his unique gift…"
At first, it was weak, at most comparable to an average Mage.
"But this display has made me change my mind, the density of his Magic power is higher than Lefiya's and that in itself is…"
"Absurd." Finn replied as he continued Riveria's sentence
Lying about being Level 2, means he became Level 3 sometime after…
In fact, he was already very strong even before that, much stronger than what a Level 2 should be.
He became an adventurer not that long ago, and his Level up to 2 should be true and not a lie due to the Guild's testimony…
But even so… How long did he spend as one? 3 months? 4?... Perhaps even less?
At that time, he was barely considered to be a rising, Second Class adventurer, even if he had a lot of combat experience and technique.
It took Ais half a year to reach her limit as a Level 1, and another 6 months for her to Level up.
She might've raised her Level faster were we to tell her about her Magic and also the secret of Leveling up... But she would've died due to how reckless she was.
At that time, she was strong enough to blast a Minotaur to pieces if she used her Magic, though it recoiled pretty badly on her untrained body.
Even so, I can't see her Leveling up any faster, even now, thanks to that, her speed has increased by about 3-5 times, though given that, she would push her limits higher and that would balance things out.
It's difficult to quantify it precisely...
How unsettling… Just what does he know that allows him to grow so quickly?
And what will become of him a few years down the line?
'Finn was really lost.'
'Seeing this, Riveria immediately knew what he was thinking, but she had to change the subject of the conversation…'
"How about what he said about before? Did you think about it?"
"I did."
"How about we let him tag along?"
"Oh? I thought you would be against it."
'Riveria coughed slightly.'
"Normally that is the case, being this deep in the Dungeon, being too optimistic of things often led to bad decisions…"
"However at the same time, I wouldn't mind helping a fellow adventurer go to a safe point, especially if he were someone I knew… And was injured."
'She turned her face to look at the others.''
"Besides… It doesn't look like they'll be able to ignore him just like that."
"And I have a feeling this won't be our last time seeing him today either for some reason."
/Chuckles…/
'Finn chuckled in a low tone.'
"Why don't you just say that you're curious about him?"
"..."
'She said nothing, though her expression seemed to become slightly tenser, almost imperceptible.'
"Heh, well... You have the same feeling as me."
'Having decided on how to proceed, they approached him to see what he had to say.'
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Notes
One of the things I think I did badly in this arc was just how much time I spent on it.
I did a lot of character interactions, and this is mostly what this Volume is about.
Though I think it was necessary, I also understand the others that want to see him blast more monsters into pieces, just like how I did showing him slowly descending to this floor.
Hopefully, as I said before, next Volume will be more focused on that... Though it remains to be seen.
Tell me, what sort of interactions would you like to see in this small arc?
Would you like to see a specific character talk about something? Perhaps a particular scene...
Anyway, bye!
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