"Are you looking for someone?"
Ais walked up to Eiji, recalling that he had been calling out someone's name earlier, and made a guess.
"This is..."
Amidst the scattered magic stones on the ground, a green armguard lay there, precisely where the white-haired boy had been standing.
"It must have fallen off in the chaos. Let's go after him and take a look."
A few minutes later.
Inside a stone cavern on the ninth floor, the two of them found the white-haired boy.
When they saw him, he was holding a small pallum girl who was crying her heart out. Both of them were covered in wounds, and there were also some charred remains of man-eating ants around them.
It seemed like he had found his companion trapped in a swarm of monsters and had fought a fierce battle.
"Hey, you over there, you dropped something."
A lighthearted voice reached the white-haired boy's ears, making him turn around in surprise.
Then, with a "Duang" sound, a hard object landed on his forehead before falling into his arms.
"The armguard Miss Eina gave me?!"
The silver-haired boy was flustered.
It was only now that he realized the armguard on his left arm was missing. Holding the armguard, he was filled with gratitude.
He must have dropped it earlier. He had to properly express his thanks.
He looked up at the people before him, and immediately, his breath caught.
A striking figure entered his vision. The young man in front of him was about his age but significantly taller, with a figure and appearance that seemed like a gift from the heavens, making it impossible to look away.
However, compared to him, the blonde girl standing silently behind him caught his attention even more.
Seeing this male-female duo, for a moment, Bell felt incredibly complicated.
"Um... Could it be that the person who saved me earlier was also...?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you so much for everything!"
"It was nothing."
Eiji waved his hand, clearly not concerned about such a trivial matter.
"Let's go back."
The person was saved, and the item was returned. Ais then urged Eiji.
She could hardly wait to see Eiji's updated status.
"Alright."
Eiji nodded and turned to leave toward the exit.
"Um...!"
Before he left, a nervous voice suddenly came from behind.
"What is it?"
Eiji turned his head.
"I know this is abrupt... but I heard that you've already become a Level 3 second-tier adventurer. Is that true?"
"Oh? You know about me?"
"Yes, I've at least seen your portrait..."
It was said that even before receiving a blessing, he had defeated a Level 2 adventurer as a normal human. After gaining a blessing, he reached Level 2 in an unprecedented twenty days, and just over ten days ago, there were rumors that he had already advanced to Level 3...
One seemingly impossible feat after another kept emerging from this so-called "strongest rookie," and his fame in Orario only continued to grow.
In secret, Bell had somewhat regarded this boy—who wasn't much older than himself—as a rival, thinking that he couldn't afford to lose to him.
Though, of course, that was merely wishful thinking.
"Yeah, I'm still Level 3 right now."
Eiji nodded honestly.
For now.
Probably after tonight, that wouldn't be the case anymore.
"I see... Thank you!"
The white-haired boy took a deep breath, seemingly accepting reality, then bowed deeply to Eiji in gratitude.
What's with that reaction?
Eiji had no idea what was on his mind, but he didn't care either.
Not intending to continue the conversation, he left with Ais.
Before leaving, Ais tilted her head in confusion.
It felt like that boy had been sneaking glances at her the whole time.
Had she met him somewhere before?
She had no recollection at all.
Ais shook her head, pushed the trivial matter to the back of her mind, and started looking forward to the upcoming excitement of the night.
***
==========
[Eiji Nangou]
[LV·3]
[Strength: A·807 → S·999]
[Endurance: B·718 → S·999]
[Dexterity: SS·1104 → SSS·1499]
[Agility: SSS·1376 → SSS·1999]
[Magic: D·567 → C·698]
[Skills: Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword, Sword Heart's Valor, Charm]
[Magic: None]
[Development Abilities: Hunter (H), Spirit Healing (I)]
==========
"It actually reached 1999... That's really amazing."
Ais held the newly updated parchment.
Even though she had expected it, seeing it in person still made her hands tremble slightly.
"My magic is still too low."
Eiji, however, was a little frustrated.
Magic was always difficult to improve. While all his other stats skyrocketed, only magic remained a bottleneck. Yet, his primary strength relied on magic.
This could only be attributed to his low natural talent for magic.
Of course, in the eyes of ordinary adventurers, this was already more than impressive. Adventurers without magic usually had a magic stat of 0, regardless of their level—like Tiona, who was Level 5 but still had no magic at all. Even for those with magic, their magic stat rarely exceeded D upon leveling up.
Among all attributes, magic was indeed the hardest to improve, though it varied from person to person.
"Did you level up?"
"Yeah, here are my updated stats."
Ais took the parchment and skimmed through it.
==========
[Eiji Nangou]
[LV·4]
[Strength: I·0]
[Endurance: I·0]
[Dexterity: I·0]
[Agility: I·0]
[Magic: I·0]
[Skills: Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword, Sword Heart's Valor, Charm]
[Magic: None]
[Development Abilities: Hunter (H), Spirit Healing (I), Swordsman (I)]
==========
"Level 4..."
His stats and skills hadn't changed much, except for the new "Swordsman" development ability.
Considering his swordsmanship, getting this ability was only natural. In fact, he probably had the option to choose it during previous level-ups but had simply not picked it.
But still...
It was too fast.
"He reached Level 3 just about twenty days ago, and now he's already leveled up again."
If she calculated it carefully,
he had reached Level 4 in less than two months.
The divine meeting that happened every three months to determine adventurer titles was still half a month away. Normally, a Level 4 adventurer would have already earned multiple titles, but Eiji didn't even have one yet.
"Thanks, Ais. Without you, I probably would have needed at least another half a month to level up."
"No, it's nothing... I can't afford to lose either."
Ais's eyes burned with fighting spirit once again.
After reaching Level 6, she had momentarily lost that sense of urgency, as if she couldn't find a clear goal for the time being.
But Eiji's rapid progress reignited her desire to grow stronger.
If this continued, he might actually catch up to her one day. She had to work even harder!
"With this, it should be about time..."
Eiji clenched his fists.
The surge of power within him filled him with unprecedented confidence. His strength had improved tremendously—he was certain he could even defeat a Level 5 adventurer.
That meant it was about time to get revenge.
***
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