This was an invisible clash.
There was no smoke or fire on this battlefield, yet it was just as perilous. One misstep, and you'd be drawn in, unable to escape.
A person and a god were both exerting all their charm and power, each enough to drive anyone mad with desire, silently competing, trying to force the other to kneel in submission. Neither was willing to yield.
Only when night began to fall did the fierce battle ease up.
In the end, it was Freya who came up just short.
It wasn't that her charm had lost. It was that, after battle upon battle, her stamina had simply run out.
Once a god seals their Divine Power, aside from a few passive abilities, they're no different from ordinary people. In front of Ryoji, who had just leveled up to Level 3, she was starting to fall behind.
Eventually, Freya could only collapse into sleep, thick with unwillingness.
Just before her vision faded into darkness, she saw that youth she loved and hated in equal measure, his face pale, but still proud, leave her with these words:
"This time, I won. Next time, we'll settle it again."
Then, he walked away with flair.
It was over.
Freya finally understood.
This boy was completely immune to her charm. On the other hand, she could never resist his handsome tricks. That meant not only was it impossible to recruit Ryoji into her Familia, but she might end up completely under his control.
At that moment, Freya's feelings toward Ryoji were deeply conflicted.
Love and hate, nothing more, nothing less.
"Friend, need a stamina booster?"
Ryoji staggered out of the room on unsteady feet, only to be approached by the shady innkeeper of the Pallum race, who sneakily tried to sell him a small red bottle.
"You know what I mean, men only!"
"Are you looking down on me?" Ryoji widened his eyes, looking utterly offended.
"How much?"
"Two thousand per bottle. I've got a dozen!"
"I'll take them all!"
Although he was confident in himself, better safe than sorry.
"Respect, bro!"
The innkeeper glanced at the room behind Ryoji, but unfortunately couldn't see anything inside. Thinking of the curvaceous cloaked woman from earlier, he gave Ryoji a big thumbs-up, eyes filled with envy.
If he could sleep with a woman that beautiful, he'd consider his life complete.
Ryoji humbly accepted the compliment.
Half an hour later.
Freya woke up and found the room empty. Her expression immediately darkened.
'Heartless man! Would it kill him to wait for me to wake up?!'
She dressed her sore body, threw on her cloak, and was just about to leave the room.
"Boss, isn't this a bit too much?"
"Shut up! Do you know how gorgeous that woman is? Just one night with her, and my life's complete!"
Outside, deliberately lowered voices hinted at mischief.
At the same time, two shadowy figures sneaked up to the room door.
Freya's expression turned cold, her proud eyes narrowing.
Forget that boy for now, you lowlifes, think you can approach me?
She was already filled with smoldering frustration. These fools had just become the perfect outlet,
"Eek!"
Suddenly, the innkeeper and his lackey outside screamed in terror and fled, scrambling away from the door.
"?"
Freya raised an elegant eyebrow and stepped outside.
On the floor near the door was a double-edged blade embedded deep into the wood, still lightly trembling. Clearly, it had been silently shot over and scared the two men away.
An unusual weapon.
Freya pulled the blade free and, following its trajectory, looked toward the inn across the street,
Just in time to see the back of a cloaked figure disappearing into the distance.
Her mood instantly improved, most of her pent-up anger dissipating.
"Should I kill them after all?"
Silently, without a sound.
A lean man dressed entirely in a pitch-black combat suit, with cat ears and a cat tail, appeared beside her, casting a gaze full of killing intent at the retreating Pallum innkeeper.
"Clean up your act."
Freya slightly lowered her proud head.
"Not like it's really my job to protect her, is it?"
Walking down the street, Ryoji recalled the wave of killing intent he had sensed just before leaving.
Although he didn't know exactly who had released it, there was no doubt that it came from someone far stronger than him. Even though the killing intent wasn't aimed at him, he had still felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
"Anyway... is there anywhere nearby that sells supplements?"
Ryoji wore a bitter expression as he scanned the shops around him.
He had pushed himself too far.
Can't do that again next time.
Sigh... another day of abstaining from lust.
With a long sigh, Ryoji asked for directions, headed to South Main Street, bought a few bottles of supplements, and then dashed back to the Familia.
Luckily, there weren't many people around tonight, Tiona and the others weren't there, so Ryoji didn't have to worry about being found out.
The next morning,
"Ryoji, where were you last night? We didn't see you at the celebration party!"
"Celebration party?"
"Yeah, every time we return from an expedition, we hold a party at a hotel called The Mistress of Abundance. Last night, Bete got drunk and bawled his eyes out, it was hilarious, such a shame you missed it!"
"Oh... I see. I went to the Dungeon yesterday, didn't know about it. I'll definitely join next time!"
"Aiya~ you're way too hardworking!"
That was close!
If he had actually agreed to Freya's offer to work there as a waiter, he would've become the laughingstock of the entire Familia!
After learning the truth from Tiona, Ryoji almost had a heart attack.
"Oh right, Ryoji, here, this is yours." Raul walked over and handed Ryoji a paper bag.
"What's this?" Tiona curiously leaned in and opened it.
"Isn't this yours, Raul?" Ryoji reacted instantly, turning defense into offense.
"Eh? But isn't this-- ?" Raul stared at the women's clothing pulled from the bag, completely dumbfounded.
"You asked me to help you find someone to make this, Raul. Don't tell me... you're into cross-dressing?"
Ryoji looked utterly shocked, as if he was seeing Raul for the first time.
"Really?" Tiona didn't doubt Ryoji for a second and looked at Raul with a weird expression.
"Of course not!!" Raul collapsed. His entire spirit broke.
In the end, the women's outfit was burned by Raul, but ever since then, the way he looked at Ryoji was never quite the same.
Time passed.
Over the next two days, Ryoji took time to rest.
Not because Freya had drained him dry, mainly because he had just returned from an expedition. It was important to mentally recover, as continuous high-intensity battles could wear heavily on one's psyche.
Two days later, once Ryoji felt his body had fully recovered, ahem, rather, once he felt well rested, he began thinking about potential teammates again.
He had now officially leveled up to Lv.3.
According to standard Adventurer logic, he was now qualified to begin exploring the Lower Floors.
In general:
Upper Floors = 1st–12th Floor
Middle Floors = 13th–24th Floor
Lower Floors = 25th–36th Floor
Anything below the 36th is considered Deep Floors
Lv.3 and Lv.4 Adventurers are typically suited for leveling in the Lower Floors.
However, even so, strong teammates were still essential.
Lefiya could serve as a mobile fortress with overwhelming firepower, ideal for the rearguard position.
But Line's strength was starting to fall behind. As a Lv.2 Adventurer, she was no longer well-suited for Lower Floor exploration. Ryoji needed to seriously consider a new middle guard.
(End of Chapter)
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