"Phew... once a Floor Boss gets its enhancement, it really does become a challenge."
For most Adventurers, taking on a Floor Boss alone is practically a death sentence. Few have the strength or skill to survive, let alone win.
That's because the Dungeon recognizes a solo challenge and boosts the Floor Boss accordingly, making solo victories even harder to achieve.
But those who succeed in such trials are the elite—the ones with top-tier talent and power for their level.
In a way, it's like a final exam for Adventurers.
And while failure may cost you your life, passing that test opens up an entirely new path.
For Bell, Goliath wasn't an especially difficult Floor Boss.
Yes, Goliath had massive size, overwhelming offense and defense, and even exceptional agility—but Bell's hidden power was enough to match it.
He hadn't even used "Lightning Transformation," which meant he hadn't been pushed into a corner.
That alone was proof of how far he'd come.
From a clueless rookie to someone who could solo a Floor Boss in less than six months—this kind of story sounded too ridiculous to be real, even if someone tried to make it up.
Now it was time to clean up.
Bell walked over to the pile of white ash. Among it, he saw the massive Magic Stone split in two, a huge patch of skin, and a pool of dark purple blood.
"So this is Goliath's hide. A rare drop, huh?"
As a Level 4 Floor Boss, Goliath's hide was an extremely rare item—sometimes not even dropped once a year.
And it wasn't just any skin. It had natural resistance to magic and impressive durability against physical damage. If made into armor, it would rank among the rarest gear available.
Bell glanced at the old cloak that had been with him for months.
'Maybe it's time to upgrade it using this hide.'
He didn't usually like defensive gear—mostly because it interfered with his fighting style.
But if the defense didn't hinder his movement, he had no problem with it.
As for the Magic Stone, there was no need to sell it. Goliath's core would definitely fetch a high price, but once it entered the market, there'd be no way to stay under the radar.
Bell wasn't looking to stand in the spotlight across all of Orario, so it was better to keep the Magic Stone within his own Familia.
At the very least, it'd make a better decoration than a payday.
After stowing away the Magic Stone and Goliath's hide, Bell turned his gaze to the dark purple blood pooled on the ground.
'No doubt about it... Hydra's blood is as venomous as ever. That stuff was building up inside Goliath all along.'
In a way, Goliath really had been a monster to be reckoned with.
With a wave of his hand, Bell released a surge of heat. In an instant, the poisonous blood was incinerated, leaving no trace behind.
Once everything was cleaned up, he removed the barriers sealing off the 16th and 18th floor passages.
Then, stepping into a spatial rift, he returned to his secret base on the 18th floor.
After brushing off the dust from his clothes, Bell made his way home.
"Bell-kun~!"
Hestia immediately leapt toward him as he walked in.
"Congratulations, Bell-kun! You beat the Floor Boss!"
Her face was glowing with joy.
She'd watched every moment of his battle on the 17th floor—how calm and composed he had been against a monster the size of a mountain, and how effortlessly he'd taken it down.
"Then let's not waste time. Let's update your status."
"Yeah."
Bell agreed naturally, already beginning to remove his outer clothes.
Hestia had everything ready to update his "Status."
Hephaestus remained silent, standing beside Hestia, curious to see how much progress Bell had made from that Floor Boss battle.
And the results were overwhelming.
[Name: Bell Cranel
Lv.3 → Lv.4
Development Abilities:
· Stealth: D
· Cognition: G
Attributes:
???1651 → ???1854
???1656 → ???1823
???1741 → ???1910
???1769 → ???1937
???1984 → ???2127
Magic:
"Four-Dimensional Space":
· Storage
"Lightning Command":
· Quick-Cast Magic
· Lightning Control
Skills:
"Personal Training":
· Early Bloomer
· Double Experience from Fighting Strong Enemies
"Heaven's Luck":
· High Luck
"The Poor Man's Desire":
· Accumulate Power]
"All of his stats increased by nearly 150 points in just one day!?"
It had really only been a single day—she herself had done Bell's update yesterday. And yet, just from defeating Goliath, he'd gained over 750 points?
Even by Bell's standards, that kind of growth was extreme.
Especially considering that his "Status" had already been near the limits of Lv.3.
But even at that near-cap, he'd managed to grow at an abnormal rate after the Floor Boss fight. It was practically unbelievable.
In fact, many of his stats had already broken past Lv.3 limits—especially his Magic, which had jumped considerably.
After watching quietly for a bit, Hephaestus finally noticed something new in the skill column under "Early Bloomer."
"...'Double experience from fighting strong enemies'... Hestia, take a look at Bell's skill description."
"It really changed!"
Reminded, Hestia focused on the note under the skill—it had indeed been updated.
Were there any changes to the other skills?
She checked carefully. Aside from the new annotation under "Personal Training," the rest of his magic and skills remained the same.
But that one note alone explained the explosive growth after the Floor Boss battle.
Since Goliath was classified as a "strong enemy," the experience gained was significantly boosted.
"This skill is going to be so useful. Even if the Early Bloomer effect diminishes later, as long as Bell-kun keeps fighting monsters stronger than himself, the experience gain won't drop off."
This addition gave Bell a much brighter future.
If training ever stopped yielding results, he could just move on to stronger foes—whether monsters or people.
Risky, yes—but it solved the looming problem of slowing growth as he advanced.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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