Early in the morning, inside the Twilight Manor.
"Seriously... waking me up so early in the morning... the sun has just risen and you're already asking your poor old goddess for a status update."
"You couldn't have just asked me last night?"
Loki yawned as her eyes drifted toward Judas, who had just entered her room.
"Sorry... I forgot."
Judas muttered with a wry smile.
"Alright, alright, just sit down and take off your shirt. I'm also curious to see how much you've grown after Freya and Astraea's kids kicked your butt."
He nodded as he pulled his shirt off, his mind drifting back to the duel he'd had with Kaguya yesterday.
'I got completely wrecked.'
The result had been a very depressing loss.
Alise was definitely stronger than Kaguya as an adventurer.
If the two fought without holding back... if she used her magic... Judas was sure Alise would most likely come out on top.
However, when it came to pure close combat, Kaguya was even more oppressive than Alise.
Even Ryuu admitted that Kaguya was the strongest hand-to-hand combatant in the Astraea Familia.
Besides her swordsmanship, she also possessed powerful leg techniques.
Judas had made the mistake of using her as a whetstone to hone his close combat skills, just as he did with Alise.
As a result, Kaguya had literally beaten him within an inch of his life.
She was an experienced warrior and had learned from watching his fight against Alise.
Which meant she didn't even give him time to cast magic before a barrage of sword strikes came crashing down on him.
He was defeated before he could even unleash a single attack spell.
The most damage he had managed was a few scratches on her clothes before being knocked out.
'It still stings, even though the injury has completely healed.'
Judas rubbed the top of his head, feeling phantom pain from Kaguya's sword strikes.
He turned his back toward Loki as he sat down on the bed.
"Hey, kid! Why do I keep hearing rumors about your willy? What did you do at Astraea's place?"
Loki smirked as she pricked her finger with a knife, letting a drop of blood fall onto Judas' back.
'What the hell... word spread that fast?'
Judas inhaled deeply, steadying his nerves as he ignored her question.
'Too fast. Someone must've spread it on purpose.'
For some reason, Lyra's smug, shit-eating grin popped into his mind.
"Heh... you shy?"
Loki teased when he stayed silent.
"You know, a lot of goddesses have been pestering me to confirm this rumor. After we finish your update, why don't you take off your pants so I can check for myself?"
Her grin widened.
"Loki... if you don't shut up right now..."
Judas' voice dropped into a menacing growl, a heavy pressure filling the room and making Loki break into a nervous sweat.
"Alright, alright! I was only joking, jeez..."
She muttered quickly, inscribing his updated status onto parchment.
"Here you go, all finished."
Loki handed him the sheet, her grin returning.
"Looks like your run-in with the Freya Familia... and that spar with Scarlet Harnel... paid off big time."
========================================
Judas Spade
LV 2
STR: I 29 --->D 599
END: I 27 ---> C 651
DEX: I 32 ---> C 612
AGI: I 25 ---> C 618
MAG: I 75 ---> S 901
Mage - I
SKILLS: [The Blessing of the World Tree]
[Elemental Master]
[Eternal Persistence]
[The Venerated One]
[Penitent Executioner]
MAGIC: [Otherworld Thaumaturgy 5th-Tier]
[Body Reinforcement]
========================================
"It's not quite on the level of your first big status update, but an increase of over 3,100 points is still insane."
Loki added as Judas silently read through his status sheet before handing it back to the goddess.
"To be honest, you're already eligible for a rank up."
"The feat of escaping the pursuit of a bunch of first-class adventurers is more than enough for you to qualify to become a level 3."
She said, opening her slit eyes and watching Judas put his shirt back on.
"But I suppose you want to wait for your status to grow a bit more, right?"
She continued, her grin widening.
"That's right. I don't want to rank up until I hit EX in every single parameter on my status."
Judas said as the two met each other's gaze.
"A perfectionist, huh? Well, you do you... now get out of here, I'm going back to sleep."
Loki shooed him away as she fell flat on the bed.
Judas nodded before leaving the room.
"I guess I should go to the guild."
After going into his room and changing into a new set of clothes, Judas walked out the manor gates and headed toward the guild.
A couple of minutes later, Judas was already in front of the guild headquarters.
"Miss Rose, good morning."
Judas greeted the red-haired wolf receptionist at the counter, who gave him a polite nod in acknowledgement.
"Mister Judas, good morning."
Rose replied.
"I heard from your goddess that you got attacked yesterday in the dungeon. Are you all right?"
Rose asked as she inspected his body with her vision; her face was as cold as ice, but there was a hint of worry in her voice.
"I'm fine... no hidden injuries. I'm good to go."
Judas replied.
"If you say so... just don't push yourself trying to act tough."
Rose muttered as she arranged some files on the table before putting them away.
"I'm assuming you're here because you want to learn about the lower floors?"
She asked, her fingers resting on her chin.
"You're not going to discourage me? A level 2 heading to the lower floors?"
Judas questioned with raised brows.
"Normally I would... a level 2 going to the lower floors is no different from suicide. But I know that the adventurer I'm advising is not normal."
She said.
"An anomaly among anomalies."
"To be honest, there were multiple occasions when I thought I wanted to throw you to someone else... to another advisor, to relieve myself of the burden of dealing with you."
She paused for a second before looking at him directly in the eyes.
"There is no doubt that someone like you, who attracts trouble left and right like some sort of main character, is most likely to die."
Judas remained silent; he had no words at that moment.
"However, that day... the very day we shook hands... I made a promise. A promise to become your advisor."
She continued and pulled out a fairly thick book before slamming it onto the counter.
"So you better be prepared... because I'm going to impart as much knowledge as I can into that brain of yours."
Rose had seen too many adventurers die.
She also knew that she couldn't stop or slow Judas down from advancing further.
He was growing fast... too fast for her liking.
'It has barely been a week and he's already thinking of going to the lower floors.'
She thought, knowing more troubles would come if she continued to associate with him.
But she didn't care.
"To make sure you come back alive..." she said quietly.
She just wanted him back safe and sound.
The only thing she could do...
"I will advise you to the best of my abilities."
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