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"AHHH!"
Silver woke up with a scream, cold sweat all over his face as he jumped off the couch.
'W-What happened?…'
"I'm back…" He muttered as he touched his body, "Huff... was it a dream after all?"
He rejected the notion, 'That couldn't have been a dream, no way it was.'
Silver touched his body, "My body… is fine."
'Although my head hurts a little.'
"Mnn… Hephaestus…"
Silver looked at the couch, 'Why is she there? Did she lie down next to me on the couch during the night? It's not even that cold.'
"… Such a carefree goddess. Doing whatever she wants…"
/Snap/
Silver lifted her with telekinesis, gently placing her back in bed.
"ZZZZzzz…"
"Sigh…"
'Still sleeping despite this?… I guess this makes things simpler.'
"Yesterday we finished all procedures to establish this Familia, so we're free to do what we want."
'I need to pass by the Guild for an advisor, then see if there's any decent property for sale before looking out for someone willing to do some basic repairs in the church. Maybe some decent furniture as well.'
'It wouldn't be too bad to have two properties like this. I previously complained about these ruins being left as they are, so why not be the first to put in some effort and improve their condition?'
"Hestia said the church was given to her by Hephaestus. Are these surroundings also owned by her?"
'It would be nice if I could buy them all… there's a lot of space here, perhaps just as much space as Hephaestus takes with her forges.'
"That said… I think I will go to that blacksmith to get my items."
'I left them there a week ago after I took down the Goliath. I don't really need them, but I would like to have my armor back if just for the sake of having them.'
'Today is December 9th, there's still a lot of time before the stores close for the festival and new year. I'll first get my items back and then look out for equipment later.'
"Aside from that… there's nothing on my schedule. I can enter the Dungeon as much as I want."
He then looked at Hestia, 'Although I think it's proper to give her some time as well. Not to say that I'm quite curious about deities and their actions in Heaven.'
'Hestia is one of the most important deities of her pantheon as far as I'm aware. It wouldn't be too much to ask some things about that, would it?'
"Hum… Silver…"
Hestia wriggled on bed, but she was certainly not waking up soon.
He gave her a calm look before turning away, "... I will be back soon."
Silver took a small piece of paper and wrote a message about what he was going to do. Knowing Hestia, she might get worried and cause trouble somewhere.
With that done. Silver put on his winter clothes and stepped outside.
…
Silver made way to the shop he had left his equipment at a week ago.
/Clank!/
"Oto… here it is!"
"The spear was fairly simple to fix. I recast the metal and sharpened it; nothing difficult."
"The armor, on the other hand… I will not lie; it was a pain in the ass. It wasn't hard to fix; the issue is plate armor itself… Fixing each plate and putting everything together took a very long and boring time."
"And the total?" Silver asked as he checked his armor
'As good as new if not better.'
"I'll just round both to two hundred thousand. The materials themselves aren't anything special; this price is mostly for my work."
"A word of advice… while these two pieces were exceptionally made, they can at best be positioned as Level 3 items… You're best searching for something else, especially if you trashed them like this."
"Full plate armor like this is rather unusual, but I can recommend a few places if you need to."
Silver nodded, slowly putting his items inside a backpack, "I understand, thank you. If I need something new, I'll come here first."
"Haha! That's all I wanted to hear!"
With a simple nod, Silver paid the smith before walking down the street. When he had the chance, he shoved all his items into his pocket space before moving on with his schedule.
…
Down the street… "Let's see…"
'There isn't much left for me to do. I have some drop items that I can turn into equipment, including the unusual Goliath's drops. But that can be left for another time.'
'Having an Advisor… I can leave that for another time too. It's not like its utterly required of me, but advisors are a good connection point with the Guild itself, not to say they can act like managers to some degree.'
'Being an adventurer isn't just about hunting, having good commissions and quests is a requirement.'
"I can leave that for later too… that leaves only one thing… I suppose all that's left is to settle the church's renovation and depart!"
'Choosing a home to live in is probably best done with Hestia… though I could probably do it just to surprise her. That wouldn't be too bad either.'
With a goal set, Silver went down the streets to the nearest Familia with a construction business.
…
For the next two hours, Silver visited several Familias to discuss the renovation plan for the old church. After talking with five different Familias, Silver eventually settled with the Vishvakarman Familia.
The plan was simple, Silver wanted to renovate the plumbing of the church and most of its foundation and structure. While also taking care of its exterior and surroundings to make it more presentable while avoiding the possibility of some loose rock from a nearby ruin crashing down onto them.
If possible, Silver was also interested in the construction of a small workshop for his personal use so he could conduct simple experiments, at least until he found a better one.
While he was at it, he also bought a few pieces of furniture, but he left most of it out since he knew Hestia would want to buy some herself in the future.
The total cost ended up being lower than he expected, three hundred thousand Vallis for the construction work, one hundred and fifty more for the rest.
Of his initial capital, Silver had spent just a little over half a million Valis. But with the money he made in the Dungeon in the past three weeks, mostly two since he spent the last week on the surface, he about broke even.
Not that it mattered anyway since he had a few million more lying around…
After he settled things out with the Vishvakarman Familia, Silver wrote another letter so they wouldn't surprise Hestia once they got there. She was probably still sleeping right now…
With everything out of the way, Silver made his way to the Dungeon. It was time to grind some Excelia and figure out the extent of his abilities.
Just how much had the blessing straightened him?
Only one way to find out…
…
/Chattering…/
"It's quite empty today. Only a handful of groups are going to the Dungeon…"
'I can understand larger Familias not wanting to go on expeditions in fear of missing the new year and so on, but even small dives are taking a hit? Everyone is taking the time to relax…'
'I can understand though; staying under the blanket in this cold is quite soothing.'
Silver didn't pay it much heed. Regardless of the reason, he had things to do.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot… the new year is usually when the Monster Wave is going to happen soon, maybe that's why there are fewer adventurers around."
A Monster Wave is a rare event that occurs naturally when there are too many monsters on one floor, although there were ways to induce one as well. Monsters will condense in one area and kill each other to thin out their numbers.
This causes unusual situations, like irregular and enhanced monsters, to appear, which only makes low-level adventurers less inclined to enter the Dungeon around this time.
Another example is when high-level adventurers fight on lower floors; there is the possibility their actions might push the monsters up the stairways connecting the floors, causing them to overflow onto higher floors.
And these are but one of the many ways the Dungeon uses to control monster density.
Every floor has a limit on the number of monsters it can sustain. If the number reaches that limit, the Dungeon stops creating more unless it's a unique scenario.
But on the Upper and Middle floors, the Dungeon will create monsters all day long to cope with the constant killing of monsters by adventurers. If the number of adventurers raiding those floors decreases suddenly… the monster population spikes.
Without anywhere to go, the monsters will face their fears and brave beyond the limitations of their floors, bleeding onto other regions.
The Guild issues quests and commissions to limit the impact of these events, but they always end up occurring naturally.
'I haven't gone to the Dungeon in the last few days, so I'm unsure how things are down there, but I'll take it that things haven't progressed that far yet.'
'This is a prime opportunity to raise my Status!'
Silver entered the Dungeon, weapon in hand.
...
/Step…/
Silver went down the stairs to the first floor, his left hand resting on his sword's hilt, "Hum…"
'There really aren't that many people around. Less than half of the usual. The less, the better for me.'
'Let's start slow, face a few Upper Floor monsters and after seeing how I fare… why not play around the Middle Floors? My Skill gives me more Excelia the harder the situation is for me… So what is the hardest situation possible?'
'I can enter the Dungeon without armor, weapons, and even fight without my Plasmids, leaving only my bare body… This is the weakest I can be unless I purposely hurt myself or decrease my fighting capabilities.'
'I could put weights on myself, fight blindfolded, numb my senses… maybe I could use my Plasmids to inhibit myself rather than the other way around. I could even poison myself, which is a good way to work towards one of the most versatile Development Abilities out there.'
"But that's too much." He mumbled with a helpless smile
'Furthermore, I can not fight with my bare hands… not yet at least... I am not strong enough to kill a monster with my hands… Maybe I can kill a Goblin with a stone, but a sharp stone is still a weapon.'
"Should I just use a knife?... no, I have a better idea!"
'Why not use a metal rod? Blunt and useless… I can do that, right?'
'Hum… but that would still be considered an outside tool... What if I use my own abilities to make my own? Would it be more along the lines of me doing all the work?'
"In the end, I suppose the hardest trial an adventurer can face boils down to one simple thing…"
'Facing a challenge beyond their level.'
"It's settled, heh…"
With a sly smile on his face, Silver continued his way to the first floor.
…
"This place should be enough."
'Should I take off my armor? Maybe I should first test things out with it to draw a pattern…'
/Swush!/
While Silver was deep in contemplation, the air split behind him!
"What a bother…"
/BANG!/
Silver easily evaded the projectile by tilting his head. The impact against the Dungeon's walls was so great it left a fist-sized hole in it.
"The Dungeon really is all over the place. What's a Frog Shooter like you doing on the First Floor?"
(Image)
"Doesn't matter, you'll do as a lab rat… Let's start."
/Swush!/
The frog shooter opened its mouth and launched its tongue at him again. But once again, Silver easily evaded it.
"It's slower… I can see it now."
'Before I had to predict its movements and evade ahead of time, but now, I can clearly picture its tongue moving… although its still quite fast.'
"My body is quite fast as well. I can't quite put it though…"
/Swush!/
"… I heard adventurers need to grow used to the change in power, but I don't feel that different."
'I mean, sure, I'll have to understand that I can now do far more than before…'
/Swush!/
"It's an odd feeling. The same actions as before now produce far greater power. I need to be careful, even a simple knock against someone in this state…"
/Swush!/
"Might lead to them being seriously hurt."
/Swush!/
…
Silver played around, evading a few more times until he grew used to his increased strength.
"… Enough testing my speed. Next in line…"
/Shaaa…/
Silver's hand glowed blue as cold air condensed around his fingers. Beneath his skin, sharp ice spikes grew from his muscles, splitting his flesh.
The cold air slowly fused and condensed, becoming a large ice cone he grasped with his hand.
Looking at the cone, Silver frowned, "This isn't it… I missed the shape. Too much force."
'I was certain this much would be enough… did the blessing alter the way my Plasmids work? Or did it distort my senses so much that even what was once instinct will have to be relearned?'
/Swush!/
/Clang!/
This time, Silver did not evade, he used the ice cone to parry the tongue into the wall!
"The ice didn't shatter, though it cracked a little… this is far beyond my expectations."
'So they weren't lying, an adventurer really has to grow used to their body again when they Level Up… maybe that's an even clearer case to me.'
"I'll have to grow used to this again from zero… I would say it's a pain, but… I can't help but feel exhilarated."
/Swush!/
/CLANG!/
"Sheesh, this frog… Isn't it tiring to shoot its tongue?" He muttered out loud with a faint smile as he crushed the ice cone
/Crack!/
Its fragments decomposed mid-air, turning into a cold gas that slowly condensed once again in his hands.
Within a second, it took the shape of a long spear!
Looking at his creation, he felt no pride, "Meh… It's a little crooked but… but this should be enough."
/Swush!/
/CLANG!/
He parried the tongue, but it was evidently growing weaker.
"So you can grow tired too… just give me a moment, I'm almost done."
Silver looked at the Dungeon's walls and frowned, 'Looks like manipulating those is still too much for me. I'll have to test it later in a more precise environment.'
'I'll take some samples of the Dungeon's stone for experimentation. I still want to figure out how the Dungeon turns pure energy into Magic Stones and flesh on a whim.'
/Swush!/
/GRAB!/
"?!"
This time, Silver did not evade nor parry. He grasped the frog shooter's tongue and stepped over it, pinning it to the ground!
As the creature winced in pain, Silver raised his right hand and aimed forward. He gripped the ice spear and threw it forward directly into its mouth!
/Pierce!/
/SPLAT!/
As the tongue grew limp, Silver let go of it, wiping his hands, "I need more test subjects…"
'Should I just go to the Middle Floors and test things there?… That might be too dangerous with me in this state.'
After sorting his thoughts, he exhaled, "Sorry, Hestia…"
/CRACK!/
As he walked down the cavern, the walls trembled as the Dungeon spawned more monsters for him to face.
/Growl.../
All around him, seven creatures rose from its innards.
"Seven at once? In the plain first floor?"
/DASH!/
They ran at him without hesitation!
"Fine then, let's get the party rolling!"
'This time, I want to try something else.'
/Crack…/
Lightning bolts jumped between his fingers…
"Let's start with you!"
/SPLIT!/
Silver pointed at the nearest Kobold with his left hand. The moment he did so, his hand split between his middle and ring fingers.
/HUM…/
His flesh and bones exposed, they began to distort as a low humming echoed from within his forearm…
Blue light shone underneath his skin as it trembled…
/ZAP!/
A thunderous bolt of lightning pierced the air, illuminating the dark cavern
/SPLAT!/
"Woah! That surprised even me…" Silver muttered as he shook his hand
The Kobold turned to smoke as the hole in its head turned to dust.
'To think there would be such power.'
Silver smiled, "This is starting to get fun."
/Raise…/
""?!""
Silver raised his right hand, and all the kobolds were suddenly lifted from the ground, grasping at their throats.
"Monsters have innate Magic Resistance. It's the only thing preventing me from crushing their hearts or brains with a thought… or even just pulling the Magic Stone directly from their bodies."
'Adventurers have some level of innate resistance as well, but unless developed naturally through the strength of their Falna, Skills, and Development Abilities, only through external means such as items can they prevent me from reaching inside.'
'Then again, just how many people out there develop some sort of magic that can pose such direct danger to someone?'
"Let's start the next experiment!"
/CRACK!/
Silver's hands cracked as they elongated, becoming thin and bony like those of a monster's…
"I'll start by ripping your ribcage out!" He proclaimed with a smile as he reached out for the first kobold
/C-Crack…/
The kobold trembled midair as its chest weaved as if worms were moving underneath it…
/Split…/
Across multiple segments of its skin, stained bone was slowly pulled as the creature convulsed from extreme pain…
/PUFF!/
"Hum?"
But all of a sudden, the poor kobold turned into a cloud of dark smoke…
"Oh dear. Was that too much? So much for a monster…"
He looked at the next kobold, causing it to tremble…
"Let's continue, shall we?"
'I have been long wondering how the insides of a monster look like. Whenever I tried to conduct research on the surface, they would always turn to dust before I had the chance to learn anything.'
'But now things are different; now I can make sure they won't die.'
However, Silver suddenly had a moment of enlightenment, "Right… this isn't the place to conduct research."
'There is a time and place for everything.'
/CRACK!/
Silver dropped his arms as they returned to normal. In the meantime, all the Kobolds hanging in the air… had their necks snapped.
"I learned a lot from this encounter." He mumbled as he reached out to the magic stones on the ground, gathering them with telekineses
'I need to test my physical abilities as well… time to dive deeper… especially since I wouldn't want to meet someone else midway through my experiments…'
Silver rested his ice spear on his shoulder and walked away, leaving behind nothing but the black dust and the stains from his foul actions…
…
Following his fight with the Frog Shooter and Kobolds, Silver fought his way through multiple groups of enemies as he went down the Dungeon… albeit none of them were enough to invoke within him a sense of danger.
As arrogant as that was, he knew where his limits stood. He was strong, but not enough to avoid getting his hands chopped off if they were to be hit… sturdier, but not enough for his skin to resist a Goblin's teeth.
Step by step, he refined his abilities, understanding them as he grew used to his new self.
His spear kept breaking and being reformed, stronger and sharper with each iteration.
Soon enough, Silver reached the end of the Upper Floors…
…
/Pierce!/
/Poof!/
Silver ended his fight by piercing a kobold's head with his spear.
He took a deep breath, "Phew… fourteen at once with only my body was kind of hard."
'Not that they had a chance, they didn't even hit me once.'
Through the mist of the 12th Floor, Silver could see the entrance leading to the Middle Floors, "Should I venture deeper? A Minotaur would still be too much, but still…"
'That said… I could stay around and hunt as many monsters as I can. While information on how to get some Development Abilities is limited, the Guild does provide insight into some of them.'
Development Abilities are special abilities that have a chance of appearing every rank up starting from Level 2. They differ from basic abilities in the sense that they are characteristics specializing in a certain area.
Things like Blacksmith, Swordsman, Mage, and so on…
They appear in the same section of the status as basic abilities, and are similarly categorized from ranks I to S; however, they are much harder to train and do not reset to I at each new rank up.
Because they could be taken as the reflection of an adventurer's experiences and training, if one did not possess the talent or enough experience, there was the possibility no development ability would appear upon a Level Up.
To prevent such a thing from happening, Silver had to put in the effort.
'Amidst the few that have their acquisition methods public, Hunter is probably the only one I can get now.'
'Development Ability Hunter… It improves general abilities against monsters that the user has fought before and gained Excelia from. It can only be obtained at Level 2 and requires the user to have killed many monsters in a short period, making it somewhat difficult to obtain.' He thought as his eyes darted to the end of the cavern
'Level 1 adventurers don't have the capabilities to bulldoze their way through the Dungeon… only a few elites or the lucky can get their hands on it.'
'Might as well make use of this unusual monster density to get it.'
/Kikiki… Kiki!/
Just like many times before, monsters slowly approached him from the darkness and fog.
"I could hear but not see them coming… compared to grandma who could hear me running from the foot of the hill, I still have a lot to go."
'Imps… hum? Something's different.'
(Image)
"These imps… are they wielding swords?… I see, did they pick it up from adventurers?"
His expression changed, his tone growing deeper, "Eleven imps, but only a few of them have weapons… It's quite rare for parties to be wiped out on the Upper Floors."
'People die every day here, but entire parties… In any case, this is the frontier to the Middle Floors… if there's a place for them to fall, it's here.'
"Equipment tends to remain lying around. I heard the Dungeon can absorb them, but its not uncommon to find rusty gear tucked away at some corner."
'Those don't look old though.'
Silver snickered, "It doesn't matter if they have swords or not. They can't even hold them right."
'To some degree. limiting their sense of motion like this only makes things easier for me.'
"Hum… I think its settled."
'I will deal with those and make my way down. No need to…'
/Fwush!/
/Crack!/
Out of nowhere, a white horned rabbit jumped from a nearby dried bush, piercing the air with its horns!
But he easily evaded it, and the poor rabbit got stuck in the cavern's wall.
"A Needle Rabbit. Another monster who shouldn't be here."
(Image)
"I hate to admit that Grandpa's training was effective…" He said with a chuckle as he pulled the rabbit from the wall
/Shaaa…/
But this cute rabbit was only the start of a larger problem… a big one…
/Inhale…/
Silver took a deep breath as he found himself surrounded, "... Orcs, Hard Armored, Silverbacks, and a few others…"
Monsters slowly crept up on him from both sides of the Dungeon. He looked beyond them into the depths of the cavern and frowned.
"Apart from the Infant Dragon, all monsters between the 10th and 12ft floors are here."
Silver looked left and right before resting his ice spear on his shoulder, "I'm in deep trouble…"
'By the size and density, this is far more than just your usual Monster Party. This is exactly what I was told could happen.'
"A monster wave. If I turn back now and these guys rush to other floors, the wave could cascade significantly."
'I don't think monsters have ever escaped the Dungeon since the seal was put in place, so that isn't a worry. But this could implicate others.'
/Kiki…/
The imps slowly moved closer to him… Silver took out a few potions and chugged them all before throwing the glass bottles aside.
"Haa… let's see how many of you I can take out before I run out of juice!"
'I can't fight them here.'
Silver stepped forward.
/GROWL!/
The quiet balance was suddenly shattered as all the monsters dashed into a maniac frenzy!
He looked back at where the biggest monsters were, 'First I'll limit their numbers.'
/FREEZE!/
A gush of freezing air burst from his body! In the blink of an eye, the passage behind him had been covered in ice!
'That won't stop them at all.' He thought as sweat broke from his forehead, but it'll cause them to stumble
"And that's all I need." He muttered as he turned to imps
'I'll take care of you all first, let chaos spread until I find a better place to fight!'
/BOOM!/
…
/KIII!/
/SPLURGE/
/Bam!/
Silver precisely moved between the monsters, using his limited terrain to the best of his abilities, killing as many as he could while he rushed to the end of the wave.
/SLASH!/
Silver jumped and kicked a wall, piercing a massive crocodile-like monster as he fell down. Using his momentum, he rolled down as ice formed beneath him, using it to slide underneath an Orc before cutting its tendons, causing the Orc to fall straight into an ice spike!
Silver then jumped, evading two Orcs as his hand transformed. The air compressed, and thin streams of air sliced through their eyes!
He kicked the air, using his spear to pierce three imps at once as he reached the end of the wave!
"Huff… Huff…"
Silver kept running, hearing the thundering echoes of the monsters behind him.
'If my mother could see me she'd have fallen from a heart attack by now.'
/SLASH!/
"Hupp!"
/BLAST!/
Silver evaded the sneak attack of a large bat type monster before raising his hand and causing a point-blank explosion to rip its body apart and launch him away from the wave.
Flying through the air, Silver looked around until he had an idea, "This might work!"
'I'll finish this just like in the history books...'
Silver kicked the air again, dashed inside a dead-end…
He looked around, "Perfect!"
/Roar!/
A random kobold jumped at him, but with a kick, he broke the monster's neck without using too much force.
He condensed another ice spear, pointing it forward, "As long as I use my strength effectively, killing these monsters is easy."
'The size is just right. This way, only one or two monsters can pass at once, decreasing the number of creatures I have to fight at once.'
'The monsters on the Upper Floors aren't strong enough to significantly damage the Dungeon's structure. I may be trapped, but so are they!'
'Unable to turn back, their own fate is to be skewered by my spear!'
He entered a fighting stance, laughing faintly, "Now I only need a shield and maybe a cool helmet to be considered a Spartan, right?"
'Should I take off my shirt and boots and go all in with nothing but my underwear?'
"Haa…"
'If anything bad happens, I'll just turn tail.'
/Fwush!/
"UGH?!"
Out of nowhere, above him, a tiny and cute spider launched a nail-sized fang at Silver, piercing into his neck!
"S-Shit! A Nail Spider!"
A Nail Spider. A monster so weak even a kid could squish it… but more often than not it is the small ones who are the most dangerous.
The only thing it could do was shoot a nail-sized fang with weak numbing venom. You will feel sleepy… and that's all. But in a fight, losing concentration for even a bit can cause death. And if you fall asleep...
/Pop!…/
Silver quickly picked a potion from his inventory and popped it open while evading the attack of another imp.
But after he shoved his spear down its face, he stopped.
"Wait… isn't this what I wanted?"
'A challenge? Something that will propel my body to evolve?'
Silver evaded another strike from a monster with an armadillo-like carapace, his thoughts racing.
'In this world, the only way up is through sacrifice. If you are afraid of shedding blood and getting into danger, then you will never ascend to greater heights… even if you have Skills that can break the world itself.'
'How many stopped at Level 4? Much less Level 5 and beyond… There is a reason that even after 1000 years of development, only the Zeus and Hera Familias reached their immeasurable heights'
Silver clenched his grip of his spear, shattering it.
/SHA!/
The ice shards bombarded everything in front of him like a shotgun!
Manifesting another ice spear, his thoughts kept rolling, "This much is nothing… If I can't even do this…"
/Splurge!/
/Poof!/
He killed another imp. Its magic stone dropped on the ground, and retreated, allowing more monsters to enter the narrow passage.
If they were too big, like the Silverback, he would use his Plasmids to push them back so others could enter. But if he had the chance, be it slicing or puncturing, he would do it!
No matter how little damage he caused, like a small rat in the corner, he would keep biting.
/PIERCE!/
More and more stones fell, littering the ground. Their glister hypnotic…
Empty flasks and bottles crashed against the ground, the glass too frail to resist the monster's powerful march.
/SMASH!/
Silver evaded an Orc before punching it in the face and shoving its head against the wall.
/PIERCE!/
A sharp nail jumped from his palm, puncturing its head.
"Huff…"
'NEXT!'
Silver's fight had just begun.
…
.
.
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Notes