"Everyone, welcome back!"
The moment they stepped through the Familia's gates, their crimson-haired chief god came rushing out. A lecherous grin worthy of a middle-aged man spread across Loki's face as she lunged toward the female members of the expedition party.
The women all reacted as if this were perfectly normal. Ais and the others casually stepped aside, but Lefiya froze. As the girls in front of her moved out of the way, she naturally ended up right within Loki's attack range.
"Hah!"
Acting entirely on instinct, Lefiya planted her feet, shifted her stance, and executed a perfect shoulder throw with a loud shout.
Loki flew through the air and slammed headfirst into the ground with a resounding DUANG.
"...Lefiya, when did you become this fierce?"
"S-Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Lefiya hurriedly apologized.
"Loki, just like always, there were no casualties on this expedition. We successfully reached the unexplored region as well. I'll give you the detailed report later," Finn reported the results of the expedition, as was customary. Then he paused and cautiously asked, "Did anything unusual happen in Orario while we were away?"
"Something unusual?" Loki sat up from the ground and scratched her chin in thought. "Ten days ago, I hosted a Divine Council. Other than that, nothing much happened. Things have been pretty peaceful... Oh, right. A couple of days ago, that little runt from the Hestia Familia reached Level 2 after a bit more than a month. He's right on Ryoji's heels. That's probably the biggest news lately."
The "little runt" was obviously referring to Hestia's Familia, which meant the one who leveled up was Bell. Under normal circumstances, reaching Level 2 in just over a month would have caused an enormous sensation. But with Ryoji's achievement of reaching Level 5 in less than three months fresh in everyone's minds, it barely generated any discussion at all.
"I see..." Finn nodded inwardly.
It seemed Evilus hadn't started moving yet. That meant they still had time to prepare.
That night, most of the expedition members were mentally and physically exhausted. After dinner, they returned to their rooms to rest. Ryoji, meanwhile, immediately sought out Loki to update his status.
Ryoji — Level 5
Strength: I (0) → G (234)
Endurance: I (0) → G (257)
Dexterity: I (0) → F (324)
Agility: I (0) → E (541)
Magic: I (0) → H (145)
"That's way too little," Ryoji muttered unhappily, looking at his freshly updated status.
His Development Abilities, Magic, and Skills were unchanged as usual, which wasn't worth paying attention to. Only his basic abilities had increased, and the overall improvement in his strength felt tiny compared to when he first reached Level 5.
"Too little?!" Loki completely lost her composure and shouted. "When Ais and the others were Level 5, a whole expedition would only get them a few dozen points at most! You gained over a thousand points in one go, and you're calling that little?"
"The difference is huge, okay? Last expedition I gained over five thousand points. Besides, I killed a Level 7 this time!"
"You say that like you didn't kill a Level 4 during your last expedition," Loki rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you've already completed the feat requirement. As long as you keep raising your proficiency, you'll be able to level up. Keep working at it. At your current pace, I'd say about six months should do it."
That's still way too long, Ryoji frowned.
For anyone else, reaching Level 6 in six months would be an absurd dream. For him, however, it felt painfully slow. Ryoji grumbled to himself; he had no intention of staying in this world for another six months. Besides, it wasn't really his decision to make.
"Ais, you're here to update your status too?"
"Mm."
As soon as he stepped outside, Ryoji spotted the golden-haired, golden-eyed girl. She seemed to have already taken a bath; there was still a hint of moisture in her hair, and she'd changed into her usual casual clothes—a rather eye-catching backless outfit.
Apparently, that had been Loki's idea. According to Loki, if Ais refused to wear it, she'd bite her tongue. With no way to deal with that, Ais had reluctantly given in.
Loki, you've done well. Very well indeed.
A short while later, Ais came out holding a sheet of parchment. Judging by the slightly disappointed look on her face, her gains probably weren't very large.
Sure enough, when Ryoji took a look at the parchment, a full expedition after reaching Level 6 had only increased Ais's stats by a little over eighty points. And that included the Excelia she'd earned from fighting a Level 7 monster.
"Eh? You're both here?" Not long afterward, Tiona and Tione arrived together and greeted them. Needless to say, they were also here to update their statuses.
"I've got a feeling we made huge gains this time!" Tiona said with a bright smile as she and Tione entered Loki's room.
"WOOOOAH! LEVEL 6! And two of them at once!" A few minutes later, more than half the Familia members who had already gone to sleep were awakened by Loki's shout. The entire manor immediately filled with curses directed at their chief god.
"Haha, this is great!"
"Now we're one step closer to catching up with Captain!"
The two Amazon sisters emerged with huge smiles on their faces. As expected of twins, they had both advanced to Level 6 at the same time. During the battle against the Corrupted Spirit's avatar, they had contributed significantly and shared in the feat as part of the team, fulfilling the requirements for a level-up.
"Huh?" A lone, wolf-like figure then appeared at the stairway. Bete glanced at the group, especially Ryoji, with his usual unfriendly expression.
"Oh ho! Another Level 6!" Not long after, the Familia members who had just fallen back asleep were once again awakened. The sounds of people sharpening their knives for Loki could practically be heard throughout the manor.
What's going on with this feeling that I'm the only one being left behind?
At Loki's doorway, Tiona and the others had already fallen into a lively conversation. The air was filled with excitement, and even the normally quiet Ais looked genuinely happy for them.
Only Ryoji felt a strange sense of urgency. Before he joined, the Loki Familia had three Level 6s and four Level 5s. After he and Ais both leveled up, it became four Level 6s and four Level 5s. But after just one expedition, the lineup had turned into seven Level 6s and one Level 5.
Something felt off. From a normal person's perspective, reaching Level 5 in only three months meant he could slack off for years without anyone criticizing him. Yet somehow, being the only Level 5 in the entire group made him feel completely out of place. The whole Familia is Level 6 except for you. Isn't that weird?
"I've decided. I'm becoming a Level 6 as soon as possible!" Ryoji's fighting spirit ignited.
"Stop right there. If you actually become a Level 6 that quickly, I might not be able to stop myself from beating you up," Tione looked at him with a strange expression as her knuckles cracked ominously.
She and the others had spent years polishing themselves at Level 5 before finally leveling up through this battle. If Ryoji caught up to them in just a few months, they really wouldn't be able to take it.
"That said, how am I supposed to raise my proficiency quickly?"
The fastest way to increase proficiency was to fight powerful opponents—preferably ones whose level exceeded his own. But now that he was Level 5, there were very few people in all of Orario who could match him head-on.
Where was he supposed to find that many powerful enemies? Ryoji was full of motivation, but the more he thought about it, the more troubled he became.
(End of Chapter)
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