---
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
News of the Hera Familia's return to Orario had spread throughout the city, and Meteria had already left the church, returning to her familia's estate. During that week, she prepared a full set of beginner adventuring gear for Ronen, including several essential potions for exploring the Dungeon.
There were four kinds: stamina recovery , magic recovery, antidote, and healing potions.
Though she was visibly worried, Meteria didn't try to stop him. In truth, the upper levels of the Dungeon were fairly close to the altar of Ouranos, and rarely saw dangerous monsters. So, safety wasn't a major concern. Still, it was only natural for her to worry.
Ronen was venturing into the Dungeon for the first time to test his combat magic in real battle.
His magical quality and growth had reached a level where his mana reserves were enough to sustain a round trip through the upper floors.
Over the past week, he had been refining his existing spells and expanding on them.
Even Meteria had already mastered casting Vacuum Blade without a chant, and Ronen himself had finally discovered a new direction in his magical development.
Not only had his research into 'negative skills' made progress, he had also gained deeper insight into the nature of magic itself.
Magic, he realized, wasn't limited to things like magic bullets or vacuum blades.
Those were just basic applications.
There was something deeper—something more fundamental.
Through deep reflection and repeated experiments while training his Spiral Magic, Ronen had begun to uncover the true forms of mana.
Originally, he had thought of mana as a kind of spiritual energy, like air. But now, he understood that was only part of the picture.
Just like air is made up of molecules or atoms, spiritual energy—Mind—could also exist in particle form. By compressing mana into tiny particles, he could produce stronger, more efficient magical blasts.
More importantly, magic in this "particle" state was more compatible with adding magical effects. When imbued into the body and triggered, it could behave similarly to the Enhancement-type Nen abilities in Hunter x Hunter. Though he couldn't yet enhance physical stats like strength or speed, he could boost the attack power of his magic.
Using this particle-mana, Ronen had also begun experimenting with floating objects, essentially creating an invisible hand through magic.
He couldn't make himself float just yet—his control and mana quality weren't quite there—but floating a blade in mid-air? That was easy now. This newfound trick could be used to disarm enemies, trip them, or—more excitingly—perform a real-life version of a flying sword technique like those in wuxia novels.
This breakthrough opened the floodgates in his mind. His thoughts surged like a spring, and suddenly, a scientific term popped into his head:
"Wave-particle duality."
In 1905, Einstein proposed the photon theory of light, marking the beginning of our understanding that light could behave as both wave and particle.
In 1924, de Broglie extended this theory, suggesting all matter shares this dual nature.
Later, electron diffraction experiments confirmed that even electrons displayed wave-like properties. In 2015, scientists from EPFL in Switzerland even managed to photograph light acting as both wave and particle simultaneously.
If all matter possessed wave-particle duality, then could magic?
Following this line of thought, Ronen managed to use his mana to produce a shockwave—a breakthrough that allowed him to develop a sound-based spell similar to Alfia's vocal magic.
At this point, he had several spells at his disposal:
Magic Bullet
Vacuum Blade
Attack Enhancement
Levitation (of objects)
Shockwave
Detection Wave
Ronen's arsenal now covered offense, defense, mobility, sensing, and even some innate magic traits tied to his unique origins. He wasn't yet an all-rounder, but he was certainly more powerful than your average low-tier adventurer.
All that remained was to test his capabilities in real combat.
---
"It's time."
He packed up his things, securing the potions in his belt pouch, leaving extra space for magic stones.
He had memorized the layout of Floors 1 through 18. After double-checking his gear and preparations, he set off.
Ronen entered the Dungeon through the passage beneath Babel Tower.
Crystals embedded in the walls emitted a soft glow, illuminating countless chambers and winding corridors. Monsters spawned from the very walls themselves. It was a mysterious, surreal place.
Even though Orario hadn't yet gone through the event known as the "Seven Days of Death," and the city was still bustling with adventurers, the upper floors were surprisingly quiet.
Perhaps everyone was still out celebrating the "Return of the Heroes."
"Detection Wave."
Ronen cast the spell at his center, sending out a pulse that scanned his surroundings.
Instantly, life signatures and environmental data flooded into his mind—everything nearby was laid bare before him.
"Hm?"
He paused.
His detection spell could read life force... and there was a familiar signature within its range.
"…A member of the Hera Familia?"
He whispered to himself, eyes narrowing.
Though all gods' blessings had the same structure, members of the same familia carried a similar divine resonance—an aura unique to their deity's Falna.
Ronen could recognize that aura now. Besides the expected monsters and adventurers, someone was following him.
A girl.
And her life signature matched the aura of someone very familiar—his lover.
"No hostility. Mostly… curiosity? Protection?"
Ronen understood immediately.
Meteria had asked someone from her familia to watch over him in secret.
He couldn't help but smile at the realization.
Far from being angry, he felt touched. He wasn't the kind of man to cling to toxic pride.
If he had been, he probably wouldn't have survived the early days of being an underpowered transmigrator—especially not when his early life had involved relying heavily on the support of others.
Meteria hadn't told him about this escort, not out of mistrust, but out of concern for his pride. She had likely arranged this in silence so as not to hurt his feelings.
And honestly, Ronen was fine with it.
If this helped put her mind at ease, then so be it.
It wasn't a matter of ego. It was a matter of care.
Truth be told, he was nervous, too.
Fighting monsters was one thing—but monsters could still ambush you and kill you.
And worse than monsters… were humans.
If he ran into a malicious high-level adventurer, he might not be live to regret it.
That was the reality of the Dungeon.
The only certainty was uncertainty.
So, having someone watching over him from the shadows?
It wasn't just reassuring.
It was smart.
With his thoughts settled and his mood calm once more, Ronen turned his attention forward.
A monster had just appeared in front of him.
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