Chapter 59: Shirou Levels Up, Gains the Skill [Karma's Flame]!
After an indescribably fierce battle, Shirou completely cleared the 20th floor of all monsters.
He also utterly destroyed the massive plant that had taken over the entire dungeon.
As the plant died, a strange magic stone fell from within its body.
Unlike ordinary dungeon monster cores, which are pitch black, this one was black mixed with golden veins — as if strange blood flowed inside.
"What is this...?"
Shirou picked up the golden magic stone and examined it carefully, but found no clues.
Naturally, having only arrived in this world a few months ago, he had little knowledge of magic stones, much less this bizarre golden one. To uncover its secrets, he would have to find someone trustworthy on the surface to study it.
Just as he was about to leave, the golden energy within the stone began to flow out and spread into his body.
"!!!"
Shirou immediately examined himself but found nothing abnormal. Confused, he took out the stone again and saw that the golden "blood" inside had vanished, as if it had completely fused with his body.
The stone had become nothing more than an ordinary rock.
He then tried checking for any internal changes, like when he had previously killed the Lone Maze King and received experience.
However, his attributes and physical stats remained unchanged — his speed and strength were the same as before. Yet, he felt something within him had changed.
"Could it be... I leveled up?"
He muttered jokingly to himself, not truly believing it — he didn't think someone in his odd situation could level up like a regular adventurer.
Dismissing the idea, he began to clean the battlefield. Finding nothing else of value besides the golden stone, he decisively left the 20th floor and returned to the safety zone of the 18th floor.
By this time, all the adventurers in Rivira Town had learned of the crisis on the 20th floor.
Since the highest level adventurers there were only Level 3, they couldn't fight the monster directly and had instead sent someone to the surface to request reinforcements.
Shirou said nothing during this time and didn't reveal that he had wiped out the 20th floor's monsters. He merely told his team, including Lefiya, that he had gone out for a stroll and then returned to sleep.
The next day, a great commotion in Rivira Town woke him up.
Stepping out of his tent, he saw a large group of adventurers gathered, led by none other than the members of the Loki Familia.
It turned out the Loki Familia had arrived in response to the call for aid — not from the surface, but because they had passed through Rivira on their way back from an expedition and had noticed something off about the 20th floor.
Upon confirming the strange changes, they came to investigate.
"Captain Finn, you're saying the monsters on the 20th floor disappeared?" Lefiya, reunited with her companions, was shocked by the report from Captain Finn.
"Rather than vanished, it's more like... they were exterminated," Finn said grimly, biting his thumb.
Lefiya instinctively looked toward Shirou, though even she found it hard to believe he could defeat such a massive monster. Suspicion flickered in her eyes.
"What's wrong? Thinking of something?" Finn asked.
"N-No, nothing!" Lefiya, having promised Shirou, didn't reveal anything about him. Instead, she recounted everything she knew about the 20th floor to Finn.
After hearing it all, Finn concluded that someone had indeed killed the 20th floor monster, which he speculated was at least on par with a floor boss — perhaps even stronger. Whoever defeated it must possess the power to solo such a powerful foe.
The Loki Familia had searched the entire 20th floor and found sword marks everywhere — clear evidence of a fierce battle.
At that point, a name appeared in everyone's mind: The Sword Demon.
Ais whispered this with a complex expression.
She had long been intrigued by this mysterious dungeon-dwelling warrior and had searched for signs of him throughout their expedition — but found nothing. Yet now, the Sword Demon had slain a monster equivalent to a Monster Rex(Like Goliath) right under her nose. This filled her with both regret and a pressing sense of urgency.
"Captain, I want to head deeper into the dungeon!" Ais suddenly requested.
But Finn firmly refused. "I know what you want, but it's too dangerous. If you really meet the Sword Demon, you'll die."
This wasn't an exaggeration — no one in the Loki Familia had the confidence to solo a Monster Rex of that level. Even Ais would be in grave danger if she encountered someone that strong.
"I'm not going after the Sword Demon. I want to challenge the Monster Rex on the 37th floor. I have a feeling... that if I defeat it, I'll level up."
Hearing that, Finn realized he couldn't stop her.
Adventurers often had extremely accurate instincts about leveling up — when that feeling hit, the only option was to challenge the strongest opponent they could find.
"Take Riveria with you," Finn said reluctantly. "With a Level 6 mage at your side, you should at least be able to escape, even if you meet the Sword Demon."
"Understood."
Ais agreed — her heart now wholly fixated on surpassing that elusive warrior's strength.
The Loki Familia decided to stay in Rivira to wait for Ais's return and investigate the anomaly on the 20th floor, which was unprecedented in Orario's history.
Since Lefiya was part of a joint expedition, they allowed her to return to the surface with her party to conclude the mission.
.
.
.
Bright sunlight once again shone upon the adventurers' faces. Every member of the party, including Shirou, felt genuine relief upon leaving the dungeon.
Especially Lefiya — after surviving so many close calls, she knew she'd never forget these days.
"Well then, we'll be heading off."
The adventurers from the Ganesha and Freya Familia departed, presumably to report back to their gods.
Shirou and Lefiya were also about to return to their own Familias.
But just before leaving, Lefiya turned around with a complicated expression and asked Shirou, "Can I ask you something?"
"No."
"Ugh, meanie!"
"...Fine, ask."
Shirou reluctantly gave in after her loud protest drew attention.
"I want to know... Are you the Sword Demon?"
As expected, she asked the one question he knew was coming.
"What if I said I was?"
"Wait— Are you really—"
She faltered in confusion. But Shirou waved dismissively.
"See? You don't really believe I'm the Sword Demon. Honestly, I'm not. If I was strong enough to kill that monster, I wouldn't have run away with the rest of you."
"That... does make sense."
Lefiya nodded, seemingly convinced — or rather, trying to convince herself.
Shirou chuckled. "Instead of worrying about me, why not focus on yourself? If you weren't such a little shrimp, we wouldn't have had such a close call."
"Who're you calling a shrimp?!"
Lefiya instinctively snapped back, but quickly understood his point.
While she hadn't made any critical mistakes, she also hadn't been much help.
From exposing the Apollo Familia's traitor to escaping the 20th floor alive, it was all thanks to Shirou. She had even dragged the team down at times.
Her frustration grew. Like Ais, she too developed a burning desire to grow stronger.
After parting ways, Shirou returned to the Hestia Familia's base.
.
.
.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw Bell doing push-ups shirtless, with several bricks stacked on his back.
"What... are you doing?"
Shirou asked, confused.
"Shirou-sama! You're back!" Lily cheered.
Bell tried to greet him too, but collapsed face-first into the ground, exhausted.
"Pff—"
Shirou watched, deeply suspicious.
Lily explained: since Shirou had gone into the dungeon, Bell had become obsessed with leveling up.
He had asked around for advice and learned that, besides accumulating experience, leveling up also required pushing one's limits.
The brick-weighted push-ups were a method suggested by someone from the Ganesha Familia. Of course, it was a useless suggestion that wouldn't help him level up.
"You really want to level up that badly?"
"Of course!" Bell replied passionately. "In five years, I'm supposed to duel Bete from the Loki Familia. If I lose, you'll have to join the Loki Familia, Shirou-nii! I can't let that happen. I have to level up as fast as possible!"
"Wait, you two made a bet like that?!" Lily exclaimed, shocked.
Shirou was intrigued by Bell's determination and began forming ideas on how to help him level up — though he decided to organize his thoughts before telling Bell.
As they chatted, Hestia returned home. She seemed grumpy, likely from some divine gathering, but the moment she saw Shirou, her mood brightened and she pounced on him.
"Shirou! You're finally back! I missed you so much!!"
"Hestia, I need a favor."
"Huh? A favor?"
"I want you to check my level."
After battling the mutated monster, Shirou was eager to know whether the golden stone had affected him. If he didn't gain any experience, then the only possible change could be a level-up.
He didn't explain all this to Hestia, just asked for a status update.
She agreed and had Shirou lie down, then dripped her divine blood on his back. As the blood merged, Shirou's status appeared before her.
Hestia's expression immediately changed.
"Lev... le-le-le-level—"
"Huh? Level what?" Bell and Lily asked.
After stammering for a while, Hestia finally exclaimed, "You leveled up! Shirou, you're Level 2 now! What happened?!"
"Seriously?!"
Both Bell and Lily were stunned.
Even Shirou was surprised — though deep down, he had suspected something.
He'd heard that leveling up didn't instantly boost strength, but increased an adventurer's limit. In other words, if experience was water, the adventurer was the bottle — to hold more water (power), the bottle needed to be enlarged via level-up.
That matched the strange sensation he'd felt after absorbing the golden blood — a change without stat improvement.
"Since I leveled up... did I get a new skill? According to Hephaestus-sama, I should've gotten something like a forging skill, right?"
"Uh... well..."
Hestia hesitated. After thinking it through, she explained: "You did gain a development ability... but it wasn't forging."
"It wasn't?"
"No. Forging is the most common skill — almost every blacksmith gets it.
But what you got is called [Karma's Flame], a rare development ability. No one can say exactly what it does — not even Hephaestus.
But one thing's for sure: it's far stronger than normal forging skills. Maybe even beyond imagination."