"Haaah—"
On the way to the Dungeon entrance, Levi let out a sigh for the umpteenth time today.
He had just learned a new magic and even used it to break through the final barrier in his relationship with Hestia. It should have been a dream-like time, a moment when their bond was about to grow even closer.
But...
"Just why did it turn out like this?"
Slightly distracted, Levi accidentally voiced his thoughts aloud.
Normally, such a vague, out-of-context sentence wouldn't have drawn much attention.
But in the next second...
"I don't know what you're worried about, Big Brother, but it's dangerous to go into the Dungeon with that kind of mindset."
A word of caution reached his ears—or more accurately, it came from down to his right.
Levi followed the sound and saw a little beast-person girl wearing a grayish-white cloak.
Judging by her height, she looked to be about eleven or twelve years old.
Although he didn't know who she was, since she had offered a kind warning, Levi wouldn't be rude. He simply nodded at the girl.
Then, without saying anything, he continued walking forward.
He had no intention of getting deeply involved with other adventurers until he was fully established.
However, this unspoken distance seemed to have been misunderstood by the other party—or perhaps, she deliberately ignored it.
The girl quickened her pace, walking alongside Levi and introducing herself without prompting: "Hello there, Big Brother! This might be a bit sudden, but are you in need of a supporter?"
"Lili's rates are very affor—"
The little beast-person girl—or rather, the Pallum girl Liliruca—was only halfway through her sentence when Levi's flat, emotionless voice cut in.
"Sorry, I don't need one."
In the story of DanMachi, the protagonist, Bell Cranel, is a kind boy, almost to a fault.
He would extend a hand to those trapped in despair and pull them from the mire.
In the words of the god Hermes from the story, Bell Cranel is truly the last hero.
In contrast, Levi Bright, an orphan in both his lives who had learned the hardships of survival early on, never held such lofty ideals.
Even though he guessed that the girl beside him was most likely the prominent supporting character from the DanMachi story, Liliruca Arde—a Pallum girl who had accidentally drunk the Soma Familia's divine sake as a child, become addicted, and was now steadily falling into an abyss—he didn't feel the slightest inclination to help her.
He limited their interaction to just that one sentence.
Oh, and now one more.
"If you don't want to die, stay away from me."
"..."
With him putting it so bluntly, Liliruca understood that continuing to follow him would be more than just impolite.
"Lili... no, I understand."
Seeing the girl obediently stop in her tracks, Levi nodded.
He took a step forward.
Then, as if intentionally yet also casually, he remarked offhandedly:
"I heard that the captain of the Loki Familia, Finn Deimne, dreams of revitalizing the Pallum race. I don't know how sincere he is, but if a fellow Pallum were on the verge of not surviving in Orario, I imagine that 'Braver' would be more than willing to help."
Liliruca looked up, stunned.
She didn't know how he had seen through her transformation magic. Just as she was about to ask, she realized that the boy with pale golden short hair had already moved far, far away.
...
Liliruca's sudden appearance was nothing more than a small morning interlude for Levi.
He soon forgot all about it.
Compared to meddling in the fates of others, he was clearly more focused on his own progress.
And after a full morning and afternoon of effort, Levi's personal savings had once again grown to over 130,000 Valis.
60,000 Valis were instantly invested into the permanent card pool, yielding a 'Specific Development Ability Activation Ticket' and an increase of 120 points to each of his five basic abilities.
Afterward, Levi spent another 32,900 Valis, using the system's own stat conversion function to raise all the attributes on his character panel to their absolute limit, SS 1099.
Had it been anyone else, with personal stats reaching a level where an ordinary adventurer could rank up to Lv. 3, they probably would have been unable to resist rushing to the Middle Floors to earn their feat.
But Levi had never underestimated the Dungeon.
Knowing its dangers intimately from his past life's memories, he understood that no amount of preparation could ever completely eliminate the risk of an accident; it could only reduce the probability.
Thus, after a brief adjustment, he began using the skill proficiency enhancement tickets.
The first 100-day enhancement ticket was activated. A second later, the proficiency of the Mana Burst skill on Levi's character panel shot up from Master 25% to Master 58% as if boosted by a rocket.
Sensing his current mana had been depleted by about half, Levi didn't hesitate. He took out a mana recovery potion that had been in his inventory for ten years and downed it in a few gulps.
At the same time, he didn't forget to chant the incantation for the second magic he had mastered:
"Hestia, I pray to you, grant me the goddess's blessing!"
At full strength, one-twentieth of his mana vanished instantly.
Following that, a translucent, semi-corporeal phantom of Hestia suddenly appeared behind Levi.
The black-haired, twin-tailed goddess, wearing an enigmatic smile, gently leaned on the back of the one she cherished before dissolving into countless points of light—no, to be more precise, she merged into Levi's body.
'If reality were a game, words like 'Mana Recovery ↑↑↑' and 'Health Recovery ↑↑↑' would probably be appearing at my feet right now.'
As these stray thoughts crossed his mind, Levi sensed the mana recovery speed within his body.
[Mana Recovery Potion: After use, continuously restores 10% of maximum mana over one minute. Cooldown: 10 minutes.]
The effect of this Mana Recovery Potion from some unknown world wasn't particularly outstanding, not even matching the low-grade Mind Potions produced locally in the DanMachi world, which could restore 20% of maximum mana.
However, Levi had a weapon that slightly accelerated mana recovery when equipped, and he was also under the effect of Hestia's loving protection.
As a result, about forty-something, almost fifty seconds after drinking the potion, his mana was almost fully restored.
He didn't hesitate and immediately used the second 100-day proficiency enhancement ticket.
[Mana Burst · 4-Star (Master 58% → Master 88%)]
Next, Levi used five 10-day enhancement tickets in succession.
The first four were to continue increasing the proficiency of Mana Burst, and the last one, after the magic's level became (-), was used specifically to develop the advanced techniques 'Blade' and 'Shield', which were previously only half-mastered.
[Mana Burst · 4-Star (-)]
[Chantless]
[Basic: Greatly increases all abilities except Mana (Ability boost increased from 400 to 500)]
[Advanced · Ten: Massively increases a single ability except Mana (Ability boost increased from 800 to 1000)]
[Advanced · En: Greatly increases perception of the surrounding environment]
[Advanced · Blade: Greatly increases weapon's attack power]
[Advanced · Shield: Greatly increases armor's defensive power]
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