Inside the cluttered divine chamber, an indescribable silence hung in the air, lingering for a long, long time.
Leon double-checked the Status values on the parchment several times to ensure he hadn't misread them. Once confirmed, he locked eyes with Loki, leaving both god and human in a state of speechlessness.
The sight of the two staring at each other was somewhat comical, especially Loki, who looked as if she were questioning her very existence as a deity. It was enough to make Leon almost break character and laugh.
He certainly had the right to.
"Total proficiency increase across all Basic Abilities exceeds 3,000..."
After a low murmur, Leon took a deep breath.
"This isn't some kind of prank, is it?"
His expression, which clearly asked, "Did your hand slip and you wrote it wrong?" made Loki's face twist again.
"I might not be able to decipher that broken skill of yours, but I've been a Familia's presiding deity for decades. Even by a conservative estimate, I've updated Statuses tens of thousands of times. Do you really think I'm an illiterate who would misread or miswrite basic proficiency points?"
Loki clutched her needle, looking as though she wanted to jab Leon in the face, her teeth itching with irritation.
"Don't just look for problems in your elders when something happens. Sometimes, ask yourself if the problem is you, alright?"
Although Loki herself had initially doubted her eyes—to the point that her usually squinted divine eyes had snapped wide open—she figured that if she still misread things with her eyes that wide, she might as well be a blind god. She wasn't like that Great God Odin from her homeland who donated an eye to a broken fountain; how could she be blind?
As for being illiterate, that was even more impossible. Sacred Hieroglyphs might be profound and mysterious to the children of the lower world, but to a god, they were merely a common language. She had been reading and writing them for hundreds of millions of years; how could she possibly make a mistake?
Thus, it wasn't that she was illiterate—it was that she truly had never seen such a thing.
"But this is too incredible."
Leon confirmed the Status on the parchment once more, feeling his throat go dry.
He had vaguely sensed that his skill, Outworlder, might be even more extraordinary than the protagonist's Bell Cranel. Since even the restrictions on magic and racial potential were seemingly removed by the skill's effect, then the limits on the growth speed and growth ceiling of Basic Abilities were surely removed as well.
Because of this, Leon had harbored expectations before—expecting his growth speed to keep up with, or even surpass, the original protagonist's. However, seeing this staggering growth in person still left him shaken.
A total increase of over 3,000 proficiency points across all abilities!
What kind of concept was that?
One must realize that the original protagonist, who possessed the cheating early-maturing skill Bell Cranel, only saw a total increase of one or two hundred points at Level 1, with his highest being five or six hundred. Granted, the protagonist's increase occurred over a single day, while Leon's was the result of ten days of accumulated growth. Yet, when truly calculated, his rate of improvement still slightly exceeded that of the protagonist.
It was impossible not to find it unbelievable. However, he didn't realize that compared to him, Loki was the one truly finding it beyond belief.
"Otherwise, why would I ask what on earth you've been doing? Is this the growth speed a human should have?"
Loki clawed at her hair, looking a bit like she was losing her mind.
For an ordinary child of the lower world, the increase in proficiency for any single Basic Ability after a day of hard work would never exceed one hundred. Sometimes it would be a dozen points, sometimes just a few, and sometimes it wouldn't increase at all. Furthermore, it became increasingly difficult to raise as one progressed. That was the normal growth speed.
Even for those blessed geniuses, it was rare for their total proficiency increase to exceed one hundred in a day. Over ten days, they might gain two or three hundred points, but that was close to the limit.
A typical rookie adventurer who explored the Dungeon diligently every day, fighting on floors suited to their difficulty, would usually take about half a month just to raise one or more Basic Abilities from I0 to the H stage (over 100 proficiency). In other words, a total increase of two or three hundred points across all abilities was the standard limit; exceeding five hundred was rare.
And then... there was Leon.
He had increased his total by over 3,000 in just ten days!
While others might raise a few abilities by one stage from I to H over half a month, he had raised his weakest stat, Endurance, from I to E in ten days—a jump of four stages. Strength and Dexterity had each risen by five stages to D. Even Agility had jumped six stages to C. Finally, Magic had somehow skyrocketed by seven stages to reach B!
That was a B!
Back then, when Ais reached Level 1, didn't it take her nearly half a year to raise her best Basic Ability to B? This brat had achieved Ais's half-year results in just ten days?
That wasn't even what Loki found hardest to accept. Watching the Status on Leon's back flicker as if it were glowing, Loki spoke with an incredibly complex tone.
"You brat... you can level up now, do you know that?"
The moment those words were spoken, Leon snapped his head up from the parchment, stunned.
"What did you say?"
He suspected he had misheard. But he hadn't.
"I said, you can level up."
Loki stared intently at Leon, speaking each word clearly.
"Your Great Feats have accumulated sufficiently. If you wish, you can rank up to Level 2 right now and become an upper-class adventurer."
This was what Loki found most inconceivable.
"..." Leon fell into a total silence.
Generally speaking, leveling up required two conditions to be met. First: at least one Basic Ability must reach Rank D. Second: achieve a Great Feat to gain a certain amount of high-rank excelia.
Leon obviously met the first condition. Aside from his weakest stat, Endurance, which hadn't reached D yet, all his other abilities had met or surpassed it, with Magic already at B. He had long since satisfied the basic requirements for ranking up.
As for the second condition, upon careful thought, Leon realized it wasn't impossible for him to have met it.
On his very first day adventuring in the Dungeon, he had faced a desperate situation on the 4th Floor, besieged by a massive army of Kobolds. Even though he eventually slaughtered the entire horde, he was left covered in wounds and drenched in blood. Without the treatment of a High Elixir, he might not have even had the strength to crawl back to the surface; he would have had to wait for rescue from passing peers or be killed by the next monster to appear.
Later, as Leon continued exploring the 5th, 6th, and even 7th Floors of the Dungeon, he had encountered other dangers.
The first time he entered the 6th Floor, he encountered a War Shadow—a creature known alongside the Killer Ant as a "Newbie Killer." He had been particularly wary and cautious while trading blows with it, finally finding an opening to kill it. However, he hadn't expected a second War Shadow to be hiding in the shadows. It ambushed him just as he let his guard down after killing the first, nearly piercing his heart with its sharp claws.
In a state of heavy injury, Leon had managed to dispatch the second one in a thrilling struggle and quickly consumed his last High Elixir to heal the wound. Otherwise, he likely would have died from blood loss.
On the 7th Floor, Leon had also encountered two crises. Once was due to failing to kill a Killer Ant quickly enough, which allowed it to summon a swarm of its kin, resulting in him being besieged by an army of Killer Ants. The second was due to encountering a Purple Moth that scattered poisonous scales, causing him to accidentally get poisoned.
Had Leon not carried elixirs for replenishment, he absolutely would not have survived those two crises. Even so, he had used many precious elixirs. His only Magic Elixir was used during the Killer Ant siege, along with three stamina recovery elixirs and a Panacea. The two high-quality antitoxins were also used during the fight with the Purple Moth.
Thanks to these, Leon had overcome one hurdle after another, successfully surviving every crisis. These were undoubtedly adventures that could be called Great Feats, sufficient to form the High Excellence required to sublimate an adventurer's "container" and prompt a level up.
Furthermore, the experience of Leon—starting from a state of I0 in all abilities—venturing all the way to the 7th Floor and surviving there was equally precious.
Achieving a Great Feat didn't necessarily require combat; it could be other things, such as forging a powerful weapon or researching a unique invention. These were all great deeds worthy of praise. Even if an adventurer achieved a breakthrough in their state of mind, the experience of "surpassing oneself" was similarly a Great Feat that could generate High Excellence.
Leon's change in mindset when first facing a desperate situation, his decision to take risks from then on, and his experience of continuously training himself while deep in the 7th Floor with I0 stats—all of these could be considered a self-breakthrough and a "great deed" to some extent.
If all these events combined still couldn't trigger a level up, then that would be the truly strange thing.
Why did Loki ask what he had done? Precisely because she could see from this result that Leon must have experienced extraordinary events unknown to others; otherwise, it was absolutely impossible to satisfy the conditions for leveling up.
As Loki said, as long as he was willing, he could rank up to Level 2 right now and become an upper-class adventurer.
An upper-class adventurer! That was a title only those who reached Level 2 could hold. More than half of the adventurers in Orario were merely Level 1 lower-class adventurers. The remaining less than half were the upper-class adventurers.
There was a high wall known as a "gap" between Level 1 and Level 2, which required sufficient talent to cross. Adventurers who rose to Level 2 were considered the backbone of Orario; they could receive a title bestowed by the gods and make a name for themselves in the world.
Members of the Loki Familia were essentially all upper-class adventurers, with seven of them being First-Class Adventurers of Level 5 or higher. This was why the Familia was known as one of the twin kings of Orario, holding the title of the strongest. If Leon rose to Level 2, he would finally be living up to the name of the Loki Familia.
However... this was undoubtedly difficult for Loki to accept.
"Back then, it took Ais a whole year to rise to Level 2, and she became the record holder for the fastest level up in history." Loki looked at Leon as if he were an alien. "And you? You can level up in just ten days!"
This wasn't just breaking a record; it was like a dream. The gap between ten days and one year... forget a god, even a human child could see the difference.
"Seriously, how did you do it?" Loki finally couldn't suppress her internal excitement. She grabbed Leon's shoulders and began shaking him violently. "Did you find some secret to fast leveling? If you did, hurry up and tell me!"
Hearing this, Leon, who had remained silent, couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Do you think that's possible?" Leon said irritably.
"I know it's impossible, but I can't figure it out!" Loki began to ramble, muttering, "Ten days... to be able to level up in ten days. Aside from cheating or using a hack, I really can't imagine how you did it!"
—Was it really unimaginable? Not necessarily.
Leon glanced at Loki. Seeing the mysterious emotions flickering in her wide-open divine eyes, he immediately realized she had guessed something.
Outworlder—this special skill that even the gods couldn't decipher was even more stunning than Leon had imagined. Perhaps the reason he could satisfy the Great Feats required for leveling up so quickly was that this skill had also removed the restrictions on ranking up, lowering the difficulty?
After all, as mentioned before, the "all abilities" referred to in the skill encompassed everything within the Status—Basic Abilities, Developmental Abilities, Magic, Skills, and... Level.
"So, what do you say?" Loki suddenly asked. "Do you want to level up?"
Leon fell silent once more.
Level up? If it were anyone else, they would surely say yes without hesitation, wouldn't they? With just a nod, they would immediately rise to Level 2, become an upper-class adventurer, gain a massive boost in strength, receive a title from a god, and see their fame skyrocket.
In that case, what reason was there not to nod?
However, under Loki's gaze, Leon shook his head.
"I feel that I haven't yet reached the limit of my growth at Level 1," Leon said calmly. "So, I want to try working hard for a bit longer."
Are you kidding? His highest Basic Ability had only reached B. How could he level up like this? If he could reach B in ten days, then with a bit more time spent training, he could certainly reach A, or even S.
Perhaps he could even be like the original protagonist and break the limit of Basic Abilities, reaching SS or SSS. If he did that, then when he eventually leveled up, he would undoubtedly become far stronger than if he leveled up now.
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