Azure gales howled across the Dungeon. Under the power of the [Wind] Card, even at merely Lv.1, there was not a single monster within the first nine floors of the Dungeon that could withstand Sakura for even a moment.
Goblins, kobolds, shadowlings, needlehorn rabbits, tongue-stab lizards, killer ants…
From the sixth floor all the way to the ninth, Sakura and Seele swept everything aside, even dipping into the tenth floor to eliminate some orcs and imps.
Only after several hours had passed—when Seele sensed that Sakura's magical power was nearly exhausted—did she activate Quantumization once more, directly taking Sakura back to the Hestia Familia's base: the abandoned church.
By then, dusk had already fallen. Seeing Sakura and Seele return, Hestia—who had just finished her own shift of part-time work—not long ago—immediately waved at them happily.
"You're back! You worked hard exploring the Dungeon all day. I specially brought back some fried potato balls—hurry up and eat them while they're hot!"
"After that, I'll update your Blessings and see how much you gained today."
Hearing this, Seele and Sakura smiled and nodded.
"Thank you, Hestia-oneechan."
Although Sakura didn't actually need Hestia to update her Blessing—she could do it herself—in light of Hestia's strong insistence the day before, this task was ultimately left to her.
As Hestia herself put it: if even the updating of Blessing information didn't require her involvement, then what meaning did her existence as the head of the Hestia Familia even have?
The Blessing being disconnected from her was one thing—but if she couldn't even personally witness her Familia children's growth, she really would cry.
And so, after dinner, Seele and Sakura took turns lying on the bed inside the church while Hestia updated their Blessing panels.
Seele
Lv.1
Strength: [B] 756
Endurance: [D] 572
Dexterity: [B] 749
Agility: [A] 823
Magic: [A] 856
Staring at the Blessing panel before her, Hestia's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Is this increase for real?! In just one day, most of your attributes jumped above B, and two of them even reached A?!"
Even accounting for Seele's skill that doubled her attribute growth, reaching this level on her first day in the Dungeon was terrifying—so much so that it could be said to eclipse all of Orario.
After all, even first-tier adventurers—including those who would later become Lv.6 elites of the Loki Familia or Freya Familia—usually had average stats of only C to B at the moment of leveling up, with perhaps one or two attributes reaching A. And those stats were accumulated over one or two years, or even several years.
In other words, Seele had not only walked a path that took others years—in a single day—but had also reached the average attribute level of adventurers right before leveling up. All she needed now was a single great feat, and she could immediately advance.
"But… Seele didn't actually participate in much combat today,"
Seele herself was puzzled by the extent of her attribute growth.
After all, she didn't particularly need the Blessing's enhancement, and since the main purpose was to train Sakura, Seele hadn't been especially proactive in grinding her own stats in the Dungeon.
Yet even so, her attributes had risen to such a degree?
"That just proves your talent is exceptional," Hestia said. "Even digging out just a tiny bit of it already rivals years of accumulation by other adventurers. If you train just a little more seriously, I bet you could easily push all your attributes to A—maybe even S."
"I see. Then Seele understands. I'll train properly from now on and won't disappoint you, Hestia-oneechan."
The talent of a Herrscher's body was naturally beyond question. That Seele could achieve such explosive growth in a single day, even without much effort, was due not only to her innate gifts and her stat-doubling skill, but also to one crucial factor—
Seele wasn't a true newbie at all.
Strictly speaking, she was a max-level character masquerading as a level-one beginner. While her Blessing panel indeed read Lv.1, in terms of actual combat strength, even Orario's strongest adventurer—Ottar of the Freya Familia—was nowhere near her equal.
From that perspective, casually taking action a few times and then, under the amplification of talent and skills, surpassing years of a normal rookie's growth was only natural.
But if Seele's updated panel left Hestia incredulous, then Sakura's panel left her completely dumbfounded.
Kinomoto Sakura
Lv.1
Strength: [C] 614
Endurance: [D] 523
Dexterity: [C] 644
Agility: [C] 681
Magic: [SSS] 5684
If Seele's growth could still be attributed partly to her true strength, then Sakura's numbers were utterly, unquestionably shocking.
One day.
SSS-rank magic.
From zero to over 5,600 magic points in a single day.
This panel was something Hestia had never even heard of since the gods descended to the Lower World. Before Sakura, the absolute upper limit for a single attribute on any human adventurer's Blessing panel was S—that is, no more than 999 points.
So what exactly was this situation in front of her? Magic power skyrocketing past five thousand in a single day?
If Sakura weren't her own child, but a member of some other god's Familia, Hestia would absolutely have blurted out:
"Is this even human?!"
More importantly, aside from the attribute explosion, Hestia also discovered that Sakura had already fulfilled the conditions for a great feat.
In other words—if Sakura wanted to, she could level up right now.
"The great feat is probably due to analyzing the Blessing itself,"
An Xora spoke up from the side, offering his guess.
Great feats weren't achieved solely through combat. Their essence lay in accomplishing something that ordinary people could never achieve.
And analyzing the Blessing of the gods—a feat so outrageous it bordered on the absurd—was enough that, if great feats weren't required for each level-up, this single achievement might have sufficed for all levels from Lv.1 to Lv.9.
"Then… does Sakura need to level up now?"
Hestia asked.
If magic was Sakura's main method of combat, and she didn't particularly care about the growth of non-magic attributes, then she could absolutely advance to Lv.2 immediately. After all, an SSS-rank magic stat already far exceeded the limits of ordinary adventurers.
However, An Xora shook his head.
"Let her raise her other attributes a bit more first, then level up."
The Blessing system of the DanMachi world was a good opportunity to slightly compensate for Sakura's shortcomings in physical stats. After all, despite her overwhelming power, Sakura in the original story had always carried the faint stigma of being a "glass cannon."
Now, taking advantage of the Blessing system, it was the perfect chance to grind up her non-magic attributes as well. With her skills and innate talent as a foundation, even if they couldn't compare to her magic, their growth rate wouldn't be slow.
There was no need to push everything to SSS—that would be excessive. Reaching A or above across the board would be more than enough before leveling up.
As mentioned before, the Blessing system could only slightly make up for Sakura's physical weaknesses. Truly solving that issue would require more than just what the Dungeon's Blessing could offer.
And there was no need to worry that raising other attributes would slow down her magic growth. After Sakura had fully analyzed the Blessing system, it could only help her excavate her potential—it could no longer place any real constraints upon it.
Thus, the SSS magic value was merely the displayed limit of the Blessing panel.
It was very far from being Sakura's true limit.
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