"...And that's essentially what happened," the black-haired girl, Line, recounted the incident. "Levi Bright is the first adventurer I've seen use a party-wide barrier magic without a chant. I believe he could be a massive asset to our future expeditions, so we gave him the Goliath Hide as a gesture of goodwill."
"You did well, Line," Finn "The Braver" nodded. He then looked at the Sword Princess. "Ais, what about you? What did you think of him?"
"His physique is well-trained. He isn't just a backline support. When he fell from the 16th floor, he was holding a spear, but it vanished into thin air and was replaced by a potion."
"Oh? He has space-storage magic too?" Gareth "The Heavy Warrior" looked surprised, stroking his beard. "This Levi Bright sounds like the perfect candidate for an expedition Supporter."
"You're dreaming too big," Riveria "Nine Hell" shook her head. "He's the Captain of the Hestia Familia. Unless we offer something massive, he won't willingly serve as our logistics officer."
"It's not like we didn't run errands for the Zeus and Hera Familias back in the day," Gareth grunted, bringing up the trio's old "dark history" from when those two legendary Familias ruled Orario.
"That's different," Riveria countered.
Seeing them on the verge of arguing, Finn changed the subject. "If I recall, Levi Bright came to Orario only a month ago, right?"
"Yes," Riveria replied. "There was a bit of a stir when he went into the Dungeon without a Falna, but it was overshadowed by his public confession to Hestia."
"Doesn't that seem strange?" Finn bit his thumb, frowning. "An adventurer with a Falna for less than half a month can descend to the Middle Floors alone? Even with barrier magic, it's too illogical."
Riveria and Gareth realized the implication immediately.
"You mean..."
Finn nodded. "Either he lied and already had a Falna before coming to Orario—hiding it because his previous Familia had a bad reputation—or..."
Riveria finished the thought: "Or he managed to stack enough Great Feats and grow his stats to level-up levels in just two weeks."
"Haha," Gareth laughed. "I hope it's the first one."
"But if it's the second one..." Finn's gaze turned deep. A chill ran through the room.
"Captain, you're joking, right?" Line asked with a dry laugh.
"I wish I were," Finn sighed. "With that barrier magic, the difficulty of leveling up drops significantly. But the truly terrifying part... is the probability that the boy awakened a skill that accelerates stat growth."
"But how is that possible?" Line couldn't believe it. If such a skill existed, what did it make of everyone else's hard work?
Unlike the young girl, the Big Three were more philosophical. "In Loki's words, that is the 'Unknown' of the lower world." Finn didn't dwell on it. Unless the Hestia Familia went public, no one would know for sure. "Now, let's discuss how to win Levi Bright over."
"Win him over?" Line was surprised. "Can't we just take him through a War Game?"
She was met with three pairs of rolling eyes.
"A War Game is the direct way, but it means burning bridges," Finn explained. "We want him because his magic helps expeditions. In the deep floors of the Dungeon, you do NOT want a teammate sitting right next to you who hates your guts. If we force him into our Familia after a War Game, he'd be a liability."
"Surely he wouldn't..." Line started.
"Most adventurers wouldn't care after a transfer. But Levi Bright loves the Goddess Hestia," Finn said bluntly. "If you were in love with a God and joined his Familia, only for a giant Familia to tear you away because they wanted your skills, would you not hate them? Not to mention, Hestia is clearly in love with him too. Forcing them apart would invite the hysterical revenge of a Goddess. Even if they can't use divine power, a Goddess with nothing to lose is a nightmare for any Familia."
Riveria spoke up. "Do you think... Levi Bright anticipated his information leaking, and that's why he confessed to Hestia so publicly? To create a protective shield of public opinion and romantic sentiment?"
The room went silent.