Maybe it was because of Cid's efforts in his previous life, or maybe because of his skills—either way, aside from combat, he could grow stronger with ridiculous ease in forging, mana control, healing, and so on.
Because he hadn't fought much from childhood to now, all of Cid's development abilities were non-combat types.
Alise had always taught Cid swordsmanship. On the surface he could wield a blade convincingly, and in private his sword skill was outstanding.
But when it came time to choose development abilities, Cid didn't pick the ones that directly boosted combat power.
He had Magecraft because he'd been compressing mana for years. He had Blacksmithing because he'd been experimenting with turning monster materials and magic stones into weapons and armor. He had Healing because of his knowledge of the human body and his extreme mastery of mana.
As for Mystery, Cid was the only one who couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Still, when he created artificial divine blood, that development ability seemed to activate.
According to rumor, Mystery was possessed by fewer than a handful of people in Orario.
Heh. As the Eminence in Shadow, of course he should have an ability nobody else has—and whose effect is maddeningly unclear.
Normally, being personally powerful and improving across the board should be nothing but good news.
But he'd already hit a wall.
Once his parameters reached 1999, his current Blessing level could no longer draw out further potential from his body.
No matter how hard he trained, he couldn't raise them any higher.
Only leveling up would increase the cap and let him keep progressing.
In Orario, leveling up requires two conditions:
One parameter reaches D-rank (500+)
You complete a great feat
A "great feat" means breaking common sense, breaking your limits—doing something that, generally speaking, shouldn't be doable.
Cid had reached Level 5 not by defeating powerful enemies, but through potion research and forging weapons.
That's right—achievements outside of battle can also count as a great feat.
Hephaestus Familia's captain, Tsubaki, was not the "strong fighter" type among her peers. She mostly forged excellent weapons, then went into the Dungeon just to field-test them. Many of her level-up experiences and great feats didn't come from combat.
But because her forging was so strong, and because she occasionally went out to kill monsters, she eventually became a top-tier adventurer—her level ranking high across all Orario.
Cid had once planned to follow the same route—hence choosing so many development abilities unrelated to fighting.
Unfortunately, that path only carried him to Level 5. From here on, if Cid wanted a great feat, he would have to defeat a powerful opponent.
In Orario today, the only person who might help Cid level up was the strongest of Freya Familia: Ottar.
He was a Level 6 adventurer. His strength wasn't higher than Cid's, but his level was still one tier above.
Cid was only Level 5. If he defeated Ottar one-on-one, that could plausibly qualify as a great feat—and maybe push him to Level 6.
"But not right now. Orario is on the verge of a storm."
And Ottar wasn't a bad person. Cid was also afraid he might kill him by accident.
Cid had also considered diving deep into the Dungeon to challenge even stronger monsters.
If he could solo the entire "great feat" payoff, leveling to 6 wouldn't be difficult.
But the Dungeon was enormous—pyramid-like, with the lower floors spreading wider and wider.
Without a map, getting lost was normal.
If he didn't go deep, the upper and middle floors were full of monsters that were too weak.
Even with Cid's speed, a round trip deep enough to fight something truly strong would take a long time.
And if he vanished for that long… Alise would go berserk.
That was yet another reason he had to leave the Astraea Familia. If his sister wasn't managing him, moving around would be far more convenient.
Orario wasn't peaceful now, and Cid wouldn't allow the rats in the dark to harm his comrades.
Level 5 wasn't enough. He wanted to become even stronger.
On the surface, Orario's strongest adventurers were only Level 6.
Even if there truly were enemies coveting Orario, it was hard to imagine them surpassing Ottar.
But Cid stubbornly believed that someone far stronger must be hiding in the shadows—someone with overwhelming, unrivaled power.
An enemy capable of casually crushing the "strongest on the surface"… now that was someone worthy of being the Eminence in Shadow's opponent.
He had no evidence.
He simply chose to believe it.
So Cid set himself a modest goal—
Become strong enough to crush Ottar with ease.
"Level 5? As if the Eminence in Shadow could stop here!"
…
After finishing his bath, Cid returned to the main hall and saw his comrades had all come home.
"Welcome back, Sister!"
Cid beamed and opened his arms wide.
He knew that when Alise got back, she'd be drenched in sweat and would absolutely give him a passionate hug.
And under no circumstances—absolutely none—could he show disgust at the smell of sweat.
Otherwise, even easygoing big sis would drive an elbow straight into his kidneys.
She claimed she wanted to become a stout dwarf so she could protect more people… but in truth she still loved being a beautiful young girl.
Heh. Women.
Cid also knew that when describing his second-most-respected Alise, he had to call her—
"The pure, upright, beautiful captain of the Astraea Familia."
She was pure, upright, and beautiful… but no one praised her that bluntly except herself.
In any case, a beautiful girl could never be associated with sweat stink.
"Cid!"
Hearing her voice, Alise turned and sprinted toward him—
—and then locked Cid's head under her arm.
A Level 3, A-rank Strength hold. Most people couldn't break free.
Cid didn't dodge. He was just confused.
Was this some new kind of hug?
"Heehee. Be a good boy and accept your punishment, Cid."
Alise used: Savage Skull Splitter!
"Ow ow ow ow ow! Help help help!"
Cid played up the pain and reached toward Kaguya and Ryuu for rescue.
Vice-captain Kaguya always stopped Alise from going too far, and Ryuu was righteous and principled. Surely they wouldn't just watch—
But even as he acted like he "couldn't breathe," those two only watched from a distance, with zero intention of saving him.
As comrades, standing by like this was outrageous.
Maybe his eyes looked too pitiful, because they finally deigned to explain.
"Y-you—IDIOT! Cid, reflect on what you've done wrong. If you run your mouth again, I'll rip off one of your 'magic marbles' down there! One is still usable anyway!"
Kaguya wore the gentle expression of a perfect Yamato nadeshiko…
…but the words coming out of her mouth were pure nightmare fuel.
"—Hiss!"
Even Cid, strong as he was, sucked in a sharp breath and clamped his legs together.
This fear, at least, wasn't an act.
If it was Kaguya Gojo, she genuinely might pull off "reaching in and taking the pearl."
Cid started doubting himself.
Had he really done something that unforgivable?
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