At the inn.
Stepping out of the bathroom in a bathrobe, Charlie dried his still-wet hair.
He grabbed a bottle of fruit milk from the table, which had been prepared beforehand, and took a sip as he sat on the bed.
"Gulp... Gulp... Fuah... That's refreshing."
Lying down on the soft mattress, Charlie placed his hands behind his head, crossed his legs, and began his usual routine of evaluating his experiences throughout the day.
"It's been 12 days since I was reincarnated into the Danmachi world. This all feels like a dream... Fortunately, my cheat isn't a system like in the novels I've read. Although I can't get stronger easily thanks to system rewards, I also don't have to worry about the consequences if I fail to complete missions given by the system."
"Especially systems that threaten their hosts with punishments like castration or death. I don't like that. Those kinds of systems treat their hosts like slaves."
"The Karasuki Rio template cheat is pretty nice."
Charlie felt no discomfort as if he had been born into this body.
"I'm Level 2. According to the Guild's standards, I've passed the threshold for being a Low-Class Adventurer. Plus, all my basic ability stats are at the unprecedented EX rank. Not to mention Level 2— even Level 3 can't compare to me in terms of raw strength."
"If I use Spirit Art in battle, fighting a Level 5 like Bete Loga wouldn't result in me getting beaten one-sidedly like before. Even if I can't defeat my opponent, the same applies to them."
Charlie wasn't overestimating himself; compared to typical RPG game Isekai worlds like Konosuba or Cautious Hero, Danmachi was somewhat lacking in combat power.
The most glaring issue was magic. The Danmachi world limits everyone to just three magic slots, regardless of race. Moreover, most people have no magic at all.
In fact, it's not uncommon to find First-Class Adventurers who can't use magic. That's why Magic Swords, which allow users to cast magic from weapons, are highly sought after.
On the other hand, Charlie's Spirit Art allowed him to manipulate natural phenomena resembling magic effects without the need for chants or magic circles. In other words, he was someone even First-Class Adventurers would find difficult to face.
However, no one knew this fact except for Hera, Aphrodite, and Aiz. To other adventurers, Charlie was just a regular adventurer who had recently leveled up, and his reputation was mostly known because he was a member of the Hera Familia and his affair with Aiz.
"Exploring the Upper Floors only gives me a small amount of Excelia. With my current strength, there's no problem wandering around the Middle Floors. The only issue is supplies."
"It's not uncommon for adventurers to spend a long time in the Dungeon, and the deeper you go, the more time you spend traveling."
"Not to mention, transporting magic stones to the surface would be a real hassle... It's tough doing solo activity in the Dungeon."
Closing his eyes, Charlie thought of solutions to the issue bothering him.
Normally, no adventurer would enter the Dungeon alone. Adventurers would form parties with members from the same Familia and divide tasks according to their abilities.
Each Familia has supporters whose job is to carry supplies, gather and transport magic stones so that the adventurers can focus on fighting in the Dungeon, which is full of unforeseen dangers.
Solo adventurers like Charlie were almost unheard of due to the high risk of death.
"No matter how strong an adventurer is, they still need to eat and drink like ordinary people, and they're still bound by the limitations of their mortal bodies."
"Wait... I remember, Rio received a bag called the Space-Time Cache, which was gifted by the Elder of Seirei no Tami Village as a goodwill gesture."
"The Space-Time Cache has the ability to store items in a small dimension. In the original work, Rio used it to preserve food because time stopped inside it. The dimension was large enough to allow Rio to store a house."
"Can I create a Space-Time Cache using Spirit Art? But... Spatial attributes weren't Rio's specialty, even though he mastered the five basic attributes."
The principle behind creating a Space-Time Cache was very complex and wasn't explained in the original work. Even though Charlie wanted to make one, he had no idea how to do it without any guidance.
"No harm in trying. There are only two outcomes: failure or success."
Not one to hesitate, Charlie quickly made up his mind.
So, he tried recalling anime characters with spatial abilities. Opening his eyes, he sat up while patting his shoulder.
"How could I forget that guy? Besides Rio, there's another Spirit user who's just as skilled. No, in some ways, that person surpasses Rio."
"Shibazaki Yousuke..." Charlie muttered quietly.
Shibazaki Yousuke is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series Isekai Ojisan.
He's a huge fan of SEGA who fell into a coma for 17 years and eventually woke up after returning from another world called Granbahamal.
In Isekai, people are more handsome and beautiful than those on Earth. Due to Yousuke's unattractive face, he was often mistaken for an orc and suffered a lot because of his ugly appearance.
Like otherworlders, Yousuke also received a cheat from the god who sent him to Granbahamal, called Wild Talker.
Wild Talker was essentially an automatic translation skill that allowed him to communicate with any creature as long as they engaged in face-to-face communication and he wanted to speak with them.
"With the help of Wild Talker, Shibazaki Yousuke was able to communicate with the Spirits residing in the world and use various spells and incantations by borrowing their power."
"Memory manipulation, elemental attribute manipulation, dimensional magic, invisibility, stat amplification, chain manipulation, power nullification, energy projection, power mimicry, and more."
"In short, the powers Yousuke borrowed through Wild Talker from Spirits were very similar to my Spirit Art."
"Since Shibazaki Yousuke can do it, why can't I? He's the perfect reference for my learning."
Perhaps the time was still too short, and Charlie hadn't fully harnessed the potential of Spirit Art.
Currently, he could only manipulate natural attributes like Shibazaki Yousuke.
"That's normal. Shibazaki Yousuke has been using Wild Talker for 17 years, whereas I've only had Spirit Art for 12 days. It's ridiculous to think I could match his progress in such a short time."
Even so, Charlie wasn't discouraged; in fact, he felt even more motivated as he saw Spirit Art from a new perspective!