Chapter 36 - Eina's Worries
Hestia pricked her finger and let a drop of her blood fall onto Bell's back.
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[Name]: Bell Cranel
[Level]: 1
[Basic Abilities]:
Strength: E487
Endurance: D524
Dexterity: C674
Agility: B787
Magic: B784
[Development Ability]: None
[Magic]:
Storage Magic: Spatial Pocket
Quick Attack Magic: Royal Thunder [Command Over Thunder and Lightning]
[Skill]:
Mystic Code: Combat Judgement
Tsubame Gaeshi [Multi-dimensional Refraction Phenomenon Attack]
Luck: EX
---
"What?!"
Hestia stared at the string of data, unable to believe what she was seeing. Bell's growth rate was insanely high.
Hephaestus came to Hestia's side and looked at Bell's stats, equally surprised by his extraordinary growth.
Even though she knew from the beginning that Bell's growth would be astonishing, she didn't expect it to reach such a level.
"It is indeed growth beyond expectations," Hephaestus said, still looking over the stats.
Ordinary adventurers typically reach a point where progress slows around 500 in their basic abilities.
Yet, four of Bell's basic abilities had exceeded 500, and his speed hadn't slowed down at all.
Hephaestus realized it wasn't that Bell didn't face this limit—it was that his threshold was much higher compared to others who stopped growing at 500.
Maybe it was 600.
Maybe 700.
Or perhaps even 800.
'Then, the limit of 999 might not be an impossible goal for Bell,' Hephaestus thought, the idea bouncing around in her mind.
For most adventurers, it is almost impossible to surpass a basic ability stat of 999.
In truth, 999 is the limit for a typical adventurer.
However, some adventurers in the history of Orario have exceeded the limit of 999, and such individuals were undoubtedly considered heroes.
Of course, that was the Orario of the past, not the Orario of today.
"Now that the era of heroes has passed, could this be the birth of a new hero?"
Hephaestus muttered, realizing that the person named Bell Cranel could be the hero born in this era.
However, the hero of this era is vastly different from those of the past.
In previous eras, when a hero was born, they often attracted other heroes to follow them. There were countless adventurers who rose alongside a hero.
But this era is completely different.
This time, the hero doesn't trust his companions and doesn't want to rely on others.
As the companion of this hero, Hestia dotes on him, and even she was the same, almost letting him loose without guidance.
'Ah… why does it feel like this generation of heroes is coming to an end?' Hephaestus thought, her expression slightly heavy.
'I hope Bell can have more interactions with other adventurers in the future,' she silently wished.
Bell's distrust of others, including fellow adventurers, was evident, and Hephaestus wasn't sure if he could change his mindset in the future.
But she could only hope someone would change the boy's perspective. After all, venturing the dungeon is no easy feat.
"The level of growth is beyond imagination. It's hard to believe that just two trips could produce such results. If he continues at this pace, he might reach his limit in less than a month," Hephaestus commented.
For ordinary adventurers, it takes three to four years of effort to achieve such growth.
Even an exceptional adventurer needs one or two years to reach this level.
Yet Bell did it in less than 10 days—this is beyond normal growth.
To rank up from Level 1 to Level 2, an adventurer must risk their life by fighting monsters far stronger than themselves to accumulate high-level excelia.
Only by gathering enough excelia can an adventurer progress further. Without such efforts, they will remain at their current level.
'Bell will definitely take that challenge,' Hephaestus was sure of it.
After the update, Bell put on his clothes. He didn't immediately feel stronger, though.
It seemed his physical growth was faster than he thought. Bell wasn't sure if the feeling was real or just his imagination.
"Bell! You've grown so much today," Hestia said, smiling happily.
Bell's growth this time was not inferior to his previous growth—if anything, it was even greater.
As Hephaestus mentioned, a basic ability score of 500 is often the threshold for most adventurers.
After reaching this threshold, further improvement becomes much slower. It's almost as if the adventurer is being reminded to focus on accumulating excelia to quickly rank up.
However, even though Bell's stats had exceeded 500, there was no sign of him reaching this point.
In fact, his growth continued at a steady pace.
"Bell, you might just become the adventurer who breaks the limit of basic abilities in this era," Hestia said, still amazed by his progress.
Bell caught the meaning behind her statement and asked:
"Hestia-sama, have adventurers in the past broken through the limit of their basic abilities?"
"Of course, they have," she replied.
"While very few have managed it, there have been adventurers who exceeded the limits of mortals. But only those adventurers who fight beyond others can break through the highest limit of basic abilities."
"So, it is possible," Bell said, nodding as he processed her words.
He had always believed that people who could surpass the boundaries existed, but it made sense that there weren't too many of them. Still, it wasn't impossible.
"But everyone has their own threshold, and you may encounter yours soon, Bell. When that happens, don't be too discouraged. Basic abilities reflect potential, and most people hit a threshold eventually."
"Growth will slow down, but as long as you continue to fight, you'll keep progressing," Hestia cautioned, trying to ensure Bell wouldn't feel disheartened if he hit a wall.
"Please rest assured, Hestia-sama. I won't get discouraged by my own limits. I understand better than anyone that everyone has their own limits," Bell said confidently.
Bell understood the concept of thresholds, but he wasn't worried. In fact, he was curious about what his own limit would be.
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[...]
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"Huh? A big monster party in the dungeon?"
Eina listened with a strange expression to the adventurer who came to the guild to complain.
"Yeah, Miss Eina. You haven't heard? It started this morning—it's like the whole dungeon has opened up a monster party."
The adventurer pointed to the bandages on his hands.
"Look, Miss Eina, this wound on my hand is from the commotion."
The bandages were still bleeding, and Eina was sure it was more than just a simple scratch.
But at that moment, what filled her heart wasn't fear for the male adventurer in front of her, but concern for Bell, whom she hadn't seen in some time.
'Bell... he wouldn't be involved in this, would he?'
Eina quickly refocused and seriously inquired about the specific situation.
"Doran-san, what exactly happened? How many monster parties occurred?"
The adventurer named Doran still had fear lingering on his face as he recalled what had just happened in the dungeon.
Although he wanted to impress Eina, the memories of the chaos sent a chill down his spine.
"It came out of nowhere, Miss Eina. Monsters just started spawning from the walls. And it wasn't just a few—there were hundreds."
Doran pointed at his hands again, still trembling. "I've never seen monster parties before, but this is the first time I've seen hundreds of monsters swarming the upper floors?"
Even after explaining, Doran still seemed on edge. He shivered as if recalling the danger, and it was clear he was lucky to have survived.
Looking at his pale face, Eina believed him. Average adventurers would not be able to stay calm in such a situation.
However, it was rare for a monster party of this scale to appear.
If such an event spanned the entire dungeon, that would be highly unusual.
If the dungeon was behaving like this, Orario itself would struggle to hold on for long. What on earth caused this full dungeon monster party?
"Doran-san, do you have any idea why this might be happening?"
Doran looked a little embarrassed.
How could someone like him, a lower-level adventurer, have any insights into this strange phenomenon?
Still, he didn't want to look clueless in front of Eina, so he tried to think of anything recent that might be related. To his surprise, a memory surfaced.
"Wait! Now that I think about it, the same thing happened seven or eight days ago. There was another sudden burst of monsters, just like today."
Eina, who hadn't expected much, was slightly startled.
It was strange that the same thing had happened twice in such a short time.
But what really stunned her was the specific timing—seven or eight days ago. That day stood out in her memory because Bell had come to her with over two hundred goblin fangs, leaving a deep impression on her.
How had one person managed to fight so many goblins in a single day?
So, Bell was the cause.
However, that day hadn't caused as much commotion as today. There hadn't been reports of adventurers fleeing the dungeon in terror.
"Doran-san, I don't recall that day causing as much of a sensation as today."
"Ah, well, I think it's because the monsters didn't spawn all at once that day, but it wasn't as overwhelming."
Doran, lost in thought, didn't notice Eina's precise mention of that day. For him, it was an adventurer's task to recall these events, but it was odd that Eina, as a guild receptionist, seemed to remember it so clearly.
Oblivious, Doran continued to recall the events of that day.
"Other floors also had a massive number of monster respawns, but they didn't all appear at once, so we managed. Some adventurers made crazy income that day from all the magic stones."
Doran remembered earning 60 to 70 thousand valis from selling magic stones alone. Other adventurers had made even more—some as much as 100,000 valis. He couldn't help but feel envious.
For an average adventurer, 100,000 valis was no small amount.
Typically, adventurers stuck to the upper floors, ranging from the 2nd to 8th floor could make upto 40,000 valis, if they were lucky.
On a bad day, they might only bring upto 20,000 valis.
The situation that day was similar to today, but the speed of the monster respawns was different.
Back then, the monsters appeared slowly and continuously, in manageable waves.
But today's respawn rate was bizarre. The monsters seemed created to kill—dozens at a time, with dozens more appearing as soon as the walls shattered.
Doran sighed, feeling a bit regretful.
Meanwhile, cold sweat trickled down Eina's forehead.
'It's really Bell!?'
'What on earth did Bell do on the first floor today to cause such a commotion?'
Eina knew the guild would intervene and investigate.
After all, this incident was too big to ignore, and the guild would want to know what had triggered such a commotion in the dungeon.
'Bell, you're not in the dungeon right now, are you?'
If she wasn't working, Eina would have rushed to Hestia Familia to inquire about Bell's whereabouts, but she couldn't leave her post without raising suspicion.
This time, the event's impact was widespread, reaching all of Orario in a single morning.
Every god would soon know about what had happened in the dungeon.
And it was only a matter of time before the gods became interested in the cause of the dungeon's disturbance.
One goddess, in particular, was already intrigued.
On the upper floors of the Babel, Freya stood at the window, gazing down at Orario with a glass of wine in her hand.
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Well, Eina's nonsense...
BTW, Bell won't be overly enthusiastic towards Freya, she would be the one to fall in love completely.
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[IMG of Eina X Freya X Bell]
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