"Congratulations. You're now officially a Level Two, Third-Tier adventurer."
After making his way out of the Dungeon, Shay had arrived at the Temporary Residence Townhouse and immediately slumped into bed. It was now the morning after he had slain the wyvern, and Takémikazuchi had just finished updating his status. As he was handed the parchment, a fitting step up from the napkin they used last time, Shay took in his first Level Two status.
-
Level 2
Str 0 I End 0 I Dex 0 I Agl 0 I Mag 0 I
-•Immunity I
•MAGIC
[Raijin]
lightning enchantment, Swift chant
•SKILLS
[Greater Will]
Greatly increases the user's potential
-[Ichneuo]
Improves dexterity when using throwing weapons
-
"So, How does it feel?"
"Honestly, not all that different. But, I haven't exactly pushed myself yet, so I guess that's to be expected."
"Yes, in combat it'll be completely different. It might take some getting used to, but you'll see openings that seemed nonexistent before, and you'll have the strength to punish them. As you've already seen, this was a very fortunate update. You got a Development Ability and even a new skill."
Také's tone had been closer to solemn respect than celebration, since he could sense Shay heading in a bad direction. He didn't know the details, but Shay's pursuit of strength went beyond what was healthy. Being a deity, he could tell through a gut feeling that in order to Level up, Shay had doubled down on whatever darkness was driving him. With a sigh, Také decided to shelve the issue for the time being and leave it to his familia.
~
"Meow! Customers with reservations, comewn' through!"
Také familia had arrived at the Hostess of Fertility, a pub just off of West Main that was known among adventurers for its delicious food and beautiful staff. The whole familia, Také included, had come to celebrate their first Level up. In front of them was a short catgirl waitress with brown hair and eyes energetically ushering them inside.
After the group was seated at a large round table towards the center of the pub, they helped themselves to all the food and drink they could. Ordinarily, there was no way Také familia could've afforded this, but after Leveling up Shay thought he'd do some multitasking, earning some money for a celebration while adjusting to his new status. When he first updated his status, Shay really hadn't noticed much, but just as expected, when he got into his first serious fight he noticed a massive improvement. By Leveling up, he had immediately boosted his strength and speed to the point where just about nothing the Upper Floors could throw at him posed any real danger. After a couple of days, Shay had easily amassed enough money to cover a proper celebration, and had gotten a pub recommendation from his advisor, Amelia.
Amelia had been totally baffled when Shay told her he fought off a wyvern, and for good reason. Wyverns were middle Level 2 monsters, meaning the Level 1 Shay should've had absolutely no chance against one. Another reason to be baffled was the question of why exactly the monster had been on the 12th floor in the first place, as it was extremely uncommon for monsters to be found more than 2 floors from where they spawned. Unable to elucidate either of these issues, the Guild launched a small investigation and put up a notice on their bulletin board about the incident.
As the group ate their fill at the bustling Hostess of Fertility, Mikoto and Ouka excitedly talked about the familia's future while Také reminded everyone to not rely too much on just one person. The scolding of his God and the relaxed atmosphere were happily out of place in a scene that otherwise reminded Shay of his time back in Eluria, when he would pretend to enjoy banquets and generally try to stay out of things. This scene was different, as he found himself genuinely enjoying the celebratory mood, and altogether feeling quite happy with his comrades.
As Shay was enjoying the mood, he noticed a blue-gray haired human waitress serving customers at the bar. She appeared to be busy putting together orders, but as her head turned and she caught a glimpse of him, she stopped in her tracks, eyes slightly widened. After a moment, the girl smiled, abandoning her work and grabbing a pitcher full of ale. As she came over and refilled Shay's drink, she brought up a chair and sat herself down as if it was an entirely natural thing to do when serving a customer.
"Nice to meet you, my name's Syr! Are you enjoying the food?"
Shay was entirely unsure of how to handle this development as he saw Mikoto's smile twitch in the corner of his vision. He couldn't tell what, but something about this woman kind of scared him. As if saving him from an evil witch, another waitress, a black-haired catgirl, started scolding her coworker while passing by.
"I'm so jealous, being able to slack off like that in the middle of your shift. Mama Mia really goes easy on myew."
"You could always just join me, Chloe?"
"...huh?"
"I'll just tell Mia we're entertaining the well paying guests."
"..."
With no more than a moment's hesitation, the catgirl smiled and nodded as she swiftly put the tray she was holding down on someone else's table and brought up a chair next to her coworker. Betrayed by his would-be savior, Shay chuckled somewhat awkwardly, resolving to politely smile and go with the flow.
"Hey, I'm Chloe. Nice ta' Meet'nya!"
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Shay."
"Your friends seem very lively, did something good happen?"
Clueless as he tended to be, and also mildly inebriated by this point, Také jumped in on the conversation as Shay's wingman, patting him on the back as he spoke.
"My kid Shay here just Leveled up!"
"Oh? Congratulations! What's the story?"
"Aha… I somehow managed to kill an inf–"
"This reckless idiot went and killed a wyvern! At Level 1! Hahahaha!"
The pub went silent for a moment as Shay, along with most of his familia, internally facepalmed. Whispers began to fill the pub, the din slowly rising back to audible levels.
"...Level One?"
"...so that's him?"
"...the one from the guild notice?"
Shay chuckled awkwardly while Chloe came to his rescue, for real this time.
"Hahaha! Stop trying to make your kids look good, meow! A wyvern would totally kill a Level One, there's neow way!"
"Haha… thanks Také, but she's right. It was already pretty wounded, and it was a full party effort as well. I couldn't possibly take credit for it."
Syr tilted her head at his response before smiling excitedly to herself. Noticing Syr's response, Chloe raised an eyebrow in surprise and muttered to herself.
"...? no way, meow."
With the attention shifting off of Také familia and the background volume returning to normal, Shay noticed Syr's somehow concerning grin, as if she was looking at an accessory she couldn't wait to get her hands on. In an effort to speed things up again, Chloe changed the topic.
"Anyway, where are mew from? You don't really seem like you fit in with these guys. Ah, don't take that the wrong way, meow."
"Haha, no worries. I'm not originally from the Far East like the rest of my familia. I'm actually from Eluria, a small country to the east of the Kaios Desert."
"Eluria? That place that was ruined in a coup a while back?"
At Syr's interjection, Shay's expression immediately darkened just a bit. Trying to keep the mood light, Shay gave as few details as possible.
"Yeah, that's when I left."
"Oh, okay…"
Syr looked a little ashamed of her mistake, but what struck Shay even more was Chloe's expression. It seemed like no one noticed it, but the subtle shift in her features told Shay that she was reflecting on something.
Is her situation similar? I don't remember seeing any cat people in my country though.
Eluria was a country that was almost all humans. That wasn't due to any prejudice however, just the flow of history. It was said that it was humans that first settled the Kaios Desert region from the north, and generations later some spilled over to the east and established Eluria. Since the heat of the desert was generally unbearable for animal people, there were none among the original Kaios settlers and therefore none among those who went on to create Eluria. Attempting to salvage the mood, Syr continued the conversation.
"Chloe didn't say it well, but with blonde hair and blue eyes you really do stand out. I wouldn't be surprised if you were some kind of prince!"
Wow, this girl's really something. At this point, it's too funny to be depressed about.
"Haha, I appreciate it, but I'm not sure I'd go that far. I'm a commoner, through and through."
At this, Syr tilted her head again before her expression shifted to bewilderment, then she covered her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle as a faint blush made its way onto her cheeks.
"Aww, and I thought I'd finally found a chance to marry into some meowney."
Shay gave a hearty chuckle, finally loosening up after covering the touchiest parts of his past. He started the night by going into detail about his party taking down that nasty wyvern, sprinkling in some of the truth when the story got too dull. After that, their conversation continued late into the night, with Také familia enjoying their drinks and sharing their stories over the sounds of rowdy adventurers and clinking glasses.
~
Two days after the celebration, Shay had just come out of the Dungeon after solo-ing the Middle Floors for the first time. He had only gone to the 13th floor, so the monsters weren't all that much stronger than those he'd fought before, although they did spawn more often. The 13th floor in particular really wasn't too different from the ones before it, reverting back to the default cave like look that characterized much of the Upper Levels, but a surprising difference that he had noticed was how dim it was. On the Upper Floors light was basically abundant, with little motes of light dotting the ceiling in most areas. On the 13th however, for some unknown reason the motes of light were dimmer and more sparse.
It seemed as if Shay was going to be solo-ing the Dungeon more often from here on out, since the rest of Také familia would likely prove to be more of a hindrance should they tag along in the Middle Floors. This wasn't to put down his familia though, as Shay recognized that at some point it was just a numbers game. He had simply gotten lucky with what was probably a totally unique skill that just helped make his numbers larger, faster. At this point, no matter how much better they could've been at techniques and tactics, they would still be killed in a single swipe from a monster Shay could handle with confidence, all because his numbers were bigger. Pondering this under the evening sky as he exited Babel, he heard a pair of familiar voices.
"Meow? Is that the adventurer-prince-meow?"
"Oh, what a coincidence."
Shay turned to see Chloe and Syr, neither of them in their usual waitress uniforms. Chloe wore a neat navy blouse with a black skirt, while Syr was in a plain white dress. Seeing the two women dressed so nicely, Shay couldn't help but think of how rough he must look after a day in the Dungeon. Not to mention how he might smell. Cringing at the thought, Shay was as casual as he could manage in his response.
"Oh, hey. What're you two up to?"
"We're just on a little errand. Oh, actually, your familia is mostly orphans, right? That works out perfectly, then! We're actually on our way to an orphanage right now, if you'd like to help us entertain the children? I'm sure they'd love to have an accomplished adventurer such as yourself to talk to."
"Oh, Thanks. I guess I didn't set a strict time for getting home, but I'd hate to make my familia worry. I could join you for a few hours, though."
"That's great! I'm sure Maria and them would love the extra company."
"Meowre importantly, did you really kill that wyvern-nya? Mew said it was a party effort, but that smelled fishy."
"Ah, haha, I'm not really sure what to say to that."
"You don't have to be meowdest, I won't tell anyone. It just seems weird that you'd be leaving the Dungeon solo if your party was really that good, meow."
As they began walking, Chloe prodded at what Syr had discovered earlier at the pub, seemingly out of sheer curiosity. With a defeated chuckle, Shay thought to himself as a grin began to form.
Well, what's the harm? I've gotta brag a little bit. It was a wyvern, for the Gods' sake!
"Well, I'll tell you the real story, but I'd really rather you not spread it. That guild post about it really made me more infamous than I'd like among the other adventurers."
"Scout's honor, meow! I just want the leverage!"
lev–!? …Ah, whatever.
"Basically, I dragged my party down to the 12th floor to help me Level up, and for some reason a wyvern showed up and almost killed us. Since it was my fault we were down there in the first place, I fought off the wyvern while they escaped. So yes, I killed the wyvern alone."
"Whoa, mew've gotta have some crazy skills or magic for that, right? I mean, wyverns are no joke for a Level Two, let alone a Level One-nya!"
"Chloe, even I know you can't ask about stuff like that. But It's really cool that you gave the credit to your party!"
"Yeah, that's like, the total oppawsite of a neowrmal adventurer!"
"Haha, I appreciate it. It really is just a matter of convenience though."
Syr looked up at Shay with a small smile.
"I can tell when you're lying, you know."
Shay had to stifle a chill running up his spine as she spoke, reinforcing his witch-like impression of the girl.
"Ahahah… Again, I'm not really sure what to say to that."
The conversation continued like this for some time before they arrived at their destination. The orphanage was actually quite similar in principle to the shrine back in the Far East, being a run down church taken care of by a considerate elder. The elder in question was Maria Martel, a thin older woman with a kind expression. Syr and Chloe visiting the orphans was apparently a routine they had, and Maria had been preparing dinner as they arrived. The children were excited as Shay told them stories of Také familia's dungeon exploits, of course culminating in his duel with a wyvern. Talking cheerily as they ate, the sun eventually set, the magic stone lamps becoming their main source of light.
"Shay, can I ask you something?"
Shay and Chloe were still cleaning up inside the church while the other two entertained the children outside. Shay was surprised by her sudden sincerity, as she looked almost solemn to him, silhouetted against the stained glass mural behind the altar.
"...? Yeah, sure."
"You lied about the wyvern at first, right? Did you also lie about being a commoner?"
What? Wh… how? Why?
"...?"
"Syr's really good at picking up on stuff like that, meow. I just remember noticing a reaction from her when mew said that."
"..."
Shay found himself at a crossroads, and he was at an absolute loss for how to move forward. Due to fear of assassination, Shay had even hidden his past from his own familia, with only Také himself knowing much of anything. Why did he want to speak so freely to someone he had just met? Had he let his guard down too much? If he was being really paranoid, Shay could imagine a pretty reasonable scenario where Western assassins had information networks in Orario. After all, it was known as the center of the world. Plus, the best node on a network like that would have to be a pub!
No, no, that's way too far. I'm just still afraid.
Shay had essentially been on the run for the past seven years. He knew that, even though he was the only person remaining with a legitimate claim to the Elurian throne, the new regime had probably stopped caring about him. They might even think he was already dead. Plus, he was Level 2, with enchantment magic and supernormal ability scores to boot. What was stopping him from being honest now? And, he couldn't shake the feeling that Chloe's question had some real weight behind it, so he really didn't want to lie to her. After a lot of hesitation, Shay finally took a step into the truly unknown.
"Yes. I lied."
For a brief moment, Chloe winced with what looked like grief, but immediately wiped the expression from her face and turned away. As Shay was bewildered by her response, she quickly changed back to normal.
"Wow! A real adventurer-prince, meow! That's so cool! …or, were you only a duke or something, meow?"
Chloe's last question had sounded almost pleading, and Shay was tempted to cave and lie. Listening to his conscience on a whim however, he decided that he'd rather be honest to one of his rare friends outside the familia.
"No, I'm unfortunately the real deal. Shay Cromwell, former Prince of Eluria."
There was a silence, as Chloe just looked at the mural for a few seconds before breaking out into motion.
"Oh, wow! I'm gonna go tell Syr, meow!"
"Wa–hey! I thought you wouldn't… and she's gone."
Without looking back, Chloe rushed out the door to talk to her coworker. Thinking he should wait a little, Shay puzzled through what that could've been about.
Okay, She's definitely got some connection to the Elurian royalty…? What the hell does that mean? And… why did she seem so sad?
After giving her some time, Shay headed out to meet up with the group. He was somewhat relieved to see Chloe interacting with the children as if nothing happened.
"Your secret's safe with me!"
Syr looked cheerfully at Shay while winking obviously to make sure she really sold it. The moon had started to come out, and Chloe was back to her playful self as she continued her teasing.
"Operation 'Marry into Meowney Early' is back in action! We've caught a big one this time, meow!"
"Haha, I'll have to find some 'meowney' first. I'm just an up and coming adventurer right now."
"Well yeah, that's the 'Early' part. Meow'll have to earn the money in the Dungeon, right? I'll train you, meow! And don't mock the accent."
…huh?...wait what? Train me? …no one else is surprised? And what's with the chill I felt as she ended that?
"...I, uh… I think I'm missing something. Shouldn't everyone be a bit more surprised that a waitress just offered to train someone in combat?"
"I think it's a good offer! Your friends won't be as good practice anymore, and going to the Middle Floors alone is dangerous, or so I hear. Chloe will be a great sparring partner! And It'll be good entertainment!"
Sparring? Again, what?
"Since our adventurer friend here seems lost, let me formeowlly introduce myself. Chloe Lolo, Super Waitress, Level Four, meow!"
"F—...Four!?"
After being regaled with the story of Chloe's Robin Hood style life from five years ago, during which she looked after Maria's orphans with money she stole from the 'evil people'(?) and Syr stopped her from 'succumbing to the temptations of darkened desire'(?), Shay was more than a little exhausted. What's worse was that most of it was apparently true, with Maria and Syr corroborating every bit as she spoke.
"Hah… hahaha."
"Not good, meow. I think we broke him."
"Maybe we call it here for today?"
"No, no… I'm good. It's just… funny. You two were complimenting my modesty while hiding that she was Second Tier."
"That's different. Anymeow, will you accept my offer?"
Shay chuckled. Orario really was an incredible place. Even the waitresses here were witches and Level Fours. The world really was bigger than he had ever imagined. Pulling himself together, He decided to take the opportunity.
"Of course!"