20 What is...
(I had some time, so here I am.
Surprised that this isn't a troll? Yeah... Me too.
There are some things I would like help with, within this chapter and the end was quite awkward because of reasons. Enjoy)
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'At the same time a few dozen meters away from Silver's position. A group of 4 girls approached the Dungeon from the North.'
'One of the girls seemed distressed as she ran across the street.'
"AHHHH NO!" Screamed the black-haired girl
"We should have just come alone! We shouldn't have gone out of our way to invite the others!"
"Don't be like that Tiona, we lost this time, there's nothing we can do." Said Tione
"..."
"SEE! Even Ais is upset!"
'That wasn't it. Ais was currently looking at a place far from them.'
'She was looking at the tired boy with the white scarf on top of the cart that just left her sight.'
"What are you looking at Ais?" Asked Lefiya
"... Nothing." She replied
"Arg! What do we do now? Those guys must have killed all the monsters already! It was a chance to make a quick buck..." Said Tiona dejectedly
(N1 notes)
"There should be some monsters left in any case right? At least we can for dinner today and get some warm up" Said Tione
"She is right Tiona, at the very least we can warm up." Replied Lefiya with a smile.
"I guess you are right… ALRIGHT! Enough talking! Let's go!"
(If you are wondering how they would bring back the loot, I had an idea for that)
'The four girls entered the Dungeon and made their way to the third floor. Every monster they found met an unfortunate end.'
"We arrived… Look at all the blood. There must've been an intense battle recently since the Dungeon didn't have time to absorb it." Commented Lefiya
"But there are no stones on the ground, so whoever killed them already cleaned everything up." Said Tiona
"Lets just take a look around and see..."
/Fwush!/
'Ais suddenly picked her sword and stabbed the wind.'
"Show yourself." She said
"..."
'The air started to bend as a girl with blue hair appeared from thin air.'
"Ohh! It's Asfi! Whatcha doing in the Dungeon?" Said Tiona
'Ais sheeted her sword with a confused expression.'
"Just work, you know how it is, sometimes, even I, need to collect materials on my own. And what better time to do so than today?"
"Since you just came from this floor, do you mind telling us what happened to the monster wave?" Said Lefiya
"Oh yeah! Nice one! Please tell us that they weren't wiped out yet..." Said Tiona
"... Unfortunately, they were mostly killed already. Only small groups of monsters are left."
/Ploft/
'Tiona fell to her knees'
"Don't be so dramatic, we can go hunt monsters later." Said Tione
"..."
'Ais remained in silence as she gazed at the cavern hallways. The wind passed through her ears and hair as if trying to say something to her.'
"Let's go home." She said
"Sigh, if Ais is saying, it's better to just go back… AHHH! I want a drink!"
"Don't act like a kid, Tiona. We can come back here tomorrow and hunt in the middle floors. By that time they should have some commissions for us to do." Said her sister, Tione
"Asfi looked at all of this with a smile on her face, although she kept her thoughts deep down her mind."
So the sword princess noticed me almost instantly, and I was confident in the Hades head concealment ability… Looks like she improved again.
"If you don't mind, how about we go back together?" Said Asfi
'They all nodded and turned around as they made their way out of the Dungeon...'
/20 minutes later on the surface/
/NEIGHT!/
"Wow there, calm down girl… We arrived" Said the man (What do I call a wagon… Man? I know there is a name.)
"Aww… Already?"
"You took a nice nap there sir, it has been around half an hour."
"Alright, here, take this."
'Silver picked a coin from his pouch and threw it at the man.'
"Thank you very much sir! Will you be needing another ride?"
A generous customer… I need to make sure I am the one to give him a ride…
"Hum… I might need one, here, take this other coin. If I am not back in 10 minutes you can leave and take that as your pay."
"You are very generous, mister."
Very!
'Silver made his way inside the Guild, the place was filled with some people this time, most seemed to be Guild workers running around the place with papers on their hands'
Looks like the pilled work is finally being taken care of.
"Ahhhh! Just how many papers do I need to sign before you are satisfied?! I have been here for almost half an hour already!"
'Mellios suddenly heard a voice coming from the side.'
'In one of the waiting lines, there was a small girl with a thick coat screaming at a Guild employee holding several papers'
"..."
'Mellios didn't say much and just approached and said:'
"Hestia?"
'Instead of her turning around earnestly like he expected, Hestia turned around with disgust and anger.'
"Is there anything more?!... Silver?!"
'Her expression changed to one of surprise and then hope and she started to cry a little.'
"Save me from these monsters! They have been keeping me here for the past half an hour! I just want to go home!"
'The Guild employee looked at me with embarrassment as he picked a small stack of papers'
"It's the final one. I swear Hestia-Sama. Please, just sign these and we will be done."
"Look at my hand! It's already red from writing so many freaking papers! A sensitive Goddess such as me needs to take care of her skin and..."
'She started to blaber stupid things so Silver just patted her on the head and said:'
"I will go hand in my Magic stones, by the time I finish you should be done on your part, so lets meet up in a few minutes by the entrance. There is a wagon waiting for me so we can use it to go back home."
'She looked at me with tears in her eyes, but she brushed them off and picked ther pen.'
"ALRIGHT! Just give me all of those!"
/Scribble scribble.../
'Hestia furiously signed the papers with immense speed.'
"... She will be alright."
'Silver made his way to the counter.'
"Excuse me, are you open?"
"Of course customer, just place your loot in the hole as always… Before that, did you participate in this Dungeon wave?"
"Yes I did, I am loaded with things in fact."
"Then please, proceed to the last counter on the far left. That's where we count bigger quantities of items."
'Silver looked to the side to see a big counter with a goor next to it. That was probably where the loot enters and the money leaves.'
"A few weeks ago we had a 'misunderstanding' with a customer that brought a lot of items and ended up tiring one of our workers. So please, help us in reducing such occurrences in the future by telling new adventurers the same."
!... Is she talking about me?...
"I… I see. Thank you, miss..."
"The pleasure is mine fufu..."
…
That was close… If I cause another ruckus will I get banned from the Guild?
Banned is a little exaggeration but I might get black listed…
"HAHA! What a young and charming lad! If you are here it means you have some big things, no? Just put it by the door and we will count it for you!" Said a deep feminine voice from the other side of the counter.
How can she see my face over this wood? Is there magic for that?
/Ploft/
'Silver dropped his bag on the ground, causing a rather loud ploft sound.'
"That was a good sound! Looks like you are loaded! You and your party did a good job this time!"
"Yeah… Haha, they are expecting quite a sum, so be generous with me."
Just roll with it me…
"Lets see their quality first!"
'The bag was taken inside by two rather muscular Guild employees.'
"What a large bag!... Ho? You separated the drop loot from the Magic stones, good! I would give you a bonus if I could, but I can't unfortunately."
'She took a few more minutes probably making the count and analysing each magic stone'
"... HA! I am done! Phew, that was tough."
"Lets go over everything… 114 Kobolds, 6 Claws and 4 teeth, 80 War shadows, 5 finger bones and an eye..."
'She listed a rather long list of monsters and their drop loot.'
"And all of it will amount to… 690 K Valis after removing the handling fee… Thank you for the bonus!"
That's quite a decent amount if you consider I still have around two to three more bags worth of loot.
My bank just went back to 3 Million baby!
(It should be around 3.4 Million valis, I try to keep count but sometimes I forget to update it… And as I said, money isn't that meaningful in this novel, anyway. But I will keep a rough value just in case.)
"That's quite an amount to make in a single day!" Said Silver
"Thanks to the monster wave… If you are curious, the handling fee is 1% of the original value and that was… About 7K Valis, all going directly to me hehe. Thank you once again!"
I guess the position of Counter is not only a hard position, you are actually being paid well for making all of these boring calculations…
"How would you like to receive these?"
"Make 6 big coins and divide the rest into minor coins..."
'I suddenly felt a tug on my shirt.'
"Are you done Silverrrr..."
'Hestia's voice was a little broken...'
She is so dramatic. Is there any need to act like this?
I shouldn't call her a child else she is going to bother me even more.
"Are you done as well?"
"YES! I don't want to come to this place ever again!"
"... Come on, don't be like that. When I came here earlier I also had to sign several things."
Only a paper but it's better to keep silent about that…
"Really?... At least I didn't suffer alone."
/Tud/
'A large backpack was suddenly dropped outside of the door together with a small bag strapped to it.'
"That 's it! All counted, 690 K Valis!"
"Thanks, I..."
"60-60-690K?! Silver?! How much did you do?"
"Didn't you hear? I made 690K… Please don't talk so loud."
"How did you do that?... Did you do something dangerous again?"
"Of course not! Today, there was a special event in the Dungeon. I was planning to tell you that anyway."
Tsk, she noticed sooner than I wanted.
"Hum… We are going straight home! I want to check your stats."
'She picked my hand and pulled'
'Although she talked with a grumpy tone, she couldn't hide her excitement.'
Oh Hestia, just be honest, you are just as curious as me to know just how much did I improve right?
…
'Thankfully, the man in the wagon was patient, as he waited a few more minutes for Silver.'
'They got on the wagon as they made their way back home.'
…
"Ouch… My bun..."
'Hestia caressed her butcheeks since the ride was a bumpy one.'
"Thanks for the ride, here's your tip."
/Cling/
"Hihi! Thanks customer! Heya!"
/NEIGHT!/
'The wagon left as Silver gazed at the now repaired Church'
"Fufu… Isn't it a beautiful place?!" Said Hestia
'The glass now depicted scenes of beautiful scenery and the road close to the Church was mostly fixed.'
'Silver also noticed a large building on the back behind the Church, that was his new workshop.'
"They were truly efficient those guys from the Vish… Vishca… Vishvakra..."
"Vishvakarman"
"Those guys… They finished all repairs in less than two hours! Those guys were neat!"
"After they repaired I went to buy some groceries and… AHH! I forgot the groceries in the Guild!!"
"..."
"What do I do?..."
"It's just some groceries, I can go get them later, don't worry."
"But there isn't any food in the Church, and I am not so keen in going back to the city after that ride..."
"I can cook some food, I have many ingredientes left in my inventory."
I always keep some food and supplies in case of emergencies.
"Silver! You are my hero!"
'Hestia hugged Silver and then pulled him into the Church. One of the things Hestia hates the most is not eating and getting hungry after all.'
…
"Ahhh… Silver, you are going to spoil me with such good food..."
'Hestia and Silver were now sitting on the couch, Hestia was with her head on Silver's thighs and she requested a lap pillow'
"I am only decent at cooking, those chefs with their skills can completely outshine me in every way."
"Don't depreciate yourself like that! I know good food when I taste one!"
'Hestia continues to talk with Silver about her day and a few other things.'
'At this point, Silver just wanted to go to sleep and rest, but his curiosity kept him going.'
"How about we check my status now? I am quite excited after all."
'Hestia got up while Mellios removed his shirt.'
(0_0)
'She pricked her finger and placed it onto his back, drawing a circle with it.'
/Fling!/
'Magical light filled Hestia's face as a series of numbers suddenly sprang to life and filled the air behind Silver's back like holograms'
(These effects are actually anime only, but I will keep them since I like them.)
'H-100… H-110… H-180...'
'The numbers quickly got up while Hestia almost fell onto the ground due to surprise.'
'When they settled, she couldn't believe her eyes as she forced all of those numbers to return inside Silver's back. Picking up a paper and printing the values onto it.'
"Is it done? I must have at least made a few points in each category right?"
If I didn't… I would have underestimated the difficulty of improving in this world.
But that would only mean that I need to work harder.
'But Hestia didn't answer.'
'She looked at the paper with a black face.'
If she is like that…
Looks like I improved a lot.
"Show me show me…. You can't keep it for yourself." Requested Mellios
"... See for yourself, it's better than trying to explain."
(I don't remember how insane Bell was, I wanted a comparison since that was the only thing I couldn't surpass XD)
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Mellios Silver
Level-1
Strength H 100 -> G 258
Vitality H 100 -> F 342
Dexterity H 100 -> G 291
Agility H 100 -> G 206
Magic H 100 -> F 378
Magic:
>Magnum Opus Ambrosia
Skill:
>Vit Alhjin
>Infir David Missimus
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(I might have exaggerated things or the contrary, I might have undervalued his efforts, so I would like some help. For my calculations, go to notes N2, I can always change it if need be.)
"Cool!... But I don't feel any stronger..."
I know that in order for your stats to work, they need to be updated by a God. But I don't really feel that great right now.
Do I need to sleep for them to take effect? Or is it simply because the effect is so subtle that I will only feel something when I try fighting another monster?
"... That's not the point!"
'Hestia started banging her fists on Silver's chest.'
"What did you do to raise those stats so much?!"
"I just fought against some monsters… How about we talk about that tomorrow over breakfast? It's kind of a long story and I am tired."
"And also, why is that I don't feel any different?"
"... That's normal. Even though the increase was big, there aren't any side effects from this. You can only confirm the changes through practice."
"Practice? That easy."
'Mellios' hand turned blue and white as the cold wind gathered in one point...'
'Soon enough, a beautiful blue spear appeared in the air.'
"Hum… It does feel easier to make one of these."
The consumption decreased, or should I say, my total Mind increased? Or a mix of the two perhaps?
'The spear slowly disappeared and a flame appeared in its place'
"I think this confirms it… I truly did get stronger."
'Although Hestia wanted to butt in, she looked at her adventurer with a smile.'
"But how does this work?"
"I mean, where does this energy come from? Why do monsters have it?"
"If I fight someone weaker than me will that person also gain Exilia from my actions?"
"Well… Yes, he is but..."
"If Falna is what gives us power, can't a God just create a Level 9 on a whim?"
"... Yes? It depends on the God. And also, we would need to use our Arcanum to do that. And with what we currently have access to, such a task is impossible unless they break the rules."
"As for what is Falna and Exilia… Can we leave that for later?"
"Alright… Allow me to ask a final question."
"..."
"Two in fact."
"I know the strongest monster on the surface is the one-eyed black dragon. But what is the strongest normal animal?"
"... Just why… Why would you want to know that?"
"Research purposes."
I can't keep a monster in the city but I can keep an animal right?
"I don't know the answer for that, but I do know of some natural dragons in the far North that should be comparable to Level 3's. Satisfied?"
"Can you give Falna to an animal? I mean, Humans are animals, right? So why not?"
"Where are these questions coming from?... I think I can? Hephaestus never told me anything of the like."
"... What if… I tame one of the natural dragons..."
"No."
"Doesn't it sound cool? Having your own High-level dragon mount?"
"..."
It is cool but that's not the point!
"Silver..."
"What if we gave Falna to an ant and leveled it up? It might be weaker but it would quickly catch up. Soon, we will have a super-fast assassin ant that no one can hit because of its size."
'Hestia was speechless. She stopped responding and decided to do something else, ignoring Silver.'
'Silver knew he had talked a little bit too much so he went to bed to rest a little.'
(I would say it's around 3-5 Pm. The mc went to the Dungeon early and spent a few hours there. and adding all of the travel time and the time it took to cook food, I would say this time is already pushing a bit too much.)
/Somewhere in Orario/
"... And that was all" Said a person with a cloak.
"... What a surprise."
'The man smiled widely'
"We have Ottar and the sword princess. Is this the coming of yet another monster? What do you think Asfi? Do you think he can become a Hero?"
"... No. A hero is..."
"You are too stiff Asfi-Chan."
"A great man once said: "If anyone has the right to be called a hero, It's not the one who took up the blade. It's not the one who raised his shield, nor the one who healed the wounded. Only one who truly risks his life may be called a hero"."
"And what does that mean?"
"That means..."
'Hermes got up and gazed into Orario.'
'The cold air blew on his face, making his hat fly right into Asfi, his golden hair moving behind his back while his eyes shined with some strange kind of obsession.'
"I am going to see if he can become one!"
'Hermes never answered Asfi, leaving her dumbfounded in the back of the room. But she already expected that Hermes only answers less than half of her questions with proper replies.'
'So she just grimaced while thinking of the future work'
.
.
.
Notes
N1
(Although I think it isn't difficult to make money for them, it's not like they can just go deep diving into the dungeon. And good-paying commissions are rather rare. Even if they ran full speed, it would take them an entire day to go in and out of the Dungeon if they went hunting in the Lower floors.)
N2
(Initially, I had actually doubled all of the values. But that was too much since after researching and finding very little information on bells levels stats. I came to the conclusion he would grow on an average of 100 for each of his stats every big encounter, until his main encounter where he would start leveling up quickly.
So I couldn't surpass that.
So, first, let's go over natural things.
He was at an immense disadvantage, fighting stronger monsters, at higher numbers, while Unequipped, and poisoned by the dream spider and later, by the moths. This was a great challenge, meaning that it already gives a fair deal of Exilia
There were a lot of monsters he killed, so a lot of Exelia was gained just from that.
And remember, although it shows as H, the difficulty of him increasing his stats is the same as I. His stats also start at H-100.
So instead of him having 213 in Dexterity, we can also consider it as him having only 113, since the first 100 are disconsidered in the difficulty calculation or whatever.
Now for his skill.
The same thing as the first situation, he was in a situation where death was almost guaranteed, at least by other people's eyes.
He was a Level 1 adventurer with H stats. Nothing more.
So his Skill conditions activated. He fought stronger monsters in challenging ways.
What do you think? Was I too much or too little?)
As for his stat values.
I focused on Magic since that was what he used the most, summoning and maintaining that was hard.
Followed by And vitality because that was an endurance fight and he was under the effects of poisons, he took many potions and was hurt several times as a result.
And then dexterity. Because of his spear handling and his movement during the fight after all there wasn't that much space to fight, since he stayed put in the corridor. So he had to be really dexterous to avoid the blows.
Strength was the second lowest, mostly because he was parrying and clashing against strong monsters, so the tension on his muscles was high.
And lastly, Agility, since he stayed put in the corridor, not a lot of development on that part. But he did have to evade…
It was hard to separate Agility from dexterity, so I went with the notion that agility is running speed and "bigger movement" while Dexterity was handling and "Minor movement".
*** I already fixed the values***
If there are any curious readers, this was his stats prior to me changing. A little low no?
Strength H 100 -> H 145
Vitality H 100 -> H 176
Dexterity H 100 -> H 158
Agility H 100 -> H 129
Magic H 100 -> H 189
