39 The Goddess of Beauty
Orario, Babel.
At the top of the tower that seemed to suppress the entrance to the dungeon like a lid, the highest floor was extravagantly decorated, equipped with everything one could imagine.
The interior was lavish to the extreme, allowing a sweeping view of the entire city's district in the eyes of the room.
Soon, a giant shadow pushed the door open and walked in.
It was a huge Beastman, with short, earth-red hair and boar ears, possessing a robust physical body resembling rock, standing over two meters tall.
The Beastman entered the high-class room as he was the only one allowed to freely pass in and out. He reached the deepest part of the room, facing a rectangular observation glass that occupied an entire wall.
There, wrapped in a black sheer evening dress, with a slender yet voluptuous figure and waist-length silver hair, was a stunning Goddess.
"Lady Freya."
The Beastman halted not far from the Goddess, as if a devout believer, bowing respectfully to the beautiful Goddess known as Freya.
"Ottar?"
Freya didn't turn around, only swaying a cup of red wine while responding casually.
Her voice was extremely sweet, like heavenly nectar or earthly wine. Even catching a hint of it gave the sensation of wanting to be intoxicated by it.
"What happened? Is there something you need?"
Freya inquired with her sweet voice, making the Beastman known as Ottar, show even more reverence.
"I have something to report to you." Ottar solemnly said. "It's about a rookie from the Loki Familia."
Hearing this, Freya finally took her gaze away from the beautiful scenery outside the window.
"Loki?" Freya swayed the wine in her hand as if recalling or savoring something. After a while, she indifferently said, "I have heard recently that her familia has recruited a rookie with an amazing talent."
"Yes." Ottar said indifferently. "I believe attention should be given to that rookie, so I came here to report."
"Oh?" Freya suddenly became interested and smiled slightly. "A child that can make you say something like that has piqued my curiosity."
With that, she finally turned around.
With this turn, as if all the light in the world gathered simultaneously on her body, the surroundings dimmed.
This was only natural.
Because Goddess Freya was exceptionally beautiful.
As beings that came from heaven, Gods generally possessed near-perfect appearances. Except for some deliberately existing in the world in the forms of the elderly or children, almost all Gods had faces that could cause national disasters.
And the beautiful appearance of Freya was exceptional even among these generally perfect Gods.
In this world, there were various Gods of Fire, Gods of Water, Gods of War, or Gods of Death, controlling various concepts in various fields, with each God being unique.
Among these numerous Gods, the concept controlled by Freya was precisely the concept of 'Beauty'.
She was a genuine Goddess of Beauty.
"Tell me..." Freya, gazed at Ottar with her autumn-like beautiful eyes, her most powerful and loyal follower. "What kind of child has caught your attention?"
At her question, Ottar answered with a calm and steady voice.
"His name is Riezel Brynhart, a rookie who joined Loki Familia just over a month ago. He is a Human, 17 years old this year, but has caused a huge stir in Orario several times and gained considerable fame."
His eyes glowed with deep radiance as he explained.
"His growth speed was astonishing. In just over a month, he went from being an ordinary mortal who had never received a blessing to someone who achieved incredible feats repeatedly. In that short time, he leveled up from Level 1, a low-class adventurer, to Level 4, a second-class adventurer. The Guild was so surprised that they sent people to Twilight Manor several times to verify."
His explanation left even the Goddess of Beauty amazed.
"What? He leveled up from Level 1 to Level 4 in just over a month?"
Such an absurd piece of news would have made Freya think Ottar was intentionally teasing her if she didn't know he couldn't joke like that. Even so, she remained somewhat skeptical.
"Does such a mortal really exist?" Freya wondered, still in disbelief.
No choice.
Even the Sword Princess, who held the record for the fastest level up to Level 2, took a whole year to achieve such a feat, becoming the most talented individual acknowledged by the world and various Gods.
Now someone was telling her that a rookie, who had received the blessing not long ago, shattered this record in just over a month and leveled up not just once, but several times during this short period.
How could the Goddess of Beauty not be surprised?
The incredibleness of such a feat was unimaginable, even for the Gods.
However, all of this was reality.
"Fifty-two days ago, Riezel Brynhart officially joined Loki Familia and received a blessing."
"Forty-five days ago, Riezel Brynhart defeated an irregular known as Crocodile Dragon on the 6th Floor and officially leveled up to Level 2."
"Thirty days ago, Riezel Brynhart, along with one party member, encountered a monster feast on the 16th Floor during exploration. After a battle lasting several hours, he successfully defeated all the monsters and leveled up to Level 3."
"And as of today, Riezel Brynhart has been confirmed to have gone alone to the 17th Floor, awakened Floor Boss Goliath, and ultimately succeeded in defeating it, officially leveling up to Level 4."
Ottar listed Riezel's feats as if they were treasures in a deep voice.
"All these feats have been officially acknowledged and recognized by the Guild, and the Guild has made them public."
Hearing all of these, Freya fell silent.
Because each of Riezel's accomplishments was enough to shock the world.
Forty-five days ago, the irregular on the 6th Floor was self-evident. After the inspection from the Guild, it was confirmed that the Crocodile Dragon born at that time could be classified as a Level 2 dragon species. To defeat such a monster at Level 1 was truly incredible.
Similarly, 'Monster Feast' was also considered as irregular, a phenomenon commonly witnessed only from the 10th Floor onwards.
Generally, the number of monsters appearing on each floor of the dungeon was fixed. They wouldn't increase beyond a certain number, and when they decreased, new monsters would break through the dungeon walls. During this period, the interval between the birth of the next monster varied depending on the floor, but it never exceeded about a day.
But Monster Feast was different.
This was a phenomenon where numerous monsters were born instantly in the same area.
Once this phenomenon occurred, even a place that was empty just a second ago would be filled with monsters in the blink of an eye, trapping adventurers in a life-or-death situation.
Such a predicament typically occurred in the middle floors where Level 2 monsters were prevalent.
At that time, Riezel, who was also Level 2, managed to engage in a death battle with Lefiya and successfully defeated all Level 2 monsters. It was nothing short of a miracle.
As for floor bosses, they were even more terrifying than irregulars.
Monsters in the dungeon were usually born in no more than about a day, but some monsters required a specific cycle before spawning.
These monsters appeared only after several weeks or even months and were restricted to specific floors. They not only possessed bodies that far exceeded the size of large-species monsters but also exhibited unparalleled strength compared to other monsters on the upper floors, leaving adventurers and monsters on the upper floors in awe and fear.
The Guild officially named these monsters 'Monster Rex'. However, adventurers usually called them 'Floor Boss'.
Their strength was speculated to be the level of monsters on the floor they were on, plus two.
In other words, if the other monsters on the floor were mostly classified as Level 1, the floor boss would be on Level 3. If the other monsters were classified as Level 2, then the floor boss would be on Level 4.
Floor bosses were monsters that adventurers had to form a large party to challenge and conquer.
The first floor boss in the dungeon was residing on the 17th Floor, known as 'Goliath'—a monster with a large body reaching seven meters.
Although Goliath was classified as a Level 4 floor boss, due to its massive size, it was essentially an 'Endurance (END)' specialized monster.
This floor boss could easily compete with Level 5 adventurers in terms of 'END' alone. It was impossible for a Level 3 adventurer to single-handedly defeat such a monster without leveling up.
Yet, Riezel did it.
All of his deeds eventually create a stir in Orario, prompting the Guild to send someone to Loki Familia to verify.
"Riezel Brynhart..."
Freya whispered softly, her eyes filled with an inexplicable radiance.
"Loki is still as fortunate as ever, actually finding such a child. I wonder how brilliant this child's 'brilliance' is..."
Her sensual whisper did not shake Ottar.
"How should we deal with this situation, Lady Freya?" Ottar asked respectfully.
He came here and reported Riezel's situation truthfully for this reason. After all, Freya Familia was one of the strongest familias in Orario, along with Loki Familia.
Loki Familia was both a competitor and a formidable rival with whom a clash was not surprising at any time. For this reason, he came to report to his Goddess as soon as he received the news.
Hearing Ottar's question, Freya extended her slender fingers, tapped her cheek, and fell into thought.
After pondering for a while, she finally spoke.
"Ensure everyone keeps a close eye on this child. If there's any news, report it to me right away."
After saying that, a beautiful smile appeared on her stunning face.
"As for me... I'll find an opportunity to personally taste him myself."
