CHAPTER 56(The Expedition Awaits)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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CHAPTER START---

Sitting atop the now dead floor 27 monster rex, Yang can be seen with small flames dancing around his body as he drinks a healing potion.

"So... Care to give me the rundown?" Thalie asks as she walks up to the dead monster.

"Uh, about?"

"Oh, dunno, you beat a level 5 boss solo, in water at that. Maybe how I'm supposed to work with that..." She finishes while nodding at the incinerated forest on the shore.

"Yeah, reigning it in shouldn't be a problem once we don't find ourselves in a tough spot. As for the fight, well. Freeze the head that can't breathe fire, get the one that can breathe fire to focus on me instead of the ice. Fly through the flame, don't recommend that at all by the way, but yeah through the flame breathe to get close to its eyes and attack them. I figured if the scales are so hard and it resists my elemental attacks, then hit the softest spot I can think of and fry it from the inside, the rest got easier once thig thing," he pats the back of the dragon he's sitting on.

"Wasn't able to move as easy because half of it had to get dragged around," He casually finishes.

"Uh-huh, and the thing with the weapons?" She asks, curious as to how he did that.

"I can kinda control magnetic forces a bit, if I've got enough time and its metal I can probably move it, oh and guess what..." He says with a broad grin.

"...no, c'mon that bullshit!" She says in disbelief.

"Yup, LEVEL UP!" Yang cheers as Thalie lifts a hand to block her face.

"And the target on our back grows that much more, sigh, stupid prodigies, collect your shit and let's go back to the surface and report in," She says while turning to walk to the shore.

"Hey how come you didn't come down earlier?" yang asks, a bit curious as to if she had faith in him.

"You don't fight in a way that keeps spectators safe kid, simple," She says while walking away.

"Fair enough," Yang says while moving to harvest parts from the monster.

'I wonder if I should ask about that feeling I got, that didn't feel normal, the exelia was definitely being altered somehow, mmmm, Nah, it'll only get me in trouble. Being from another world alone will probably get me executed by itself.' He concludes while digging out the monster crystal.

---Tower of Babel, Hephaestus Office...

Pouring through stacks of papers, Hephaestus and Tsubaki were both sorting and reading documents over and over as they looked for any abnormalities in the files.

"I hate to say it, but this looks clean," Tsubaki comments as she finishes another stack of papers.

"I... Have to agree, this doesn't look like any direct ploy to gain favor with Yang, at least she can't while Thalie is with him. And the logic all checks out." Hephaestus says, leaning back in her chair as she takes a sip of water.

"Yeah, it makes sense for this to be a request, didn't think any familia would be willing to pay this much for it though."

"Her teams spend more time getting equipment repaired and moving from Orario's smiths to the safe zone that actually exploring, especially since new monsters keep popping up. This worst part is everything just makes perfect sense." Hephaestus says as she raises a finger to her chin.

"If not for him, this would be a golden opportunity for any familia, we're the only one with enough smiths to fill this contract, but the decision is up to you," Tsubaki says as she reads the final stack of papers.

"Sigh, this could be good for us, this makes her reliant on me as well, more than she already is. It would be good to have powerful allies if Yang and his team intend on just delving into the dungeon for long periods at a time, I'll accept the deal, her competition with Loki must have forced her hand for this," Hephaestus says, signing the final forms as she accepts the deal.

"To think that just his presence is making us hesitate on such a good deal, things really have changed since he showed up huh," Tsubaki jokes.

"Hopefully for the better, spread the word about this, prepare our most battle experience smiths to head out, let's get this done as soon as possible,"

"On it," Tsubaki says while leaving the room.

Later that day, within Hephaestus's office, Yang's team convened in a meeting with the goddess.

"Congratulations on your level up Yang, but before we get to that we have some things to discuss," Hephaestus says, getting to the point of the meeting.

"Ugh, he leveled up again?" Welf asks, a bit of disbelief in his voice.

"Tends to happen with you spend more time in the dungeon than the forge... uh, no offense guys," Yang says, realizing a moment too late he was in the presence of Hephaestus and Tsubaki.

"You aren't wrong, but first things first, we received a new contract that I accepted today, from the Freya familia,"

"The strongest familia gave us a contract huh," Thalie says, thinking around.

"Yes, it's a bit strange because of how closely we'll be working, but it makes sense," Tsubaki says.

"Right, with the new monsters always popping up, their gear is being destroyed at an exponential rate, this is causing them to spend more time traveling to a and from our forges than actually making progress deeper into the dungeon, so, they want us to set up some forges in the safe zones past floor 18, some exclusive forges for their familia," Hephaestus finishes.

"That, that's unsafe, to say the very least," Thalie interjects.

"They are providing security and guards to and in the safe zones 24/7 as well as a lot of valis and full finders right to new materials, with new monsters constantly showing up that means new materials, partnering with the top exploration familia is a dream for any familia," Hephaestus says.

"Then, what's the catch?" Yang asks, surprising most of the people in the room as he rarely showed any foresight to this point.

"Uh, you're the catch, Freya tends to steal adventurers to her familia, she can't because she needs weapons I make personally to stay on top, Ottar would just break anything less than the best gear after all, we aren't sure what the long game she's playing is but we think it involves you," Hephaestus says.

"So, what's the plan then?" Thalie asks.

"We follow the contract, between the three of you and myself being down there, together we should catch on to whatever she's plotting, for now, we play it by feel," Tsubaki says.

"You're gonna be down there?" Welf asks.

"Not always, but for the first month, I need to go make sure everything is set up properly, Including your shop in the safe zone since you're gonna be Yang and Thalie's main smith," Tsubaki confirms.

"Also, you aren't to ask our forges, aside from Welf and Tsubaki for anything beyond small repairs, got it, not even Sarran," Hephaestus says, her voice stern and leaving no room for debate.

"Got it boss, so when do we leave?" Yang asks.

"When your armor is done, should be a day or two more. Now if that's all, Welf, Thalie, you may leave so I can update Yang's status," She commands as both adventurers rise to their feet.

Quickly storing his armor from his torso and his undershirt as well, Yang lays on the couch as Hephaestus lets a drop of blood fall to his back, after the ceremony, she hands him the stat sheet and they move back to the desk to discuss his advancement.

STAT SHEET START---

NAME: Yang Shen

Level 4(Solo Amphisbanea)

Stats(Before Reset): STR=S DEX=A AGI=SSS MAG=SSS END=SSS

Stats(Now level[4]): STR=D DEX=F AGI=C MAG=B END=B

Magic:

---Storage(Its essential video game inventory)

Allows the user to store up Monster Crystals+25 square feet of items.

---Elementalist (Obtained at level 2)

Allows the user to channel certain elemental magic through their body and manipulate the elements to their whim, however, the user can take damage from these elements.

Skills:

---Elemental Resistance(Obtained at level 2)-[Level 9/10]

Taking elements damage develops resistance to these elements over time.

---Elemental Healing(Obtained at level 1 )-[Level 8]

Pre-requisite skill 'Elemental Resistance'.Allows the uses to transfer some of the resisted elemental energy into health.

---Hunter(Obtained at level 2)

Improves abilities against monsters that the user has fought before and gained experience from.

---War Mage(Unique ability variant)(Obtained at level 2)-[Level 5]

Amplifies the user's magic and reduces the cost and strain on the mind and body.

---Unarmed Strikes(Obtained level 2)-[Level 7]

All unarmed strike damage is boosted

---Abnormal Resistance(Obtained level 2)-[level 2]

Negates the effect of abnormalities such as poison. At Rank G, it can negate almost everything

---Mage Armor(Obtained through stress at level 2)-[Level 9]

Envelops the user in magic amplifying defense and unarmed strike damage with elemental damage.

---Kinetic Exchange(Obtained Level 3)-[Level 7]

Whilst moving in mage armor acceleration and momentum are amplified when added to melee damage. Recoil and backlash from this are greatly reduced on the user's body. Whilst this skill has no set limit the user's capabilities of achieving velocity and taking damage are the limits.

---Elemental Absorption(Obtained at level 3)-[Level 10=MAX]

Transfers some of the elemental magic that damages the user into mana for the user. (For the damage that he DOES NOT resist only. So after he resists the damage some of the damage he takes will give him mana but it will still damage him to be clear)

---Greater Spirit Healing(Unique Variant)(Obtained level 3)[Level 3]

Automatically begins to restore mind/mana.

---CHAOS BLESSING

>***********<

STAT SHEET END---

"Damn, I expected progress but, wow," Was all Hephaestus could say as she finished reading the sheet.

Passing it over to Yang she gave him a moment to look it over.

"Why's this blocked out?" he says, clearly referring to the chaos blessing line.

"That's an addition made by Orcus, non-primordial beings can't reveal it, aside from Ouranos nobody in Orario can read it. But it's likely just a stat boost across the board and some anger problems judging by what happened when you were in the labyrinth." Hephaestus dryly says.

"So, I broke another record, huh, looks like I'm a lot stronger now, do skills normally go up this fast?"

"Ha, most people are lucky if they can get one skill to level 5," Tsubaki replies.

"Oh... guess it pays to be a freak sometimes huh," Yang jokes

"Well, that and the fact that your own skills constantly level themselves up, mage armor feeds into elemental resistance and elemental healing and your mind restoration and the cycle just keeps going on and on, you hit the skill lottery honestly Yang" Hephaestus adds.

"Yeah, still couldn't brute force the boss thought, had to use my head. Still, it was pretty easy once I gave it some thought," Yang says with a small gin.

"Yeah well, most bosses don't cancel magic and resist elemental attacks, actually, at your current rate I don't think anything short of the collesium of Udeaus should be a problem for you, well aside from the new monsters that is, "Hephaestus says.

"Yeah well I've still gotta stay caution, last time I got caught off guard I barely made it to the safe zone," yang says.

"Glad you learned kid, now go get some rest. We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Tsubaki says.

"Tsubaki's right, you need to be on top of your game, especially since Freya familial can outnumber and outgun us down there, I'll be counting on you to look out for our lower-level members, not just do your own exploration thing, now go get some R&R," Hephaestus says, giving him the signal to leave her office.

"Yeah, I'm gonna get used to my new power," Yang says while making to exit the room

As Yang exits the room, Tsubaki takes a look at Yang's stat sheet.

"So... you really think sending him down there with Freya's army is good, this shit definitely is gonna make her want him, even if she didn't before by some miracle," Tsubaki says.

"I'm counting on him pulling more of these bullshit level-ups off, he's already stronger than most of Orario just by being level 4, and honestly, if he let loose in Orario with those skills and Magic, not many people can stop him alone"

"I suppose, I'll just have to snoop around a bit while down there, lets get these papers sorted," Tsubaki says while beginning one last review of the paperwork.

END CHAPTER---