Chapter 18

I left the shop and headed back up to the ninth floor of Babel. There I found Fortuna in the shop as well as one or two people browsing the selections of items inside. Now that I thought about it, I had never seen more than two or three customers in the shop at once, but now that we would have a connection to the Hephaestus familia going forward, I was certain that things would get better. I made my way into the shop and headed to the counter, pulling up a chair to sit beside Fortuna. She looked at me curiously, anticipating news from the gathering.

I just looked at her and said, "We have the support of the Hephaestus familia,"

I watched her eyes widen as her mouth opened and closed wordlessly a few times before she finally got the words out, "How?"

"I got a promise from the goddess that she would grant one wish within her power, so I asked for the Hephaestus familia to back ours. She said that she'll come personally speak to you sometime soon," I said with a shrug.

I watched as Fortuna processed my words. I could tell that she thought highly of me for my request, but in my mind, it was the obvious choice to make. Sure, I could ask for a kickass magical weapon forged by the goddess herself, but that is only a one-time transaction. By cultivating a connection between our two familias, I will probably eventually get close enough to buy weapons at a discount or maybe even receive one as a gift. Extending the time in which we were connected was my number one priority as soon as I heard the goddess give me a wish that she would grant.

"Thanks, Galahad," Fortuna said, giving me a tight hug, "What's your plan for the rest of the day?"

"I'll head back to the dungeon for a bit," I said, getting up from my seat and giving a stretch as I slipped into my accelerated thought process to think through some things.

I felt like it was about time I head deeper into the dungeon and try to go all out against some monsters. However, I needed to do something before I could head into the dungeon. If I wanted to increase my Falna and bank account at the same time, then I would either need to fight stronger monsters or fight a higher volume of monsters. Since I had defeated a level two, albeit most likely a freshly promoted one, then I doubted any one monster on the upper floors could give me too much trouble. That meant that I should somehow increase the number of monsters I am fighting, which will challenge me while also giving me plenty of money.

"Great Sage, what's the best way to attract a large number of monsters in the dungeon?" I asked mentally, watching the surrounding people seemingly move in ultra-slow motion.

[Using bait is an effective method to draw in monsters. However, since bait is only available on the black market, it is not an efficient method. You can try developing a magic spell to have the effect of gathering monsters]

'Hmm, so I basically either have to spend money or time to find a way to gather monsters quickly,' I thought as I returned back to my normal thought process and waved goodbye to Fortuna before leaving the shop. Since I really had no clue how even to get started with creating magic to lure monsters, I just decided to bite the bullet and buy some bait illegally. I had to ask Great Sage for directions to a place where I can buy bait since I have never been to a black market before. It took a while, but I eventually found a shady alley a few blocks away from a market that had some items of questionable legality up for sale. I made sure to fully hide my appearance as I approached and used all of my money to buy a few dozen bags of bait.

I could tell that the seller was excited to see so much money, his eyes becoming a bit too greedy. So, once I left the alley, I activated Formhide and quickly changed all my clothes back to my usual ones before deactivating the ability and just walking casually down the street as a few people exited the black market alley and began to look for me. However, they had no way of recognizing me now that I was longer dressed the same way, so I just strode past with the rest of the crowd and made my way back to the dungeon.

My goal was to max out my stats, then reach level two sometime soon. Once that was prepared, I would begin the process of seeking out the Xenos so that I can meet Fels and Oranous. While I wanted to become an outside agent for the guild, that didn't mean I would become a pawn for the guild that gets overworked. I want to be more like a mercenary that Fels and Oranous would give more covert and high-paying missions. The types of missions that the guild can't be seen directly taking part in. By proving to be trustworthy and accepting of the Xenos, I would build that trust. If that doesn't work, then I just want to have first dibs on the highest-paying missions within my skill range.

I would also have to keep an eye out for Hermes and maybe Freya, but I was fairly confident that Freya wouldn't be too interested in me, even if Acreon reported about me to her. After all, she had already seen me in person and more or less dismissed me, so I doubted a few strange observations from a level one like Acreon would change her mind. Hermes, on the other hand, was a complete wildcard. I really had no clue what actions he would choose to take. For now, I just hoped that he doesn't even know of my existence, but from the way Emma was looking at me during the mission, I was sure he does know.

However, since there was nothing I can do about the gods, I just decided to focus on myself and improve as fast as I can. Their attention would be inevitable when I break Ais's record for leveling up, so I felt there was no reason to dwell on it much longer. Instead, I focused on my dungeon dive as I walked into Babel and entered the dungeon. I strode through the first few floors quickly while cloaked in Formhide. I didn't want to have to deal with any of the monsters on the first few floors, so I kept on moving stealthily until I reached the 12th floor. I had debated stopping sooner, but I felt that this was the perfect spot.

I wasn't sure if my Tensura abilities were taken into account when totaling my Exelia gain, but if they weren't, then fighting in the fog would undoubtedly boost my stats quicker. However, if all my abilities are taken into account, then it wouldn't matter because, with Magic Sense active, there was absolutely no fog at all in my vision. Every nook and cranny of the battlefield was clearly visible to me. Once I arrived on the floor, I made my way to the far edge of the floor, where there were lots of walls for monsters to spawn from. Once I was there, I reached into my storage and took out a few bags of bait, and tossed them in a loose circle around me.

I then waited. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but after a while, a rumbling sound got closer and closer. I also began to notice more and more imps gathering around me, presumably hiding in the fog, but to me, they were just crouching out in the open. Soon, stronger monsters like Orcs, Hard Armors, and Silverbacks arrived. I grinned as I readied my spear, cloaking it and myself in a shimmering armor of electricity. I blasted forward to meet the horde of monsters. My spear ripped through the first Orc, its large belly exploding in a spray of gore. Then, I was in close with the pack, avoiding the crushing blows of Orcs and Silverbacks while also dodging the crippling rolling and bouncing attacks of the Hard Armors.

Even with my electricity, magic aura, and overall strength, it was still extremely difficult to pierce through the armor of the armadillo-like creatures. Luckily, I had created the Art: Piercing Stab for situations and enemies just like this. Even with all my abilities and skill, I started to take damage. Eventually, the swarm started to get the better of me, with more and more wounds appearing on my body as I fought. Bones started to snap within my body, causing me to start to cast Heal more and more regularly. I couldn't stop a crazed smile from surfacing as the enemies eventually got too close and numerous for my spear to be an effective weapon, so I stored it and started with my fists.

My electric and aura-enhanced blow ripped through lesser monsters while I targeted the weak points of the stronger moments. I launched off the back of an imp that I had just ripped the throat out of and speared my fingers through the eyes of an Orc, releasing a jolt of electricity inside its head and frying its brain. Silverbacks swung petrified trees as clubs, forcing me to use Instantmove more and more frequently. I would appear behind the overgrown gorillas and rip through their leg and arm joints with my bare hands.

After an unknown amount of time, I sat on top of a mound of corpses, completely covered head to toe in blood. The only part of my body that wasn't bathed crimson was my electric blue eyes which seemed to stand out even more at this moment. At some point, I lost my shirt, but I didn't care. My bare chest heaved, the cool air of the dungeon entering and exiting my lungs in rapid bursts. That was when I heard something that made my smile widen even more.

[Unique Skill: Juggernaut acquired]