Battle Adept

Loki's room was, as always, a mess.

Whether it was the furniture or the various items she had collected, everything was randomly placed and piled up, with no order whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the person in question was nonchalantly sitting on a chair, while another one was placed in front of her.

Loki grinned at Riezel as he walked in.

"Looks like you're a step late, huh?"

Her words caught him off guard for a moment, but he quickly caught on.

"Has Ais already been here?" Riezel asked as he took a seat in front of her.

"She left not too long ago." Loki shrugged. "If you had come a minute earlier, maybe you could've seen how depressed Ais was."

"Seems like she's not satisfied with her own growth..." Riezel furrowed his brow, muttering to himself.

"Well, it is what it is..." Loki tapped the back of the chair with her fingers. "That girl puts too much pressure on herself. Don't know when she'll settle down and stop doing things that worry everyone."

Her tone sounded indifferent, but he could sense a hint of care from it.

"You really spoil Ais, huh..." Riezel sighed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Loki chuckled. "Ais is my treasure, y'know. If she died, I probably wouldn't even want to stay down here. I would've chased her soul all the way to heaven to bring her back."

"Would you really?" Riezel didn't buy her words.

Though this goddess might not have integrity, her equal affection for everyone in the familia was evident. Riezel doubted Loki would sacrifice everyone just for Ais alone.

"When did you start learning to challenge my authority, kiddo?" Loki grumbled. "Anyway, let's drop that topic, and let's talk about you."

She straightened up, focusing her eyes on him. Her eyes, which were squinted before, opened slightly wider.

"Tch, tch, I heard everything from Finn, y'know... Dealing with those strengthened species monsters is a big blow for us, no doubt. But you, kiddo, seemed to handle it like a pro. Finn, Gareth, and Riveria couldn't stop singing your praises, even throwing around ideas for a new alias for you."

In other words, those three top executives believed Riezel might level up this time.

After all, Denatus occurred every three months, and adventurers who leveled up during that time would be discussed at the meeting. Those who leveled up could earn the privilege to be mentioned in the next Denatus and possibly receive a new alias bestowed by various gods.

Even those with existing aliases could be mentioned again after leveling up, giving them the chance to obtain the privilege to change their aliases.

For example, Bete, who once held the alias 'Fenris', only gained the alias 'Vanargand' after another level up.

If Riezel succeeded in leveling up this time, he might have the opportunity to change his alias in the next Denatus. Of course, he could choose not to change it.

However, judging by the intentions of Loki and the three top executives, it seemed like they were all inclined to give him a new alias.

However, Loki seemed a bit displeased about it.

"Is 'Trickster Swordsman' not good enough? I think this alias is pretty cool, y'know?"

On this matter, Riezel chose not to comment.

He couldn't see anything good about it anyway. All he could discern from this alias was Loki's quirky taste in labeling him, proudly declaring to the world that he was her possession.

"Alright, Loki, let's update my status already, okay?" Riezel diverted from the topic, turned away from her, and took off his shirt.

"Yeah, sure, sure~" Loki said while acting a bit difficult. "I just wanna see if you've really grown that much after your first expedition."

She picked up a needle, pricked her fingertip, and began working on his back.

Before long, his new status was revealed.

...

Riezel Brynhart

Level 4

STR: A847 → SSS1277

END: A825 → SSS1258

DEX: S969 → SSS1363

AGI: S971 → SSS1385

MAG: S933 → SSS1392

Lightweight: H → G

Swordsman: H → G

Mage: I → H

...

"Hahh... You've reached the end of Level 4, huh? Why I'm not surprised?"

Loki sighed as she looked at Riezel, who was staring at the parchment in his hand.

"Another SSS-rank in all basic abilities, even the development abilities are all ranked up. Your bullshit growth speed, I really don't know when it will start to slow down."

If she hadn't already gotten used to it, or rather, become numb to it, she would have jumped up by now.

Mainly because Riezel's growth was truly inhuman.

There was no issue with the growth of basic abilities; Riezel had always been like that. Every proficiency improvement in basic abilities had been no less than 500. If he accumulated it over time and delayed updating his status, it was impossible for it to be less than 1000.

But the growth of his development abilities was truly eye-rolling.

Just look at Ais. From the first time she leveled up at 8 years old until now, her first development ability 'Hunter' had been in her hands for eight years, but it stayed at G-rank. It had only progressed two ranks from I-rank.

But Riezel?

The first development ability 'Lightweight' had only been owned for about three months, and by then, it had already caught up with Ais's eight years of achievements.

'Luckily, Ais isn't here, or she would be totally wrecked...' Loki sighed inwardly.

Riezel ignored Loki, who was shaking her head, and focused on reading his current status.

"How's my accumulation of high-rank excelia?" Riezel asked.

It was the most crucial point, and Loki's answer did not disappoint him.

"As you expected, it's already maxed out." Loki chuckled. "Congrats, you can level up, kiddo."

Her answer made Riezel's mouth involuntarily lift up. Sure enough, he could level up and was about to become a Level 5 first-class adventurer.

"It took seven days to reach Level 2."

"Fifteen days to reach Level 3."

"Thirty days to reach Level 4."

"Now, from when you became Level 4, it's exactly been 45 days."

Loki, whether laughing or crying, had a face so twisted that it could be used for street performances.

"Only a month and a half... you've leveled up again. You're a monster among monsters, seriously..."

She couldn't find any other words to describe Riezel's absurd growth speed. What was even more absurd was that not only was he leveling up fast, but each time before leveling up, all his basic abilities were at SSS; the accumulation of latent basic abilities was ridiculously high.

With a few combat development abilities, skills, and magic, his true strength definitely surpassed those at the same level.

According to Finn's report, Riezel could already match a Level 5 when he was at Level 4.

What about after reaching Level 5? Could he possibly contend with Level 6?

Loki dared not think further.

"Okay, c'mon, time for you to level up."

The accumulation of basic abilities had reached its limit and potential, and Riezel had no reason to stay at the current level.

Loki quickly got to work, and his status was soon reset.

...

Riezel Brynhart

Level 5

STR: I0

END: I0

DEX: I0

AGI: I0

MAG: I0

Lightweight: G

Swordsman: G

Mage: H

Battle Adept: I

...

From this moment on, Riezel officially became a Level 5 first-class adventurer.

In just over three months, starting as an ordinary mortal with no extraordinary power, he rose to prominence at an astonishing speed that caught the attention of various gods and evolved into the fastest mortal to reach the first-class adventurer status in history.

"Well, well... Tomorrow's Orario is gonna get lively again it seems..." Loki remarked, relishing in other people's misfortunes.

Riezel's mood was not bad either.

Level 5 might not be considered top-tier in this world, but it certainly made him a significant expert. In the current Orario, the highest-level adventurer was only Level 7, and there was only one of them. Even Level 6 had fewer than ten people.

Excluding those fewer than ten top-tier experts, the strongest among the rest were those at Level 5. Therefore, becoming Level 5 meant that Riezel had truly entered the ranks of experts, and no one would think of him as just a rookie with astonishing growth speed.

'With my current strength, I should be able to protect myself even if I return to the main world, right?' Riezel pondered silently.

However, soon another thing caught his attention.

"Wait, Battle Adept?" Riezel murmured, pondering his new development ability.

Soon enough, Loki's voice chimed in at the perfect time.

"With this level up, you triggered quite a few development abilities, but they're all the same thing you don't need, like 'Healing Power', 'Spirit Healing', 'Abnormal Resistance', and the like. Your skill already has those, and they're even at the highest rank, so there was no reason to choose them before, and there's no reason now."

"Besides these development abilities, the only one worth learning is this ability." Loki said while pointing toward his new development ability. "So, I directly chose it for you this time."

"What's the effect?" Riezel nodded. "I don't think I've heard of this development ability before."

"Don't say you haven't heard of it; I haven't either. It's probably as rare as your 'Lightweight', an ability that only you triggered the learning conditions for..."

Loki struggled not to look at him like he was a monster.

"As for the effect, if my hunch is right, this ability might be an advanced version of 'Hunter'."

'Hunter' was a development ability that enhanced one's basic abilities when encountering monsters one had defeated before.

'Battle Adept', being an advanced version of 'Hunter' naturally had a similar effect.

"If nothing goes wrong, having this development ability in the future, when you encounter enemies you've defeated before, your basic abilities will get a boost."

Loki spoke while raising a finger.

"This boost not only surpasses 'Hunter' but might not be limited to just monsters in the dungeon anymore."

In short, from now on, no matter what kind of enemy Riezel encountered, as long as they were the same kind of being he once defeated, the effect of 'Battle Adept' would be triggered, boosting his basic abilities.

He almost instantly understood the benefits of this development ability.

It was not without reason, the triggering conditions for the 'Battle Adept' effect were not individual-based.

For instance, 'Hunter' triggered its effect based on the type of monster one had defeated. If one had defeated a 'Goblin' once, the next time they encountered another 'Goblin', the effect of 'Hunter' was triggered. If one had defeated a 'Killer Ant', the next time they encountered another 'Killer Ant', the effect of the development ability was similarly triggered.

Following this logic, if 'Battle Adept' was an advanced version of 'Hunter', it meant that as long as Riezel defeated a 'Human', the next time he encountered another 'Human', the effect of this development ability would also be triggered.

This was essentially an omnipotent enhancement ability.