Chapter 24

I acknowledged Fortuna's request to head to the Hostess of Fertility tonight with a nod. I was still slightly concerned about Freya, but tonight would show me how much she is truly interested in me. I still believe that she isn't too interested in me, but I was ready to be proven either correct or incorrect tonight. However, before I got too deep into thinking about tonight, I decided to ask Great Sage a question about my new abilities.

"Great Sage, can you summarize my new abilities?" I asked mentally.

[Fatal Attraction releases a pheromone from the user's body that works similar to monster bait but orders of magnitude more powerful. The level of pheromone released can be controlled, but it works by attracting monsters and increasing their spawn rate in the immediate area around the user.

Curse: Tenfold Pain Enhancement can be placed on any sentient lifeform within the user's sight. It increases the pain they receive exponentially, but it also affects the user with less severe heightened pain]

"So with my curse, I basically get to cripple people with increased pain with no side effects since I can't feel pain? Also, I never need to buy more monster bait because I am the bait now," I said with a wide smile.

[Affirmative]

I now understood why adventurers would risk their lives in the dungeon over and over again. The feeling of increasing in power was subtle at most times, but it was very dramatic during a level-up like I had just experienced. Of course, there were some unfortunate things about being an adventurer that getting more powerful wasn't enough to make up for, such as the likely deaths of your friends as well as the cost of being an adventurer for most people. A little-known fact is that even though high-level adventurers make millions every time they enter the dungeon, they spend many more millions to maintain their gear and supplies.

Speaking of wealth, I reached into my storage underneath the table and removed a bag of money. In the bag, there were 2 million Valis, leaving 100k for me to play around with on my own. After Fortuna dealt with the most recent customer, I handed her the bag of money and stood as she grabbed it and place it in a safe under the desk. She gave me a thankful smile, clearly not wanting to talk about our financial situation in front of the customers, but I could see her gratitude.

"I need to go to the guild quickly, I'll be back soon," I said as I slipped out from behind the desk and left the shop.

I made my way out of Babel and toward the guild. Until I had retrieved my money, I had totally forgotten about the veritable mountain of monster stones and drops within my storage. I decided that now was as good a time as any to go and get cashed out. I was used to walking the path to the guild by now, and it seemed like, due to my increase in strength after the level-up, I naturally walk a bit faster. It wasn't a crazy increase, but it was noticeable, so I deliberately slowed my pace a bit.

I quickly arrived at the guild building and walked inside. Instead of heading to the drop-off counter immediately like I usually do, I headed over to the job board instead. There I saw every kind of job imaginable, besides illegal ones, posted and ready to be picked up. I quickly scanned through the selection but didn't see anything that interested me, so I turned away. Then, I did head over to drop off my large supply. I could immediately tell that I was gonna be making multiple millions just from the clerk's reaction alone. Plus, it took nearly 20 minutes for everything to be counted.

"Your total comes out to 9 million Valis," The clerk said, heading over multiple bags of money that I slipped into my storage immediately.

I quickly thanked the staff member and turned to start heading back toward Babel, but I saw something that gave me pause. Finn approached me with a small smile on his face. Both Tione and Tiona accompanied him. All three of the Loki familia members were holding massive bags full to the brim with magic stones and drops. I cursed lightly since Finn had clearly seen my bags of money disappear into my storage. 'I hate the guild, too many people to keep track of with Magic Sense,' I groaned inwardly.

Every time I enter crowded areas, I have the choice to perceive time slower and process all of the information Magic Sense is feeding me or receive time normally and let everything become a bit fuzzy if I'm not paying active attention. I choose the latter option since I find it to be more convenient, but it had come back to bite me this time. Just as I prepared to engage in conversation with Finn and the two Amazons, Great Sage spoke, surprising me slightly.

[An increased reliance on Parallel Operation can fix the issue of information overload experienced in crowded areas]

"How can I do that?" I asked.

[It's done]

I didn't need Great Sage to announce that since I could feel the difference. Everything seemed to clear all at once, and the slight strain that I had been constantly experiencing disappeared completely. 'Well, this is certainly much better,' I thought with a smile as time resumed normally, and I turned to face Finn and the two women fully.

"I would have thought being a leader means outsourcing work would don't want to do personally," I said, seeing understanding in Finn's eyes despite my accidental use of a modern word.

"I would never order anyone under me to do a task I am unwilling to do myself, plus it's good to stretch my legs every once and a while," He said simply, then introduced me to the two Amazons, "These are Tione and Tiona Hiryute,"

"Hey, you're that guy from the dungeon today," she said with a genuine and friendly smile, then she asked an unexpected question, "You don't look too old. How old are you?"

"I'm 16," I said, smiling too as I turned back to look at Finn, "Funny running into you guys three times in one day,"

"Yeah," he said with a small chuckle, "But I must say, you certainly look different when you're not covered in blood,"

It was my turn to laugh at his comment, "Well, I'll see you guys around," I said as I began walking away, waving a friendly goodbye as I did so.

All three gave a wave as well before moving off to a counter to exchange their goods. I couldn't help but take one last look back at Tiona since it was every day that you see people dressed in such an "interesting" manner. I went for a subtle peek, more of a "scanning the horizon" look than a direct one, but nevertheless, she looked back and caught my gaze at the exact moment I was looking at her. She giggled and gave me a wink before turning back to the counter. I turned away and wiped down my face with my hand, not even the apathy I gained from Eduan able to fully keep my embarrassment from surfacing.

I decided just to pretend that nothing had happened, but I knew there was a slight coloration on my cheeks. I took a breath and moved on, heading back toward Babel. I slipped into thought as per usual and considered what to do for the rest of the day before heading to dinner with Fortuna. 'I need to carve the circle in my room after dropping off some more money,' I thought. Gaining the spell Warp Portal was one of my top priorities as of now, but I also wanted to start branching off into other magics so that I can get other elemental manipulation skills. I particularly wanted Fire and Earth Manipulation since I found them to be quite useful. I continued walking while lost in thought, all the way back to Babel.

=

As Finn dumped the final bag of magic stones into the receptacle, he thought about the young man he had encountered three times today. It seemed that every time Finn saw him, he got more and more interesting and mysterious. First, with the elemental and his monstrous amount of magical energy, then his nearly impossible speed getting cleaned up and heading back into the dungeon, and now the magical storage. There was also the nagging feeling he had that he was stronger now than he had been before.

Finn always trusted his instincts, and now they were telling him that this blue-haired young man, Galahad, would be important, "A new rising star in Orario?" Finn mused out loud.

He hadn't meant to speak aloud, but Tione, who was standing a bit too close as always, heard his words, "Galahad? That blue-haired boy? What's got you interested, Finn?" She asked, stepping closer still.

Finn was used to Tione's advances, so he was able to expertly avoid her without offending her with a subtle step to the side and back before he spoke, "I just get the feeling he will go far," He said, deflecting slightly, "What do you two think?"

"I don't really have an opinion," Tione admitted freely with a shrug.

Finn turned to the other Amazon and awaited her answer as she thought, "He seems interesting," she said with a smile.

Finn and Tione looked slightly surprised when Tiona spoke since "Interesting" was the closest thing they had ever heard to a compliment that Tiona would give a bomber of the opposite sex. She was undoubtedly very friendly, but she usually showed very little interest in most people outside the familia.

"What?" She said as she saw her two companion's reactions, then she understood their thoughts and rolled her eyes.