Mind Zero

To my surprise, when I tried to connect to its core, I felt my body becoming heavy and my vision blurred until everything went black. After a few minutes, I woke up to a strange noise coming from nearby. When I looked to the side, I saw a goblin with its hands and face stuck to the Tanker puppet, pathetically trying to free itself from the sticky material. Seeing that the goblin wasn't a threat, I looked around and noticed that the Mystery Box had disappeared, probably because it hadn't received any commands for a long time. The warrior puppet was still lying on the ground in the same place where I had fainted.

I had probably experienced what adventurers call "mind zero," in which the adventurer faints from using an excess of mana. I had been completely careless, and this could serve as a wake-up call not to test things in the dungeon anymore. Luckily, no goblin stumbled upon me while I was unconscious; it would have been sad to face God and say that I was eaten by a goblin due to my negligence.

Realizing that I should not play with luck anymore, I controlled the warrior puppet again and made it pick up the axe. For the goblin that was stuck, this would be its last resistance. After killing the goblin and taking the stone it had dropped, I summoned the Mystery Box and put the Tanker puppet back inside. The reason I had suffered the mind zero was probably because I did not have the ability to maintain two puppets at the same time.

I did not know how long I had been unconscious, but it must have been a long time based on how hungry I was feeling. "Well, I'll finish off the goblins nearby and leave the dungeon," I thought. After killing three goblins that were nearby, I stored the warrior puppet in the Mystery Box and returned to the main corridor.

When I saw that there was no one around, I deactivated the Ultimate Stealth and activated the mob stealth to leave the dungeon. "I couldn't make the most of the dungeon today. I need to remember not to test things inside the dungeon anymore," I said to myself. I passed by some adventurers who were also leaving the dungeon and headed towards the surface.

As I passed through the gates of the dungeon, I could see that I had indeed fainted for a long time. The sun was already starting to set on the horizon.

"Despite testing many things, I really feel like I could have done much more," I thought. "Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk." I continued on towards the Pantheon to exchange the stones I had obtained today.

The exchange did not take long as they were low-level monster stones. The sale was made through a cubicle that resembled a confessional, where the adventurer put the stones and the guild employee handed over the money. Looking at today's spoils,

"600 valis. It seems like I'll have to choose between a good inn or food,"

I thought. Thinking about how to solve the problem of accommodation and food, an idea came to me.

I left the Pantheon towards the West exit of Orario to see if my idea was feasible. On the way, I passed by one of the legendary locations from the anime, the Hostess of Fertility bar, managed by the ex-adventurer level 6 Mia Grand and also the home of various important figures in history. Looking inside, I could see one of the famous employees who was a favorite among fans, the blonde-haired elf Ryuu Lion.

She was attending some clients, but due to my ability, she didn't notice my presence while observing, feeling the wonderful smell coming from inside. The temptation to enter and have a feast was strong, but remembering how expensive the place was and also recalling my meager funds, I continued walking straight despite the protests of my stomach.

After walking a bit more, I arrived at my objective in the middle of some ruins: the place I planned to use as a temporary base, where the initial residence of the Hestia Familia was located before being destroyed by the Apollo Familia, an abandoned church. Surrounded by ruins and with the tiles destroyed, the church didn't seem like a very inviting place, but having watched the anime, I knew it was an ideal location for a temporary base. Before entering, I checked if there was anyone around, and after confirming that there wasn't, I activated the Ultimate Stealth.

"If I remember correctly, there's still a year and a half until Hestia descends, so in theory, this place should be empty, but as a precaution, it's better to enter stealth."

After entering and verifying that there didn't seem to be any signs of people living there, I approached the altar and searched the wall for the mechanism to open the passage to the underground. After a few moments, I managed to open the door and descended to the basement room, which was practically untouched. There was a fireplace, bed, sofa, and a bathroom,

"exactly as I remembered from the anime."

A feeling of nostalgia hit me, "so this is where the beginning of the Hestia Familia will take place in the future. Since there's no one here now, I don't see a problem with using it temporarily."

After cleaning some of the dust and mold that was there, I decided that this would be the place where I would settle for a while.

"At least this way, I can save on lodging. Later on, I can get some better utensils for the place, but for now, I can spend on food without fear of having to sleep on the street."

With the decision made, I deactivated the Stealth, closed the underground room, and left the church in search of something to eat.

Passing by some stalls, I bought some snacks and returned to the church, activating the Stealth because I felt a bit exposed without this ability. After having the meal, I lay down on the bed and was ready to go to sleep, but before that, I decided to check my status to see how much my ability had affected my growth. So, I called up the interface:

"Status"

Nome: Falador Levine

Idade: 17 anos

Raça: Humano

Level: 1

Afiliação: Sem afiliação

Status:

Strenght: I 10 -> 20

Endurance: I 10 -> 16

Dexterity: I 10 -> 19

Agility: I 10 -> 19

Magic: I 10 -> 25

Skills:

Master Puppeter

Subskill: Lady of the puppets

Grinder mindset

There is no god here

Ultimate stealth

Mob stealth skill

Soul protection

Mistery box

"Hm, the growth wasn't so bad, considering I spent a good part of the day unconscious," despite seeming small, based on my calculations, it'll take me about two months to level up to level 2. Considering the fact that my skill guarantees half of Bell's accelerated growth, if I dedicate myself and come up with a plan, I have no doubt that I can achieve it in less time.

After formulating some mental plans, fatigue began to set in. Remembering my first day in Orario, "this really isn't a dream," I couldn't help but close my eyes with a smile on my face and feel sleep take me.