To understand the increase in experience points, there's no shortcut. Slaying weaker monsters won't yield such exaggerated boosts in experience. Only by challenging beings stronger than oneself can there be a significant increase in experience points.
In other words, grinding low-level monsters incurs an experience reduction debuff, while facing higher-level ones results in an experience bonus buff.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a multitude of Lv.1 adventurers like Aiden.
Though Aiden is currently only Lv.1, having just received the Falna at Lv.1, with all five basic ability values at the lowest, I (0), his true strength surely exceeds this level, thanks to his potent skill, Inborn Divine Strength.
While Hestia can't ascertain Aiden's exact prowess now, since even Aiden himself is unsure, there's one thing she's certain of... Aiden's current strength suggests he can venture beyond the first four floors safely, perhaps even reaching the tenth floor.
This leads Hestia to question whether Aiden was truthful about exploring only up to the third floor.
"Hey, Aiden-kun, are you sure you only explored up to the third floor?" Hestia's tone is serious.
Perplexed by Hestia's question, Aiden responds, "Yeah, I only explored up to the third floor. There's a saying in my hometown, 'Only living adventurers can become powerful adventurers.'" He wonders why she's asking again when he already mentioned it upon returning. He, who acts with both desire and caution, wouldn't recklessly attempt the tenth floor on the first day... it's unthinkable.
Hearing Aiden's response tinged with confusion, Hestia realizes Aiden isn't lying; he truly only explored up to the third floor today.
That leaves only one possibility... Aiden's potential is exceptionally high.
Potential, or aptitude, the gift bestowed by gods through the Falna, is designed to unearth mortal potential and ignite possibilities. The higher the potential, the greater the abilities that can be unearthed by the Falna. Considering Aiden's astonishing performance today, his potential surpasses that of an ordinary adventurer by tens of times.
Hestia believes this is the only explanation for why Aiden, who has experienced less than a day of combat, could experience such a significant increase in ability values.
However, Hestia overlooks one thing... the amount of experience gained is determined by the strength of both sides. Defeating monsters weaker than oneself won't yield much experience. Yet, the judgment of the strength of both sides is quite ambiguous. Does strength refer to the maximum combat power that one can wield with all their abilities, or their current actual combat power?
If we're talking about maximum combat power, then Aiden wouldn't gain much experience at all. After all, if Aiden could perfectly unleash his own strength now, he could easily seek maps beyond the tenth floor and prepare to enter the eleventh and twelfth floors.
Overall, Aiden's current combat proficiency is quite delicate. On one hand, he possesses strength and stamina far surpassing adventurers of the same level. But on the other hand, his combat experience is virtually nonexistent, resulting in his actual combat prowess being not very high. A Lv.1 adventurer with rich combat experience and moderate basic ability values could easily defeat him, especially if their primary ability is agility.
So, considering Aiden's current actual combat proficiency, along with his slaughter in the monster ocean on the second and third floors, where all his basic ability values except magic were exercised, particularly strength, this is one of the reasons he experienced such significant growth today.
Of course, Aiden has immense potential, which is the most important reason for his significant growth today.
After all, Aiden is a half-demon inheritor of the Sparda bloodline, so having such potential is only natural. Of course, Hestia is unaware of this. If she knew, the most likely scenario would be to consider Sparda as a deity from another world, and Aiden as a descendant inheriting divine power.
Although Hestia has always been aware that Aiden is a genius, it's only now that she truly understands just how exaggerated Aiden's genius is.
Surpassing the Sword Princess is practically a foregone conclusion. As long as Aiden is given enough time, surpassing Ottarr, is not difficult at all; it might even be quite effortless.
Hestia's breath quickened, her tone filled with excitement. "Aiden-kun, your potential surpasses that of all adventurers in history. Perhaps only the Heroes from over a thousand years ago could rival you."
"Aiden-kun, you can definitely surpass the Sword Princess. Even Ottarr from the Freya Familia, as long as you continue to grow like this, you'll surpass him too. By then, our familia will be the only King in Orario. Just wait and see, Loki, you cutting board, we will definitely surpass you!" Excited at the thought of surpassing the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia, Hestia lunged forward once again.
"Didn't I say not to do that?" Feeling once again Hestia's big front armor, Aiden sighed helplessly. "So, how much did my ability values actually increase?"
"Hehe, I'm just so happy!" Hestia's adorable face brimmed with excitement and joy as she handed Aiden the translated ability value data.
Aiden sat up and took the data from Hestia's hand, scanning through it.
After doing some mental calculations, Aiden frowned, his gaze sharpening. "Why did it only increase by this much?"
"What?" Hestia almost choked on her own saliva.
"And you think that's not enough?"
This was the day with the highest number of shocks in Hestia's long divine life. Aiden's dissatisfied expression with his own achievements left her speechless, besides being astonished.
In less than a day of battle, the growth in ability values was several times that of a normal adventurer. Yet the person who achieved such results still found it insufficient. If other adventurers knew, they would surely be driven mad with jealousy.
Amidst her astonishment, Hestia felt a bit speechless. Was it that Aiden had set his standards too high, or was he too proud, believing that his ability value growth should be far greater? Or perhaps it was a bit of both?
Of course, if Hestia knew about Aiden's mission, perhaps she would understand why he felt dissatisfied with such results.
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