Chapter 8: Chapter 8
"Is this a joke?"
Hestia’s voice sounded distorted, as if she had just witnessed the most unbelievable thing in the world.
Both of her eyes had gone completely blank.
"What’s wrong?"
Kiriya, still lying on the bed, asked in confusion.
Hestia climbed off his back in a daze and handed him the sheet with his updated Falna information.
"See for yourself."
Kiriya took the paper.
The moment he saw the information written on it, his pupils could not help shrinking.
"My total ability values increased by 760 points?"
Even though Kiriya did not fully understand the Falna system yet, he could still feel how extraordinary that number was.
Generally speaking, an adventurer’s basic abilities were divided into nine ranks, from the lowest I rank, which covered 0 to 99 points, all the way up to S rank, which covered 900 to 999 points.
Every jump in rank brought no small amount of strengthening to the adventurer.
But correspondingly, crossing each rank was extremely difficult.
That could be seen clearly from the overall structure of adventurers in Orario.
Level 1 adventurers made up more than half of all adventurers, which showed just how difficult the path of leveling up truly was.
Before Kiriya appeared, the fastest leveling record in Orario had belonged to the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia.
But even she had taken a full year to rise from Level 1 to Level 2.
And if Kiriya maintained his current speed, then in around a week, he might be able to push every ability to S rank, or perhaps even beyond S rank.
Breaking the original protagonist Bell Cranel’s record would not be a problem.
’Was I always this ridiculous?’
Kiriya was a little dazed.
As a transmigrator who possessed Hashirama cells and the Sharingan, he had always carried the confidence that he was destined to be extraordinary.
But he had not expected himself to be this absurd.
’Could it be because of that Skill?’
Kiriya could not help thinking of the Skill Hestia had deliberately hidden from him.
In an instant, it felt as though more than a dozen little cats were scratching at his heart.
He wanted to know.
He really, really wanted to know!
But if things were just as Hestia had said, and learning the details caused the Skill’s effect to weaken, then that would be a huge loss.
While he was struggling with that thought, Hestia’s voice sounded beside him.
"Hephaestus has talked to me about the children in her Familia more than once."
Hestia’s eyes were empty, and her voice was as flat as a machine.
"Those children complained to Hephaestus more than once, saying their ability values rose too slowly. After working themselves half to death for a whole week, they could only raise their values by a few dozen points."
"So it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say those ability points were earned through blood, sweat, and tears."
"And that isn’t just the normal state of the Hephaestus Familia. No, it’s the normal state for every Familia in Orario."
"But now, you raised your total ability values by 760 points in just one day."
Hestia suddenly turned her head. Her eyes shone like searchlights as she stared at Kiriya.
"A record like this has never been heard of in the thousand-year history of the Lower World!"
"Ooooh! You’re so amazing!"
Shouting that, Hestia pounced on him and hugged Kiriya tightly like a koala.
She had known this boy was extraordinary when she first granted him a Falna, but she had never expected him to be such a massive treasure.
"Hehehe. Sure enough, children of the Lower World really are different from us eternal gods. They can change so easily."
Hestia pressed her cute, soft cheek against Kiriya’s face and rubbed back and forth with all her might.
Under that full-body attack from every direction, Kiriya felt a certain force inside him beginning to awaken.
His expression changed immediately.
"Hestia, get up. Now."
"No. I was worried about you for an entire day, so now I’m going to relax properly. Hehehe."
Even Hestia herself did not notice the lazy edge in her voice.
"Hey, you’re playing with fire."
Kiriya gritted his teeth.
"You’ll regret it."
"I won’t—"
Hestia had just begun to argue with full confidence when her body suddenly stiffened.
In the next instant, she sprang away from him.
"W-what... what did you put in your pocket?"
Hestia stared at Kiriya, stammering so badly that her words nearly tangled together.
"A gun," Kiriya said irritably. "The kind that can get someone killed."
"Cough—"
Hestia’s face turned bright red.
In the end, a cloud of steam burst from her head, and she fainted on the spot.
"What a total lightweight."
Kiriya stepped forward and helped her onto the bed.
Looking at her shy sleeping face, Kiriya felt a little restless, as though he ought to do something.
So he stretched out his sinful hands toward the goddess.
"Pay more attention from now on, you silly goddess."
Kiriya grabbed Hestia’s cheeks with both hands and pulled them into all kinds of shapes, enjoying the satisfying softness for quite a while.
Only when Hestia’s cheeks had turned red did he finally stop.
He gently flicked Hestia’s forehead and said softly, "Good night."
Only then did he lie down on the sofa.
After fighting nonstop in the Dungeon for an entire day, Kiriya’s mind had already reached its limit.
The instant his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep.
And once Kiriya’s breathing became even and steady, the petite goddess on the bed secretly opened her eyes.
Looking at Kiriya as he slept, she touched her burning cheeks and muttered with dissatisfaction.
"Honestly... Kiriya-kun really is an idiot."
Thinking that, Hestia quietly climbed out of bed.
...
The next morning.
Sunlight passed through the abandoned church’s windows and spilled into the basement.
The sleeping boy slowly woke up.
After a night of deep sleep, all the fatigue in his body had disappeared.
Kiriya felt power filling him again, and that vigorous vitality gave him the impulse to immediately rush back into the Dungeon and fight another round.
When it came to recovery, the Sage Body really was unreasonable.
"Mm..."
Kiriya wanted to raise both arms and stretch, but failed.
It was not because he was injured.
It was because something heavy was pressing down on his left arm, preventing him from moving it.
That soft, warm sensation gave Kiriya a bad feeling.
’...No way.’
Several black lines seemed to fall across Kiriya’s forehead as he lowered his head and looked.
Sure enough, a delicate, beautiful face entered his vision.
But even more eye-catching than that pretty face was the goddess’s generous embrace.
’You’re testing me with this? What man could survive this kind of test?’
The corner of Kiriya’s mouth twitched.
He had never noticed before that this goddess apparently had a habit of sleepwalking.
"Honestly, you know I’m not some perfect gentleman, and you still delivered yourself right in front of me."
Kiriya felt insulted.
If he did nothing at all, wouldn’t that make him worse than a beast?
With that thought, Kiriya stretched out his hand toward the greatest source of danger.
As everyone knew, Newton once said that the greater an object’s mass, the greater its gravitational pull.
Therefore, Kiriya’s actions were entirely caused by the laws of physics. It was a completely natural result.
But before his hand could reach its destination, Kiriya felt the person in his arms trembling.
"...Forget it. She’s a virgin goddess, after all. I shouldn’t rush things."
After a moment of silence, Kiriya sighed.
He carefully freed his arm from Hestia’s hold, then gently placed his goddess on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
After that, he tapped her between the eyebrows a few times.
"Don’t run around in the middle of the night next time. Otherwise, I can’t promise what I’ll do."
After saying that, he put on his clothes and left.
Not long after he was gone, Hestia opened her eyes. Her clear gaze held both shyness and relief.
"What’s with that? You talk so boldly, but in the end... you’re a coward too."
While complaining, she hugged the blanket and rolled back and forth on the bed. From time to time, she even let out a "hehehe" laugh, clearly in a very good mood.
As a body pillow, Kiriya’s performance was quite strong.
The great Lady Hestia was very satisfied!
Outside the door, Kiriya heard the movement inside, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
This goddess’s thoughts were far too easy to guess.
"Even though you’re a god, when it comes to schemes, you’re still too inexperienced."
Kiriya shook his head and quietly walked outside.
This time, he headed straight for Babel.
After exchanging the magic stones he had earned yesterday for valis, Kiriya bought some high-quality weapons and armor, then walked toward the Dungeon entrance.
The increase in his ability values yesterday had given him a great deal of confidence.
He decided to go deeper this time, challenge more difficult monsters, and earn another wave of ability points.
The First Floor was still filled with familiar goblins.
Unfortunately, those things had almost no attraction for Kiriya anymore. At best, they were better than nothing.
Kiriya used Forest of All Things to shape a wooden sword. Before the goblin could even react, he cut open its throat.
Its body turned into ash, leaving behind only a tiny magic stone about the size of a fingernail.
He ignored it and instead studied the wooden sword he had created, nodding with satisfaction.
Although its hardness could not compare to weapons forged from steel, the difference was not too large. It could endure medium-intensity combat for quite a long time and was more than enough to clear monsters from the upper floors.
Even if it broke, it did not matter. He could simply use Forest of All Things to make several more.
In any case, it did not consume much chakra, and by the time the sword’s durability reached zero and it broke, the small amount of chakra used to create it would have already recovered.
So there was no need to worry about his "mana bar" at all.
What?
Why not directly use the high-quality equipment he had purchased?
The reason was simple.
Those weapons had limited durability. If he wore them down on these small fry at the start, he might end up in an awkward situation later when he encountered truly powerful monsters and had no good weapon left to use.
So for the earlier floors, if he could use wooden swords, he would use wooden swords.
Plentiful, filling, and impossible to run out of.
It did not matter if the quality was a little worse.
In fact, that was perfect for squeezing out his potential, forcing him to constantly improve his technique and bring out the full extent of his strength.
Puff, puff, puff—
Kiriya cut down several goblins in a row, then rolled his neck, producing a series of cracking sounds.
His expression gradually became fervent.
"Now then, here I come, Dungeon!"
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