[Chapter Size: 3130 Words.]Lucius POVOrario.

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  Focused on my training and stat increase, my days passed by unnoticed due to the busy schedule. I was invited several times to go to the Hostess of Fertility by Bell, Hestia, and even Lili, but I deed as I had to train aronger in the ing days. I evolved much faster than an ordinary adventurer, but I'm still below Bell's level, so I have to focus oing stroo prepare for future events.

  Mikoto is surprised by all my development and eagero learn i days. I am being much stronger in bat style, and in our sparring sessions, I am starting to pose a signifit challeo her. Not only because I am improving my swordsmanship, but my statistics have already reached Rank A in all attributes! She doesn't know about my Status evolution and believes it's my sword teiques that are increasing, uakemikazuchi, who feels my excelia increasing in the falna every day. Obviously, he remained silent without saying anything, which I thanked him for not questioning something like that.

  I believe I already make my upgrade to level 02, but I still want to reach 1500 points ihing. I noticed that after reag 1499 in magic, my points assigo these statistics slowed their growth speed by half, but I still made 2.5 points per hhting in the dungeon. Seeing that I wouldn't catch up to Bell in my 6 hours, I started dedig 8 hours of dungeon fights, entering at noon and leaving only at 10 pm, following this routine for two whole weeks.

  ---Status---? Strength: F368 -> A816? Endurance: E434 -> A882? Dexterity: F375 -> A823? Agility: E415 -> A863? Magic: SSS1,452 -> SSS1,755[Accumuted Points: 78,780]

  Bell and Lili were going to the duogether every day, and I waited until this moment because today would be a very special day. Bell has been training with Aiz for two weeks as well. She tried to talk to me about what happened during this time, but I wasn't ied. I said that attag Riekling would be like attag our family, so I wasn't in the mood to see her face around. But I wondered if her family knew about the i because no one came to us.

  Anyway, after Bell mentiohat she celed training with him today because she was going on a deep dive into the dungeon with her family, I realized that today he will evolve to level 02 by fag that mutant minotaur that Ottar and Freya created. I wao see it because it's one of the best fights I've seen in anime and the best fight in Danmachi, in my opinion, I must admit, so I would never miss it.

  I calmly started my day more rexed today because I asked Mikoto for a day off yesterday, and she agreed. I had breakfast with my family for the first time in two weeks, which surprised the trio a lot. Hestia, despite pining that I didn't spend much time with them and that I never went to the dungeon with Bell, respected me and roud because I was w hard every day, bringing magic stones, and helping Bell when he needed, like that time I retrieved his knife. I khat in her opinioe causing trouble here and there like a bully, I was a good son to the family after all.

  After breakfast, Hestia went to the ter of the fave, Bell and Lili to the dungeon, and I went to buy a new katana because miarted to crack when I picked it up in the m. I have to ge it every 3 days because the thunder spell ruins the metal along with its usage, which I do by cutting monsters. Iure, I should look for a specialized bcksmith to make ohat's resistant with thunder immunity.

  After breakfast, we separated. Bell went to the dungeon with Lili, Hestia to her usual job, and I went to talk to the familiar vendor in the cultural area, an old oriental man from whom I always buy his katanas. After buying a new one, I headed to the dungeon with the iion of spying on the legendary fight.

  Some time after running through the dungeon, I reached the eighth floor, and I cursed myself because I realized I almost missed the fight. Bell had just risen from the ground and pushed Aiz away to fight aloh the mutant minotaur, saying that this fight was his.

  I don't approad stand watg the fight from the side without them seeing me, although they know I'm here. They are all high-rank, after all. I see that the other members of the Loki family are focused while Bell runs to face his fight without g about me either. The dog, as always, is talking nonseh his big mouth. Lili pleads for him to help Bell, but when he finally takes his steps towards the fight, he stops, impressed with the level one adventurer's battle, just like everyone else.

  "Is he really level 01?" says one of the Amazons.

  "Ie's eyes, he was inexperienced a month aght Bete?" says the Pallum.

  "Tsk. What happened?" says the dog who was until now mog Bell.

  *Thread*, *thread*, *thread thread*, *thread thread*, I was in my er whistling softly, trying to make the sound of the Heroic Desire Soundtrack while watg the fight, impressed.

  "He looks like the Argonaut!"

  "Loved that story when I was a kid!"

  'Freya must be having an asm right now,' I thought, ughing, as I watched attentively.

  Bell tio fight against the minotaur very fiercely; it was really a fight worthy of an Oscar if they were filming it now.

  "But what kind of knife is that!?"

  "It's well-made, but it's not just that..."

  "The kid is skilled too!"

  "He's doing really well..."

  "But he 't nd an attack!"

  "It's difficult to pee the minotaur's defense..."

  [- Bell-san...]

  *ssh*

  *ssh*

  *hit*

  *dodge*

  *ssh*

  *dodge*

  [- Firebolt]

  [- Firebolt]

  "Fast-ting magic? Wait, this magic..."

  "That was a beautiful attack!"

  "But it wasn't enough."

  "They're tied..."

  *crack*

  *stab*

  *spin*

  The minotaur drops the sword after Bell twists the knife in his arm with an impressive atta the face of that stalemate.

  They start the fight again, and Bell picks up the sword from the ground.

  *stab*

  *dodge*

  *stab*

  He cuts the minotaur in various pces and steps back a bit while his face is stained with blood.

  They stare at each other for a while before starting a charge, running towards each other.

  "Foolish!"

  "What an idiot..."

  "Bell-San!"

  "It's alright..."

  *stab*

  Bell mao stop the enemy's attack where it seemed he would lose and dodges. With that, he creates an opening, thrusting the sword into the belly of the mutant monster.

  [- Firebolt] He casts the first spell, and the minotaur bleeds from the mouth as its stomach swells.

  [- Firebolt] He casts the sed, making the minotaur swell with the fire expanding further i, but it still remains alive.

  [- Firebolt] He casts a third ohat makes the upper part of the monster explode in fire like a beautiful dispy of overing.

  'HAHAHAHA, EXCELLENT! Even though I'm used to freic battles, I have to admit that this was a beautiful show,' I said to myself.

  "Bell-San!"

  "He did it..."

  "He faianding too..."

  "Mind Zero..."

  "Bell-San! Bell-San!"

  "Riviera, what's his status?" said the dog.

  "I 't check the status without his permission!"

  "He's not in a dition to refuse!"

  "But I am..." I said calmly, stepping out of the shadows of the corridor.

  "Lord Lucius-San!" Lili shouted when she saw me.

  All the Loki family members were now looking at me.

  "You, the arrogant weakling!" The dog growled.

  "Hey, dog, wasn't it you who was talking about not getting involved in another's fight, which was against dungeon rules? Now you want to peek at the status of another adventurer while he's unscious? you believe this guy, Riekling?"

  "HEEEEEEEE!" shouted the little goblin eared by my side.

  "Cute..."

  "Cute!"

  "So cute."

  While some girls liked Riekling, Riviera remaioid Aiz looked with plicated eyes; she seemed a bit regretful and lost.

  "What did you say, weakling!?" The grumpy dog shouted.

  Riviera looked at me uain of how to proceed with this; she should know about Aiz's attack a few weeks ago.

  "Simple, I'm saying not to think about doing that. As a member of the Hestia family, I don't want other members studying his status. If you want to know, ask him when he wakes up, but don't do it when he's uo refuse..." I said seriously, not to Bete but to her.

  "You let your panion fight and risk his life? He almost couldn't make it...." said the blond Pallum, for the first time. "This shell only be broken by those who take the risk of adventure..." That's what I said to him seriously; he stared at me for a moment before Aiz spoke.

  "I'm sorry." She simply said without showing aion in her voice.

  This left her panions stunned, except for the executives, as they were more aware of the things that happened.

  "HEY, Aiz, why are you APOLOGIZING to this guy!?" Bete snarled, furious at Aiz.

  Upon hearing that, I got angry and finally decided to speak my mind about them.

  "Hey, let me tell you something, dog. You guys first put Bell in danger a month ago with those minotaurs from the fifteenth floor, then openly mock him in public, a rge family from Orario, gathering at a bar to mo adventurer who almost died because of them. That kind of person is one of the ones I hate the most." I said with hatred to Bete.

  If they were enemies of Bell, I wouldn't mind so much, but they throw a level oo a desperate situation and still expect him to overe the terrible situation, with Bete ughing and mog him.

  "Then you publicly judge me for free, so don't expect me to kiss your feet, dog. Not to mention that not long ago, another member of yours attacked me ireets of Orario and killed my goblin here. So let me ask you something."

  I said already enraged, knowing that I could die if all these people wanted, but I didn't care about speaking my mind. Ohing is to see them in the anime, but I'm annoyed with this family after spending this month and witnessing all their as.

  "Since when did one of the most powerful families in Orario bee a bunch of bullying thugs?" I said, especially gring at Finn.

  A sileook over the atmosphere in a somber mood, even Lili, standio an unscious Bell, tensed up at this.

  Looking at them, I could feel everyounned by my question, some were angry, Finn looked me in the eyes without wavering, Gareth sighed while Riviera closed her eyes. Tione remained quiet but ched her hands in anger; she's angry because I called Finn a thug, her sister beside her, Tiona, looked lost without uanding much, while Aiz was stoic, but I could hear a bit of guilt in her eyes, Bete was growling and holding back from attag me. Little Lefiya, stunned, seem to be shocked by the words I said.

  After a while, Finn spoke again while still looking at me.

  "I think you have some point in your words; some members of my family did wrong with you..." He admitted.

  "So we owe you an apology for that."

  "Hey, you're not serious, are you, Finn?" Bete snarled.

  "Be quiet, Bete; we are at fault for some things he said." Riviera silenced Bete.

  "Yes, I 't deny that either. I wouldn't want our family to start getting such a reputation." Gareth admitted.

  "I 't ge what happened, but I will owe you and your family a favor; I believe you deserve that at least after all the mess our family caused during this month."

  When he said those words, I had to put my anger aside a bit. I'm a reasonable person when I see siy, and there's no reason to hate them, despite almost killing Bell and killing Riekling in front of me.

  "Sorry, Aiz, for the attack; it's not unon to see a monster ireets of Orario, and she acted out of hatred." Riviera took the initiative for Aiz, as the girl clearly doesn't know how to handle her apologies.

  "It's not me you oology to; it's this guy here." I poio the goblin beside me, who had been quiet the whole time while .

  "HEE..." He murmured when everyone looked at him.

  "I don't know why you hate monsters so much." I lied.

  "But not everything is as it seems. Riekling here is a summon, not a tamed monster. And indeed, I am angry at you for attag him in front of me." I admitted as my gaze went to Aiz.

  "I'm only saying this because you helped Bell train after all, but it doesn't mean I'll be your friend. However, I hope you respect this little guy here." I expressed my thoughts to the stoian.

  Of course, when I said it was a summon, the two mages in the group were stunned. Anyone in Orario or anywhere in the world with magic like that would obviously attract attention. But this wasn't the time to ask that kind of question.

  "Sorry..." Aiz finally spoke to Riekling. Of course, she still had a look as if she were in front of a mystery, even though it's a summon; for her, monsters are evil and try to kill anyone around them.

  "HEE!" Riekling seemed to accept.

  This earned some smiles, while Bete was still in a bad mood.

  "I don't bme you for attag Aiz after what she did, but I wouldn't five if it happened in front of me. Regardless of who is right , I won't let anyone hurt my family..." Finn threatened me this time.

  "Well, then we're quite alike." I shrugged, not g about his threat for too long.

  "Let's go, the kid will be able to return to the surface safely, and we'll tinue our raid without further interruptions, along with the rest of the family, who are waiting for us." He said, after a few seds of sileurning and heading towards the lower floors.

  "Tsk!" Snarling and clig his tohe dog followed his leader with the same bad mood. Aiz and the Amazons looked at me and then at Bell before turning and going with their ander. Riviera looked at me with plicated eyes; now I didn't know much about why. I know we're getting involved in a lot of things directly and ily, but I believe almost all our bad sides should cease after this versation.

  I like her, really, but our families are creating too much fri to establish a friendship ao know her better. This sted until she turned around and followed her group, but noticed she stopped her steps when she realized that one person stayed in the same pce.

  "Lefiya? Any problem?" She asked, and I looked at the little elf who was staring intensely at me.

  "How?" She asked hesitating, making everyone in the group stop and turn their eyes in doubt at the words of the little elf who was still standing, looking at me.

  "Huh? How what?" I asked still not knowing the reason for the question.

  "How you increase yical power so much!?" She asked with great astonishment ione.

  "I feel like you're four times stroha time we met at the bar, almost b on the peak of a level 2 adventurer when I raised my level to 3!" She excimed, making everyone open their eyes in surprise with these words.

  I sighed. 'So that's it? I have 1,755 magiow, but still, in normal terms, this amount of stati magic should be from a level 2 adventurer mage with 755 in magic, but I'm still level 1 and have these monstrous points, that's what anyone who saw this in me would be stunned. And Lefiya is a genius who even be pared to a "Little-Bell," as far as I know, in magical terms. As a mage raised as Riviera's successor in the Loki family, she has special abilities, which surprised me because she could even see my magical power, something that not even Riviera could see clearly.'

  "You see that?" I asked without hiding my amused smile, which made everyone frown with my words.

  "I am the greatest magical potential in this world, girl. Don't be so surprised..." I said simply. I like being in the shadows without drawing attention while I strengthen myself, but I would admit these words out loud and withrets.

  She looked at me scowling at my arrogant words. She immediately de. For her, Riviera is the greatest mage in the world, while everyone else was stunned by my boldness, I didn't care.

  "But I tell you one of my secrets; of course, if you help me have a date with a certain green-haired elf..." I said shamelessly with a big smile.

  Everyone had different faces after these words. Gareth burst into ughter, the Amazons looked at me with open mouths, Aiz and Finn had no expressions, dog-Bete wao kill me with his look and was ready to poune. Lefiya simply stood wordless. 'I think I broke her,' I thought as I looked at a frozen Lefiya in pce. But the same elf who was the reason for my words, no longer had such a stoic expression. Upon hearing that, she averted her gaze with a slightly embarrassed face, clearly not aced to this kind of male attention. No one dared to hit on an elvish princess in such a powerful family like Loki.

  I know we're not on the best terms, and our retionship is quite plicated, but I still wouldn't miss the opportunity, since I'm naturally like this and wouldn't miss showing my iions with the beautiful magierd. Lefiya simply turned around with a red fad went to the group infuriated. It didn't take long for them to start walking again, although Bete still wao hit me, and Riviera looked at me from time to time as they walked away.

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