In the days that followed, Riezel's life began to take on a steady rhythm.
Each morning, he would spar with Ais in the courtyard and guide her in practicing Wind Breathing, while after breakfast, he would head alone into the Dungeon with only his sword, not returning until dusk.
Needless to say, this routine was very much like the Riezel of the past, which made Finn and the others worry that he might once again recklessly wander deep into the Dungeon without concern for danger.
However, whenever Riezel returned, he was always spotless—nothing like before, when he used to come back tattered and covered in dirt.
Seeing such a condition, Finn and the others began to think they might have been worrying too much.
"With Riezel's current strength, it's unlikely anything would happen to him even if he went alone into the Dungeon."
"As long as it's not an expedition, the floors one can reach and return from in a single day are limited."
"Well, that kid's already Level 5, and he's actually got more combat power than Ais, who just hit Level 6. As long as he doesn't go too deep, there's pretty much no way anything's gonna go wrong on a same-day trip."
In the end, after a short discussion, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth decided to let Riezel do as he pleased.
As long as he didn't act recklessly like before and come back battered and covered in wounds every day, there was no reason to stop him from entering the Dungeon.
However, what Finn and the others didn't know was that Riezel was still coming back battered and wounded—he simply cleaned himself up before returning.
Now that he had many healing and recovery magic spells, he could even heal a pierced heart completely, so there was no way he would return to camp covered in injuries as he once did.
Riezel's current attire was armor equivalent to Second-Class Equipment, far sturdier than before. Even if it was damaged, he could simply recreate it, so it was only natural that he no longer appeared ragged.
On top of that, he had magic that allowed him to cleanse his body and remove all filth.
If he still showed up looking disheveled after learning so much magic, that would truly be an insult to his own abilities.
Moreover, while he did make day trips, he was not doing as Finn and the others imagined—he was delving far deeper.
As soon as he entered the Dungeon, he would find a secluded place to cast Gate, teleporting directly to the 50th Floor—the deepest point his previous expedition had reached, and from there, he used the 50th Floor as a base, venturing even deeper.
Sometimes he traveled around the 51st Floor, and other times, he descended beyond it. At his deepest, he even reached the 58th Floor—the farthest depth the Loki Familia had ever explored.
To reach such depths, even the Loki Familia's First-Class Adventurers, when fully assembled, had to face one peril after another before ultimately being forced to retreat.
Since Riezel had sealed away a portion of his own power, it was inevitable that he couldn't emerge unscathed from such dangerous areas, so coming back battered and bloodied each day was unavoidable.
Yet Riezel enjoyed it, for the long-lost thrill of battle, the rush of life-and-death combat, stirred his blood once more. Sometimes, he became so exhilarated that he even forgot to return home, earning himself a scolding from Loki and the others.
Nonetheless, through these long-missed fights and deadly clashes, the countless monsters he hunted down drove his status into yet another phase of explosive growth.
...
Riezel Brynhart
Level 7
STR: A822 → S918
END: A808 → S904
DEX: S943 → SS1057
AGI: S961 → SS1082
MAG: SS1010 → SS1163
Lightweight: B
Swordsman: C
Mage: D
Battle Adept: D
Fast Attack: E
Magic Chant: G
...
After just the first day, this status was the full extent of Riezel's growth.
At his current level, to have his total basic ability proficiency increase by more than 500 points in a single day was utterly astounding.
At this growth rate, it would not take long before he reached the current limits of all his basic abilities.
And indeed, about a week later, Riezel updated his status once again.
...
Riezel Brynhart
Level 7
STR: S918 → SSS1444
END: S904 → SSS1437
DEX: SS1057 → SSS1505
AGI: SS1082 → SSS1526
MAG: SS1163 → SSS1549
Lightweight: B → A
Swordsman: C → B
Mage: D → C
Battle Adept: D → C
Fast Attack: E → D
Magic Chant: G → F
...
At this point, Riezel had finally reached the limits of his current level.
With all his basic abilities at SSS, he once again stood at that unbelievable peak.
Even the development abilities that had shown little growth before now seemed to erupt all at once, rising together to the next rank.
Even though this sudden surge pushed Riezel's strength to new heights, he immediately fed all that power into the Hero Ring, keeping himself restrained at Level 5.
Naturally, this wasn't only to conceal his true power from the gods—whose eyes and insight were far sharper than mortals could imagine—but also because he had received confirmation from Loki herself.
At Level 5, challenging dangers far above his level would indeed grant him high-rank excelia, since those perils he could easily overcome at Level 7 became terrifying crises at Level 5.
Yet if he triumphed, the excelia gained from such trials would count as true feats of heroism.
As long as one challenged a stronger foe, it was a miracle.
As long as one ventured into danger, there was new potential.
Needless to say, this was the essence of Falna—the fuel that refined one's abilities.
And the original adventurer who had achieved the miracle of consecutive level-ups—his story had revealed to Riezel a new path of growth.
Although reaching Level 8 would require an immense amount of high-rank excelia, and doing it this way would take considerable time, at least it was better than seeing no path forward at all.
"Still, even after proficiency passes 1500, the rank remains SSS?"
Riezel had once thought the SSS range was between 1200 and 1499, but it seemed he had been wrong.
"Maybe everything above 1200 counts as SSS."
In any case, as long as he could continue growing, that was enough.
For an adventurer, the greatest fear was running out of potential—being unable to advance any further, unable even to take the next step and let one's body evolve into something greater.
Once that happened, their path would be at its end.
Riezel felt fortunate that he could still grow stronger—that even at Level 7, he had not stopped, reaching all-SSS basic abilities once again.
It proved his potential was far from exhausted.
He could still climb higher.
He had not yet reached the end.
And so, Riezel delved into the Dungeon even harder, exploring all the way to the 58th Floor each time.
If he hadn't known that stepping onto the 59th Floor without authorization was forbidden—and that the monsters there were not meant for him but for his familia—he might have gone to take a look himself.
In this way, Riezel continued his daily routine of adventuring and exploring the Dungeon, never failing, never changing, always consistent.
Unfortunately, such peaceful days did not last forever, for this peace was eventually broken.
===
Northwest Main Street, Guild Headquarters.
As the hazy moonlight began to blanket the ground, Riezel slowly walked through the grand building of the Guild, majestic like a temple of the gods.
"...I got too caught up fighting again and forgot to go home on time."
Looking at the vast and now-empty hall, quiet under the approaching midnight hour, Riezel couldn't help but smile wryly.
"Guess I'll get another round of preaching from Loki and Finn tonight..."
Muttering to himself, he made his way toward the Guild's exchange counter.
He was here to trade in his magic stones.
Having spent recent days exploring the lower floors below the 50th, Riezel had collected a sizable haul of magic stones, both in quantity and quality.
They had been sitting idle in the storage space of the Dimensional Magic Cube until today, when he finally remembered to sell them for some cash.
Although he could create gold and owned numerous precious jewels and crystals, this was still Orario, the world's center—a city full of gods, familias, and a tightly managed Guild. If he started selling gold or jewels in large quantities without restraint, it would definitely attract unwanted trouble.
For this reason, Riezel had already decided that unless it was absolutely necessary, he should keep a low profile and avoid doing anything that would draw attention or disturb the city's economy.
"Please exchange all of these for valis."
Standing at the counter, Riezel dropped a large sack of magic stones before a guild employee.
"Y-Yes, of course! Please wait a moment!"
From her reaction, the guild employee was clearly startled by the sheer amount of magic stones.
However, after seeing Riezel's face, understanding quickly dawned on her, and she nodded before calling for others to help with the counting.
Riezel waited quietly as the guild employees tallied the magic stones—until a sudden loud bang echoed through the hall.
*BANG!*
A human adventurer slammed his fist onto a nearby service counter, shouting furiously at a petite guild employee.
"I already told you—the 24th Floor is swarming with monsters! It's an anomaly even worse than a monster outbreak! Ordinary High-Level Adventurers can't handle it! What's more, the situation's getting worse by the hour—why haven't you sent anyone yet?!"
His angry roar echoed through the late-night hall, startling the trembling guild employee behind the counter.
"W-We're really sorry! We'll send people immediately!"
Facing the angry adventurer, the petite guild employee kept bowing over and over as she apologized.
"If apologies worked, my comrades wouldn't be dead!"
Ignoring the apology, the adventurer shouted again, venting all his rage.
"Get those big familias to deal with it! We can't keep exploring like this! Send First-Class Adventurers—move fast!"
"I-I'll do everything I can!"
Still bowing, the guild employee's voice was on the verge of tears as the adventurer stormed off, his fury leaving a tense atmosphere hanging over the hall.
"It's starting...?"
Riezel narrowed his eyes and murmured quietly.
With a thoughtful look, he collected the valis handed to him, turned, and disappeared into the moonlit night.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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