"My business... ah, my business."
Though his mind stalled for a moment, Bell quickly remembered—he'd come to Freya to talk about himself.
"Freya, lately I've been thinking... just how far do I need to grow?"
"And your goal?"
"Lv.10—I'll definitely reach that, just to see the view. It's a necessary milestone for what I want to accomplish. But now I'm wondering... is Lv.10 really the end for me? Is there even a path beyond it?"
Freya couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha~ So that's what's been bothering you?"
"Yeah... I know it's probably a dumb thing to dwell on, I..."
Bell didn't get to finish. A pair of lips cut him off mid-sentence.
He froze for a second. By the time he regained focus, Freya had her arms around his neck, pulling him close and pressing his head gently against her chest. Her soft voice sounded by his ear.
"This isn't a foolish thought. None of this world's limits were made for you. What you should be thinking about... is how to break through them."
"Lv.10 is just a ceiling for ordinary Adventurers. You, on the other hand, still have room to grow. But from here on, your growth will be constrained—because the path forward is one only you can carve out for yourself."
"This is a road meant for you alone."
Freya hadn't expected Bell to be pondering such things. Seeing the confusion in his eyes made her smile. Maybe she was amused that he hadn't yet seen the road ahead—or maybe it was that he still didn't realize how much potential he held.
'A road meant for me alone...'
Repeating Freya's words under his breath, Bell felt some of the doubt in his heart begin to lift.
He really was different from everyone else. He had a second life, and stepping stones that allowed him to grow. Reaching the summit of power felt almost inevitable. And maybe that was the problem—because it felt too inevitable, it didn't feel like something he'd earned.
'Maybe anyone with the same talents and advantages could reach the top,' he thought. And from that came a new question—'What can I do that no one else can?'
That thought was the root of his confusion.
He didn't know if his path had been laid out in advance. He didn't know if the summit was truly his ultimate destination—or if, once he reached it, there would be anywhere left to go.
That sense of uncertainty—the inability to see the road ahead—had been lingering for a long time. If he had to pinpoint it, it probably began when he first set Lv.10 as his goal.
But then, Bell met the Black Dragon.
Their conversation revealed many secrets, even the possibility of upgrading the world itself. Still, Bell didn't believe defeating a single Black Dragon was all it would take. Maybe it was because the idea of the world evolving through a ritualistic challenge felt too crude, too simplistic.
So ever since then, he'd often found himself wondering—what more could he do? What should he be doing if he truly wanted to bring about the world's advancement?
It was around that time that his goals began to blur.
But now, Freya had told him—he had his own path.
Maybe that was what he should be following.
Of course, that raised another problem: there was no guide ahead of him on this road. He'd have to explore it, step by step, on his own.
But to Bell, that didn't feel like a setback. If anything, discovering his own path filled him with a sense of clarity—like a fog had finally lifted.
'My own path.'
Immersed in the moment, Bell's once-clouded mind grasped a glimmer of hope. The road that had been hidden in mist now lay clearly before him, bathed in light.
The path ahead was no longer dark.
Bell slowly opened his eyes in Freya's arms.
"Freya, I'm ready now."
"Oh my~ you could still rest on me a little longer, you know."
Just moments ago, Freya had felt like a mature, elegant older sister—but now, her demeanor had shifted. Now she seemed more like a teasing, slightly sultry one. The kind that made things feel just a bit too playful and less heart-fluttering.
Bell sighed and pushed himself up, pulling away from Freya's embrace.
He stared directly at her, then suddenly reached out and hugged her tightly.
"!?"
Freya froze in surprise. Then she heard Bell's voice close to her ear.
"Thank you, Freya."
His sudden affection left her flustered. That soft voice, which once only tickled her ears, now made them burn red.
"I finally know which way I need to go."
"Now I just have to figure out how to keep moving forward."
At that moment, Bell could already see the future stretching out ahead of him. Everything he had gained up until now might be the key to forging that new path. The power granted by the Blessing System had become the foundation for building something beyond.
The next step was to find a way to integrate that power—then surpass the limits of the Blessing System itself.
"This feels like taking the hard-mode route."
The Blessing System, to most adventurers, was an incredible catalyst for growth. It was designed to help them grow stronger and faster. With clear, trackable stats that visualized one's progress, it gave adventurers a tangible reason to push themselves further.
Bell understood—so long as the Blessing System offered the ability to quantify personal growth, it would remain the best path forward for most adventurers.
But to go further, to truly break past the ceiling, he'd have to take that extra step.
'It's just like JoJo... throwing away all past glory with pure courage. Only those willing to abandon everything can grasp the chance to rise higher.'
'Damn it.'
Bell pushed down the fire burning in his chest. Even if the day came when he would abandon the Blessing System, that could only happen after he'd taken it to its absolute limit.
For now, what he needed was to keep growing—and begin searching for the next path forward.