Once again, Bell stood before Freya's door. This time, there was no hesitation. He knocked lightly and walked right in.
"You're back."
As soon as he stepped inside, Bell saw Freya half-reclined on the sofa, looking directly at him. From the look of it, she'd been waiting there ever since he left.
"Handled everything on your end?"
"Yeah. I jotted down some guesses and ideas about new possibilities. I don't know if that direction is right, but... it's definitely a path worth considering."
Freya's interest was immediately piqued. She gave the seat beside her a light pat, motioning for Bell to sit. Without fuss, he sat down next to her.
"Compared to the 'Blessing System', it sounds like a much riskier choice."
"Yeah."
Bell had already foreseen the dangers. Even if the path was logically sound, it was still uncharted—filled with unknowns and inherent risks.
"To take that step... I might have to give up everything I gained through the 'Blessing System'."
Give up everything! Freya had to suppress the urge to shout.
It was a cost she hadn't even considered. To walk a new path, one had to be prepared to sacrifice it all. But what surprised her even more was that Bell was actually willing to make that sacrifice—abandoning the strength he had earned through blood and toil as if it were nothing.
Freya was certain: anyone else, even if they knew another path existed, would never be able to let go the way Bell just had.
Bell could feel Freya's confusion, but he understood it. His choice wasn't something most would understand—not even the gods.
"Freya, you know just as well as I do—the 'Blessing System' gives adventurers an extraordinary rate of growth. Without it, without the ability to quantify one's capabilities as data, even with decades of effort, no one would reach the achievements we see today.
The system turns every bit of effort into visible, tangible progress. The more one trains, the more battles they experience, the faster the stats rise.
"And while it's divine power driving that process, the adventurer themselves evolves through each level-up. Every upgrade is like stepping up in the hierarchy of life—raising both their essence and their physical potential.
"So, abandoning the 'Blessing System' doesn't erase that growth. Instead, it places a lock on it—one that a 'Blessing-less' adventurer can no longer open with their own strength."
"Isn't that right?"
Bell explained everything—his entire understanding of the 'Blessing System'—slowly and clearly, all based on his own research.
Freya understood then. Bell hadn't made this decision on impulse. He'd done his homework, thoroughly. What she had given him was likely just the final push—a reason to finally take the leap.
"I thought you didn't know anything about it… but you've even gone as far as investigating the 'Blessing System' itself?"
"It's a habit of mine to look into things like this."
"You..."
Freya rolled her eyes. She knew full well this wasn't just some 'habit'. He had deliberately, obsessively researched it.
The 'Blessing System' wasn't something you could grasp after just a few moments of thought. Truly understanding it required a deep dive—linking theory to real, lived changes. This wasn't the kind of conclusion one could reach with surface-level curiosity.
Bell's understanding of the 'Blessing System'—its structure, limits, and implications—was precise and thorough. He'd clearly completed stage-by-stage investigations. If it were possible to remove the system entirely, Freya had no doubt Bell would've torn it out and studied it piece by piece.
"Still that same old problem."
And she was right. Bell had a long-standing issue—some would call it anxiety, maybe even a survival reflex rooted in despair.
He couldn't help but investigate the 'Blessing System'. After all, if you carried something so critical to your life, you ought to know how it worked.
What if someone in Orario managed to suppress the Blessing System within a certain range? Wouldn't that spell doom for those whose strength relied entirely on it? Preparing in advance was simply smart.
"So... you've already prepared yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Once you've made your decision, you really don't hesitate at all."
"There's no need to. The 'Blessing System' caps at demigod—that's its ceiling. But it's not mine."
Right now, Bell saw it clearly: the 'Blessing System' was just a stepping stone—an interim tool to accumulate power. If he treated it as the endpoint, his limit would be no higher than this world's gods.
And that... was nowhere near enough.
The world's evolution—and the nurturing it offered—was clearly not meant to stop at the level of an ordinary god. That's why Bell was convinced that abandoning the "Blessing System" was absolutely the right choice.
Finding a path of his own was the choice he needed to make.
Bell let out a quiet breath. The firm edge in his voice from earlier had softened.
"But still, this is a reverse deduction based on the intel I've gathered… and my own 'uniqueness.' The 'Blessing System' simply can't live up to the overwhelming expectations set for me. It's not a path I can keep following forever."
"I see."
Freya followed the logic easily. Her thoughts quickly turned to Bell's uniqueness, and she was sure his conclusion was valid. Even though the "Blessing System" allowed adventurers to grow at an exceptional rate, its growth had a ceiling. No matter how far one pushed it, it would never reach the level of true gods.
For a regular adventurer, even achieving demigod status would be a far-off dream. But for Bell… maybe that wasn't the ceiling at all.
Besides, Bell carried traits that made him inherently different. His limits probably didn't lie within the bounds of the "Blessing System."
Giving it up was undoubtedly a bold, dangerous move—but Bell had made the decision with clarity and purpose.