In the narrow, winding passages of the Dungeon, Shirou, having cut the last monster in half with a single sword, sat exhausted on the ground, leaning against a wall and panting heavily.
Much time had passed since he entered the Dungeon. It was hard to tell the exact time inside, so he decided to return to the surface.
He had gained a lot from his battles today. In terms of resources alone, his backpack was already half full.
In terms of combat experience, he was becoming more and more composed.
The experience he had previously learned from Archer (EMIYA) was for human-to-human combat. Combat in the Dungeon, however, was almost entirely against monster-shaped beasts.
A day of fighting had further enriched his experience.
"Time to go back!"
Feeling only two-tenths of his magical energy remaining, Shirou decided not to continue fighting.
As for magical energy, he was both dependent on it and not so dependent.
He was dependent because his weapons were all projected by consuming magical energy; without magical energy, he would have no weapons.
He was not so dependent because projecting weapons didn't consume much magical energy at all, and once projected, they could be used continuously.
However, this wasn't beneficial for training his magical energy.
If he only used one weapon all day, his magical energy growth rate would be very slow, making it difficult to keep up with the improvements in other attributes.
This would then hinder his leveling speed in the future.
This was something he would not allow.
After a quick cleanup of the battlefield, gathering the magic stones and dropped materials, Shirou began his journey back.
There were no sudden incidents on the way back, and Shirou successfully returned to the surface.
"Is it evening already? It seems I was very absorbed in my battle in the Dungeon."
Stepping out of the cavern, Shirou looked at the evening glow and chuckled softly.
He unexpectedly liked this rhythm of life, which was completely different from his past.
"First, I'll go to the Guild and exchange the magic stones for Valis!"
After a moment of self-reflection, Shirou walked towards the Guild. At the Guild's exchange counter, Shirou exchanged all his magic stones for Valis, gaining 20,000 Valis.
Looking at the Valis, which was a fifth of his initial fund, Shirou exclaimed, "Adventuring really is a profession for getting rich quickly!"
"But it's also a profession where money disappears very fast."
Recalling the scene he saw at the Hephaestus Familia's weapon shop, where even a casual weapon cost tens of millions of Valis, Shirou genuinely liked his magic.
It was truly great not needing to buy expensive weapons.
"However, it seems I also need to learn forging techniques!"
Walking back to the Familia's compound, Shirou couldn't help but ponder his future.
According to the effect of [Hundredfold Forging], the stronger his forging characteristics, the faster his growth and the stronger his weapons would become.
This skill was his core skill; it would be the foundation for him to become a top-tier powerhouse.
But forging characteristics could only be acquired by blacksmiths, so he still needed to learn forging techniques.
Since it concerned his growth rate, he had to learn forging techniques as soon as possible and acquire forging characteristics when he reached LV.2.
"So, where should I go to learn forging techniques?"
Carefully recalling the information about the DanMachi world in his mind, Shirou ultimately decided to seek an introduction from his Familia and go to the Hephaestus Familia to learn forging techniques.
The Loki Familia and the Hephaestus Familia had a very good relationship.
Not only were the two Head Gods close, but the two Familias themselves had an extremely close cooperative relationship.
In the future, to combat monsters that corroded weapons during the Dungeon Expedition, the captain of the Hephaestus Familia, Tsubaki, even brought high-ranking blacksmiths from her Familia along.
This clearly showed the intimacy between the two Familias.
"It seems I'll have to ask Loki nicely when I get back tonight!"
Thinking this, Shirou couldn't help but give a wry smile. He felt like Loki was already taking good care of him.
...
Evening.
After dinner, before Shirou could even look for Loki, he was called to the gods' chamber by Loki herself.
As soon as he entered the chamber, he was urged by Loki and pushed onto the chair for updating the Divine Blessing.
"Quickly, take off your clothes and sit down. I want to see how fast your growth rate really is."
Loki, who had never seen an accelerated growth skill, was very impatient. While eagerly pressing Shirou into the chair, she didn't forget to grumble.
"I'm telling you, we're a big Familia. Many people update their Divine Blessing every day, so on average, it's good if everyone can update once a week."
"If everyone wasn't on the expedition, how could you possibly get a chance to update your Blessing in just three days? Such a good opportunity, and you still need to be pushed."
Loki lectured Shirou while updating his ability values.
Soon, Shirou's ability values were updated.
"How is this possible?! What kind of growth rate is this?!"
Staring intently at Shirou's back, Loki exclaimed in surprise, "If this keeps up, you'll probably meet the prerequisites for becoming LV.2 in less than a month!"
Although Loki was startled and overwhelmed by Shirou's growth rate, she didn't forget to translate it into the common tongue, print it on paper, and hand it to Shirou.
[Name]: Shirou Emiya Emiya
[Level]: LV.1
[Ability Values]:
Strength: I67
Endurance: I51
Dexterity: I58
Agility: I63
Magic: I86
'Unlimited Blade Works'
Projection Magic
Reality Marble
Structural Analysis
Chant:
I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life.
Have withstood pain to create many weapons.
Yet, those hands will never hold anything.
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.
[Skills]:
'Hundredfold Forging'
Weapon properties improve when wielding self-forged weapons.
Self-forging, accelerated growth.
Greatly enhances the above effects due to forging characteristics.
---
"Is this not much of a change?"
Shirou, of course, knew his terrifying rate of progress, but seeing Loki's shocked expression, he couldn't help but tease her.
As expected, hearing Shirou's humble brag, Loki shrieked, "This is 'not much of a change'?! Do you even know the impact this progress brings?!"
"An adventurer's basic abilities from 0-999 are divided into ten ranks: I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S. And as long as a basic ability reaches C or above, you gain the qualification to level up."
"Don't underestimate the individual basic ability cap of 999. You know, the fastest to reach LV.2 in all of Orario right now is our Ais, but even she took a whole year to succeed."
"But now look at yourself! In just one Dungeon trip, your overall stats increased by over 300 points, and your magical energy alone increased by over 80 points! At this rate, you'll probably reach LV.2 in a month!"
"When that happens, all the gods in Orario will be shocked by you. Who knows how many endless schemes will revolve around you then."
"And you're still complaining that it's 'not much of a change'!"
Looking at Loki's excited expression, Shirou said with a smile, "What, are you scared then?"
He knew that Loki would never care about schemes or tricks; if she said this, she definitely had other ideas in mind.
Indeed, hearing Shirou's question, Loki's previously shocked expression suddenly turned into an extremely sinister smile: "Scared? I am Loki! When it comes to scheming, I've never yielded to anyone!"
With that, she patted Shirou's shoulder and said with a laugh, "Shirou, you've done very well! I'm very satisfied with this growth rate. I remember your skill needs forging characteristics, right? I've already talked to Hephaestus; you can go to her place to learn forging techniques anytime."
Seeing that Loki had arranged everything for him, without even needing him to ask, Shirou felt a warmth in his heart.
"Thank you, Loki-sama!"
Hearing Shirou's thanks, Loki directly hooked his neck with her arm and said with a smile, "What are you being polite for? Don't forget, we're family!"
"You just need to grow well and shock those gods to death for me. I'm already impatient to see the jealous looks on their faces."
Looking at Loki's exaggerated expression, Shirou seriously said, "Yes, I understand! I will work even harder."
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter