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6K words!
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…
/Bing bong bell.../
/CLANG!/
/CLANG!/
/CLANG!/
Under the echoes of a hundred churches, Orario welcomed another day with the resonance of a thousand bells.
"... Ur... urg..."
Silver groaned as he twisted and turned in bed, "... I hate these, they are so loud… how do the people not go insane?"
'I know there are laws limiting this, but how would things be if there weren't such a thing?'
/GROWL!/
His stomach churned with a bellowing cry… 'Did I eat too much yesterday?'
"I guess I never ate that much at once… it sure was good…"
He pushed himself off the bed and opened the closed window, letting some sunlight inside, "The smell o fresh bread in the morning…"
'Now… my head still aches a little from yesterday, so I guess I will train in the ruins first and go to the Dungeon at night.'
Silver thought about washing himself, but with his headache, it would be best to rest…
Downstairs, Silver saw the innkeeper serving food to the other residents. He couldn't see his daughter, probably sleeping at this time, while his wife was in the kitchen given the noises coming from there.
The man noticed him approach, "Hum?... Oh, its you. I almost didn't recognize you. Are you in for some food or a bath?"
"For now… a hot bath is enough."
"Alright. Go to the second floor in five minutes and I will have it prepared for you." The innkeeper said as he left the hall
Silver nodded. Although there is plumbing in the city, it's just for the sewers and water; only big Familias could install plumbing for showers, much less hot showers.
Some places didn't even have private water points, having to go to communal wells or valves…
This inn, for example, heated the water through a heating device. A magic item akin to a boiler… simple technology for this city, but something they kept a tight lid on regarding its mechanisms.
Figuring out how it worked was one of his goals…
As he returned, he continued, "While we wait for the bath, do you want something to eat?"
"No… I ate plenty yesterday…"
He looked at Silver in understanding, nodding his head with a sigh before looking away.
Silver frowned, 'I am not hungover, okay…'
...
/Splash/
"Ahhh… Much better now. I haven't had the chance to soak myself in hot water for quite some time."
'Back in the village, the only way to do so was by throwing red rocks inside a large wooden basin… or with me heating it, but there's not much relaxation in that.'
He massaged his head while he thought. 'Okay, I've done plenty already. Visited some tourist attractions, met some interesting people… but its time to stop fooling around.'
'Yesterday I got the chance to test some of my Plasmids, like Invisibility and Sound Muffle; today, however, I'll try to do one thing only.'
'I think I should try to be more selective with what I do… I wanted to see just as much the blessing of the Gods would affect them, and having a more detailed report would help.'
'So today I will test my offensive tools, and tomorrow I will try the defensive ones. Lastly, I can go through the miscellaneous ones while mixing in the rest.'
"But first I need to resolve this minor problem… I ate too much…"
'I'm getting indigestion.'
/Growl…/
"Haaaa…"
His belly glowed green, and his veins became yellow… Nothing happened for the first few seconds, but small amounts of gas seeped out of his mouth.
Half a minute later, this bizarre scene stopped, and Silver returned to normal. However...
"BURP! Pheww…"
A thunderous burp escaped his lips… "The difference is like heaven and earth." He muttered as he tapped his stomach in satisfaction.
Free from the weight in his stomach, he could now run as much as he wanted.
"Excellent… I feel as if I have energy for days!..."
/Sniff!/
'… I should clean this up first.'
/SHA!/
All the gas in the room condensed in one area before being flung outside.
/Ploft…/
At the same time outside the window, a bird lost control and fell on the ground unconscious...
"I also need to brush my teeth…" He said out loud as he conjured a mirror before him
...
/Crack!/
/Crack/
After cleaning his body and brushing his teeth, Silver went to stretch a little. His body was still quite sore from his trip to Orario, plus all the minor events that happened after.
He thought about taking a day or two and doing absolutely nothing… but after so many years training, what did that even mean?
To him, relaxation meant reading under the fireplace, or even just training in somewhere calm and peaceful… exploring somewhere never seen before.
'… I think I'm almost at the point where my leisure is going to the Dungeon…'
Silver shook his head, leaving the inn.
"Onwards to the ruins."
Relics of past ages broken down by war, conflict, and time. Left behind from the sheer work it would take to round them up to their past glory… or perhaps… out of respect for the fallen.
Not far from him, within the upper western district, Silver approached the past that had been forgotten.
…
One hour later, in the middle of a large tilted building, Silver could be seen with a large stone tied to his back as he kept squatting.
"On-One… hundred," He said with difficulty as he let go of the ropes
/Bam!/
The rock was dropped onto the ground with a loud crash. From its size, it seemed to be about as heavy as him!
He walked to the side, sitting on a nearby rock before drinking some water from a pouch on the side.
/Gulp/
"Old style training isn't bad… but nothing beats traditional work."
'Training machines would be quite handy… Perhaps I should sell them here in this world?… If the Gods haven't already figure those out.'
/Gulp/
He took another gulp of his water satchel before looking around as he wiped his lips, "I wonder who built these?... Some of these almost look like skyscrapers... not the usual architecture I'm used to out there."
"I've seen many tall buildings spread around. From afar, one might even think Orario is a somewhat modern city… but the design isn't quite like that…"
'Freya and Loki weren't always the strongest. Before they rose to the top, the Zeus and Hera Familias were the top dogs… But even if they remained the strongest ones for a thousand years, what about all the deities that came and went in between?'
"This… is just a waste of space. Why leave this behind? Especially when you have almost an entire district reserved for the poor. They could easily live in this area as long as the Familias cleaned this space and built some homes." He muttered as he threw a rock into the nearby river
/Splash…/
'Perhaps I'm just being narrow-minded. There are already dozens of Familias who help the poor or those in need… besides, it hasn't been that long Orario stabilized. There is still a lot of time to regrow.'
"And space…"
…
Silver continued warming himself up. Eventually, he took out his pocket watch and checked the time.
"Let's see… about 2 Pm… and my head isn't hurting anymore."
'This means… its time to work!'
Silver cleaned himself up and packed up his things. Turning around before making way to the Dungeon!
…
/Over half an hour later…/
/Step…/
/Step…/
He delved into the dungeon once more. This time, he would be testing his offensive abilities against the monsters.
…
/BURN!/
/KIKII…/
"... Disappointing."
Silver stared in sadness as his Firebolt failed to kill the Goblin, 'At least it's blinded…'
"It's not that I can't take them down… I'd just have to concentrate or generate alternative effects…"
'But the innate strength of these creatures surpassed my expectations.'
/Step…/
/Grab…/
/KIIII!/
Silver approached the blinded goblin and lightly placed his hand on its head, causing the beast to go crazy!
/SPLATTER!!/
/POOF!/
Suddenly, the creature exploded into a cloud of black fog, dissipating soon after… as it did so, it revealed what had happened.
From his palm, a massive spike grows halfway to the ground… the goblin had been impaled… from head to chest…
"I suppose it's a matter of efficiency and what I throw against them. At the end of the day, simpler concepts are the most effective."
'But overall, this goes to prove what I feared before. My magic is like a weaker version of even instant-cast magic.'
"If magic tends to grow stronger the longer it takes to cast it… then mine is at the damn other end of the spectrum."
'But its nothing that can't be overruled... training will strengthen with time, I'm certain of it.'
/Crack…/
The Dungeon's walls cracked… Silver knew what time it was.
"Next on the line…"
His fingers crackled with hidden energy.
…
For the next few hours, Silver kept toying with the monsters as he kept going deeper.
After so long, the results were rather underwhelming... With time, one of the first things he noticed was that, just like ordinary magic, his abilities seemed to be partially nullified by a monster's magic resistance.
He already had such an idea from testing his Plasmids on his family before, but this was his first time with plenty of non-human test subjects for him to toy around with.
'From what I heard from my grandparents, my Plasmids are akin to the magic of monsters… Monsters don't cast spells in a traditional manner, they just either have an unusual biology that produces a given effect, making it seem like magic, or they naturally manipulate raw energy into a given effect.'
'In the Upper Floors there is no such monster, so I can't tell for certain how much of a similarity there is, but that won't be a problem for long.'
"… Time's running out though."
With the day ending, Silver made his preparations for his return. Given that he only stayed on the Upper Floors, he didn't lose a lot of time traveling up and down.
On an unrelated note, this delve was much more interesting than the last one, with Silver successfully helping two other groups of adventurers with their troubles, even healing one guy from certain death.
Adventurers die every day in the Dungeon, especially on the Upper to Middle Floors, yet the influx of new blood was strong…
Around 7 Pm, Silver decided it was time to leave. But unlike last time, he took the long way out… like everybody else.
Same thing as always, when he had the chance, Silver took off his heavy armor and continued the rest of the journey with only a small sword strapped to his belt and a silver medium armor on his chest, looking more like everybody else around him.
He also wore light leather armor, such as gloves and boots. This way, he was indistinguishable from anyone.
Just an ordinary adventurer returning from the Dungeon… definitely nothing odd to see here…
...
Half an hour of walking later, Silver reached the surface. With multiple parties already returning home. Even so, the plaza was still quite busy with people taking this chance to dive into the Dungeon when it was at its quietest.
He looked at the already darkened sky and sighed, "I wanted to go to the shopping district to see some goods but… It's too late right now."
'There's also a region to sell items… the free market, was it?'
"Hungry? Not really. Tired? Just a little. There is only one solution then... bed." Silver said as he went down the plaza
'Actually…' He thought as he turned around, 'I haven't exchanged any of my newly acquired magic stones yet. I have quite a few of them now.'
But a mischievous thought passed through his head… 'What if I just accumulate a bunch and go to that girl at the Guild again? That would be so funny…'
'Speaking of that… I need to sell the others… I can't just mix them together, they would know which creature it belongs to quite easily. It might seem strange that people can differentiate a bunch of rocks, but if you look at enough of them, you can tell where they came from at a glance.'
"Regardless… time to go home."
'Should I go get a meal at the inn or at that place?… I quite like the hostess, but I think I'll speak this time around. If I keep eating that much everyday I'll get fat in no time.'
"Keeping a body like this takes effort." He said smugly before he stepped down
…
On his way back… Silver saw several adventurers with nefarious expressions going down the road and entering multiple alleys as they all went somewhere with purpose… he knew where they were going with just a glance.
'Grandpa told me about this… much to grandma's immense wrath. These people… they're going to the entertainment district.'
'The Entertainment District is a massive commercial region that includes things like casinos, brothels, auction houses, and many other places that might be illegal or have a bad reputation outside its walls.'
'On the outside, the Guild condemns many such places, but the truth is that all those things are needed in society… rather than banning them outright, its best to provide a place for them so you can keep things within a certain margin of the law.'
'Many powerful figures frequent the district. Kings, nobles, powerful merchants, deities… it is a place of parties and secrets. When Orario receives a foreign power, they usually settle there… after all, the best hotels and luxuries are all found there.'
Silver looked into the distance. He could see the faint him of purple light shining in the sky from the plaza, including a massive tower that pierced the night sky almost like Babel.
'The Ishtar Familia home, the Belit Babili, which can be translated to the Godly Brothel of the Mistress. A business and exploration type Familia led by Ishtar, one of the several goddesses of beauty that prowl Orario. They are amidst the strongest Familias around, perhaps not in the top five but definitely in the top ten… in some scenarios, they might enter it.'
'However, with no doubt, Ishtar is the most influential goddess in Orario… as you would expect of a living deity that controls such a place… the amount of secrets and the information she knows would alone be enough to cause half of the city to be overturned in a night if it were to be revealed.'
'Freya might be powerful, but she doesn't do much aside from her own activities… I doubt anyone apart from a few could refuse any of her wishes, and if she wanted to, probably only Loki could stop her Familia from doing anything… but politically, Ishtar is still a step above her… albeit I can't say if its because of ability.'
'Both Freya and Loki are very passive in that regard. Loki's focus is on the Dungeon and her children, while Freya… is whatever where she desire resides…' Silver thought as he looked at Babel
"It's all but rumors anyway… can't know unless you join them directly…"
'But I'd rather not join a Familia led by a goddess of beauty… I can say I'm a man of courage, bravery, and will… but to stand before a personification of nature's beauty… I can't quite say I'd be able to remain sane.'
'I might have lived in the abyss of the ocean, but these guys… just what even is a God anyway?'
"Whatever the answer may be… I'd rather not figure it out on bad terms…"
As he left the plaza, his thoughts darted elsewhere, 'I wonder what they use to prevent impregnation and diseases from developing. Is it truly divine protection? Do they have some sort of substitute for those things? Potions perhaps… urg… I don't want to know.'
'I am interested in their casinos though… hum…'
…
On the way back to the inn, Silver passed by the Hostess of Fertility, and while he said he wasn't hungry before, perhaps it was all the walking or something else, as soon as he passed by, he felt his stomach rumble.
'Dammit…'
So he decided to take a look and see how things were inside.
"I quick stop won't hurt."
/Creak…/
Like before, as soon as he stepped inside, Silver saw many adventurers talking and laughing with each other about whatever adventures and memories they had.
'If you ignore the dangers… this place is just your ordinary pub.'
Silver's entrance didn't cause any ripples, unlike that of the Loki Familia… but maybe one day that wouldn't be the case.
Silver met eyes with Mia, and she gestured for him to sit down in the same place he did last time. Funny enough, it didn't seem like that many people sat by the corner.
He couldn't tell why; it was quite a nice place.
/Sit…/
"It's you again, young man! Ready for another meal? Perhaps one more than last time?"
"One will suffice… as long as you tell me the price tag..."
She laughed, "HA! You enter the pub, you order something, and then you eat it all! The food is good, and the price matches that perfectly! What else is there to complain?"
"Sigh, can I have a drink then? Something light."
"Sit tight."
…
Like before, Silver perked his ears, paying attention to everything around him…
His focus shifted from table to table until… he heard something interesting.
A group of adventurers conversed at a table…
"Hey, did you hear it?"
"Huh?… What is it this time?"
"I heard the Loki Familia started another exploration raid."
"Again? Didn't they do one a few months ago? The one where the Sword Princess became Level 5?"
"That was quite some time ago, you aren't up with the news…"
"Tsk! They do one every month as far as I know. They dive, one of their own levels up and repeat… must be good to be part of them. We struggle to get a level every few years but they do it every so often…"
"Maybe… this time the rumors are saying they want to level up some newbies, so they'll likely remain around the Middle Floors if not the Lower Floors."
"Great, just what I needed… more competition. Seems like we'll be eating off their scraps for a while."
The man shrugged, "That's how big Familias operate. If you were in their position, you would do the same. If you are unsatisfied, why don't you go join them?"
"Fuck you, man… if I could, I would already be there..."
…
"Hum…"
'Another excursion, huh… the more I experience, the fewer things comply with the reality I know… though its hard to attest to that when I know so little already.'
'That said… I've already confirmed this reality doesn't conform with the one I know… this is a parallel reality.' He affirmed with narrowed eyes
'Simply put, it's their ages… the ages of some characters don't exactly fit with how old they should've been. I might not remember much of it, but I remember enough, and the rest I can infer based on that.'
'Chronologically, Ais should've been fourteen by now, but when I saw her yesterday, she looked far older. The applies to all other characters I've seen till now.'
'It could be because people just mature older coupled with the reality factor… but there is also another interpretation… what if the main story events have all been brought forward?'
'That would be… a damn disaster.'
Silver sighed, "I should only focus on developing myself for now…"
"And how do you plan on doing that?"
Silver froze again, but immediately recovered, "... This is the second time that you've come from behind me like that." He replied as he turned around
The gray-haired lady… pouted, "You are so dull! I only wanted to say hi!"
"Dull?… I guess you could call it that… still, hi."
Silver then turned back to the counter, taking a sip of his drink while she remained there in silence.
The conversation just ended like that. 'How dull can this guy be?' She thought as she exhaled faintly.
She adjusted her approach, "You've come here yesterday, and here you are again. Are you an adventurer? Looking at the sword on your back, I imagine you are."
"Yes, I've just started actually… I got here yesterday, found this place through a pamphlet at the Guild."
"Oh? That old thing?… I completely forgot we had those!… Seems like they're working them." She said with a teasing smile as she looked at his equipment
"Hum, you say you're a beginner, yet your equipment tells me otherwise. That leather… isn't it Wyvern leather? Have you joined a big Familia in the meantime?"
Silver was impressed as he looked at his armor, "Oh, these?… You're quite knowledgeable."
"I learned a thing or two about adventurers after working as a waitress, you see. You've gotta know who can pay the most after all." She said with a thin smile while Silver smiled awkwardly
"To your question... no, I haven't joined anyone yet. These are just some old things my family made in their spare time."
"Your family?" She asked with interest as she tilted her head
"My grandparents were adventurers long ago. These are just products of that… as for this sword… I just made it myself."
She seemed even more surprised, "So you had training? That's rare to see these days! Out of every thousand adventurers, it would be uncommon to see one with training worth mentioning."
"Most are just full of dreams… the first floor tends to wake them up though. From your armor, I wager you've been to the Dungeon… do you know how reckless that can be?!" She asked in a worried tone as she raised the silvery plate in her hands to her face to hide her surprise
"I'm just taking my time… walking and fighting whatever falls on my way. I wanted to see for myself how I compared with these creatures before receiving Falna."
Silver looked at his hands, "They say a blessing can substantially change a person, so I thought that if I tried my best first, that if I reached my pinnacle, then I wouldn't regret it later… then again… it's just so I can compare the past and future me against those creatures again."
"Very pragmatic!"
"Haa… I've heard that quite a lot."
"I don't doubt your ability, adventurer, but you should avoid going too deep! When you feel the most comfortable… that's when the Dungeon starts to push!"
"I'm aware. That's why I'm taking my time… in any case, I'll be stopping to join a Familia soon enough." Silver replied with a faint smile as he looked back at her
She beamed him a smile, "That's good to hear… on that note, what are your expectations? Did you already find a proper Familia? Choosing your first one is very important, I can give you some…"
"SYR! Stop slacking off!" Mia exclaimed loudly as she peeked her head from the kitchen
Syr was momentarily startled, so much so she almost threw her plate at the ceiling.
After a deep breath, she calmed down and looked at him with a small smile.
"... We can continue this conversation later. By~e…"
With that, she vanished inside the kitchen. Silver heard an "I'm sorry!" amidst the chattering soon after.
"She's a nice girl…"
But as he said that, something tugged at him, 'I feel like I'm forgetting something...'
"Sorry for the trouble, Nya."
/Tump/
Silver's heart skipped a bit with the sudden appearance of the beautiful black-haired catgirl, "... No reaction? Are you made of wood, Nya?" She said with a mischievous smile as her tail moved left and right.
"With the way you girls greet me… I'll have an actual heart attack one of these days." He replied as he sighed faintly
"Nyahaha! Dont worry! When that happens, we will be there to fix you up, Nya." She said with a happy and sly smile as she put her hands on her hips
Silver turned to enjoy his drink, but he suddenly heard sniffing behind him.
"Odd… so what's your secret?"
"Wh… what secret?"
"You look like a human, yet you don't smell like one. Are you some sort of rare demi-human?"
"???"
'Did she just smell me?… And what's that about? I don't smell like a Human?'
Silver pondered for a moment before his eyes narrowed.
He held his drink, his voice growing coarse… "So you found out."
"Nya?"
Her eyebrows twitched as her ears perked up, "Tell me!" She said with some curiosity as she put a hand on the counter
"Come closer."
She approached Silver, her ear staying one foot away from his face.
"... I actually have a secret shampoo."
"..."
She looked back at him with a blank expression…
"Do you want it?"
"NO!" She replied as her tail shot up
"That's a shame."
She looked annoyed, but the clients were piling up, so she needed to go help her colleagues, who were frantically running around the place.
"Fine… keep your secrets. If you want anything, just call me!"
She turned around but stopped, "Oh yeah! My name's Chloe, don't forget it." she said with a wink before leaving.
From his angle, he couldn't see it, but Chloe smiled a little as she left.
"Thank you, miss…"
/Sip/
"These girls are quite unusual... grandfather was right."
'Orario is full odd beauties… it makes me remember that saying…'
With a small smile, he whispered, "Is it wrong to pick up girls in the Dungeon?"
'Hahaha…'
…
Nothing interesting happened in the following half hour, just some baseless rumors. So after taking a few more drinks and paying for them all, Silver took his leave.
'This alcohol is quite decent. I can't get drunk if I don't want to, so that's not an issue… at least not with ordinary booze.'
'When you have multiple gods of wine, alcohol, and food competing to see who's the best, the result of their experiments can be devastating for us mortals...'
'I wanted to try tasting Soma, which they say is the best wine in all of Orario… and that means something… but after some thought, its best I don't do it.'
'What if I do get addicted? I'd rather stick to this fruity wine instead.'
…
Not long after Silver left…
At the back outside of the restaurant's front area, Chloe could be seen beside a blond elf as she cleaned the dishes, "You seem distracted, did something happen?" the Elven girl asked as she looked at her.
"Just something amusing." She replied with a faint smile as she cleaned another plate
"..."
The blond elf looked at her colleague and went away in silence.
…
After drinking at the pub, Silver returned to his room at the inn.
From there, things went as he originally planned.
For the next several days he repeated his routine, going to the Dungeon in the morning and leaving it at night to eat at the Hostess of Fertility.
With each passing day, Silver grew a little better at controlling his powers and using them in direct combat against the monsters of the Dungeon. Each day grew better at dealing with them… but he could tell where his limits stood.
Perhaps with many years of practice, Silver would sharpen his skills to where his martial arts would elevate him to where he could face a Level 3 in direct combat without Plasmids, but as he was now, unless the adventurer was extremely unskilled, much less that, Silver might struggle to keep up with a Level 2 dunce.
As such, in the passing days, Silver kept his eyes open to recruitment offers from multiple Familias, going to the Guild frequently to hear the news and also to continue his studies on Orario's many laws and know-how's… after all, why try to learn it over time when he could just ask?
This way, he slowly began building a relationship with the workers at the Guild… it wasn't much, but people didn't build the pyramids in a day or something like that.
On the same note, his relationship with the girls at the pub improved a little. Going there every night was impacting how they saw him. For some reason, it seemed there was a game where they would try to scare him, but so far, none of them had been able to do so.
Only the bill scared him whenever he went there…
On the weekends, Silver stepped out of his Dungeon diving to explore the city, going around the place to learn more about it. He took this chance to sell a few extra items from inside his pocket space. Emptying it out for the most part.
While there were still a few things to sell, most of them were now gone. Those items raised his private capital to over five million Valis!
Even though most of the items he and his grandfather made possessed no unique features, the quality of the materials coupled with the craftsmanship was enough for most shops to accept them. To them, nothing that a second touch wouldn't resolve.
Silver also thought about visiting Babel as well. After all, the massive tower wasn't a huge chunk of stone, being mostly hollow inside. Babel contained all kinds of expensive and high-profile shops, and if someone wanted to find quality, they would find it there.
In either case, these experiences familiarized him with the city's economy and helped Silver grade his abilities in the overall layout of things.
After much deliberation, Silver compared his blacksmithing skills to those of a Level 2 smith, but only because he couldn't make use of a blessing to improve his products.
In terms of technique and talent alone, Silver knew he was beyond Level 3 for certain… He could use his powers to enhance the overall result of things, and he believed that if he were to pull material science into this world, he might be able to raise his ability as a mortal smith to that of a Level 4 or higher!
Being creative… that was the only way to bridge the gap of divine grace… still… maybe that would be the hill he would die on… Unless he followed the path of a smith, there was only so much he could sharpen his skills… and in the end, did he truly have the "heart" of a smith?
If he had the heart for any skill, it certainly wasn't that.
Silver wondered just how skilled gods truly were, but with most of them being secretive about their methods, his desire to witness one in action would unfortunately remain just that… a dream.
As for the Dungeon itself, after the first week of testing the waters, Silver advanced to the Middle Floors… and not out of interest but due to a mistake.
The 10th floor is the first spike of difficult the Dungeon has to offer. Larger creatures like Orcs and Silverbacks prowl those floors, and the cavern layout changes slightly, becoming broader and wider like small interconnected regions.
Monsters get stronger, spawn faster, and in higher numbers; they also begin showing signs of simple cooperation, with monsters able to use magic growing slightly more common.
You may suddenly find yourself in a group of thirty monsters within the blink of an eye…
Extremely dangerous monsters like the Infant Dragon, a rare spawn feared by Level 2 adventurers and considered the "Floor Boss" of the area, can also appear when one least expects it.
At the same time, these large caverns are covered in fog akin to that of morning mist, which only becomes thicker as one dives closer to the 12th floor... Being ambushed here was the norm if one paid no attention.
Silver had difficulty reaching the 12th floor with only his skills as a warrior. At many points he was forced to use his Plasmids, either to finish a fight or just… run away. But despite that, he took it all as a great experience.
He grew slightly with every confrontation, and one day, he was able to reach the 12th floor with nothing but his combat skills… although at the cost of his equipment's durability.
His main issue was that some monsters were growing so fast their movements would often blur or vanish if he didn't pay attention or blinked at the wrong time. Keeping a hyper sense of focus just to keep up with them was tiring, and Silver knew that he had reached a plateau in his abilities.
Facing an Orc with a mortal body was already an amazing feat! He was among the greatest experts in written history! Even in the ancient times would he be hailed as a champion and hailed a ruler.
But here… he was just a newbie.
At the same time, amidst his adventures, Silver helped more adventurers with their troubles, especialy around the lower parts of the Upper Floors.
It seemed that without him knowing, his reputation was growing… or rather, his armor. Without any surprise, a full plate red knight walking around the place was quite memorable…
Silver was having fun surprising people with his armor and skills… but all good things have an ending.
Not long ago at the meeting of the deities, the Denatus, a concensus was reached. The old order was taken down, and a new one was taking place.
The permission for normal people to enter the Dungeon had been revoked. And while it wasn't being enforced now, the Guild was already putting this law in practice by conducting bussiness related to the Dungeon only with certified adventurers.
Because of this, Silver was put in a bad spot… he had been accumulating so many magic stones to prank that girl… but now what? How was he supposed to do it?
There was only one solution left… to join a Familia!
…
"Sigh… life sure is rough… can't do this, can't do that… people sure are a pain in the ass."
'Out of all the time this rule has been going, did they have to do it now? I was going just fine! It's almost as if they had been waiting for me to step inside the Middle Floors to do it!'
Silver snickered, "I spent most of my second week exploring the Middle Floors, and I even managed to hunt some of the creatures prowling around the place… albeit mostly though underhanded means."
'If you find a creture lying around here, expect it to be followed by ten others at minimum. With my powers I can sneak past them just fine, they can't detect me with their senses… but neither I can do much about that.'
'I hunted most of those monsters by poisoning them. Throwing needles from afar has had a success rate of over 90% in all my hunts… but its not the kind of fight I wanted.'
"To grow… to surpass… the unshackle myself from my limitations… I must do something so insane that the very Gods will have to rethink what are the limits of manking!"
'Defeating a Minotaur as a mortal? I already did that! I used traps, strategy, and had to flee multiple times but I did it! I hunted these creatures one by one!'
'I tried again and again until I killed it without relying on those things! That's how I do things. Observe and adapt, study and master… I'll hit my head against the wall until it splits!'
"That's how you grow… if you can't do it you'll wilt."
'Isn't that right, gramps?'
/Quake…/
The world shook slightly, "I know this is nothing but my greed… my insanity… but I can't help it gramps…"
/Crack!/
/Crunch!/
"I might be a little deranged…"
Silver gazed at the massive wall in front of him... "One last adventure… one last adventure before casting aside this mortal body of mine."
"What better way to step into the world of adventurers then this?!"
'Although… I might've overdone it this time…'
/CRACK!/
/Booom…/
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!"
The cavern shook under the roar of the beast.
…
.
.
.
Notes
Lots of narration this chapter... but it's just because I changed things a bit. In the original, it was mostly Silver just going over his actions instead.
So we went from 1st to 3rd person... not that big of a jump.
I'll likely keep asking this until the time comes… but do you guys think having Silver join another Familia would fit?
If you want some options… I do have three of them:
Silver could follow the original path, leading to most of the events we're used to, albeit far more refined.
Silver could join another major Familia… there are several options, even the unconventional ones would fit, although I don't those would be that entertaining.
Silver could join a smaller one, or even an OC like Leto's! There are so many options to choose from…
Thanks for the suggestions, peace!