Chương 27: Soaring Basic Abilities

"I am back, Lady Hestia." Cael opened the stone door to the abandoned church's basement and walked inside.

"Yaah!" Before he could prepare himself, a familiar figure screamed happily and threw herself at him. Cael opened his arms and caught the goddess as she pounced. Two days ago, she would definitely have knocked him off balance. Now, even if ten goddesses jumped at him at once, he could catch them.

"Welcome back, Cael! I heard another Irregular happened today. If the Guild had not said there were almost no casualties, I would have been devastated." Hestia kept patting him down until she confirmed there were no wounds. Only then did she stop fussing.

"Do not worry, Lady Hestia. I am no longer the same person I was two days ago. I am strong now, and I will not leave you behind." Cael raised his arm and flexed, showing the line of muscle on his biceps. After only two trips into the Dungeon, his physical abilities had changed tremendously. A god's Falna really was incredible. Of course, not everyone had advantages like his.

"That's my only Familia member." Hestia immediately gave him an encouraging thumbs-up.

"To reward Cael for working so hard, I prepared another delicious dinner today. Ta-da!" Hestia happily pointed at the potato puffs on the wooden table.

"Make sure you eat until you are full."

"I will definitely eat every last one. But before that, I want to see my current Status. May I, Lady Hestia?" Cael was very curious about how much his Status had grown. His strength had risen so quickly that even he had no clear standard anymore.

"Cael really cares about today's gains. All right. I also want to see how much you grew today." Hestia planted her hands on her hips and smiled with energetic anticipation. Cael's Skills were all rare and powerful, and his growth speed was fast. He had to have gained a lot this time.

"Come over here." Hestia bounced over to the small wooden bed and patted the mattress. Just like the previous times, Cael lay flat on the mattress and once again felt the familiar warmth and weight that made his heart race.

"Cael, your swords broke again." While undoing Cael's light armor, Hestia noticed the cracks in the two new swords he had bought.

"I used too much force, and my Skills are too strong. Ordinary weapons cannot really endure them. Fortunately, my Magic means I do not have to worry too much about swords." Cael sounded a little helpless, but he was also grateful that Unlimited Blade Works had manifested. Otherwise, he would have to replace his equipment every time he went to the Dungeon. That would be unbearable. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Cael, I am going out for two days. Do not be too sad because you cannot see me, okay?" Hestia's lips curled into a smile, as if she had done something wonderfully exciting. She pricked her finger with a needle and let a drop of blood fall onto Cael's back. Blue magical light appeared, and sacred characters began to rise.

"Eh? Where are you going, Lady Hestia?"

"To meet some divine friends. A gathering of gods, that sort of thing."

"Oh. I do not mind." Cael answered, but his thoughts moved quickly. A divine friend? The only divine friends Hestia had in Orario were Hermes, Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi, and Miach. But they all lived nearby. She would not need a few days for that. Wait. Lady Hestia had deliberately noticed his swords just now. Did that mean... Cael's eyes widened slightly. Was she going to ask Hephaestus to forge a weapon for him? A faint smile touched his lips, and warmth spread through his chest.

Even though he had guessed it, he did not stop her. This was Hestia's affection, and he could not reject affection from the person he loved. Doing so would be rejecting it. Even if he had to pay back a huge debt later, he felt it would be worth it.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia."

"Eh? Why are you suddenly thanking me?"

"Nothing. I just felt like saying it."

"Cael is so cute."

"Uh! That..." Hestia looked at the sacred characters as they finally settled into place and parted her lips. Although she had mentally prepared herself, she was still shocked. Then she smiled.

"Cael, you really do know how to surprise people." [Status] Name: Cael Veyren Level: Lv. 1 Basic Abilities Strength: E 486 -> A 835 Endurance: F 393 -> C 689 Dexterity: E 431 -> A 816 Agility: F 387 -> C 638 Magic: F 388 -> C 675 Development Abilities: None Magic: Unlimited Blade Works - Reality Marble - Object Reinforcement - Projection Effect - Weapon Replication Magic: World Gate Key - Gate-opening Magic - Summons the World Gate. -???

Skills: Bravery - Nullifies intimidation, confusion, charm, and other mental interference. - Doubles Basic Abilities while acting alone. - Greatly increases battle instinct. Skills: Indomitable - Increases active attack power in proportion to injuries taken during battle. - Temporarily grants the Development Ability Premonition while injured. - Temporarily grants the Development Ability Escape while heavily injured. - Temporarily grants the Development Ability Spirit while near death.

Skills: Clear Sword Mind - Greatly increases the sharpness of any sword-shaped weapon while held. - Greatly increases comprehension of sword techniques. - Slightly increases comprehension of sword-based finishing moves. Sword Skill: Starburst Stream - Temporarily grants greatly enhanced dynamic vision while wielding dual swords. - Temporarily grants sword-type weapons the ability to cut through airflow. - Temporarily raises Strength, Dexterity, and Agility to the ability limit of S 999.

- Effect increases as Magic increases. Skills: Bond of Affinity - When forming a bond with someone of the opposite sex, both sides gain a growth speed bonus. - Grants the possibility of breaking through potential limits. - Effect increases with the number of bonds and depth of those bonds. At the end of the Skill section, the sacred characters rearranged themselves again, and a new Skill appeared. [Status] Skill: Transparent World - Grants the ability to perceive the structure and movement of living bodies.

- Grants the ability to locate weak points in living bodies. - Accelerates perception.

"Cael, you really know how to amaze a goddess. You gained another Skill. Amazing." Hestia praised him at once.

"I also think I am pretty amazing. Heh." Cael was surprised as he took the parchment with his Status printed on it. His abilities had almost doubled. Real adventure really did make growth skyrocket. In any case, even he did not know how many monsters he had killed. A rookie being surrounded by countless monsters and cutting them all down with a sword was probably a unique feat. Growth this fast was not impossible to understand.

"Strength and Dexterity reached A..." Only generational talents could reach values like that, yet he had reached them after entering the Dungeon only twice. Still, one Magic and one Skill had been blurred by Lady Hestia again. He really wanted to know what that innate Skill of his was.