I Am Indeed Growing Stronger

"What is it? Is there a problem?"

The sudden brief silence seemed not to concern Riezel at all. He calmly spoke to the office lady, who stood there in a daze.

"N-No problem!"

Only then did the office lady snap out of it. She hurriedly apologized and continued filling out Riezel's registration form.

Yet, perhaps it was just Riezel's imagination, but her hands seemed to move much faster than before, speeding up the registration process as well.

The silence around them was once again filled with noise and bustle, as though nothing had happened.

Still, if one listened carefully, plenty of murmurs could be heard.

"He's a member of the Loki Familia?"

"He just registered as an adventurer? A rookie?"

"The Loki Familia has taken in another newcomer."

"He's probably no ordinary guy."

"A human, huh? He doesn't seem to have any outstanding racial talents. Could he be the type with exceptional individual talent?"

"Who knows."

The discussions continued without end, and some of them even reached Riezel's ears.

Riezel paid them no heed.

After all, there was nothing particularly strange about it.

As one of Orario's strongest Familias and one half of the Twin Kings, the Loki Familia was famous throughout Orario and even the entire world. Wherever its members went, they were bound to draw attention.

Since he had given the name of the Loki Familia, it was only natural that people around him would discuss him.

Riezel even felt that before long, his existence would enter the sights of certain interested parties through various channels.

The Loki Familia gaining another newcomer was neither major nor trivial news. For those keeping an eye on the Loki Familia's movements, it was still information worth gathering.

Of course, that was as far as they could get. They would only learn that the Loki Familia had gained a newcomer named "Riezel Brihaut."

As for Riezel's specific information, it would not be so easy for them to uncover.

Not long after, Riezel finished the procedures, left the Guild, and returned to the street.

He did not leave the street immediately. Instead, he began strolling around.

This street, located in northwestern Orario and known as Northwest Street, was home to the Guild headquarters that managed the city and its adventurers. As a result, most of the people found here were adventurers.

Thanks to that, Northwest Street had seized the business opportunity and opened countless shops catering to adventurers.

Equipment shops specializing in weapons and protective gear.

Item shops specializing in elixirs and special supplies.

Stores like these could be found everywhere along Northwest Street. So many adventurers lingered here that Northwest Street had earned the nickname Adventurer Street.

Because of Loki's instructions, Riezel still needed to buy weapons and protective gear, so there was naturally no reason for him to leave.

"One hundred thousand Valis?"

As he walked down the street, Riezel weighed the amount of his starting capital.

"In Orario, one hundred thousand Valis isn't a small sum, but it doesn't seem like all that much either."

Here, a serving of fried noodles cost a few hundred Valis, while an ordinary glass of alcohol was rarely worth more than a thousand Valis. Whether that purchasing power counted as high or low was genuinely hard to say.

"A Normal Elixir for restoring stamina costs around a thousand Valis, while the cheapest standard shortsword costs several thousand Valis. Looking at it that way, one hundred thousand Valis really is quite a lot."

But Riezel knew that to truly powerful adventurers, one hundred thousand Valis might be nothing more than loose change slipping through their Fingers.

Not to mention anything else, the equipment used by top-tier adventurers was never priced below a million Valis per piece, and often not even below ten million Valis.

Take weapons, for example. There were ordinary standard weapons costing several thousand Valis each, but there were also First-Class Armaments worth tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, of Valis.

Because humans could receive Falna and had a chance of gaining the Development Ability "Smith" after they Level Up, allowing them to grant special attributes and effects to forged items, equipment varied in strength depending on the smith's skill and the level of their "Smith" ability.

Generally speaking, people used three ranks—First-Class Armament, Second-Class Armament, and Third-Class Armament—to distinguish the quality of equipment.

However, only magical equipment forged by high-ranking smiths who had learned the "Smith" ability and possessed special effects could be placed within that classification.

As for equipment without special effects, no different from ordinary iron, even if a smith's craftsmanship made it exceptionally sharp, it was basically impossible for it to enter that ranking—not even as the lowest-grade Third-Class Armament.

And the lowest-grade Third-Class Armaments were usually used by Lv.3 or Lv.4 adventurers. A single piece would never cost less than one hundred thousand Valis.

In other words, although Riezel held one hundred thousand Valis in starting capital, he might not even be able to afford a single lowest-grade Third-Class Armament, much less a full set of weapons and protective gear.

"Looks like I can't afford special armaments for now."

Riezel was still somewhat disappointed.

Of course, only somewhat.

Wasn't it perfectly normal for a Lv.1 rookie to be unable to afford special armaments?

Forget Lv.1 rookies—even Lv.2 adventurers basically could not afford special armaments.

Ninety-nine percent of special armament users were Lv.3 and above.

If Riezel wanted special armaments with ranks and effects, he would likely have to wait a while longer.

"I'll just buy higher-quality ordinary gear."

Having accepted reality, Riezel began visiting the shops along the street.

Two hours later, Riezel had successfully gathered all the equipment he needed.

First, he spent twenty-four thousand Valis on a sword.

It was a slender one-handed sword. It was relatively light, with weaker attack power, but it was fast, nimble, easy to use, and was the weapon Riezel found most suitable and comfortable after comparing all kinds of weapons.

His Ability Value growth trend made it clear: Riezel's Dexterity and Agility had increased more, while his Strength and Endurance had risen comparatively less. This proved that his fighting style leaned more toward speed and technique.

Therefore, Riezel chose a light rapier with fast attack speed, low weight, and decent reach as his main weapon, hoping to make the fullest use of the speed and technique he excelled at.

Besides the light rapier, Riezel also spent eleven thousand Valis on a shortsword as a secondary weapon, just in case.

As for protective gear, because overly heavy equipment would hinder his movements and reduce his speed and technique, Riezel ultimately did not choose metal armor with higher defense. Instead, he chose leather protective gear.

This leather set consisted of Inner Armor that protected the upper body, Protective Gear for important joints such as the elbows and knees, as well as gloves and boots focused on protecting the hands and feet.

Whether it was the Inner Armor protecting the body or the Protective Gear protecting the joints, both were lightweight pieces that could be worn beneath clothing without needing to be put on over the outside.

Because they were almost weightless when worn and did not interfere with movement, Riezel had taken a liking to them at first glance and changed into the set on the spot.

The gloves and boots in particular were practical, as Riezel knew well after fighting for an entire day and night.

After all, because he had not protected his hands and feet, Riezel had fought all day yesterday until the hand gripping his sword had been rubbed raw. The fist he used to strike monsters had also somehow been injured, bleeding who knew how much.

His feet had been the same. Running around the Dungeon in ordinary shoes would leave his feet rubbed raw in no time. If the senior members of the Familia had not given him an elixir capable of quickly healing injuries when he returned yesterday, Riezel definitely would not be this lively today.

Along with the injuries he had received during that day-and-night battle, it could only be said that it was fortunate the elixirs had such remarkable effects. Otherwise, Loki, who had seen Riezel in an even more miserable state yesterday, definitely would not have let him off easily.

Riezel spent a full forty-eight thousand Valis on the entire set of protective gear.

Adding the cost of his main and secondary weapons, he had spent eighty-three thousand Valis, leaving only seventeen thousand out of the original one hundred thousand Valis.

To be blunt, a newly minted Lv.1 could never afford that level of spending or equipment.

Even experienced Lower Class Adventurers at Lv.1 would probably not have equipment worth more than thirty thousand Valis in total. Their gear was far inferior to Riezel's.

Riezel's equipment was already roughly at the Lv.2 level.

"This should do, right?"

After preparing his equipment, Riezel could finally no longer hold himself back. He headed to the Tower of Babel and entered the Dungeon.

He could not wait any longer.

He could not wait to test his new weapons and his current strength.

And naturally, the result was gratifying.

"Gah!"

When a Kobold, like a beast that would not let go once it sank its teeth in, leaped at Riezel as it always did, Riezel charged forward boldly as usual.

His speed was incredibly fast.

Squelch!

A silver arc sliced through the air. As it swept before the Kobold's eyes, the monster remained frozen mid-leap, without even having time to react, before the silver blade of the light sword severed its head.

Blood splattered down, staining the ground red and dyeing the Kobold's corpse lying in the pool of blood crimson as well.

"So easy."

Riezel stood before the corpse, staring at his hands with a face full of surprise.

"My speed has become so much faster, and I'm much stronger than I was yesterday."

His basic abilities had only risen by one or two ranks. Could the change really be this great?

Riezel was surprised, and his heart stirred with excitement.

"I really am getting stronger."

With that realization, if Riezel still did not feel exhilarated, then all the effort and resolve he had shown up to this point would have been for nothing.

"It's just a little unfortunate. Now that I'm stronger, enemies at this level probably can't make me feel excited anymore."

Riezel looked greedily at the Kobold's corpse by his feet, his expression turning regretful.

He still preferred challenges with a little more thrill.