The Returning Veterans

Since ancient times, anyone who received a Blessing, no matter who they were, could awaken at most three spells and at least one.

This was something everyone knew.

Even elves, known as a magical race, only had three magic slots from which to awaken spells after receiving a Blessing. A fourth magic slot would never appear.

Of course, having only three spells available to awaken did not mean one could only use three spells.

Some people awakened particularly special spells that could undergo multiple transformations or produced effects with multiple variations. As a result, they could ultimately use more than three spells.

In the Loki Familia, there were two members of this type.

One had awakened a spell capable of multiple transformations. Depending on the length of the chant, it produced different effects, allowing a single spell to be used as three. With three spells, they could produce nine variations, equivalent to possessing nine spells.

The other had awakened Summoning Magic exclusive to elves. Through it, they could summon spells used by members of their own race. In theory, that person could use every elven spell with that one magic alone, possessing far more spells than any Mage.

Riezel had awakened only one spell.

Yet the effects, possibilities, and versatility displayed by that single spell surpassed even those two people mentioned before.

A spell that could cast any magic he remembered?

Didn't that mean that as long as he memorized enough spells, Riezel could use however many kinds of magic he wanted?

Wasn't such a spell utterly absurd?

However, as absurd as this spell was, it had its limitations.

"As things stand, there are two confirmed conditions for using your magic."

Loki held up two Fingers toward Riezel.

"First: you can only cast spells you've memorized. If you can't remember a spell, you can't use it."

"Second: even if you've memorized a spell, you still can't use it unless you've personally confirmed its effects."

"In other words, if you want to use someone else's magic, they must cast it in front of you. You also need to clearly remember every part of the spell's casting process, conditions, effects, and power. None can be missing."

Those were the limitations of All-Rounder.

Because of that, Riezel was actually in a state where he could not use even a single spell. Since arriving in this world, he had yet to personally witness any magic being cast before his eyes.

Even if he had seen magic cast before him, Riezel still needed to remember the detailed process and conditions for casting it.

That was precisely why, although he had seen the priest who treated him in his original world cast magic, the priest had chanted the spell in mysterious runes Riezel had never understood, and the chanting process had not been obvious. Since Riezel had failed to memorize the details of the casting process and conditions, he could not use All-Rounder to cast that spell.

Therefore, Riezel still could not use a single spell at present.

Knowing this, Loki rubbed her chin.

"This problem actually isn't hard to solve." Loki said, "Our Familia has plenty of members, and plenty of them can use magic. As long as those kids carefully cast their spells in front of you, or even teach you how to use them, with your memory, you should be able to use several kinds of magic before long, right?"

This seemingly carefree chief deity had already noticed Riezel's extraordinary memory, which surprised him somewhat.

Still, Loki's suggestion was indeed helpful to Riezel.

Judging from All-Rounder's conditions of use, there was no easier way to trigger its effect than having others personally teach Riezel how to use their magic.

"How about this?" Loki thought for a moment before saying to Riezel, "Once the members who went on the expedition return, I'll find someone skilled to teach you magic."

"An expedition?" Riezel raised an eyebrow slightly.

"That's right." Loki grinned. "Most of our kids aren't home right now. They're in the Dungeon."

As the world's greatest mystery, the Dungeon still had many unexplored regions.

This underground labyrinth possessed countless floors, and the farther down one went, the larger the floors became and the farther they were from the surface.

Naturally, this made it impossible for adventurers fighting on the Dungeon's front lines to travel easily between Orario and the Dungeon.

It was said that simply traveling from the 1st Floor to the 50th Floor took several days, while a round trip could easily take more than a week.

Thus, the concept of an expedition came into being.

An expedition, as the name suggested, was when the adventurer groups of large Familias ventured deep into the Dungeon like an army to wage battle.

They traveled to floors ordinary adventurers could not easily reach, fought extremely powerful monsters there, set foot on floors no one had ever reached, explored the unknown, and developed uncharted regions.

The Loki Familia was one of Orario's strongest Familias and one of the most authentic exploration-oriented Familias. Its purpose was to conquer the Dungeon, develop unknown regions, and gain profit or fame from doing so.

During the two days since Riezel had joined the Loki Familia, the Familia's main combatants had happened to be away on an expedition into the Dungeon, leaving only a small number of lower-ranking members behind to guard the manor.

In other words, when Riezel joined the Loki Familia, its true powerhouses and geniuses were all fighting deep within the Dungeon's Demonic Lair, battling terrifying monsters that the current Riezel could not possibly touch.

Thinking of that, Riezel's heartbeat quickened slightly, and his eyes shone brightly.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you planning?" Seeing that, Loki hurriedly said, "You're a Lv. 1 rookie. It'd already be impressive if you could make it on the Upper Floors. Don't start getting ideas about joining an expedition. That's not something you can take part in right now!"

"Is that so?" Riezel looked at Loki.

Loki's mouth twitched.

This brat was seriously thinking about joining an expedition?

He had only received a Blessing two days ago and had been a complete ordinary person before that, yet he was already thinking of expeditions. Was something wrong with this kid's head?

Why were all the children in her Familia such problem children?

She was going to worry herself to death!

"The minimum requirement for joining an expedition is Lv. 2, and even then, you need to be a specialist, like a healer who can use Healing Magic." Loki covered her face, sighing as she patiently explained, "Even if you can learn other people's magic and become a specialist, Finn still won't allow you to join an expedition before you reach Lv. 2. So you'd better get rid of that dangerous idea right now."

Hearing that, Riezel stared steadily at Loki. Only after confirming that she would not budge on this matter did he reluctantly avert his gaze.

"Fine." Riezel said reluctantly. "Then I'll wait until Lv. 2."

Loki could not help rolling her eyes at Riezel and sighed inwardly once more.

She had a feeling that her days ahead would never be peaceful with this brat constantly doing reckless things.

"By my estimate, the expedition party should be back soon." Loki could only change the subject. "Just wait another two days."

"Got it." Riezel nodded.

Only then did Loki reveal a broad smile that looked somewhat mischievous.

"When Finn and the others come back and learn that our Familia has gained such a monstrous freak, I wonder what expressions they'll make?"

"Especially Ais-tan, Bete, Tione, and Tiona. They'll probably be shocked by this brat's rate of growth, won't they?"

"Just thinking about it makes me look forward to it."

The trickster god of Norse mythology quietly snickered in the God's Chamber, like a child eagerly waiting to watch a show.

And the day this unserious chief deity anticipated came sooner than she imagined.

The next day.

When the sky outside had only just begun to brighten, Riezel woke early as he had yesterday.

He quickly washed up, finishing his morning routine in five minutes. Then he prepared to put on his armor, get dressed, and head out to the Dungeon.

Today, Riezel intended to spend the entire day exploring the Dungeon without wasting any time, to see whether he could push down a few more floors.

After yesterday's update, his Ability Value had grown again. In particular, both his Dexterity and Agility had already risen to Stage E. By the standards for safe exploration, he could now head to the 8th Floor.

Naturally, though, Riezel was not going to be satisfied with so-called safe exploration.

So his plan for today was to head to the 10th Floor, or perhaps even descend deeper.

To that end, before going to sleep last night, Riezel had specifically used the supplies he bought to maintain his weapons. Full of enthusiasm, he was ready to cause some trouble.

Just thinking about entering floors deeper than yesterday's 7th Floor made Riezel feel slightly excited.

"I heard that starting from the 10th Floor, Large Species much bigger than ordinary monsters will begin appearing, such as orcs."

"Orcs?"

"I wonder how strong they are."

Riezel was full of anticipation.

However, just as Riezel was about to set off with his main and secondary weapons, a voice suddenly rang throughout Twilight Manor.

"The captain is back!"

"Everyone's back!"

"The expedition members have returned!"

The delighted shouts shattered the morning silence, plunging all of Twilight Manor into an uproar.

Chaotic footsteps rang out repeatedly, followed by the sounds of doors opening one after another, as though everyone in Twilight Manor was rushing outside.

"They're back?"

Riezel was slightly taken aback before rising to his feet.

Figures mentioned in the original story surfaced one after another in his mind. Narrowing his eyes, he took his weapons and left his room, heading toward Twilight Manor's Great Gate.