There'll Be Plenty of Fun Ahead

For some time afterward, the members of the Loki Familia were surprised to discover that Riezel, who had already risen early and returned late, entering the Dungeon every day without fail, had become even more driven than before.

With the expedition about to begin, the Loki Familia was at its busiest. Even the executives had been ordered not to enter the Dungeon, instead remaining at headquarters to prepare for the expedition. Lefiya had likewise been kept by Riveria's side to help, leaving Riezel alone once more.

At first, everyone had thought that Riezel would do the same—stay with the Familia and help prepare supplies for the upcoming expedition.

Who would have thought that after Lefiya was kept behind, Riezel, now on his own, would work even harder? He often left before dawn and did not return until late at night. Seeing how travel-worn he looked, anyone unaware of the truth would have thought he had gone somewhere far away.

Yet after the Familia's higher-ups learned of this, they tacitly chose to ignore it, making no attempt to stop him.

"Why is Riezel allowed to ditch expedition preparations and go to the Dungeon, while we aren't?"

Tiona had even protested to Finn.

But before Finn could say anything, Tione grabbed Tiona and held her down.

"Don't question the captain's decision!"

The older of the Amazon twins wore such a fierce expression that Lefiya, who happened to be present at the time, was nearly frightened to tears.

In the end, Gareth shut Tiona up with a single extremely irritated remark.

"With the expedition right around the corner, even if we let you into the Dungeon, how much growth could you possibly gain in such a short time?"

In other words, rather than waste that time pursuing such negligible growth, they might as well remain with the Familia, rest and recuperate, and help handle expedition-related work.

Riezel was different.

"For us, the progress we could make during this period would certainly be minimal. But it's different for him."

Riveria's added comment immediately took the wind out of Tiona's sails.

Only then did the executives understand why everyone else in the Familia had been assigned work by the leadership, while Riezel alone had not.

Preparing expedition supplies and handling those tasks would make little difference whether Riezel was there or not. It was better to let him keep fighting in the Dungeon and make the most of his inhuman growth rate.

That way, Riezel could face his first expedition as an adventurer in an even stronger state.

"You should all put more thought into the coming expedition."

Seeing everyone fall silent, Finn finally spoke in a calm tone.

"Only during an expedition can we delve into lower floors, challenge more monsters, and defeat stronger enemies."

That was the true way to accelerate growth.

There was no helping it. Without an expedition, they could at most explore around the middle and lower levels, and the monsters on those floors were ultimately too weak for a group of First Class Adventurers.

No matter how many of those weak monsters they killed, they would provide negligible help to the Loki Familia's executives.

Rather than dwell on that tiny amount of growth, they should set their sights on the expedition ahead and make thorough preparations for it.

That was a more effective path to growth for Lv.5 First Class Adventurers.

Of course—

"The same goes for that Riezel brat."

Gareth's rather wistful words plunged everyone into even deeper silence.

Only at that moment did everyone realize something.

"Riezel has only explored as far as the 17th Floor. Once this expedition takes him to deeper floors, just how much will he grow?"

He had reached Lv.4 from Lv.1 in just over a month while only going as far as the 17th Floor.

So once he entered floors far deeper than the 17th Floor, how many Experience Points would Riezel gain?

Not to mention that a single expedition took more than a week just for the round trip. Add in the time needed for exploration, and it could easily last over half a month.

What kind of change would an expedition lasting at least half a month bring to Riezel, who had risen several levels in just over a month?

"Perhaps when we return this time, Riezel will be just like you."

After tossing out that line, Riveria said no more.

But that single sentence instantly made the Familia executives feel overwhelming pressure.

"No way!" Tiona wailed. "Are you saying Riezel will be Lv.5 by the time we get back from the expedition? Are you even going to let people live?"

"What a freak." Tione was speechless too, muttering, "Looks like getting Caught Up is only a matter of time. I might as well just give up."

Hearing Tione's words, Lefiya could only silently say one thing to herself.

I already gave up.

As someone who had witnessed Riezel's growth every step of the way, Lefiya had gone from admiring him, to working hard herself, to feeling pressured not to be overtaken by him. But once Riezel officially reached Lv.4 and surpassed her in every respect, she had chosen to give up.

It was not that Lefiya did not want to work hard or keep chasing him. She simply could not catch up.

If she had not been Riezel's teammate, watching him from the closest position as he climbed step by step to his current level—understanding how desperately he worked, being moved by it, and coming to see him in a new light through his repeated help and rescues—she might have started doubting her entire life.

Now, Lefiya felt more admiration and worship toward Riezel, with far less of emotions like unwillingness to accept defeat.

After all—

"Mister Riezel is becoming more and more like Miss Ais."

The Elf girl's pretty face flushed unnaturally as she secretly glanced toward the corner of the room.

There, Ais sat hugging her knees, blankly watching the silent group, seemingly lost in thought.

Outside the door, Bete had come intending to protest, but after hearing The Big Three's words and seeing what happened to Tiona, he silently turned around and left.

Loki saw every one of these scenes.

"There'll be plenty of fun ahead."

Whether she was gloating or not, Loki lay against the window, watching the members constantly coming and going through headquarters as they busied themselves, then laughed and returned to her room.

Time passed swiftly.

As the days went by, the Loki Familia began transporting box after box of supplies from all over Orario back to headquarters.

These supplies included the spare weapons they had commissioned earlier, various items and tools for special purposes, as well as crates upon crates of potions and all kinds of recovery items.

Some members were busy handling various tasks, while others, when their turns to rest came, headed together to Loki's God's Chamber and formed a long line outside it.

They were members who wanted one final Ability Value update before the coming expedition.

After the expedition began, adventurers would have no way to update their Ability Values in a place like the Dungeon. Naturally, they had to seize the time and improve their strength by whatever little amount they could.

Because of this, Loki had not left the God's Chamber at all lately. All anyone could faintly hear was her shouting from inside.

"Are you seriously not letting me rest at all—?!"

Loki was on the verge of tears, but to help her children improve their strength as much as possible and give them a better chance of surviving in the Dungeon, she endured the pain with happiness and performed the only work she could do.

Riezel understood that there had to be many people waiting for Loki these days.

"Then I'll wait."

After thinking it over, Riezel gave up on seeking Loki for an Ability Value update.

Experience Points would not disappear. Even without an update, they would continue accumulating, so there was no need to rush.

Since the Familia's seniors had already opened the way for him and allowed him to keep challenging the Dungeon, Riezel naturally did not want to compete with them over an Ability Value update that could be done sooner or later.

Thus, the Loki Familia had its own work, and Riezel had his own matters to attend to. As though they had reached an unspoken understanding, neither side interfered with the other as they quietly awaited the day the expedition began.

Until one day, as Riezel was preparing to head to the Dungeon, he received a summons from Finn.

"Your sword is ready."

Finn, who had summoned Riezel, merely smiled and said those words.

Riezel's eyes immediately lit up.

Northeast Street, Tsubaki's workshop.

Just as before, Riezel and Finn arrived together and paid another visit.

The moment he entered, Riezel saw Tsubaki.

"You finally came."

Tsubaki gave Riezel a bright smile as he entered. Without wasting words, she pointed beside herself.

"Come take a look at your sword."

Hearing that, Riezel first glanced at Finn.

"Go on."

Finn was smiling as well. He nodded at Riezel, signaling him to step forward.

Only then did Riezel walk over to Tsubaki's side.

There, a long box meant for holding a weapon had been casually placed on the table.

The box was open, so Riezel immediately saw the weapon lying inside.

It had a long, slender form and was entirely a somewhat muted silver-gray. Its blade was so thin it seemed as transparent as crystal. At first glance, it did not look like a sword meant for killing. Instead, it somewhat resembled the short sword Riezel had received from Loki when he first joined the Loki Familia, like a work of art made purely for collection.

Tsubaki's satisfied voice sounded beside him and reached Riezel's ears.

"Using Adamantite as the main material, mixed with Mithril and the teeth of a Wind Howler, it took seven days, but I finally forged this weapon."

Adamantite was an extremely precious and rare metal, also known as Orichalcum. It was recognized throughout the world as the hardest metal in existence, and weapons with the Indestructible Attribute all used it as their primary material.

Mithril was a refined metal with excellent Magic conductivity, making it the favored main weapon material of most adventurers skilled in magic.

Wind Howlers were rare monsters that appeared on the Dungeon's 40th Floor. Famous for their strange speed, they were monsters with a low classification level yet were extremely difficult to defeat.

Each of these three materials was immensely expensive and rare. Ordinary adventurers might not even see one of them in their entire lives, let alone obtain one.

Yet Tsubaki had used all three of these materials to forge this sword.

"Now, it's yours."

Listening to the satisfaction in Tsubaki's voice, Riezel's eyes, fixed on the sword before him, began to gleam faintly as well.

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