Bell's stats had suddenly skyrocketed in the space of a single morning.
Bell Cranel Lv.1 Strength: I82→H101 Endurance: I21→I57 Dexterity: I96→H131 Agility: H172→G211 Magic: I0→I42 Development Abilities: None Magic: 1. Star Burst—Quick-cast magic that requires no incantation and can grow stronger. Creates small stars that trigger a chain of explosions. Skills: 1. Longing for the Stars—A precocious skill. The stronger the admiration, the more effective it is. Significantly increases the rate at which stats improve and the speed of learning. Ascension: None
In just one morning, Bell's stats had seen a tremendous increase.
The last time his status had been updated, all of Bell's stats except Agility had only increased by four or five points. Now, after just one morning of fighting, they had all increased by more than twenty!
And the reason for all this was closely tied to the newly acquired skill, [Longing for the Stars].
Precocious...
According to its description, this was basically a cheat skill that let Bell grow stronger at an incredible rate.
Thor looked at Bell. In his sight, countless pure white threads appeared around Bell's pure white soul.
The threads stretched out from the past, converging at the present before connecting to the future.
Everything that had happened in the past shaped the possibilities of the future.
Deep within Bell's soul, Thor sensed a connection to the past that stretched back a thousand years. Judging by the cause and effect of fate, Bell was a hero reincarnated.
Originally, Bell's fate had been interfered with by a god's will as he grew, greatly narrowing the possibilities for his future until only a handful of branches remained.
But now, because of Thor's interference, those once-narrow paths of fate had suddenly begun to split, giving rise to even more unknown possibilities.
The grandfather who raised Bell all this time had hidden his identity as a god, all so he could shape Bell into a hero. But after only a few days of knowing me, Bell's life path has already changed...
Thor soon came to terms with it.
After all, the grandfather Bell spoke of was just a minor god. If Thor wanted to, Bell could be colored by him at any time.
Come to think of it, did this count as an alternative kind of NTR?
Should he say, "Your grandson's great—but unfortunately, he belongs to me now"?
While Thor was lost in thought, Bell saw that he still hadn't said anything and asked anxiously, "Lord God, is something wrong?"
Thor came back to himself and looked from Bell to the [Longing for the Stars] skill in his status.
Bell got carried away easily. He'd only learned magic that morning, yet had used it recklessly in battle. If Thor hadn't been with him, he might have passed out in some corner of the Dungeon by now.
"Nothing." Thor took out a sheet of paper and copied Bell's status onto it, deliberately leaving out the [Longing for the Stars] skill. "I've updated your status."
Bell took the status report and eagerly scanned the numbers.
When he saw how much his stats had soared, he sucked in a sharp breath and let out a surprised cry. "Huh—! Lord God! Th-these stats went up so fast?!"
Thor's expression remained calm, as if such a rapid increase had been expected.
"Because I was there, the Dungeon sent out more monsters than usual. You defeated stronger and more densely packed opponents, so naturally your abilities improved faster."
Bell looked down at the status sheet in his hands, at the numbers that had leapt so high.
His Strength had broken through the I rank and reached H101. His Dexterity had also passed a hundred, reaching H131. His Agility had jumped all the way from H172 to G211...
All in just one morning!
Thor watched Bell, who looked ready to jump on the spot, and sighed inwardly.
The boy was great in every way, except that he got carried away too easily.
He was already this excited over a little progress. If Thor told him he had a skill that could speed up his training, wouldn't his nose end up pointing straight at the sky?
No, he needed to keep the boy on his toes.
So Thor spoke earnestly.
"Although the improvement this time was indeed considerable—ten times greater than before—there are countless adventurers gathered in Orario, the Labyrinth City. You're far from the only person who can make this much progress in one morning."
"Don't let it make you arrogant. You still have a long road ahead. For now, set a goal of raising every stat to its limit of 999. Only by building the strongest possible foundation can you soar higher in the future."
Hearing that, Bell was immediately filled with awe for the powerful people he had yet to meet.
A big city really was a big city. Everyone here was so amazing!
At the same time, he felt his determination flare.
He nodded again and again, promising, "Yes, Lord God! I'll work even harder and strive for 999!"
What Bell didn't know was that, in the harsh reality of the Labyrinth City of Orario, most adventurers spent their entire lives unable to cross the vast chasm between Lv.1 and Lv.2.
Even those who reached the peak of Lv.1 often had a highest individual stat that barely hovered above 500.
Thor's goal of "999 in every stat" was already an almost unimaginable requirement for ordinary people, something close to an urban legend.
"But right now, the most important thing is for me to get a hundred pieces of Stardust as soon as possible. Then I'll be able to unlock some abilities and help you fight."
"A hundred?"
Bell calculated it in his head. One hundred Goblins made one piece of Stardust, so a hundred pieces would require defeating ten thousand Goblins. If he defeated a hundred a day, he could manage it in about three months, as long as he went without food or sleep.
That was definitely an achievable goal!
He had to fight even harder so Lord God could recover his strength as soon as possible!
Seeing the fighting spirit in Bell's eyes, Thor gave him all the fried potato balls they had left and said, "Eat up. We'll try going to the fifth floor this morning."
"Yes!" Bell accepted the Blessing and focused on recovering his strength.
Half an hour later, the two set off again, ready to scout the fifth floor and prepare for their future adventures.
As soon as they reached the lower level, the Dungeon remained "hospitable" as ever, spawning a fire-breathing monster called a Hellhound.
There were fifteen of them, enough to make any adventurer from the lower floors quail.
But Bell thought this was just a normal number of monsters for the Dungeon. Without a trace of fear, he drew the knife he'd bought for 9,300 Valis.
"Lord God, I'm going in!"
With that, Bell gripped the short knife in his right hand as twinkling stars appeared in the palm of his left.
He used Star Burst to clear out a wave of the monsters, then used his knife to finish off the survivors. The monsters on the fifth floor were slightly stronger than those on the fourth, but they were no match for Bell—especially after his status had just been updated.
But trouble always came when you least expected it.
Just as Bell finished off the monsters in front of him, a monster's roar suddenly rang out from the depths of the dark passage.
"Roar!"
The sound was like a bull's, and it carried far. Judging by how close it sounded, the monster was very near!
Bell had only just defeated the last Hellhound. Its Magic Stone dropped to the ground under the pull of gravity, and he froze, suddenly sensing that something was wrong.
"Lord God... This..."
Thor's gaze turned solemn as he looked toward the pitch-black passage and murmured, "Bell, get ready to retreat. It looks like we've run into trouble..."
As soon as Thor finished speaking, heavy footsteps echoed from the depths of the passage. The two looked over.
A huge figure stepped out of the shadows.
The monster had the body of a man and the head of a bull, its body covered in hard muscles. It breathed heavily, exhaling foul-smelling white mist. Each step made the ground tremble slightly.
Its bloodshot eyes fixed on Bell and Thor.
Thor quietly spoke the monster's name: "Minotaur."
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