Isn't this a kind of alternative NTR?

In just one morning, Bell Cranel's stats had surged dramatically.

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 -- Fast-cast magic, no chant required, possesses growth potential. Creates small stars that trigger chain explosions.

Skills:

1. Longing for the Stars -- Early bloomer; the stronger the admiration, the greater the effect. Significantly increases the rate of ability value growth and learning speed.

Ascension: None

In the span of a single morning, Bell's various stats had seen a massive increase.

During the last update, his stats—aside from Agility—had only increased by four or five points. Yet now, after just one morning of combat, they had jumped by over 20 points!

The reason for all of this was inextricably linked to the newly manifested skill, Longing for the Stars.

An early bloomer...

According to the skill's description, this was essentially a cheat skill that allowed Bell to improve rapidly.

Thor looked at Bell. Within his field of vision, countless pure white threads appeared around Bell's soul.

These threads extended from the past, used the present as a node, and connected to the future.

Every experience from the past was shaping the possibilities of the future.

Deep within Bell's soul, Thor sensed a causal connection dating back a thousand years. From the perspective of fate's causality, Bell was a reincarnated hero.

Originally, the trajectory of Bell's fate had been interfered with by the will of gods during his growth, causing the possibilities of his future to be severely constricted, leaving only sporadic branches.

However, at this moment, due to his own intervention, those once-narrow paths of fate had suddenly begun to split, deriving more unknown possibilities.

"The grandfather who raised Bell hid his identity as a god just to mold Bell into a hero. But after only a few days of contact with me, his life's trajectory has already been altered..."

Thinking about it, Thor felt relieved.

At the end of the day, the grandfather Bell spoke of was just a minor god; if he wanted to, Thor could color Bell with his own hue at any time.

Come to think of it, would this count as a form of alternative NTR?

Should he say, "Your grandson is excellent, but unfortunately, he belongs to me now"?

Just as Thor was lost in these stray thoughts, Bell, seeing that Thor had remained silent for so long, asked urgently, "Lord Thor, is something wrong?"

Thor snapped back to reality. He looked at Bell and then at the Longing for the Stars skill in the status panel.

Bell was prone to getting carried away. He had only just learned magic this morning and was already casting it recklessly during battle. If Thor hadn't been following him, he might have ended up unconscious in some corner of the dungeon by now.

"It's nothing." Thor took out a sheet of paper and imprinted Bell's status onto it, deliberately concealing the Longing for the Stars skill. "Your status has been updated."

Bell took the status report, his eyes scanning the numbers eagerly.

When he saw the soaring stats, he gasped sharply and couldn't help but let out a strange cry: "Eh—! Lord Thor! This... how did these stats rise so quickly?!"

Thor's expression remained indifferent, as if this rapid growth was well within his expectations.

"Because of my deeper involvement, the dungeon has deployed an unconventional number of monsters. You defeated these stronger, denser waves of enemies, so naturally, your abilities improved faster."

Bell looked down at the status sheet in his hands, at the leaping numbers.

Strength had broken past 100 to reach H101, Dexterity had also broken past 100 to reach H131, and Agility had jumped from H172 all the way to G211...

In just one morning!

Thor watched as Bell looked like he was about to jump for joy, and he sighed inwardly.

This child was good in every way, but he was far too prone to getting carried away.

He was this excited after just a little progress; if he were told he had a skill that could accelerate his training speed, wouldn't his nose be pointed toward the sky?

No, he still needed to keep him on a tight leash.

With that, Thor said earnestly:

"Although this increase is indeed quite considerable—ten times what it was before—in Orario, the labyrinth city where countless adventurers gather, there are countless people who can achieve such growth in a single morning."

"Do not let this make you arrogant; the road ahead is still long. For now, set your goal to reaching the limit of 999 in every ability. Only by laying the most solid foundation can you fly higher in the future."

Bell felt his heart fill with awe for the unknown powerhouse.

The metropolis was truly a metropolis; everyone was so impressive!

At the same time, his fighting spirit was ignited.

He nodded repeatedly and promised, "Yes! My Goddess! I will work even harder and push toward the goal of 999!"

However, what Bell did not know at this moment was that in the cruel reality of the labyrinth city Orario, the vast majority of adventurers would struggle their entire lives to cross the massive chasm between Lv.1 and Lv.2.

Even for those who reached the peak of Lv.1, their highest individual ability stats would only hover around the 500+ level.

The "999 points in every stat" that Thor proposed was already an attribute requirement that was hard for ordinary people to imagine, bordering on an urban legend.

"However, the most urgent task right now is for me to obtain 100 pieces of [Stardust] as soon as possible. Once I do, I can unlock some abilities to help you fight together."

"100 pieces?"

Bell calculated in his mind: 100 Goblins equaled one [Stardust], so 100 pieces of Stardust would require slaying 10,000 Goblins. At a rate of 100 per day, it would take about three months without eating or sleeping to achieve.

This was by no means an impossible goal!

To help his Goddess recover his power as quickly as possible, he had to fight even harder!

Seeing the fighting spirit in Bell's eyes, Thor gave all the remaining potato snacks to Bell and said, "Eat up. We'll try heading to the fifth floor this morning to take a look."

"Yes!" Bell accepted the favor and went all out to recover his stamina.

Half an hour later, the two set off again, preparing to head to the fifth floor to scout the path and prepare for future adventures.

As soon as they arrived at the lower level, the Dungeon remained "hospitable," spawning a type of monster capable of breathing fire—the Hellhound.

There were 15 of them in total, a number large enough to make any low-level adventurer shrink in fear.

But Bell simply treated this as the normal monster count for the Dungeon; he drew his knife, worth 9,300 Valis, without a hint of fear.

"My Goddess, I'm going in!"

With that, Bell held the short blade in his right hand, while specks of shining stars appeared in the palm of his left hand.

Facing the monsters in front of him, he used Star Burst to clear the field, then used his knife to harvest the remaining enemies. The monster strength on the fifth floor was slightly higher than on the fourth, but it was nothing to Bell, especially since he had just updated his status.

But surprises always come when least expected.

Just as Bell finished off the monsters in front of him, a roar suddenly echoed from the deep corridor.

"ROAR—!"

The sound was bovine and highly piercing, and judging by the sound, it was very close to them!

Bell had just defeated the last Hellhound, and the magic stone fell to the ground with gravity. Bell froze in place, a sudden sense of foreboding filling his heart.

"My Goddess... this is..."

Thor's gaze was deep. He looked into the pitch-black corridor and whispered, "Bell, prepare to retreat. It seems we've encountered an unexpected situation..."

As soon as Thor's words fell, heavy footsteps echoed from the deep corridor, and the two looked over.

A massive figure stepped out of the shadows.

The monster had the head of a bull and the body of a man, covered in hard muscles. It breathed heavily, exhaling white mist tainted with a foul stench, and every step it took made the ground tremble slightly.

Those bloodshot eyes locked firmly onto Bell and Thor.

Thor whispered the name of the monster: "Minotaur."