I, Ritsuka, the Siscon Grand Hero

This is a rare opportunity to learn about the preferences of two heroic spirits.

"Hey, whoosh—let's pull in another wave of monsters, then head back."

Ritsuka stood up from the corner, their sword-axe materializing from the Crystal Dice and grasped in their hand.

The dungeon was quite quiet, and no monsters could be felt nearby. The damp air, carrying the scent of stone, wafted through the gray cavern.

It was a slightly unsettling atmosphere.

The cave-like passage was quite dark, with a few light sources near the ceiling flickering like bonfires, cutting the dim scene into irregular shapes.

With the faint light of silent flames illuminating their profile, Ritsuka narrowed their golden eyes.

"Roar—!"

A howl, from a wolf-like monster.

Ritsuka turned their head, looking towards the corner where red lights flashed. Several monsters from the fifteenth floor had discovered them. They didn't know the names of these monsters.

Hellhounds?

The howling sounded like wolves, but overall, it was similar to Ritsuka's Noble Phantasm, Cerberus.

The only difference was probably their size and the number of heads.

About seven flame-wolf type monsters and four Minotaurs native to this floor surrounded Ritsuka. The not-so-spacious area instantly became crowded.

About thirty meters away, the hellhounds stopped, preparing to launch a fiery assault.

Aim, fire!

Seven fireballs were spat from the hellhounds' mouths. Simultaneously, heavy footsteps sounded as the Minotaurs charged forward.

The fireballs flew over the bull-headed monsters, heading straight for Ritsuka by the wall.

The roars intensified, the walls trembled incessantly, and countless Minotaurs squeezed out from the walls, completely surrounding Ritsuka from all directions. The dungeon's sudden change was astonishing.

"..."

The sword condensed in their hand, a brilliant radiance illuminating Ritsuka's face, their golden pupils becoming fierce.

The golden sword body, a holy sword inscribed with Elvish script, a sword body similar to Excalibur, the Eternal Distant Golden Sword, was projected by Ritsuka.

They actually couldn't maintain projected objects for long, but in a sense, it was an infinite Magic Sword. As long as their magic power was infinite, they could use the 'Magic Sword' infinitely, which was equivalent to Magecraft.

"Excalibur..."

Specks of golden light gathered together, and Ritsuka raised the replica holy sword.

The sword tip pointed at the approaching monsters—

"Image."

The sword's radiance flowed, and in the next moment, with a calm voice, a torrent of scorching light roared out.

It transformed the wielder's magic power into light, then emitted it from the sword's tip like a laser beam, destroying anything that stood in its way. Its immense magic power was enough to burn everything, making it possible to perform god-tier Magecraft, a holy sword.

Hundreds of meters vanished in an instant. The holy sword's radiance, with deliberately controlled power, turned everything in the passage to ash with unparalleled might.

"Even B-rank Anti-Army output is too much to sustain?"

Magic stones and materials also turned to ash. Seeing the cave that looked like it would collapse, Ritsuka sighed helplessly.

The sword in their hand, if it only needed to be unleashed once, combined with Broken Phantasm, could rival the true holy sword, an A++ Anti-City Noble Phantasm.

Putting away the holy sword, Ritsuka walked towards the upper levels. Today's training was over.

Section 76 Chapter 69 Status Update

Having experienced walking through the dungeon a few times, the way back was quite easy. After all, ordinary monsters rarely posed a threat to them.

Ritsuka's physique wasn't particularly robust, but they possessed the standard of a regular Lv. 5 adventurer.

There were no disturbances along the way.

If they could kill a Goliath after receiving a Blessing, the improvement would undoubtedly be immense.

Unfortunately, Goliaths only spawned about once every two weeks. The last one had already been pinned to the crystal rock wall by her, allowing Finn and the others to defeat it for materials and magic stones.

The time spent going up was only half of the time spent coming down.

Ritsuka quickly passed through the relatively safe upper levels and returned to the city from the dungeon. The colors of dusk were somewhat beautiful.

After a slight hesitation, Ritsuka decided to return directly to the Familia's base and not go to the Guild to exchange Valis.

Although the magic stones and materials they held could fetch a high price, for a Lv. 1 adventurer in the Loki Familia to slaughter Lv. 2 elite monsters like Minotaurs was truly an unbelievable feat.

The Loki Familia held a very high status, and being conspicuous could easily attract rivals or hostile Familias.

If, because of them, coupled with some behind-the-scenes maneuvering by certain Familias, the Loki Familia could very well face an investigation by the Guild.

This would inevitably lead to some disputes, and the Familia's expedition might also be postponed.

Having received a kindness, it would be too ungrateful to cause trouble in return.

At worst, they could hand over all the resources to the Familia, and members of appropriate ranks could exchange them at the Guild. Surely the Familia wouldn't cheat them out of their earnings.

The Loki Familia was one of the only two super-large Familias in Orario. The money from hunting hundreds of Minotaurs was truly nothing, although it would still be a huge sum for a single adventurer.

It can be used to purchase equipment or buy some decent potions.

A burning gaze landed precisely, causing Ritsuka's steps to falter slightly, pulling them out of their thoughts.

She flicked her wrist and gave the Tower of Babel the 'international gesture of friendship'...

The brief interlude ended, and Ritsuka returned to the Familia.

Amidst the smiles and welcoming greetings of the adventurers guarding the gate, Ritsuka responded as they made their way to the warehouse management office.

"Hello, I have supplies to submit."

"...You are, Emiya Ritsuka?"

The adventurer guarding the warehouse narrowed their eyes, then a smile curved their lips.

The adventurer Loki had specifically requested had arrived. He stood up and led Ritsuka into a warehouse, filled with various magic stones stockpiled for exchange into supplies.

"Lord Loki already instructed me in advance, saying Emiya would be returning to submit magic stones, so I've been waiting for quite some time."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Then, to the astonishment of the guards, Ritsuka, the rather famous Lv1 rookie adventurer within the Loki Familia, raised a hand.

A flash visible only to Ritsuka, hundreds of magic stones rained down onto the floor, along with nearly a hundred special materials.

In a sense, Ritsuka's luck was quite good.

"These, are these basically all Minotaur magic stones? And rare materials too?"

"Mhm."

Ritsuka nodded obediently, while the guard squatted down on the spot, dumbfounded.

They began to inventory the supplies.

The waiting time was a bit boring. After getting permission from a few guards, Ritsuka decided not to wait any longer and slipped back to their room.

After a day of fighting, their strength had improved, and their experience had been integrated, but they couldn't stand being covered in sweat.

Being someone who valued cleanliness, Ritsuka walked towards the living quarters for female adventurers on the first floor. Just then, they saw a leisurely approaching, squinting, perverted goddess.

Behind Loki were Riveria and Ais, both looking like they had just finished cleaning up.

"Eh, it's Ritsuka-chan!!"

Loki exclaimed excitedly, then lunged towards Ritsuka.

As expected, the moment the perverted goddess leaped, Ritsuka moved two steps to the side, letting Loki fly past them.

They then ignored the goddess who tumbled down the stairs and greeted Riveria and Ais.

"Judging by your expression, you had a good harvest today?"

Riveria asked with a smile, seeing Ritsuka's slight grin and good mood. She was well aware of Ritsuka's strength.

The currently explored floors of the dungeon posed no threat to Ritsuka.

"Hehe, it was alright. After all, I'm still Lv1, so I just farmed a few Minotaurs."

Upon hearing this, Riveria nodded. Minotaurs, being relatively elite monsters even among Lv2s, were quite formidable, and their drop items were valuable.

For someone as exceptional as Ritsuka, they were perfect for practicing.

"Waaah... Ritsuka-chan is so cold. I was going to be the first to update your stats today!"

"Unless you let me rub those well-developed breasts, I'm not working today!!"

Loki rolled on the ground, completely lacking divine dignity, and Riveria's face darkened.

Ritsuka, who had been planning to update their stats today, exchanged a glance with Ais, both inwardly agreeing it would be better to wait until tomorrow.

Riveria grabbed Loki by the ear, "You, set a good example for the children in the Familia."

"Hiss~ Mama Riveria, I was wrong, it hurts, it hurts..."

Without using divine power, most gods' physical conditions were not as strong as a Lv1 adventurer's.

Thus, Riveria, despite not being particularly skilled in close combat as a mage, easily subdued Loki, making them cry out in pain.

This was the same person who, in an incomplete state, had posed a significant threat to Ritsuka earlier, comparable to that old man who was taken down by mapo tofu. Truly strong.

Speaking of which, now that she's arrived in another world like this, I wonder if Kishiya is still at the Anorectal Hospital...

"Today, Ritsuka will update their stats first. You don't mind if we watch, do you?"

"Of course, Riveria and Ais, it's no problem."

Ritsuka gave a thumbs-up. Then, Riveria, dragging Loki along, followed Ritsuka to their room.

After brewing a pot of black tea to entertain the guests, Ritsuka grabbed a change of clothes and quickly headed to the Familia's bathhouse to clean up. They returned to the room dressed in masculine attire.

A white shirt, paired with a black suit-style jacket.

When glanced at, the coldness that involuntarily appeared in Ritsuka's eyes made their golden irises appear incredibly imposing.

They looked so cool that the three people in the room fell silent.

"Who are you?"

Loki went first, acting as the comic relief and asking a brainless question, only to get her head tapped by Riveria.

Ritsuka, after unlocking the upper half of their clothes and locking the room door, sat on a chair by the bedside, preparing to update their stats under the expectant gazes of Riveria and Ais.

Taking out a tool kit, Loki picked up a needle and pricked her finger.

As blood dripped onto Ritsuka's back, a clown-like pattern spread across the fair skin, and a blue radiance flashed by.

With the divine power entering their body, Ritsuka felt their body boiling. There was a subtle sense of improvement, but their strength had indeed been enhanced to a certain extent.

It was an increase of about 5%, a rather exaggerated boost.

Loki skillfully took a parchment, pressed it onto Ritsuka's back, locked the blessing, and began reading Ritsuka's stats.

Riveria and Ais also hurried to look.

"...What the hell is this?"

Riveria and Ais cried out in shock, and even in their daze, Loki was the first to express her amazement and complaint, her expression becoming incredibly strange.

However, she quickly reconsidered; given Emiya Ritsuka's talent, this was to be expected.

Loki casually handed the parchment to Ritsuka, who had been waiting nearby.

"Total stat increase of 1549 points. Take a look yourself. At this rate, you'll be close to the peak of Lv. 1 before the expedition."

Chapter 77: The Sword Tomb of Ice and Snow

Sitting on the chair, Ritsuka, who had already put their clothes back on, showed a hint of surprise on their face as they looked at the parchment in their hands.

They finally understood why the four people behind them were acting so strangely.