"...And that's how it is. Hephaestus has agreed to help."
Hestia sat at the dining table, her hands on her hips, her face brimming with pride.
On the other side, after listening to his goddess recount her conversation with Hephaestus from earlier in the day, Levi couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"Only 2,000,000 Valis for a Level 5 to provide protection for a day? In a way, that's already quite cheap."
Even blood brothers settle their accounts, and besides, Hestia was never a goddess to take advantage of others.
The reason she was able to make so many friends in the heavens was, for one, her straightforward and refreshing personality, and for another, the fact that she always insisted on paying whenever she asked for help.
Levi himself wasn't the type to carelessly owe people favors either.
For him, any problem that could be solved with Valis wasn't really a problem.
As for having to spend the better part of a month farming money to pay off the debt for his great feat, while it would certainly slow down his future growth, reality wasn't a game. Apart from the gods who could be resurrected in the heavens, ordinary people only had one life.
And the Dungeon has always been known for its surprises.
Levi didn't want to be peacefully grinding for his feat only to suddenly encounter a massive surge in monster numbers—commonly known as a 'Monster Rex'—or have a high-level monster wander onto his floor by accident.
"Delicious~" Hestia said, holding a spoon. She scooped up a mouthful of rice soaked in tomato and scrambled egg sauce, chewed it a couple of times, and then, with a blissful expression, said, "I'm done with my side of things. What about you?"
While eating his rice bowl, Levi replied, "I made it down to the seventh floor today. First, I spent over an hour getting used to the fighting rhythm of the Killer Ants, and after that, it was pretty much the same as yesterday."
"As for income, it didn't exceed yesterday's, since that included some unexpected gains, but I still earned over 100,000 in total."
Getting ambushed by adventurers wasn't something that could happen every day.
As for Magic Stones, because Levi deliberately avoided their location with every attack, a Magic Stone was guaranteed to drop every time a monster was defeated.
Coupled with the fact that stronger monsters yield more valuable Magic Stones, his money-making efficiency was already starting to catch up to individual members of many Middle Floor parties with Level 2 adventurers, even though he was only staying on the Upper Floors.
"Tomorrow and the day after, I'll try to go down two more floors. I'll only consider going past the 10th floor after my Falna levels up to Lv.2."
Starting from the 10th floor, Monster Rexes start to appear from time to time—a crisis that could trip up even a Level 2 if they weren't careful.
As a cautious-style adventurer, Levi wasn't about to gamble with his own life.
Hestia nodded after listening. "Alright, just take it slow and go at your own pace."
She had complete confidence in her Familia's captain, who was also its sole member for now.
Although he was only sixteen, his personality was mature beyond his years.
He possessed the ambition to grow stronger, yet he was sufficiently cautious.
Hestia had no doubt that even without that skill called [Unknown], his steady mindset alone would be enough for the boy before her to grow to Lv.3 or even Lv.4.
...
After dinner, Levi said a temporary goodbye to Hestia and returned to his bedroom, where he began his 'reward' time after a hard day's work.
He had earned 100,000 Valis today, and with what was left over from yesterday, he had a total of over 130,000 in cash.
Of this money, Levi planned to keep only 20,000 for emergencies and invest the rest into the gacha pool.
Considering he had already collected most of the 3-star items he needed from the Genshin Impact banner, this time, he chose to open the standard banner.
[Grimoire · 3-Star (Bound): Upon use, awakens one magic spell based on the user's primal impulse.]
[Note: If all magic slots are full, the Grimoire cannot be used.]
[Specific Development Ability Activation Ticket · 3-Star (Bound): Upon use, allows the user to specify a 'Development Ability' to unlock when their Falna is upgraded.]
Levi needed both the Grimoire and the Specific Development Ability Activation Ticket.
The Grimoire could directly boost his current combat capabilities by awakening a new magic spell.
The Specific Development Ability Activation Ticket, on the other hand, would allow him to unlock a more powerful Development Ability when he reached Lv.2.
For example, the 'Luck' possessed by the original series protagonist Bell Cranel, the 'Spirit Healing' of Riveria, one of the three leaders of the Loki Familia known as the 'Nine Hells', the 'Magic Resistance' and 'Tough Body' of the Freya Familia's 'Vana Freya' Ottar, and 'Mystery', the rarest development ability said to have stepped into a corner of the divine domain.
Considering he could only use two more Grimoires at his current stage, while he would need a Specific Development Ability Activation Ticket for every level-up, Levi set his sights on the latter as his guaranteed 3-star item.
As for the Grimoire, he would rely on the soft pity system.
The first ten-pull went as Levi expected: nine whites and one green.
Then came the second, third, fourth...
By the time the eighth ten-pull was initiated...
Swoosh, crack!
A total of ten phantom meteors—one blue, one green, and eight white—materialized before Levi.
[You obtained: Grimoire x1, Lv.1 Specific Ability Score Boost Ticket (+100) x1...]
'I knew it.'
Levi covered his forehead. Because his luck had always been like this in his past life, where nothing good dropped until the very last moment, he felt not even the slightest ripple of emotion at his current predicament.
Without further ado, he performed three more consecutive ten-pulls.
A miracle... did not happen.
Nine whites and one green, eight whites and two greens, nine whites and one green.
His total investment of 110,000 Valis had only brought him a few steps closer to the hard pity.
Levi opened his inventory and activated the Ability Score Boost Tickets one by one:
[Strength: S905/SS1099]
[Endurance: S923/SS1099]
[Dexterity: S905/SS1099]
[Agility: S925/SS1099]
[Magic: S908/SS1099]
After allocating the points, he took a deep breath, took out the Grimoire he had just obtained, and selected 'Use'.
In the next instant, an androgynous voice echoed in Levi's ear.
"Levi Bright, to you, what does magic truly mean?"
At some point, the consciousness of the boy with short, pale golden hair had been pulled into a pure white space.
Standing opposite him was the phantom of a black-haired man in his thirties, a man who looked exactly like his past-life self!
Since joining the Hestia Familia, Levi had spent his days grinding monsters and farming money in the Dungeon, but at night, he would also dedicate a significant amount of time to mastering the various adventurer-related knowledge provided by Eina.
He naturally understood that he had been pulled into a place akin to a mental space.
Without hesitation, he got straight to the point: "Don't waste time. If you're truly a part of me, then you should know the magic I desire most."
______
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