Just today, before Leon left the house, Raul had told him something.
"Our Goddess is looking for you. Go see her when you get back tonight."
Heaven knows, Leon hadn't seen that trashy Goddess for ten whole days.
The woman was either nursing a hangover or on her way to get one. Combined with the fact that Leon was currently obsessed with the Dungeon—leaving at dawn and returning after dark only to wash up and collapse into a baby-like slumber—the two of them hadn't crossed paths once. It had reached the point where Leon wondered if he had been forgotten entirely.
Fortunately, she had finally remembered him. It really wasn't easy.
Because of this, Leon picked up his pace on the way home. By the time he returned to Twilight Manor, a few wisps of sunset were still drifting in the sky. Compared to his usual routine of returning only after the sky had turned pitch black, this was quite early.
At this hour, Twilight Manor seemed a bit quiet, with few people in sight.
As Leon walked into the courtyard, the blonde, golden-eyed girl who usually waited for him wasn't there.
"At this time... are they in the dining hall?"
Leon could generally guess what the Familia members were doing.
According to Loki's personal wishes, since they were a family, everyone should eat together. Therefore, breakfast and dinner for the Loki Familia wouldn't officially begin until all members—excluding those on patrol—had arrived.
Coincidentally, it was now dinner time.
The large dining hall in Twilight Manor was likely packed to the brim with dozens of members, buzzing with noise and excitement.
Leon rarely went there. Previously, he was just a supporter-in-training. Even the mealtimes for those on patrol and guard duty were strictly separated; as a trainee responsible for logistics, he rarely had the chance to visit the main dining hall. Usually, someone would just bring food back for him.
Now he was an official member, but he still rose with the rooster and returned with the moon, grabbing quick meals outside. In these ten days, he hadn't set foot in the dining hall once.
"Ais is probably in the dining hall right now, right?"
After a moment's thought, Leon went back to his room first. He unequipped his weapons, armor, and supplies, changed into casual clothes, and then headed to the central tower to the Goddess's room on the top floor.
"It's Leon. May I come in?"
As soon as Leon's knock and greeting sounded, a grating Kansai accent drifted from behind the door.
"Come in, come in. I just got back myself."
Hearing that irreverent voice, Leon pushed the door open and walked in.
"Back pretty early today, aren't ya? Were ya lookin' forward to this, kiddo?"
This time, Loki wasn't clutching a wine bottle in a drunken stupor. Instead, she was sitting on a chair, legs crossed, leaning back against the bed in a very arrogant posture, picking her teeth with a wooden skewer.
Suppriming the urge to retort, Leon sat down in front of Loki.
"Since my Goddess finally managed to remember me, I had to come back early, didn't I?"
Leon's words brought a half-smile to Loki's face.
"I didn't forget ya, kid. You're the one who never came lookin' for me," Loki said pointedly. "I figured the day ya got your Blessing, you'd be chomping at the bit to come get your status updated. But instead—
Man, you actually managed to hold out for ten days. You've got some patience. If I hadn't called for ya, were ya plannin' on running around the Dungeon with 0 in every stat forever?"
Loki wasn't just talking nonsense.
Though she was unreliable, she cared deeply for her family. She had been paying special attention to someone as unique as Leon, which was why she knew he was home earlier than usual.
Loki tracked the basic info of when Leon left and when he returned. She definitely hadn't forgotten him; she had simply been waiting for him to come to her.
She truly hadn't expected that as a newcomer to the lower world who had just received a Blessing, Leon could suppress the urge to grow stronger and refrain from seeking a status update for ten days.
Even if she wasn't home sometimes, if Leon really wanted to find her, he wouldn't have missed her for ten straight days.
What did that mean?
It meant this kid really wasn't in a hurry!
Loki was genuinely seeing Leon in a new light.
"I'm impressed ya had the guts to mess around in the Dungeon for ten days like that, out from dawn 'til dusk. Don't ya want to get stronger?" Loki asked curiously.
"Of course I want to get stronger," Leon said without blinking. "But since not updating my status doesn't stop the accumulation of excelia, I figured I'd just train as I am for a while. You can't rush these things anyway."
"Oho? Pretty level-headed, aren't ya, youngster?" Loki tossed the wooden skewer aside and looked at Leon with a sigh. "If only Ais-tan had your mindset, us parents wouldn't have to worry every day about her overdoing it where we can't see her."
That golden-eyed Sword Princess had an extraordinary obsession with getting stronger. Even on rest days after an expedition, she would dive into the Dungeon to slaughter monsters, coming back every day looking like a mess, which caused Loki and Riveria no end of worry.
"Is she still doing that?" Leon blinked, surprised. "I thought she'd settled down lately and stopped pushing herself so hard."
During this period, Leon saw Ais practicing her swordplay in the courtyard every morning before he left, and she was always there waiting for him when he returned. He had assumed she hadn't been going out much.
"Hmph, that's just 'cause ya didn't see it," Loki grunted. "Lately, Ais-tan has been heading out right after you leave and coming home just before you get back."
Hearing this, Leon fell silent.
He really hadn't known that Ais was leaving right on his heels every day and making sure to return before him.
Was she doing it on purpose?
"I don't know what's so great about ya that my Ais-tan cares so much," Loki said huffily. "I'm telling ya now, Ais-tan is mine. If ya try to steal her, you'd better watch your back at night."
As she spoke, Loki picked up a box of needles. She took one out and spoke lazily.
"Alright, turn around. Take off your shirt. I wanna see just how much ya wore yourself out over these ten days."
At those words, Leon pushed his stray thoughts aside. He turned around and removed his shirt, revealing his back.
Loki was quick and practiced. With a prick of the needle, a drop of blood seeped from her finger and landed on Leon's back. Like ripples on a lake, waves of light spread across his skin.
Soon, a clown crest emerged, revealing Leon's locked status.
Then, Loki pricked herself again and dropped a second bead of blood onto his back, causing the status to glow with an ethereal light.
Sacred letters began to float and drift, falling into Loki's vision.
Loki moved her fingers, sliding, adjusting, and writing across the sacred script.
"Ho ho, ya definitely racked up a lot of excelia."
Loki's cheerful voice rang out.
"Let's pull all this excelia out, turn it into nourishment for growth, and then tweak it a bit—"
"Mm, that should do it."
"Let's see, your status has grown by—"
Loki's voice suddenly cut off.
Not just her voice, but all movement stopped. Leon could feel her finger frozen against his back, as if she had been turned to stone.
"What is it?"
Confused, Leon turned his head to look at Loki.
What he saw was the usually unreliable and irreverent Goddess looking completely stunned. Her eyes, which were almost always squinted shut, were now wide open as if she had seen a ghost. Her face was practically twitching.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Loki actually open her eyes, Leon's heart skipped a beat. He started to get nervous.
Did something go wrong with his status again?
Recalling that indecipherable special skill, Leon was genuinely worried that there was another glitch in his parameters.
"You... you brat, what on earth have you been doing for the past ten days?"
Loki finally managed to react, looking at Leon with a visible tremor in her voice; she was actually stuttering.
In that moment, it was as if Leon were the god and Loki the mortal, a perfect depiction of someone witnessing a miracle.
"I didn't do anything special," Leon frowned, speaking hesitantly. "I was just exploring the Dungeon normally. Is something wrong?"
"Heh." Loki's mouth twitched into a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Normal exploration? You call this growth rate 'normal exploration'? Like hell it is!"
Loki's voice rose, bordering on a manic scream.
"What growth rate? Just tell me!"
Leon was nearly intimidated by her reaction; his heart was in his throat.
"—See for yourself!"
Loki's mouth opened and closed a few times as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Finally, she gave up explaining, quickly transcribed Leon's status onto parchment, translated it into common script, and shoved it into his face.
Leon scrambled to catch it and looked down.
One look, and Leon froze.
—
Leon Eligos
Lv. 1
Strength: I 0 → D 557
Endurance: I 0 → E 496
Dexterity: I 0 → D 581
Agility: I 0 → C 644
Magic: I 0 → B 752