The next morning, Seele and Sakura went to the Guild early to update their registration information.
By noon, a piece of news shocking enough to stun countless people spread throughout the entirety of Orario.
The fastest Lv.1-to-Lv.2 leveling record—set years ago by the famed [Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein of the Loki Familia—had been broken.
Not only that, it had been broken by two people at once.
And the time required had been shortened from one full year to a mere four days!
Such an outrageous claim made many people suspect the Guild had made a mistake. Yet the Guild repeatedly confirmed that the information was accurate—and even went so far as to post an official notice.
That act alone completely cemented the authenticity of the news. After all, posting a notice meant the Guild was staking its own credibility on the matter.
And precisely because of that, the news became even more life-shattering.
"Four days… from Lv.1 to Lv.2? New adventurers who just received a blessing?"
"And there are two of them?"
"Are you kidding me? The Sword Princess took a whole year back then!"
In an instant, the names Seele Vollerei and Kinomoto Sakura spread across the whole of Orario.
No one could be blamed for reacting so strongly—the news was simply too terrifying.
Back then, when the Sword Princess reached Lv.2 at just eight years old after a full year of effort, it had already left countless jaws on the floor. But at least that had been a year—over three hundred and sixty days.
And now that eight-year-old record had been reduced to four days? Nearly a hundredfold difference?
Without the Guild personally backing it with their reputation, even telling this as a story would've gotten the speaker mocked for being utterly illogical.
Along with Seele Vollerei and Kinomoto Sakura, the name of their familia—the Hestia Familia—also swept through Orario, reminding many gods of Hestia's existence.
Loki Familia Headquarters — Twilight Manor, Top Floor
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Fresh off receiving the news from the Guild, Loki slammed her hand on the table, shouting without a shred of decorum.
"Four days from Lv.1 to Lv.2—two people at once! How the hell does that little shrimp get that kind of luck?!"
"These reports came directly from the Guild, and they even posted an official notice. With the Guild's credibility as backing, the information is very unlikely to be false."
Standing nearby, one of the Loki Familia's Three Greats—the captain, [Braver] Finn Deimne—let out a sigh as he spoke.
"But if this information is true, then that level of talent is… frankly terrifying. Even [Silent] Alfia never showed something like this at Lv.1."
Another member of the Three Greats, the vice-captain [Nine Hell] Riveria Ljos Alf, spoke with an uneasy expression.
If possible, she would rather not mention Alfia at all. After all, despite being hailed as Orario's strongest mage in the present day, Riveria had once been utterly overshadowed by that monstrous talent.
But faced with the sudden emergence of Seele Vollerei and Kinomoto Sakura, she couldn't think of a more fitting comparison.
"Tch… I really don't know what kind of dogshit luck that little shrimp is riding."
Knowing full well that Finn and Riveria were right, Loki clicked her tongue irritably before finally plopping back down into her chair.
"If we get the chance, find a way to meet those two super rookies. It'd be best if we could at least get acquainted."
Worried about being mocked to her face, Loki naturally wasn't about to personally seek Hestia out. So she could only give such instructions to her children.
As for Orario's other strongest familia—the Freya Familia—their attitude was the complete opposite of Loki Familia's seriousness.
They didn't care in the slightest.
Unless the goddess herself gave an order, all they paid attention to were their immediate rivals. Even Ottar merely glanced at the Guild report before going right back to whatever he was doing.
Meanwhile, while the entirety of Orario buzzed with discussion, the two people at the center of it all were doing something else entirely.
Seele was curled up in An Xora's arms, letting him gently stroke her smooth hair, while Sakura was busy condensing and creating new Clow Cards—
…No, that wasn't right anymore. They should be called Sakura Cards now.
Because she had previously focused on training her physical attributes, and to make future training more efficient, Sakura deliberately condensed several cards this time that could assist with improving attributes other than magic.
[Sword], [Power], [Shield], [Time], [Mirror].
Five new cards in total—each with extraordinarily powerful effects.
Take the [Sword] Card, for example. It had two effects:
First, it allowed the user to instantly acquire and fully master the world's highest level of swordsmanship.
Second, it could transform into a rapier capable of cutting through anything the wielder wished to cut.
The [Power] Card amplified strength nearly infinitely based on the wielder's magic.
The Shield card protected the user from harm.
The Time card granted the ability to stop and manipulate time.
The Mirror card could reflect a person into a mirror, creating a copy of the designated target.
It could be said that the cards Sakura had condensed weren't just "workhorse cards" from the original—they were among the absolute top tier in terms of ability and effect across all Clow Cards.
"Getting five new cards in one go… it's about time we found someone to properly test your strength."
As he spoke, An Xora glanced at the somewhat sulky Hestia nearby.
"You want to test her strength? How strong of an opponent are we talking about?"
Hestia asked, putting aside her dissatisfaction and switching into a more serious tone.
She was actually quite curious herself about Sakura's current strength.
"At least a Lv.5 or Lv.6."
From An Xora's perception, Sakura's internal magic reserves had already grown extremely vast. If he had to compare, she was approaching the level of over half of Mobius.
Even though Mobius had been a researcher among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, she was still a Fusion Warrior. Even at half strength, fighting a Lv.5 or Lv.6 adventurer from the DanMachi world wouldn't be an issue.
Using that as a benchmark, the opponent An Xora chose to test Sakura's strength naturally needed to be at least that level.
"Lv.5 or Lv.6, huh…"
Hestia thought for a moment.
Among the gods she knew, there were indeed some whose familias had children who had reached Lv.5 or even Lv.6. The first ones that came to mind were Hephaestus and Loki.
Despite being kicked out by Hephaestus and frequently mocked by Loki, her relationships with them weren't actually bad—especially with Hephaestus, who was genuinely a close friend.
This trip was ostensibly about testing Sakura's strength, but for Hestia, it was also an excellent chance to finally clap back.
So after a brief moment of thought, she made a decisive choice.
"Come on. I'll take you to the Loki Familia."
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
• 10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
• 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ You can read 80 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/BlackDevil808