/BUZZ... /

'Silver's pocket watch trembled as morning arrived.'

"Aww… It's already morning?"

I feel like a log… My body is heavy… Something's wrong.

'Silver used telekinesis to remove the blanket and he saw it.'

/Snore.../

"..."

'Hestia just like last time had invaded his bed.'

"The feeling is not bad, but manners are manners."

Should I punish her?

"... Silver..."

'Hestia mumbled in her dream...'

"Forget it..."

Don't call me a simp.

If it was a stranger, then no matter how beautiful she was, my first course of action would be to blow everything up.

But she is someone I know, heck, she lives in the same room as me.

There is no reason to be an asshole and knock her to the ground... Even more when this isn't actually that bad.

Not like I am losing anything here. In fact, I woke up in a pleasant mood, something that's quite hard to get.

Although… I need to get my status updated, so I have nothing to do until she wakes up.

So I guess I will enjoy this feeling for now…

'Silver placed his two hands behind his head as he relaxed. If someone was to watch the scene, they would certainly misunderstand.'

"..."

Yesterday was tough.

I killed many monsters, but that was standard protocol.

The important thing was the two infant dragons and the Hybrid.

One of the infant dragons was killed before I could do anything while the second one…

I had a pretty decent fight against it… I should have gained some stats.

"And that guy..."

I should take a look for that diary and see the sword later…

…

'For the next 10 minutes or so, Silver just stayed there on the bed, thinking about all of the recent events so far.'

'But even after all of this, Hestia was still sleeping like a log, and Silver needed to take a shit.'

'What? Humans have their necessities...'

'So he made Hestia fly with telekinesis and gently placed her back on the bed after got up.'

…

/10 Minutes later/

'With a bath taken and his necessity taken care of, Silver felt much better.'

"Is she still sleeping?... What a heavy sleeper."

'Silver decided to cook breakfast while she was sleeping if she didn't wake up by then… He would wake her up himself.'

…

'10-20 Minutes later, Silver placed the last plate on the table.'

'Yet...'

"She is still sleeping… Doesn't she have work to do?"

'Silver went to her side and called her.'

"... Hestia… It's time to wake up..."

'Nothing. Hestia continued to sleep soundly.'

/ZZZZ....zzzz/

"..."

"There is work to do… Wake up Hestia."

'He placed his hands on her shoulder and started to lightly shake her.'

"... Eh?... 5 more minutes Hephaestus..."

Hephaestus?... Let's play along then...

'Silver's hand started to turn gray as a small megaphone appeared on it.'

'He placed the megaphone in front of his mouth and said:'

"... If you don't wake up I will decrease your pay."

'Surprisingly, his voice sounded just like Hephaestus'.'

/FWUSH!/

'Hestia sprung up like popcorn.'

"No!... Eh?"

'Hestia opened her tired eyes and gazed at Silver, her head still confused since she still thought she was in her dream.'

"I prepared some food, let's sit down and eat."

'Hestia looked at Silver with her tired eyes.'

"Silver?... Shouldn't you be in the Dungeon?" Said Hestias as she looked around confused

'Silver also gazed at Hestia, making her blush a little'

How can she wake up so perfectly?...

"There are some things to do, so I won't go there right now… Perhaps only tomorrow."

'Hestia was surprised, this was the very first time she actually woke up with Silver still at home.'

'He has the habit of waking up very early, so by the time she opened her eyes, the only thing left would be a plate of food with a note.'

'This feeling of there having someone waiting for her was… Refreshing.'

"How long are you going to stay there? I know my bed is comfortable, but if you wanted to sleep so much with me we should have bought a king bed." Teased Silver

"..."

'Hestia was embarrassed, she got up and went to the bathroom, the sound of running water soon followed.'

…

'20 minutes later, Hestia got out of the bathroom refreshed.'

'She looked beautiful with her slightly wet hair down, it's a very different feeling as to when she is on her twin tails... She looks more mature.'

"What took you so long? The food is all cold now, sheesh."

"Beauty bath." She said with a smug smile

'Silver rolled his eyes as he thought she was indeed beautiful with her hair down.'

'His hands soon turned red. Soon enough, the food started to release steam, it was hot once again.'

"... Isn't that convenient?" Asked Hestia

'Silver didn't seem to agree.'

"An immense waste of Mind, that's what this is..."

…

'Hestia and Silver enjoyed their food for a few minutes while talking about the many things that happened in the city in the past few days.'

'Hestia told him about her new job and Silver told her about some of the new monsters and interesting sights in the Dungeon.'

"... It's just a shame that I can't go see them..." Said Hestia

'She was obviously very curious about the Dungeon although she knew she had to stay away from it.'

"That won't take long. Give me a few years and the Dungeon will be incapable of stopping me, at that time you can go watch some of its scenarios."

"..."

'Hestia was touched, even though he said it in a subtle way, it was a promise. A promise he was going to become the strongest.'

'So she smiled as she took a bite of her toast.'

"Once we are done here, I need you to update my status. I think I improved quite a bit yesterday."

"Munch… Alrig-ght... "

'Hestia devoured the toast with a single bite, uncaring of her manners.'

"..."

…

'Silver was now sitting on the bed without his shirt, waiting for Hestia to update his status.'

'The process wasn't any different from last time, whoever...'

"Huh?... Si-Si-Silver..."

'Hestia seemed surprised, just as much as when she first updated my status.'

"What is it? Did I truly gain a new Skill?"

"Not that!... You… You are Level 2 now!"

"..."

'But Silver didn't seem surprised'

"I refuse, turn it back."

"Eh?"

" '_' "

'Hestia was confused...'

"I know a God can choose when to level it up, so I would be more than happy if you didn't level me… At least until I maxed my stats."

"Are-are you serious?"

"Of course I am. If I don't do this, I will never be the strongest, it's not really that hard for me to do so thanks to my set of Skills. It would be a waste to level up just like that. And I know you can leave the Level up for later right?"

"You are right but..."

Most people would be dying to Level up!

'Hestia knew he could still train more, and after thinking for a bit, Leveling him up to Level 2 at this moment might be a little bit too much when the Sword Princess took an entire year to Level up.'

"Fine, I agreed to support you on your decisions anyway."

I can't be surprised by this anymore…

"What about my development abilities?"

"Urg! Stop getting ahead of yourself! Those will only appear when you have actually leveled up!"

"..."

Development abilities don't have stats, they just go from I to S, and they don't reset when you Level up.

They are incredibly hard to raise, even Ais only had her first DA, Hunter, at G when she was Level 6…

I imagine that someone with a DA at A or above would be considered the best of the best… No, even more than that…

I can only gasp at what would be someone with a SSS rank blacksmith DA… Would they be able to make a Divine artifact like the arrow of Orion?

"Here, take a look."

'After giving the paper to Silver, Hestia just laid down on the bed as she waited.'

"Let me see."

----------------------------------

Mellios Silver

Level-1

Strength D 547 -> B 712

Vitality B 700 -> A 890

Dexterity D 543 -> C 692

Agility C 625 -> A 801

Magic B 737 -> S 959

Magic:

>Magnum Opus Ambrosia

Skill:

>Vit Alhjin

>Infir David Missimus

----------------------------------

That's a lot for a single day of work…

It must be understood that my stats are much higher now, so increasing them has gotten harder.

Nevertheless, the increase was about 150-200 for each stat, some were even beyond that... And that's a lot.

I did kill many creatures yesterday, more than normal since Loiju wanted to keep me on the Upper floors...

But what must have given the most stats were the fights between Frederick and the Infant Dragon.

"So I finally got an S..."

"Finally?... It hasn't been 2 weeks even!" Said Hestia as she kicked my back.

Some people can't even reach that high after a year of effort!

'It didn't hurt at all, on the contrary…'

"Can you kick a little bit higher… Perfect."

"..."

'Hestia stopped talking as she pouted and continued her "massage".'

"I thought it would take at least another 3-5 months for me to reach max stats, but I think I might be able to reduce that time if I do things right."

Opportunities to gain stats quickly are uncommon after all. Unless I seek danger...

'Hestia rolled her eyes'

"..."

But maxing my stats isn't enough. I want to go beyond.

SS rank, SSS rank, and whatever lies beyond it.

But I wonder if I would be even capable of doing so.

Apart from Bell, I can't remember if there was anyone who did this before…

If I were to speculate, then I would say the first Hero Argonaut, managed to do such a thing.

Albert, Ais father, the last and strongest hero most likely managed to do such a thing as well, unless his Level was too high, it wouldn't have been possible for him to damage the Black Dragon the way he did.

He could have had a Skill to do the damage but…

But those two used the spirit's blessings, so their way to raise power was different from today.

Their environment was also... Apocalyptic. That certainly helped them get that level of strength.

And finally, the last person who could've broken past this limit is… Ottar.

As you Level up, it becomes exponentially difficult to increase your stats, to the point that even gaining an S is close to impossible.

Only by taking on higher challenges can someone continue to improve.

So, by the time they reach 999 in a single stat, it's possible to imagine the immense difficulty of going beyond it.

My theory is that this is a natural wall. Something deep within all beings, preventing them from going further than they should.

If this wall didn't exist, it was bound that someone would have gone beyond S in one of their Skills long ago.

Ottar maxed all of his Stats in pretty much every Level up, it's obvious one of those was going to be maxed first, and the others would take months if not years of training…

In all of that time, how is it not possible for his first stat to not go up by one point?

To go from 999 to 1000.

If Ottar of all people can't get to 1000 stats, then that only means something is truly blocking his progress.

It's possible to breach the wall, but for the normal person, they would need to take on a challenge so great that even the challenge for Leveling up would be a joke compared to it.

Eventually, the only possible way for a normal person to go beyond their limits would be when they were on the Low levels where it's much easier to increase one's stats.

I don't know what sort of effects this might create…

After all, it's just a single point, and I would be impressed that the person would be able to continue to increase their stats after breaching said 'wall'.

Yet, I am keen to believe something would happen…

"... Silver… I have to go to work now." Said, Hestia as she interrupted Silver

'Silver was taken by surprise as his concentration was broken.'

"Sorry, I was too engrossed in thinking."

'Hestia looked at him as she imagined the troubles that were going through his head...'

"Are you going to the Dungeon today?"

"Nah, I have some things to do... Perhaps later if I have time."

"Then, I expect some good dinner when I return!" She said with a smile

'Silver just smiled.'

…

'After Hestia left, Silver laid on his bed as he continued from where he stopped previously.'

"Bell's skill most likely helped him in breaching the wall."

"It either just removed the wall or his Exilia boost was so great that a simple adventure was all that was needed to breach it."

"Or perhaps, it was a combination of multiple factors..."

If I consider this to be true, would my Skills help?

"One of my Skills is made to speed my development by decreasing the difficulty in increasing my stats. And the other one increases the Exilia I can gain by taking on a challenge."

It's the perfect combination.

"I should have no trouble breaching it then… So the question is not that."

The question is, just how much should I raise my stats?

Just how much time should I invest in this task?

"My time isn't infinite, one day, the next Era of Heroes will start and Bell will start his adventure as terrific events will start to happen one after the other."

This is if Bell actually exists…

"Even if he doesn't come, the Black Dragon is still out there."

"For now, I will take a look at my gear..."

'Silver switched his clothes and went to the forge.'

'In there, he took a look at all of his gear, and the end result was...'

"Everything is fucking broken… Even my stock of potions is already close to ending… Looks like it's time for yet another shopping spree..."

I normally buy my supplies once per week since buying in bulk gives a discount…

My consumption of potions has been decreasing since I have been getting stronger and stronger, but this isn't good.

With this recent status update, I will train solely on the Middle floors.

I need a challenge if I want to keep my growth speed.

"My armor is broken on the back and in the front, I am still baffled that fire didn't leave any marks. On the contrary, it actually burned off all of the hardened blood in it… How convenient."

I still have my gloves and boots from the Goliath, they are quite good…

It was already time to make use of them.

"My spare sword is a little dull, but I can sharpen it, my large sword, however..."

'The large sword was chipped in many places, there were even some cracks that went deeper into the blade. Even some chunks were missing.'

"... There is no recovery for this, at least, a worthy one. I would have to expend quite an amount to fix it… So I need a replacement for this."

"And lastly, my spare shield… After a few weeks of use and repair, it has gotten pretty beaten, but I can still use it after a clean."

I didn't use it during the last fight because it would have been easily destroyed.

So much for a shield right?

(I definitely didn't forget about it...)

"I will repair my armor and give the sword a clean, but I will buy a new set later."

Although I won't use it, this is still my very first set…

"It's going to become a historical piece eventually..."

'Silver chuckled a little and placed all of the equipment to the side.'

'He took out the last item of importance from his bag.'

"OH! What a surprise, I forgot you were still burning!... Oops."

'In front of Silver was… A small block of burning wood. On top of it was a blue flame.'

'This was indeed Frederic's sword that he planned to research, but he forgot that the sword was alive and so, the fire would slowly burn it.

The sword obviously got hit by the fire after Frederic's desperate attack, so did pretty much all of the plants around the place. I imagine the Dungeon fixed it...'

"What a shame, the sword was completely burned… But I at least have these flames..."

It only burns in live, organic matter… So some types of fuel would be useless. Although it isn't that hard to get a log of live wood.

But this is only my assumption, I will have to research more later.

"I will place it in one of those fireplaces for now. Considering the rate of consumption, it should last a very long while with a single log."

The flame was considerably weakened after the death of its master, or source… Or whatever. So it lost its spreading capability and its strength and heat have greatly decreased.

"Although I am worried about Hestia and others finding it..."

Hestia is the one I am the most worried about, as for others… We could have visitors or even intruders…

"Hestia would definitely be attracted to it..."

I have an idea.

'Silver looked around the room and found a box, it was completely made of iron and it didn't have even a single hole in it apart from the top.'

"I will fill it with wood and let it burn inside, I can easily carry it inside my inventory like this."

It's a strange kind of magical flame that doesn't spread heat into nonliving objects, so the box would never get hot.

It can even work like a fireplace in the Dungeon, a very cool one.

The newbies can heat themselves in their red fire, mine is blue…

"I could try transforming it into a weapon? Like a Molotov?... Research is necessary."

What is the origin of such a fire? How does it maintain itself?

If such a thing was released in the Middle of Orario or in a forest… Sheesh.

Although it can't spread on its own like previously, it can still be carried by wind and physical contact.

"With this out of the way… What should I do now?"

"Hum… Should I go investigate?... Yeah… And I should do it today, else the true perpetrators might clean the evidence."

"Should I also gather the materials for the experiment?..."

My control over my Plasmids has greatly increased ever since I came into Orario, so I want to test something…

"I don't have any research tools, so it's best if I start really slow and aim for something small..."

However, I still don't know if the body of a Human in this world is 100% similar to a Human from another world…

And also, isn't my grandma a Catgirl? My DNA is probably already...

"So it's best to leave it for later down the line, I have too little info, performing the experiment under these conditions, even if it's the weakest, would have a high chance of failing."

'Silver left the workshop and locked it tight before changing his clothes once again into more stealthy ones and leaving towards Daedalus street.'

.

.

.