'Somewhere on the 17Th floor, Silver looked at a group of Minotaurs patrolling around the place.'

'He wondered if he could take on such a large group on his own without using his abilities.'

"...My stats have greatly increased... I think I am more than capable of taking on such a group of minotaurs." Said Silver

I have higher stats when Bell defeated that strengthened Minotaur, plus, I have more experience and these Minotaurs are just common ones.

Bell suffered a lot to defeat him, but these are just mobs.

"There is nothing to fear."

'Silver created a pair of ice knuckles and jumped into the group...'

…

'10 minutes later, Silver could be seen on top of a rock as he rested.'

'His clothes were bloodied, but not by his blood.'

"... Barely enough… Minotaurs are more than strong enough to pose as a threat, but they are too dumb to give me any trouble anymore…"

Now that my stats are higher, monsters on the Middle floor don't really pose the same level of threat as they once did.

Because of this, my training slowed down a little.

However, as I said before, I don't think it's time for me to dive into the 19Th floor.

"Considering the rate I am progressing, I should have no problem in increasing my stats by another 200-300 in the next few months…"

But that isn't guaranteed, the difficulty could spike at any moment.

Or an opportunity might arise for me to speed my development.

"I will go with this then…"

'Silver created an ice spear and gave it to the subdued Minotaur on the side.'

'This Minotaur was slightly smarter than the others, Silver kept it alive because he wanted to try a new method of training.'

'He had tried this particular method of training once with other monsters, but to meager effects. Perhaps a Minotaur might show better results.'

"From now on, you will attack me with it, try your best…"

/Swush!/

'The minotaur didn't wait as it swung the spear like a club.'

'Silver evaded the club by jumping to the side.'

"That's not how you use a spear…" He said as he lifted his leg and...

/Bam!/

'Silver kicked the minotaur in the leg, punishing it for its failure…'

"MU!"

'The Minotaur fell to one knee, it was clearly in pain.'

"Try again." Said Silver with a smile

'Silver kept evading the minotaurs blows, every time he felt the situation was easy, he would add weights into his body.'

'He bought these weights from a blacksmith shop some time ago, he rarely used them but it seemed the perfect situation had arrived.'

'If that wasn't enough, he would add some difficulty every once in a while by using his own abilities.'

...

/BAM!/

/MUU!/

'Once the creature made a mistake, he would punish it. Again and again...'

'So time passed as Silver "fought" against the Minotaur.'

'Eventually, it got tired, so Silver fed it some potions…'

'Yes, he fed a potion to a monster…'

'Every time the spear broke, Silver made another, allowing him to still train his magic even though he was focusing on Dexterity.'

'For the next few hours, this cycle continued, until…'

"Mu… Muu…"

'The Minotaur collapsed on the ground, too tired to even move.'

"Phew… That was tense."

How long have I been fighting this minotaur in this dark cave?

2 Hours? 4 Hours?... I took several potions and fed the Minotaur some as well…

"He got much better in handling the spear… But what do I do with him now? It would be a waste to kill him…"

Alright, I won't lose much by trying.

'Silver pointed towards a wall and it started to tremble as a hole appeared inside.'

"In you go."

'Silver kicked the Minotaur inside and closed the entrance, leaving only a small hole inside for air to enter.'

'He also poisoned the Minotaur so it would remain sedated until his next visit.'

'Although that wasn't really necessary since minotaurs aren't strong enough to break the Dungeon walls.'

'Normal Minotaurs...'

"Perfect, now, I need to wait and see if the Minotaur will be here by the time I return."

'Silver made his way to the surface, killing any monsters on his way.'

…

'After passing by the Guild and getting his rewards, Silver made his way home.'

"Welcome home Silver." Said Hestia as she sat by the fireplace

"How was your day?" Asked Silver

"Nothing too special, I just went to Hephaestus and talked with her for some time."

"Is she still occupied?" Asked Silver

"Yes… Although she has opened some time recently, she is still on the forge almost 12 hours a day."

"That's a lot of dedication…"

'Hestia seemed a bit sad.'

"She has a lot on her shoulders."

"... Did you eat?"

'She shook her head.'

"So let me take a bath, then I will make some food."

'She smiled.'

"This time, let me help you."

I should learn how to cook, Silver must be tired from going to the Dungeon every day, he deserves some help.

"Sure."

…

'Next day, Silver could be seen walking together with Hestia on the streets of Orario.'

"Today's the day, tell me how it goes later on." Said Silver

"It's my first time in one of these… I am quite nervous." Replied Hestia

What should I say in there?...

"Sigh, that's why I told you to go meet with Hephaestus…"

This isn't a blind date, why are you so nervous...

"I can't depend on her for everything. And in any case, this isn't that big of a deal."

'Hestia took a step forward and said:'

"See you later then Silver!"

'As she said that, she gave him a big hug and ran away.'

"That's not the only reason why I am worried about her…"

Would she even be able to hit the topmost button on the elevator?

Why is the average height of people in this world so low? Like, 150-165 Cm…

Yet the elevator button is so high up...

'Silver shook his head as he went to meet with his partner Minotaur, or as he named him, Mino-Tan.'

…

'In an old and abandoned house, a cloaked man could be seen reading a note.'

/Crackle/

'After he was done with the note, he proceeded to burn it by throwing it in the fire.'

"The operation went into smoke, so it's time to punish the culprits huh…"

Shit. Almost everyone is dead. How am I supposed to find the identity of someone who never appeared before when everyone in Orario is after us?

"If I had a lot of time, it would be simple, just like always, but I only have a month."

That is barely enough for the dust to settle.

Just my day…

Boss is missing and all of the executives and leaders are either dead or missing. Only minor agents and covert leaders like me are still alive.

"Going to the North is a no-go. I will be found out in a minute…"

If only I could remove this mark from my neck, infiltration would be way easier…

/Fwush…/

'Suddenly, a crow entered the darkroom.'

"?!"

A... Bird?

'He took out his pair of curved knives, but nothing happened. He noticed the note on the crow's leg.'

"A… Mensagem crow? But we don't use these as a form of communication…"

'He carefully went to the crow and picked the note on its leg.

"..."

'He stayed there, reading the note for around half a minute.'

'Its contents shocked him.'

"This is?..."

I can't understand this… Who and why?

Most importantly, how do they know about this matter?

"I need to confirm it, I can't trust this information yet…"

But if it's true… My mission may have become easier. It won't take even a week…

'The cloaked man disappeared, his destination unknown…'

…

"... Is that all? Come on Mino-Tan, you can do better than that." Said Silver as he looked at the tired minotaur

'Luckily, Mino-Tan was still alive and well when he returned, so he went back to his training session.'

"Mu…"

'The minotaur could barely hold the ice spear.'

"Is this all for today? Not that I mind, I will continue my training by killing other creatures."

This training has been quite decent I must say.

It's a shame that the others monsters on these floors aren't adequate for this type of training.

I tried doing this with Cristal mantises, and even Ligerfangs. But they showed disappointing results.

(The first is obvious and the second is a tiger monster.)

However, I can't spend all of my time just doing this, I have other stats to grind.

"Until tomorrow Mino-Tan, have a good sleep." Said Silver as he shoved the minotaur back inside the hole and closed it again.

'He used his inventory and picked a small bag.'

"It took me a while to find it, but I finally got it after I did some running on the black market."

It was rather hard to find, but after "asking" some people, I easily found its location.

Although that place had many types of interesting tools and items, they were all overpriced. Even this singular bag cost 50K Valis. And it's a single-use item that lasts a few hours...

I never said that, black market? Are you crazy?

This is the opposite of a Morbui scent bag. It's a bag that attracts monsters.

The idea came from a drunken adventurer I heard about a few days ago.

He said something about using such a bag to attract large amounts of monsters and make the Hunter Development Ability process easier.

Although the item is illegal, that doesn't mean it was always so.

In the past, these bags were legal and they accumulated quite the fame. Some official adventurers even know how to make them.

If they do... That's not my problem.

However, they just laugh saying it was a mad idea, I think the contrary. I didn't even know such an item existed until then.

These bags aren't almighty though, since they have a target in mind.

There are bags that only work on the Upper floors and some that only work on the Middle floors.

This is due to how the monsters on each floor hunt. A certain smell on the Upper floors may attract Killer ants, but on the Lower floor, it may be used to scare off another monster.

"What a shame, if only I had known…"

I had stopped playing around with potion and 'item making' this past month because I don't have time to experiment with materials.

I barely have time to train and read the theory books. Much less using the forge and going after the books…

"..."

Perhaps I should pass by one of the libraries… I wonder how they work in this world.

Do they just allow anyone to enter and gain knowledge? I doubt it.

"Items are made to help us, and such a bag could make so many things easier… However, I do know why it's banned and why no one talks about it anymore apart from some old drunk adventurers."

It's too easy to cause trouble with such an item.

"It's similar to the Killer ants. If you pick a killer ant and hurt it, it will emit a pheromone for help that will attract all killer ants in its vicinity."

Such a method is used to dispose of many people in the Dungeon, imagine if they had access to such a wide use item...

"But for me… Isn't it perfect?"

Perhaps there is an item that can make monsters spawn faster, that would be divine…

"I am ready, lets go!"

'Silver threw the bag on the ground and ignited it with a flame.'

'A terrible smell soon covered the entire area…'

"I was prepared but damn..."

'Silver was in a rather secluded section of the floor, this was to make sure he would never meet with another adventurer and risk Mino-Tan's life... Or their life.'

'And now, it is working as the perfect covert place for his experiment.'

'After a minute...'

...

/Muuuu!.../

'Cries of monsters soon came into Silver's ears as he prepared himself.'

"Showtime…"

I wonder how high will my stats rise…

…

'On top of Babel, the Denatus was held.'

'It was a magnificent open-air room on the highest floor of Babel...'

'There were no walls in this room apart from a small section where the elevators were built.'

'Multiple marble pillars acted as support for the rest of Babel, as for how that was possible… Magic.'

'Like in an arena, a single stone bleacher surrounded a circular table where a strange circular object laid on top.'

'All of the Gods sat on the bleacher as they waited for the next subject to start.'

'This included the beautiful Freya, that constantly attracted gazes to her, from males and females alike'

'A strange tanned girl wearing multiple accessories and almost no clothes, Ishtar.'

'The enraged Loki. Who was constantly scanning all of the people in the room.'

'A serious small girl with big titties in white clothes and white sandals'

'The sleepy and bored Hermes. Uncaring about what was happening.'

'The lawful and strict Artemis.'

'Miach, the kind and natural Gigolo. Smiling to the ladies around him.'

'A kind woman with long green hair, she had a kind motherly look, however, she looked concerned.'

'And a man with a thin bushy beard and disheveled hair, he looked like a Hobo.'

'And many more…'

(N1)

'After everyone arrived, they started their meeting...'

...

"... And this concludes this subject." Said someone with a piercing on his nose, he looked like a gangster

"Leto and Tityos War game theme will be chosen in two weeks!"

"The game itself shall happen when the month of February ends!" Screamed Hermes out loud in excitement

/Whispers…/

'The gods talked among themselves, it had been a while since a War game happened.'

'They were excited.'

"..."

Suck it faggot!

'Leto smiled gently on the outside, however, she snickered at her enemy who tried to ambush her Children in the Dungeon.'

I didn't expect you to go so low, but now...

It's just a shame he isn't being fined… Lack of proof… Humph!

Indeed it's a shame I don't have any proof… Since all of it was destroyed. And the murderers were killed by the Red knight… How sad for them...

'Her smile deepened.'

Just you wait… Yilfi and the others managed to Level up after almost two months of intense training… By the time the next Denatus happens, it will be already too late!

'Leto smiled sweetly, normally, she would have to give her Level 2 children an Alias, however, since this was an Emergency Denatus, all of these minor things were pushed to the true Denatus that will happen in March.'

"... That bitch."

'Tityos, the Hobo-looking God, gazed at his enemy with an intense glare… He knew she was mocking him with that smile…'

'And he hated that!'

"This leads us to yesterday…" Said a girl wearing a long dress, her hair was dark as the night sky

/BAM!/

'Loki smacked on the marble to get the other people's attention.'

"Finally! I thought it would take all day!" She said

"Calm down Loki…" Said a guy on her side

"SHUT UP! My Familia got freaking attacked and I won't take that lightly!"

'Loki is way beyond pissed… Was what most Gods thought.'

"So what do you want to do? we barely even know who is our enemy." Said a tall and skinny God

"They are certainly not from Orario." Said Loki

"... That's obvious, such a Familia wouldn't be able to grow that strong without anyone noticing." Said a male God whose hair covers his entire face

"Yet, this still doesn't explain how they got strong in the first place." He complimented

"But that would mean they are from outside of Orario. How did they get in?" Asked a girl

"I have a suspicion they received help from inside." Said Loki

"?!" x Gods

"That's a bold claim…" Said an Old God

"But an obvious one." Said Dyonisus as he cut the other God

"So what do we do? We can't keep the city on lockdown forever, we are already suffering from some problems…" Said a fat God with golden clothes

I hate having to say it, but we can't stop the flow for too long, I already suffered enough from the displeasure of the merchants... I just want a break.

But we can't just stop with the investigations... What a predicament...

"Keeping the city on lockdown won't do much for a group that is capable of entering Orario in large numbers, even if they have help, it would be hard to sneak one or two people inside." Said a woman with thick glasses

'Loki smiled.'

"I found some things after investigating the corpses… How about you all hear me out?"

…

'The meeting went on for another 3 hours before everyone left.'

"Ahhh… It's finally over!" Said Hestia as she got up from her seat

That was super boring! Geez, watching Silver read his books seems more entertaining than this…

"It's been a while beautiful Hestia…" Said a voice from behind her

'Hestia cringed, she recognized the voice immediately, just how many hundreds of times had she heard it?'

'To the point that it made her sick.'

"Apollo…" Said Hestia

'A man with orange hair and a leaf crown appeared. He had a calm smile on his face, he was handsome yet… Something was off.'

"It's been so long! I couldn't wait to see you again…" Said Apollo

'But Hestia cut him off.'

"Don't come with this talk again, I heard it hundreds of times already…" She said

'Apollos still maintained his smile as he opened his arms and said:'

"Please, don't be like that! I bet you have yet to properly set up Orario, how about I help you?"

And I will introduce you to some good Soma wine and then…

'His cheeks got red as he thought about the future.'

'Hestia was disgusted, however.'

'Apollo was always straightforward and persistent...'

"Leave me alone! I already told you this many times already. I am not interested."

"Hestia-Chan! Can't you feel my unending love?!

'As Apollo said that he approached Hestia, Hephaestus was ready to intervene when…'

"Stop! I… I already have a boyfriend!"

/Gasp!/

/Silence…/

'All of the Gods who were still in the room stopped moving in shock.'

'Everyone knows each other in Heaven, even if not in a personal way, they still know each other, so for them, Hestia getting a boyfriend is like Heaven being overturned.'

'Many guys cringed as if they had lost their chance, some had sly smiles, thinking she had finally, 'opened up'.'

'The girls however were very curious… Very much so…'

'This included a Silver-haired girl on the side who seemed as if she would crush the marble below her feet as she looked at Hestia.'

'And a red-haired girl who seemed as if her soul had been consumed.'

"Wh-What did you say?..."

'Apollo's smile completely crumbled as it was replaced by an angry and shocked face.'

"Ah…"

'Hestia was embarrassed, but since she said it, might as well finish it so these pests don't bother her anymore!'

"Ye-Yes! I have a very handsome and strong boyfriend! So stop bothering me! Humph!"

'But Apollo wasn't ready to admit defeat.'

(N2)

"IM-IMPOSIBLE! You can refuse me, but never lie to me!" He said out loud as he pointed at Hestia as if wanting to rally the others up

'But she was unfazed, she maintained her matured persona and just scoffed at him.'

"Stop denying reality! He is much more handsome, stronger, cooler, and helpful than you will ever be! Not to mention he is much bigger than you!" Said Hestia

What did I just say?... Sigh, I don't really care about the height… I just want him to stop bothering me…

'At this point, Hestia didn't care anymore about what she was saying, anything to have this guy stop.'

Can't he be tactful and leave?!

'She was talking about his height… However, for these perverted Gods, only one thing passed by their heads…'

'With only a few actually thinking about his height, this included Artemis, who was very confused about the others' reactions, only after a while did she "understand" and her face went red.'

"Yo-Yo-You… Do you want to humiliate me to this extent?!"

'Apollo looked as if he was about to go crazy, but…'

"Alright, that's enough." Said a deep voice coming from the strange circular object on the table

'The voice was deep, and with it, silence spread across the room.'

"Right right, even Ouranos wants you to stop." Said Hestia as a little bit of sweat fell from her forehead

This escalated quickly… I just want to go home…

"Hestia…" Called Hephaestus

'Hestia saw her friend waving at her, so she didn't even look at Apollos as she ran towards her. Soon after, they entered the elevator and left.'

'Before the doors closed, she gave Apollo a very rude expression…'

"..." Apollos remained there, his expression distorted

'Hermes pulled his hat down to hide his expression, but a smile could be seen below it.'

'He was very much amused.'

'Ishtar licked her lips, her thoughts her own…'

'Artemis was still shocked as she couldn't believe her friend was already so far ahead of her.'

'The others had different reactions, but it was overall just pure shock.'

'This would certainly be a hot topic among the Gods for some time…'

…

'On the elevator, Hephaestus played with her hair as she looked at Hestia.'

"What is it? Do you want to ask me something?"

"Cough!"

'Hephaestus choked as she was taken by surprise.'

"... When you talked about having a boyfriend…"

"Bah! I don't have one of course…"

Not yet…

'Hephaestus' single eye opened wide but soon closed as her poker face returned. But she now had a deep smile and her cheeks were a tiny bit red.'

"That's good." She said in a small voice

"What did you say Hephaestus?"

"Cough! Nothing much!..." She said as her expression turned serious

'Hestia was a bit suspicious. But she didn't say anything.'

'Hephaestus soon got serious again.'

"You need to be careful, Apollo isn't going to forget that. Once the situation gets calmer and everything gets resolved…"

'Hestia's expression was a little grim.'

Silver is strong but not enough to take on his Familia alone… Not yet as he would say.

Although I don't doubt if he came to me and said he could take them on…

'Hephaestus looked at the worried Hestia and said:'

"Sigh… You cause trouble and don't even know how to fix it? In any case, stop worrying for now, I doubt Apollo would have the courage to challenge a Familia with only a single member. His pride wouldn't allow for that."

Although… Knowing how persistent he is. If he is truly angered…

'She shook her head.'

"Most likely, if he intends to do anything, it will surely be after the War game."

"If something happens I will be there to help you okay?"

"Hephaestus…"

'Hestia jumped on her as she cried.'

"Stop! You are dirtying my clothes…"

/DING/

'With the sound of a bell, the elevator reached the bottom'

I didn't have the chance to ask her that…

Sigh…

…

/Sometime later, Hestia could be seen sitting on her bed as she told Silver what happened/

"And then the Denatus ended." Said Hestia

Better not bother Silver with that final part…

"So in the end, that's how things went, Loki is truly pissed… To even bring stuff from decades ago."

The information-gathering ability of a big Familia can't be underestimated, they tracked the marks on the terrorists to something from 40 years ago…

It seems these people were remnants of an outsider group that disbanded in the past. However, it seems they are still active, and now, they went a little dark in their operations…

Loki wasn't even here at that time.

"Knowing Loki, I expected her to go after the enemy, but she is being surprisingly docile." Said Silver

"Well, she wants to deal with the informant first." Said Hestia

"Hm…"

It's certainly Dionysus… However, he isn't someone to reveal himself, even towards the end.

The situation is far from checkmate. I am sure that even at this moment, he is thinking of ways to get a clean alibi and push the blame to someone else.

"That's not our problem anyway." Said Silver as he turned around and sat on the bed in front of Hestia

"You are right, Loki will solve everything on her own anyway. We just need to focus on our day-to-day life." Said Hestias as she updated Silver's status

"..."

I wonder how things will end… Who will take the blame? Dionysus definitely has something planned…

"Done!" Said Hestia

"..."

I will think about this later, the enemy is a Familia with Level 6's adventurers, even if they were weakened, why should I mess with them?

'Silver picked the paper and read it.'

It seems my training is effective…

/Growl…/

'Hestia's stomach protested.'

'She showed a smile.'

"Alright, I will make some food…"

…