Judging from his expression, Jura certainly didn't die peacefully—but Charles couldn't have cared less about how unwilling he was to go.
What had just happened could be sumd up in one sentence: Jura delivered himself to the chopping block, and Charles looted the body with tears in his eyes.
And those tears? Entirely because he was moved by Jura's selfless generosity.
Not counting the scattered magic stones all over the ground, the drop materials from the enhanced monsters were plentiful.
It was well known that drops from enhanced variants were higher in quality—rarer and more valuable than standard ones.
But the real treasures weren't those. They were Jura's whip and the bone earring he wore on his ear.
Upon inspection, Charles discovered both were magical tools.
In the world of DanMachi, magical tools were rare—few people could craft them.
Unlike magic swords, which embodied raw destructive force, magical tools were less powerful in a direct sense but far more versatile. They also didn't break after just one or two uses like magic swords did.
To Charles's knowledge, only two people could create them: Fels the "Sage," now hiding in the Dungeon, and Asfi, the "Perfect One" of the Hers Familia.
The original story featured artifacts like flying boots and the Hades Helt of Invisibility—both of Asfi's creations. Fels, anwhile, accidentally created the Philosopher's Stone and earned the title "Sage."
Which led Charles to suspect that the rare Mystery developnt ability was necessary for crafting magical tools.
With that in mind, the origin of Jura's magical tools beca clear.
Charles had long wondered how the Dark Faction had managed to develop sothing like the slave collar. Now it seed obvious—this was the work of that man.
Baka, the cursed descendant of the Daedalus family. Because of his inherited curse, he had been confined to building the artificial labyrinth Knossos, and few in the outside world even knew of his existence.
But his blood brother was well-known: Dix Perdix of the Icarus Familia, the "Berserker."
Only soone with deep ties to the Dark Faction like him would supply such devices to them.
Charles didn't know the nas of the two items, but he could sense that the whip amplified intimidation against monsters, and the earring allowed the wearer to emit a monster-like aura, reducing resistance during taming.
Combined with the slave collars, it was no wonder Jura could control so many monsters at once.
After packing up his spoils, Charles headed back.
This ti, there were no more surprises—he returned just in ti to see the morning sun rising.
He had set out at noon the day before—aning he'd spent a day and a half, including two full nights, in the Dungeon.
But most of that ti had gone into traveling. The actual combat hadn't taken long.
When Charles returned to the Familia's manor, he found Hephaestus sitting in the main hall.
Seeing him walk in, she smiled. "I figured you'd be back around now. I just got up myself, so I decided to wait here for you."
Charles nodded. "Thanks for your concern. Would you mind updating my status?"
He returned to his room, put down his pack, and removed his shirt, revealing the divine blessing on his back.
Hephaestus pricked her finger with a long needle and let a drop of divine blood fall onto his back.
Glowing divine script appeared over his skin—and sure enough, the characters indicating his level had begun to shift.
Hephaestus sighed in admiration. "I can't believe your plan actually worked. You really did perform a deed worthy of leveling up.
It looks like you don't need to accumulate stats anymore. Shall I proceed with the level-up now?"
Charles nodded. "Please do."
Hephaestus's finger danced across the script on his back, and the holy characters began to rearrange.
"Let's take a look at your available developnt abilities. Wait a second—!"
Normally, adventurers were offered one developnt ability per level-up. The options were based on their training focus and experiences at the previous level.
Most people saw six or seven options at most—but Charles had a list so dense it looked like a sea of text.
"[Fist Fight], [Breaker], [Magic Aptitude], [Status Resistance], [Hunter], [Smith], [Magic Defense], [Combo Attack]... Ha! Other than [Healer], which is exclusive to certain professions, you've practically hit the entire core list of abilities.
And there's [Draconic Force], [Martial Arts], [Traveler]—I've never even seen these before!"
Charles sighed. "No [Mystery]?"
Hephaestus laughed. "You're really greedy, huh? But sorry—no [Mystery] on the list. So, which one will it be?"
Charles answered without hesitation. "As we discussed before—please select [Smith]."
"Well, since you've already made up your mind…"
Hephaestus adjusted the script, arranging the divine characters on Charles's back into their new form. She took a piece of parchnt from the side, made an imprint, and handed it to the now fully dressed Charles.
"Charles Dragneel
Level 2
Strength: I (0)
Endurance: I (0)
Dexterity: I (0)
Agility: I (0)
Magic: I (0)
Magic:
[Fire Dragon Slayer Magic]
· Chantless spell
· Grants fire immunity and absorption
· [A#×*nj]
· XN>%`K,H4#LW_
Skills:
[Dragon Slayer]
· Boosts all stats against dragon-type enemies
· Increases damage to dragon-type enemies
[Unique Armant]
· Creates indestructible gear from magic power
· Enhances all attack power
Developnt Ability: [Smith I]"
After a level-up, all stats reset to zero—so finally, Charles's ability scores didn't look outrageously absurd anymore.
Charles didn't really feel much different after leveling up. And it made sense—the divine blessing's upgrade system and the world's innate magical protections weren't necessarily on the sa scale.
Still, obtaining the [Smith] developnt ability just as he'd hoped was deeply satisfying.
Next up was leveling that ability from I to higher ranks.
Unfortunately, developnt abilities couldn't be leveled up through shortcuts like deeds of rit. They required repetitive, relevant actions to gain experience.
Hephaestus had once told Charles that only smiths with a high-level [Smith] ability could forge magic swords. But with Farl's help, he could bypass so of that requirent.
Which was why Charles now felt impatient to start hamring tal.
Watching him practically glow with excitent, Hephaestus said, "One more thing—when an adventurer becos an upper-tier adventurer, they have to report it to the Guild.
You only registered ten days ago, right? If you level up this fast, it might cause so problems. Should we hide it for a while?"
Charles understood imdiately. The Guild required all Familia to report adventurer level-ups as a matter of managent.
Of course, many Familia concealed their mbers' real levels. The worst offender was the Hers Familia's Asfi—whose public record still listed her as Level 2.
Though stats reset upon level-up and weren't as intimidating, the re fact that Charles had leveled up in just ten days would raise serious suspicions.
The current record for fastest promotion from Level 1 to Level 2 was held by Ais Wallenstein of the Loki Familia—at one year.
If Charles cut that to ten days, the inevitable response would be doubt and fear—exactly the kind of "trouble" Hephaestus was talking about.
Luckily, Hephaestus wasn't running an exploration-type Familia, so Charles didn't need to dive into the Dungeon constantly. He could postpone his report and focus on improving his forging.
To be honest, Charles didn't really care. Sure, his status now said Level 2, but in truth, his power was already well beyond Level 7.
At the end of the day, strength ruled Orario. Look at Ottar—he was the only Level 7 and the strongest adventurer in town. Who would dare ss with him?
Still, it would be a hassle to explain, so Charles said, "Then let's go with your suggestion. I'll report it when necessary."
What Hephaestus admired most about Charles wasn't his strength—it was his clarity of mind. He always knew exactly what he wanted.
Even if he didn't get the fa he deserved this ti, Hephaestus was confident that Charles would shine soday.
In the thousand years since the age of divine blessings began, Hephaestus had seen many people like him.
It was as if fate itself pulled such people onto the stage.
And those people were always called—heroes.
[Check out my Patreon for 200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! Only $5 per novel or $15 for all!!] [[email protected]/Mutter]
[ 50 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[ 5 Reviews = 1 Extra Chapter]
User Comments
0 comments from readers