"Finally—we're here~"
The carriage came to a stop near the cabin. Duncan was the first to hop down from the rear compartment, stretching with a long, satisfied sigh. Weapon crafting had taken three days, plus another day on the road—at last, they were back at the familiar wooden house. The jolting ride had nearly rattled his bones loose.
The Lower World was still stuck in a medieval level of civilization. The primary means of transportation was the carriage. Duncan had heard that Orario had beast tamers who used monsters as mounts and transport, but a backwater like this obviously didn't have anything that high-end.
A carriage without rubber tires wasn't "riding," it was suffering. Duncan had originally planned to walk back, but since they'd finally reached a larger town, they ended up buying far more supplies than expected. With no choice, they hired a carriage and endured the ride.
"The noisy brats finally came back," Zeus said, stepping out with an exaggerated look of disgust.
Even though he'd been quietly miserable stuck alone with Alfia, now that they were back he was immediately acting like he couldn't stand them. Gods really were impossible creatures.
"Grandpa! We're back!" Bell, on the other hand, ran up brightly.
Even though Bell now knew his "grandpa" was a god, it hadn't changed his feelings or attitude in the slightest.
"Oho~ Bell, let me see… Mm. All healed up, and you've filled out some too. Good, good. I'll update your status in a bit," Zeus said, smiling like a doting grandfather.
"You two—get over here and start carrying things," Zald ordered, already unloading the rear compartment.
It took them a while to haul everything into the cabin. Spare weapons, recovery potions, stamina potions—everything they could reasonably stock up on, and plenty of it. They also bought a lot of food, since it took up space but was hard to vary out here.
Oddly enough, Zald had an unexpected talent for cuisine. Most cooking duties ended up in his hands, which made for a hilarious contrast with his hulking physique.
Whenever they found good ingredients in town, they bought extra—because back here they only had the bare basics, nothing like the variety in the city.
In the end, the power of money filled an entire carriage with supplies, and the group finally returned to their remote cabin.
Because Duncan's injury had been severe, Zald had immediately brought Duncan and Bell into town, only later sending a letter back to report their condition. Now that both boys were safely home, even Alfia—usually indifferent to most things—let out a quiet breath of relief. Mostly because of Bell, of course.
Once everything was settled, Zeus took a sewing needle, pricked his finger, and let a drop of divine blood fall onto Duncan's back. The "lock" on Duncan's blessing opened. A blue glow spread across his previously blank back, and dark markings gradually surfaced.
"…Tch."
Staring at Duncan's updated numbers, even Zeus—who'd seen everything—clicked his tongue. He finished the procedure and handed Duncan the status sheet.
DuncanLevel: 2
Strength: SS 1091
Endurance: A 871
Dexterity: SSS 1357
Agility: SS 1279
Magic: A 894
Development Ability: Quickness H
Magic: Wagging Finger
Skills: Otherworld Wanderer / Lucky One? / Empty-Air Step
"…Tch."
Zald clicked his tongue too, tugging hard at his short beard—while his eyes kept flicking toward Alfia.
Everyone acknowledged Alfia as the first adventurer to "break the cap." Her breakthrough had only been from S 999 to SS 1001—just two points—yet it had still caused a sensation in Orario, because it proved S 999 wasn't the true limit.
Now looking at Duncan's numbers, Zald felt something bordering on absurdity.
Duncan's Level 1 stats had already prepared him for insanity, but seeing it again at Level 2 still made his spine go cold.
Level 1 could be excused—lower and upper-class adventurers were worlds apart. But Duncan was already Level 2, already an upper-class adventurer even in Orario, and he was practically knocking on Level 3… and his stats were still this outrageous.
Was an "outsider" really this unfair to the local ecosystem? Did the home team just not matter anymore?
"With no doubt, you've reached it—no, with numbers like this, if you couldn't rank up, there wouldn't be a single second-tier adventurer in the entire Lower World. Your feat is more than enough. Still… your Endurance and Magic are a bit low. What do you say, Duncan—want me to level you up now?" Zeus asked, stroking his beard in obvious delight.
"Low…?" Zald's eye twitched.
Compared to Duncan's other stats, sure, Endurance and Magic were lower—but that "nearly S" Magic value was something most people only saw on mages. And Duncan was a frontline melee fighter.
"Don't level him yet," Alfia said, opening her eyes for the first time in a while. Her voice was soft—yet carried an unmistakable command.
For most people, raising Magic took serious effort. But Duncan's spell was practically designed to inflate Magic. S and A looked like they were only six points apart on paper, but in practice the gap was far bigger.
And Endurance? That was even simpler. Beat him up a few more times and it would climb.
"I understand," Duncan said, nodding.
He'd never argued with their training methods. As veterans, they knew better than he did how to get stronger. The idea that "they're strong but don't know how to teach" didn't even cross his mind. Having high-level guidance in a world whose rules he barely understood was an absurdly valuable privilege.
"If that's your decision, then we'll do the next level-up later," Zeus said with a small nod. "Now it's Bell's turn."
Since Duncan wasn't leveling up, Zeus didn't push. For a monster like Duncan, leveling was only ever a question of time.
They repeated the process for Bell—opening his status panel—and even Zeus, now "used to" absurdity, let out a surprised little sound.
"Hm?"
"What is it?" Alfia stepped behind Bell. Even she froze when she saw what was written there.
The same familiar scene—again.
BellLevel: 1
Strength: S 999
Endurance: S 999
Dexterity: SS 1289
Agility: SS 1277
Magic: I 0
Skill: Hero Longing
Same recipe. Same wall of S-ranks. Staring at the page, Zald genuinely began to question the "value" of his own Level 7 existence.
Level was one thing. Stats were another. If Duncan was "an outsider exploiting a bug," fine—but Bell was native-born. A real local. And he was showing numbers that looked just as outrageous.
Had they been away from status updates for too long?
Were they… behind the times now?
Zald went silent for a long moment, then turned to Alfia.
"Is it us," he asked at last, "who can't keep up with the era anymore?"
....
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