"So… strong…"
Someone in the group murmured what everyone was thinking.
It wasn't that they'd never seen a Level 3 adventurer fight—of course they had. But Duncan's age, his small build, the way he spoke with easy warmth… it all made it difficult to connect him with the word killer. Now that they'd witnessed it firsthand, the shock settled into a different realization:
Second-class adventurers were never simple.
"Even Captain isn't this strong, right?"Landy whispered from the back, unable to keep her mouth shut.
"…At least in speed and dexterity, I'm not his match," Letsa admitted after a brief hesitation.
They were both Level 3, but if she had to bet, she'd bet her own knife that Duncan's Agility and Dexterity were far above hers. And if he moved like this, it made no sense for his other stats to be low.
Adventurers could be lopsided—mages with monstrous Magic and mediocre Strength, tanks with absurd Endurance and slower feet. But there were always exceptions, the "stat freaks" whose main attribute soared while everything else refused to lag behind.
Letsa's imagination could stretch far, but not that far.
That innocent face—paired with the spear's razor clarity—made even a veteran Level 3 feel faintly ashamed.
After roaming like a sweeping blade for a full ten minutes, Duncan returned to the formation. The hostile presences around them were gone. Some had been reduced to ash by his spear; the rest had fled in panic, scattering into the vastness of the forest.
The monster "army" that had tried to take them by numbers had collapsed like a sandcastle under a tidal wave.
"…What?" Duncan asked quietly as he rejoined them, noticing the awe-heavy stares. "Did something happen?"
"Nothing," Artemis said, her tone unchanged. Gods had seen grander spectacles than this, but she understood her children's feelings all the same. "They've simply met the real you at last."
Then she issued orders with crisp authority.
"Landy. Rishia. Recover the magic stones and materials. Everyone else—regroup where you are. Once we're ready, we move."
"Yes! Lady Artemis!" Landy answered.
She nodded to Duncan—careful now, far less flippant than before—exchanged a few words with her partner, and slipped into the trees.
There was an unspoken hierarchy among adventurers, sometimes harsher than anyone liked to admit. Even within the same Familia, higher-level members could look down on the lower, treating them like convenient hands and disposable tools. And Duncan wasn't even their upper-level adventurer.
A little earlier, they'd laughed with him because he was young, because he seemed easy to talk to.
Now they had seen him for what he truly was: a Level 3.
The dissonance left everyone uneasy.
"I'm still me," Duncan said, shaking his head as he finally grasped what was happening. "I'm still Duncan. That doesn't change because my level is higher."
It wasn't melodrama. For over a year, the only people around him had been Bell, Alfia, and Chaldea—adventurers so terrifying that even Zeus could beat fear into him with nothing but technique. Bell admired him, yes, but it was a younger brother's admiration, not this instinctive reverence that pressed down on the air.
Duncan—who had spent his days getting crushed—had never truly understood the social weight carried by "Level 3." In the eyes of his three teachers, his current strength was barely worth mentioning.
In truth, only now was he stepping into the wider world.
The stares made him feel like someone who'd grown up in a max-level village and had just walked into the first city.
"Saying that is one thing…"The others exchanged glances and awkward laughs. Habit sat deep in their bones; it wasn't something they could change on command.
"Don't mind them," Letsa said, stepping up and giving Duncan's shoulder a friendly pat. As a fellow Level 3, she didn't shrink away the way the others did. Whether she could beat him was another question—but their rank was the same, and that alone made her more relaxed.
"Letsa," Artemis said, slipping her shortsword back into place and checking her bow with a displeased look. "You've been slacking lately. At this rate, you can't even compare to Duncan anymore."
"Lady Artemis! You can't say that in front of an outsider!" Letsa flushed and protested, then hurriedly tried to salvage her dignity. "Besides—Strength, Endurance… experience… surely those are still my advantage, right? Right, Duncan?"
She blinked at him—hard—begging for support with her eyes.
Duncan didn't miss it.
"Yes," he said with practiced sincerity. "Sister Letsa has far more field experience than I do. There's a lot I should learn from her. Compared to everyone here, I'm still a rookie. Lady Artemis, you praise me too highly."
Letsa exhaled, relief flooding her face. In her head, the thought strong and humble—what a good kid began piling up like firewood.
Artemis sighed.
"Didn't you notice? He just told you the only thing worth learning from you is experience." Her gaze flicked to Duncan. "You didn't mean it that way, but careless honesty is often the sharpest."
"I absolutely didn't mean that!" Duncan waved his hands rapidly, horrified at the idea of offending her.
"I know." Artemis's tone softened, and she reached out to gently pat his head—warm, maternal, almost absentminded. "You're a good child. Strong, humble, considerate… honestly, you don't seem like the kind of child Zeus would raise."
Then her expression turned serious again.
"But remember this: humility is a virtue, yes. However, there are times when an adventurer must show themselves. Especially someone like you—strong now, and stronger still in the future. One day you will stand at the first-class level. You will have juniors. And when that day comes, you must be able to project confidence—so they can trust you, and rely on you."
"Lady Artemis, Duncan is only just thirteen—this is a bit early, isn't it? And besides, Zeus Familia has already—"
Letsa cut herself off mid-sentence, realizing what she'd almost said, and looked at Duncan with a sudden panic.
Artemis's smile was faint and sharp.
"It isn't early at all. Reality is exactly why he must understand early." Her emerald eyes narrowed slightly. "And Duncan… your age is fake, isn't it?"
Letsa froze. "W-What? You mean he's even younger than thirteen?! Then he's like Loki Familia's Sword Princess—?!"
Artemis shrugged lightly, as if stating a simple fact.
"You can't lie in front of a god. And I understand why Zeus would have you claim a higher age—your level paired with your real age would draw too much attention. But if you truly want secrecy… don't tell your age in front of gods."
Duncan didn't answer Letsa's stunned question.
Instead, he met Artemis's clear green gaze head-on—steady, fierce, and utterly serious.
"Zeus Familia wasn't destroyed," he said. "Not in the past. Not now. Not ever."
And for the first time since he'd joined them, the boy's voice carried something that didn't come from training, stats, or skill.
It came from conviction.
....
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