The long night eventually came to an end. Completely unaware of everything that had transpired the night before, Leon woke up just as dawn was breaking, as was his routine. He grabbed his wash kit and stepped out of his room.
However, as Leon walked down the hallway, he was no longer met with the usual casual greetings from his seniors. The moment he appeared, he was instantly surrounded by a large crowd of Familia members, their eyes shining with an incredible, wide-eyed astonishment.
"You're finally awake, Leon!"
"You brat, you finally came out!"
"Quick! Tell us all about it!"
"Is the rumor actually true? Did you really—"
Leon couldn't make out the rest of their words.
It was simply too loud.
The seniors of the Familia were incredibly riled up, highly ecstatic, and deeply shocked. They shouted over one another, each voice louder and more excited than the last, completely catching Leon off guard and startling him.
He was entirely bewildered, having no idea what was going on. The roaring noise dynamic around him made his eardrums throb and his head spin, to the point where he almost turned around and bolted back into his room.
At that critical moment, Raul managed to squeeze through the crowd and threw an arm around Leon's shoulder.
"You really went and did something massive without saying a word, didn't you?" Raul said, his voice carrying the same intense excitement. "To think you actually broke Miss Ais's record. It's absolutely unbelievable!"
Seeing Raul arrive, Leon felt as though he had found a savior and let out a long sigh of relief.
"What is going on here? Why is everyone so worked up?" Leon asked hurriedly.
"Still trying to play it cool, are we?" Raul laughed, his tone sounding like a complaint but actually overflowing with genuine happiness for Leon. "The whole Familia knows by now. You leveled up, didn't you?"
Hearing this, Leon finally understood.
So, the news of his Level Up had already spread?
Then again, something like this could never be kept a secret, especially within the same Familia.
It was just—
"You all found out this quickly?"
Leon really hadn't expected the news to travel so fast.
After all, he had only leveled up last night. For everyone to know first thing in the morning meant the information had spread like wildfire.
If it were the leaders or executives of the Familia leveling up, such speed would be understandable. They were first-tier adventurers, the pillars of the Familia, and every level up meant a significant boost to their collective strength. Loki would undoubtedly broadcast such an event to everyone immediately.
Even if Raul or the other Level 4s in the second tier leveled up, it would make sense for the news to spread quickly. Stepping up to Level 5 meant becoming a first-tier adventurer, an event that would quickly become talk of the town across Orario, let alone within their own home base.
But what about him?
He had merely advanced from Level 1 to Level 2. There shouldn't have been any reason for such a massive fuss.
As one of the strongest Familias in the city, the bottom-tier members of the Loki Familia were all Level 2. Leon had simply gone from being a rookie who couldn't keep up with the main force to becoming one of those baseline members. It hardly seemed worth whispering about.
Holding this perspective, Leon hadn't taken his advancement to Level 2 seriously at all. After returning from Loki's room the previous night, he had fallen straight asleep, leaving him completely oblivious to the commotion that followed his departure.
Yet, waking up at the crack of dawn, he had somehow become the absolute center of attention in the Familia.
This was the downside of being part of a mega-Familia.
Because he was surrounded by upper-class adventurers, the elites of the elite, and regularly interacted with first-tier figures like Ais, Leon failed to realize that reaching Level 2 was an achievement of note regardless of context.
Particularly when he had accomplished it in less than a month. It would be stranger if it didn't cause a massive stir.
Why were these seniors crowding around him so passionately? It wasn't because he had reached Level 2; it was because of the absurdly short time it took him to get there.
"Our Goddess announced it to us herself last night—that you successfully leveled up and left Level 1 behind," Raul said in awe. "Less than a month! You actually made it to Level 2 in less than a month, shattering Miss Ais's fastest leveling record."
"You have no idea how hyped Loki was last night. She burst out of her room screaming and running straight into the Captain's office, waking up the entire manor."
"We honestly thought some kind of major emergency had occurred, but after Old Man Gareth came out, we finally learned that you had leveled up."
An expression of utter disbelief remained on Raul's face as he spoke.
"How on earth did you pull that off? Even Miss Ais took a whole year to reach Level 2, and you did it in less than a month."
Not just Raul, but every single person present stared at Leon with looks of profound astonishment and disbelief.
Heaven knew how shocked they had been when they first heard the news last night.
They had initially assumed Loki was just drunk and rambling nonsense, and they only forced themselves to accept reality once Gareth stepped forward to confirm it.
Even so, it felt entirely surreal.
There was no helping it; reaching a higher level in under a month was simply too absurd.
When Ais completed her advancement in a single year, it had already been deemed a miracle, causing a sensation across the entire world. Yet, Leon hadn't just broken that record; he had condensed the ultimate achievement from a year down to less than thirty days. Who could readily believe that?
That was exactly why they were this rowdy so early in the morning.
"Well... how should I put it?"
Seeing Raul and the others staring at him with burning curiosity, Leon scratched his cheek.
"Even if you ask me how I did it, I don't really know what to say. I just dived into the Dungeon normally, adventured normally, and trained normally. I didn't do anything special."
This was the absolute truth.
He had simply explored the Dungeon, adventured, and trained. He truly hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.
The reason he could level up so rapidly was, on one hand, his sheer recklessness—venturing solo into the 7th floor when all his basic abilities were still at rank I, surviving multiple life-and-death crises, and achieving feats others wouldn't dare attempt. On the other hand, it was due to the broken nature of his unreadable special skill, Outworlder.
That skill allowed him to grow at an inhuman velocity, much like a certain protagonist, and seemingly lowered the threshold for his level advancement.
Without Outworlder, Leon could never have surpassed the standard limits of his basic abilities to reach Level 2. At best, he would have raised his baseline attributes by a few stages, meaning he would still be struggling through the 5th to 7th floors of the Dungeon right now, rather than moving through the 12th floor yesterday as though it were his personal backyard.
As for leveling up?
Without a few years of grueling effort, it would have been impossible.
Furthermore, if Leon's latent potential had been truly mediocre, he might never have managed to level up at all.
Possessing this self-awareness, Leon couldn't possibly offer any practical advice, nor could he carelessly expose the existence of Outworlder. He could only give Raul and the others this vague response.
Though Raul and the crowd desperately wanted to know his secret, they possessed enough tact not to pry too deeply. Instead, they continued to talk excitedly about him breaking the world record.
They didn't harbor any jealousy toward him; rather, they were genuinely thrilled.
No matter what, Leon was a companion of their Familia, one of their own. The more exceptional he was, the prouder they felt, as it meant the Loki Familia was growing even stronger.
Moving forward, whether they were familiar with Leon or not, anyone who saw him instantly crowded around to chatter about his level up. The gathering around Leon grew larger and larger until he found it overwhelming.
Eventually, the commotion grew loud enough to disturb Gareth, waking the old dwarf up.
"What's with all this racket first thing in the morning? Disperse, all of you! Go do what you're supposed to be doing!"
The old man's voice boomed so loudly that the ceiling seemed to vibrate, causing the crowd surrounding Leon to scatter instantly like startled birds.
"Thanks, Old Man."
Leon, who was reaching his limit dealing with the intense enthusiasm of his comrades, expressed his gratitude to the approaching Gareth.
"What? Overwhelmed already?" Gareth looked at the sweating Leon and teased with a smirk. "Then you're going to have a rough time ahead."
Given Leon's growth rate, this kind of situation would likely become a regular occurrence.
Moreover, within the safety of the Familia, the situation was still relatively mild. Once he stepped outside, that was when the real chaos would begin.
Leon had a fair idea of what Gareth was implying.
"I'll worry about the future when it comes," Leon sighed, shaking his head.
"This is the price of fame. Get used to it."
Gareth slapped Leon on the shoulder with his massive hand, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
To be fair, the dwarven warrior's strength was immense, fitting for a powerhouse whose Strength and Endurance both sat firmly at rank S.
"This is just the beginning," Gareth added, his words carrying a deeper meaning as he kept patting Leon's shoulder. "The truly troublesome one is still waiting for you."
Saying that, Gareth turned his gaze out the window, looking toward the central courtyard.
Understanding the hint, Leon followed Gareth's gaze, spotting a familiar figure swinging a longsword under the shade of the trees.
"Go on," Gareth encouraged with a grin. "Don't let our princess overthink things."
Leon remained silent for a moment before nodding his head.
The morning courtyard still retained a trace of the night's chill, leaving a crisp, cool aura lingering in the air that refused to dissipate.
Before the sunlight could touch the grounds, the gold-haired, gold-eyed swordswoman had already appeared, swinging her beloved sword just as she had done every single day for the past ten years.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The crisp air was repeatedly sliced open by sharp, precise cuts. Every time the gold-haired, gold-eyed swordswoman swung her blade, a flash of silver light danced through the air, cold and piercing.
However, if someone familiar with Ais were to observe her current performance, they would notice that she seemed somewhat distracted today. She lacked her usual absolute focus, causing her sword forms to falter slightly.
The ordinary members, still utterly absorbed in the excitement of Leon's level up, naturally failed to notice this. Seeing their Sword Princess completely unfazed by external matters, maintaining her disciplined daily routine, they could only offer their silent admiration and praise.
On the other hand, although Leon had only known Ais for about a year, he understood her far better than the average members who could only admire her from afar. Thus, he instantly recognized that Ais was not in her usual state.
Yet, he said nothing. Just like always, he refrained from disturbing the girl, quietly standing to the side to watch.
But Ais had already sensed his familiar presence. She stopped her movements immediately, lowering the longsword in her hand.
Turning around, her translucent golden eyes locked onto Leon, swirling with emotions that an Outworlder would never comprehend.
Seeing this, Leon walked straight forward.
"Why did you stop?"
He greeted Ais with a faint smile, acting as though he was completely unaware of the massive uproar he had caused within the Familia, maintaining an unusual sense of calm.
Ais raised her eyes to look at Leon before looking back down.
She rested her longsword against a nearby tree and picked up the scabbard that had been leaning beside it.
"Shall we?"
The girl raised the scabbard, pointing its tip directly at Leon. Her intention was clear and simple.
This was a scene that had played out frequently over the past two weeks, and indeed over the past year.
This was their shared routine.
Leon, having sparred with her for so long, silently drew the short, straight sword from his waist.
Then, he heard her voice again.
"Use your full strength."
Ais's voice reached his ears, carrying a stubbornness that only Leon could detect.
Leon's hand froze for a fraction of a second, and he sighed inwardly.
Well, it looked like his previous act of hiding his true strength during their spars, pretending to be a weakling, had finally blown up in his face.
Now that he had leveled up, if Ais still couldn't realize that Leon had been concealing his true capabilities all along, she wouldn't just be airheaded—she would be dense.
She finally understood why she had always felt a strange sense of dissonance whenever she sparred with him before.
Now, the truth was out.
"Let me see your actual strength."
Ais looked directly at Leon, her expression incredibly serious.
Looking at her like this, Leon knew there was no escaping it.
"Alright."
Leon didn't hesitate or waste any time, nodding directly.
"I'll show you my current full strength."
As Leon spoke, though his stance hadn't shifted in the slightest, the aura radiating from his body completely transformed.
It was the distinct presence of a battle-hardened veteran.
Although Leon had been an adventurer for less than a month, he had spent twenty-seven consecutive days immersed in constant combat. To call him a veteran of a hundred battles was no longer an exaggeration.
Sensing this shift, Ais's grip on her scabbard tightened slightly.
The two locked eyes, causing the atmosphere between them to become instantly charged with tension.
A moment later, they moved simultaneously, lunging straight toward each other.
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