Can’t Level Up

It was already dinner time when Sona, Aika, Koneko, Irina and Akeno finally returned from the clean-up.

"Yo~! Good work out there~." Kisuke immediately greeted them with a huge smile.

Koneko wanted to jump on his lap, but Akeno grabbed the collar of her clothes while she was in the air with a graceful smile, "Ufufufu. You're not thinking of jumping on him with all that dust and dirt on you, are you?"

Koneko pouted but didn't go against Akeno.

Kisuke chuckled at this scene and said, "Go relax in the bath and calm your nerves. We'll have dinner once you come out."

"I've already prepared the bath." Medusa made a follow up.

"You won't join us? I can wash your back, so wash mine too." Aika asked with a cheeky grin.

Akeno and Irina instantly flinched at her words but Kisuke immediately refused her 'offer', "Maybe next time."

But Aika wasn't disappointed and replied, "Then I'll look forward to that time~!"

However, before they left for the baths, Irina suddenly turned back and asked Kisuke, "Are you leaving again soon?"

This question of hers also made the others halt their steps and look towards him. Their reaction surprised Kisuke but he didn't show any of it on his face. Instead, he beamed happily and answered, "Nope~ I got free time so I'll be hanging out with everyone~!"

Their delighted faces when they left the room would not leave Kisuke's head for quite some time. He never would have thought that simply affirming his presence would make them this happy. 'I might be good at deducing the logic of the human mind, but I still couldn't grasp the complication of human emotions. I guess I can never be as good as Aizen in manipulating people.'

He then noticed Serafall grinning at him, "Even amongst the most active Devils, you've beaten most of them. As expected of the Gigolo Master-chan~. Well, outside of those who treat their women as slaves at least."

Claire looked towards Hestia beside her and asked, "Hestia-neesama. What's a gigolo?"

Hestia smiled gently at her and replied, "It's a complicated word that only adults use. You don't have to learn it yet." She then proceeded to glare at both Serafall and Kisuke with the latter making a wronged expression.

It didn't take too long for the girls to finish their baths and dinner was prepared. While gorging on the abundant and delicious food at the table prepared by Medusa, the girls started enthusiastically talking about their adventures to Kisuke which he intently listened to while giving input of his own when appropriate.

Even Claire, Ophis, and Tanis had stories of their own and everyone happily listened to them. Though most of this happened within the walls of the manor since Tanis couldn't go out. Although Serafall could continually cast Illusion Magic on her to hide her appearance, she couldn't do anything regarding her presence, and those with enough perception would have instantly caught it, 'I should also make something for her. It shouldn't be too hard.', thought Kisuke.

At some point, their conversation reached the part where they got involved with the latest and biggest event yet, "If we didn't reach Level 4 prior to it, it would have been a lot harder and we would've end up using our trump cards." Sona sighed.

"I guess we can only practice our special moves in the deeper parts of the Dungeon. I really wanted to try and pull out all the stops for once," added Aika.

After chewing her dessert, Koneko also commented, "That's true. After reaching Level 4, it's as if a large burden suddenly left my body and I can move with more ease. It's not simply a power up."

While the three of them became lively with their conversation, Akeno and Irina became sullen. Seeing this, Sona sighed yet again, but for a different reason, "Don't think too much about it. I know for sure that you two are also progressing. If you're still concerned about it, just ask Kisuke 'cause he'll surely have a great explanation."

Swallowing his food, Kisuke voiced out, "Let me guess. You can't level up?"

Both of them look at him for a moment before nodding.

"Well, I already expected this. But if I just said something similar to Sona, it'd probably only fall on deaf ears. Thankfully, I managed to come across some information that I can fully reassure you that this is normal in your case."

Kisuke then recalled the information he received regarding the Falna and cross referenced it to the information he originally had before explaining, "First, you have to know that souls are normally stronger than the physical body they reside in, but not in the way you think. After all, without physical bodies, souls are very fragile and a bit of influence on them could destroy them."

"But I won't focus on the specific strength of the souls, but the fact that they are more energy-rich than the physical bodies. The way that Falna works is that it strengthens your body while nourishing the soul. Once the body can finally adapt and materialize a part of the soul's power and the soul itself is already stable enough, a process known as 'Level up' could proceed, which then reset a new cycle of 'gaining excelia'."

Since they knew what kind of body they had, Akeno and Irina partially understood what Kisuke wanted to say, "So you're saying..."

Kisuke nodded at them, "It's as you've guessed. You have it the other way around. It's your souls that need to adapt to your bodies. A process way slower than the former."

But instead of the two, it was Hestia who reacted and in a very surprising way, "Wait! I-isn't that...!?"

While the rest were confused, Kisuke's smile grew deeper and said, "I see that you're aware of some things, Hestia-sama~"

Hestia's face became complicated, "...It's something I've only heard from Zeus and never believed... But I didn't expect I'd hear it again from someone else."

Still not knowing what's going on with her best friend, Artemis asked with a very concerned expression, "Hestia? What's wrong?"

Hestia sat back down and without breaking her stare at Kisuke, she replied to Artemis, "The Falna nourishes the body and purifies the soul and that is something that was bestowed to the people of the Lower World as a blessing from Deities. But according to Zeus, the reverse also exists. Nourishing the soul and purifying the body."

"Then what's wrong with it?"

Hestia sighed before continuing, "It's not for the people of the Lower World, but the monsters of the Dungeon. In other words, it's the blessing of the Dungeon."