157 Avalon

After giving Finn a classic "next time for sure" brush-off, Altair returned with Saeko to their familia's base, Avalon.

Hestia wasn't back yet. If she wasn't at the base, she was likely at the shop. These days, she'd taken on the role of supervising its renovation, hovering over the workers daily to ensure nothing went wrong.

As soon as Saeko stepped into the base, she sprang into action. As the de facto mistress managing the familia's operations, she had a laundry list of tasks. First, she set about preparing hot water so Altair could soak in a bath—and so Hestia could too when she returned. After that, it was off to the kitchen to start on dinner.

Meanwhile, Altair lounged in the living room, dialing Hestia to let her know he was back.

During their overnight rest in the dungeon, Hestia had called him—her first time doing so since he'd never stayed out overnight before. They'd ended up chatting for hours, reminiscent of late-night college calls on a dorm balcony after everyone else was asleep, whispering sweet nothings to a partner.

For Hestia, her first phone call was a thrilling novelty, and they'd talked well into the night. She'd filled him in on the shop's renovation progress and the little hiccups she'd encountered, while Altair recounted their dungeon adventures and haul.

When he mentioned slaying the 58th floor's cannon dragon, Hestia had gasped, worried he'd been hurt. After he assured her he was fine—and even showed her his pristine clothes via video—she'd lit up with joy.

Now, back at base and on his second call with her, Hestia told the workers to wrap up for the day. She locked up the shop and bolted home.

"Altair!"

The doors of the Avalon flew open as Hestia burst in, shouting his name. Spotting him in the living room, she launched herself at him with a running leap, crashing into his chest. Even with his godslayer-enhanced physique, the impact sent him tumbling backward—luckily onto the sofa behind him.

"Hehe, Altair, you're finally back! This was your first time away for a whole day—I missed you so much last night!" Hestia giggled, straddling his waist with her soft thighs, arms wrapped around his neck, chest pressed against his, delivering her usual dose of warmth. She nuzzled his cheek relentlessly, beaming.

Altair grinned back, one arm encircling her slim waist, the other ruffling her hair with affection. "Hestia, didn't we talk last night? We were on video for hours."

"That's not the same!" she declared, puffing up with mock seriousness.

"Seeing you through a screen isn't like having you right here in front of me! I'd much rather hold and touch you—hehe, my Altair is just the best!"

Spouting lovestruck nonsense, Hestia squirmed atop him like an excited bear cub. Good thing he'd shed his armor upon returning, or she might've dented it with her enthusiasm.

"Oh, Hestia, I'd like you to check my stats. I think I'm ready to level up."

"Huh? Altair, you can level up again already?" Hestia lifted her head, wide-eyed.

"Yep. I'm only LV3 now, but this time with the Loki Familia, I was active from the 52nd floor onward. I even took down the cannon dragon on the 58th. The flying and earth dragons on the 52nd were at least LV6, and I'd peg the cannon dragon at LV8. With all those high-level monsters under my belt, my stats should be more than enough to level up."

"Oh! Right, right! Slaying monsters so far above your level—you've got this! Let's go to the bedroom now!" Hestia scrambled off him, yanking him up from the sofa and dragging him toward the room.

Altair let her pull him along with a smile, allowing her to shove him onto the bed and strip off his shirt. She'd done this three times before, so she was an expert by now.

Once his top was off, Hestia hopped onto his back, perching her small frame atop his hips. She pricked her finger, letting a drop of divine blood fall onto his skin. A blue glow flared, revealing Altair's updated stats.

"Whoa! Altair, just like you said—your stats are maxed out! And this time, it's an unprecedented SSS across the board! Before, dexterity and agility were SS, the rest S, and magic was A. Now it's all SSS!" Hestia exclaimed.

That had to be the godslayer passive at work. The influx of magical energy had boosted his magic stat, and his strength had naturally followed suit. He'd become a perfect hexagon of stats.

"And you've got new skills too! [Dragon Form] and [Godspeed]—they look crazy strong!"

Of course—they were powers derived from his godslayer abilities.

"What's this Somersault Cloud thing?" Hestia asked.

"Somersault Cloud!"

Instead of explaining, Altair activated the ability. A white cloud puffed into existence, floating to Hestia's side per his command. She stared, dumbfounded.

"Hestia, go ahead and touch it."

"Okay!" She reached out with both hands, and the moment she did, she was hooked.

"Wow! What is this? It's so soft—squishy and comfy! This feels amazing!"

Yup, girls always loved soft stuff.

Watching Hestia lose herself in petting the cloud, Altair couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, Hestia, I'll let the Somersault Cloud stick with you later so you can lounge on it and play. But first, level me up."

"Got it!"

Following his request, Hestia upgraded him to LV4. In just a few months, Altair had climbed to LV4—shattering not just the record for fastest ascent to LV2, but blowing past the old LV2-to-LV4 timeline too.

That was the power of cheating the system!

As he hit LV4, a system prompt popped up in front of him.

A new breakthrough reward skill had arrived.

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