Chapter 12: Cold Feet

Chapter 12: Cold Feet

After a full day of adventuring in the Dungeon, even Liam himself was quite curious about how much his abilities could have improved. Returning to the basement of the abandoned church.

He took off the grayish-brown hooded cloak he was wearing, revealing his left hand with the limiter, and then removed his upper body clothing.

Liam lay face down on the relatively soft bed.

"Troubling you, Lady Hestia."

"This is what I should be doing!"

Hestia removed her sleeves, revealing her slender, fair, silk-like hands. Due to the height difference, she could only straddle Liam's back.

When helping her dependant update his status.

Her face was all seriousness. She pricked her finger with a needle, letting a drop of divine blood fall onto Liam's back. With a gentle touch of her fingertips.

A warm light continuously emerged.

The updated status appeared before Hestia, finally dissipating with the light. She took out a blank piece of paper prepared nearby.

Gently covering his back, she made a rubbing of the status.

"All done!"

Hestia didn't continue to sit on Liam's legs. She rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully Browse the changes in his abilities.

He hadn't mastered any magic, so his magic stat hadn't changed.

Conversely, his other stats had all received extremely high improvements. Especially when she saw the updated ability scores clearly, her eyes couldn't hide her astonishment.

His first completed adventure.

And his other stats had improved across the board, with the ratings even reaching H. She blinked, her tone teasing, "Liam-kun."

"Your abilities are improving too quickly. Could it be that you have someone you want to protect by your side, so you're very motivated during your Dungeon adventures?"

"Of course."

Facing this level of teasing, Liam could already maintain a straight face. He reached out to take the gray paper and examine it.

Liam Moon

Lv1

Strength: H131 丨Endurance: H120 丨Dexterity: H117 丨Agility: H108 丨Magic: I0

Development Abilities: None

Magic: None

Skills: Secret Sword Art

Ability scores represented one's strength stage at the current level but were only applicable to the current level. Each time he leveled up.

These values would reset. A more fitting term would be proficiency?

Liam's gaze briefly swept over it. To improve his magic stat, he estimated he would have to master skills from the Sword Soul template that consumed MP.

As for whether it would be classified under the magic tab, that was an unknown.

The changes in his ability scores weren't Liam's primary concern. To be precise, they were highly tied to increasing the Sword Soul template's level.

Killing monsters yielded experience points.

And in the process of killing monsters, his body was naturally tempered.

What truly determined his strength was still the class level of the "Sword Soul Template."

Gradually mastering other skills, if he didn't achieve a great feat to raise his adventurer level, would a Level 1 with all-around high stats appear?

Like that Bell who could kill enemies above his level?

Liam was somewhat curious, but he had no intention of deliberately developing in that direction.

He placed the paper with the rubbed status beside him and looked at Hestia, who was waiting for a reply, his smile frank and earnest.

"Lady Hestia."

"It's precisely because I have someone I want to protect that I have an endless source of motivation!"

"That's a foul!!"

Hestia quickly turned her face away. She had only been teasing simply, but she hadn't expected Liam to answer so frankly.

Feeling her heartbeat continuously accelerate.

Even her fair cheeks, as delicate as a baby's, flushed slightly. As for the person Liam wanted to protect.

It couldn't possibly be Wallen-so-and-so-kun, right?

Using the process of elimination, who could it be!

It couldn't really be called flustered; it was just that she was completely unprepared for this, causing Hestia to not know what to say.

Directly ask, "Is the person you want to protect me?"

Achieving that would be incredibly difficult. She propped her hands on the edge of the bed, looking straight ahead. Her tight white dress perfectly outlined her figure.

Her gracefully lined, fair legs swayed gently, making even her black twin tails seem much more lively. And from Liam's perspective, Hestia's exquisite curves were fully visible at this moment. The blue ribbon tied around her chest was fashioned into a bow.

The shape of her fair legs was exceptionally beautiful, her skin particularly delicate, without the slender feel of the "pale, young, and thin" aesthetic from his previous life; her overall proportions were well-balanced.

Her small, bare feet could be held in one hand, her toenails neatly trimmed.

Her toes were plump and round, yet also revealed a hint of rosy red, as alluring as a special variety of sweet grapes.

Although he really wanted to ignore the gender difference between himself and Hestia, to interact with her as a respected and beloved goddess.

But Hestia's occasional teasing made Liam feel it was a bit difficult.

Even though he currently only wanted to quickly improve his own strength.

He repeatedly emphasized inwardly that he had no "unusual cravings," pushing aside the thought of wanting to play with her jade feet.

Liam struggled to avert his gaze, finally proposing with a serious and solemn expression, "Lady Hestia, let's get ready to rest!"

"Tomorrow is another day full of hope!"

"Okay."

Having worked at the Hephaestus weapon shop all day, plus having had dinner, a wave of drowsiness had already enveloped Hestia.

Of course, before going to sleep, she didn't forget to drag Liam to brush his teeth and wash up.

After handling hygiene matters.

Hestia picked up a blanket from the bed and walked to the sofa. Just before resting, she clenched her fist and said encouragingly, "Liam-kun."

"While working hard, also pay attention to your own safety!"

"If something really happens to you... I, as your goddess, will be very sad."

Benefiting from yesterday's Dungeon adventure experience, Liam was relatively more cautious in choosing his lunch bento to replenish energy.

"The Hostess of Fertility" restaurant didn't offer bento services, so he could only settle for the next best thing, finding a decent restaurant.

Spending 550 Valis.

He finally purchased a lunch that was good in both portion size and appearance. After packing everything needed for the adventure.

Liam resolutely headed towards the Dungeon.

Having luckily defeated the Minotaur from the 17th floor (error in text, should be 5th floor encounter, 17th was where they escaped from), he didn't develop the illusion that he was very strong, thinking he had the strength to go to the middle levels.

Whether it was War Shadows or a large number of Killer Ants, they would be very difficult to deal with.

Before he had absolute certainty, Liam definitely wouldn't risk his life. He once again arrived at the area he had conquered yesterday.

"First, I'll hone my combat skills on the 5th floor. When I'm proficient enough..."

"Let's see if I can conquer up to the 7th floor today. It would be best to raise the Sword Soul template's class level to Lv10."

"Improve steadily, step by step!"

He made short-term plans in advance.

Monsters on deeper floors would provide more experience points. Liam estimated that he would raise his Sword Soul class to level 15 by tomorrow.

Once he mastered more skills.

Then he could consider heading to the deepest part a Lv1 adventurer could reach, which was the final point of the upper levels.

The 12th floor area.

Currently, in terms of weapons, he didn't need to upgrade. The short sword Hestia had gifted him.

After yesterday's battles, its overall condition was still quite good. Its sharpness hadn't diminished; at least, cutting Dungeon Lizards.

Was still as easy as yesterday.

Experience points from kills continuously flowed in, slowly increasing the "Sword Soul Template's" progress bar. Liam was currently in excellent condition.

Everything.

Was all developing in a better direction!

(End of this chapter)