Chapter 35: SSS

Chapter 35: SSS

...

Riezel Brynhart

Level 1

STR: C678 → SSS1285

END: C666 → SSS1273

DEX: B772 → SSS1327

AGI: B793 → SSS1309

MAG: F314 → SSS1280

...

Loki rubbed her eyes in disbelief, making sure she wasn't seeing things. Convinced it wasn't an illusion, she was finally dumbfounded.

She didn't even bother handing the translated parchment to Riezel; instead, she silently stared at his back, feeling dizzy.

"Loki?" Riezel looked at Loki's expression and tentatively called her, but she didn't react at all.

"Holy crap! What the hell is SSS—?!" Loki suddenly shouted, clutched her head, and screamed hysterically.

"SSS?" Riezel raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised but not as excited as her.

Loki, who didn't see his reaction, continued to hold her head in shock and shouted madly.

"What the heck is this?!"

"What the fuck is this?!"

"Are the proficiency limits for basic abilities 999 and S?! What in the fuck's name is this SSS?!"

"I've never heard of such a thing!"

Loki was genuinely shocked, really, really shocked.

Although she had only been in the lower world for a few decades, as Goddess of one of Orario's strongest familias, she naturally had a lot of information at her disposal. Thanks to her shameless personality, she dared to inquire and meddle in everything, and other Gods more or less gave her some face, revealing some of the lower world's secrets to her.

Thanks to this, her knowledge was quite extensive. As she managed one of Orario's strongest familias, she was very familiar with the blessing granted to the familia's children.

But even so, she never heard of basic ability breaking through the highest limit of S-rank and surpassing the limits of blessing.

At least, within her knowledge spanning a thousand years from heaven to the lower world, such a thing had never happened. Of course, it was also possible that it had happened, but she just didn't know about it.

However, this was indeed the first time she had seen such a possibility, naturally leaving her shocked.

'Leaving aside the SSS, the total proficiency increase of over 3200 is also absurd for fuck's sake!'

So far, Riezel's growth speed had been astonishing, even frightening. However, there had never been a time like this, where his basic abilities simultaneously increased by several thousand.

Especially 'MAG', it shot up from F to SSS straight away—couldn't be anything but absurd.

The rest of the basic abilities were the same—not progressing one rank at a time but directly leaping over four or five ranks. It was beyond absurd; it was the embodiment of absurdity.

'Could it be...?' Loki suddenly remembered something.

She recalled the effects of 'Fool's Obsession', which not only extraordinarily increased growth speed and growth limits but also enhanced its effects under specific conditions.

—The deeper the obsession, the stronger the effect.

—The effect is greatly enhanced when in dangerous situations.

'Fool's Obsession' had these two effects, and Loki had an epiphany.

In a life-and-death battle against a Level 2 Crocodile Dragon as a Level 1, a fight of this degree could definitely be considered a 'dangerous situation', right?

Back in the day, when she had just descended from heaven, she probably would have a simple thought like 'I've hit the jackpot' or something similar.

Unfortunately, she had operated a familia for decades, mingled in Orario for years, and had a deep-rooted understanding of blessing. It was inevitable that she would be shaken by such an extraordinary occurrence.

'Is this what they call the unknown potential of mortal?'

Loki sighed, holding her forehead tiredly. After a while, she finally chuckled.

'Okay, I guess I understand why those damn fellows are so crazy about the unknown and potential of the lower world. This kind of thing that even surprises me is indeed exciting.'

Having survived countless ages, Gods probably detested nothing more than things that never changed.

So, they needed entertainment.

So, they needed excitement.

For this, they didn't hesitate to not use their 'Arcanum', transforming into fragile being like mortals, indulging in the pleasures of the lower world, and chasing the unknown.

Loki was part of that, and after the initial shock, excitement and thrill filled her heart. As a result, she looked at Riezel differently now.

"Good thing you're in my familia, kiddo..." Loki said faintly. "Otherwise, if I found out there's a kid like you outside, I might not hesitate to use any means to snatch you away."

This was a choice that all Gods might make upon learning about the 'unknown' within Riezel's existence.

Riezel Brynhart, this child's body harbored something that the Gods pursued.

"Heehee... Hehehe..."

Thinking about having such a child in her familia, Loki couldn't help but laugh and relish the thought.

"Stop laughing." After confirming his status, Riezel rolled his eyes at her. "Besides gaining growth in status, is there no other aspect of gain?"

Due to the skill 'Self Redemption', he had a certain level of perception and understanding of his own status.

This skill, which granted him the ability to independently update his status, seemed to be telling him that what he gained went far beyond just this.

And indeed, it was.

"Challenging that monster at Level 1, how could you not have accumulated enough exploits?" Loki sighed emotionally. "Your high-rank excelia is already maxed out."

Riezel naturally understood the meaning of that statement.

"Level up." Loki said with a smile. "You can level up now."

Hearing this, his eyes lit up.

Obviously, this news was something to be happy about for him. Breaking the limits of his status was undoubtedly a good thing. However, the periodic improvement of basic abilities still couldn't compare to the boost from leveling up.

If one's basic abilities could rapidly push the body to its limits or even break through them, then leveling up changed one's life.

The improvements gained at that point far surpassed the ranks of a few basic abilities.

"How? Ready to level up now?" Loki confirmed with a smirk.

"Let's level up." Riezel nodded and replied without hesitation.

This wasn't just because he urgently wanted to enhance his strength, but also because he could feel that his growth had reached its limit.

At Level 1, his potential had been fully unleashed, leaving nothing untapped. In such a situation, staying at this level would be meaningless. Since that was the case, he naturally wouldn't hesitate.

However...

"Before leveling up, there's one thing that needs confirmation." Loki said while looking directly at Riezel's eyes. "You need to choose a development ability."

A development ability that only had a chance of appearing when leveling up.

Riezel successfully triggered it.