A day destined to set the city buzzing.
Leo rose to Lv.5, becoming a first-class adventurer.
Ais rose to Lv.6, becoming the seventh top-tier fighter, second only to the "strongest."
News of the two filled Loki Familia's headquarters. From the executives to the rank and file, everyone discussed it feverishly.
Whether it was Ais becoming the first Lv.6 after the Three Heads or Leo rising at unbelievable speed to become the fifth Lv.5 outside the Familia's executives, both achievements gave the whole Familia plenty to celebrate.
This was fundamentally different from Leo's earlier rise to Lv.4.
To put it bluntly, given the sheer scale of Loki Familia, the appearance of a single Lv.4 wasn't anything to make a fuss about. The reason it had stirred up so much discussion back then wasn't mainly the fact that Leo had risen to Lv.4, but his unbelievable growth speed.
If you set aside that unbelievable growth speed, then merely adding one more Lv.4 really wasn't anything worth discussing at length for Loki Familia, the city's strongest Familia.
But Lv.5 and Lv.6 were another matter.
These were first-class adventurers who could rank among the top tier in all of Loki Familia and even all of Orario, and the appearance of even one was enough to completely change a Familia's strength and standing, let alone two appearing at once.
Ais and Leo leveling up together carried extraordinary significance. One was the first person to reach Lv.6 after the three Familia leaders, and the other was the Familia's eighth first-class adventurer. Either would have been a momentous change at any time.
Loki announced that same day that every member of the whole Familia had the day off, with no need to do any work, free to celebrate as they pleased.
The grand dining hall served an exceptionally lavish meal that day, and Loki ordered the entire Familia to attend the celebration for Leo and Ais. Even the usually busy Finn, Riveria, and Gareth were no exception.
The many members scrambled over each other to offer their blessings, sparing no praise, continually lauding the great feats Leo and Ais had achieved, and even though the two in question fled because they couldn't handle everyone's enthusiasm, the members still went back and forth with heated, excited talk, laying it on thick, all but hoisting Leo and Ais up onto an altar.
They spoke Ais's name with the same admiration and pride as before. Leo's name, however, now inspired more than astonishment and envy. It carried reverence and even awe.
After Leo became Lv.5, everyone finally understood that he now stood among the revered leaders of the Familia, far above its ordinary members.
Even more, at Leo's unbelievable growth speed, he might well keep climbing higher, all the way until he truly reached the top.
About this, most people felt only anticipation, without the sense of urgency from before.
They only wanted to know whether Leo could become Lv.6 at the fastest possible speed, or even... Lv.7.
If Leo reached that point, Loki Familia could truly match Freya Familia.
Only a few still felt conflicted about it.
"So I got overtaken after all..."
Raul sighed dejectedly, feeling that his status as a veteran no longer counted for anything.
"Way, way too fast..."
"He actually became Lv.5 just like that... this is really..."
Anakitty and Alicia wore bitter smiles as well.
Someone had overtaken them and reached in less than three months the step they had failed to climb for years. It was hard not to feel discouraged.
Even though they'd already half-anticipated this day coming, when the day actually arrived, these core figures of the Second Army, who had high hopes placed on them and had held this as their goal all along, still felt a little sour.
"Mr. Leo is really amazing!"
Line, on the other hand, who had once been on a party with Leo, was purely happy for the boy whose back she had once guarded.
She could count as having witnessed Leo's growth and effort with her own eyes, so toward Leo she felt only blessings, with no other thoughts beyond that.
"He caught up with us after all. Even though I'd already braced myself when we came back, I still can't stand it!"
Tiona sighed, her usual liveliness nowhere to be seen.
"Even Ais is Lv.6 now, so this time I really have fallen behind."
Tione, thoroughly displeased, folded her arms, feeling she needed comfort from her sweetheart.
"That damn brat actually caught up to me, huh."
Bete's expression went through a remarkable series of changes when he heard the news.
His former contempt and every "small fry" he'd thrown at Leo now seemed like a joke. Bete was so irritated that he didn't even want to attend the celebration. If Loki hadn't repeatedly ordered everyone to appear on pain of her personal punishment, barging into the bath to harass them, he would have walked out.
Adding in that Ais had also surpassed him, rising to Lv.6, for the first time a feeling of frustration surfaced in Bete's heart.
"Lv.5... Lv.6..."
As for Lefiya, she spent the whole day sneaking glances at Leo and Ais, a look of mixed emotions on her face.
Seeing the person she admired grow stronger made her happy, but also made her feel increasingly distant and difficult to catch.
And the fact that a rival (a romantic rival) had surpassed her at a jaw-dropping speed, swiftly catching up to that golden figure, also brought no small shock to the young Elf.
She finally realized too that Leo, who before had been like her, only able to be saved by Ais, protected by Ais, could now fight shoulder to shoulder with that admired figure.
This was the scene she'd seen countless times in her dreams, and the thing she'd been longing for all along, yet Leo had beaten her to it.
"He's already Lv.5, but I'm still Lv.3, the gap is getting bigger and bigger."
Even Lefiya started to feel anxious.
And if even Loki Familia reacted this way, the rest of the city hardly needs describing.
When the announcement of Leo and Ais leveling up together, one becoming Lv.5 and one becoming Lv.6, appeared on the Guild's notice board, the scene that had taken place inside Twilight Manor spread to the entire city at the fastest speed.
Countless people stood before the notice board looking at those two notices and fell silent, and countless others came and went there, confirming whether the news was true, then fell into shock along with everyone else.
"He... he became Lv.5 just like that?"
"Too fast, this is just way too fast."
"It's not even a question of fast anymore, it's that you couldn't even imagine something like this happening."
"Just three months, can someone really become a first-class adventurer just like that?"
"To be precise, it's less than three months..."
"There's no difference at all!"
"Even the Sword Princess is Lv.6 now..."
"Just the two of them defeated Udaeus? That Floor Boss whose potential could even tower over Lv.6? You're kidding, right?"
"Loki Familia's really stolen the whole show this time."
Some were shocked, some jealous, some resentful, some unwilling to believe, and many more sighed with feeling, the full range of human nature on display.
Even the gods, who in the old days never minded a bit of excitement getting bigger, felt somewhat dazed this time.
"That kid became Lv.5 just like that?"
"He's really cheating with no regard for reason, huh?"
"From nothing to a first-class adventurer in less than three months, even the heroes of ancient times couldn't have pulled off something like this, right?"
"It's been a thousand years since the gods descended to the Lower World. I thought the Sword Princess's growth rate was already the limit, but it seems I still underestimated the potential hidden in our children."
"Just the two of them defeated Udaeus too. I wouldn't believe anyone who said they had no secrets."
"That's exactly what makes the Lower World interesting."
The gods talked back and forth, growing happier and more excited the more they talked.
In the end, as the talk went on, somehow it all turned into the same single remark.
"I really envy that bastard Loki!"
That was how it was.
A new Lv.5 and Lv.6 appearing in the Familia had undoubtedly greatly increased Loki Familia's reputation and strength, and had also made Loki the object of countless gods' envy.
"Wonder how that one will react when she finds out."
Some gods looked toward the south of the city and imagined the reaction of the other strongest Familia's patron deity, their expressions gleeful or expectant.
Unfortunately, Freya Familia made no reaction to this at all, leaving quite a few people and gods disappointed.
"Does that one not care in the slightest that Loki Familia's gotten stronger?"
"Is that the composure of having the city's only Lv.7?"
"I'd say it's very much that one's style, actually. That one never cared whether she'd get caught up to."
"Come to think of it, feels like it's been a long time since anyone's seen that one, huh? Where's she been lately? What's she busy with?"
Every corner of the city filled with talk and speculation, leaving all of Orario abuzz.
"Ever since Leo Eligos started to make a name for himself, Orario's gotten livelier and livelier."
Countless people and gods thought this way, and took pleasure in it.
As one of the people at the center of it all, Leo also noticed a clear change around him.
"Mr. Leo."
"Hello, Mr. Leo."
"Good day, Mr. Leo."
As Leo walked down the tower corridor, member after member greeted him with utmost respect. He wasn't used to it.
"Hello, everyone."
He could only return the greeting sheepishly, then quicken his pace forward, escaping the crowd and coming to a relatively quiet corner.
"It's Leo."
Before long, Leo knocked on the door of a room in front of him.
"Come in."
Finn's voice soon came from inside.
This was Finn's office.
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