"…It's not an improvement. It's cured.
The current me won't be constrained by my body anymore."
Alfia's expression returned to its usual pride. Now she carried herself even more like a haughty queen—was that just a Hera Familia "feature"?
"That's truly worth celebrating. That kid… he's impressive. Looks like the rumors weren't exaggerated…"
"Mm." Alfia nodded. "Chalde, you could try as well. With his ability, your problem should be solvable too…"
For her old friend—someone whose situation she understood—Alfia actually offered advice.
Because she'd changed a little too. And she didn't want her friend to keep walking farther down a road of self-destruction.
"Is it really that miraculous?" Chalde finally spoke.
"And… we're not related at all. Would he really help me?"
When hope reappears, even the strongest people hesitate—because it feels unreal.
But if there was a chance, he wanted to take it.
If you can live, who would choose death?
And besides… he still had a wish buried deep inside his heart. If he could fulfill it with his own hands, that would be everything.
"Heh. That's the one thing you don't need to worry about," Alfia said, a faintly smug pride in her tone.
"Just tell him who you are, honestly, and ask. That's all."
She didn't even notice how shocking she looked to the others.
Alfia—proud Alfia—showing off someone else with that kind of "I'm proud of him" arrogance?
To her friends, it was almost frightening.
The black-haired god asked quietly:
"Then… does that mean you're going to abandon the plan we discussed before? After all, a safer road seems to have opened."
If Alfia withdrew, the plan's execution would take a huge hit.
But as a friend, seeing she had a better option… he couldn't bring himself to persuade her otherwise.
So he asked—so he could plan what came next.
"…"
"No," Alfia answered at last. "Not abandoning it."
"In Orario as it is now, our conflict with Freya and the others has already become irreconcilable. Even if the 'fully healthy' me returns, it won't change the big picture."
"And the campaign against the Black Dragon… isn't something one person's will can decide."
The lesson of the past was still vivid.
That shadow—despair itself—an absolute existence even she could only look up at.
It wasn't something one or two people could face.
It required elites. Heroes. A convergence of heroes—only then was there even the faintest possibility.
"Just like we predicted… this era needs more seeds."
Alfia understood the "plan."
Honestly, if Xien hadn't appeared, she would probably have already joined in—treating it as her final aria, using her broken body for maximum value.
But there was no "if."
Since things had turned out this way, the plan would still proceed.
And if handled well… they might even secure a better ending.
"Still," she added, "now that the situation has changed, the plan needs revisions."
"Give me a little more time."
"And you too, Chalde—our 'script' has to become more spectacular."
"If things improve… maybe we can even participate in the final moment."
Yes. Prideful as she was, how could she not care about that crushing defeat?
If she had the chance, she wanted to fight it again.
The young god smiled.
"Spoken like Alfia. That makes me feel reassured instantly."
"Then let's make a glorious mess of it—our most dazzling curtain call."
Because this was the brilliance of mortals in the Lower World.
This story—if it ended with the gods returning to Heaven—would still be a tale worth boasting about for ten thousand years.
Chalde, clad in armor, finally asked:
"Then… the boy you mentioned. When would it be appropriate for me to see him?"
He'd been moved by Alfia's words.
If that child could truly solve his problem…
Then what was it to owe him a favor?
"I'd say a week from now," Alfia replied.
"I sent him to the eighteenth floor. He probably won't be back out for a week."
"…?"
Chalde froze.
If he remembered correctly, that boy was Level 1, and a healer.
Straight to Floor 18?
And—you "sent" him?
You're close enough to order him around now?
What have you been doing behind our backs?!
"…Wait, don't tell me…"
Remembering the Hera Familia's "style," the fierce-looking man broke into a cold sweat.
For the first time, he felt genuine sympathy for a kid he'd never even met.
Meanwhile — The Dungeon
After a full day of fighting, Xien finally reached Floor 16.
Both of them were still in good shape.
Xien didn't even need mentioning—after his class advancement, he'd basically become half a perpetual-motion machine. With his current stamina, fighting for ten straight days wouldn't even be impossible.
That was the only reason he could keep breaking through the ever-increasing monster tides floor by floor.
As for Ryuu—
She was higher level, and she hadn't fought much along the way, so she wasn't particularly taxed.
But what awaited them next forced even Xien to slow down.
Minotaurs.
Bull-headed, man-bodied monsters—iconic, intimidating, and lethal.
Tremendous strength. Solid speed. Staggering stamina.
Their attacks were "simple"—just heavy swings and cuts—but nothing about them was safe.
For low-level adventurers, taking even one hit meant either death or ruin.
For Level 1s, they were practically a wall you couldn't climb.
In the original story, the protagonist's feat for reaching Level 2 was designed around defeating a strengthened variant of one of these—enough to show how serious they were.
And for Xien—
They were his main training targets this time.
Ryuu looked worried.
One Minotaur was one thing.
But Xien intended to solo a whole pack.
Before she could fully react, he was already charging out.
The Minotaurs, enraged by a lone intruder daring to challenge their herd, roared and stampeded toward him.
Open terrain. Large enemies.
That meant the best answer was a heavy weapon.
*Weapon unity—*the long spear formed in his hands.
A tearing hiss sparked through the air.
Flames ignited along the spearhead.
Dragging the spear low as he advanced, he reached range—
And then slammed down with a brutal overhead chop.
Mana surged with intent, detonating into an area strike.
Four or five Minotaurs were burned into severe injury.
Flame Spear — Charge!
The one at the very center was cleaved into two pieces of charred ruin.
The slaughter began.
Xien's Method: Trading Wounds for Wounds
He fought to maximize his advantage—a damage-for-damage style.
After becoming a "Pathwalker of Abundance," his recovery became even stronger.
His regen was now basically on the level of "that guy from the neighboring franchise who won't stay dead."
Unless he was crippled instantly—
If he didn't want to stop, nobody could make him stop.
Not enough attack power?
Then stab more times.
He had strength to spare.
The spear's advantage showed itself completely:
Whether thrusting or sweeping, the spearhead wrapped in extreme flame dealt wide-area damage.
Coupled with the spear techniques derived from Bajiquan's "National Spear Art," the battlefield turned into a visual spectacle.
He took countless hits.
But if he wasn't one-shot, none of it mattered.
The scene was brutal—yet strangely lacking in gore.
Because the flames on his weapon evaporated blood before it could even spray.
His teacher had been right.
The fastest way to master combat arts was real battle.
Skills flickered behind him.
His awareness entered a strange, "enlightened" state.
Movements corrected themselves instinctively.
His spear art—modified from Bajiquan patterns—was being refined into something that belonged to him.
Weapon mastery was skyrocketing.
Evenly matched opponents brought massive experience gains.
Half an hour later, the life-and-death brawl ended.
With the final Minotaur and Xien stabbing through each other's chests, the conclusion became undeniable:
He had killed dozens of Minotaurs—every last one.
Only after it fell did Xien yank out the broken half-blade still embedded in his body and toss it aside.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
Wounds would heal.
But pain didn't lessen at all.
So why didn't he dodge?
It wasn't that he didn't want to—
He couldn't.
If he dodged, he'd miss the killing timing.
Even cutting off a limb wouldn't change that.
Ryuu—who witnessed it all—kept twitching around the eyes.
She'd never seen such savage fighting.
But she couldn't blame him.
He had tried to avoid damage, but under those conditions it wasn't possible.
So he chose the path that produced the greatest result—something most people could never imagine.
It was an advantage unique to Xien.
Some high-level warrior-types fought like this too—
But they relied on absurd physiques and teammates covering them.
Floor 17 — and the "Human Town" (Floor 18)
"Let's go, Ryuu. Next area."
"Ah… okay."
After more slaughter, they reached Floor 17.
They weren't overly tense.
Because the floor boss Goliath typically respawned on roughly a two-week cycle—and it hadn't been two weeks since they killed it last time.
Then, under the pressure of mortal danger, Xien forced himself through and—thanks to sheer sustain—managed to grind down a strengthened juvenile dragon.
That marked the end of Phase One of his training run.
Reaching the "human town" again, Xien felt completely different from last time.
Because the experiences were different:
Last time, he made it thanks to the team's strength.
This time, he climbed here step by step through his own effort.
They decided to rest and sell what they could.
With a two-person team, traveling light was king.
Ryuu's Private Request — "Guard Duty" at a Hidden Lake
Under Ryuu's guidance, they went to the forest near the town.
One reason was to find the special material Xien's teacher demanded—some plant used for a certain potion.
They found it quickly.
Then, just as Xien was celebrating, Ryuu pulled him somewhere else.
A quiet, beautiful little lake.
Ryuu explained it was a hidden spot the familia had discovered—sometimes, after reaching Floor 18, people came here to bathe.
Why not bathe in town?
Because it wasn't safe.
Too high a risk of being watched.
And Ryuu's request became clear:
While she bathed, she wanted Xien to stand guard and prevent anything from happening.
Truthfully, Ryuu had never asked something like this of anyone except Alise.
But with this boy…
She felt she could.
At this stage, it was the boldest request she could make.
Looking at her faintly red cheeks, Xien's "sense of justice" burst into flame, and he agreed without hesitation.
As for whether he'd "abuse the job"…
Please.
If he did something that stupid, all his efforts would collapse in an instant.
He wasn't that dumb.
Ryuu, seeing him agree, felt awkward—yet quietly happy.
And in his actions afterward, she saw he kept his promise.
He carried out the duty seriously, exactly as always.
Her impression of him rose yet again.
In truth, Ryuu still didn't fully understand her own heart.
She hadn't realized that the boy had already taken up a significant place inside it.
They rested for half a day.
Still feeling unsatisfied, Xien proposed going deeper.
He realized his body was trending toward something frighteningly non-human.
After such a short break, he was already fully restored—every bit of fatigue and depletion from earlier danger had completely disappeared.
Stamina. Focus. Everything.
Back at peak.
So he wanted deeper floors.
After a lot of coaxing, Ryuu finally agreed.
Even knowing how dangerous it was—she couldn't resist that face.
But she swore to herself:
This time, since I'm beside him… I will protect him.
So they continued down.
Xien finally encountered monster packs that could exert real pressure.
Against monsters at this level, he had to fight "cheap":
Rely on his absurd physique and regeneration, lure them one by one, and slowly grind them down.
As a Level 1, the overall strength of these floors was already completely over the line.
It worked.
If you ignored the pain, it was even exhilarating.
Eventually they reached Floor 20—the same ambush floor as last time.
But this time, it seemed like there were only monsters—no other abnormalities.
After barely killing the last Shadow Wolf, Xien finally felt it:
He had reached his limit.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it