Yet, as he looked at these irreplaceable family members, Aiden's thoughts drifted further ahead.
He seriously began to consider whether they should accept some new recruits into the Familia, rather than relying purely on his highly unpredictable summoning system.
After all, his summons were heavily RNG-based. He still vividly remembered pouring all his resources into a summon with high hopes, only to receive a White Tassel spear instead of a new companion.
Their Familia was destined to grow stronger. When the Guild eventually mandated compulsory expeditions, five people simply wouldn't be enough. Furthermore, the new headquarters needed personnel to guard it, and Furina required bodyguards by her side at all times.
The undercurrents of Orario were far more treacherous than they appeared on the surface.
After their victory over the Apollo Familia, a massive influx of unaffiliated adventurers and rookies had come knocking, hoping to join this rising star of a faction. At the time, Aiden had told them to hold off, promising to give official answers after the Denatus.
Robin and the others unconditionally supported his thought process, and Furina had no objections either.
Robin pointed out the necessity directly: "Your logic is sound, Aiden. We can't deploy our entire force all the time forever. The headquarters needs guards, and Furina's safety is our top priority. As the Denatus pushes us into the eye of the storm, expanding our numbers is absolutely imperative."
Of course, Aiden wasn't going to accept just anyone. He already had two specific candidates in mind.
They were the two surviving Lv.2 adventurers from the former Apollo Familia: the "Laurel Escaper" Daphne Lauros, and the "Pessimist" Cassandra Illion.
After the Apollo Familia was disbanded, they were among the very few former members who actively sought them out, requesting to join the Focalors Familia. Even though Aiden had temporarily declined and told them to wait, they hadn't given up.
Perhaps they didn't know Aiden's true intentions, but they had enough patience. After all, the Focalors Familia was currently the most coveted faction in all of Orario; joining them was never going to be easy.
.....
Returning fully loaded from the Dungeon once again, the Focalors crew familiarly made their way to the Guild Headquarters.
When they dumped their massive haul of monster drops onto the exchange counter, the surrounding adventurers once again cast glances mixed with envy and jealousy.
"Eina, could you update our adventurer registration files?" Aiden slid their newly filled-out status documents across the counter.
"Certainly, please wait a moment..." Eina replied, flashing her habitual, heart-healing professional smile as she took the papers.
However, as her eyes scanned the updated statuses on the files, that sweet smile instantly froze on her face.
Lv.2. In a split second, Eina felt as if her brain had taken a direct hit from multiple heavy magic spells. Her entire world turned black and white. Her CPU completely fried, her thoughts dissolving into a chaotic haze of static.
If she could previously justify Aiden and Robin's rapid leveling by telling herself, 'They must have trained intensely outside the city and built up a wealth of experience,' she couldn't do the same for the others.
She had personally watched Hyacine and Tifa join the Focalors Familia as complete novices. Barely a month ago, they were total laymen completely ignorant of the Dungeon. How much time had passed since then? And they had both reached Lv.2?!
This terrifying fact forced her to question: exactly how fast had Aiden and Robin actually hit Lv.2?
"M-Mr. Aiden..." Eina took a deep breath, her face turning more serious than ever before. She looked up, her emerald eyes locking intensely onto Aiden. "Please, come with me for a moment."
Inside a private meeting room at the Guild, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt tangible.
"Please tell me the truth," Eina asked point-blank. "Exactly how long did it take you and Miss Robin to reach Lv.2?"
Seeing the undeniable demand in Eina's eyes, Aiden simply smiled.
He had no intention of hiding it anymore. With Hermes—that chaotic god who loved watching the world burn—prowling around, their secret was going to be "passively exposed" very soon anyway. There was no point in concealing it.
"Strictly speaking, it took me about twenty days. Robin was slightly behind me," Aiden answered frankly, then offered Eina an apologetic look. "I'm very sorry for deceiving you earlier."
Surprisingly, Eina wasn't angry. She merely let out a long, heavy sigh, a deeply conflicted expression washing over her face.
"...I understand why you had to," she said softly. "Such an appalling leveling speed—and not just for one person, but the entire Familia... A secret like that? If I were in your shoes, I would hide it at all costs too."
A trace of lingering fear edged her voice, as if she could already foresee the tidal wave this secret would unleash upon the city once it was out.
"It's just... I'm confused. Why suddenly tell me now?"
"Because there's no point in hiding it anymore," Aiden replied, his tone calm but firm. "Our situation has already been discovered by a certain God who lives for entertainment. Continuing to hide is meaningless."
"A God who lives for entertainment..." Eina's expression grew even graver.
She remained silent for a moment before asking with a trace of cautious curiosity, "So... how exactly did you do it? Of course, if it's inconvenient to share, you don't have to. I'm just..."
"No, it's nothing we can't talk about. You've helped us immensely, Miss Eina. You are a friend we all trust." Aiden shook his head. This was the conclusion he and Robin had reached after a long discussion.
Once the news of their rapid leveling broke, countless probing eyes would turn their way. Any idiot could guess someone among them possessed a rare skill.
Rather than letting those with malicious intent blindly test them in the shadows, it was better to proactively throw one of Robin's skills out into the open. That would provide the public with a relatively reasonable explanation while diverting the vast majority of attention to this "open secret," preventing overly curious deities from resorting to extreme measures to dig out their deeper truths.
"The reason lies in one of Robin's skills: [Tonal Resonance]," Aiden explained. "Its effect is simple: it increases the experience acquisition efficiency for the entire party. The more people in the party, the greater the amplification."
"Increases... the experience acquisition efficiency for the entire party?"
Eina's eyes widened drastically. Her newly calmed heartbeat immediately went into overdrive.
She was horrified.
A rare skill that accelerated personal growth was incredibly valuable, but it still only affected the user. But Robin's skill affected the entire team.
What did that mean?
It meant that for any Familia in existence, Robin was a highly coveted treasure capable of single-handedly altering the faction's destiny.
The moment the effects of this skill became public knowledge, it would undoubtedly trigger a massive uproar across Orario, easily rivaling a Floor Boss spawning on the surface. Countless factions would willingly wage war just to seize her.
"No!" Eina's face drained of color. She instinctively grabbed Aiden's arm, her voice dropping to a harsh, panicked whisper. "Mr. Aiden, this secret... Miss Robin's skill must absolutely never be exposed!"
Yet, faced with her overwhelming anxiety, Aiden merely shook his head, his expression exceptionally calm.
"It's useless, Miss Eina," he said slowly. "Once the leveling speed of our Focalors Familia is exposed, what do you think will happen?"
He didn't wait for her to answer, continuing on his own, "The Gods are supremely intelligent beings; their accumulated wisdom far surpasses humanity. And there is no shortage of brilliant minds among adventurers either. Take the 'Braver' of the Loki Familia, for example. Do you really think he wouldn't figure it out? The only logical explanation for an entire Familia experiencing high-speed growth is that someone among us possesses a rare skill that boosts party-wide leveling."
"T-then... then you could just hide your levels!" Eina proposed, her face fraught with distress. Even though hiding one's level was a severe rule violation punishable by the Guild, compared to the safety of Aiden and his team, Eina genuinely believed hiding was the better option.
"Hide our levels? And then what? Sneak into the Dungeon like thieves to kill monsters?" Aiden laughed softly. "We can't turn invisible. As long as we're active in the Dungeon, our levels will be exposed eventually. Doing that is just asking for more trouble."
---
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters, Visit:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations