Half an hour later, in the alleys of Northwest Main Street.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sir Lynn."
A figure clad in a black robe, face completely concealed, appeared before Lynn.
"My name is Fels. Like you, I am currently investigating matters concerning the Artificial Labyrinth."
"And then?"
Lynn placed his hand on his sword hilt. "You should understand that's not what I want to hear, right?"
"Uh, please don't resort to violence."
Fels instinctively took a step back.
He had started sending familiars to track Lynn this morning.
Although it hadn't been long, he had gained a clear understanding of Lynn's combat prowess.
One word to describe it—monster.
If they fought head-on, he probably wouldn't last a minute before dying a violent death.
"To be frank, I am actually... a subordinate of Ouranos. I came here this time hoping to cooperate with you."
Under pressure, Fels brought up Ouranos' name, hoping the other party would give some face.
But Lynn wasn't having any of it:
"It doesn't matter if you're Zeus's subordinate. Sending familiars to spy on me without giving an explanation—you die here today."
Fels broke out in a cold sweat.
Feeling the threat pressing upon him, he dared not delay and quickly raised his hands.
"Sir Lynn, regarding the familiars, I can apologize to you. Please forgive..."
"Stop, stop, stop. That's not what I want to hear."
Seeing the other party wasn't getting the hint, Lynn dropped the act. He directly raised his hand and rubbed his fingers together, indicating his meaning.
"If you want my forgiveness, give me a dozen or so magic books, and eighty or a hundred magic items."
Fels' breath hitched.
Although breathing was no longer necessary after becoming a skeleton, he still felt suffocated.
Was this a condition a human could propose?
"Um... could it be a bit cheaper? I don't have that many magic books or magic items."
"Tch, don't give me that. Don't think I don't know who you are. You're the legendary sage, after all. How could you not have at least that much in stock?"
"???"
Fels was stunned once more.
What? How was his identity exposed?
Faced with Lynn's increasingly explosive statements, Fels' mind was struggling to keep up.
"Stop spacing out. Hand over the goods, and I'll forgive you. I'll even share some exclusive intel with you."
Seeing Fels standing there dumbfounded and silent, Lynn inconspicuously took two steps forward, closing the distance.
To be honest, when he saw Fels delivering himself to his doorstep, his mood was quite good.
After all, his efforts to earn money ultimately came down to buying equipment, magic books, and magic items.
And as the legendary sage, Fels could help him fulfill two and a half of those needs.
Magic books and magic items went without saying. He could even help procure some high-grade armaments.
Now that Fels had actively delivered his weak point, if Lynn didn't make a good profit, he wouldn't be Lynn.
On the other side, as Lynn gradually approached, Fels finally snapped back to reality.
Although he didn't know how Lynn discovered his true identity, now wasn't the time to ponder that.
"Ahem... Sir Lynn, regarding the magic books and magic items, I can give them to you. But could the demands be a bit more lenient?"
"No problem."
Lynn also knew it wasn't realistic to completely empty Fels' inventory at once, so he agreed.
"Three magic books, ten magic items. That's my bottom line. Any lower, and I'll kill you."
"...Agreed."
Fels replied, his heart aching a little.
If he had known things would come to this, he would have listened to Ouranos and approached Lynn for cooperation directly.
Now look, he hadn't gleaned much information from the surveillance, but had ended up paying out nearly half his personal wealth.
"Pleasure doing business. Here's a gift."
Having obtained what he wanted, Lynn was in high spirits. He immediately pulled out a red crystal from his robe and tossed it over.
"A gift?"
Staring at this orb resembling an eyeball, with a 'D' pattern engraved in the center, Fels was somewhat surprised.
With his discerning eye, it was not difficult to see that this red jewel was a special magic item.
But why would someone like Lynn, who resorts to extortion at the slightest disagreement, give him a magic item as a gift?
Could it be...
"Is this magic item related to the Artificial Labyrinth?"
"Correct. That is the key to the Daedalus Labyrinth. I took it from Ishtar after sending her back."
Lynn replied.
He had a reason for handing this thing over to Fels.
As the key to entering and exiting the Artificial Labyrinth, the Evilus must have strict control over the keys.
Having lost one key, the difficulty for him to obtain a second key would increase dramatically.
Rather than trying to find a way to acquire new keys, it would be simpler to find a way to duplicate a few new ones.
"Fels, since you are the legendary sage, you should have a way to copy this key, right?"
"...I need some time."
"It's fine. You have plenty of time. Remember to give me back two keys after you've copied them."
"?"
So, I give you one, and you want two back. Is that it?
Fels' mood was somewhat complicated.
However, after a brief interaction, he had already adapted to Lynn's character of never accepting a loss.
Storing the key away, he steered the conversation back on track.
"Mr. Lynn, please tell me everything you know about the Artificial Labyrinth."
"No problem, but this isn't a good place to talk."
Lynn pointed towards the alley exit not far away.
Their current location was Northwest Main Street, close to the Adventurers Guild headquarters and Hestia's restaurant.
The time wasn't late at night yet, and there were quite a few pedestrians and adventurers passing by on the street.
Talking here, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be overheard.
"Let's find a quieter place... Hmm, why not just go to your base? I can pick up the things you owe me while I'm at it."
"..."
Fels suddenly fell silent.
Although Lynn's suggestion was reasonable, taking the other party to his own base...
Hmm, it should be fine... probably.
...
Two hours later.
Carrying a fully packed large backpack, Lynn returned to the Hestia Familia in a cheerful mood.
"Mr. Lynn! You're back!"
In the courtyard, Bell was practicing with his sword.
Seeing Lynn passing by, he quickly stopped his movements and ran over to greet him.
Lynn nodded slightly in response and asked, "How was your adventure in the Dungeon this afternoon?"
"Uh, well... how should I put it? It was a bit rough."
An awkward expression appeared on Bell's face.
Because the Battlefield Plain was wrecked by Lynn and Ottar, the training with the Freya Familia was temporarily suspended.
After taking Bell away from the Freya Familia, Lynn gave him the go-ahead to go experience combat in the Dungeon.
Naturally, Bell was extremely excited about this.
Having watched the fight between Lynn and Ottar, he was fired up, itching to get into a fight himself.
With Lynn's permission, he immediately dove into the Dungeon and spent half a day fighting Goblins.
Then... he got beaten up.
Although an ordinary person can fight Goblins after receiving a blessing, his combat experience was too poor.
Adding to that, his bad luck of encountering several Goblins spawning together meant he was sent scurrying away with his head in his hands.
Precisely because of this, after returning to the Familia, he immediately sought out Aisha and others to learn combat skills.
"Mr. Lynn, I heard from Miss Aisha that the first three floors of the Dungeon are places for novice adventurers to practice. How long did it take you to get through the first three floors?"
"First three floors? About two hours."
"Huh?"
Bell let out an exclamation. "Two hours? Did you reach the fourth floor on your very first trip into the Dungeon?"
"To be precise, the eighth floor."
Lynn replied after recalling.
At that time, he had just acquired Thunder Breathing and gained basic combat skills through sharing.
The Goblins on the first few floors were just one slash each for him, offering no training effect at all.
To grind his status, he directly went to the eighth floor and spent most of the day fighting monsters using the characteristics of the Killer Ants.
"Bell, you don't need to use me as a reference."
Seeing the stunned look on the youth before him, Lynn patted his head and explained.
"Although I was a complete blank slate when I first received my blessing, I had trained for a long time before obtaining it. Neither my combat experience nor my physical fitness could be considered that of a novice adventurer."
"I understand."
Bell nodded seriously.
After a day's experiences, Bell was no longer as naive as he was yesterday.
Now, he clearly realized the vast gap between himself and Lynn.
To become as strong as him, he would have to put in much more effort.
"By the way, Bell."
At that moment, Lynn's voice rang out.
"Do you know about magic books?"
"No."
Bell shook his head.
"Magic books are items that can awaken magic in people. For example, my first magic was awakened through a magic book."
Lynn took out a magic book from his backpack. "I just ran into a kind-hearted person and got four magic books from him. I'll give you this extra one."
"Huh? This... it's too valuable."
Bell instinctively took a step back.
Even without Lynn stating the price, he understood that such a thing was definitely not cheap.
"Mr. Lynn, I'm just a novice. Such a valuable item should be given to Miss Aisha and the others."
"Aisha already has magic. She doesn't need this."
Lynn forcibly placed the magic book into Bell's hands.
Fels had previously promised him three magic books; this one was something he had casually picked up.
Something obtained for free like this didn't hurt to give away.
Of course, the main reason was that Bell was worthy of it.
Looking at the flustered youth before him, Lynn coughed and spoke with earnest gravity.
"Bell, you don't need to feel embarrassed."
"As someone who's been through it, I know very well how difficult it is for ordinary people like us to become strong."
"I'm giving you this magic book to give you a chance to become stronger, a chance to catch up to me."
"If you don't want to waste my goodwill, then strive to become stronger. I look forward to the day you reach the peak."
"I... I understand."
"By the way, if you're strong enough, you'll also encounter various beautiful women in the Dungeon."
"Eh? Really?!"
Bell, who had been somewhat tense, instantly had his attention diverted.
"Of course, it's true."
Lynn replied. "For example, on my first trip to the Dungeon, I ran into the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia."
"You know the Sword Princess, right? A Level 5 adventurer. She was captivated by me at first sight back then."
"Later, to see me, she even sneaked out of her Familia and came over to our Familia."
"Tha... that's amazing!"
Bell's eyes began to shine.
"Mr. Lynn, what happened next? Did you make any progress?"
"Of course, we did, but that's a long story. For now, you should focus on your training."
After showing a meaningful smile, Lynn waved goodbye to him and walked towards the annex.
After watching Lynn leave, Bell lowered his head to look at the magic book in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then ran back to his room.
The temptation of encountering beautiful women was simply too great for him.
Mentally repeating a hundred times that he must work hard to become stronger and repay Lynn in the future, Bell opened the magic book.
...
Elsewhere.
After parting with Bell, Lynn returned to his room and took out the items from his backpack one by one.
It must be said, as a sage from a thousand years ago, Fels truly had many good things in his possession.
A cloak that could make one invisible, eye crystals for long-distance communication, recording glasses that could capture images, jumping boots that increased leaping power and movement speed...
After categorizing all the selected magic items, Lynn finally took out the magic books from his backpack and opened one.
Each person has a total of three magic slots.
Apart from Current Propulsion and the State of Selflessness, Lynn still had his third magic slot vacant.
Now that he had extra magic books to use, he naturally wanted to see if he could awaken a new magic.
Time passed, and Lynn quickly finished flipping through the magic book.
However, unlike the first time he used a magic book, he did not enter a mental world while reading it this time.
"Did the awakening fail?"
Lynn frowned, a contemplative look appearing on his face.
magic books vary in quality.
As a legendary sage, the magic books created by Fels were top-tier no matter where they were placed.
If even this failed to awaken magic, it meant the potential within his body was too immense; even with a vacant magic slot, it couldn't draw out a third magic.
To awaken a third magic, he would have to undergo some challenges, gaining special experience points as nourishment.
"It seems it's up to luck now."
Lynn set aside the remaining two magic books.
Such top-tier magic books could easily sell for hundreds of millions of Valis on the market with a simple offer. It was better not to waste them.
As for the third Magic, there would eventually be one in the future.
Unlike others in the DanMachi World, Lynn possessed the Mist Space, which allowed him to share abilities and strengthen spells.
Given enough time, he could even defy common sense and obtain a fourth or fifth Magic.
*Hum~!*
Perhaps sensing Lynn's thoughts, the Mist Space in his mind suddenly sent out a call.
Having nothing better to do, Lynn responded to the call, and his consciousness arrived at the Mist Space.
"Yo~ DanMachi me, you got here pretty fast!"
On the plaza of the Mist Space, Demon Slayer Lynn, who had been absent for over half a month, waved in greeting.
"Guess what good news I brought you!"
"The Demon King potion?"
"You guessed it!"
A hint of pride appeared on Demon Slayer Lynn's face.
Seventeen days had passed in the DanMachi World, but a full fifty-two days had gone by in the Demon Slayer world.
After nearly two months, he had finally found the blue spider lily and created the perfect Demon King potion.
"Come on, DanMachi me."
"It's time to update your status."
...