"Collecting materials?"
"Yes, I ran into a strange fellow on the road not long ago who asked me to collect some rare materials."
At the edge of the pool on the 27th floor, Asfi took out a request form from her bosom and handed it to Lynn.
"Actually, I wanted to refuse at first, but he offered too much."
[Request Reward: 10,000,000 Valis]
That really was a lot.
After glancing at the reward, Lynn was somewhat surprised by the requester's generosity.
A reward of this level could already buy materials from deep-floor monsters. To earn this much just by coming to the middle floors, it was no wonder Asfi accepted.
"In short, that's how it is. I really didn't peep on you on purpose; I just heard a noise here and came to investigate."
Asfi put away the request form: "I'll help keep the matter of your magic a secret. Same for Lulune, I'll instruct her."
Lynn nodded slightly and agreed.
In fact, he didn't care whether his magic was kept secret or not, since he had already used it in public.
The reason he scared Asfi was just to find out why she had appeared here.
After all, in the original story, Asfi rarely entered the Dungeon; every time she did, it was because she had some business to attend to.
"Hoo~ Come to think of it, I'm quite surprised to run into you here in the Water Maze City."
After clearing up the misunderstanding, Asfi let out a breath, and her tone became much lighter.
"That move you just used to instantly take down Amphisbaena, was that the legendary Fading Light Slash?"
"You know about it?"
"I've heard of it. That's the specialty move of that Knight from the Guild. If I remember correctly, he used it to kill several LV7 Dragon species."
Because the seal on the Dragon's Valley has been loosening in recent years, Lyons have become increasingly active all over the world.
Asfi, who had been helping with various tasks commissioned by Hermes, had heard about this and knew quite a bit about Lyons.
"I didn't expect you to even know the Fading Light Slash. No wonder when I was chatting with Ryuu earlier, she evaluated you that way."
"Ryuu?" Lynn showed a hint of curiosity upon suddenly hearing the name of an acquaintance.
"How did she evaluate me?"
"She said you are an unreasonable fellow whose strength improves quickly and who can fight above his level. She thinks it won't be long before you become the strongest in the city."
Asfi repeated what Ryuu had said: "I initially thought her description was a bit exaggerated, but now it seems I was too conservative."
Breaking through to LV3 in just over a month, and then instantly killing the Labyrinth King with LV3 strength.
This wasn't just unreasonable; it was complete cheating. He wasn't playing the same game as them.
"Alright, I should be going now."
After chatting briefly with Lynn, Asfi raised her hand and gestured toward a nearby passage.
"The situation was urgent just now, so I had Lulune take the other members of the Familia to the 28th Floor to take shelter."
"If I stay here too long, Lulune and the others might worry that something happened to me. I need to go meet up with them."
"Wait a moment first." Lynn called out to Asfi: "I remember you have a Magic item that can make people fly, the Hermes Boots, right?"
Asfi paused: "How did you find out about that?"
Lynn waved his hand: "That's not important. In short, I want to inquire if the Hermes Boots can be mass-produced. If so, I want to buy some."
Asfi's eye twitched: "Don't even think about mass production. The materials needed to craft Hermes Boots are all rare materials and very difficult to collect."
Saying this, Asfi paused for a moment: "There's one more thing. Hermes Boots are a special item I researched, and under normal circumstances, they are not sold externally."
"I have money."
"This isn't an issue of money..."
"A magic book written by a legendary sage, the highest-level magic book."
"But then again, we are all Ryuu's friends, so we can be considered acquaintances. If you want one, I can get one for you."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Lynn thought for a moment and added: "I'll introduce you to a Magic item master later. You two can research it and see if you can modify it, preferably so it can be used with Thunder-element Magic."
"A Magic item master?"
"Yes, he's quite skilled, he even created a Magic item capable of long-distance communication."
"Alright then, I have no problem with that."
The hesitation on Asfi's face instantly vanished.
Although she didn't know who the person Lynn mentioned was, she clearly understood what a Magic item capable of long-distance communication represented.
Meeting and exchanging experiences with such a big shot, even if the crafting method for the Hermes Boots were leaked, it wouldn't be a loss for her.
...
[YukimuraLynn — LV3]
[Strength: D551 → B701]
[Endurance: C641 → B794]
[Agility: D598 → B744]
[Dexterity: D586 → B736]
[Magic Power: C666 → A841]
[Development Ability: Swordsman H, Magic H]
"Here, it's updated."
Hestia handed the updated blessing to Lynn.
"There are no new Magics or new Skills, only the stats have improved this time."
Lynn took the paper: "That's normal, right? Even I can't awaken new skills every day."
"That's hard to say."
Hestia had a noncommittal expression.
Lynn had already awakened a fourth Magic, breaking the limit; anything could happen to him.
"Speaking of which, your growth margin today is quite high. Did you go test the effect of the Spirit Devouring Barrier?"
"Yes. I also ran into Amphisbaena midway. This large increase in stats this time has a part of its contribution."
"Amphisbaena?"
Hestia was momentarily stunned.
Because she spent most of her time with Lynn, their conversations covered all sorts of topics.
Hestia had even heard about Lynn's previous experience going into the Dungeon with Aiz and the others.
"I remember the respawn time for Amphisbaena is usually a month. Why did it respawn early?"
"It might be related to my Magic."
After repeated testing, Lynn had a full understanding of the second effect of the Spirit Devouring Barrier.
"Gaining growth by killing enemies is essentially absorbing the enemy's soul after killing it and turning it into nourishment for oneself."
"Absorbing souls?!"
Hestia stared wide-eyed in surprise.
Souls were not ordinary things.
Restraining an enemy's soul for absorption—such a brutal Magic was unprecedented even in the Lower World.
But this also explained why Amphisbaena respawned early.
Monsters in the Dungeon possess souls.
However, unlike humans in the Lower World, Dungeon monsters have an independent Rayncarnation system.
After being killed by an Adventurer, the monster's soul returns to the Dungeon core and is then reborn.
If Lynn could absorb the monster's soul, he was essentially stealing from the Dungeon.
Once the Dungeon noticed a decrease in the number of souls, it would naturally target Lynn.
And Lynn was on the 27th Floor at the time. The monster best suited to target an Adventurer there was the Labyrinth King of the Water Maze City—Amphisbaena.
"Lynn, you should reduce the use of the Spirit Devouring Barrier in the Dungeon. If you use it too much, the next time it might not be as simple as the Labyrinth King."
"For example?"
"I don't know exactly, but the nature of stealing souls is too malicious. After this attack is neutralized, next time the Dungeon might target you with an attitude reserved for the Gods."
An attitude reserved for the Gods?
Lynn touched his chin thoughtfully.
It wasn't uncommon for the Dungeon to target the Gods. For instance, in the original story, Thanatos released divine power to attract the Black Wyvern, and the Dungeon sensed Hermes and Hestia infiltrating and created the Black Goliath.
Compared to ordinary monsters, these mutated black monsters possessed the power to restrain divine power, just like the Scorpion Antares from the movie, possessing God-slaying power.
If the Dungeon were to target him, what kind of mutated monster would it create? One immune to Thunder-element Magic?
"Hey! Don't court death!"
Seeing Lynn silent, Hestia instantly understood what he was thinking.
"The Dungeon is not an amusement park. If you truly want to become stronger, you can use the Spirit Devouring Barrier elsewhere. The Dungeon isn't the only place with powerful monsters."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
"Your expression clearly shows you're not sure! You definitely want to try it again!"
"That's not important. By the way, if I use the Spirit Devouring Barrier on humans, will I be targeted by the Gods?"
"Your attempt to change the subject is too clumsy," Hestia couldn't help but complain.
However, she still answered Lynn's question: "You won't be targeted, as long as you don't use the Spirit Devouring Barrier on a large scale, say, devouring the souls of an entire country. The Gods won't care."
The Heavens, as the residence of the Gods, controlled countless worlds under its command; the DanMachi World was just one of them.
A large part of the reason the Gods descended upon the DanMachi World was because of the Dungeon.
In fact, in almost any other world, even if Lynn swallowed the souls of an entire country, it wouldn't attract the attention of the Gods; after all, there were too many souls.
If one were to investigate closely, they simply couldn't manage them all.
"Of course, while you can consume them, Lynn, don't rely on this power too much, or you will turn into a monster."
The Spirit Devouring Barrier was powerful, but it was also a double-edged sword that could make one obsessed with power and abandon their bottom line.
As her first Familia member, Hestia didn't want Lynn to make the wrong choice.
Lynn also understood Hestia's meaning, so he thought for a moment before replying: "I will only use this move against enemies."
"It's not necessary to be that strict. If you really encounter an extreme situation, you still have to prioritize yourself."
Hestia rarely corrected him once.
As a God, Hestia deeply understood that anything could happen in this world, and sometimes one had to choose between sacrificing oneself or sacrificing others.
Compared to some strangers she didn't know, Hestia cared more about Lynn himself, so she would support Lynn in lifting the restriction when necessary.
"Lynn, let me tell you. Morality bottom lines are things that are best used flexibly."
"Isn't it inappropriate for a God to say something like that?"
"Not at all, or rather, this is my experience as a God. Otherwise, the life of a God would be very boring."
...