Riezel Brynhart
Affiliation: Loki Familia
Race: Human
Age: 17
Profession: Adventurer
Reached Floor: 59th Floor
Notable Achievement: He had been an adventurer who carried out an unknown quest together with his familia, participated in multiple intense battles, and, after a period of 60 days, officially advanced to Level 7.
...
Early the next day, this announcement had not only been posted on the bulletin board in the first-floor hall of the Guild Headquarters, but had also appeared in the newspapers at the very first moment, spreading throughout the entire city of Orario in less than half a day.
When this announcement became widely known and was learned by one familia after another, one god after another, one adventurer after another, and one citizen after another, even those who understood what kind of existence Liberator was still found themselves staring at each other in a daze for a long while before finally voicing their amazement.
"60 days..."
"Holy hell—that's downright ridiculous."
"Oy, oy, we're talkin' about Level 7 here. Not too long ago, that was still the highest level in all of Orario... hell, even the whole world."
"And now... somebody already reached it in that short-ass amount of time?"
"Guess that's Liberator for ya. He's always pullin' off crazy stuff way outta everybody's expectations."
Some sighed.
Some gave wry smiles.
Some felt jealousy.
Some felt envy.
Of course, there were also those who were excited and cheering, offering loud praise to this monster rookie who had achieved such an unbelievable accomplishment.
Even the gods had gathered together by prior arrangement, either discussing it loudly or complaining to one another, eventually turning it all into a large-scale scene of grievances.
"Why'd someone like that have to end up with Loki of all people?"
"Loki Familia's already crazy strong, and now they've got a monster rookie like him. How the hell are small and mid-sized familias supposed to survive?"
"It's only been a little over half a year, right?"
"Mm, it took seven days to go from Level 1 to Level 2, fifteen days from Level 2 to Level 3, thirty days from Level 3 to Level 4, forty-five days from Level 4 to Level 5, fifty days from Level 5 to Level 6..."
"And now, sixty days from Level 6 to Level 7..."
"Seriously, that's only 207 days total."
"Basically seven months."
"At this rate, won't Liberator hit Level 8 in a few more months?"
"...No way, right?"
"No matter how much someone breaks their limits, there's gotta be a ceiling."
"But... that's Liberator we're talking about..."
"..."
"Fuck! I'm so damn jealous of Loki!"
"Who isn't?"
Clearly, the gods' thoughts were essentially the same as those of most people.
Such astonishing growth speed and such terrifying potential made everyone feel that this most fearsome monster rookie in history would soon reach Level 8, catch up to King, and perhaps even quickly reach Level 9, catching up to the highest-ranked member of the Hera Familia and becoming the strongest trump card in Orario and even the entire world.
Some had even begun to argue that Liberator already possessed the strength to challenge King for the position of the strongest.
After all, everyone knew that what he excelled at most was fighting opponents of higher levels.
Perhaps he already possessed power comparable to Level 8.
Perhaps he already possessed the strength to defeat a Level 8.
Or perhaps he could accomplish the long-standing objective that the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia had failed to achieve—defeating the final monster of the Three Great Quests, the One-Eyed Black Dragon.
Riezel's level-up caused such widespread discussion throughout Orario that, through the words of merchants and bards, it quickly spread beyond the city and across the entire world.
Without a doubt, in the minds of most people, Riezel had already become an existence comparable to Ottar.
More than that, compared to Ottar, many people were actually even more eager to witness Riezel's future performance, believing that he was the one who could truly catch up to the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia—or even surpass those two millennium-old familias—and ascend to the peak of strength, successfully slay the Black Dragon, and save the world.
Riezel's astonishing growth speed caused many people to place immense expectations and hopes on him in defeating the calamity dragon that still ravaged the surface to this very day, like the embodiment of doomsday—the One-Eyed Black Dragon.
In the future, would Riezel truly be able to defeat it and complete the greatest adventure that the last hero from a thousand years ago, Albert, along with the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia, had all failed to accomplish?
Was he the hero that the gods and the people had been waiting for?
People and gods alike continued asking themselves and others these questions, holding onto anticipation and hope as they waited for the emergence of a hero.
Meanwhile, within the Loki Familia, the news of Riezel reaching Level 7 also caused a tremendous stir. When Finn, Gareth, and Riveria learned this news, they were stunned for a long time before breaking into smiles in unison.
"Well, this really came at the perfect time."
Finn voiced his thoughts, and the others clearly felt the same way.
Just as Loki had anticipated, at this critical juncture—when they were about to launch a full-scale assault on Knossos—the news of Riezel's level-up was undoubtedly a powerful stimulant, greatly boosting everyone's morale and fighting spirit.
As a result, even though the matter had already caused a massive sensation the previous night, leaving many people far too excited to sleep, the next morning, when Riezel walked into the dining hall, everyone was still enthusiastically discussing it, and they immediately surrounded him.
"How the hell did you end up reaching Level 7?"
Tiona grabbed onto Riezel's clothes with a sour expression, repeatedly letting out sighs.
"Seriously, Riezel... we all reached Level 6 together, but now you're the only one who has made it to Level 7. How are we even supposed to catch up to you?"
It was not just Tiona sighing like this—Tione and Bete also wore deeply displeased expressions.
"I already gave up hope. Getting surpassed was gonna happen sooner or later anyway."
Even though Tione said this, both her expression and tone clearly revealed strong dissatisfaction.
"...Tch."
Bete sat to the side, watching Riezel being surrounded by everyone, and suddenly, even the meat in his hand no longer tasted good.
"..."
Ais did not speak as she sat beside Riezel, her expression unusually complicated.
"In the end… he still surpassed me…"
Honestly, she could not clearly describe what she was feeling at this moment.
Joy?
Yes, there was definitely some.
Riezel had stepped into a new stage, achieved a new milestone, and become stronger than before—she naturally felt happy for him and genuinely joyful because of it.
Beyond that, however, she also felt envy.
Just like before, she could not help but think, 'If only I could grow stronger this quickly… how good would that be?'
However, unlike in the past, the current her no longer felt urgency or impatience because of Riezel's growth.
As for why, even she could not explain it clearly because now she only knew that she could naturally accept the fact that Riezel was stronger than her, and she even felt a faint sense of anticipation—she wanted to know just how far he would go in the future, and just how strong he would become.
As for competitiveness?
At this moment, whether it was Ais, Bete, Tiona, or Tione, none of them had it anymore.
Just as Tiona had said—how could anyone possibly catch up to Riezel?
Only two months ago, they had all reached Level 6 together. Even now, everyone was still in the lower stage of Level 6, yet Riezel had already leveled up again.
No matter how one looked at it, this was not something anyone could catch up to.
One had to remember that among them, Ais—recognized as having the greatest talent—had spent around three years at Level 5 before finally reaching Level 6 not long ago.
Under such circumstances, if the others wanted to reach Level 7, they would have to struggle for several more years at the very least, or even for over a decade like Finn and the others.
Even Ottar had spent seven years advancing from Level 6 to Level 7, so at a minimum, they would also need seven or eight years. But by then, with Riezel's growth speed, he might have already reached Level 8 or even Level 9.
Hence, at this moment, even Bete—who had always refused to admit defeat—quietly abandoned the idea of competing with Riezel.
It couldn't be helped.
He had finally realized that a monster like Riezel simply could not be caught up to.
In contrast, for Raul, Anakitty, Lefiya, and the others, only joy remained regarding Riezel's level-up.
"Honestly, this couldn't have come at a better time," Raul said over and over. "Having another Level 7 before we start the assault on the Man-Made Dungeon seriously boosts our chances of winning."
"Mr. Riezel isn't some ordinary Level 7, y'know."
Anakitty crossed her arms, and although she did not show her emotions as openly as Raul, her tail continued swaying behind her, revealing her delight as she spoke.
"With Mr. Riezel's abilities, even if he just reached Level 7, there's no way he'd be weaker than the other Level 7s. He might even be stronger."
"Not to mention Vana Freya already lost to Mr. Riezel. Even Captain and the others might..."
At Anakitty's words, the group gradually fell silent, with some of them even nodding in agreement.
In their view, there was no doubt that Riezel's strength had advanced significantly after this level-up. Whether he could compare to the Level 8 Ottar for now remained uncertain, but he was definitely not weaker than Finn, Gareth, Riveria, and the others.
It was only natural.
Whether it was Finn, Gareth, Riveria, or Allen of the Freya Familia, they had all only reached Level 7 within the past two months. Riezel's level-up essentially meant that he had entered this realm almost at the same time as these veteran experts.
In other words, the gap between them was practically nonexistent.
And given the abilities Riezel had demonstrated so far, he would only be stronger than these veteran experts who had only recently leveled up.
Because of this, everyone had already realized something—within the familia, Riezel had clearly become the strongest. In the upcoming assault on Knossos, he would also become their strongest trump card.
"Mr. Riezel… amazing..."
Lefiya looked at Riezel as though admiration and reverence were about to overflow directly from her eyes.
Aside from her, the surrounding members watching the scene were much the same—each of them showed obvious joy, anticipation, and excitement, causing the tension that had filled the entire base the previous night to vanish without a trace.
Surrounded by everyone and drowned beneath their overlapping voices, Riezel, who had not yet found a chance to speak, suddenly smiled.
"Don't worry."
Riezel spoke calmly.
"We will win."
Hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned before their expressions gradually turned resolute.
"Yeah… we will win."
With that shared conviction, they firmly held onto this mindset as they awaited the arrival of that day.
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