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Alex had fought for quite a while, but it was no use — he couldn't break through.
He finally admitted defeat.
With his current martial level, he was still far from being a match for Luo Hao.
So instead of fighting to win, he changed his goal — to learn.
His movements softened, losing their sharp edge.
Now, he wanted Luo Hao to attack so he could use the countless variations of Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand to analyze and counter her strikes.
Luo Hao quickly noticed what he was doing and started going easy on him, deliberately feeding him moves to practice against.
The two exchanged blows over and over, and Alex's martial skill grew visibly sharper with each clash.
Before he realized it, the sun was already high — morning training had come to an end.
Back at the hotel, the atmosphere immediately felt off.
Everyone was sitting in the lounge, but Morgan was glaring daggers at Merlin, making the latter squirm awkwardly with an innocent smile.
That's when Alex remembered — right, both of them were characters from Arthurian Legend, and old acquaintances at that.
Fortunately, they came from different timelines: Morgan from the Lostbelt, Merlin from the Classic Camelot timeline.
That was the only reason they hadn't started fighting already.
If it had been male Merlin, fists — or spells — would've flown long ago.
Alex shook his head, deciding not to get involved.
After a whole morning of training, he was exhausted anyway.
He took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and asked hotel staff to bring up lunch.
Even during the meal, Morgan's gaze never left Merlin.
Alex sighed helplessly. "She's not the Merlin you know. No need to take it out on her."
Morgan scoffed. "Different timelines or not, in her world, she definitely helped Arthur seize the throne, didn't she?"
Her tone was sharp, but there was a grudging sort of acknowledgment buried in it.
Merlin gave an awkward smile. "That's… simply how human history is destined to unfold."
Morgan's expression twisted. "Exactly why I despise proper Human History. In my world, I defeated everyone — I became queen."
Merlin let out a soft sigh. "And that's why your world is called a Lostbelt."
That did it.
Morgan stood abruptly, staff in hand, voice turning ice-cold. "Do you want to be the first Servant to get eliminated?"
Merlin stood too, her staff appearing in her hand as well. "You're welcome to try."
The tension thickened like storm clouds ready to burst.
Alex glanced over at Luo Hao and Hestia.
Luo Hao remained perfectly composed, eating her meal as elegantly as ever.
Hestia, on the other hand, looked way too entertained. Then a sudden divine pressure exploded from her — a soft but overwhelming aura that instantly froze both Morgan and Merlin in place.
"You two, settle down," Hestia said, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks in mock anger. "Don't ruin everyone's lunch."
A trace of fear flashed in both women's eyes.
They knew Hestia was a goddess, but they hadn't expected this kind of raw, terrifying power.
Even with their top-tier Spirit Origins — strong enough to rival gods themselves — they were completely crushed just by her divine aura.
If this was what she could do without even fighting… how terrifying would her true strength be?
When they finally backed down, Hestia retracted her divine might and happily went back to eating.
Alex exhaled in relief.
Still, the incident planted a thought in his mind.
After the Holy Grail War ended… could he really keep all of them around?
And even if he did, would he be able to stop them from fighting each other?
After lunch and a short rest, Alex began his afternoon training session.
This time, Hestia was teaching him magecraft from the Type-Moon world — and she wasn't the only instructor now. Merlin had joined in, too.
Since they couldn't practice magic indoors, Hestia took Alex out to a quiet, empty spot on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, just like Luo Hao had earlier.
Today's lesson was about Magic Circuits.
But before starting, Hestia smiled and said, "Alex, let's update your Blessing first!"
Alex blinked. "Huh? I haven't fought any monsters lately. Shouldn't my stats be the same?"
Hestia lightly tapped his forehead. "Idiot. Blessings don't only grow from monster fights. Your daily training and practice count as experience too!"
"Oh, so that's how it works! Then hurry up and update it!" Alex said, clearly excited.
He stripped off his shirt, revealing a body of perfect muscle — each line smooth and well-defined, the result of divine modification and relentless training.
Merlin blushed slightly and giggled. "Well, looks like I'm learning some secrets today."
Hestia didn't care about keeping up appearances — she wasn't hiding her divinity anyway.
The two major restraints hadn't come after her yet. Who would dare?
She pricked her finger, and a drop of divine blood fell onto Alex's back.
In an instant, a torch-shaped tattoo appeared, covered in intricate sacred runes.
Merlin's eyes widened, staring intently at the divine script.
The wound on Hestia's finger healed instantly. Then her hands glowed with blue-white light as she began rewriting and upgrading Alex's Blessing.
Moments later, it was done.
Alex couldn't see his own back, and he couldn't read divine language anyway, so he asked Hestia to read it aloud.
[Name]: Alex
[Level]: LV1
[Stats]Strength: I0 → D555Endurance: I0 → D599Dexterity: I0 → D520Agility: I0 → D546Magic: I0 → A888
[Development Abilities]:—
[Magic]: (Three Slots Available)
[Skills]: —
It was Hestia's first time actually seeing Alex's stats. The last time she granted his Blessing, it had been through the chat group, so she hadn't seen his base values.
But base stats always started at zero — what really caught her attention now was the Magic section.
Three slots.
That was the highest possible rank — meaning Alex could awaken three different magics.
Of course, those referred to DanMachi-style magic.
He could still learn magecraft from the Type-Moon world and magic from the Jobless Reincarnation world separately.
"Alex, four of your stats have reached D-rank, and your Magic is already A-rank," Hestia said excitedly, patting his back. "In other words — you're ready to level up!"
In the DanMachi world, Blessing upgrades depended entirely on stats.
There were five attributes — Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic. As long as one reached D-rank, a level-up was possible.
But before that, an "adventure" was required — defeating a powerful monster or achieving something so great that even the gods would be impressed.
Once leveled up, all stats reset to zero, and the cycle began anew.
That was the essence of the DanMachi growth system.
"..."
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