The idea was sound, but putting it into action proved incredibly difficult.
As Bell had said before, Evilus wasn't made up of fools.
Perhaps guided by an instinctive sense of danger, they had halted all operations after transporting those 'Fetuses.' They even resisted the temptation to raid the 'Food Vault' on the 35th Floor.
This made Bell all the more cautious in dealing with them.
What truly blocks humanity's progress isn't ignorance, but Pride.
Bell understood that deeply. Even when embodying "Pride," he would never allow a trace of that emotion to show when facing an enemy. He knew that the moment he gave in to such arrogance, it would become his greatest weakness.
That was something he could never allow.
Because of that, Bell rarely drew upon the power of "Pride," even though it was undeniably powerful.
When it came to dealing with Evilus, patience was his greatest weapon.
The 18th Floor had tunnels that led directly to Orario—but the 35th Floor had none.
That meant keeping constant watch over the 35th Floor would eventually turn into a battle of endurance. The moment one side lost patience—or simply believed the other had—it would decide the winner of the game.
Since Evilus had already issued the challenge, Bell had no reason to refuse. He accepted it readily.
At the same time, to ensure there were no other hidden tunnels extending deeper, Bell expanded his surveillance range from the 35th Floor all the way down to the 40th.
He had laid countless traps and wards between the 35th and 40th Floors. The instant Evilus let their guard down, he would seize that chance to lock onto their position.
Aside from monitoring Evilus, Bell's remaining task was simple: strengthen himself.
He needed to accumulate enough Excelia to prepare for his next Level Up—to reach Level 7.
Today, Bell once again performed a Status Update.
[Name: Bell Cranel
Lv. 6
Development Abilities:
· Stealth: A–S
· Cognition: B–A
· Spatial Awareness: C→A
· Godslayer: F–E
· Soul: I–E
Attributes:
· Strength: B793 → ???1134
· Endurance: S974 → ???1674
· Dexterity: A864 → ???1241
· Agility: A872 → ???1257
· Magic: S983 → ???1754
Magic:
"Four-Dimensional Space":
· Storage
"Lightning Command":
· Quick-Cast Magic
· Controls Lightning
Skills:
"Personal Training":
· Early Bloomer
· Gains Double Experience When Fighting Strong Enemies
"Heaven's Luck":
· High Luck
"The Poor Man's Desire":
· Power Accumulation
"Seven Deadly Sins":
· Pride
· Envy
· Greed
· Gluttony
· Lust]
Looking at the growth in his stats over the past ten days, Bell let out a quiet sigh.
'As expected, splitting my focus has slowed down my progress.'
Each attribute had increased by several hundred points, but compared to the point gains he achieved during focused training, his pace had clearly slowed by several times.
He understood why—he hadn't devoted all his energy to training lately. It was only natural that his progress had begun to lag.
"This time, your development abilities have improved significantly."
Hestia was a little surprised by the growth of his development abilities. At this point, sudden leaps in ability values no longer shocked her, but this particular growth was truly remarkable.
Developing abilities required far more time and experience than raising raw stats.
Bell, however, understood the reason clearly.
"Stealth is something I've always been working on. Cognition is constantly in use. I frequently rely on spatial abilities. I haven't had much contact with the Godslayer aspect, but I've done a lot of research into the soul. The growth of these Development Abilities is tied directly to what I do every day, so it's not surprising they've improved this much."
Although the speed of his development growth was impressive, every bit of it followed a logical pattern.
All growth came as a result of one's own actions—that was the foundation the Falna System provided for every adventurer.
"Bell, how's the situation in the Dungeon?"
Bell showed no impatience; instead, he chuckled softly and shook his head.
"They're still hiding like rats in their holes. I think they've sensed danger. After two rounds of transport, they pulled back and started hiding instead of expanding further.
"Or maybe the 'Sword Princess's' half month in the Dungeon left too strong an impression on them, forcing them to put everything on hold."
"Either way, their current inaction works to our advantage."
Seeing Bell so relaxed, Hestia couldn't help asking in confusion.
"Aren't you worried they'll just stay hidden forever?"
"Not at all. Hestia, you remember their goal, don't you?"
"Hmm... to plunge the surface world into chaos."
"Exactly. With that kind of fanatical mission driving them, do you really think they'd slow down their plans when an opportunity presents itself?"
At that, Hestia finally understood.
Bell slipped his shirt back on, turned, and pulled the dazed Hestia into his arms.
Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he took a deep breath. The tension in his body eased instantly. Hestia was becoming something like his switch for stress relief.
But the warmth of his breath brushing her neck quickly turned her skin red.
She gave a light tap to his chest as a half-hearted reprimand, then let him rest against her without saying more.
They stayed like that for a while, until Bell's mind settled again, before continuing their discussion.
"They're actually more anxious than we are right now. Evilus is essentially a large alliance—an alliance has a head, but it also has a body. Even if the current leader can stay calm, can the rest of them?"
"Once that unreasonable silence drags on for too long, I'm sure even Evilus's leader will start getting agitated by the dissent inside the alliance. When that happens, that's when we'll know their location."
There was no need to rush.
As long as their own side remained stable, that was enough.
And because Bell understood this so well, he hadn't shown the slightest impatience despite focusing most of his time on surveillance lately.
In fact, he didn't mind dragging it out with Evilus.
After all, he wasn't worried about who would outlast the other—in the end, it was certain Evilus would be the first to break.
...
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