Leon Eligos, Level 4
Strength: 10→F364
Endurance: 10→F322
Dexterity: 10→S900
Agility: 10→E417
Magic:10→G205
Mage: G
Magic Power: H
Spirit Healing: I
Inside the quiet divine chamber, Loki looked at the status values that had just been updated by her own hand. She raised her head to look at Leon, who was currently putting his clothes back on in front of her.
"What exactly have you been learning from Finn all these days?"
A total increase of over 290 points in status proficiency—this might have been an earth-shattering event for anyone else, but when it came to Leon, Loki already felt it was no big deal.
Even if Leon's ridiculous growth rate showed no signs of slowing down after rising to Level 4, Loki didn't find it surprising anymore. This guy was just built that way, and there was no need for her to make a big fuss every single time.
But this time, the growth trend in his updated status was just too bizarre, wasn't it?
In the past, the attribute Leon was best at and grew the fastest in was undoubtedly Magic, but this time, the Magic attribute had the smallest increase.
That was fine in itself. After all, Leon hadn't gone down to the Dungeon this time, nor had he used much magic, so it wasn't hard to understand why his Magic grew slowly.
But what was with his Dexterity?
While his other basic attributes only rose by three or four sub-ranks, why had the parameter for Dexterity increased by so much?
It had actually jumped from the lowest rank of I straight to the highest rank of S in one go.
What kind of ridiculous and bizarre growth was this?
"It went straight up to S?"
Leon held the parchment sheet translated into the Common Tongue. Looking at the value for Dexterity, he couldn't help but be slightly taken aback as well.
But immediately after, he felt it made sense.
"I indeed learned a lot of things from the Captain that I couldn't have even imagined before. Having this level of growth is perhaps only natural."
Leon truly thought so.
Finn's teachings had not only made him understand what combat was, but had also shifted his internal definition of fighting itself.
In the past, to Leon, fighting was practically no different from a street brawl. Learning combat skills and learning martial arts or brawling techniques was just a way to make himself better at brawling.
However, Finn's guidance had forcefully shattered the existing impression of combat in Leon's mind, overturning his view on fighting and making him realize that it was an academic study, as well as an art.
The things Finn taught were completely different from Ais's. He didn't teach you how to swing a sword faster, nor did he teach you how to adopt a sturdier stance. Instead, he taught you how to break free from established frameworks and use your own way to make a battle go more smoothly.
He wasn't training Leon's physical movements, but rather his brain, his spirit, and his mindset, teaching him how to instantly grasp what to do next the moment a battle began, how to make adjustments mid-fight, and how to gradually accumulate his own advantages to march toward victory.
He could even give Leon a pointer or two regarding magic, telling him how to perfectly manufacture opportunities to use magic during close-quarters combat, and how to perfectly integrate the power of magic into his fighting style so that it became a seamless part of his combat.
Thanks to this, Leon felt as though his mind had opened up. Even if he couldn't be said to have undergone a complete transformation, it was practically close to it.
This "growth" translated directly into excel sheets of experience points, which, after being absorbed by Leon's status values, were fully reflected.
His Dexterity parameter reaching S, far eclipsing his other attributes, was proof of this.
"But you're still way too ridiculous," Loki couldn't help but complain. "This is the first time I've ever seen status growth with a curve like this. The Dexterity attribute alone is miles ahead while the other four attributes can't even catch up. This is even more absurd than those pure backline mages who only train Magic."
Because pure backline mages didn't need to consider close-quarters combat, they basically only trained their Magic attribute, leaving their other stats like Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility entirely untouched, which easily resulted in a massive gap between their Magic and their other four stats.
For instance, Lefiya's current Magic parameter was B, while her Strength was at the lowest rank of I, her Endurance was only H, and her Dexterity and Agility were only G. This was a classic pure backline mage, whose Magic parameter was the only stat that was sky-high.
Riveria also shared this growth trend. Even though her Magic parameter had reached S, her Strength and Endurance were only G, leaving a vast gap between them.
However, they had accumulated such a massive attribute gap only after years of training and updating their status values time and time again.
But Leon? A single status update had pushed one of his stats straight to the highest rank, while the other four attributes were still struggling in the lower halves.
Moreover, this leading attribute wasn't even his best stat, Magic, but rather Dexterity, which usually kept a low profile and couldn't even match his Agility. No wonder Loki found it bizarre and ridiculous.
"Doesn't this also prove that I indeed gained a massive harvest from the Captain?"
Leon smiled indifferently.
In order to thoroughly integrate the things Finn had guided him on, Leon could be said to have spent all of his time diligently studying and reviewing over these past few days, aside from essential work. He hadn't even gone to the Dungeon, directly becoming a shut-in.
Because he was too deeply immersed in this, Leon had even missed the Monster Feria a couple of days ago, completely forgetting about this annual festival until he later heard that a commotion had occurred during the celebration with monsters breaking loose on the streets. Only then did he belatedly remember it.
He vaguely recalled that in the original story, Ais and the others had run into some trouble during this festival.
Yet, perhaps due to the butterfly effect brought about by Leon, although a monster commotion had occurred during the Monster Feria a couple of days ago, the scale of the disturbance didn't seem serious at all. It was just a group of monsters brought in for performances that had broken out of their cages and run loose, and nothing else had happened.
Upon learning of this situation, although Leon felt a bit surprised, he also let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the trouble from the original story didn't happen; otherwise, Leon, who had completely forgotten about the matter, would have felt quite guilty.
To be immersed to such an extent, could it not prove just how massive a harvest he had obtained from Finn?
It could only be said that everything was perfectly understandable.
"Well, as long as you got something out of it, that's fine. My only fear was that you'd gain nothing at all." Loki finally accepted this fact. Sighing, she put away her golden needle and said, "If you keep growing at this rate, maybe this time it won't just be Magic; even Dexterity might break through to SSS."
Such a breakthrough would be incredibly significant.
After all, Leon previously only had his Magic attribute capable of reaching SSS, while his other stats, though breaking past the limit, had only reached SS, which was one rank lower than Magic.
Although that was already extremely powerful—since others could only reach S at most—since Leon had the possibility of reaching SSS, the more attributes that achieved it, the better.
"Perhaps—it won't just be Dexterity?"
Leon said with deep meaning.
He remembered that the protagonist of the original story only had his best attribute reach SSS before Level 4, while the rest were SS, just like him.
But at Level 4, the original protagonist had officially achieved the feat of reaching SSS in all attributes, training stats other than his best attribute, Agility, to SSS as well.
He was now Level 4 as well, and after three consecutive level sublimations, his own "vessel" had been fully explored and expanded.
In that case, he might not necessarily be unable to achieve the feat of reaching SSS in all attributes at Level 4, just like the original protagonist.
Especially now that he was preparing to heavily develop his close-quarters combat capabilities, the four attributes closely related to close combat—Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility—would definitely undergo thorough training and intensive exploration.
Previously, it was these four attributes that had failed to reach SSS. If they could be thoroughly trained and intensively explored this time, then achieving SSS in all attributes might not be a mere pipe dream.
"Damn, that's actually possible."
What Leon could think of, Loki could naturally think of as well.
She might not know about the protagonist of the original story, but just looking at Leon's current growth trend, she felt that none of this was entirely impossible.
All attributes at SSS—
It sounded like another incredibly ridiculous feat, but since the subject was Leon, Loki wouldn't go so far as to think it was completely impossible to achieve.
If a child of her own Familia really achieved such a feat, she would probably wake up laughing from her dreams.
"Then do your best, and try to pull off another miracle to give me a fright."
Loki patted Leon on the shoulder, revealing a devious grin.
Leon rolled his eyes at her, too lazy to pay her any more mind.
The two chatted on the spot for a few words before Leon got up to say goodbye, walking out of the divine chamber and heading down the spiral staircase of the central tower.
He planned to use the time he had now to go over to the archives and read some books.
These days, Finn's guidance had been ongoing, but Leon hadn't neglected his magic homework either.
This was an agreement he had made with Riveria, and it was also something Leon himself felt he had to do.
Advancing both close combat and magic hand-in-hand—he had indeed accomplished that.
However, when Leon arrived at the archives, he actually ran into Riveria there.
"You're here?"
The elven royal sat alone at the reading desk, offering a faint smile to Leon as he entered the room.
"Why are you here, Lady Riveria?"
Leon was slightly startled, and once he reacted, he walked forward and asked in surprise.
"There's something I need to attend to." Riveria pointed to the seat opposite her and said, "Have a seat first."
Hearing this, Leon felt somewhat puzzled, but he still sat down in front of Riveria.
Once he sat down, Leon noticed that a peculiar book was resting on the desk surface between him and Riveria.
It was a thick, heavy book, entirely pure white, with intricate patterns carved on its cover.
"This is—?"
Leon kept feeling a very mysterious aura emanating from this book, similar to a mage's magical energy.
"This is a Grimoire."
Riveria did not keep him in suspense, directly revealing the true nature of the book.
"A Grimoire?"
Leon's eyes lit up, his gaze instantly locking onto the pure white book, completely unmoving.
He naturally knew what a Grimoire was.
It was a highly valuable item capable of awakening the magic latent within a person's body that had not yet been discovered, forcing them to learn magic. It could only be created by someone who had acquired both the Mage and Mystery developmental abilities.
Mystery was an extremely rare and precious developmental ability, with fewer than five people in all of Orario possessing it, let alone having to acquire Mage as well. Therefore, those in the world capable of creating such items were far and few between, and barely anyone could do it.
Its price was also extremely exorbitant; a single copy could rival a first-tier armament produced by the Hephaestus Familia, and it was often a seller's market where demand far exceeded supply.
Inside this archive belonging to the Loki Familia, there were several used Grimoires resting on the bookshelves—those were items used by the predecessors of the Familia, but they had already lost their efficacy.
Grimoires were single-use consumable items; once used, they would completely lose their power, turning into useless old books.
Yet the Grimoire in front of Riveria still carried the aura of magical energy.
Could it be—
"Indeed, this is a Grimoire that hasn't been used yet." Riveria said, as if seeing through what Leon was thinking. "I requested an acquaintance to purchase this book from a magical kingdom and bring it back."
Hearing this, how could Leon not understand what Riveria was planning to do?
This was clearly something prepared for him, wasn't it?
After all, Riveria had no use for this Grimoire.
Although a Grimoire could forcefully discover magic, it was limited to those who still had empty slots in their status values.
An adventurer who received God's Grace could only learn a maximum of three spells—this was a rule that no one could violate.
Riveria's three magic slots had long been filled, making it impossible for her to learn a fourth spell through a Grimoire.
Therefore, this was undoubtedly prepared for someone like him who still had empty magic slots.
And the truth was indeed so.
"High-grade Grimoires can not only let a person learn magic, but also carry a certain probability of expanding the number of magic slots."
Riveria spoke.
The limit for magic slots was three, and although it was impossible to have more than that, changing a person who originally had only one slot into having two, and a person with two slots into having three, was still achievable.
Being able to increase the fixed number of spells each person was naturally born with was precisely the most precious aspect of a Grimoire, to the point where its price was sometimes even higher than that of first-tier equipment.
"You only have one magic slot and have only learned one spell, but it can be clearly seen from your status values that this is absolutely not your limit."
"Therefore, I've had the idea of preparing a Grimoire for you for a long time, to help you increase the number of spells you can use."
"Now, this Grimoire has finally been delivered."