"Peeking into the script of the future..."
Loki couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was sothing not even the gods could do—yet now, such a possibility had surfaced in a re adventurer.
For once, even Loki, the goddess of mischief, felt like the world was playing a joke on her.
"How could a child of Genkai awaken a power like that?"
She hadn’t thought much of it before, but after bringing Haruhi into her Familia, Loki started to feel more and more like the children of Genkai were undergoing so kind of genetic mutation. One after another, they awakened bizarre skills and magic. Was that really supposed to be normal?
’It makes perfect sense.’
But Bell didn’t say that out loud.
If this had happened in the past, it would’ve been completely absurd. That was the age of heroes—and back then, an existence this unbalanced would’ve been an insult to the Black Dragon. Forget Cassandra—if even Haruhi had appeared during that era, the party fighting the Black Dragon would’ve been a Lv.10 Empress, a Lv.9 hero, and several Lv.8 adventurers.
Wouldn’t that kind of party beat the Black Dragon into the ground?
If "Silence’s Alfia" had been in that team too, maybe the Black Dragon would’ve been half-dead before the battle even started.
The era shapes the hero—but there’s a limit to how many heroes a single era can support.
That’s why, only after the age of heroes ended, did so many adventurers begin acquiring these overpowered skills and spells.
The appearance of such "unreasonable" powers ant that a new era of heroes in Orario was about to begin.
"Loki‑sama, I’m not finished."
"Trendous power always cos with great risk. Every kind of legacy has its price."
"Take Sanjouno Haruhi’s magic, for example. After casting it, there’s a cooldown. Put simply, it can’t be used in rapid succession—that’s its greatest flaw."
"So, she still needs to improve."
"A single level-boosting magic won’t take her far. She needs more spells to make up for her shortcomings."
"Loki‑sama, you should arrange for her to receive one or two Grimoires soon. However high she can climb now may very well determine how far the Loki Familia rises."
The reasoning was solid—but Loki picked up on the deeper implication in his words, and that made her more than a little displeased.
"Kid, I appreciate you linking Haruhi’s growth with the future of my Familia. But are you ignoring all my other children?"
Seeing Loki’s blank expression, Bell could clearly feel that raw, inner anger.
But no matter how furious she was, not even a god’s wrath could change the truth.
"Loki-sama, you must know just how much potential your own Familia still has for growth, don’t you?"
Loki’s anger paused for a mont—but she didn’t hold back.
"The Braver, Nine Hell, and Elgarm are all adventurers renowned not only in Orario but across the world. They’ve reached Lv. 6, a level that all other adventurers can only look up to. In fact, they’re considered the first tier of adventurers in Orario."
"I’ve always wondered... are those titles really supposed to be serious?"
"Lv. 6 is the first tier? Then what about Lv. 7, Lv. 8, or Lv. 9 adventurers?"
"Honestly, I think calling Lv. 6 the ’first tier’ is kind of embarrassing. If that’s considered the highest achievent, then maybe that’s really the limit of their abilities."
Loki stared at the boy before her. From beneath the shadow of his hood, she saw a pair of clear eyes.
’That’s the look of soone with a defined goal.’
’This kid... I really underestimated him.’
Bell took a mont to gather his thoughts, then looked toward the three Lv. 6 adventurers.
"Captain Finn, I’m just a nobody, a low-level adventurer. But I understand this much: the gap between Lv. 6 and Lv. 7 might be wider than the gap between a human and a dog."
"The more we grow, the more obvious the difference between each level becos. It might just look like a difference in Excelia, but it’s a gulf as wide as heaven and earth."
"Even if the three of you tead up to take down a Lv. 6 Floor Boss right now, you probably wouldn’t gain much. Those Floor Bosses no longer help you improve. Forget gaining more Excelia—your Status probably wouldn’t even go up by ten points, right?"
The three of them fell silent.
Bell’s words were true. Fighting Lv. 6 Floor Bosses no longer offered them any aningful progress. Even their Status had stagnated at the peak for many years.
Bell wasn’t surprised by their reaction. This, he thought, might be the biggest issue Orario was facing right now.
Everyone was accumulating Status at their current levels, but they lacked the most crucial ingredient—Excelia. The one thing that could push them to take that final, critical step forward.
"Like I said before, I believe the gap between Lv. 6 and Lv. 7 is possibly greater than that between a human and a dog. Trying to challenge a Lv. 7 Floor Boss with the power of a Lv. 6 is suicide. But that’s exactly why it’s your path to growth."
"Only by facing the reality of that gap—by acknowledging it exists and can’t be overco easily—can true growth begin."
"If the three of you continue to grow, then your fellow Familia mbers will have a clear direction to follow. They won’t be stuck at Lv. 6."
"So, the potential of Loki Familia’s developnt is tied directly to how far the three of you can rise."
Bell gave the highest praise he could to these three core mbers of the Loki Familia.
He was effectively saying that they represented the ceiling of what the Familia could beco.
If they could continue growing, then the upper limit of the Loki Familia would be raised once more.
But if they failed, decline would follow.
"Maybe everything I said sounds like a fantasy. I’m just a low-level adventurer—what right do I have to talk like this? But I truly believe that the fate of the Loki Familia has always been tied to you three. Your growth shapes the entire Familia. Even the Sword Princess can’t change that."
"Lv. 7 isn’t easy to reach, but you’ve been given her power."
Bell pointed at Sanjouno Haruhi.
"If her magic can be further enhanced—if all three of you can temporarily reach Lv. 7—then is there really no hope of defeating a Lv. 7 Floor Boss?"
In that mont, a fla called "desire" was lit in the hearts of the three cornerstones of the Loki Familia.
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