Why was Freya at the Guild’s internal gathering?
This question suddenly made Bell realize the most critical aspect of the current situation.
The ornant on the Sword Princess’s scabbard had been placed there by the Guild’s Sage to observe the expedition team’s progress.
The Guild’s actual power structure was quite clear—only three gods were involved: Ouranos, Hers, and Ganesha. Bell didn’t think it was an issue for them to monitor the expedition. After all, even if they knew about it, those three wouldn’t cause any trouble.
But how did Freya end up among the Guild’s forces?
’Did Freya-sama join the Guild directly?’
The bold thought made Bell’s eyes widen.
It wasn’t impossible. In fact, it was highly plausible.
’Ouranos isn’t the kind of god who can’t be trusted. He’s committed to peace and stability in Orario, and he’s willing to go to great lengths to achieve that. There’s no way he’d allow a god with an unclear stance to get involved with the Guild, let alone reveal the Guild’s presence in the Dungeon to one.’
If that were the case, then Freya’s appearance ant the situation had fundantally shifted.
Only by clarifying her stance and swearing an oath would Freya be allowed to attend a Guild eting.
And if Freya did join the Guild’s forces, then the stance between them beca ambiguous.
Now that Freya had aligned herself with the Guild, their forrly opposing positions could start to shift. At least for the ti being, with the current crisis looming, what they needed was full cooperation. The key issue still remained—how to overco the Black Dragon.
Of course, Bell felt that Freya might not actually care about the so-called truth of the world, but simply about satisfying her personal desires.
Her decision to join the Guild likely wasn’t long in the making. She probably just wanted to alter the strained dynamic between them.
With all these thoughts swirling in his mind, Bell wearily rubbed his forehead.
’So what Freya-sama said in the soul world might really co true.’
He let out a slow breath.
Right now, the pressure on his shoulders felt heavier than ever.
Facing Freya-sama directly was incredibly overwhelming. No matter how much he prepared, it never felt like enough—because Freya was unlike any other god.
So, the first step was to calm himself.
After a few deep breaths, Bell sat cross-legged on his bed.
Breathing slowly and sitting in stillness gradually soothed the turbulence in his heart.
A clear mind and a calm heart would let him think more rationally.
After half an hour, he finally felt more at ease.
Freya-sama joining the Guild ant she wouldn’t be using force.
Actually, that much had already been clear from her agreent with Hestia—Freya had given up on resolving things through brute strength.
Judging from her choice to join the Guild, her approach was likely to draw closer and infiltrate from within.
So, would he be seeing Freya-sama a lot more from now on...?
’Let’s put Freya-sama aside for now. No matter how she moves, working hard to build up strength is sothing that won’t change.’
If he wanted to accumulate strength, then there was a lot to think about.
As an adventurer, one’s ability and level were the most crucial factors—they ford the foundation of one’s power.
Bell cared about this part the most.
’My stats should’ve gone up since I joined the expedition team, but the increase probably isn’t too significant. After all, I wasn’t in a frontline role.’
Because what mattered during the expedition wasn’t boosting his stats, but keeping a low profile, Bell didn’t have many chances to fight. Most of his actions had been carried out in the shadows.
The few monts he truly went all out were against the enhanced monster on the 25th floor and the hybrid of human and monster controlled by the "Spirit" on the 59th floor.
So Bell wasn’t expecting a dramatic increase in his Status.
What he was really hoping for was whether controlling the "Spirit" that tornted the expedition team would earn him the corresponding Excelia.
If it did, then reaching Lv. 5 would be just a matter of ti.
Aside from his base stats, there was also his combat technique.
"Hidden Blade: Tsuba Gaeshi" had been honed to its limit—he was now just half a step away from mastering it completely.
He could cross into that realm at any ti. All that remained was a breakthrough in actual combat.
Most of the power he could grasp at his current stage was already within his reach. That ant it was ti to explore new abilities.
’Let’s do a ten-pull on the High-Rank Gacha.’
Bell skipped the Wish Gacha and went straight for the High-Rank draw, which cost 1 million Valis.
What he was really aiming for was the slim chance of pulling a Heroic Spirit card.
It was far harder to gather five copies of 4-star or higher Craft Essences compared to lower-tier ones.
So rather than focus on a specific Craft Essence, it made more sense to gamble everything on the chance of drawing a Heroic Spirit.
[3-star Craft Essences: "Extrely Spicy Mapo Tofu" x4, "The Blue Black Keys" x2, "The Green Black Keys" x2, "The Red Black Keys" x2]
"...Seriously."
Even with boosted 4-star Craft Essence rates in the High-Rank Gacha, all he got were the three Black Keys and Mapo Tofu. Once again, Bell felt just how rigged this system was.
Even with good luck, you still couldn’t beat probability.
And system probability? That was truly rciless.
’Clear skies, empty pockets... there goes 10 million Valis.’
That burn rate really stung.
If he’d at least drawn sothing useful, maybe it wouldn’t hurt this much. But Black Keys and Mapo Tofu? That really hit hard.
’One more ten-pull. If nothing useful cos out, I’m stopping there.’
A 100 million Valis investnt was already excessive. That was Bell’s hard limit for the day.
He knew Gacha could be addictive. Once you went too far and still didn’t get what you wanted, then it really wouldn’t co out—so he set a strict boundary for himself.
And the result...
[3-star Craft Essences: "The Blue Black Keys" x10, "The Green Black Keys" x10, "The Red Black Keys" x10, "Yggdmillennia’s Pedigree" x4, "Extrely Spicy Mapo Tofu" x6, "Sakura’s Custom-Made Bento" x5, "Sunday Dinner" x5, "From Uruk" x3, "Mix Juice" x10, "La Siesta" x5, "Blessful Ti" x5, "Angel Breath" x5, "Dear Friend" x5, "Elixir of Rejuvenation" x1]
[4-star Craft Essence: "Iron-Willed Training" x5 ]
[5-star Heroic Spirit: "Archer" – Orion]
’...A 5-star Heroic Spirit!?’
The first 89 Craft Essences weren’t anything special. Honestly, aside from a few, most of them were just there to ss with your emotions.
But that final 5-star Heroic Spirit—Bell’s eyes flew wide open.
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