That same evening…

After Hestia and Alex left Hephaestus’s workshop, they slowly made their way towards the church, which now officially belonged to them. As they walked, Alex noticed that Hestia kept glancing at him, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t bring herself to do so. He decided to take the initiative.

“Hestia, if you have something to say, just say it. No need to be shy. I’ll answer to the best of my ability,” Alex said, looking at his little goddess.

“I just… I just wanted to say thank you again. You really don’t understand how much you’ve done for Hephaestus. This curse haunted her all her life, and she suffered a lot because of it,” Hestia said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“I’ve already told you, Hestia, there’s no need to thank me. This curse was just a small problem for me, and solving it was quite simple. There are many ways to lift such a curse, but I came up with the easiest ones I could remember at the time,” Alex said, handing Hestia a handkerchief so she could wipe her tears.

“If it was such a small problem, why couldn’t all the healer gods deal with the curse?” Hestia asked, wiping her tears.

“Look, Hestia, every living being has a core, and each one is unique. It’s what makes you, you. The same goes for gods; they just have a divine core,” Alex began to explain, handing Hestia the bags to demonstrate. Raising one hand, he made a fist and showed a circle. “If this circle is Hephaestus’s core, the curse latched onto it like a leech, feeding off it and growing stronger. Hephaestus said her eye used to be different, and over time the skin around the eye started to toughen. That’s all because the curse was getting stronger, feeding off Hephaestus’s powers,” Alex continued, wrapping his other hand around the fist to show how the curse entwined around the core.

“But you didn’t explain why the healer gods couldn’t lift the curse,” Hestia said, stomping her feet in frustration.

“Hestia, I haven’t finished yet. Be patient,” Alex said, tapping her forehead with his finger. “Ahem. The healer gods couldn’t lift this curse because it wasn’t just one curse. There were many, and they depended on each other, strengthening and protecting each other. To dispel this whole knot, you had to find the weakest one and slowly remove the rest. Because if you didn’t remove them all at once, the remaining ones would get stronger, absorbing the power of the ones that were removed. And by the time they realized what they had done, the curse would have already fused with Hephaestus’s core, and no one would be able to remove it without destroying the core,” Alex explained.

“I get that you’re super-duper strong and all, but how did you so easily remove the curse? I still can’t understand how you used a sword to separate a curse that had been with Hephaestus for years,” Hestia said, looking at Alex suspiciously.

“The ‘Yamato’ sword can separate anything—from space to the soul. And there’s still a lot you don’t know about me, my little goddess,” Alex said, roughly patting Hestia’s head and taking the shopping bags.

“Hmph. Whatever,” Hestia huffed, striding ahead.

Laughing at this cute goddess, Alex followed her to their home.

(This is all the author’s imagination. Don’t pay it any mind. You might have your own theories about this curse, and you can propose them.)

The next morning…

Upon waking up, the first thing Alex did was gently remove the sleeping, drooling Hestia from his side and place her on the couch. Smiling, he got ready and decided to let Hestia know he was heading to the dungeon.

“Hestia, I’m going to the dungeon,” Alex said softly, nudging the still-sleeping Hestia.

“Mmmmmm…” was Hestia’s only response before she turned over onto her other side.

Shaking his head, Alex decided not to disturb the sleeping goddess any further and headed toward Babel. On his way, he thought he could get breakfast at the “Hostess of Fertility” and turned toward the restaurant.

As he approached, Alex noticed Anya sweeping the entrance. He decided to greet her before going inside.

“Good morning, Anya-nyan. I see you’re hard at work early,” Alex said in a cheerful tone as he approached.

“Alex-nyan! Stop calling me Anya-nyan, my name is Anya-nyan!” Anya began to shout.

“Well, that’s what I said, Anya-nyan,” Alex replied, holding back his laughter.

After spending a few more minutes bantering with Anya, Alex decided to go inside, where he found the other waitresses preparing the dining area for the day.

“Good morning, everyone,” Alex greeted as he entered.

“You came so early in the morning to see me? How embarrassing,” Syr said, rushing over and placing her hands on her cheeks as she began to blush.

Before he could respond, Ryuu came over and grabbed Syr by the collar, pulling her back to work.

“Sorry for her behavior,” Ryuu apologized on Syr’s behalf.

“It’s alright. I’m glad she’s so cheerful this early,” Alex replied with a broad smile.

“So, why did you come here so early? Was it just to see the girls?” Ryuu asked, looking directly into Alex’s eyes.

“Ahem… I came to see if I could buy breakfast to take with me to the dungeon. And, of course, to see all of you again,” Alex said, coughing awkwardly and glancing away.

“Well, I understand. I’ll go get Mama Mia. Follow me,” Ryuu said, blushing slightly as she asked Alex to follow her.

“Mama Mia, we have a customer with a question. Can you come out?” Ryuu said, approaching the kitchen.

“Who’s here so early in the morning?” Mia said as she walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. “Oh, it’s you, rascal. What do you want so early, and don’t say you came to ogle my staff.”

“Ahem. I came to see if I could buy breakfast to take to the dungeon,” Alex said awkwardly, clearing his throat.

“Breakfast, you say? Let’s see what we can do,” Mia said, stroking her chin as she headed back to the kitchen.

While Alex waited for Mia, he watched the waitresses working hard from early in the morning. Before he could fully enjoy the view, Mia returned and placed a box of food in front of him.

“Now give me 200 valis and get to your dungeon,” Mia said gruffly.

“Thank you for your service and have a productive day,” Alex said, handing over the money. After saying goodbye to everyone, he headed towards Babel.

Near Babylon…

Approaching Babylon, Alex was lost in his thoughts and paid no attention to the adventurers surrounding him, whispering among themselves.

“Hey, isn’t that the newbie who jumped down and then tore through ten floors on his first day?” asked a random adventurer, tugging on his friend’s sleeve.

“Yeah, that’s him. Valen was bragging up a storm at the bar about seeing this guy who jumped down and landed in some weird pose,” replied his friend, recalling the rumors he heard at the bar.

“I somehow don’t believe there’s such a capable newbie,” he added skeptically.

“Well, you could go check it out and risk looking like a fool, but count me out. Plenty of people saw him tearing through those floors at full speed,” retorted his friend, reminding him it wasn’t just hearsay but something witnessed by many.

“Hey, I may be old, but I’m not stupid. I’m not going to verify it just because I don’t believe it,” he replied, heading into the dungeon.

“Suit yourself. Now let’s go kill a couple of monsters to earn some drinks, maybe hit up the red light district later,” his friend replied, fantasizing about how he’d spend his evening.

Alex continued walking, lost in his thoughts, oblivious to the people passing by. He didn’t notice a small assistant sitting near the fountain, listening to the whispers and watching Alex with keen interest, pondering what he had just learned. (And of course, to the author as well.)

Inside the Tower…

Lost in his thoughts, Alex didn’t even notice as he approached the hole leading to the first floor of the dungeon. He continued pondering whether to attempt a new speedrun or resume from the floor where he left off. Landing on the first floor with such force that the floor cracked beneath him, he ignored the adventurers who stared at him with frightened eyes. Alex clenched his fist and made a decision: he would continue from the 10th floor and, if lucky, face off against the Monster-Rex.

“Hey, isn’t that him?” one adventurer asked another.

“Yeah, that’s the one. We better move ahead or he’ll start breaking through to the 10th floor again, and we won’t get any loot,” replied the other, hurrying to avoid having their loot stolen.

Alex entered an empty room on the first floor to use a teleportation spell and instantly reach the 10th floor. After teleporting, he took a deep breath and decided to progress towards the 17th floor, hoping to encounter the Monster-Rex.

“What if I try to turn mana into swords that I can launch at enemies? After all, magic is only limited by your imagination,” Alex thought as he ventured deeper into the 10th floor.

As he walked, he experimented with turning mana into a sword that he could launch at enemies. Moving forward, he managed to form a mana sword and launched it at the first enemy he encountered, an Orc. The sword flew with such force that upon impact, it pinned the Orc to the wall.

“Haha, it actually worked! Just need to dial back the force a bit so it doesn’t blow enemies away, and adjust the penetration power,” Alex mused, launching another sword at a different monster.

Reaching the 15th floor, inhabited by Minotaurs, he decided to try combining the “Gatom” spell with the mana sword. Vergil could thus be drawn to enemies. If successful, Alex would gain the “Hirayshin” skill in the magic world. After several attempts, he succeeded in imbuing the mana sword with the “Gatom” spell.

Finding a lone Minotaur, Alex launched the mana sword, hitting its mark. After a flash, Alex found himself next to the Minotaur and immediately beheaded it.

“Alright, that worked. Now, what if I try a reverse ‘Gatom’ to attract the monster instead of me?” Alex pondered.

Finding another test subject, he launched the mana sword. Upon impact, there was a flash, and only the Minotaur’s torso fell to Alex’s feet, turning to ashes.

“Hmm, so that’s how it works. Attraction uses more mana, considering the distance, weight, and volume of the object you want to attract. Now I know,” Alex reflected, stroking his chin.

After several attempts and a couple of test subjects, he finally mastered this skill.

“Well, that was tougher than I thought. Besides distance, weight, and volume of the object you want to attract, the magic itself in this area matters too. After 10 attempts and summoning various parts of monster bodies, I finally got the hang of it. Now, onward to raid the boss,” Alex thought proudly, and he headed to the 17th floor towards the raid boss room.

On the 17th Floor in the Raid Boss Room…

Arriving at the boss room, Alex noticed that the boss had not yet appeared. Surveying the wall where magic was concentrated, he realized that the Monster-Rex would soon emerge. Making the most reasonable decision in this situation, he decided to eat. Creating a stone throne with magic and sitting down, Alex took out his food and began eating, forgetting everything else.

Meanwhile, a large group of adventurers approached the 17th floor.

“Hey, Captain, let’s hurry up! If we don’t move fast, the Monster-Rex will appear and delay our raid progress,” a cheerful voice spoke up.

“No need to worry. We’re just in time to avoid any delay in the raid,” replied the captain calmly, indicating they still had time.

“Hmph. If the Monster-Rex shows up, I’ll deal with it quickly,” retorted a haughty voice.

“Bete, you haven’t learned from last time when your arrogance got you in trouble,” said the cheerful voice, prompting laughter from everyone.

“Shut up, Tiona! I just wasn’t ready in that situation,” Bete arrogantly replied.

“Yeah, sure, great ‘warrior’ Bete,” Tiona said in a tone that sparked another wave of laughter.

“Quiet down, everyone. We’re approaching the boss room, stay alert,” the captain warned the group.

“Captain, look, someone’s sitting in the boss room, and it looks like the boss will appear soon,” whispered one of the group members.

Everyone noticed the person sitting on a stone throne, enjoying their food, clearly unconcerned that the Monster-Rex was already beginning to regenerate and emerge from the wall.

Returning to Alex, who was enjoying his meal in the dungeon. While eating, Alex noticed the mana concentration on the wall reaching its peak, and Goliath had already begun to emerge. Placing the food box in his backpack and destroying the throne he sat on, Alex summoned Beowulf and assumed a combat stance, watching the approaching Goliath.

Goliath stood about 7 meters tall, with a muscular body and grayish skin. Spotting Alex, Goliath moved towards him. Alex’s first thought was that he needed the soundtrack from “Attack on Titan.” Pushing away unnecessary thoughts, he prepared for an uppercut stance as Goliath approached.

Alex was eager, preparing to perform one of Vergil’s famous combo strikes. When Goliath entered striking range, Alex delivered a devastating uppercut, underestimating its force. The uppercut literally blew off the entire top part of Goliath, punching a huge hole in the ceiling, revealing the 16th floor. Alex snapped out of it only after the monster’s enormous crystal fell in front of him. He stared at it blankly, doubting his own reality.

This continued until he heard a voice shouting towards him:

“THAT WAS SO COOL!!!” yelled the voice approaching him.

Turning towards the voice, Alex noticed a group of people.

To be continued…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep