That day, the whole of Orario was thrown into an uproar once again.
So many of Loki Familia heading into the Dungeon together, and at a time when no expedition was due, was already eye-catching enough on its own. But once the people who had watched Leo's fight against Goliath on the 17th Floor came back out and spread word of that battle, all of Orario went up like a pot boiling over.
"Loki Familia's newly minted Lv.2, the adventurer rumored to have leveled up in under a month, took down a Floor Boss solo!"
"Leo Eligos, an adventurer of Loki Familia, single-handedly subjugated Goliath, the Floor Boss of the 17th Floor!"
"A fight across two whole Levels! Challenging a Floor Boss!"
"The strongest Familia, Loki Familia's new pillar of support!"
Reports like these spread at an astonishing speed, stirring up a commotion no less than the one half a month ago when Leo had leveled up.
Countless people heard the news from others' mouths, and just as many felt shock, doubt, and disbelief.
"Soloing a Floor Boss across a two-Level gap, and pulling it off?"
"You're sure that's something a single Human could do?"
"You're sure no one else from Loki Familia stepped in, that the challenger was just one Lv.2 from start to finish?"
"It's not that I don't want to believe it, it's just that this is too ridiculous, isn't it?"
Voices like these popped up in every corner of Orario, proof of just how astounded people were.
Naturally, people's first reaction was disbelief, taking it for nothing but a rumor, the result of exaggeration. But this time, compared to the last time when Leo leveled up, the degree of doubt was far lighter.
Because, unlike the record-breaking level-up speed that no one could personally confirm, Leo's fight against the Floor Boss had plenty of witnesses.
They came from all sorts of different Familias. Some were members of big Familias, some were members of small Familias, and some were hired Supporters and the like. Their differing origins made it impossible that all of them had colluded with Loki Familia to tell such a colossal lie.
So, under the absolute certainty and word-spreading of these adventurers who had seen that battle with their own eyes, people's doubts naturally fell apart on their own.
At that point, it was simply impossible for Orario not to be in an uproar.
People were stunned, clamoring, making a racket, confirming the news they'd heard all over the place, bringing back the same lively scene as half a month ago.
The former had shattered the world's fastest level-up record, and by such a margin that it was enough to send the whole lower world into an uproar. The latter, while not quite reaching the point of drawing the entire world's attention so quickly, was, for the citizens of Orario itself, if anything even more impactful.
The reason was simple. The astonishing feat of soloing a Floor Boss and successfully subjugating it was, as said before, something no one had managed to do until now.
"Even Freya Familia's King only beat the Floor Boss half to death back then before having to retreat in defeat, right? Who'd have thought that superstar of Loki Familia would actually do it!"
"And the King's attempt was a Lv.7 against a Lv.7 Floor Boss, at least a challenge between equals. This time it was a Lv.2 against a Lv.4 Floor Boss, a full two-Level gap!"
"After all these years, someone's finally able to subjugate a Floor Boss alone again."
"Yeah, before Loki Familia and Freya Familia rose to power, this was something only the monsters in those two old Familias could pull off."
The gods gathered together and chattered away, every divine face filled with eager fascination and excitement, looking like they wanted to run straight over to Loki Familia's home base and poach the man right now.
For the gods, eternal and unchanging, what they craved most was entertainment, the unknown, anything that could bring them a thrill.
The heroic deeds of the lower world were what they prized most, because those great deeds were, even in their eyes, worthy of admiration and interest.
The people of the lower world longed for the birth of a hero, hoping someone could save them from dire straits, subjugate every monster, and save the world. The gods longed for the birth of a hero too, hoping to witness a peerless epic legend that would bring a little entertainment to their tedious divine lives.
So whenever a miracle like this appeared, one worthy of admiration, worthy of excitement, worthy of being moved, worthy of marveling at, even in their eyes, they would often be even more stirred up than the people of the lower world.
By the time the Guild had been alerted, had gathered evidence from all sides to confirm the truth of the matter, and had made it public, neither god nor mortal had any heart left for their own affairs. They rushed back and forth without rest, racing to tell one another, making the commotion the matter caused grow ever fiercer.
Merchants began writing letters, carrying this incredible event out beyond the city. Bards likewise took to the streets one after another, singing and praising this great deed.
Leo Eligos, that name was carved even more deeply into everyone's hearts that day.
Countless people murmured the name in silence, sending Leo's popularity and reputation soaring at a speed that left people dumbstruck.
And all of this, Leo still had no idea about.
After his desperate fight with Goliath, he had fallen completely unconscious from Mind Down and been carried back to the home base by Loki Familia, sleeping like the dead.
That sleep lasted a full day and night.
When he woke again, the first thing he felt was nothing other than the dull ache still throbbing in his head.
"Hss..."
In a room carrying a touch of cool, crisp air and the smell of woodsmoke, the moment Leo woke up in bed, a sudden, stabbing pain shot through his head and made him suck in a sharp breath through his teeth on the spot.
"My head hurts so bad..."
He couldn't help pressing the spot between his brows, his forehead tightly furrowed. His face wasn't pale, but it carried a visible look of misery.
Only after he'd finally eased the headache a little, or rather managed to adapt to it, did Leo realize he was already back in his own room.
"This is...?"
Looking at the familiar room, Leo turned the events over in his mind while enduring the headache.
As he thought it over, Leo finally succeeded in waking all the memories from before he passed out.
"That's right! I was challenging the Floor Boss!"
Leo shot upright, and the result was an even sharper pain in his head that nearly made him clutch it and lie right back down.
There came a click, and the door to Leo's room opened. Someone walked in from outside.
"L-Leo?"
The newcomer was holding a tray laden with water and food. The moment he saw Leo sitting up, his face broke into a look of delighted surprise.
"You're finally awake!"
He immediately rushed over.
"Raul?"
Leo got a clear look at the newcomer and called out his name.
It was indeed Raul.
The core figure of the Second Army, so valued by Finn in normal times, fussed over Leo like a worried housekeeper. First he set the tray in his hands down at the bedside, then propped a pillow against Leo's back so he could sit more comfortably.
"How are you? Feeling any better?" Raul asked with concern as he bustled about. "We went ahead and used an Elixir on you to heal your external injuries, but Lady Riveria didn't recommend giving you a Magic Potion. She figured you overstrained your Mind during the fight and put a serious load on it, so it'd be best to let you get plenty of rest. So the mental exhaustion you'll just have to recover from on your own."
Hearing this, how could Leo not understand what had happened?
"Was it you all who brought me back?"
Leo kneaded his temple and asked Raul.
"That's right." Raul nodded, then scratched his head and laughed. "We did all come back together, but the moment you passed out, it was Ais who rushed out first and caught you. On the way back, I was the one carrying you on my back, getting you to your room. Lady Riveria came by here twice to check on you."
"As for everyone else... well, they all came to see you at least once, and left once they confirmed you were okay."
"Oh, right, Loki came by too. She told the few of us to take good care of you, keep an eye on you, and said that if you woke up, you should head over to her place."
Hearing this, Leo sorted through his thoughts while confirming the current situation.
"So, my challenge really did succeed, right?"
That one line from Leo got Raul completely worked up.
"Yeah! You did it! You subjugated a Floor Boss all by yourself! It's just unbelievable!" Raul said over and over, waving his arms about. "That was a Floor Boss! And one two whole Levels above you! A super-massive monster specialized in Endurance, no less!"
"And the result? You blasted it to death with magic!"
"You don't even know, this whole thing's caused a huge uproar in Orario already. People everywhere out there are bringing up your name!"
"You, right now, you're as famous as Ais and the others!"
When it came to this, never mind Raul, everyone in Loki Familia couldn't help getting excited.
There was no helping it. The feat of subjugating a Floor Boss alone was simply too glorious.
Especially since this was a feat that even Freya Familia's King supposedly hadn't managed to accomplish, yet someone from their Loki Familia had pulled it off. That raised the reputation of all of Loki Familia along with it.
You have to understand, although Loki Familia and Freya Familia were jointly called the Two Great Powers of Orario and shared the title of strongest, the relationship between the two was not just bad, it was downright terrible.
As the saying goes, one mountain cannot hold two tigers. Both being exploration-type Familias, and both carrying the bearing of rulers standing above all, Loki Familia and Freya Familia were in competition across every front and every field.
The opposition and conflict between the two sides had always existed, and that relationship of antagonism could be traced all the way back to several decades ago when both sides were first rising to power.
Finn, Riveria, even Gareth included, all the senior veterans had at one point crossed blades with the upper ranks of Freya Familia.
For that reason, Freya Familia was both Loki Familia's rival and its hostile Familia.
Aside from a few times when the two sides had jointly schemed over major matters, the rest of the time was basically spent competing and opposing each other. The people of Orario often compared the two as well, each picking a side, supporting whoever they thought was stronger, forever measuring the two sides' strength against each other.
Under such circumstances, being able to come out one head above Freya Familia naturally left the people of Loki Familia overjoyed.
You could say Leo's deed this time had given the Familia's prestige a tremendous boost.
About this, Leo couldn't care less.
His purpose in challenging the Floor Boss had never been to raise the Familia's reputation, but for his own sake.
While being able to bring about a result like this was a pleasant surprise, Leo still cared more about things beyond fame.
For instance...
"Where's Ais?" Leo suddenly asked. "Is she at the Familia right now?"
"She is." Seeing Leo abruptly bring up their own Princess, Raul first gave a small smile, then said with a pointed air, "Ais was actually planning to wait here until you woke up, but Lady Riveria said you'd probably be out for a while yet, and Loki kicked up a huge fuss about not letting her be alone with you in the room, so she had no choice but to leave."
What Raul didn't tell Leo was that when Ais had said she wanted to stay here, a certain elf girl had jumped up on the spot, bristling, and without a word of discussion dragged and hauled her out, which was the only way they'd gotten her away.
Otherwise, with Ais's sometimes especially stubborn nature, if she hadn't been forcibly dragged off, there was no telling whether she'd have actually been talked into leaving.
"Is that so?"
Leo nodded and dropped the subject.
In truth, he felt a little regret.
According to his original plan, after successfully subjugating the Floor Boss, he'd intended to head back to the 18th Floor once more, together with Ais.
Back then, it was Ais who had brought him out of the 18th Floor, so this time, Leo had wanted to bring her back there.
There wasn't really a reason why. Maybe it was to reminisce, or maybe to say a kind of goodbye to that time, something like a sense of ceremony.
Unfortunately, once Tiona, Tione, Lefiya and the others all came along too, the plan was already half ruined, and now it wasn't even worth thinking about, given that they'd already returned to the home base.
Still, since the matter was already settled, Leo wouldn't dwell on it any further.
At worst, he'd just go back another time.
With his current strength, whenever he wanted to go to the 18th Floor, he could just go, right?
At that thought, Leo reached for his own back, but the result was just his hand coming to rest on his shoulder.
"What's wrong? Is something bothering you somewhere?"
Seeing this, Raul hurriedly asked.
"It's nothing." Leo shook his head. "I was just thinking, since I've already successfully challenged a Floor Boss, I should be able to level up now, right?"
At Leo's words, Raul gave a sudden start on the spot.
That's right, he'd already successfully subjugated a Floor Boss. No matter how you looked at it, he should have already gathered enough great deeds to level up.
So that meant Leo was about to level up to Lv.3?
Th-this was only half a month later!
In half a month, he could already level up again?
The instant he realized this, Raul was utterly dumbfounded.
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