Finn had wanted to say it was impossible, but his reason told him the probability of such a situation occurring was not zero.
In fact, it was quite high.
"Checkmated, huh." Gareth shook his head.
Despite saying this, smiles appeared on the faces of the Loki Familia's three executives.
"Regardless of Levi Bright's true situation, judging from his actions of entering the Dungeon almost every day and earning a large amount of Valis, he is clearly a standard adventurer with a strong desire for power and wealth." Finn rested his chin on his clasped hands. "For us, this is actually a good thing."
Communicating with a smart person is obviously much easier than communicating with a fool.
And based on the many details that Line and Ais had just recalled, Levi Bright was clearly no fool.
That also meant...
The Loki Familia could absolutely use benefits to form a bond with him.
As for what they'd have to offer, that could be negotiated slowly.
...
As the captain of the Loki Familia, Finn's reaction could be said to have been extremely quick.
But even he, with a significant lack of information, couldn't deduce the fact that Levi was about to reach Lv. 3, and was only a sufficient feat away from Lv. 4.
Meanwhile, Tsubaki, who had locked herself in her personal workshop preparing to violently disassemble the Vision, showed an 'are you kidding me' expression when she saw Levi again and heard his request for her to accompany him on his next trip to the Lower Floors.
"Little brother Levi, didn't you just reach Lv. 2?" Tsubaki asked.
"That's right." Levi nodded. "But that doesn't mean I don't need to accumulate the feats to reach Lv. 3."
"Also, before coming to your workshop, I already got Lord Hephaestus's approval. The hiring price is 3 million a day."
"You..." Tsubaki opened her mouth.
She had indeed said she would help Levi accumulate feats for Lv. 3 and Lv. 4. Although her own goddess later changed it to a buyout with Valis, she had no intention of backing out of the original agreement.
For Tsubaki, whose main profession is a smith, having another powerful adventurer as a friend meant another way to obtain rare forging materials from the Dungeon.
It's just that...
Wasn't the speed at which the boy standing before her was improving his abilities a bit too fast?
Only two days had passed since he reached Lv. 2.
Fortunately, as long as it wasn't related to smithing, Tsubaki wouldn't dwell on it too much.
After hearing this, she nodded: "Alright, we'll set out tomorrow morning. Based on the clearly above-standard combat power you've shown before, we'll probably have to go down to a location near the 30th floor of the Dungeon. The round trip alone will take four days. Also, I'll give you a shopping list and a few maps. Go to the shopping district later and prepare the necessary supplies. As for the maps, it's best to memorize them all."
"No problem."
Levi wasn't the arrogant type to forget who he was just because he had a cheat system.
On the contrary, as long as it didn't violate his own principles and bottom line, he actually didn't mind using external help at all.
For example—
"Yo, you're here."
The next day, in the morning.
Inside Hephaestus's workshop, the red-haired, one-eyed goddess tilted her head back, using the light to observe the dim constellation within the Vision that Levi had temporarily left with her.
Hearing the door open, she didn't even turn her head, just chuckled and greeted him.
"Lady Hephaestus."
The goddess could be casual, but Levi, not being a member of her familia, could not show the same attitude.
"I've come to retrieve the Vision."
"A Vision, huh~" Hephaestus sighed for some reason. "That description is indeed quite accurate."
Clearly, after more than ten hours of research and observation, the red-haired, one-eyed goddess had roughly figured out the composition and creation principles of the object from another world in her hand.
Levi silently took back the piece of equipment he had spent a fortune to pull from the gacha.
He hadn't deceived Tsubaki yesterday evening; he had indeed gone to her workshop only after getting Lord Hephaestus's approval.
The price for that was letting the red-haired, one-eyed goddess play with his newly-acquired, one-day-old Vision for the entire night.
"With that look on your face, anyone who didn't know better would think I stole Hestia from you."
Hephaestus raised a hand and poked the cheek of the boy in front of her.
Levi really wanted to reply with "To an adventurer, their equipment is no different from their lover," but considering he had previously sold the Sky-Piercing Sword that had been with him for ten years and his first Vision to get initial development funds, he couldn't bring himself to say such a rebuttal.
He could only murmur helplessly: "Lady Hephaestus, please don't tease me."
Who knew that after hearing this, the red-haired goddess, instead of holding back, became even more aggressive and pressed her whole body against him.
"Don't you know that gods are all very domineering and self-centered?" Hephaestus looked directly into his eyes, her tone seemingly serious, yet as if joking.
Not to be outdone, Levi retorted: "I didn't before, but now..." He glanced down. "...I can certainly 'feel' it."
"Heh, you little rascal. Speaking of which, where's Hestia? Why didn't she come with you today?"
Hephaestus took an inconspicuous step back and asked curiously.
Hearing this, Levi averted his gaze: "Hestia, well, she's still resting."
"Ooooooh~"
Hephaestus was an old hand at this; how could she not understand his underlying meaning.
Just as she was about to tease them about their relationship, the workshop door was pushed open again.
Following that was Tsubaki's slightly awkward question:
"Um, Lady Hephaestus, have I come at a bad time?"
"Ah, this..."
Being caught teasing a handsome boy, and by her own familia member no less, made even Hephaestus feel a bit awkward at this moment.
Levi, on the other hand, with a face as thick as a city wall, said: "No, you've come at the perfect time!"
"So, want to join in?"
"Uh, no thanks. Little brother Levi, you're too young. If people found out, they'd say I was a cougar preying on a cub."
Tsubaki sternly refused, completely forgetting that her own goddess and Levi's goddess were ancient beings who had lived for tens of millions of years.
"Tsubaki~~~~~"
Hephaestus smiled, but her words carried a hint of chill.
Called by her syrupy voice, the one-eyed master smith suddenly realized she might have accidentally hit a sore spot with the goddess.
She quickly pretended to look at the sky outside the window: "Shouldn't we be heading out?"
"Indeed." Levi readily agreed with a nod. He then looked at the red-haired goddess standing before him, "Well then, Lady Hephaestus, we'll see you in a few days."
_____
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