As for the eighty-million-odd Valis the Expedition preparations had cost, that kind of "pocket change" no longer weighed on Leon's mind.
Never mind all the income everyone in the Familia brought in from daily exploration and the Expedition itself. The steady monthly orders of Wild Mixture and Monster Hunter Special from those three big clients alone were more than enough to cover the expense. There was even twenty million odd left over.
His eyes passed over the accounts without lingering and went instead to the slowly growing Excelia bar.
"If I remember right, before we entered the Dungeon for this Expedition my Excelia reserve was around... 1200?"
"A small part of that came from daily training and Dungeon exploration. Most of it was a gift from my Evilus buddies during the Blood-Red Christmas."
"Those Evilus guys are so easy to get along with! Whatever I'm short on, they really do deliver, no fussing around."
"Tsk tsk, my brothers really came through."
"Let me count... take out what I'd saved up before, so how much Excelia did I farm this Expedition..."
"Hmm, a few days and I farmed close to a thousand points?"
"The two Monster Party encounters made up the bulk of that. Efficiency-wise... barely a passing grade, not bad."
"Still, split per head, that much Excelia isn't a lot."
He glanced at his stat column. Hmm?
He paused, feeling that something was off. Then, with confusion all over his face, he took another look at the Excelia bar, unable to wait...
The next second...
A smile spread across Leon's face. And it got more and more smug...
"Heh!"
"Hell yes, I've got enough Excelia!"
He swept a hand out.
"System, I'm going all in! Every stat that isn't maxed, fill them all up for me!"
As if answering the command, a rapid string of chimes rang out, and apart from Magic, which had already hit the 1599 ceiling, the numbers representing Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility started climbing like mad...
1000...
1200...
...
1500...
...
Until they slammed into the 1599 limit. The last digit, that "9," shuddered violently twice, as if it had touched an invisible wall, and then locked firmly into place.
...
"Heh!"
...
Name: Leon Hart
Title: Shadow of Sorcery
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Affiliation: Demeter Familia
Level: Lv.4
Floor Reached: Floor 27
Basic Abilities:
Strength: SS1000 → SSS1599 | Potential: SSS1599
Endurance: SSS1100 → SSS1599 | Potential: SSS1599
Dexterity: SS1000 → SSS1599 | Potential: SSS1599
Agility: SS1000 → SSS1599 | Potential: SSS1599
Magic: SSS1599 | Potential: SSS1599
Development Abilities:
Versatility G, Hunter G, Mage G, Abnormal Resistance G
Strong Body G, Magic Resistance G, Escape G
Concentrate H, Accuracy H, Strong Defense H
Magic: omitted
Skills: omitted
...
Stats filled to the brim.
He went back through every one of his stats, checking again and again until he was sure nothing had gone wrong.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he decisively pressed down on the "+" sign pulsing softly behind Level: Lv.4.
Level: Lv.4 Great Feat satisfied. Level up available. Confirm level up?
Confirm / Decline
Confirm
Level up successful
Level: Lv.4 → Lv.5
There were no flashy light effects, and none of that illusion where "power came surging up all at once, and you feel like one punch could part the Earth down the middle." Plain, ordinary, without a ripple, Leon completed his promotion.
"Done!"
Leon leaped up in wild joy and threw three triumphant punches at the "sky" while yelling.
This was already the ritual he performed every time he leveled up.
"Lv.5!"
"Holy shit!"
"Insane!"
"Insane!"
"Insane!"
"Yeaaaah!"
Beside the roaring waterfall, he bounced around alone throwing punches like he was having a fit, worked up enough to burst through the night. But this wasn't his first level up, so why was he still this excited?
The reason was simple.
Reaching Lv.5 was what finally got him out from under labels like "extra," "ant," and "cannon fodder," and let him stand on a completely different stage from then on.
It was the same as the rules of survival in a cultivation world.
In the eyes of an "old Nascent Soul monster (First-Class Adventurer)," there was no real difference between a Lv.1 or Lv.2 Third-Class Adventurer and a Lv.3 or Lv.4 Second-Class Adventurer. They all got filed under the same broad category of "ants."
Only by stepping into Lv.5 and becoming a First-Class Adventurer would they treat you as an equal, worth addressing as "fellow cultivator."
As for Lv.6, with half a foot in the Hero Realm, and the super heavyweights at the summit (for now) at Lv.7, those were already the "senior realms" you could admire from afar but never trifle with.
With beings like that, forget personal grudges. Even Familias at the level of the Big Three, constrained by their positions, would never willingly provoke them.
Having vented the surge of feeling, Leon gradually calmed down.
Because he'd noticed one tiny little problem.
He'd impulsively hit level up just now because his stats had been filled, and thinking it over, reaching Lv.5... didn't seem to be all upside for him at the moment.
"Uh, leveling to Lv.5, does that mean... I only get full Excelia from farming Lv.5 small fry now?"
Leon scratched the back of his head, blank-faced, feeling that he'd been more or less impulsive.
"Forget it, it's only a bit of Excelia. Put in more time and it's handled."
"Compared to the real leap a level up brings, that price is nothing worth mentioning."
...
After weighing the pros and cons, Leon was certain. Whether Excelia from low-level monsters decayed after leveling, or whether there were other hidden effects, none of it came close to the importance of the level up itself in his mind.
After all, no matter how broken your magic and skills are, they all run on level as the foundation. Without level, all of it means nothing.
On top of that, he wasn't short on money now, and he had so many reliable companions (women) around him. If he were still hemming and hawing about suppressing his level instead of taking it, Leon figured he'd have to be out of his mind.
"Mm... Leon, you're supposed to be on watch, what are you doing over there acting crazy all by yourself..."
Kureha pushed open the tent flap, rubbing her eyes and heavy with sleep, and poked her dazed head out to stare blankly at him.
Leon turned around, spread his hands with a perfectly untroubled look, and answered lightly, "Nothing much, I just leveled up a little."
"Oh, leveled up."
"No wonder you were making such a racket..."
She covered her mouth with a cute yawn, walked over in front of Leon, and patted his shoulder in a daze.
"Congrats."
Leon watched her with a smile.
Kureha's small hand kept patting, and then the motion slowed. The expression on her face went from soft and sleepy to frozen and stiff, bit by bit.
"Wait... wait, what did you just say?"
"Level up?"
Leon grinned, showing a row of white teeth.
"Level up."
Kureha's eyes widened slowly, and her mouth fell open on its own.
"...Huh?"
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