Chapter 17 - I highly doubt that. (Patreon)

As soon as I heard Loki's voice, my body trembled slightly. Since I arrived in this world, this is the first time I've spoken to her like this.

"Sure," I said without thinking much, pulling my hand away from the doorknob.

"Alright, come with me."

I followed her, feeling a little nervous, but she said,

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

"I understand."

After walking for a while, we arrived at a room I'd been in several times before. It was an office normally used by Loki and the most important members of the Familia, like Riveria and Finn.

As soon as we entered, Loki closed the door and looked at me.

"Take off your shirt."

The moment I heard Loki's words, I didn't quite understand. However, what she said next made it clear what she meant.

"I'm going to update your Falna."

'I'm an idiot,' I thought, smiling bitterly.

I took off my shirt in front of Loki without thinking much about it, then sat down in a chair with my back facing her. I felt Loki's hands touch my back. Her hands were surprisingly soft and warm.

Well, she is a goddess, even if she's Loki.

'Wait, my status hasn't changed much. Should I spend all my points before she updates my Falna?'

That would probably surprise Loki quite a bit.

From what I remember, Loki always gets frustrated whenever she updates my Falna because of my Evolution Falna.

"Goddess, wait a moment."

"Huh? What is it?"

"It's alright, it's nothing."

"..."

Loki didn't say anything, but she was visibly annoyed that I'd interrupted her.

The important thing was that during that brief moment, I distributed all my points as quickly as I could.

Two hundred and forty points were spent within a matter of seconds.

####

POV: Loki

The moment a drop of my blood touched Rui's Falna, it began to glow. His status updated right before my eyes.

When I saw his current status, I was genuinely surprised. It was a rare sight.

'He's evolving...'

After such a long time, Rui had finally started evolving again. So all he had needed was a little more determination. And his growth wasn't small.

Strength (STR): B 720

Endurance (END): C 665

Dexterity (DEX): B 724

Agility (AGI): A 809

Magic (MAG): D 597

Both his Strength and Agility had increased in rank. His Magic had also made a considerable leap.

'However, he didn't acquire any new Skills.'

Rui's only Skill is one called Boost, which increases his Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and other attributes. It's a Skill unique to him. However, it isn't particularly powerful.

Rui told me before that the increase to his Strength and Agility isn't very significant.

Once I finished updating his Falna, I copied the information onto a sheet of paper and handed it to Rui.

"Congratulations. You finally managed to evolve after such a long time. The improvement was considerable. When you first joined the Familia, your growth was very similar to this. Every time I updated your Falna, it surprised me."

"I'm glad," Rui said without showing much of a reaction.

"Were you expecting this?"

"Yes. I've been working very hard these past few days. But I didn't expect my growth to be this significant."

After remaining silent for a few seconds, Rui spoke again.

"But I need to reach Level Four. I've been stuck at Level Three for a long time."

Hearing his words, I looked at him and said,

"Take it easy. Don't overdo it."

"I'll be careful."

Rui stood up and put his shirt back on. Then I asked,

"Ais told me you've been training with a sword. How's that going?"

"I don't have any talent for it."

"Ais told me the opposite. She said you're very talented."

"She's just trying to be nice. She told me the same thing. But using a sword in battle is very difficult for me. It's like my body doesn't respond very well to my movements whenever I'm holding one. I think I've gotten too used to fighting with my bare hands."

"You shouldn't give up. Fighting with your bare hands may work for now, but it's a dangerous fighting style. Why do you think adventurers who fight unarmed are such a minority?"

"I'm not giving up, but I won't focus on it too much," Rui said. "I'll keep training as long as Ais continues helping me. I'm learning a lot from her."

"I see. Good luck with that. But don't try anything funny."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I know you very well, Rui. Don't play dumb."

Rui looked at me before laughing.

"Yeah, you know me well. I won't do anything strange during our training. I may be a womanizer, but I'm not an idiot. Do you really think Ais would let me lay a finger on her?"

"She'd probably cut your hand off," I said with a smile.

Rui didn't say anything else. He opened the door, and before leaving, he said,

"Don't worry, Goddess. I won't disappoint you anymore."

"I seriously doubt that."

####

As soon as Rui left the room, I sat down and looked at the paper with his status written on it.

A moment later, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said.

It was Riveria.

"How did it go?"

"He improved a lot. Just look at this."

Riveria looked at the paper.

"I don't remember exactly what his status looked like the last time you updated his Falna, but I'm certain his Strength and Agility were much lower. Before long, all of his stats will reach Rank A."

"He'll reach Level Four soon," I said.

"You can sense that?"

"I just have a feeling it'll happen soon."