My whole body felt light.
The sensation of power surging up from deep inside me.
Every time I moved my arms or legs, I could feel strength on an entirely different level from before.
A sense of omnipotence far beyond anything I’d felt at LV1 wrapped around my entire body.
Just like in the original story, the exhilaration of going from 1 to 2 was beyond imagination.
“Mmm... Nia... hehehe...”
The goddess beside me was talking in her sleep, still clinging to me tighter than usual, as if last night’s excitement hadn’t worn off yet.
I was already used to being her favorite pillow now.
Carefully slipping out of bed, I began preparing for the new day.
Now that I was LV2, the upper floors were too small a stage for me.
The Middle Floors.
The hellish depths that began at the 13th Floor, a completely different world from the upper floors.
It was time to venture into the Middle Floors.
But with my current gear, that was impossible.
The worn daggers I’d been using until now had mostly shattered from use.
Even if any of them had survived, they would have broken quickly in the Middle Floors anyway.
“I need to get equipped first.”
I gathered the money I’d earned yesterday and the funds I’d been steadily saving over the past few days.
It was a fairly heavy money pouch.
With this much, I should be able to afford at least the minimum gear needed to tackle the Middle Floors.
“Goddess, I’m off.”
“Mm... you’re leaving already...? Stay with me a little longer today...”
I gently kissed the goddess on the forehead as she whined in her sleep, then left the mansion.
The first place I headed was the Guild.
Since I’d leveled up, I needed to update my registered information.
It was a hassle, but if I didn’t do it, it would be illegal, so I had to.
As always, the rabbit-eared receptionist greeted me with a familiar smile.
Come to think of it, I saw her every day, but I still didn’t know her name.
It felt awkward to ask now, though...
“Welcome, Nia! What brings you in today?”
“Hello. Um, this is kind of late to ask, but... what’s your name?”
At my question, her rabbit ears perked up.
“Huh...! You finally asked! My name is Luna Moonbridge! Please remember it!”
She puffed out her chest proudly as she introduced herself, looking delighted.
“I’ll remember it from now on, Luna. I’m here to update my information today. I leveled up.”
At my brief answer, Luna’s smile froze. She looked at me again in disbelief.
“W-What? Le... leveled up?!?!”
Her eyes went wide at my words.
She asked me over and over as if she couldn’t believe it, and when I nodded, she hurried off with the paperwork to report to her superior.
The Guild interior instantly grew noisy.
A little later, I was led to a small room in one corner of the Guild. There, instead of the usual staff member, an elf man with a stern expression was seated.
He looked me over from head to toe, then took the update form signed directly by the Familia’s main goddess and began checking it.
“Nia of Istarot Familia. From the date of adventurer registration to... today...”
The elf stopped counting on his fingers and stared at me in shock.
“...Only three months. You reached LV2 in just three months?”
He muttered under his breath as he stamped the form with trembling hands.
“You’ve broken the record holder... Ais Wallenstein’s record...”
Shortest-time level-up record, broken.
With that, I had become the most talked-about newcomer in Orario.
To be mentioned in the same breath as the Sword Princess...
This was going to make life more troublesome.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and left the Guild.
My next destination was the secondhand weapon shop in the back alleys.
“Hey, brat. Back to buy more scrap metal?”
The one-eyed dwarf grunted at me as soon as he saw me.
I was starting to get attached to this old man too.
Without a word, I placed the heavy money pouch on his workbench.
With a jingle, a few gold coins rolled out of the pouch.
The dwarf’s one eye widened.
“Today I’m not here for scrap metal. I’m here to buy the real thing.”
I said it boldly.
“I need gear for the Middle Floors. Three good longswords that suit a Pallum, and show me some decent light armor too.”
At my words, the dwarf gave me a once-over, then grinned and headed into the back of the shop.
“Hmph, so you’ve gotten a taste of money, have you? Wait here. I’ll bring out something that’ll make your eyes pop.”
He rummaged through the dusty warehouse for quite a while before bringing out three finely honed longswords and a set of light armor made from wyvern leather with mithril reinforcement.
All of it was high-quality secondhand gear, the sort other adventurers had used in the Middle Floors and then sold off.
Wait, mithril?
“Seventy thousand valis for the whole lot. I’m not lowering it any further.”
“Old man, this has mithril in it, doesn’t it? Seventy thousand valis? Seriously?”
“Shut it and take it when it’s offered.”
I paid without hesitation.
After gathering up my new equipment and leaving the shop, the dwarf tossed a parting remark over his shoulder.
“Brat, don’t die.”
I snorted and stepped outside.
Old man... male tsunderes really aren’t in demand.
Only one final preparation remained.
I slipped into a quiet alley and laid the three newly bought swords out on the ground.
The Mind I now had was nothing like before.
And then there was my newly acquired development ability, Genius.
I still wasn’t sure exactly what this ability did.
But for some reason, I had a feeling Enchanting would become far easier than before.
I picked up the first sword and focused my Mind.
“Sharpness IV, Unbreaking III, Absorption II, and Fire Aspect.”
“Let fate be bestowed.”
With the short chant, the light flowing from my hand wrapped around the sword.
Was this the effect of Genius?
The process of layering multiple enchantments, which had once felt like complicated calculations, was completed in an instant, as if the most efficient formula had simply appeared in my head on its own.
It was like going from scribbling on paper to coding on a computer.
On top of that, the flow of Mind was optimized, with almost no waste at all.
When the light faded, a faint haze rose from the blade.
It was the moment an ordinary steel sword was reborn as an absurdly overpowered magic sword.
In another world, a magic sword was usually a consumable that broke after a few uses, but mine was different.
I went on to enchant the second and third swords as well.
On the second sword, I applied Sharpness IV, Unbreaking III, and Absorption II, then added Frost.
As soon as I gripped the sword, the surrounding air turned cold, and a thin layer of frost formed along the blade.
On the third sword, I did the same with Sharpness IV, Unbreaking III, and Absorption II, then added Lightning.
When I gave the sword a light swing, tiny sparks burst from the tip.
Even after granting high-grade enchantments to all three swords in succession, I hadn’t even used up half my Mind.
“So this is the effect of Genius.”
At this rate, once it reached C later on, wouldn’t I be able to spam high-grade enchantments with almost no mana at all?
Of course, if I remembered correctly, there had only been one person in the original story who reached development ability C...
Well, I’d get there someday, right?
Either way, it was an insanely broken ability.
Not only did it reduce Mind consumption, it even seemed to raise the upper limit of enchantment rank.
At this rate, I could probably apply Tier 1 or 2 enchantments with almost no cost even now.
Once I grew a bit more, maybe I should open an Enchanting shop.
I had a feeling I’d make a fortune.
Since I still had Mind left, I enchanted the armor with Protection II and Fire Protection II.
From the Middle Floors onward, equipment with fire resistance like salamander wool was supposedly essential, but this should cover me to some extent.
And even if I took damage, I was carrying three swords with Absorption II. With that much, I should be able to hold out.
I strapped the newly reborn three magic swords to my waist and put on the light armor.
Having three swords hanging from my belt made me feel like Roronoa Zoro or something.
The way the armor fit snugly against my body was on a completely different level from the old leather vest I’d worn before.
All preparations were complete.
I set off toward the Dungeon.
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