As unfortunate as it was the slowness of progress that normal people who weren't freaks of nature like Bell and I reared it's ugly head here. Due to being in a group and thus not really in too much danger Lili and the other members of Bells party were all experiencing slow growth. This was not something that can be fixed either as unless they were to delve into the dungeon solo and put themselves in harms way intentionally their falnas simply didn't have the stimulus needed for rapid growth.-
The only reason Bell wasn't lagging behind as well was that he had that busted skill of his that made his stats continuously grow so long as he chased after Ais's shadow. Obviously he still needed to put in the work but that skill means his same amount of effort gives much more rewards than anyone else at the same level. In my case i had to admit that my stalling stats was simply because of the sheer amount of time I spend crafting rather than in the dungeon killing monsters and getting that sweet sweet smoky goodness.-
All my progress being made in this case was with my DS and magic stat with the vast majority being on my DS even if there was no visible change to it. It was hard to describe really but it was kinda like I was storing up excelia and once I passed a certain amount it transforms from quantity to quality and I have to start collecting it again. Sorta like when you leveled up the previous accumulation doesn't vanish with this transformation but simply becomes your new base. That all said I had started to think about finally getting some real grinding done in the dungeon since it would be rather embarrassing if Bell surpassed me while I sat on my ass crafting and otherwise relaxing.-
My prep work for this next expedition of mine was fairly simple really as I packed the usual essentials, food, a water ring, a couple loot sacks of various sizes and a few quality of life items I had made but hadn't sold yet such as my dungeon goTM toilet, shower and sink. This bad boy was a cube seven inches squared made out of aqua iron and bone that you could slot a water ring into in order to transform it into a toilet, shower or sink as needed. -
I was confident that this thing will sell like hot cakes once I officially release it but right now I was stocking up on them in preparation for that day. The best part had to be that since it needed a water ring to work I also was going to be able to sell a lot of those as well. I had a couple other gadgets as well such as a self assembling tent with built in stealth function for safe sleep in the dungeon and of course my metal detecting compass.-
"And you won't go making the dungeon angry at you right?" Hestia asked with a suspicious look before I set out.
"I can't promise that but I can say that I won't be doing so intentionally if I do. At least if the old guy is telling the truth the dungeon is actually quite fond of me, though I have no bloody idea why. As far as I can tell I've been nothing but a nuisance but who knows how the things mind works." I said with a shrug.
"Make sure you contact me everyday so I know you are fine." she said not bothering to argue since it was pointless.
With that taken care of I slipped on my mask/helm and set off for the dungeon. It was nice and early in the morning a short time after sunrise so the city was just waking up. Most shops were either just opening or in the process of opening since this was right around the time adventurers were getting active. There were a few people who gave me odd looks but no one really seemed to care about my appearance as most recognized it from the rumors.-
It also helped that there were several posers who copied my style as much as they could for both innocent and not so innocent reasons. I stopped by the Blue pharmacy to stock up on potions and then the hostess to let Freya and the others know i was going to be gone for an extended period of time.
"Heading down to the water palace finally?" Freya asked as she swept the floor in her Syr form.
"Yeah, might take a crack at Amphisbaena while I'm down there too. Will probably fail but I won't know without trying." I said honestly.
"Only you would consider trying to solo Amphisbaena as a mere level three anything but a suicide attempt." she said with a roll of her eyes.
"What can I say, i'm an over achiever." I said with a grin.
"Isn't that the understatement of the millennia. You might be able to stand toe to toe with a level six when you hit four and might give Ottar a run for his money at five. Over achieving hardly even begins to cover what you are." she said with a cute snort of amusement.
She was a bit mistaken as I was fairly confident I could give Ottar a run for his money as four but I wasn't going to correct her. I was as anomalous as it got in terms of power so getting an accurate feel for how strong I actually was was difficult. Right now for instance I could go toe to toe with a new level five an still have a bit of an upper hand so by my next level hitting new level six was not impossible. Once I get through a good few ranks in level four for my stats and I should be able to handle even veteran sixes and towards the end of my time in four a new level seven, in theory that is.-
According to Freya though the difference in six and seven wasn't just stats but skills. At six apparently most adventurers are reaching expert ranks in their DS's and normal skills that makes each of them uniquely powerful in their own ways. At seven and above however that was where mastery came where they were nearly unrivaled in their skills fields. My unique situation meant that I had the skill mastery of someone much higher level than I actually was. It wasn't much of a stretch to think i could give Ottar a bit of a challenge at my peak level four status.