[42] : The Trio’s Transformation: A New Level of Power
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"This must be the influence of the Enhancement type," Mika speculated, looking at the paper recording Airmid's ability values.
"Enhancement type?" Mellie and the others nodded thoughtfully.
"That's right!" Mika continued, growing more confident: "Unlike other types, Enhancement users' greatest weapon is their own body."
"While users of other types can use 'Nen' to strengthen their bodies, Enhancement users can clearly break through these limits."
From Mika's observations, the normal limit for people in the Hunter world was between Level 2 and 3, with those of exceptional talent being slightly higher, and those with less talent being slightly lower.
However, Enhancement users could break through these limits, continuously strengthening their bodies to reach higher realms. This explained why Airmid could surpass her limits after reaching her initial cap.
"But Airmid should only be able to break through the limits of strength and endurance, as these are the directions Enhanced users typically strengthen," Mika said, handing the paper back to Yahweh. "Enhancement users are generally well-rounded in both offense and defense."
"Judging from this, surpassing limits in strength and endurance will likely be Airmid's future standard," Mika stated seriously.
"It's amazing how well Nen abilities and divine blessings complement each other!" Mellie exclaimed, recalling the pleasant surprises Nen had brought them.
"Indeed!" Mika replied with a light chuckle, glancing at Gabriel floating in mid-air.
After their discussion, Yahweh, Airmid, and Mellie returned to their room to update their abilities. This time, there were no complications. Both Airmid and Mellie successfully reached Level 2, becoming upper-class adventurers.
Compared to Airmid, Mellie's attributes were close to their limits but hadn't surpassed them. Neither of them gained new magic or skills during this upgrade, which was normal. Under Mellie's magic 'Hero Creation,' the trio's potential had been drawn out early on.
The magic and skills they possessed would make even higher-level adventurers envious. However, their development abilities truly surprised Yahweh and Mika.
During the level-up, both had many development abilities to choose from, but the appearance of one ability left no room for hesitation: 'Mystery.'
Mika had chosen 'Mystery' as his development ability earlier, and now Airmid and Mellie had selected it as well.
"Our familia has three Mystery holders now. If others found out, they'd be incredibly jealous!" Mika commented, looking at Yahweh, who sat opposite him with a silly grin. "Although Mystery is indeed a rare development ability, isn't three a bit much?"
"Unlike other development abilities that provide immediate benefits upon acquisition, Mystery requires further development from us," Mika continued. "But where will we find the time for that?"
Their daily schedule was already packed. Usually, other Mystery holders would research this ability while exploring the Dungeon, or even dedicate time specifically to it.
But the trio not only had to explore the Dungeon but also train and develop their Nen abilities, with potentially more abilities to come in the future.
"Don't overthink it!" Mellie countered. "At worst, we're just missing out on one development ability. Given our current Nen abilities, does lacking one development ability really matter that much for our combat strength? Besides, who knows? Mystery might bring us some pleasant surprises when we least expect it!"
After pondering Mellie's words, Mika nodded in agreement. Their combat abilities were already quite formidable.
Seeing Mika nod, Yahweh suddenly said, "It's getting late. You should all go rest now. Tomorrow, you'll be testing your upgraded abilities in the Dungeon."
"Huh?" The three looked at her in confusion. This was quite different from her usual behavior, as she typically trained them until dawn.
Noticing their puzzled looks, Yahweh explained somewhat sheepishly, "It's not just you three heading to the Dungeon tomorrow, you know."
Hearing this, the trio turned their gaze to Gabriel, who was flying back and forth beside her.
"Right, it's Gabriel's first battle too!" they realized in unison.
Indeed, for a God who had long grown bored with this world, the interior of the Dungeon would undoubtedly be a place of curiosity. If not for the Guild's strict prohibitions and the Dungeon's countermeasures, gods would likely sneak into the Dungeon frequently.
Seeing Yahweh's expectant expression, Mellie and Airmid left the courtyard with smiles, returning to their rooms. However, Mika stayed behind, as he had something to discuss with Yahweh.
"A technique to multitask? I see, I understand now!" Yahweh exclaimed after hearing Mika's ideas about his Nen ability. "That's an excellent idea, very much your style."
"Leave the multitasking technique to me. However, this means you'll need to master more weapon techniques, and with greater proficiency!" she added with a nod. "I'll train you well, don't worry."
"Oh boy, looks like I'm headed for mastery of all weapons. My future is going to be even tougher!" Mika shook his head, his expression turning serious.
"There's also the issue with Gabriel," he continued. "She's currently created by Nen ability. Won't other deities immediately see through this if they spot her?"
"The three of us can move around Orario in a state of 'Zetsu,' concealing our Nen abilities. Since deities can't enter the Dungeon anyway, it's not an issue for us. But Gabriel can't enter a state of Zetsu, right?"
"So, is it possible for you to convert her into a mana-based form, claim she's a product of Mellie's magic, and incidentally create a technique for converting different types of energy?"
Yahweh paused briefly before replying with a sigh, "I've already developed such a technique, but you won't be able to use it yet."
She spread her hands helplessly and continued, "I may seem capable of anything right now, but that's only within the existing systems you've provided. This relies on the wisdom and experience I've accumulated over billions of years."
"This is already the limit of what I can do without my divine power. My ability to convert energy actually depends on this divine body, even without divine power."
"This falls into the realm of bloodline abilities. I can provide you with techniques, but I can't change your bloodline, understand?"
Mika nodded, having considered these points before.
"But why only temporarily?" he asked, puzzled.
"Because of the 'Nen' ability you brought back, of course!" Yahweh replied with a light laugh. "This Nen ability is all-encompassing. With enough aura and the right mindset, almost anything is possible."
"In a sense, aura is like divine power diluted countless times. Perhaps I can solve this problem using Nen abilities, but it will take some time for me to think it through carefully."
"After all, I'm no longer the omniscient 'God' I once was in the Heaven!"
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Dungeon, 12th Floor.
Mika, wielding a greatsword, was rapidly charging towards the orc before him, carving a path with his blade. On his flanks, Airmid with her spear and Mellie with her longsword were swiftly slaughtering the orcs and imps that blocked their way.
Behind the trio, Gabriel flew low to the ground, skillfully reaching into the monsters' corpses without any hindrance, extracting magic stones and usable materials from their bodies. She then stuffed these into the pouch on her lower abdomen.
This was Gabriel's Nen ability 'God's Hand' and 'Dimensional Pouch,' specifically developed to assist Mika and the others.
'God's Hand' allowed Gabriel to extract anything she wanted without any obstruction, even if it was connected to other objects. Of course, this ability only worked on inanimate objects.
As for the 'Dimensional Pouch,' its effect was self-evident. It was a vast space Gabriel had prepared to store magic stones, materials, medicines, weapons, miscellaneous items, and various other objects, though it couldn't contain living beings.
Even so, Gabriel had quickly become an indispensable support member of the team. With her presence, Mika and the others could easily double their daily gains.
This was just in the upper floors. As they continued to delve deeper into the Dungeon, reaching the middle floors, lower floors, and even the deep floors, the importance of the Dimensional Pouch would only increase.
After all, for any familia wanting to explore the depths of the Dungeon, carrying logistical supplies and handling deep-level spoils were extremely troublesome issues.
Now, the Yahweh Familia had solved this problem in advance.
"Wow, it feels great to just kill monsters without having to collect the spoils!" Mika exclaimed excitedly, leaning against the wall corner and watching the other three eating lunch.
"That's right, with Gabriel's support, our efficiency has more than doubled. This is something no other supporter can replace," Mellie summarized happily.
Hearing their praise, Gabriel, floating in mid-air eating a potato pancake, grinned and said, "Hmph! Praise me to your heart's content!"
"Hahaha!" The four laughed together.
After the jokes, Mika finished his food and asked Airmid and Mellie, "How is it? Can you control your bodies now?"
"It's almost there!" Airmid responded seriously, clenching her fist.
Whenever adventurers level up, the sudden increase in strength can make them feel like they can't control their bodies freely. This is caused by too much improvement in a very short time. Normal adventurers would gradually master their state through extensive practice.
But unlike those adventurers who fumble through combat techniques on their own, the three trained by Yahweh were considered masters in body control. When faced with the same situation, they only needed a short time to regain control of their bodies.
"In that case, we can discuss some matters about heading to the middle floors," Mika said quietly, looking at the passage leading to the next floor.
...
From the 13th floor of the Dungeon onwards, adventurers could truly experience the horror of the Dungeon. To venture into the middle floors, the first thing they needed to prepare was 'Fire Spirit Weave Cloth.'
This was a fabric blessed by Fire Spirits, capable of greatly reducing fire damage. This was necessary to guard against the new type of monster, the Hellhound, which would appear from the 13th floor onward.
As a monster of the 13th floor, the Hellhound's combat ability wasn't particularly strong, but they possessed the ability to breathe fire magic. For Level 2 adventurers, the power of fire magic was truly terrifying.
If caught off guard by the Hellhounds, a few simultaneous fire breath attacks could incinerate unprepared adventurers on the spot.
Therefore, Fire Spirit Weave Cloth was essential in the middle floors.
"Let's have the Fire Spirit Weave Cloth made into coats, and also make some masks to conceal our identities at any time," Mika said.
From the 13th floor onwards, the three would completely hide their identities until they had fully grown stronger.
"Once we enter the Dungeon, Gabriel should return to her Nen form, otherwise wouldn't our efforts be in vain?" Mellie suggested.
Since Gabriel's composition changed from Nen to mana, she lost her invisibility ability and was exposed to everyone's eyes. As a result, Mellie also received attention from others. After all, nominally, Gabriel was a magical creature summoned by Mellie.
The magic to summon magical creatures was something that even the people of Orario had rarely seen. As for why it was Mellie? Of course, it was because they both had red eyes and silver hair.
Once Gabriel's composition changed back from mana to Nen, most people in the Dungeon wouldn't be able to detect her existence. After all, people without aura couldn't see aura.
However, those with mana might be able to see her, but only if their mana control ability was very strong. After all, whether it was aura or mana, they were both forms of energy existing in the world.
"Understood!" Airmid and the others said in unison.
...
"Are you ready?" Mika asked seriously, looking at Airmid and Mellie, who were also wearing Fire Spirit Weave Cloth, and Gabriel floating in mid-air.
"Ready!"
"Then let's go!"
Unlike their exploration of the upper floors in the past few days, today Mika was wearing a set of armor that almost entirely enveloped his body. The armor was predominantly white, with some red patterns around it. At a glance, it looked inexplicably cool.
This was the armor Mika had previously commissioned the Goibniu Familia to forge. The reason he wore it today was that yesterday, he had completed the materialization of those gauntlets, and his Nen ability was now complete.
"It's a pity there's no suitable opponent for its debut," Mika sighed, thinking of his Nen ability that was completed with Yahweh's help.
"Then let's begin our journey!" With that, Mika took the lead and entered the passage leading to the 13th floor.
The passage from the 12th floor to the 13th floor was unprecedentedly long. There were no turns in the middle, but it gave a feeling of endlessness. Until they reached the end.
"Is this the 13th floor?" Mellie exclaimed, looking around at the surroundings.
Compared to the upper floors, the environment here was a bit darker, but the overall layout was similar to the first few floors of the upper levels, resembling a natural cave environment. However, unlike the upper floors,
each floor of the middle levels was more expansive, and the rock passages connecting the rock chambers were also very long. The surroundings were dotted with vertical passages similar to wells.
If one carelessly fell into these vertical passages, they would end up on an even lower floor. Therefore, it wasn't suitable to fight on these passages connecting the rock chambers.
So, to fight more safely, they had to quickly move to the next rock chamber.
Standing on the 13th floor, looking at the dark surroundings, Mika chuckled and said, "Looks like there are no monsters nearby. Let's go deeper!"
Gripping their weapons tightly, the three advanced while nervously scrutinizing their surroundings. After all, the 13th floor was known in Orario as the "First Death Line"!
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