Late at night.

"Cirrus." Fels spoke up. "If you wish to be an adventurer you will need a weapon. Do you have any weapon in mind?"

"Sword!" Cirrus answered confidently. "It shouldn't be that hard to use!" He picked it for it's simplicity, just swing and swing.

"Very well." Fels nods. "By next day I will get you a adequate sword. So no staying up reading, alright."

"I understand Fels." Cirrus nodded, smiling happily.

Fels turned and left, disappearing into the darkness.

'How the hell do they do that?'

The entire night, Cirrus couldn’t help but have the biggest smile on his face as he kicked the bed in his excitement.

 

The next day came, and Fels brought him a short sword along with some small leather armor used for Pallums.

"Does it fit well?" Fels asked in the backyard of Lenoa’s shop.

"It fits rather well, so am I going to start to learn about the monsters of the dungeon?" Cirrus said, swinging around his sword to get a feel for it. "I already read up on it and even the dungeon’s first and second-floor layout."

"Then would you like to go into the dungeon now if you have already learned it?"

"No... I wish to learn how to swing my weapon and get used to moving in armor. "

"I see… then tomorrow I will bring books on swordsmanship and more on monsters."

"Thank you, Fels."

Fels left the backyard, and Cirrus continued to swing his sword.

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

Cirrus didn’t stop swinging and moving. He tried many types of movements and techniques he read about and saw in anime and manga, but all failed miserably.

He was littered with dirt and cuts from falling, so he stuck to simple movements, such as a simple downward and horizontal slash with minimal footwork.

When night had come, Lenoa called him in to eat but found him on the ground passed out. She got a failed potion and threw it at him. The smell was so rancid that he thought Lenoa had made smelling salts as he quickly got up and rubbed his nose.

He took a quick shower and ate whatever Lenoa made, which always looked worse than it tasted.

 

The next day, Fels brought him books on swordsmanship and monsters. He resumed what he did the last day and practiced his swordsmanship in the afternoon until he passed out, and when he woke up, he would eat while reading and then go to sleep.

For an entire 2 weeks, this was his routine. He refused to use any healing magic or potions, bearing through the pain until his next update before going into the dungeon.

---

Cirrus Zephyr

Lv. 1

Strength: I0→ 34 Endurance: I0→ 51

Dexterity: I0→ 22 Agility: I0→ 11

Magic: I0

---

"You certainly improved, 118 points in total," Ouranos said. "I’m sure with this rate, you will grow quickly."

"Mmmm…." Cirrus looks at the update stats and he made a expression that got Ouranos's eye.

"Are you not happy about this development?" Ouranos asked, looking at Cirrus’s worried expression.

"I am… but seeing this, I need to be careful; I may get stronger fast, but my battle experience won’t catch up. " Cirrus crumbles the paper into a ball and walks up to one of the flames by Ouranos and tosses it in.

"Then will you hold off on leveling until you build enough experience then?"

Cirrus stops and thinks on it for a while.

"I... I think I will. Seeing as this is something not every adventure has I plan in taking advantage of it. On that, I will go down to the dungeon tomorrow."

Cirrus was informed the significance of a level is and what most normal adventures do, which is get a basic ability to D rank and then do something amazing to level up.

No. For Cirrus he needed to do two things. One was to get fighting experience, and two was to grind the hell out of the dungeon and raise his stats as much as he could or to what he felt was enough.

"Very well, be careful. The volatility of the city has been growing."

"I have heard the power struggle has already begun. Crimes have also picked up, and even more, the route me and Fels use is littered with shady people."

Cirrus takes his leave, keeping Ouranos’s word.

 

Walking through the city, Cirrus could feel the times changing. Just a year ago, he could walk down the street with little worry, but now he has to keep an eye out for anyone.

"Stop!! Thief!!!!!"

"Shut up, old man!!!"

‘Geezus, the crime really had gone up.’

"Grrr!!! Get out of here, filthy street rats!"

"Hahaha!! What you gonna do about it, old man?!"

‘Even the children are getting in on it.’

Cirrus quickly went home and made sure he wasn’t followed. When he got back home, he was met by an unexpected customer.

"Aunty Len, I’m back!" he said, as he entered the shop.

He sees a tall, beautiful elf with jade hair and eyes.

"Aunt? I didn’t know you had a sister, Lenoa?" She said, looking at Cirrus.

"Kihihi, I don't." I’m letting him stay here with a colleague of mine. "

"I see." She walks over to Cirrus and kneels. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Riveria Ljos Alf. Can I ask what your name is?" She said this with a motherly tone of voice and a smile.

Taken aback by her words, Cirrus took a while to respond.

"M-my name is Cirrus!" he shouted with a slight blush.

"Fufu, you have a cute kid, Lenoa." She said, patting his head.

"I know, here." She hands Riveria a silver staff. "You know the price."

"Hm, I know." She turns to get the staff. "It was nice to meet you, Cirrus." She patted him once more before leaving.

Watching her leave, it was easy for Lenoa to tell Cirrus was taken aback by the High Elf.

"Pretty, isn’t she?" Lenoa said.

"Y-yea… she has a beauty that can rival a goddess. "

"Well, she is Elven Royalty or... well, now, the former."

"S-she is!"

"Yes, see her jade hair? That’s the sign of her being a High Elf. "

"Is there a difference between High-Elfs and normal elves?" Cirrus said, pulling up a chair and helping stir Lenoa’s cauldron.

"Not that much. Aside from the hair color and a higher form of education, they're not that different from normal elves."

"Oh… I see."

"Did her beauty enamor you..." Lenoa grinned. "Cirrus?"

"Who wouldn’t!!"