At night...
On the bed, Hestia lay clinging peacefully to Raven Eltharion in her sleep.
Her limbs wrapped around him like an octopus.
As for Raven... he was still awake.
Eyes wide open, hands behind his head, he stared blankly at the crude ceiling.
This environment...
Unconsciously reminded him of a line from ancient poetry:
"The mountain need not be high, as long as it has an immortal, it's famous. The water need not be deep, as long as it has a dragon, it's sacred. This is a humble room, yet filled with virtue..."
Shaking his head, Raven muttered in his heart, "I can tolerate it for a few days… but living here permanently? I'm not that enlightened!"
"There isn't even a place to bathe."
"This isn't a long-term solution."
"I need to go into the dungeon tomorrow, hunt some monsters, and make money to improve our living conditions!"
"At the very least, we should be able to live in that palace from the original story."
With that thought, Raven activated his golden finger.
"System, open the newbie gift pack."
[Affirmative.]
[Congratulations, you've obtained: True Sight, Virtual Inventory, and a Top-Tier Magic Staff.]
[The staff has been stored in the virtual space. Please remember to check it.]
True Sight: Allows the user to instantly see the target's hidden status, including ability values, skills, and magic.
Virtual Space: A limitless storage space where items can be freely accessed.
Thousand Feathers Staff: Enhances all magic to their utmost potential. It's embedded with 99 of the highest-grade magic stones and can also be used as a polearm weapon. Estimated value: 9.9 billion valis.
After reading the rewards, Raven's eyes lit up.
He was in an excellent mood now.
He even had a weapon now.
Perfect.
This is the ideal start!
As for why there was no armor?
Raven was a magic caster, not a berserker.
There was no need for him to charge in and brawl with monsters.
He only needed to stay at a safe distance and cast spells.
Besides...
His "Divine Feather Annihilation" magic had a flight-type spell!
Casting spells from the sky? Basically invincible!
Speaking of flying...
There was another person in Orario who could do that—Asfi Al Andromeda, the captain of Hermes Familia.
Her titles include "Performer of Miracles." She had two magical items: the Hades Helm, which grants full invisibility, and the Talaria Boots, which allow flight.
Just then, the system appeared again.
[New Ultimate Mission Released.]
[Objective: Eliminate the final Great Calamity—The Black Dragon.]
[Reward: Unlock Dimensional World Gate.]
And then…
Silence.
Clearly, the system was entering hibernation mode!
"Are you setting me up for multiverse travel?"
Raven frowned. "Seriously? Just a newbie mission and a final boss? No side quests?"
Though his start was overpowered…
The lack of future rewards was kind of a letdown.
It seemed…
He needed to play it safe and avoid any careless mistakes.
"Open character panel."
A translucent blue screen appeared in front of him, visible only to Raven.
[Name]: Raven Eltharion
[Race]: Human
[System]: DanMachi Blessing System
[Weapon]: Thousand Feathers Staff
[Abilities]: True Sight, Virtual Space
After reading it, Raven understood—
The character panel was for multiverse use.
As he traveled across worlds and gained new systems, their info would be added here.
Shaking off the thoughts, Raven refocused.
First things first—make money!
And quickly grow stronger, become a top-tier adventurer.
In DanMachi, those who explore the dungeon are called Adventurers.
They're divided into lower and upper ranks.
All Level 1 adventurers are considered lower-class.
Most adventurers in Orario fall into this category.
Between Lv.1 and Lv.2 was a huge chasm.
One needed enough talent and effort to bridge it.
For example, the Loki Familia's Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein, who possessed elven blood.
It took her a year to go from Lv.1 to Lv.2—breaking all records and shocking Orario, even the world.
Ordinary people without great combat talent?
They needed over two years just to have a chance at leveling up once.
Some might never reach Lv.2 their entire lives.
In short...
Leveling up was hard!
Of course...
That applied to regular people. Raven wasn't one of them.
Once he hit Lv.2, he'd become an upper-class adventurer—worlds apart in strength from Lv.1s.
And…
He would receive a title from the gods.
Upper-class adventurers were divided into Tier 1, 2, and 3.
Tier 1 adventurers usually had a minimum of Lv.5.
Night deepened.
"Raven-kun~~"
In her sleep, Hestia mumbled with a smile.
Raven chuckled softly.
He gently patted her head and closed his eyes, falling asleep soon after.
Elsewhere—
In the Loki Familia's Twilight Manor.
In one room, Bete Loga tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
His mind kept replaying Raven's words.
Somewhere deep down…
Bete sensed something ominous was about to happen.
But...
He couldn't quite figure out what it was.