Chapter 12: Jade Feet

After a full day of dungeon adventuring, even Liang Yue was quite curious about how much his abilities would have improved.

Back in the basement of the abandoned church, he removed the gray-brown cloak draped over him, revealing his left hand bound by a limiter, then took off his upper clothes.

Liang Yue lay face down on the relatively soft bed.

“Thank you, Lady Hestia,” he said.

“It’s my duty!” Hestia replied, removing her arm sleeves to reveal slender, fair hands. Due to the difference in height, she straddled Liang Yue as she prepared to help him update his abilities.

Her expression was focused and serious as she pricked her finger, letting her divine blood drip onto Liang Yue’s back. With gentle strokes of her fingertips, a warm light continuously emerged.

The updated abilities appeared before Hestia’s eyes. As the light faded, she took a blank sheet of paper nearby and lightly pressed it down to copy the attributes.

“All done!”

Hestia slid off Liang Yue’s legs and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully examining the changes in his stats.

Since he hadn’t yet mastered any magic, his mana attribute remained unchanged.

Instead, all other attributes saw a significant increase. Especially when she fully saw the updated values, her eyes revealed a hint of surprise.

Having completed his first adventure, his other attributes had improved comprehensively, even reaching an H rating. She blinked and teased, “Liang Yue-kun, your stats have improved too quickly. Could it be that having someone to protect beside you gives you endless motivation for dungeon adventures?”

“Of course,” he answered without a hint of embarrassment.

Used to this kind of teasing, Liang Yue calmly took the gray sheet and examined it.

——

Liang Yue
Lv1
Strength: H131 | Endurance: H120 | Dexterity: H117 | Agility: H108 | Mana: i0
Development Ability: None
Magic: None
Skill: Inner Ghost Swordsmanship

——

These ability values represent his current power level at this stage but only apply to his current level. Each time he levels up, these numbers reset—a more accurate description would be proficiency.

Liang Yue glanced over it briefly, realizing that to improve his mana attribute, he would probably need to master skills under the Sword Soul template that consume MP.

Whether those skills fall under the magic category remained unknown.

However, the changes in ability values weren’t his main concern. What truly mattered was the close link to advancing the Sword Soul template’s level.

Experience points came from defeating monsters.

Through battle, his body naturally gained training.

His real strength, though, was determined by the Sword Soul template’s class level.

He wondered if, without significant adventure level upgrades, mastering other skills might result in a Lv1 “all-around” stat monster capable of defeating foes beyond their level.

Curious as he was, he hadn’t yet planned to explore this possibility deliberately.

Placing the copied ability sheet aside, he looked at Hestia, who was waiting for his response, and smiled sincerely.

“Lady Hestia, it’s exactly because there’s someone I want to protect that I have endless motivation!”

“That’s cheating!!” Hestia quickly turned her face away. She had only been teasing lightly but hadn’t expected such a candid reply from Liang Yue.

Her heartbeat quickened. Even her fair, baby-soft cheeks flushed a delicate pink.

As for the person Liang Yue wanted to protect, it couldn’t possibly be some Warren guy, right?

By process of elimination… who else could it be!

It wasn’t that she felt awkward, just completely unprepared for this, leaving Hestia at a loss for words.

Should she directly ask, “Are you talking about me, the one you want to protect?”

That would be incredibly difficult.

Supporting herself on the edge of the bed, she faced forward. Her tight white dress perfectly outlined her figure. Her graceful, fair legs swayed gently, and even her black twin tails seemed livelier.

From Liang Yue’s point of view, Hestia’s beautiful curves were fully visible. The blue ribbon tied in a bow at her chest accentuated her form.

Her fair legs were exceptionally elegant and smooth, lacking the slender, fragile look of her past life, with a well-proportioned figure overall.

Her tiny bare feet fit comfortably in one hand; her nails were neatly trimmed.

Her toes were plump and rounded, with a hint of rosy color, as enticing as a rare variety of sweet grapes.

Jade-like!

Although he tried to ignore the gender differences between himself and Hestia, treating her purely as a revered and beloved goddess, her occasional flirtations made this difficult.

Even though all he wanted now was to quickly improve his own power.

He repeatedly reminded himself he had no “fetish,” pushing aside any thoughts of admiring those jade-like feet.

Struggling to look away, he finally proposed seriously, “Lady Hestia, let’s get some rest!”

“Tomorrow will be another hopeful day!”

“All right.”

After a full day working at Hephaestus’s weapon shop and having dinner, Hestia was already feeling drowsy.

Before sleeping, she didn’t forget to make Liang Yue brush his teeth and wash up.

With hygiene taken care of, Hestia took a blanket from the bed and walked over to the sofa. Just before resting, she clenched her fists and encouraged, “Liang Yue-kun, while you work hard, you must also take care of your safety!”

“If something really happened to you… as a goddess, I’d be heartbroken.”

——

Thanks to yesterday’s dungeon adventure, Liang Yue was more cautious when choosing his lunch bento to replenish energy.

Since the “Bountiful Hostess” restaurant didn’t offer takeout, he had to settle for another decent eatery.

The meal cost 550 Faris.

In the end, he purchased a lunch that was satisfying in both portion and appearance, packed all the necessary adventure supplies, and decisively headed for the dungeon.

Having barely defeated the Minotaur on the 17th floor, he avoided the illusion of being too strong and didn’t overestimate his ability to go to the middle floors.

Whether it was the Shadow Warriors or the massive swarms of killer ants, handling them would be difficult.

Without absolute confidence, Liang Yue would never risk his life and returned to the area he had conquered yesterday.

“I’ll first hone my combat skills on the 5th floor until I’m sufficiently proficient…”

“Then see if I can clear the 7th floor today. Ideally, I want to raise the Sword Soul template’s class level to Lv10.”

“Step by step, steadily improving!”

He had already made short-term plans.

Monsters on deeper floors granted more experience, and Liang Yue expected to raise his Sword Soul class to level 15 by tomorrow.

Once he mastered more skills and techniques, he could consider venturing to the deepest parts accessible to Lv1 adventurers—the final point of the upper-level area.

The 12th floor.

Currently, his weapon didn’t need replacement or upgrading. The dagger Hestia had gifted him was still in good condition after yesterday’s battles, its sharpness intact. At least cutting underground lizards remained as easy as before.

With continuous experience from kills slowly filling the Sword Soul progress bar, Liang Yue was in excellent shape.

Everything was moving steadily toward a better future!