DanMachi Vol.15

INTERLUDE : GROWTH, THE PRESENT, AND RYE BREAD

Bell Cranell

Level 4

Strength: I0 -> C676 

Defense: I0 -> B701 

Dexterity: I0 -> B724 

Agility: I0 -> B718 

Magic: I0 -> C55 

Luck: G -> F 

Immunity: H -> G Escape: I

Magic

Firebolt

• Swift-strike magic

Skills

Liaris Freese

• Rapid growth

• Continued desire results in continued growth

• Stronger desire results in stronger growth

Argonaut

• Charges automatically with active action

Ox Slayer

• When fighting minotaurs, all abilities are exponentially enhanced

"Bell, what did you do?" were the first words out of Hestia's mouth as she updated Bell's Status. She wore a severe expression as she regarded the boy's back, but her question came out in a baffled monotone.

Because he was still wearing the cast, Bell was forced to sit in an uncomfortable posture and winced awkwardly as he underwent the Status update.

They were in an unoccupied room on the first floor of Hearthstone Manor, the home of Hestia Familia . There had been much to do since their safe return from the expedition, and Hestia was only now administering an overdue Status update. Or more accurately, she had been.

Since the Status update required the follower to be shirtless, the two of them werealone together in the room. Hestia paused her work and laid her hands on her knees.

Hestia was tempted to throw on her usual cheerful smile and make a show of wiping her forehead like she usually did after a Status update. However, that would have been nothing more than refusing to come to grips with reality.

Bell's ability score total was over 3400.

That was unmistakably a personal best for the boy. It might even have broken a public record.

If some god's follower had wanted to—say, by saving up a bunch of excelia over time by forgoing regular Status updates and then cashing in on a really big one—inthat kind of scenario, it wasn't impossible to hit similar numbers, so it had probably been done at some point...But there wasn't any point in making that comparison because with such a dramatic number, saying "Check out how much my follower grew in a single adventure" didn't even count as a brag.

Why? Because the amount was proof that the adventurer in question had survived a series of utterly brutal encounters, and if any of them had gone badly, they wouldn't even be around anymore.

"Uh..." said Bell, accepting the Status update paper with a tremendously awkward expression. "...I almost died like eight times."

I figured as much.

Hestia had heard all about the expedition. The moss huge alone would have been bad enough, but they'd faced other exceptional opponents like the lambton and the Juggernaut, not to mention how they ended up being chased into the deep levels and nearly dying in the process of wandering around down there. Just hearing about it made her nearly pass out. Actually, she had passed out.