Riezel Brynhart
Level 7
STR: F355 → B727
END: F367 → B711
DEX: E484 → A852
AGI: E491 → A871
MAG: D555 → S940
Light Armor: B
Swordsman: C
Mage: D
Battle Adept: E → D
Fast Attack: F → E
Magic Chant: H → G
...
Looking at his just-updated status, Riezel could not help but feel a bit emotional.
’Three months may be a little short, but I experienced quite a few high-quality battles, so the improvement is still impressive.’
MAG had reached S-rank.
DEX and AGI had reached A-rank.
STR and END had reached B-rank.
Needless to say, this was already the highest rank available for his current level.
If he went a bit further, all five of his basic abilities should be able to break through to S-rank officially.
’All basic abilities S-rank, huh...’
Even Ottar had never achieved that.
In the original story, Ottar’s STR, END, DEX, and AGI had all reached S-rank and were already at their limit, but his MAG was stuck at D-rank, which was a rare shortcoming.
If Riezel, at Level 7, could reach S-rank in all basic abilities, then his stats would surpass even Ottar’s, making him the strongest among all adventurers in the current Orario—at least in terms of stats.
Of course, in terms of actual combat power, Riezel was already far beyond what his current stats numbers could represent.
’Looks like when I go back to the familia next time, I’ll be able to give Loki a real scare.’
Just imagining Loki’s reaction made Riezel smile faintly.
’Well, that’s it then. I’ll head back to the world of Danmachi after a while.’
After making this decision, Riezel put away the bottle of god’s blood, already half consumed.
As he stared at the bottle, another thought crossed his mind.
’I should make Loki cough up a bit more blood this time...’
Ignoring how malicious his own thought sounded, Riezel walked out of his room.
At this moment, he had already returned to the Frenzel residence, yet almost no one noticed that he had been asleep in his room for an entire day and night.
Those Eight-Edge Assassins he had summoned had reported to him that during his dimensional travel, no one had disturbed him.
Yuri and Marilyn had already gone to the royal palace, answering the king’s call.
Together with a large group of court magicians, they were working to decipher what the Mavros family had brought back from the ancient ruin inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon, and it seemed they would not be returning anytime soon.
Lizbeth had spent all of yesterday sorting through the belongings Grandma Mia left her, searching for something related to her own origins, but so far, the process had not been going smoothly.
Because Riezel’s return from the Mavros Territory using Gate was a secret Yuri had decided not to reveal, no one came to bother him all day yesterday, making his dimensional travel completely silent and unnoticed by anyone.
To avoid being discovered after returning to the royal capital, Riezel cast Complete Invisibility magic before leaving his room, then silently walked around the Frenzel residence.
During this walk, Riezel barely saw any familiar faces—not even Yuri’s little sister Mediste or her younger brother Isaac were at home.
Realizing this, Riezel was reminded of something Yuri had mentioned before.
"Mediste and Isaac have been following Ian and Ain around a lot lately. Especially Isaac—he seems to have decided to practice swordsmanship now, always running off to the knightly order’s training field at my place, so he’s hardly ever at home."
When Yuri said this, Riezel had been quite surprised at the time.
It really was rare, considering that the youngest sibling used to look down on swordsmen the most, and his greatest dream had always been to become a powerful magician like Yuri.
Unfortunately, Isaac lacked the talent to become a magician, so that dream had been doomed from the start.
Now, it seemed his thinking really had changed.
"Well, this is all thanks to you, Lord Lightning Sword Saint!"
Riezel could almost picture Yuri’s amused, half-smiling face as she said that, which made him smile faintly as well.
"Oh well, since no one is here, I should find some time to set out again."
Riezel was still planning to head for the neutral city, Sinielle.
Now that Lizbeth’s trip home to investigate her origins was over, it was about time to set out again.
In the end, Riezel turned and went back to his room.
===
Perhaps it was through the attendant contract that Lizbeth sensed Riezel leaving the room, for she soon returned to his side.
When she came back, the girl still wore a disappointed expression, clearly having found nothing.
"Let’s go. We’ll head to Sinielle."
Seeing Lizbeth like this, Riezel did not say anything more and simply spoke in a decisive tone.
It seemed that the truth behind Lizbeth’s origins could only be uncovered after arriving there.
"Okay!"
Lizbeth quickly composed herself and nodded earnestly.
With the decision made, Riezel summoned a Messenger Crow and informed Yuri that they would be departing. He then cast Gate and took Lizbeth with him, returning to Bessare of the Mavros Territory.
Upon returning to Bessare, Riezel did not alert the Mavros family or Nibald and the others. Instead, he simply left the city and headed straight for the border.
===
To travel from the border of the Mavros Territory to the Neutral Territory, one needed to cross the border defenses constructed by the Mavros family, which were fortified with numerous mechanisms and guarded by many soldiers, all intended to prevent spies from Reiburg from infiltrating at will.
It was said that a tactical-class magic barrier had been set up here, and unless one received recognition from the lord of the Mavros Territory and obtained a pass, no one could cross this defense line.
’Raven probably already knows that I’m preparing to head to Sinielle. He’s likely waiting for me to get the pass from him, isn’t he?’
With this thought in mind, Riezel took Lizbeth and passed through the border defenses with remarkable ease.
Yes, it truly was that easy.
Neither the defensive mechanisms, the tactical-class magic barrier, nor the stationed soldiers noticed Riezel’s arrival—let alone the fact that he had brought an attendant across the border.
Honestly, there was nothing they could do about it, since this border had absolutely no ability to hinder teleportation magic. A border that did not account for spatial magic could never stop someone like Riezel, who could wield teleportation magic at will.
As a result, Riezel brought Lizbeth and effortlessly crossed Jinas’s border, officially entering the Neutral Territory sandwiched between the two great kingdoms.
What was surprising was that the Neutral Territory, wedged between Jinas and Reiburg, was actually a desert.
When Riezel and Lizbeth crossed the border and arrived there, their feet immediately sank into the sand, almost getting stuck in the shifting ground.
"Hmm, the environment here is this harsh?"
Riezel gazed at the endless desert before him, then looked back at the fortress-like border defenses behind them, feeling as though he had stepped into another world.
Lizbeth, however, seemed to have already been briefed about this situation.
"Mm, the Neutral Territory is about twice as large as the Mavros Territory, but nearly ninety percent of it is desert, and most of the rest is made up of other harsh environments. Sinielle is the only oasis, and the Lord of Sinielle built the city upon that one and only oasis."
Lizbeth stood at Riezel’s side with a map in her hands.
"I heard that sandstorms blow here for more than half of every day, and the closer you get to the oasis where Sinielle is, the less severe the sandstorms become. So anyone entering the Neutral Territory, whether they’re from Jinas or Reiburg, must pass through Sinielle to resupply and rest."
"If you venture into the wilderness, you might not only encounter sandstorms and quicksand, but also face various other harsh conditions, not to mention the demon beasts that lurk beneath the sand."
"It’s precisely because the environment here is so harsh that Jinas set its border at the edge of the Mavros Territory and decided not to expand any further. Even Reiburg, a nation notorious for its aggression, doesn’t bother with this place and would rather bypass it to attack Jinas."
"Also, there are several large old battlefields here, and the armies of Jinas and Reiburg usually clash in those places."
As Lizbeth explained all this, she then added a little sheepishly.
"Well... that’s what Elder Sister Marilyn told me..."
Upon hearing this, Riezel could not help but smile and nod.
"In a place like this, horse-drawn carriages are basically useless, right?" Riezel asked casually.
"Yes." Lizbeth nodded solemnly. "Elder Sister Marilyn told me that in the Neutral Territory, you either have to travel on foot or ride a rhinobeast. Other mounts can hardly move here at all."
Rhinobeasts were war beasts that looked similar to rhinoceroses, with demon beast blood flowing in them.
They had remarkable endurance, able to survive in any environment. They could also store food and water inside their bodies, and could remain active for a month without eating or drinking.
On the Akasha Continent, the value of a single rhinobeast was many times that of ten warhorses.
Due to their rarity, even major nobles could not have them at will.
If one wanted to find a way to travel in the Neutral Territory, rhinobeasts were the only choice—nothing else would work.
Riezel thought for a moment and realized that he could summon several types of monsters that could traverse such terrain, but there was no need.
"We should just fly straight across."
Riezel made his decision.
"F-Fly across?" Lizbeth said nervously. "What if we run into a sandstorm?"
"I’ll find a way when the time comes." Riezel shrugged and smiled nonchalantly. "Alright, let’s go."
"O-Okay!"
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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