The Center of the World

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Bell did not let himself slow down. He kept moving straight toward Orario.

One thing about the journey was strange. Bell had prepared himself to encounter monsters at any moment, but he did not see so much as a monster's shadow along the way.

That was not a bad thing. It let him pick up the pace.

After crossing the plains and low hills, he soon reached a larger road.

Bell noticed wheel tracks in the dirt. They were not fresh. A carriage had probably passed through a long while ago.

The moment he noticed that, Bell stopped walking directly on the road.

He was poor enough that he did not worry much about being robbed.

But trouble did not always come from robbery. Sometimes it came from seeing too much.

Do not look at what you should not look at. Do not speak about what you should not speak about.

Bell had always understood that principle. Because of that, the only time he took out his notebook was at noon, when he stopped to eat and rest. Writing in his diary let him release some of the emotions trapped in his chest, enough to keep him from suffocating on the road.

Fortunately, he had never been the type who liked talking or was especially good at it. Sometimes walking in silence made him feel more relaxed than speaking.

After discovering the wheel tracks, Bell slowed his pace to avoid running into anyone directly.

He was moving more slowly, but he still covered plenty of distance each day. He simply had to spare part of his attention for the road now.

After several days of careful travel, Bell clearly felt his body beginning to adapt. By the fourth day, even his stamina had improved, and his walking speed was becoming faster.

Bell had read the description of Personal Training very carefully. It should have granted a large amount of experience through combat. This abnormal physical improvement was strange.

He had not gone through any combat.

So where was the experience coming from?

After studying the Craft Essence again, Bell found the answer in the phrase "Personal Training."

"Combat" could cover a wide range of things. Training was part of combat. It was part of accumulating strength. As long as he was doing something that built power, it could be counted as preparation for battle, and therefore as part of combat itself.

Once he understood that, Bell began to grasp how ridiculous an Early Growth-type Skill really was. No wonder the Bell from the original story became such an abnormal existence.

That was not something ordinary effort could make up for.

If the restrictions on Early Growth were even a little looser, it would become a divine skill for grinding experience.

What Bell had obtained was an Early Growth Skill that did not lose to the original Liaris Freese. In terms of application, it might even be broader.

Of course, understanding that did not make Bell recklessly devote all his time to training. Before reaching Orario, he would not pour too much stamina, energy, or time into exercise.

He remembered a line from an old story in his previous world: if surviving in the forest was already difficult, then working out how to survive was enough.

Spending each day on travel and watching for people on the road already consumed more than enough stamina and focus. If he kept pouring strength into training on top of that, he would only shorten his travel time each day and delay his arrival in Orario indefinitely.

Bell adjusted his daily schedule. The closer he came to Orario, the fresher the wheel tracks on the road became. Footprints also started appearing.

That meant people had begun passing through this area.

Once Bell realized that, he shifted most of his travel to nighttime.

Traveling beside the road at night came with risks, but traveling by day was risky too. The closer he stayed to areas where people passed through, the safer the route became. Ordinary monsters would not casually approach places with frequent traffic.

After several nights of travel, Bell's eyes began adapting to the faint light of the moon and stars.

This should not have been some newly awakened Skill. He had simply grown used to moving in darkness. His eyes had adjusted little by little, until he could make out the scenery around him like a small animal active at night.

Because his eyes had adjusted, Bell could spend more time moving after dark.

And with each passing day, Orario drew closer.

By traveling carefully every day, Bell also trained himself to concentrate more sharply while moving. His eyesight and hearing gradually became much more sensitive.

Finally, after fifteen days and nights, Bell reached a place less than ten kilometers outside Orario.

The city built above the Dungeon had appeared before him.

Because of that, the number of people nearby had begun to rise quickly.

"Orario is right in front of me. Next, I need to enter the city, register with the Guild as an adventurer, and find a suitable Familia."

Bell began thinking about which Familia he should choose.

Finding the right Familia was absolutely important. It would directly affect how far and how quickly he could advance in the future.

The stronger the Familia, the more support he could receive early on.

But Familias were not easy to enter, especially the famous ones. Unless he displayed his abilities, trying to join them would be wishful thinking.

With Bell's abilities, though, all he would need to reveal was Spatial Storage, and entering the Loki Familia would be all but guaranteed.

Skills connected to space were special. A storage ability with no apparent item limit was rarer still. For a Familia that often went on expeditions, that ability would be extremely important. If they could reduce the burden of what they carried, they could explore the Dungeon more easily and bring back far more from inside.

Even so, Bell had his own thoughts.

The Loki Familia was undoubtedly a strong choice.

But the Hestia Familia was also a good one.

Hestia was clearly an excellent goddess. When it came to loving the members of her Familia, she stood at the very top. In the original story, she doted on her child intensely, especially the original Bell.

"A loving goddess, or a highly capable Familia. That is not an easy choice."

The choice gave Bell a headache.

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