Danmachi: The Focalors Familia — Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Eina’s Shock

Though everyone in the room could plainly see Noah awkwardly pivoting the conversation, none of them made a move to shatter the delicate, lingering atmosphere.

Tifa and Hyacine exchanged a brief, knowing glance, their lips curving into quiet smiles of mutual understanding. Robin remained standing where she was, maintaining a mask of calm elegance. Her serene smile made it seem as though the intimate little interlude had never occurred at all. Yet, the translucent, ruby-red flush quietly creeping up the tips of her ears silently betrayed the frantic beating of her heart.

Off to the side, Furina merely puffed out her cheeks, glaring daggers at Noah with undisguised dissatisfaction.

By the time the first rays of dawn pierced the morning mist, gilding the sprawling labyrinth city of Orario in a soft, golden light, the members of the Focalors Familia were already prepared to depart.

After sharing a hearty, carefully prepared breakfast courtesy of Tifa, Noah led Robin, Tifa, and Hyacine out into the waking city. Their destination was the grand Guild Headquarters situated in the heart of the Seventh District.

The cobblestone streets were already alive with early morning commerce. Adventurers clad in scuffed armor and carrying an assortment of heavy weapons walked in scattered groups, either marching briskly toward the Dungeon or haggling with roadside vendors to replenish their potions and rations.

Passing beneath the magnificent stone archway, the group stepped into the Guild’s main hall—a cavernous space vast enough to comfortably accommodate a small army. A sea of armored bodies crowded around the towering quest notice boards. Long, winding queues had already formed at the Magic Stone exchange counters, while uniformed Guild staff weaved through the chaos with practiced, orderly precision.

Familiar with the sprawling layout, Noah guided his companions straight toward the reception desks dedicated to novice Adventurers. He easily spotted the familiar half-elf behind one of the counters.

“Good morning, Miss Eina,” Noah greeted, a relaxed smile on his face.

Eina Tulle glanced up from her paperwork. Seeing Noah and his striking entourage, her professional demeanor softened into a warm, genuine smile. “Ah, Mr. Noah. Good morning to you all. Are you preparing to dive into the Dungeon again today? Or did you need a consultation?”

“Well, there is a small matter I need to trouble you with,” Noah replied, casually scratching his cheek. “I’ve come to register a level upgrade.”

The pleasant smile on Eina’s face remained frozen in place. She gave a habitual, polite nod. “Understood, a level upgrade… wait, hmm?”

Her mind seemed to stall, the gears grinding to a halt as the sheer weight of his words finally registered. She snapped her head up, her emerald eyes widening to comical proportions as utter disbelief washed over her features.

“Wh—what?! You’ve reached Lv.2?!”

Her voice cracked, the uncontrolled exclamation slicing through the low murmur of the consultation area. Though she hadn’t screamed, the sudden spike in volume was abrupt enough to draw the curious, lingering stares of several nearby Adventurers.

Realizing her blunder, Eina’s pale cheeks instantly flared crimson. She slapped a hand over her mouth, her other hand frantically waving for Noah and the girls to follow her. Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and practically sprinted down the corridor, herding them toward one of the private consultation rooms.

She slammed the heavy oak door shut behind them with a sharp bang, severing the prying eyes and ambient noise of the main hall. Only then did the half-elf let out a long, shaky exhale. She leaned back against the solid wood, her chest heaving as she struggled to process the shock.

“Mr. Noah,” she began, her voice trembling slightly. “Say that again. You’ve upgraded to Lv.2?”

“Yes,” Noah replied, his tone perfectly even.

Receiving that calm, affirmative answer twisted Eina’s expression into a knot of utter bewilderment. She pushed off the door and slowly circled Noah, eyeing him up and down as if he were some undiscovered, mythical beast.

“How is that possible…” she muttered under her breath, pacing restlessly. “How is this actually possible?”

She stopped dead in her tracks, crossing her arms beneath her chest and fixing him with a piercing, scrutinizing glare. “If my memory serves me right, you arrived in Orario and registered as an Adventurer less than a month ago. How on earth could you level up so quickly?”

As a veteran Guild advisor, Eina had witnessed the rise of countless prodigies. She knew the records. Even the legendary ‘Sword Princess’ of the Loki Familia, Ais Wallenstein, had taken a full year to bridge the gap from Lv.1 to Lv.2. To shatter that barrier in under a month wasn’t just the mark of a genius—it was a blatant defiance of logic. It was a myth brought to life.

Beneath her genuine relief that he was safe, a storm of beyond understanding curiosity and confusion raged in her mind.

“Didn’t I mention this before?” Noah asked, spreading his hands with a disarming, easygoing smile. “Long before I ever set foot in Orario, I underwent extensive, grueling training in the outside world. I had already accumulated a massive reservoir of dormant experience. Once I arrived here, I just needed the right catalyst. I got lucky, completed a high-level feat in the Dungeon, and the upgrade naturally followed.”

He delivered the pre-packaged excuse smoothly, layering it with enough plausible logic to deflect deeper probing.

“I… see,” Eina murmured, accepting the rationale with a heavy dose of skepticism. Yet, given the obvious reality standing before her, there simply wasn’t a more rational explanation to cling to.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Eina forced her racing heart to slow. The shock slowly ebbed, replaced by a warm, sincere smile of congratulation. “Then… congratulations, Mr. Noah. As of today, you are officially a higher-ranking Adventurer. With this, the overall rank of the Focalors Familia can be elevated as well.”

She moved behind the polished mahogany desk and pulled a crisp, blank parchment file from her drawer—the official Guild ledger reserved strictly for documenting level advancements.

“According to Guild regulations, I need to record the details of your upgrade,” she explained, dipping her quill into an inkwell. “We archive the milestones of all Adventurers, occasionally publishing select excerpts to motivate the newer generations and provide tactical references.” She paused, offering a reassuring glance. “Naturally, this only covers the basic public details. You have every right to withhold your specific Ability Stats, Magic, and Development Abilities.”

Noah nodded, perfectly fine with keeping his true depths hidden.

“So,” Eina continued, poising her quill over the parchment. “What exactly was the ‘feat’ that triggered your rank up?”

Noah tapped his chin, feigning a moment of recollection before answering casually. “Down on the twelfth floor of the Dungeon, I fought and defeated a Lv.2 Pyro Hilichurl Berserker. Alone.”

“A Lv.1 challenging…” Eina muttered under her breath, the scratch of her quill echoing in the quiet room.

Halfway through the sentence, the nib of her pen ground to a dead halt.

The very air in the room seemed to freeze solid.

Clatter.

The quill slipped from her numb fingers, bouncing off the desk and tumbling onto the polished wooden floorboards.

“…A Lv.1 challenging a Lv.2 Pyro Hilichurl Berserker… and winning? Achieving a solo feat?” Eina’s voice was barely a hollow whisper. “You… you can’t be joking, right?”

She sat paralyzed in her chair, staring at Noah with a completely dumbfounded expression. Over her career, she had documented the rise of countless prodigies and brilliant talents. Yet, she had almost never heard of a novice soloing a monster of a higher rank. The ironclad rule of the Dungeon dictated that overcoming higher-tier threats required the coordinated suppression of a full, well-equipped party.

For a mere Lv.1 to slaughter a Lv.2 monster in single combat entirely shattered the boundaries of her knowledge. That wasn’t a brave challenge—it was supposed to be blatant, gruesome suicide.

And then, a second terrifying realization hit her. It had taken Noah and his Familia less than a month to plunge from the safe shallows of the first floor all the way down to the brutal depths of the twelfth.

Such a reckless, blistering pace of descent wasn’t just astonishing. It was absolute, unadulterated madness.