I woke up earlier than usual.
After doing the laundry, I returned to my room, hung the clothes to dry, and picked up my wooden sword.
"...Swordsmanship is almost at level 2."
I checked the screen displayed at the edge of my vision.
◇
You have trained in [Swordsmanship].
Gained 1 EXP.
To next level: 98/100
◇
I had wanted to finish leveling it up yesterday, but I had run out of time and had to give up.
Still, I felt confident I could reach it with this morning's session.
"Phew... Time to focus even harder than usual."
Gripping the wooden sword, I began my usual routine.
About fifteen minutes passed, and I checked the status display again.
◇
You have trained in [Swordsmanship].
Gained 1 EXP.
To next level: 99/100
◇
◇
You have trained in [Swordsmanship].
Gained 1 EXP.
To next level: 100/100
◇
◇
Level has increased.
To next level: 0/100
◇
Seeing the notification, I stopped my training to inspect my full status.
✤
Name: Erik
Age: 10
Level: 2
Strength: 11
Mana: 11
Stamina: 11
Agility: 11
Dexterity: 11
Skills:
[Swordsmanship: 2] [Physical Enhancement: 1] [Cleaning: 4]
Special Skill:
[Fixed EXP]
Divine Protection:
——
✤
[Swordsmanship] had finally reached level 2.
Meanwhile, [Cleaning] had already risen to level 4.
From taking on one cleaning job after another, it had improved this much before I had even realized it.
"First, let's see what [Swordsmanship: 2] can do."
I was already well aware of how much difference a skill level could make thanks to [Cleaning].
I took a firm stance and swung the sword downward.
The motion felt far smoother than it ever had at [Swordsmanship: 1].
The unnatural stiffness was gone, and my body intuitively understood how to apply force through the stroke.
"This is incredible... Just one level makes this much of a difference?"
I stared at the wooden sword, whispering in disbelief.
My level had only risen by a single point.
Even so, the trajectory of the blade was noticeably sharper and cleaner than before.
Until now, I had to strain myself just to keep the path straight.
Now, the movement flowed without any real struggle.
I still had to pay attention to my form, but the improvement was undeniable.
"Haha, this is actually fun!"
I had been swinging the wooden sword day in and day out for training, but it had never brought me much genuine enjoyment until now.
Feeling my body truly absorb the technique for the first time, an earnest desire to keep training welled up inside me.
"All right, I've still got thirty minutes before Amanda-san wakes up. Time to make the most of it!"
From that point on, I kept swinging until she came down.
Driven by a newfound excitement, I lost myself in the rhythm of the blade.
"My, you're full of energy this morning, aren't you?"
"Ah, good morning, Amanda-san."
Before I knew it, the thirty minutes had flown by, and Amanda-san had arrived.
I leaned the wooden sword against the wall and helped her finish up with the laundry.
"You're always practicing with that sword, Erik, but do you ever train with anything else?"
"You mean like hand-to-hand combat or archery?"
"Right. Young boys tend to fixate on the sword, but plenty of folks find out later that they actually had a knack for the bow. If you're going to train, I've always thought it's better to keep your options open."
Amanda-san made a valid point.
Plenty of adventurers only discovered their true talents later in life.
"Well, your form looks natural enough, so the sword probably suits you just fine anyway," Amanda-san added with a chuckle before returning to the wash.
After eating breakfast, I gathered my equipment, left the inn, and headed for the Adventurer's Guild.
Inside the guild hall, the crowd was noticeably larger than it had been over the past few days.
It seemed the initial rush into the new dungeon had settled down, leaving the adventurers to trade information.
"Good morning, Erik-kun."
"Good morning, Reina-san. A lot of adventurers have come back, haven't they?"
"Yes. Quite a bit of intel has been gathered on the dungeon, so they're sharing what they've learned. Would you like to hear about it too?"
"Ah... sure. I'd like that."
I leaned in to listen as Reina-san explained the situation.
Dungeons were categorized by their overall depth.
Some were "shallow type" dungeons that ended at just ten floors, while others were "deep type" dungeons spanning up to a hundred.
As for this newly discovered dungeon, the floors currently being explored had already pushed past the hundredth mark.
Because of its scale, it was classified as something far beyond a standard deep type.
It had been officially designated as a "super deep type" dungeon.
"On top of that, the rank of monsters that appear in this dungeon changes depending on the floor tier. That means any adventurer—from novices to veterans—can find an appropriate challenge inside."
"...Is that uncommon?"
"Very. A super deep type is extraordinarily rare on its own, but having monster ranks neatly partitioned by floor makes it ideal for training, which is why so many adventurers are flocking to it."
Hearing her explain it piqued my interest.
Even so, my plan for today was to stick to local town jobs.
When I asked Reina-san to show me the available board requests, my eyes landed on a familiar name.
Calculating that enough days had passed for the timing to line up, I decided to take on the request.