He sorted out the Drop Items afterward—2 Goblin Daggers, 1 Shadow Chunk, 6 Frog Tongues, 12 Frog Eyes, 35 Scorpion Tails, 5 Minotaur Horns, and several Magic Stones.
Bell held onto the Minotaur Axes. Their quality was nearly on par with the daggers and could fetch a good price, but now wasn't the time to sell them. He had to be cautious of drawing the attention of Loki Familia. At most, he could sell the Minotaur Horns, but the axes were out of the question.
The horns were common drops, while the axes were rare—rarer even than Goblin Daggers. Goblin Daggers might be uncommon, but if someone put in the effort to hunt Goblins, they'd find them eventually—especially since most adventurers were still at Lv.1.
But Minotaur Axes were a different story. The difficulty of encountering an adventurer at Lv.1 versus Lv.2 was worlds apart.
What would really raise eyebrows was if an unknown adventurer suddenly sold a Minotaur Axe at the Guild. If that kind of information got out, it could become a serious problem.
After selling what he could, Bell earned around 500,000 Valis. It was nothing compared to the 26.4 million Valis from before, but it still put him well above the average adventurer in Orario.
Once everything was done, Bell slipped into the crowd and walked through a quiet alley toward the old church ruins he used as a training spot.
He entered the church and carefully made his way into the basement.
Hestia had already come home early today. He found her lying on the bed, legs swaying lazily as she read a book.
The sight completely put Bell at ease.
"I'm back, Goddess-sama."
"Oh! Bell, welcome home, oooh~!"
Hearing his voice, Hestia immediately sprang up from the bed. With a single bounce, her little feet pushed off and she leapt straight at him.
Having gone through this once before, Bell was ready and caught the charging Goddess-sama in his arms.
"Goddess-sama, you're back early from Hephaestus-sama's place?"
"Yeah. Today's the day Loki Familia returns from their expedition. Hephaestus has to start handling their new orders, so she let me leave early."
When the leaders of expeditions reach a certain level, they're officially drafted into large-scale Dungeon campaigns. The deeper the campaign, the stronger the Familia needs to be.
Loki Familia, with three members at Lv.6, obviously takes on the deepest levels.
And they're notorious across Orario for their enthusiasm for deep Dungeon expeditions. The Guild rarely has to assign them anything—they go far beyond what's required all on their own.
Of course, the term "expedition" had absolutely nothing to do with Hestia Familia at the moment.
There was only one member in the whole Familia—and he was still just a Lv.1 adventurer.
To be blunt, a Familia like this couldn't even take care of itself. Being asked to join an expedition was out of the question.
"Speaking of Loki Familia... Goddess-sama, I think I might've run into them in the Dungeon today."
"Huh? You ran into the Loki kids?"
"Not directly. When I reached the fifth floor, I ran into five Minotaurs. I could sense that someone was chasing after them—I'm guessing it was Loki Familia."
"Minotaurs!?"
Hestia instantly tensed. For Lv.1 adventurers, Minotaurs were one of the deadliest threats. Countless rookies had fallen to those monsters.
She immediately rushed over to inspect Bell's body. Only after confirming he was unharmed did she finally let out a long breath.
But the shock had clearly rattled her.
"Seriously, Bell, you should've told me about this earlier!"
"Most Level 1 adventurers would die if they ran into a Minotaur. Even just one level of difference can mean the world—it's the difference between life and death for adventurers."
In Orario, it was extremely rare for a Level 1 adventurer to defeat a Level 2 opponent. Even if they had maxed out their stats, going up against someone who had just reached Level 2 still left them with slim odds.
Only truly exceptional adventurers could pull off something like that—ordinary ones wouldn't even dare to consider it.
That's why Hestia had nearly jumped out of her skin.
But Bell wasn't just any adventurer.
"Goddess-sama, the reason Level 1 adventurers struggle against Minotaurs is because of their tough hide, which regular weapons can't easily cut through. Even if you have a weapon that can pierce their skin, their densely packed muscles make it hard to deal any serious damage."
"In a situation where the damage trade-off is so one-sided, that's what makes Minotaurs the first and biggest hurdle for adventurers."
In terms of raw stats alone, Bell knew that if a Minotaur landed even a single hit, he'd be seriously injured.
When it came to a straight-up comparison of base ability scores, he was no match for a Minotaur that was already at something like Lv.2.
"Even though I don't have the advantage in stats, I've got the edge in technique."
"With Lightning Transformation, I'm immune to physical attacks, and my speed far outpaces the Minotaur's reaction time. Plus, the 'Hestia Knife' in my hand was crafted personally by Hephaestus-sama."
"With these two advantages, I can take on a Minotaur even if its stats are way above mine."
"Minotaurs can't use magic, which means they never had a chance against me to begin with."
Sure, a huge gap in stats and level could be overwhelming, but that kind of domination still depended on compatibility.
Bell's Lightning Transformation was practically a nightmare for both magic users and close-range fighters—nullifying physical attacks and boosting speed to insane levels.
That alone gave him the qualifications to take on enemies above his level.
"Personal Training" allowed him to grow at a rapid pace.
"Lightning Command" gave him the ability to challenge stronger foes early on.
Together, those two traits drastically accelerated his development.
"Goddess-sama, speaking of which, I'll need your help again today."
"I want to see if killing five Minotaurs counts as a worthy feat to level up."