Another World Gacha

The second and third weeks of Nicholas and his team's morning training and dungeon grind have turned into routine by now. Now, rather than clearing a single dungeon per day, they cleared a minimum of two dungeons, which can take up to the evening if they start at noon.

They were able to do this since their level has been going up and their familiarization with the dungeon and its monsters is increasing day by day. This third week they were able to reach level 7, still their primary goal for this and the next week, which was their last if they were to reach level 10, is to increase their dungeon knowledge by doing dungeon variation runs per day, hopefully being able to complete three dungeons per day. This will hone their skills, teamwork, and also train their endurance since they agreed to continue improving until they were able to complete up to three dungeons from afternoon to evening.

That means that they will be removing their training schedule in the morning and replacing it with more dungeon dives. This may affect their team play a bit but will strengthen their individual player, which is primarily their goal in these last two weeks.

Finally, their final challenge when they reach level 10, as proposed by Nicholas, was to clear a dungeon solo. The girls had agreed to do a solo clear of a dungeon located near the outskirts of Curtana. This dungeon is a low-leveled one, but the max party recommendation of 1 increases the difficulty for the recommended level requirement, which is level 7.

So with that, Nicholas and his team decided to do a single clear of this dungeon before they leave Curtana to do a dungeon in a nearby town.

As the days go by, slowly but surely improving their power and levels. They had successfully reached level 10 by the second day of the last week. It required tons of patience, concentration, and hard work to stick to and follow through with their schedule. Only a small number of people in Curtana can do multiple dungeon runs daily, five times a week.

Most teams tend to get hurt, get tired, and settle to recover first before proceeding to do another dungeon run. This just showcases the meticulousness of their preparation and planning, not discounting the talent of each individual on this team. 

--

At the City Center of Curtana

The trio decided to take a day off to enjoy and celebrate their achievement in reaching double-digit level in under two months. It was a great achievement since there is a custom for awakeners to measure their future success in the amount of time from first awakening to reaching level ten.

Commonly, normal awakeners reach level 10 after 4 months of awakening. So reaching level 10 just over a month and a half is a blessing and an indication of future success.

The mansion is preparing a feast to celebrate their success, so in order not to disturb and spoil the ongoing preparation, the countess gave Nicholas three tickets to the theater, where at noon they will be performing a classic piece.

He agreed to it since he was also bored; hence, currently, Nicholas, Maria, and Clarice are in a carriage being driven to the theater. It was Maria and Clarice's first time in the theater, so they were curious about the design and set; their eyes were wandering through the new environment they were in.

To help them, they had a staff member assist them to their seat; it was an isolated seat that was separated for VIPs and nobles. Clarice and Maria took their seats while Nicholas, who noticed familiar nobles, greeted them briefly since there was still some time before the start of the show.

The nobles returned the polite gestures of Nicholas, and some even invited him to watch the show with them; he, however, politely declined their offer and pointed out that the girls were saying he was accompanying someone. The nobles who invited him didn't take it to heart and only gave him a knowing look while smirking.

Nicholas: "Dude, I'm still a child. What a pervert." he mumbled as he sighed to the nobles.

He talked to them for a while and came back immediately after he finished talking. As he came back to where Maria and Clarice were, Maria asked something.

Maria: "Master, what is this performance all about?"

Nicholas: "I didn't really ask my mother. But the title of the show is Ark." he shrugged his shoulder since he was really not informed about this play.

Clarice: "I'm hungry; can we eat after the show?" she asked

Nicholas: "Sure, haha. I think they serve some snacks here. Let me ask."

Nicholas called a staff member to ask if there were snacks available. The staff member nodded and left to briefly get some snacks for them. After a while, the staff returned carrying a tray of food.

The performance started, and they went to watch a classic hero's journey, which highlighted his travels and triumphs. Maria and Clarice were immersed in the show, clearly showing different emotions according to the scene being shown. But to Nicholas, who remembered shows from his previous life, it was average.

After the show, Maria and Clarice dragged Nicholas as they went to the church on Curtana. They went there to pray and thank the goddess for their achievement. Its not that Nicholas was averse to praying; if anything, Nicholas was a hundred percent believer in the divine since he was able to reincarnate in this world. Its just that the priests and avid churchgoers are a bit overly zealous about religion and will tend to pester people for it.

After praying to the goddess, they began to leisurely enjoy the rest of the day since they could not return to the mansion until evening. They walked along the busy street, entered a shop they were curious about, browsed the shop, and bought anything they liked. This lasted for the rest of the day until they returned to the mansion in the evening.

What greeted them was a large cheer from everyone; even the count and the countess joined the cheer.

All: "CONGRATULATIONS!!!"

Nicholas: "Thank you everyone; we really appreciate it."

Nicholas, Maria, and Clarice began to thank everyone who prepared and participated in this celebration. 

The count and countess, who were at the back, began to approach them, and on their hands were gifts and trinkets.

Count Curtana: "Congratulation, Maria, Clarice, and my eldest son. You guys are the future pride of our county."

The count began a speech, congratulating them on their achievement. He began telling everyone their history since they were little; it was a bit embarrassing, but they silently listened to it. And after a few minutes,

Count Curtana: "And as follows the ancient custom, let us celebrate Nicholas, Maria, and Clarice stepping up into adulthood."

Alll: "OOOOOOOOOO!!!"

It was an ancient custom in this world that by the time they reached level 10 when they awakened, or age 15, they would be treated as adults. It was treated as a sign of respect that you are no longer a child nor can be treated as a child; you are now an equal to adults.

Countess: "Here, I have prepared gifts for you guys to commemorate this celebration."

The three received a small box each, and based on the size of the box, the object inside must contain jewelry or an accessory. Each one of them then opened it, and what they saw was a ring with a similar engraving for each one of them.

Countess: "The pattern of the ring symbolizes your camaraderie, and the ring itself is an artifact that can detect the mana signature of each one of the wearers."

[Ring of Credence [uncommon]]
[It is a commemoration ring made by an accessory maker to celebrate and commemorate the company the wearer trusts and confides in.
gain the ability to faintly detect the presence of the other wearer of the ring.]

Nicholas, Maria, and Clarice wore the ring and felt the same way; each one of them looked at each other, confirming that the artifact worked, and began to thank the countess.

Nicholas: "Thanks, mom; I really appreciate your gift."

Nicholas hugged her mother briefly.

Maria and Clarice: "Thank you, Madame, for the amazing gift."

Both said and bowed after Nicholas finished hugging her mother.

Countess: "You guys are so cute; too bad you guys are adults now."

She chuckled as she teased them about their celebration in adulthood.

The party began in earnest, and after that, soldiers and knights who were off their shift were intoxicated to the point of being knocked out. Maids and other girls were chatting about different stories. It was a lively night in the Curtana mansion.

The following days after the celebration were quite routine, with Nicholas and his team doing dungeon diving in the afternoon and evening after training. Then going home after getting something to eat and talking about their day.

After going home and taking a bath to clean himself and relax for a bit, Nicholas focuses on developing his business by implementing the plans he and his mother had. Currently, they have already secured a reliable way to procure raw materials from merchants.

They decided to procure material from different merchant families to avoid leaking the exact formula of the beauty products. However, even if the raw materials have been leaked, there is still an exact combination and quantity of each product used to concoct each product.

Nicholas's current phase in the plan is waiting for his father to find a secure location to produce the beauty products. His father also found trustworthy individuals to create the products since Nicholas doesn't want to be stuck in the territory creating beauty products all day.

After some of the documents that accumulated on his desk, he went to bed.

The week is coming to an end tomorrow. And Nicholas and his team's solo dungeon clear is nigh. This time, this will be their only goal for the day. To clear the Risky Forest solo.