As I stepped off the arena floor and back into the darkness, my control finally slipped, a smile and a bark of laughter escaping me. The fights were good enough alone but even they couldn't compare to the spark of elation in my chest. A spark that could only come from a thousand people cheering my name.
Fame, recognition… a step onto the kind of stage I'd been planning for since I snuck into Hestia's church. It was beautiful, and more than just that, it was progress. A nice big step forward on my path to potentially killing a giant fuck-off dragon. People were talking about me, my story was spreading both on the surface and likely the deeper parts of the world.
Spreading in a world where the Falna made stories a very literal form of power.
And it was just the start, now all I needed to do was capitalise. Level up more in unreasonable periods of time, rub the standards of others in their faces, and do whatever I could to make myself such a talked about figure that people can't help but recognise me.
Sadly though, scarcity and timing are important things to remember when you're building fame. Just doing the same thing over and over will only result in people getting sick of your name. You need to approach this kind of thing through different vectors, space out your appearances and capture imaginations.
Which is something easier said than done when most of my insight on that particular subject comes from the modern world, a place very much tailored for an attention-based economy. Something Danmachi and its current tech level aren't.
Which brings up the question; what makes headlines in this world?
Level ups obviously, but I'm doing what I can on that front already. Floor clearing records of important Familias? Given that I'm still on the middle floors, I'm probably not quite there yet, but soon enough people will probably want to hear about just how fast I'm churning through the dungeon as a lone adventurer.
Notable advancements in technology would definitely get traction, and in the future that's something I can take advantage of by announcing a slew of 'new' potions. I just need to get strong enough to deal with the backlash of that first.
Romance maybe? If big enough names get spotted fooling about, I could see that appearing in a paper, gossip is hardly a modern invention after all. So maybe I could try abusing attention on me to slip into some Goddesses' beds? Then again, that might just be my dick talking. That probably isn't the kind of attention that lends itself to power. I need something else, something more… impressive.
Something like Monster Rexes.
In the future, Ais Wallenstein's solo killing of some high level boss will be put in print in Orario. Obviously I can't replicate that feat given that it's like a level six boss or something. But taking on the Goliath, the boss of the eighteenth floor? That was more doable. I've been holding off on venturing into his turf on the off chance I'd run into him, but maybe-
Maybe with an audience and a safety net in the form of the expedition, it might be worth a shot?
It was a 'level four' boss type monster that specialises in overwhelming defence and strength, humanoid and giant. Its size means it can chew up ground quickly, but in terms of agility it's supposed to be relatively quite slow. Moreover its focus on defence should be a good match up for my sharpness increasing skills. But then again maybe not; cloaks made out of its drop item performed well above their level in the show.
But that also doesn't really match how the Black Goliath fared against level two and three mages in the same show, and that thing was supposed to be even stronger. So maybe the drop item is just special?
Either way, if I do it during the Loki Familia expedition -and actually manage to convince them to let me try- they could cover for me if I get in over my head. So either I chop it down to size like a woodcutter and gain quite a tidy achievement… or I get a good fight anyway.
And when it's put like that, there's no real downside right?
Which means I just need to handle prep and consider how best to approach this.
Asking Loki is an obvious no-go given that she'd whine on principle for anything that involves me. Riveria I barely know, Gareth -while positive towards me on account of that thing with Magni's Familia- strikes me more as a field commander only. He likely takes the backseat regarding strategy outside of combat, leaving me with only Finn.
And when your only option is that slippery bastard…
Best case his desire to find out more about me drives him to let me try, a more mixed case would be him actually taking my chances seriously and thus adding a stipulation that they get some of the drops regardless. But even if that is the case though… it'd still be worth it. The only truly bad case would be a flat refusal.
Everything that I can think of to sway that decision involves giving up information I don't want to give up, so I can't really do much until the day of.
As for combat prep, pretty much all my standard grinding methods obviously applied and were thus already covered by my normal routine. So, the real thing I would have to focus on was the star of my performance in the arena.
The Alteration spell, Burden.
The spell manipulates mass for reasons that are frankly beyond my current understanding. Because as far as I can tell, the spell is supposed to manipulate weight, but it either doesn't work the way the creator thought it did, or using it in a world it wasn't designed for is changing the effect somehow.
Either way I wound up with a spell that manipulates mass and due to the basic laws of physics, that's fucking terrifying.
Because if you take an object in motion and suddenly spike its mass, it doesn't slow down outside of the obvious gravity increase. No, instead the potential force it exerts upon deceleration just multiplies. And then it keeps multiplying the heavier I can make things and the faster I can move them, two factors that I can scale through improvements to my magic and my stats.
Put bluntly, I'm probably going to be able to throw something with the force of a literal missile at some point. And even if I can't manage something like that right this moment, this is still exactly the kind of buff I need to put a hole in some high level bastard's hide.
It'll probably take some effort; I wasn't exactly a fan of sitting on my ass poking and prodding at magic circles to find redundancies for reasons entirely related to my attention span. But the fight with Blade guy showed me some areas I needed to shore up the technique anyway, so increased burden training was on the cards regardless.
That, and over-powering people who should be physically stronger than me was just hilarious. The look on Blade guy's face after that first strike was just beautiful.
Other than that, I just needed a better name for the technique, Burden alone doesn't really do it for me. It needs something with a bit more oomph y'know, like Mass Driver or maybe Gravity Sword?
Eh, I'll workshop it with Hestia. So now I just need to…
Huh.
Someone's here.
In the empty, dusty tunnel I was walking down, I was hit with the absolute certainty that I wasn't alone. I couldn't see, hear or smell them, but they were somewhere.
Intent is generally a pretty hard thing to nail down, the 'feel' of it blends into a kind of fogginess that only becomes further muddied in the presence of too many creatures. Normally only particularly strong wills or sharp feelings burn strongly enough to stand out to me.
Here? With a stadium of people above us?
I shouldn't be able to feel the oddly suppressed sense of interest radiating from a space down the tunnel on my right. It should just blend into the background like everything else of that level, but some part of me on a deep level was reacting to the intent, dragging my attention to it. So much so that I didn't even realise that's what I was feeling at first.
And there's really only one way to respond to something like that.
Slipping well beyond human limits, my sword practically appeared in my hand as I tore it through the air flat side first, a dozen metres away from where I could feel the intent.
You give them a little greeting.
The force of my swing went off in the enclosed space like a cannon, wind exploding towards the invisible figure. And for the briefest moment as the force reached them, the light seemed to gently ripple around a feminine figure, right before the shockwave hit and her cloak was blown off to reveal-
Divinity.
The almost tangible aura of Divines suddenly flooded the tunnel as the surprisingly short Goddess staggered back, shock shining in her stormy grey eyes. That surprise faded quickly however, replaced instead by an almost invasive interest.
Interest directed solely at me.
And well, under normal circumstances I'd be all for a beautiful woman looking at me like I was the next great mystery they needed to solve. Unfortunately these weren't normal circumstances and worse, I could recognise this Goddess from the feel of her divinity alone.
It felt like Greek philosophy at its core, of aging knowledge and the distant smell of blood.
"Athena." I uttered, a hint of aggression slipping past my control and entering my tone.
While she apparently spent most of her time outside of Orario and plenty of people only had nice things to say about her; there was every chance she was involved with what happened. More than that, she was a Goddess of War and Wisdom, two domains that I couldn't help but feel cautious about… even if that caution was being severely tested by the fact that she was apparently the same height as Hestia.
"You… You saw through the cloak and you know who I am?" She spoke with a startled, yet fascinated smile, the slightest of tremors in her voice. "...You're full of surprises Captain Carne."
Barely anything had been said, but the level of interest she was demonstrating and the whole waiting invisibly for me thing were both sketchy as fuck. And although I couldn't feel anyone else -and couldn't really see a Familia using their Divine as bait in the first place- I still subtly checked the area around us for an ambush before the air could settle.
Despite that though the Goddess had the balls to smile at my caution before continuing. "I had thoughts of surprising you, but it seems you wound up surprising me instead! I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me how you managed it?" She asked excitedly.
I wasn't really inclined to give her anything for obvious reasons, but this situation was enough to throw me off kilter. I needed more information and conversation seemed like the best way to go about it.
So, deciding to commit to whatever this was, I spun my sword around and planted it in the ground between us. It was a semi-symbolic gesture, but I also just didn't trust her enough to actually sheathe my weapon.
"Perhaps." I hedged. "If you're willing to tell me why you're here, and how you found me for that matter."
The tunnels under the arena were pretty labyrinthian, and I'd been wandering randomly while thinking. Unless me spotting her was an op, she would have had to outright predict what tunnel I'd be walking down ahead of time.
But again, random wandering.
"Knowing is a part of who I am." She offered a non-answer with a smile that, while not smug on the surface, definitely felt like it in my admittedly biased mind. "As for why, that's even easier. I wanted to meet you, the killer of my children."
Oh, fuck that.
Despite her words, she didn't sound perturbed or even annoyed, the only thing that she was expressing was that same keen interest as she slowly started to close the distance between us.
"They were hardly children." I shot back. I was obviously aware of how Divine's used the term, but to humans children are individuals whose youth precludes them from being able to make informed decisions, and thus take on true responsibility.
Just the thought that that lot weren't responsible for their actions in some way annoyed me.
"They were to me."
"You know what I mean, don't play games." I retorted. "They made their decisions."
"And they deserved to die for it?" She tilted her head, still smiling.
"Yes." I spoke with every ounce of the conviction I felt.
"And you have the right to decide that?" I paused at that, in my old world I would have said no, but in this world…
"Yes." The justice system just wasn't up to par here, the administration not large enough, nor strong enough to deal with literal superhuman crime. Two facts which bring the responsibility down to the individual level. "Just like you had the responsibility to ensure this didn't happen."
She paused in her approach, seemingly considering my words for a moment, before her smile turned a little sad.
"…You have my apologies, I merely wanted to explore your philosophy a little, but it seems I was a little overeager."
"If you want to, that's fine, I'd also like to know how you let this happen in the first place."
"Distant management and many of my children changing behind my back in ways that I failed to foresee happening." She answered simply, which was… honestly a little surprising that Athena of all Goddesses was willing to admit that much. Though that could just be bias from my last world's fiction colouring my perception. This world's Gods were strange in how much and how little they could resemble the myths of my world.
Sometimes they were dead on the mark, and sometimes you got Hestia.
"Before we go on…" Athena spoke up as she closed the gap completely, stepping in until only the sword I'd planted in the ground stood between us. My hand tightened on the grip at the sheer proximity, but I refused to step back. "I answered your questions, now I believe you owe me an answer."
Barely true.
"I saw through it." I answered blandly. She'd given me one non-answer and one I could plainly read from her expression; turn about was fair play after that.
Instead of looking frustrated though, she just looked even more interested. "How very impressive, even higher levels can be fooled by the workmanship of my Altena."
"Sounds like a skill issue." The modernism slipped out without much thought.
"So you have a Skill that lets you see through invisibility?" She inferred, pressing closer.
"Skill as in talent, and I'm obviously not going to answer that one way or the other." I stated bluntly, getting a little annoyed at how much she was pressing in this conversation.
"I see, then perhaps you'd be willing to answer another of my questions-" She leaned further in even as my eyes narrowed, her stormy gray eyes boring into my unblinkingly. "-What do you hope to gain from the inquiry tomorrow?"
Nope.
The beat in which I was supposed to respond came and went, and I continued to stare down at her impassively. There was no moment of doubt, no flicker of uncertainty in her expression as it became clear that she'd pushed too far; but perhaps that was the point, perhaps she just wanted to see how I'd react.
"Why are you here, Lady Athena?"
"I've already answered-"
"-No." I cut off her attempt, and strangely she looked almost upset at that, the first time I'd seen something other than that eager interest on her face. Still. "That was a reason, not the reason. What do you want?"
"I want to know what you hope to gain from the meeting tomorrow!" She stated with an expression I was having difficulty reading, almost like she was trying to hide a pout from me.
What?
"If I answer that, will you answer me honestly?" At that she just nodded like the answer should be obvious.
What do I hope to gain? A lot of things that I didn't really have anything to gain by sharing, so I'd keep my answer to the most important point.
"The group I took down couldn't have acted alone, there are more in your Familia who need to be rooted out." I said matter-of-factly.
"So you want justice?" She questioned further, her intense gaze sharpening.
A clarification on a question is fine I guess, but if she weren't an immortal lie detector, I would one hundred percent have lied and said yes. Sadly what I did to her 'children' wasn't justice per my own understanding, so I could only settle for saying the next best thing.
"Justice involves a lot more checks and balances than that, I'm just doing what I think is right." I admit.
"I see." She uttered quietly, finally breaking eye contact to consider something.
"You want your answer then?" She asked, and suddenly it was my turn to nod like something was incredibly obvious.
She had the gall to roll her eyes. "If the meeting tomorrow goes through, given all the attention you have accrued and the Familias you've drawn into this, I will be forced to defend my Familia. Not for the sake of those who have strayed off the path, but for the sake of all the good my Familia has done in this city and beyond. If I don't, then my fellows will take the opportunity to do as much damage as they can."
"I came here to see if you were amicable enough to… settle things off the record. To clear house with my support and blessing." She proposed something rather interesting. No clue why she couldn't have just led with that, but…
At first blush her proposal was almost the perfect solution. Athena would know her own systems best and flushing out burrowed elements within an organisation was always going to be a daunting challenge. And since that was my whole point of investment in the first place, I couldn't really care less if doing this undermines the efforts to punish the wider organisation.
I wanted the heads of the truly guilty, not whatever 'justice' the Gods would be able to squeeze out of this short Goddess' Familia.
The obvious problem though was that I can't just take her at first blush. She had a lot of reasons to lie here so I'd need to rope in some insurance at the very least. Another God to look over her shoulder and act as a double lie detector, people to check the paperwork and enough manpower to dissuade any potential trap in case this really isn't legit, and protect two Divines in case this is at least somewhat legit.
So it was a matter of who to tap. Skadi made me promise to bring her in at some point, and Tsubaki might be able to help as our big stick. Ganesha's Familia probably wouldn't undermine their own system so they were out, and some people from Loki might be up for it…
"I'm open to the idea; but why me specifically?" I queried, I had my own ideas about that, but I should hear it from her.
"You are the initial reporter and the most involved, your word holds a lot of value in these matters. Played right, we could end the political aspect to this investigation in a single stroke." A particular smile played across her lips at that, like just the thought of a plan coming together gave her a thrill.
"It is also unfortunately a matter of strength of arms. Orario has many restrictions on outside powers bringing forces into its walls, and the branch I maintain here is already an exception. Hence the guards I was allowed to bring into the city on top of that are no match for those who are potentially compromised."
As I was considering this, I threw out a light jab. "I thought you'd have too much pride to ask for help like this."
Amusement shone in her eyes. "A strange assumption; pride is oft the bane of wise counsel."
I just hummed noncommittedly. Everyone has their pride, especially those who take pride in not having any. "And what do I get out of going along with this?"
"A chance to 'do what you think is right' without obstruction." She smirked, a touch mockingly. "And my favour, of course."
I cracked a smile. "Of course." It would probably be a bit much to ask her for specifics on that, but the promise alone was enough for me to decide on my course. Which only left what amounts to foreplay for strategy nuts. "Then what can you tell me about the potential force composition we're up against?"
Her resulting smile -though a touch knowing- was strangely beautiful for such an annoying woman.
It almost made me wish this wouldn't end up a ruse.
"Before that, could you answer a few questions about the abilities you showed off in the arena?" Her smile widened, and the intrigue was back. "It shouldn't take long."
"Oh actually, would you be willing to tell me how you found me first?" She began by immediately circling back. "You know, since we're on the same sides and all now…"
Questions which let me finally figure her out… she's an actual knowledge junky.
"Ah, you do not mind if I hide under my cloak, do you?" She cut through the silence left behind by her own question with all the subtlety of a brick. "I'm afraid my Familia will be on the look out for me, and since the game has begun…" I looked over to where she'd already drawn back up her cloak, leaving her as just a disembodied head, and I got the distinct impression that this was about more than just her hiding from her Familia.
A knowledge junky, who specifically must have gone out of her way to get an item to hide her divinity. I almost groaned.
"Your hobby is spying on people isn't it?"
"Wha… D-Do not be ridiculous!"
"Let me guess, when they're bathing too?"
"Of course not!" Oh god, she actually looks embarrassed, and I felt the image of this Goddess I'd built up in my head evaporate. "I refuse to let you slander me like this, now answer my question y-you brute!"
At this point it'd actually be better if all of this was five dimensional chess in order to make me lower my guard in some absurdly complicated manner. I would genuinely prefer dealing with that than whatever this is.
"I refuse." I deadpanned.
"What? Why ever not!?"
Because my opsec has zero give you knowledge thot. "Because I'm not that cheap."
"You wish for payment then? Very well, are we talking Valis or a more difficult currency?" Athena immediately responded, looking incredibly eager. "Just so you know, I pay a high price for worthwhile secrets."
Okay, my opsec might have a little give after all.
-
Orario, Arena District
Hestia
Watching Elric fight from afar was a thrilling and terrifying experience for Hestia.
The flashes of his condensed experiences she saw in his Falna all came from his perspective, from how he saw his ongoing war with the dungeon. To see him fight from her own perspective -limited as it was in this shell- was something else altogether.
There was the difference in strength of course, the things her child now saw as normal that were just simply not. He was superhuman in ways he either didn't recognise or had just accepted while she wasn't looking, and every movement and every motion he made was coloured by that undeniable reality.
And when faced with the reality of her perspective, she was forced to accept one simple fact: her child was strong.
Intellectually she'd already known that -she wouldn't have asked him to put on this show otherwise- but seeing it for herself… Well, part of her was still caught up in the image she'd held of him only a month ago. Her kind weren't exactly known for their ability to handle change, it was why they were so endlessly fascinated with mortals, why she and so many others of her kind descended.
The sheer progress he'd made in such a short span of time both fascinated and scared her. She'd spent millennia living unchanged in an immortal world; to now look at her child and realise that she might now even recognise his soul half a year from now…
It was terrifying… and beautiful.
An embodiment of everything that fascinated her about the mortal world, and yet so infuriatingly fleeting.
It just wasn't fair!
The other weirdness with seeing him fight with her own eyes was the lack of his steady hand encompassing her view. Her child -as much as she loathed to admit it- was a complete and utter battle junkie. He fought with such total confidence in himself that it even managed to influence her, as silly as that sounds.
To him nearly every battle was already won, and the few that weren't were all the more fun for it.
And as scary as your child holding such overconfidence in himself could be, in the moments where she was watching him fight it was also really kinda reassuring. So to watch him without that sense was also really kinda scary, but it was also really kinda reassuring to see how strong he actually was and…
Hestia sighed dramatically, resisting the urge to whine. As stupid as he was, he was probably right; she really did stress too much even if that totally wasn't her fault!
There was just too much to consider in the mortal world…
"That was so cool!" One of her new children announced loudly over the crowd, breaking her out of her thoughts. "I had no idea that a sword could- wait… hey I played with that sword!" Sticky cheered, clearly wrapped up in the same fantasies all boys his age seem to have as he raved about the last match they'd watched.
And in the face of such heartfelt enthusiasm, she could only smile.
"Miss Hestia, are you okay?" Renalee -or as Elric calls her, little rabbit girl- blinked innocently up at her. Like Sticky she'd offered to come to keep Hestia company, though without the 'I'm protecting you' connotation that Sticky usually slapped on there.
"I'll be fine~ your big brother just has me a little stressed!" Hestia grinned and the little girl smiled brightly right back at her. "So how about we meet up with Elric before he can cause any more problems alright?"
Renalee perked up at that, literally, her little rabbit ears straightening up eagerly as her red eyes shone. Despite her obvious enthusiasm however, she didn't do much more than shyly nod, a common trait whenever her first child was about. Watching the girl follow her first child around like a lost duckling was just too cute sometimes.
Elric oddly didn't seem to think much of it, despite clearly being these kids' hero who they looked up to almost reverently. Which while adorable, was actually kind of a small problem considering…
"-Hey Hestia, when can I join your Familia thingy?" Sticky -almost on schedule- demanded for the nth time with all the tact of a child raised on the streets. "I wanna be an Adventurer too!"
…That.
Don't get her wrong, while she definitely loved her first child… one Elric was enough for her poor heart. Which is exactly why she -mechanically- turned to Sticky, put on her best, most mature smile and promptly kicked the can down the road: "When you're older."
There, now it was a problem for later Hestia, which meant it wasn't her problem!
"Awh c'mooon!" Sticky whined. "I look after you and stuff; I'd be amazing at this whole adventurer thing!"
Or maybe she was being a bit too optimistic.
"Miss Hestia knows that, so maybe she has a good reason for saying no…?" Renalee spoke up quietly, before flinching as her fellow orphan glared back at her.
"Like what! It's just gunna be some bullshit about us being too young; don't you want to join the Big Boss in the dungeon too?" He retorted, to which Renalee looked off with a terrified and yet conflicted expression.
Which pushed it over the line for Hestia.
It was one thing when boys dove headfirst into the jaws of the closest, most dangerous thing they could possibly find, that just seemed to be what boys did naturally if her kids were anything to go by. It was however, an entirely different thing when they started trying to convince Hestia's most adorable child to join them!
"Sticky-kun…" The boy froze at her tone. "No dungeon, for any of you. Okay?"
As he nervously nodded, Hestia couldn't help but feel a surge of relief, if only Elric was that easy. Granted he had better reasons for being stubborn, but still! She was allowed to complain about her child being insane, that was her right as a Goddess no matter what he says!
After a few tense minutes of walking in silence, the kids glanced her way nervously and despite herself, she found herself loosening up and maybe smiling a little back at them. It's not her fault that staying all serious is just way too hard when her kids are this cute!
With them settled, she turned to face the looming issue, how to find her idiot child! And -smugly- she considered her perfect solution. See, while all the other Gods and Goddesses couldn't find their children via their connection to them, that wasn't the case for Hestia.
Because she was amazin- well, she didn't quite do it, but it was a team effort. Elric's weird -and kind of impossible- magic might have opened the connection, but she was the one that put it there in the first place.
Plus she didn't really like to think about the specifics of what her child was doing with his 'magic', given that she was pretty sure the principles he was invoking were things that mortals probably shouldn't be touching. But Elric was good at that kind of thing!
Maybe!
And regardless, it meant that she could now reach out through the pathway between them even with her limits and see how he was doing and more easily stalk- find him. The connection even felt homely which was super nice!
And what do you know, he's only a street away.
Guiding her kids with a smile and a leading hand on their little backs, she listened to Sticky charmingly ramble about every stray thought that came to him. Listening with half an ear as she sought a distant sharpness cloaked in her flames.
…Elric really needed to stop thinking about swords so much.
Spotting him talking to a familiar redhead sent a spike of annoyance through her, but she managed to contain her feelings gracefully, only sending a minor glare the tart's way. Now she just needed to keep Sticky from trying to turn Elric against her and-
"-Big Boss! Tell Hestia to let me become an adventurer!"
She sighed despondently as the orphan raced off, only perking up as Renalee grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
Ah~ Hestia could sustain herself off Renalee's cuteness alone! Squeezing the rabbit girl's hand back in thanks, she made her way over to Elric and the redhead.
"...don't give Hestia a heart attack alright? I already do that enough on my own." Elric's strangely accented voice spoke up, tinged with a mixture of amusement and -thankfully- apprehension.
She really did not want to see what would happen if Elric started encouraging the kids. Some of her fellow Gods might send actual kids into the Dungeon, but the stars would collapse before Hestia would send anyone this cute into that horrid place!
She'd seen enough of it through Elric's experiences for one eternity, thank you.
Still, she couldn't let that statement lie. "I think I'd prefer it if no one tried to give me a heart attack…" She spoke up, trying and failing to hide her smile as she reached up and poked Elric on the cheek.
"That would be the day." He agreed, smiling back as Sticky circled around him, trying to grab his attention while asking about the match. Only stopping when Elric ruffled the kid's hair affectionately.
"Lady Hestia." The redhead -Judith she thought her name was- bowed, before her gaze tracked down to the orphans, becoming strangely fixated. "And who are these two?"
"Kids Hestia's taking care of." Elric answered, nonchalantly glossing over his role in the whole thing. Either that or it was more of that 'information security' stuff he lectured her about after she maybe-kinda spilled the beans on one of his skills to Hephy… which totally didn't make the lecture justified or anything!
"And the Big Boss! He even saved a bunch of us from weird kidnappers!" Sticky added tactlessly. "It was so cool, he blew up a warehouse!"
"Part of one." Elric corrected absently, his gaze on Judith who seemed to be taking the news strangely.
"He saved you?"
"Well not us, though that would have been really cool, but he saved some of the others." The kid explained, rubbing at his nose with a bashful smile. "I only saw the wreckage, but I heard Big Boss even took out a level two as a level one." There was a pause, before Sticky went on. "...I don't really get the level thing fully, but it sounds awesome!"
Hestia smiled proudly at that, watching the fight through Elric's eyes had been a little- okay a lot terrifying given that it was one of those fights where even he didn't know if he could win it, but it was for a really good reason and her child had kicked ass!
He'd also opened that connection between them in that fight -even if she hadn't quite realised it at the time- so she was understandably a little biased on the topic.
"...Big Boss was looking into this big cult thing that was apparently going around kidnapping people, so he came to us all spy-like and asked us to ask around." Sticky regaled to the strangely fascinated redhead.
"-We did super well, even saving Rena here!" Renalee startled from her spot behind Hestia, where she'd quietly been watching the conversation. "She then led Big Boss to her friends who he saved… it was like something out of a story!"
"I… feel like I need more details on the whole kidnapping thing, but…" Judith admitted, clearly confused by the explanation given to her by an overly excited child, before she seemed to psyche herself up for something.
Something that set off all of Hestia's Elric sensors!
Before she could interrupt however, a strangely familiar voice did it for her. "Actually, I'm also interested in hearing that story in full as well." Which was perfect, because now she gets the distraction without raising suspicions even!
Oddly enough though, she kind of recognised that voice… and it was coming from right behind her.
Hestia screamed -definitely not like a little girl- and spun to find the Goddess of the very Familia they were talking about standing behind her, some weird invisibility effect hiding most of her form, and even her divinity.
"A-Athena!?" She shrieked, mind racing as she tried to process her friend just randomly appearing here, especially given… everything. She didn't think Athena would be behind it really, they were friends after all! But even Hestia could admit that Athena was kind of scary, especially when it came to one or two of her domains in particular.
She definitely wouldn't do it intentionally, but maybe there was some kind of weird misunderstanding or something and…
"Boo." The Goddess responded dryly, almost comically given that only her head was visible, just floating there next to her.
Hestia really didn't have a response to that. Like, she had absolutely no response to that. For once, she was just speechless.
Or at least she was, until a small, scared voice spoke up. "U-Um…" Renalee stuttered. "Did you just say Athena…?"
And just like that Hestia's heart sank, but before she could say anything, her friend cut in as blunt as ever.
"Yes, I'm Athena." The floating head of her friend turned to look at her poor rabbit girl and Hestia could only imagine what kind of thoughts must be running through her head, because she looked terrified.
"You're alright." Elric cut through the resulting silence, placing a reassuring hand on Renalee's head that had an immediate effect. "She's not with them. If anything she's here to help me make sure there's no more of those bad people in her Familia." While he was reassuring in tone, he was glaring at a surprisingly nervous Athena.
"E-Eh!?" Hestia exclaimed in surprise. When did that happen?
Renalee didn't seem to notice any of that however, instead asking in a small voice. "…There's more of them?"
Elric paused, before slowly nodding.
"I wish I could say otherwise, but there's always more." And now the poor girl looked almost terrified, leaving Hestia about two seconds away from smacking him, or at least she was until he went on. "But there's also always more people like me. And do you want to know a big secret? We're winning."
"Really?" She perked up.
"Really. Why do you think they have to hide in dark places and run from the law?" Elric smiled… a little dangerously. "If they pop their heads up too much, then people like me take notice and you've seen how that ends."
"Y-Yeah!" The girl cheered, leaving Hestia feeling a little conflicted. "Um, do you mind if I ask another question?"
"Sure."
"Why is your um, Goddess friend invisible?" At that Hestia realised Athena had disappeared entirely, and felt a bead of swept roll down her face.
"…Apparently she's hiding from people who are supposed to check up on her." He didn't sound very convinced about that. "But between you and me I think she just likes being invisible."
Oddly enough Hestia could actually see where the strange emphasis Elric was placing on his words was coming from. Athena always did have the habit of staring at people at the worst times…
Wait, how well did her child know her friend?
Her head woodenly turned towards Elric, with many questions in her eyes. His silent 'I'll tell you later' face was a little infuriating, but she also didn't want to speak up while Athena was lurking like this in front of so many people.
…That always ended in embarrassment.
"Speaking of, Red, are any of your executives free for a hunt tonight?" Elric suddenly switched topics, turning his focus to a suddenly very flustered Judith.
"I can think of a few who might be up for it- but I need to talk to you about…" She trailed off, as Hestia's gaze snapped around and tried to bore into the girl's soul with vision alone. "…A lot of stuff." She finished lamely.
"Sure, we can talk tonight if you want to come along." Elric nodded. "I just need to see if I can wrangle up anyone else."
"If you're alright with me, sure?" Judith agreed, seeming to take some measure of confidence from just being asked. "Where do we meet?"
*Probably-"
"South west on Olliphander Street, specifically the street corner adjacent to the church at eight PM." A disembodied voice cut in.
"Right, that." He smirked. "I'm going to go see a Goddess about a pack of hunters, take care of the kids?" He asked, his eyes meeting Hestia's.
"Always!" She said happily, before she realised that she had no idea what was going on or where he was going, or- "W-Wait! Tell me what you're doing first! Elriiiic!"
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Athena just casually wandering around invisible looking for children to harass into ill defined schemes and Goddesses to fuck with. While Elric is just happy to have an excuse for heroic violence.
The next three chapters are up on https://www.patreon.com/c/OneFallLeaf. Hope you all have a great day and soon Christmas xD
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Glossary
Goliath
Big boss monster that hides in a giant crystal wall along the path to the Eighteenth floor, it resurrects every two weeks and if it hasn't been killed, it'll pop out like the world's largest jumpscare on passersby. Level four.
Monster Rexes
Effectively the floor bosses of the dungeon, they appear on select floors and are monstrously overpowered for those floors. Generally they're taken care of by much stronger adventurers while they're descending for expeditions, like the Loki Familia. The stronger they are, the longer they take to respawn. Their drops are incredibly valuable.
The Eighteenth Floor
The first of the dungeon's 'rest floors', floors where monsters don't spawn, though it can be invaded by monsters from other floors. There's a small, shitty ramshackle town on this floor that's overpriced as hell.