The inside of the rundown church was exactly like Kaelis expected it to be.
Slightly dark, furniture worn out, cracks in the walls letting more light in than the windows combine.
The moment he stepped in, he felt his feet sinking half a centimeter into a thick layer of dust.
"…Wow," Bell whispered.
Kaelis knew damn well that didn't come from admiration but more like shock with his usual polite mask over it.
Hestia, completely ignoring the dust cloud rising around her ankles, threw her arms wide.
"Welcome to your new home!"
Kaelis's eye twitched once more.
"Home," he repeated.
The interior was… rough. Very rough.
A chunk of ceiling was missing, a beam of sunlight shining down like a divine spotlight.
Webs decorated the corners like someone hired spiders as interior designers.
And at the back of the room, a small crude altar sat half-covered in an old sheet.
Bell stuck close to Kaelis's side, quietly overwhelmed by the whole thing.
"Master," he whispered, "do you think it's safe?"
Kaelis nudged a loose plank with his boot.
It creaked in a way that screams potential lawsuits.
If someone stomps a little too hard…
"…Structurally?" Kaelis replied. "Probably bot."
Hestia puffed her cheeks immediately.
"Hey! Don't bully the church! It has feelings, you know!"
"It sounds like its feelings are brittle," Kaelis muttered. (had to put this)
Bell coughed to hide a laugh but who is he fooling? He's shaking like a leaf in the wind.
Hestia stomped her tiny foot as she huffed and puffed like a puffer fish.
But she only managed to make Kaelis think she's adorable.
"It's perfectly fine! Well… mostly fine. Look, it's got charm! Atmosphere! History!"
A piece of wooden plank fell off the roof railing and hit the ground as if to mock her.
Hestia froze for half a second, then continued as if nothing happened.
"A-Anyway! It's cozy once you get used to it!"
Kaelis scanned the room again.
Cozy was not the word he would've chosen.
"Haunted" maybe. "Flammable" definitely.
But he didn't say that.
I would rather not get used to living like a poor person.
Bell tugged lightly at his sleeve.
"It's not… too bad, right?"
"It has…potential? We'll definitely have to fix this place."
Hestia brightened immediately.
"See!? Potential! Exactly!"
Bell blinked. "Master, you're being unusually positive."
"I'm trying to be polite," Kaelis replied.
Hestia placed her hands on her hips, huffing.
"Well don't be too polite! You can say what you really think!"
Kaelis did not hesitate.
"It looks like someone fought a small war inside."
Bell looked around again… and slowly nodded. "It does…"
Hestia deflated.
"Okay, fine! It's not perfect! It's a little—okay, a lot—broken. But it's mine! And it's…a little important to me."
Her voice softened at the end.
Bell blinked, his expression shifting to concern.
Hestia took a slow breath, then turned toward them with a tiny wobbly smile.
"Let me explain properly. I didn't exactly… pick this place. I ended up here."
She brushed her fingers along the dusty wall, smearing a clear line through it.
"I've been living here for two and a half months now… ever since Hephaestus kicked me out."
Bell's jaw dropped.
"E-Eh!? Kicked you out!?"
"Hephaestus?" Kaelis muttered before he raised an eyebrow. "You two had a falling out?"
Hestia waved her hands frantically.
"N-No, no! She didn't hate me or anything! It wasn't like that! She just—she just couldn't keep supporting me."
She tugged at the hem of her dress, looking embarrassed.
"I… may have been relying on her a little too much after descending. And by 'a little,' I mean completely."
Kaelis nodded knowingly.
Hestia continued, rambling a bit more.
"Hephaestus gave me this place so I wouldn't be thrown on the street. She said, 'If you're going to start a familia, start here.' And then she shoved the church title into my hand and walked off before I could cry on her again."
Bell's expression softened a bit.
"Lady Hestia… that sounds hard."
"It was! I mean—I didn't know what I was doing! I'm not exactly experienced in… well… anything."
Kaelis crossed his arms, his tone calm, not mocking.
"And you've been living alone in this ruin the entire time?"
She nodded.
"All alone. No familia. No income. No followers. Just me… fixing leaks and patching holes and sweeping the same spot fifty times because the dust keeps coming back."
"So," Hestia said, puffing her cheeks again as she turned her face, "if the place is a little ugly and cracked and kind of depressing—don't hold it against me, okay?"
Kaelis chuckled.
"Don't worry…we won't."
Kaelis added, his tone calm like always.
"And we'll improve it. Preferably before it collapses on us."
Hestia brightened again, a spark returning.
"R-Right!! With you two here… maybe things really will start changing!"
She turned toward them, fists clenched at her chest.
"Welcome to the Hestia Familia… or, well… the start of it."
Kaelis nodded.
"So what's the first order of business?"
"Oh—right! Please remove your shirts!" She said excitedly.
Bell froze.
Kaelis didn't move at all.
He just pointed at Bell with his thumb.
"He's the one getting the Falna," Kaelis said. "Not me. So you don't need me to take anything off."
Hestia stopped mid-bounce, eyes blinking like her brain had to reboot.
"…Eh?"
Kaelis gestured at Bell again.
"Bell. Falna. Him."
Bell awkwardly gave a tiny wave.
Hestia stared between them, utterly confused.
"W-Wait—so you aren't getting a Falna!?"
"Nope."
Kaelis didn't even hesitate. "I'm not here for that."
Hestia gaped.
"B-But you said you'd joined my familia!"
"I joined," Kaelis agreed. "Bell is receiving the Falna. I'm not."
"But WHY!?" Hestia shouted, half in outrage, half in existential crisis.
"Because I don't need it."
What he said was partially true.
Sap of Swords, after forcing his soul into becoming a blade, imposes a singular and absolute rule:
He cannot receive strength from any outside source.
No blessings.
No divine revisions.
No power borrowed, granted, or bestowed.
Whether it's the Falna of gods, the boons of higher beings, enchanted enhancements, or any form of external empowerment—his very soul rejects them all.
Every step forward must come from within.
Every rise in strength must be sharpened by his own understanding, his own effort, and his own growth.
This was the price—and the purity—of a soul that became a sword.
To make up for its "no help allowed" rule, Sap of Swords gave Kaelis a bunch of ways to grow on his own—mostly by learning, studying, and figuring things out.
If he understood something well enough—how a material worked, why a technique functioned, what made a monster tick—he could turn that understanding into actual strength.
It was basically self-improvement by overthinking things really hard.
And honestly, the whole Falna thing wouldn't help him anyway.
Records said the Falna brings out the body's hidden potential… but Kaelis didn't even have a proper body anymore.
His real one was destroyed, and what he had now was more of… a placeholder.
A really convincing one.
There was no "potential" in it.
Nothing for a god to awaken.
No physical limit to break.
Even if he lined up at the Guild and asked for a Familia, the Falna wouldn't stick.
So for him, it was simple:
If he wanted strength, he had to earn it himself.
Honestly? He preferred it that way.
Bell sighed like he'd heard this ten times before.
"Lady Hestia… he really won't take it."
Hestia ran up to Kaelis and slapped both of his cheeks with her hands dramatically.
"W-W-WHAT KIND OF ADVENTURER DOESN'T TAKE A FALNA!?"
Kaelis shrugged. "Me. Besides, I'm more of a researcher."
Hestia opened her mouth to argue but Kaelis cut her off.
"It's your decision, Lady Hestia. But my answer is final. The Falna is for Bell."
Hestia stood there, vibrating.
Then she threw her hands up.
"Fiiiine! FINE! We'll do Bell first! But I'm coming back to this conversation!"
"I'll be unavailable."
"No you won't!!"
Bell quickly stepped in before she popped a blood vessel.
"I'm ready, Lady Hestia… please go ahead."
Hestia switched gears instantly, scooting behind Bell with the seriousness of someone performing sacred surgery.
"Alright! Bell! Lie down! Shirt off! No wiggling!"
Bell obeyed really quickly, lying on his chest with his back exposed.
Hestia began looking around.
"What are you looking for?" Kaelis asked
"Something to prick my fingers with…"
"Then use this…"
Kaelis pulled a needle from his storage and handed it to her.
Hestia began the ritual, as she drew blood from her delicate index finger and let a drop of her ichor fall onto Bell's back.
A soft glow spread from the area it fell , traces of divine script forming like shimmering ink.
Bell shivered. "It's… warm."
"That's good!" Hestia said, focused as the symbols spread and curled.
Kaelis simply watched from the side, his arms crossed as he tried to understand the symbols appearing.
He could make out a few symbols and from them he realized that it's Ancient Greek. Though he only knew bits and pieces.
Hestia leaned closer, blinking.
"Ooh… wow. Your base stats start low, like any beginner, but…"
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Your potential is… actually really good. Better than I expected!"
Bell brightened. "R-Really!?"
"Yes!" she smiled. "And your soul feels very—uh—clean? Pure? Something like that!"
Kaelis snorted quietly.
Bell turned red.
Within moments, Hestia finished writing, the Falna settling into Bell's back like a completed spell.
"And… done!" she said proudly, lifting the parchment.
[Bell Cranel
Level 1.
Strength: I 0 |Endurance: I 0 |Dexterity: I 0 |Agility: I 0 |Magic: I 0
[Skills]
Echo of the disciple—
• Greatly enhances growth during training
• Improves stamina recovery during practice
• Increases focus when following the Master's teachings
• Massive increase to reaction speed; reduces fear in moments of resolve
• Enables improved reading of openings and timing
• Technique efficiency increases when using the Master's forms
• Hidden effects may manifest under extreme duress]
"Bell Cranel—Level 1. Congratulations! You are officially the FIRST member of the Hestia Familia!"
Bell's eyes lit up with relief and excitement.
"Thank you… Lady Hestia."
But hestia hesitated. She began wondering what kind of experience Bell went through to develop such a skill.
Putting that thought at the back of her mind, she spun toward Kaelis.
"Now you—"
"No."
"KAELIS LET ME FINISH TALKING—!"
"No Falna," Kaelis repeated.
Hestia stomped her foot.
"You're impossible!"
Bell rushed to put his shirt back on as Hestia puffed her cheeks to near-spherical shape.
After a long, dramatic sigh, she pointed aggressively at Kaelis.
"Fine! But one day, you're telling me why you refuse!"
"Mm. Maybe."
"That means 'never,' doesn't it!?"
Kaelis didn't deny it.
Bell laughed under his breath.
Hestia grumbled but eventually threw her hands up in surrender.
"Whatever! Bell has his Falna now, and that's what matters!"
Kaelis nodded.
And as if waiting for the right moment, a piece of the ceiling cracked ominously above them.
Hestia winced. "…We'll fix that later."
Chapter 57 end.
———————
What do y'all think of bell's first skill.