'A monster, huh?'
Noah watched Tsubaki walk away, then glanced down at the useless stone in his hand.
If things kept going like this, maybe he really would become one.
The people who stood at the top of Orario were either heroes or... monsters.
"It's a little too early for that kind of praise, Tsubaki..."
Before Noah could leave, Hephaestus appeared in front of him, wearing an unusually elegant gown.
Normally, she was pretty carefree and almost always wore men's clothes, but today she truly looked the part of a goddess.
Only her eerie eyepatch seemed out of place.
Her crimson hair curled slightly like flickering flames, her ruby eyes looked like they could see right into your soul, and she had a tall striking figure.
As far as Noah could remember, there was only one event that would make her dress up this nicely.
A banquet of the gods AKA Denatus!
And if it was happening around this time, it definitely wasn't just some ordinary party.
It was the monthly Divine Assembly!
Held on the 30th floor of Babel, this gathering of the gods was way different from a normal feast.
Even though it was supposed to be a serious meeting to organize information about the city, the gods didn't give a damn about those "boring" details.
What they were actually looking forward to was the naming ceremony at the end of the assembly, where adventurers who leveled up finally got their titles.
Once they hit Level 2, every adventurer was given an alias or "title."
In a huge city packed with adventurers and split up by different Familias, it was impossible for everyone to know each other personally.
Because of that, an adventurer's title was way more useful than their actual name.
Take Ryuu Lion, for example.
Even though she was a popular and well-known adventurer, her actual name might only ring a vague bell to most people in the city.
But the moment they saw Ryuu in person, combining keywords like "elf," "blonde hair," "ice-cold attitude," and "sword," everyone would instantly recognize her as the "Gale" of the Astrea Familia.
The adventurers had zero say in picking their own titles—it was completely up to whatever the gods felt like doing.
But, to some extent, adventurers could kind of influence the gods' choices based on the public personas they built up.
Take Ais, for instance.
The gods had given her the title "Sword Princess" back when she was Level 2, just because her fighting style and personality left that specific impression on them.
Around other adventurers though, she was also called the "Doll Princess."
Her constantly blank expressionless face, mixed with how calmly she slaughtered monsters, totally earned her that "Doll" nickname.
Unlike the official titles given by the gods, nicknames were unofficial and only used by a small group of people.
The Naming Ceremony only happened every three months because there just weren't that many adventurers pulling off crazy feats and leveling up.
Even talented adventurers needed three to five years just to go from Level 1 to Level 2, and the vast majority of Level 1 adventurers stayed stuck at that level for their entire lives.
Adventurers who played it safe and avoided taking risks could only dream of ever leveling up.
On top of that, leveling up after hitting Level 2 was even slower than the grind from Level 1.
Normal adventurers needed careful prep and a reliable party just to head into the Dungeon for a single trip.
And even then, they might never make it back out alive.
Take the Middle Floors, for example.
If you wanted to explore safely and actually make a profit, the perfect party size was four to five people.
Any more than that, and splitting the loot got unfair.
Any less, and your efficiency tanked, making the whole trip a waste of effort.
Not every adventurer was out there chasing greatness or fame.
Nearly 80% of the adventurers in Orario chose this job out of pure necessity, not because they had grand "dreams" or "ambitions."
Even inside the Loki Familia, plenty of people risked their lives just for the money.
Some did it to feed their families.
Others did it to send money back to their hometowns.
In Orario, you could even find actual princesses from foreign nations diving into the Dungeon, swinging swords and axes just to financially support their struggling countries.
Because so few adventurers ever managed to level up, holding a Naming Ceremony too often would get incredibly boring.
That was the whole reason for the three-month wait.
"Don't tell me... it's today?" Noah asked, looking at his goddess for confirmation.
Hephaestus nodded with a bitter smile. "Yeah. At today's Denatus, your title is going to be decided... How should I put this? I'll do my best to help you out."
Seeing that strained smile on his goddess's face, Noah suddenly felt a massive wave of regret.
After all, to the rest of the gods, he was practically invisible.
He spent all his time quietly repairing gear for low-level adventurers, barely ever stepping foot inside the Dungeon.
Hell, even some people in his own Familia struggled to remember his name!
What kind of impression could a literal background character like him even leave?
That was exactly why he was regretting this.
In Orario, he hadn't built up any sort of distinct persona.
So, how the hell were the gods going to handle such a bland, invisible "background character"?
The answer was simple... they were going to mess around!
They'd start tossing out completely random ideas until it eventually turned into a bizarre game of 'who can come up with the absolute weirdest name.'
The title he'd end up stuck with would probably be something completely nonsensical and totally unrelated to him.
Something stupid like 'Dark Doom Striker (Triumphant Chaos Bearer)'
Imagine partying up with other people and having your teammates yell out, 'Hey, Dark Doom Striker, two monsters are heading your way—block them!' Or, 'Dark Doom Striker! Watch your back!'
A title was an adventurer's second face.
At the very least, having a decent name and wearing normal-looking gear during the cool moments was a basic form of self-respect.
"Crap, just thinking about those weird-ass names is giving me anxiety."
What if they named him something totally cringe like 'Mefistofele (Hegemon of Wicked Mystics)'?
He remembered how he used to think Bell Cranel's "Little Rookie" sounded like some cheap, freebie title handed out to total newbies... Now, he would happily take something like that.
Seriously!
Tch.
His hands literally wouldn't stop shaking.
He couldn't even focus on developing his custom weapon anymore.
The thought of being called some incredibly embarrassing name every single time he stepped outside left him completely stressed out!