Lili looked down, her voice thick with emotions when she spoke. "Why does Mr. Jericho want to help Lili? You were really careful about it, but I still stole a bunch from you!" Had she? "Yesterday, I got really cocky and the split was thirty-five sixty-five!" Whoa, I knew she stole from me yesterday, but that much?! "So, why? Why does-"
It would be a lie to say that I didn't think of stealing Bell's line when she asked that question. However, here, it didn't fit. I hadn't saved her from the jaws of death, choosing to save her even though she had betrayed me. Especially when I only knew her for a few days.
"Because you need help," I told her instead, speaking gently as I knelt next to her. She still had to look up at me, her eyes filling up with a fragile cautious hope. "And I want to help you. Simple as that." I told her, making tears well up in her eyes again. She started to look down, but I gently placed a finger underneath her chin to make her gaze met mine. "Just have a little faith in me, okay?"
Lili opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, she nodded her head, trying to hold back tears. I looked over at Hestia to see her looking at me, I could exactly tell what she was thinking despite her habit of wearing her emotions on her sleeve, but if I had to sum up her expression in a word, it would be peaceful.
Hestia walked over, placing a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly to show her support. "Have a little faith in us," Hestia corrected, forcing Lili to glance up at her. And...I could see it. She didn't believe us. Not fully. She might want to but she couldn't bring herself too, having been burned too many times in the past. That's why she wasn't saying anything. She was avoiding Hestia's lie detector. I guess this is what happens when you don't learn about a heroine's problems without a life and death dramatic event.
"We're going to get you out of that familia as soon as we can. Do they expect to see you, or anything?" I asked, trying to hammer out a game plan. The more time I had to do it, the better.
Lili shook her head, "N-no. Lili doesn't live in the familia home, so they only see her when it's time to pay dues. So, in a couple of weeks." She answered, swallowing down her emotions with more than a little difficulty.
"Good." I had about two weeks to power grind my stats. Provided that no one suspected anything, I could have even longer. "I'm still new to stuff like this, but we can buy your way out of the familia right?" I questioned, earning a nod. "Then I'll start saving up. If Zanis is as big of an asshole as he sounds, I wouldn't put it past him to ask for a stupid amount."
Lili stared at me, her expression so carefully guarded that it betrayed absolutely nothing that she didn't want it to. "How does Mr. Jericho know Lili wants to leave the Soma familia?" She questioned suddenly, catching me flat-footed. I could hardly tell her the truth, and when Hestia looked up at me, her gaze asking the same question, I realized that I had to stick as close to the truth as possible.
"Because of how you acted around that Canoe, guy. And how those guys in the Dungeon acted. Then you're talking about rent and familia dues -- you didn't have to tell me, it was fairly obvious if you knew what to look for," I said, making Lili blink slowly.
Lili agreed with a slow nod, "Lili has been saving up a bunch to buy her way out too. But...Lili is scared that he won't take it…"
"Then I'll kick his ass and take you away," I told her, cracking a smile when I saw a rose tint on her cheeks.
"Zanis is a level 2, Mr. Jericho! You can't beat him -- I know you're really big and strong, but the difference between even a high level 1 and the weakest level 2 can't be overcome. He'll kill you," she told me, sounding like she believed it. And I believed it too. Before fighting Sword and Shield Guy and Broadsword Guy, I might not have -- it felt like I was making great gains, and with everyone's reactions, I thought I was too. And, I was. They just weren't enough to close that gap.
"Lili is right," Hestia seconded, her eyes filled to the absolute brim with worry. "If it comes to a fight, then we can't win."
I nodded, agreeing with her. As of right now, the most I could hope for is that my blood was hard to wash out of his clothing when I tried to fight Zanis. "That's why I'm going to do some sit-ups, push-ups and drink plenty of juice to make the gains I need to win that fight. If he won't take a price, then we'll challenge him in a war game." I told her, standing back up, my armor jingling lightly with the movement. "If we have time, then I'm going to become a level 2 to even the playing field."
Lili seemed uncertain but nodded all the same while Hestia sputtered. Probably because she could tell I was telling the truth. "Lili believes that Mr. Jericho will reach level 2 eventually-"
"A month," I decided with a sense of finality, ignoring the stunned look that Hestia and Lili were giving me. I wasn't even close to leveling up after nearly a week in this world. I was nearly a fifteenth of the way there. Worse, the plan was still the same -- increase my stats until I could reach the lower floors to get more exp. The killer ants were great, but the monsters below would be even better.
"I'll reach level 2 in a month," I repeated, giving myself a deadline. Now, if I didn't manage it, then I would look really stupid. Now, it was time to buckle down. I needed to push myself even harder in the Dungeon. I needed to start pushing myself outside it too -- possibly at the expense of spending time with Hestia. Maybe. Whatever it took, I needed to blow through the upper floors to the fast, exp rich deeper floors.
"But that's impossible! The record holder managed to do it in a year, and before that, the record was five years! Mr. Jericho can't level up in a single month," Lili proclaimed at me, standing up, all traces of the exhaustion that seemed to weigh her down was gone.
I looked at Hestia to see her biting her lip. She knew about my weird falna -- my standards for leveling up were different than normal. One million exp. I could do it.
"That so? Well, then, bet on it." I said, sending her a grin as I picked up my sword. "If I level up in a month...hm…" I paused as if I had to think about it.
Seizing on my hesitation, Hestia decided for me. "Then join our familia," she blurted, earning a sharp look from Lili. Despite her best efforts, I think I saw a crack in her mask. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. She swallowed thickly as she looked away from Hestia's warm gaze.
Lili wiped her eyes of the gathering tears before they could fall, not quite managing to hide the small smile on her face as she did so. "...okay. Lili will take that bet," she said, turning to look at me. There was no question in my mind that the small smile she sent my way was genuine. And, judging by Hestia beaming expression, I think she meant what she said.
That was progress, wasn't it? I still don't think she fully believed us, but if she was willing to take this chance, if we followed through then that was progress. At the very least, it was way better than rescuing her at the last moment from a swarm of killer ants after getting betrayed by her. Less dramatic, to be sure, but this was a good thing. Words meant little to her, so if she saw us following through on our end, then, eventually, I think she would start to trust us a little.
"Great, and if I don't...well, you get 'I told you so' rights until the day I die, sound fair?" I asked, sticking out a hand for her to shake. Lili reached out with a dainty hand, I engulfed her hand and shook it once. Her hands were even smaller than Hestia's.
Lili let out a huff that could have been a laugh if she put a little more effort into it, but I guess the fact that she felt comfortable to not laugh or giggle at my lame joke was a good thing. "Lili will do that," she said, her voice starting to grow rough with emotion.
"Lili," Hestia started, smiling brightly at the girl, "would you like to stay for supper? I brought more than enough to feed an extra person."
Lili shook her head, "Lili...would like to." She started, sounding honest, but she continued a moment later, "but, Lili shouldn't. Lili's familia could notice that the people that attacked Mr. Jericho haven't come back. Since Lili is the only one that can do it, Lili wants to make sure that no other Soma members are planning to attack Mr. Jericho."
"Oh," Hestia wilted ever so slightly as Lili moved to get off the couch. I swallowed my suspicions -- insisting that she stay would just push her away. All I can do is hope that she wasn't planning anything against us. Or self-destructive. "I understand. Thank you for looking after my child, Lili," Hestia said, giving a small bow and, out of everything, that was what got the biggest reaction from her.
Lili's eyes went wide, caught off guard by a god bowing to her. "L-lady Heatia shouldn't bow to Lili!" She blurted, clearly uncomfortable with the act, looking up at me for me to back her up. Maybe I would if my goddess was anyone else.
"Thank you for looking out for me Lili," I said instead, offering a smile to her. "Will I see you tomorrow at the usual place?"
Lili looked at Hestia, then at me, her hood blocking my view of her eyes. Slowly, she lowered her head, trembling ever so slightly. For a moment, I thought she was going to say no, but then her head rose back up to look at us again. "Mr. Jericho will see Lili tomorrow! Lili promises!" She declared, getting a grin out of me and a full-blown megawatt smile.
"Good!" Hestia decided, going over to hug the smaller girl, practically smothering her in her chest. "And when this is all over if you wish it, I'll be happy to welcome you into my familia." I saw Lili go stiff in Hestia's arms as she repeated the offer shortly before leaning into the hug until she was practically supported by Hestia.
"Joining Lady Hestia's familia would make Lili really happy," Lili told her. I didn't need a lie detector to know that she was telling the truth.
"I believe you. Come back as soon as you can, okay?" Hestia said Lili's words struck her as true. Hopefully, this meant we could avoid any dramatic self-sacrificing that anime tended to have when it came to characters seeking redemption.
"And if you need any help, I want you to come running back to us before you try to do anything on your own," I tacked on. "Promise me," I said, making Lili go stiff again. Ah, so she did plan to go off and do something stupid. Yeah, no. None of that.
A huff escaped me as I walked over, having to reach down some so I could place my hand on top of her head. "Lili, we can only help you as much as you let us. So, please, let us help you."
Lili swallowed thickly, "Lili doesn't deserve help-" Lili started to protest, only to be cut off when I lightly thumped her on the head.
"Life doesn't care about what you deserve. Life is about making do with what you get -- and, Lili, whether you think you deserve it or not, we've decided to help you. Now, tell Hestia that you aren't planning to do anything stupid, and if you're lying, I'm going to tie you to me to make sure you don't run off." I ordered, getting a firm nod from Hestia to back me up.
I saw a tear race down Lili's cheek before she wiped it away, sniffling as she fought back a fresh wave of tears. When she looked back at us, I saw that her eyes were brighter than they were before. A glint called hope in them. "Lili promises. Lili will come back as soon as she can and she won't do anything dangerous until she comes back."
Hestia's expression told me that Lili wasn't lying.
"We'll be waiting."
…
"How did you know?" Hestia asked as we walked towards the Tower of Babel. Lili departed not too long ago, probably off to see that spirit that ran a pawnshop if I had to guess. Hestia seemed to think that Lili meant her promises, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have any doubts. The promises she made weren't exactly loophole-free.
I didn't need to ask what she meant. "Just because you aren't lying doesn't mean you're telling the truth," I answered, knowing that from experience. "I don't know the full story, but I know that Lili has been in a dark place for some time now. You can't shake something like that off with a pep-talk."
"I see," Hestia muttered, looking thoughtful. "Do you think she's going to be okay?" She asked, sounding worried.
I sighed, "I think so. Lili can take care of herself, and she did promise that she would come to us for help if she felt she was in over her head… at this point, we just have to have faith in her."
"Hm," Hestia agreed with a small nod. She took a seat next to me, grabbing a damp cloth as she went to clean up my arms. For a few minutes, there was silence as I let her wipe up the dried blood that coated my arms. I thought about nothing in particular, simply replaying the conversation in my head, wondering if I could have done something better.
Then my thoughts drifted back to the Dungeon. That elf that clutching at my leg, begging for his life. Instead, I killed him. And...I think...that was the right decision. I don't know about anyone else, but I sure as fuck wouldn't forgive someone cutting my legs off. Any promises that he made meant nothing -- as soon as he was back in his familia home, he would have told everyone that I did it.
Maybe Zanis would use the excuse to challenge us to a war game, or something. I didn't know. Just like I didn't know what Canoe was planning. What I did know was that we wouldn't stand a chance against the Soma familia if they decided to pull time thing, so the longer they thought we were some no-name new familia, the better.
"Jericho…," Hestia started slowly as her hands came to a stop. I glanced up at her to an unusually serious expression on her face. "What are we going to do?"
That, I had to admit, was a very good question. "For now, we just try to save up some money, but from what Lili told me about Zanis...well, I don't exactly have high hopes that things will be that simple," I said with a sigh, feeling tired despite it being so early. "Especially if we do manage to pay him some stupidly high price -- he's going to wonder how we made so much money. Worse, he's going to want in."
I could end up in the same situation those guys had threatened, only it wouldn't be to some punks. It would be to an entire familia that had level 2s in it.
"You think something like that could happen?" Hestia asked, sounding worried. I nodded gravely, my mind all too helpful to offer up plenty of worst-case scenarios.
"Zanis is scum. I'd be shocked if he didn't try something like that," I answered, reaching out with a blood-covered hand and placed it on top of hers. I could see the growing fear in her eyes, so I was quick to reassure her. "But that won't happen. Right now, he has absolutely no reason to come after us. And by the time he does have a reason-"
"Do you really think you can reach level 2 in a month?" Hestia interrupted softly, not disbelieving, but double-checking to make sure I wasn't talking out of my butt. Which was fair, because I realized how it sounded.
"I think so," I said, mulling over what I had learned. "My stat growth has been pretty significant," Hestia agreed with a small huff of laughter as she continued to wipe up the dried blood. I couldn't be certain since the anime never really covered it, but I think my stat growth was even greater than Bells.
Admittedly, it was slowing down rather significantly, but I still reached the equivalent of D rank in my more important stats in about a week. In a month, if I could continue the trend, I could have SSS rank stats like Bell did. While that was extremely important, grinding stats was a means to an end. That end is to level up.
"So, I should be able to go down to the lower floors pretty soon. I...might have gone to the ninth floor today," I admitted, making Hestia go very, very, very still but she wasn't yelling. "And I could handle the biggest things on it easily enough. I'm not going to go any deeper yet, but I think I could go down to the tenth sometime soon." Which would give me more exp, but, more importantly…
"The quests experience rewards get pretty big once the tenth floor starts since only veteran level 1s or level 2s and up can make it there. I saw one for twenty-five thousand exp if I get thirty orc hides," I explained, seeing Hestia nod slowly, following my logic. Then, not to mention…
I summoned upon my Status screen with a thought.
Jericho
Level: 1
Progress to level 2: 60,202/1,000,000
Strength: 38 (+2)
Endurance: 53 (+1)
Dexterity: 50 (+4)
Intelligence: 12 (+5)
Sense: 33 (+3)
Development Abilities:
Physical Resistance: The user receives 5% less damage. Effectiveness is determined by the Endurance stat.
Abnormal Resistance: Poisons, Toxins, and Drugs are 5% less effective. Effectiveness is determined by the Endurance stat.
(Swordsman: Increased parameters when wielding swords. Effectiveness is determined by Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, and Sense.)
Skills:
Gamer Body: The user's body is that of a video game.
Massage: Skilled hands make targets tension and exhaustion melt away. Effectiveness is determined by Dexterity and Strength stat.
Kissing: An intimate act between lovers that, if done well, can bring pleasure to the target. Effectiveness is determined by the Dexterity and Sense stat.
I had just over a twentieth of what I needed to level up. If I continued to grind down in the Dungeon against soldier ants, if I did the quests, then I could have enough exp by the time Bell did in canon. But, doing the math, I realized just how much exp killing those five guys gave me.
Altogether, they gave me nearly 32,000 exp. If I had to guess why they gave so much, it would be because some of them had been stronger than me. Sword and Shield Guy especially. If I hadn't tackled him and fought dirty, then he would have won that fight. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind.
No matter how I looked at it, murdering people was the fastest method to leveling up.
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A/N— I'll try to post daily. Powerstones and comments would help, it would mean alot and give me the motivation to continue the story. In fact two chapters a day wouldn't be impossible either.
Ps. You can also read ahead till Chapter 83 at my Patreon to support the story and help me write more. Patrons get two chapters a day and 50 chapters ahead for just a couple bucks :)
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