Keyaru
Lv 1
Strength: F322 | Endurance: G289 | Dexterity: F307 | Agility: G295 | Magic: F300
Development Abilities: None
Magic: Heal
Skills: Imitation
—
Once an adventurer is past the newbie grace period, stat gains slow down—Hestia had braced herself for that.
Even so, after a day of hard Dungeon delving, three stats still pushed into a new tier.
"Keyaru."
"Your stats are rising as fast as ever…" Straddling his waist with the parchment in both hands, Hestia didn't bother hiding the awe shining in her eyes.
He hadn't been blessed for long, yet he was already this far along.
The bad news—
Because of how unusual "Heal" and "Imitation" are, she couldn't share her joy—not even with her closest friend, Hephaestus.
"It really is fast!"
Feeling the softness at his waist and hearing her heartfelt praise gave Keyaru a certain satisfaction—but at her next line he sobered and stressed, "My power can go up fast."
"But nothing else should."
"Hm?" Hestia didn't catch his meaning. She shifted around from behind him—too close for comfort—and in the scooting there was no avoiding contact. Skin soft as a baby's, warm with alcohol and faintly floral.
"I mean…"
"The Familia can grow fast. My stats can grow fast. But I absolutely can't die fast in the Dungeon."
Bracing his hands on the mattress, he sat beside her and focused on the freshly copied sheet. The numbers surprised even him.
For reference: when the Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein asked Ottar to give her special training in the original, her total increase was only about 200 points. His Endurance hadn't gone up at all—mainly because the monsters hadn't really hit him.
"At this pace, getting everything to A shouldn't be hard. But how do I get to S?"
"Can a normal talent even do that?"
The thought nagged at him. In the source, the white-haired, red-eyed MC Bell breaks the S cap and hits SS–SSS thanks to the skill "Liaris Freese" (Wholehearted Aspiration).
He couldn't exactly clone that, could he?
"Hes not one track mind."
"Aspiration or not."
Just picturing it made the corner of his mouth twitch.
Back in his gaming days, he'd find a way to max every stat on a character sheet. If the system wouldn't allow it, he'd fire up the Cheat Engine.
You couldn't assign points in reality, but you could be a numbers gremlin in games.
Same logic here: after crossing into DanMachi and finally becoming an adventurer, his goal was clear—max out as much as possible.
No need to chase a "fastest clear" legend in Orario. Slow and steady—aim for all S's on the sheet.
"Looting": steal a target's EXP and MP for your own use.
If that skill existed here and could siphon a target's stats, breaking the cap wouldn't be so hard after all!
"It's just… if I pull something like that off, I'll need a good rationale. In combo with 'Heal,' it might fly…"
The seed of a plan was there, but he circled back to square one: how to actually unlock the skill in the first place?
Half a dozen bubbly fruit wines didn't help him think. Full and bone-tired from a day in the Dungeon, he was about to dispose of the parchment when he turned and saw—
Hestia, lively a moment ago, had dozed off without meaning to. She lay on her side, black hair spilling over her cheek, breathing slow and even, a faint smile on her sleeping face.
…
Thinking of her hustling all day, he didn't wake her. He slid his arms under her and lifted her small, soft body to keep her from rolling off in the night. Orario's nights ran cool; he drew a thin blanket over a figure that was temptation incarnate, then turned to head for the old sofa—when a trembly whisper stopped him:
"Um…"
"The sofa looks… uncomfortable. My bed is… is pretty big!"
Pushed by the alcohol, Keyaru didn't refuse—but nothing happened. His better judgment told him some things were off-limits.
Could ordinary booze really get a goddess drunk? Unless it came from Soma, Hestia was tipsy, sure—but she could have sobered up if she wanted to.
Anyone who plays galgames knows this choice: if you let the "little" heart lead the big heart here, all your route progress can drop to zero in a blink.
And the rift that creates doesn't just heal with time.
—
Wake up.
With a body this young and sturdy—and no phone or PC to keep him up—Keyaru's schedule was regular. He was just about to rise when a heavy pressure pinned him down. He lifted the blanket—
And there was Hestia, smile still sweet even in sleep, clinging to his chest like an octopus.
He carefully slipped his arm out of her hold. But she was hugging so tight that, in the process, there was no avoiding a little… friction with that righteous grandeur of hers.
Worried the motion might wake her, he kept everything gentle. He washed up and left the basement. He didn't see Hestia roll onto her side and yank the blanket over her head to hide the blush.
"I really… drank too much last night!!"
—
He stepped out of the abandoned church into the dawn, the sun just peeking between the hills. The air was cool and crisp. His plan was simple: back to the Dungeon to grind, earn money, and raise his stats.
But first—one more thing.
Now that money was a bit better, subsisting on fried potato balls after high-intensity fights was just sad.
"Food comes first."
The densest cluster of restaurants and stalls was on East Main, near the Hostess of Fertility. Even early, plenty of vendors were already prepping to sell to the stream of adventurers.
As he weighed what to grab for lunch, a girl's voice teased him from behind, lightly surprised:
"Adventurer, starting your dive this early?"