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Lefiya was completely stunned by what she was seeing, so shaken she couldn't even form words.
"Little girl, you can't chant with your eyes closed," Merlin told her with a gentle smile. "You still have to watch your surroundings and keep yourself safe."
"Th-thank you…" Lefiya bowed quickly.
Merlin chuckled, tossed a few buffs onto both of them, and continued dodging incoming bugs while teaching her how to chant properly.
Alex watched them and couldn't help laughing. "You really love playing teacher, huh? Same vibe as Roxy."
Then he, Morgan, and Artoria joined the fight to help clear out the swarm.
Alex projected a black bow and a rain of arrows, practicing his aim as he shot down insect after insect.
Arrows tore through the air like bullets, popping the creatures one by one.
He had to admit, long-range sniping felt amazing.
And with Unlimited Blade Works backing him up, he basically had infinite ammo. As long as his mana held, he could keep firing forever.
The Loki Familia members were dumbfounded. They couldn't understand how Alex conjured endless arrows from thin air.
"Another rare skill?" Finn muttered, both impressed and a little envious. A talent like that—if only he belonged to the Loki Familia.
Artoria fought like Ais on overdrive, holy sword in hand, swinging fearlessly through corrosive muck as she carved through the swarm.
Morgan was more elegant, staff in hand, each wave sending a beam of light that pierced and vaporized the creatures.
Compared to Alex's endless arrows, her continuous light blasts were just as overwhelming.
Under Merlin's guidance, Lefiya finally completed her chant and unleashed Arcs Ray Javelin.
Even though she was famous for hitting Level 5 firepower at Level 3, it still wasn't enough against these bugs. One spell blast cleared barely a tenth of them.
Worse, more insects kept pouring in from the passage leading to the 51st floor.
Riveria watched all this and felt genuine gratitude toward Merlin.
"You did well, that's enough," she told Lefiya gently. Now it was her turn.
Riveria began an intense full chant and unleashed her spell: Wies Windheim.
The spell had three stages. The first, Rapture: Fimbulwinter, sent out three waves of freezing snow that instantly locked down an entire area.
In a blink, every insect, even those still in the passage, was frozen solid.
The second stage, High Arc: Sword of Victory, was the opposite—wide-area fire magic. Flames erupted from the ground like towering pillars shaped like blades, shredding the enemies.
The newly frozen plain melted instantly, and the whole floor blazed a deep red as the temperature soared.
The power was absurd.
Even Merlin and Morgan nodded in approval. Riveria earned that "Greatest Mage" reputation.
"If I don't use my Noble Phantasms, I can't beat her. And if she learns fast-chanting, even with my Phantasms it might be close," Merlin admitted.
Alex glanced at her, unconvinced.
The swarm was defeated, but most of the Loki Familia's supplies were ruined, making further exploration impossible.
And judging from what they saw, the lower floors were clearly in chaos.
Finn wasn't reckless—without full preparation, he wouldn't push his Familia deeper. After a quick discussion, they all agreed to return to Orario.
Alex had already planned to head back, so this worked out perfectly.
After resting for a night, the two Familias began the long journey home.
A Few Days Later – 39th Floor
Alex regrouped with Roxy and the others waiting there.
Seeing the new arrivals, Finn was shocked all over again. He had assumed Hestia Familia consisted of only Alex and the original four. But no—there were more, and they were all talented. One of them, Roxy, was even a powerful mage.
Was this really the roster of a brand-new goddess who had just descended?
Completely ridiculous.
Alex didn't care about their amazement. At the growth rate of his Familia, they would surpass the Loki Familia before long.
When that happened, Hestia Familia would be one of the strongest in Orario—maybe stronger than even Freya or Loki.
After several more days, both groups finally returned to Orario.
They said goodbye to the Loki Familia, then headed straight for their church.
Everyone was impatient to update their Falna.
But inside the church, they saw a white-haired, red-eyed boy.
He looked gentle and a bit shy. When he saw Alex, he brightened and bowed deeply.
"Hello, Captain!"
"Well, would you look at that. The rabbit did join the Hestia Familia after all," Alex thought with amusement.
The protagonist of DanMachi—Bell Cranel.
Hestia shot Alex a smug look, clearly saying, See? Told you I'd find the original main character.
Alex gave her a thumbs-up.
He helped Bell up and patted his shoulder. "No need to be so formal. Once you join the Familia, you're family. Let's grow stronger together."
Alex never disliked Bell—one of the more decent, gentle male leads he'd seen.
But Bell hadn't awakened Argonaut yet. Was it really worth recruiting him now?
And without Argonaut, would he still catch Freya's eye?
That goddess saw souls clearly. Only brilliant souls interested her. So was Bell's soul already shining from the start, or did Argonaut make it shine?
Alex was honestly curious.
Roxy and the others were curious too, but after a quick introduction, they set it aside.
Right now, everyone just wanted their Falna updated.
Hestia understood and had them line up.
Stat Updates
First were Saeko, Irisviel, Sella, Lizelitte, and Maiya.
They had all grown significantly during the expedition.
Saeko STR: A888 | END: A846 | DEX: A872 | AGI: A855 | MAG: H166
Irisviel STR: D505 | END: E444 | DEX: E409 | AGI: E412 | MAG: S900
Sella STR: A860 | END: A899 | DEX: A899 | AGI: A896 | MAG: E460
Lizelitte STR: A844 | END: A812 | DEX: A873 | AGI: A819 | MAG: E409
Maiya STR: A800 | END: A801 | DEX: A807 | AGI: A808 | MAG: H100
Saeko had almost no magic growth, but all her combat stats hit A-rank.
Irisviel was the opposite—massive magic, weak physical stats.
The other three were similar to Saeko: strong physicals, low magic.
Their talent wasn't exceptional, so they chose to advance to Level 2.
Saeko and Irisviel had room to grow, so they didn't level up yet.
Next came Roxy, Merlin, Morgan, and Artoria.
Roxy STR: S999 | END: S999 | DEX: S999 | AGI: S999 | MAG: SS1099
Merlin STR: S999 | END: S999 | DEX: S999 | AGI: S999 | MAG: SSS1600
Morgan STR: S999 | END: S999 | DEX: S999 | AGI: S999 | MAG: SSS1600
Artoria STR: SS1099 | END: SS1099 | DEX: SS1099 | AGI: SS1099 | MAG: S999
Every one of them had broken-limit stats. The three mages hit max physical stats plus absurd magic, while Artoria was the opposite—over-limit physicals and maxed magic.
All four leveled up immediately.
Then finally, the last one—the captain, Alex.
The Familia's only other male had to wait until everyone else finished.
Everyone crowded around as Hestia started writing. She pricked her finger, let a drop of blood fall onto his back, and bright light spread as the Falna updated.
A moment later, it was done.
Name: Alex
Level: 3
Stats: STR: I0 → SSS1688END: I0 → SSS1690DEX: I0 → SSS1699AGI: I0 → SSS1701MAG: I0 → SSS9999
Development Abilities: Luck H, Mystery I
Magic: —
Skills: —
Everyone expected monstrous numbers, but even then, the results left them silent.
Bell, on the other hand, was slack-jawed.
He had never even heard of stats above S-rank.
Alex looked through his Falna and nodded, satisfied. With the Beiming Divine Art absorbing magic from magic stones, his magic always maxed out instantly. All he had to train were the four physical stats.
And on this expedition, he had killed an absurd number of monsters—including three floor bosses:
Amphisbaina, Level 5.Udaeus, Level 6.Balor, Level 7.And the special monster, Juggernaut, Level 8.
That kind of achievement had pushed every stat past the limit.
It was terrifying.
"Are you leveling up, Alex?" Hestia asked with a huge grin.
"Yeah," he nodded. He could keep grinding stats, but there was no point.
Hestia began the level-up process, and soon the development abilities appeared—nine options:
Swordsman, Lancer, Striker, Magecraft, Combo, Guard, Healing, Abnormal Resistance… and Divinity.
"Divinity? That's impossible," Hestia whispered, stunned.
Alex blinked. What the hell? How did he gain something like divinity?
In the Nasuverse, divinity made Servants stronger—and every Servant with it was ridiculously powerful.
But it was also a weakness. If the enemy had an anti-divine Noble Phantasm, you were done. Like Enkidu's Chains of Heaven.
He didn't know where his had come from, but he still chose it.
"Divinity," he said. "I'll take that."
Compared to the others, it was easily the strongest.
"Correct choice!" Hestia beamed.
With that, Alex officially became a Level 4 adventurer.
His Luck rose to G, Mystery to H.
At this rate, he would hit Level 5 soon and finish Hestia's questline.
How long had he even been in this world? Counting the expedition, only twenty-six days.
Now the Hestia Familia had seventeen members: one Level 4, seven Level 2, nine Level 1.
That was already considered a full-scale, mid-large Familia in Orario.
And with even one Level 4 member, they already surpassed most other Familias.
"..."
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