It had taken me hours to stumble upon the rumored criminal's hideout. Not because of the remoteness of its location, but because of the labyrinthine nature of Orario. Now that I knew which route to take, returning to the path that would lead me back home required only a fraction of that time.
I was not looking forward to what awaited me at the end of it.
My days usually followed a predictable pattern. I would wake up, visit Rose, enter the Dungeon, and then return home to get my Falna updated.
Tonight, I had broken from that routine.
Hestia was bound to have noticed.
Knowing that, I stepped into the ruined church and descended the stairs to its basement. The room that awaited me was illuminated by a magic lamp, casting its dim light upon the beautiful goddess sitting on the edge of our bed. Her arms were crossed. Her expression unreadable.
"Hello Hestia." I smiled at her. "I'm back."
Hestia's brows twitched.
"It's late. You didn't have to wait for me. You could've just gone to—"
"Where were you?"
I suppressed a wince as her stern mask melted away, giving way to a wildfire of worry so overwhelming I could almost feel its tongues licking at my skin.
"Do you remember the rumors I told you about?"
I did not take my eyes off her as I stepped toward the closet and placed my sword against the wall. Hestia could not stand being ignored. Feeling like she was being overlooked made her anxious and agitated.
"I went looking for the criminals those people talked about tonight, right after I left the Dungeon."
Her eyes sharpened as I removed my armour. She would usually insist on helping me with it.
"Did you fight them?"
"I did."
From the moment the elf left, I could not get her out of my head. The timing had been too convenient. She must have heard the rumors as well, yet the Guild had not. Instead of multiple criminals fighting it out, there had only been a single group. The coward said they had been hiding, yet random pedestrians had known about their whereabouts.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to do that?"
I exhaled slowly and placed my chest plate upright against the inside of the closet.
"I didn't think I'd actually find them tonight." If it weren't for the fearless demihuman boy screaming at his captors, I wouldn't have. "It was a shot in the dark… and I didn't want you to worry.
Hestia's expression eased as she scooted back on the bed. She folded her legs and clasped her hands between them.
"Tell me what happened, from the beginning."
Gods could not be lied to. Despite her openness, there were moments when talking to Hestia felt like being entirely exposed in the presence of someone covered from head to toe. It created a distance between us I did not know how to bridge.
But it also made certain things easier. I never needed to convince Hestia of anything. As long as I truly believed what I was saying, so would she.
I did not spare any details as I finished putting my armor away and took a seat on the couch opposite her. There was no point in doing that. The moment she updated my Falna, she would experience what I had gone through firsthand. The only thing my exelia would not tell her was how the events of the day had impacted me mentally.
I suspected that was the reason why that facet of my stories always interested her most.
The worry had faded from Hestia's face once I had told her of the ease with which I killed the two foreign adventurers. It returned twofold when I reached the part about the elf.
"She took him to the Hostess of Fertility. Apparently the workers there have experience dealing with situations like this. I don't think she was lying."
Hestia stood up and pushed down the hem of her short dress, which had ridden up to her waist. Her features hardened into an expression I had rarely seen on her face as she sat beside me and took hold of my hand.
Physical touch being soothing to her was one of the first things I had learned about the goddess.
"That was stupid of you, Cain," she said, her grip tightening. "You were lucky those adventurers were just level 1. What would you have done if they were stronger?"
"I don't know."
The thought that I might lose against a group of men who needed to shackle and poison a teenager to overpower him had not crossed my mind even once.
That boy turned out to be level 2, so perhaps my confidence had indeed been foolhardy.
"But I had to do something." My voice lowered. "How can I ever become a hero if I allow people to be hurt while I stand by and watch?"
Hestia's eyes gleamed with an intensity that made them appear almost luminous.
"You already are one!"
My brows furrowed as I studied her expression.
"You know that's not true."
This was the first time she had lied to me so blatantly.
"Heroes protect people. They inspire them."
I tried to pull my hand back, but her fingers were too intertwined with mine.
"The only thing I'm good for is killing."
What kind of person took lives as easily as they breathed, yet struggled to save even one?
"Cain…" Hestia's voice carried an unfamiliar edge. "You're an adventurer. And adventurers kill monsters. That—"
"That's just it!"
My own grip tightened.
"I want to be the greatest hero. Not the greatest adventurer!"
The words sounded petulant, even to my own ears.
I took a calming breath and steadied my voice.
"I've been contemplating this a lot lately, and I don't think I'll be able to achieve my dream if I keep walking the same path others have followed for almost a thousand years."
The Zeus and Hera Familias were made up of the greatest adventurers to have ever lived. Yet the legends of all but the greatest of their members were already beginning to fade from public memory. It had not even been two decades.
Compared to timeless heroes like Albert and Argonaut, they were nothing.
"Maybe being an adventurer isn't everything you thought it would be," Hestia retorted, "but that doesn't make it any less heroic."
I wanted to believe her. I really did.
"How?"
The only things Orario's highest ranks cared about were power, money, and glory. That realization had kindled a feeling inside me I had not experienced since I was a child. Superheroes were not heroes. And neither were adventurers.
"How is being an adventurer heroic in any way?"
"It's because of the sacrifice of all the children who have fought and died in the Dungeon that its influence has not spread beyond this city."
Something settled in Hestia's expression.
"There is nothing more heroic than that, nor anything more important."
I sometimes forgot that she had personally witnessed the Age of Heroes.
"Perhaps that was true in the beginning," I conceded. "But the Dungeon has been contained for close to a millennium. No adventurer alive today worries about the seal breaking. That isn't the reason they fight; it's the consequence."
Hestia bit down on her lip, a shadow of sadness flickering across her face.
"Nothing that exists in the lower world lasts forever."
"What is that supposed to mean?
"…I can't tell you."
I did not let my frustration show, my gaze shifting to the side.
"You don't have to worry, I'm not going to stop being an adventurer. I just… don't think that alone is enough."
Hestia wrapped her hands around mine, pulling it to her chest.
"As long as you keep going deeper into the Dungeon, as long as you keep growing stronger, and as long as you don't lose sight of your ambition, you will achieve it!"
Her eyes burned with conviction.
"You just need to trust me."
There was something she wasn't telling me. I could tell. And if she were anyone else, I would have questioned it. But this was the goddess who had given me a home. The first to ever accept me as family. The woman who had offered me her heart.
"I do trust you."
Hestia's smile was radiant.
"Then everything will turn out alright!"
The tension drained from her frame as she leaned against the cushions.
"And also, you almost did save that boy today, didn't you? The only thing stopping you was that you lacked a potion."
"I suppose."
His spine had been entirely severed. In truth, I did not know if potions alone could take care of something like that. The most serious injuries I had ever seen them heal were scratches and bruises.
"There's a god I know who owns a potion store," Hestia mused. "If you want, we can go pay him a visit."
My shoulders loosened as I slowly returned her smile.
"Another friend from Tenkai?"
"…No."
A faint blush colored Hestia's cheek.
"We met in a tavern last week."
Something about gods meeting in a tavern was more amusing than it had any right to be.
"Alright then." I nodded. "I'd like to meet him. As soon as possible."
The average potion cost around a thousand valis. After the last two days in the Dungeon, I could afford a dozen of them without drying up my savings.
"Yes!"
Hestia's expression brightened as she sprang to her feet.
"But for now—" She pulled on my hand. "Let's upgrade your Falna!"
I had almost forgotten about that.
"Sure."
I slid off my shirt and threw it onto the small table beside the bed before lying down on it. A few moments later, a familiar weight settled atop me.
Hestia's hands felt warm against my skin as she traced her fingers along my back.
Her voice hovered just a note above a whisper.
"You gathered a lot today."
I wished I could see Falna the way she did. According to my goddess, Excelia appeared as radiant clusters of light, while the status itself would shine whenever she touched it.
"A lot happened," I replied, closing my eyes.
Updating the Falna did not feel like anything to me. And yet, something about the ritual of it was more relaxing than even the flow of battle.
Hestia's breathing grew laboured as she shuffled back and forth. The heat radiating from her body increased.
This always happened whenever she channelled the excelia my Blessing had reaped.
I reached back and gently squeezed her thigh.
"Are you alright?"
"…Yes."
Her voice sounded breathless. The last time she had a reaction this strong was when I killed the Pass Parade party.
"This reminds me of Soma's wine," she added. "The real one. It's… impressive that you can fight so well while feeling like this."
"I'm getting used to it," I hummed, folding my hands below my head again. "It even helps me focus sometimes."
There was nothing better than overwhelming euphoria after a monster had bitten off my legs or melted the skin from my flesh.
"Mortals really are strange," Hestia huffed. "Do you still want me to increase all of your attributes equally? Even magic?"
"Yes."
I had already invested too much in that elusive stat to turn back now.
"Alright!"
The trembling in her limbs ebbed away.
"This was the second day you went into the Dungeon with the Crozzo boy."
"It was." I would have to make sure she never called him that to his face. "We work well together. I like him."
I thought of him as a friend. The first I had ever managed to make. Though I could not say if he viewed our partnership in the same light.
"I'm glad you two get along," Hestia said. "He's one of Hephaestus' children."
I smiled at the genuine happiness in her voice.
"You know, you still haven't told me why you were so insistent on me meeting Mikoto."
Hestia's fingers stilled against my back.
"Did you hate it?"
"I didn't."
We would see each other again in two days. With her by our side, Welf and I would finally challenge the 10th floor.
"That's a relief," Hestia breathed. "Take is one of the few gods I trust—"
She suddenly went silent.
"Hestia?"
I tilted my head and looked back at her.
"What's wrong?"
"There is…" Her eyes narrowed with focus. "Hold on. Let me just—"
I did not feel anything.
"Ah!"
I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden scream.
"I did it!"
"…You did what?"
"Hehe."
A smug grin spread across Hestia's face as she reached for the sheet of paper she had placed beside us.
"How about you take a look yourself?"
She copied my status onto it and then rolled off the bed.
I rose to my feet and turned toward her.
For a moment, my gaze was riveted on her face. Her azure eyes sparkled like polished magic stones and her smile was wide enough to show teeth. Her pigtails jumped up and down as she bounced in place. She looked cute. Like a pleased gremlin.
I smiled and took the paper from her hand.
Name: Cain
Level: 1
Strength: D 566
Endurance: D 562
Dexterity: D 557
Agility: D549
Magic: D 520
Skills:
Morsalis
Each life taken with the Blessing of Death is used to empower the host.
Magic:
1/3
Iatreia Lasis
"Is that…"
My voice fell to a whisper.
"Is this what I think it is?"
Hestia nodded energetically.
"It's a spell! One of your slots is filled now!"
"How?"
A lucky few adventurers were granted a spell when they first received the Falna. But after that, it only happened to those who had either studied tirelessly or possessed immense talent. None of which held true for me.
"What changed?"
"If I had to guess," Hestia hummed as she tapped her chin. "It's the excelia you earned while trying to save that demihuman boy! Your desire to heal, coupled with the magic already inside you, crystallized into this."
She smiled up at me.
"Your very own spell. Iatreia Lasis!"
My pulse pounded against the back of my throat.
"Are you saying… that spell? It's—"
"It's a healing spell! And a powerful one too!"
My legs felt like they would give way at any moment. Magic born from my wish to heal instead of hurt.
It was like a dream.
I carelessly threw aside my Status page and stared down at my hands.
"How does this work? Do I need to make some kind of gesture? Chant something?"
Hestia shook her head.
"It's nothing that complicated." She took a step back. "Focus on what you want to achieve and call out the name of your spell."
"Iatreia Lasis."
The dimly lit basement ignited with color.
Brilliant golden light wrapped around my left hand.
Despite myself, tears began to gather at the corners of my eyes.
"It works through my hands…"
People called the Falna the gods' blessing to the mortal races. I had never agreed with that description. After all, every morsel of power it granted had to be paid for with blood.
Perhaps I had been wrong. What else could this be but a blessing?
"Hestia!" I looked up. "Do you see—"
My goddess stood beside the cupboard with my old dagger in her hand.
"…What are you doing?"
"You want to try out your spell, don't you?" She smiled. "Heal this!"
Her expression did not twitch as she drove the blade across her arm.
"No!"
I surged forward, faster than I had ever moved before, and tore the dagger from her grip.
Then I grabbed her arm.
The moment my luminous hand touched her skin, the light vanished.
The wound sealed shut in an instant.
I felt weak. Fatigued. As though I had just fought for an entire day without food, rest, or Morsalis.
"What did you do that for?" I snapped, dragging Hestia to the sink.
"You wanted to see how it worked, didn't you?" She shrugged carelessly, her smile still as wide as it had been before. "Now we do. Your spell is—"
"Not like this!"
I turned the tap and thrust her arm beneath the running water.
"You just stabbed yourself!"
Hestia blinked, as though surprised by my reaction.
"Cain… this is just a scratch."
She gently pulled her hand back.
"As long as I'm not killed, I can remake my body whenever I want."
"That doesn't make it better!" I seized her shoulders. "Promise me you won't do this again!"
Hestia's eyes widened. Her mouth opened, then closed again.
"I won't…" She looked away. "Please don't be mad at me."
I sucked in a slow breath and stepped back.
"I'm not mad. I just—" I'm tired. "I don't want to see you hurt."
Her gaze softened as she followed after me.
"I understand." Hestia held up her arm. "But look at this. You healed me right up! You don't need to worry."
The wound had been deep, but far from life-threatening. Healing it had still taken nearly all of my energy.
"I'm glad you're alright," I sighed.
The water dripping from my fingers beat steadily against the floor.
"Hestia… I think I'm going to be late tomorrow too."
The goddesses smile faltered.
"Why?"
"I told the elf I would come by to check up on the boy." I looked down at my hand. "I only said that to make sure he was being taken care of, but now…"
The golden radiance was still fresh in my mind.
"I can help."
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AN: If you enjoy my writing and want to support me—there is more on Pa/tre/one/Jaeven.
I've also posted some character and scenery images over there under [Collection] for anyone's who's interested in that.