Familia Myth: Journey to Hero Chapter 22 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Familia Myth: Journey to Hero! Progressing further into the Dungeon, Bell’s Party seeks strength and loot! Eina won’t agree for the three-man party to enter the Middle Levels without appropriate stats and preparation! Bell listens to his gorgeous Half-Elf lover, of course. Hunt more, get stronger, delve deeper! Such is the Adventurer’s life! On the surface though, things are changing for the Hestia Familia as well!

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 22 – Floor Twelve, Expanding Holdings

“Hmm?” Bell blinked as he opened the front door of the Hestia Familia Home. Outside, making the noise that had attracted his attention, was a group of workers fixing up the large building across the street. “Wait…they’re not just fixing it; they’re remodeling it too.” He noticed the extra parts being added to the building as the various workers continued to haul more material into the worksite.

“Oh good, I was hoping Goibniu was on track with his estimate.” Hestia smiled, stopping next to Bell to look at the work being done.

“Hestia?” Bell looked over at his Goddess curiously.

“Yes, Bell?” Hestia looked up at him with a playful grin.

“What’s going on?” Bell motioned to the work being done on the property across from their home.

“I’m expanding our Familia’s holdings.” Hestia smiled brightly as she watched the work continue. “That’s going to be the first business renting from our Familia.”

“Renting from us…huh?” Bell looked at the building and could guess that it had probably been a business of some kind before this District had been torn apart and left abandoned. “What kind of business?”

“An inn.” Hestia told him with a satisfied smile. “Not only is it big enough to be one, with the new additions, it’ll be a comfortable one where people traveling in Orario can enjoy good food, baths, and a comfortable night’s sleep.”

“It fits with your Domains.” Bell pulled Hestia into a warm hug. “Who is going to own the business and provide the staff?”

“A family that owns a few inns across Orario already.” Hestia replied with a happy hum as she enjoyed the hug. “They have one in the north, one in the south, and one in the east. But they didn’t have one in the west yet.”

That made sense to Bell, they’re Home was not too far from West Main Street after all. A sign or two and the inn owners could expect a fairly steady flow of customers looking to stay the night. Being near a Familia Home was also good for business, as more often than not, it was considered a sign of safety. There were exceptions, of course, but most Familias would help keep the peace around their homes if anything happened.

“What are you charging them for rent each month?” Lili asked, moving to Hestia’s other side and hugging the Goddess as well.

“70,000 Valis a month, or 840,000 Valis for the first year. We’ll renegotiate at the end of the year based on their success in this location.” Hestia returned Lili’s hug with a grin.

“A single month’s rent is more than you paid for the entire lot.” Lili had her own little grin on her lips now. “But how much are the renovations costing us?”

“450,000 Valis.” Hestia admitted with a shrug. “That’s half of the remaining 900,000 Valis from the sale of the Infant Dragon materials. But I think it’s a worthwhile investment.”

“You have to spend money to make money is a merchant saying.” Lili agreed with a nod as the three members of the Hestia Familia watched the work for a bit longer together. It was a good sign for the future of their Familia to be able to expand like this.

“What about some of the other lots?” Bell looked down the street to the other broken buildings, some salvageable and others complete ruins.

“Heh heh.” Hestia puffed up proudly, her large breasts bouncing and catching Bell’s and Lili’s eyes. “Once we have the funds, I’ll buy them all up and have them renovated into different businesses too! Apartments, homes, restaurants, shops, and we’ll collect rent from all of them!” Her Domains were intrinsic to daily life, and Hestia knew that she could buy up most of the lots in the Abandoned District and make them places of home and work for many, many people in Orario.

“That’s a great plan.” Lili beamed at Hestia, squeezing the Goddess into a hug again. “We won’t have to worry about funds once we have enough of the lots restored.”

“Right?” Hestia returned the hug with a warm laughter that made Bell and Lili smile.

-Dungeon ~ Twelfth Floor-

“ROOOAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” An Infant Dragon roared out, spewing a burst of flame from it jaws.

“For the record, you jinxed us.” Bell remarked to Lili at seeing the Rare Monster again so soon, even if they were on a different floor this time.

“Lili is pretty sure this is the fault of Master Bell’s luck.” Lili replied back, readying her bowgun.

“Really sucks to find one of these big things when there aren’t many other Adventurers around!” Welf held his greatsword at the ready. “How’re we taking this thing down?”

“I’ll attack it and keep its attention as best I can.” Bell volunteered to take the lead role and hold ‘aggro’ on the dragon.

“Master Welf, while Master Bell keeps the dragon’s attention, you’ll attack its legs and try to cripple its mobility.” Lili instructed, coming up with a plan as fast as she could with the information that she had about Infant Dragons. “Lili will support both of you from the rear as best she can and will try to poison it if possible.” She was already dipping the tips of several of her bolts into a small bag of refined Purple Moth poison, the powder sticking to the projectiles easily.

“Right!” Welf and Bell both nodded before they went in opposite directions, splitting the charging dragon’s focus as it looked between the two Adventurers.

“Firebolt!” Bell cast, the flames launching from his hand and exploding against the Infant Dragon’s head.

“ROOOAAARRR!!!” The Infant Dragon’s head whipped around towards Bell and unleashed a torrent of flames.

“That’s right! Come get me!” Bell skipped back, escaping the limited range of the Infant Dragon’s breath attack. It was the glaring weakness of the ‘weakest’ dragon in the Dungeon.

“There!” Lili let a bolt fly towards the distracted dragon’s head, aiming for one of its red eyes. The Infant Dragon moved though and the bolt bounced off its scales close to the eye.

“ROOAAHHRR!!!” The Infant Dragon’s focus shifted to Lili as flames appeared in its jaws.

“Hyah!” Welf took the opportunity to hack into the Infant Dragon’s back left leg with his greatsword. The strength and weight behind the weapon scoring a large bleeding wound.

“Firebolt! Firebolt!” Bell launched two of his spells in succession against the dragon, one striking its long neck, the other hitting the side of the Monster.

“ROOAARR!!!” The Infant Dragon spun, even with its injured leg, smacking Welf away and making Bell leap over the lashing tail.

“Damn it!” Lili rushed over to Welf, firing bolt after bolt at the dragon’s head. With a grimace she saw most of them bounce off the scales without doing anything at all.

“Firebolt!” Bell cast his spell into his spear, the blight bursting into flames as he charged forward and stabbed into the flank of the Infant Dragon the instant it stopped moving.

“ROOOAAARRRGGGHHH!!!” The Infant Dragon roared and, stomping around in pain as its insides burned from the rapier-like blade stabbed into it. For all the resistance that its scales had; its insides were not so protected.

“Low Potion.” Lili handed the vial to Welf while covering him as best as she could.

“Thanks, Little Lili.” Welf pulled the cork out with his teeth and drank the potion down. “Alright, let’s try this again.” The blacksmith stood up once the potion finished healing him. He hefted his greatsword and charged back into the fight.

“Yah!” Bell yanked Kokutogenishiki out of the Infant Dragon’s flank, blood pouring from the deep stab wound.

“Hyah!” Welf hacked into the front left leg this time, the blade of his greatsword breaking through the tough hide and opening up another large, bleeding wound.

“ROOAARRHH!!!” The Infant Dragon blasted fire onto Welf’s position, sending the Smith backwards as he covered his face with his black robe for protection. His clothing had some minor fire resistance since it was used for blacksmithing, which was helping him out quite a bit right now.

“Over here!” Bell stabbed forward with his flaming spear again, this time going for the neck of the dragon.

“RRRAAAAOOOHHH!!!” The Infant Dragon leaned back, moving its neck out of the line of attack. It counter with another blast of fire breath at Bell, forcing the only Level Two in the party to abort a follow up attack.

“We need to deal with its breath attack!” Lili called out, launching a few bolts at the injured legs, a few sticking into the wounds and aggravating the dragon’s injuries.

“I’m on it!” Welf raised his right hand towards the Infant Dragon and focused.

“Firebolt!” Bell launched his own attack, striking the dragon and gaining its ire again. Flames gathered in the Infant Dragon’s jaws and that was the instant that Welf made his move.

“Ignite, heretic spell! Will o’ Wisp!” Welf chanted and from his hand a nearly transparent Magic leapt forth towards the Infant Dragon’s flaming jaws.

The flames that the Infant Dragon tried to spew forth were wrapped up by the transparent Magic of Welf’s spell. The flames were compressed and then forced back into the dragon’s jaws. Both Bell and Lili watched on at the strange spell before realizing what it did a second later.

BOOM

“Ignis Fatuus!” Lili exclaimed in shock, seeing the explosion of the Infant Dragon’s Magic.

“ROOAARRGGHH!!!” The Infant Dragon staggered around with thick black smoke pouring from it jaws. It whipped its long tail around at Bell and Welf, clearly trying to take out both of its main opponents even without its breath attack and despite its injuries.

“Damn!” Welf cursed leaping out of the way of a tail swipe. “I see why they compare it to a Monster Rex now! The damn thing is tenacious!”

“ROOOAAARRRHHH!!!” The Infant Dragon roared in pain as a bolt punctured its right eye, blinding it on that side entirely.

“Got it!” Lili smiled at finally landing a disabling shot. “Finish it off, Master Bell!”

“Firebolt!” Bell cast the spell into his spear and rushed forward with all of his speed from the Infant Dragon’s new blind spot. “HYAAAHHH!!!” He stabbed the fiery spear straight through the base of the dragon’s neck, letting the flames torch everything inside. With a strong pull, Bell slashed open the Infant Dragon’s neck in a shower of blood and black smoke. He skipped backwards a few times, making space between himself and the thrashing dragon.

“It’s done.” Welf watched the dragon collapse to the grassy floor with a loud thud. Even as it still tried to thrash around, the movements became weaker and weaker until it went still.

“Is everyone alright?” Bell regrouped with Lili and Welf, looking over both of them with concern.

“Lili is fine, Master Bell.” Lili smiled at her boyfriend.

“That first tail swipe nearly put me out of the fight, but Little Lili got me a potion quickly, so I was good.” Welf nodded to Lili and then to Bell. “Just a little singed now.” He patted down his black robe, sending up a little soot from when the Infant Dragon had doused him in a burst of flame.

“I’m alright too.” Bell smiled brightly that everyone was okay. “This was a lot harder than last time.” He joked about his Argonaut Skill and how it wasn’t overly reliable yet.

“No kidding.” Welf chuckled at him. “We need that super fire spell of yours every time we fight one of these things.”

“It would make it easier, Master Bell.” Lili got in on the joking with a teasing grin.

“I’ll work on it.” Bell laughed, resting his spear on his shoulder as Lili headed over to the dead Infant Dragon to start harvesting it.

“Another few million for us~!” Lili sing-songed as she set down her large pack and pulled out her tools. “Let’s start with the horns.” She picked up the handsaw and placed the blade against the base of the horn. With some luck, she might be able to harvest all four of them this time.

“Looks like we’re not going to get much of a break.” Welf grimaced as a few Imps appeared from the fog around the area they’d killed the Infant Dragon in.

“Seems like it, huh?” Bell stabbed the butt end of Kokutogenishiki into the ground and drew Ushiwakamaru and the Hestia Knife. “Let’s get rid of them quick.”

“You take forward and I’ll take out any that get by you.” Welf hefted his greatsword, his eyes never leaving the approaching Imps.

“Right!” Bell launched forward to meet the incoming Monsters.

“Gii!”

“Grek!”

“Gehe!”

The Imps charged at Bell and Welf in a wave, revealing that the initial numbers were misleading do to the fog. Over a dozen of the little demons emerged from the mist with their claws at the ready to slice into the Adventurers.

“Hup!” Bell decapitated the lead Imp with the Hestia Knife. Ushiwakamaru stabbed into the gut of the second and tore about its belly. The third was kicked in the head so hard its skull shattered under the force. The fourth and fifth Imps were both cut down by the blurring blades as well.

“Come on!” Welf challenged as a few of the Imps went wide of Bell and came at him. The first gliding Imps was hacked in half vertically. The second ate Welf’s boot to the face and hit the ground. The follow up stomp of the Smith’s boot crushed the skull easily enough. The third Imp flew past Welf, trying to get to Lili, only to be bisected from behind as Welf swung his greatsword through the short Monster’s waist.

Lili heard the sound approaching her from behind as she worked on chiseling off the Infant Dragon’s claws. She’d already lost the first one, the claw having broken down into white ash, but that just gave her a little frustration to work with.

“Gii!” The Imp slashed at Lili from behind, only for the Prum to spin around and smash her hammer into the side of the Monster’s head. The Imp slammed onto the grassy ground and didn’t move again. The indentation in the side of its head a clear sign that it was dead.

“Gee?!”

“Gree!”

Two more Imps snarled at Lili in surprise. For her part, Lili merely raised her right arm, took aim and fired a bolt into each of their heads, dropping the two Monsters easily.

“You three better provide some good materials for interrupting Lili’s work.” Lili grimaced at the three dead Imps as she went back to working on the Infant Dragon. While it was true that Bell and Welf were keeping the vast majority of the Monsters away from her, Lili was a good Supporter and knew to keep her senses alert while she worked.

“BUUHHIIII!!!” An Orc roared out as a few of the large green Monsters stomped out of the fog, a few of them wielding landform weapons.

“It’s going to be another one of those days again, huh?” Welf sighed as he saw how many Orcs were heading their way.

“Looks like it.” Bell agreed, sheathing his knives and pulling Kokutogenishiki from the ground and into his hands. “I’ll keep the forward position, can you deal with the ones going wide?”

“Sure thing.” Welf nodded, seeing the large group of Orcs moving in. “They’ll end up encircling us if we don’t get rid of them.”

Bell raised his left hand and pointed at the closest Orc. “Firebolt!” The flames rocketed forward and blasted the Orc head-on. The Monster roared in pain for a moment before collapsing backwards onto the grass. With the first attack having been launched, Bell rushed froward to meet the bellowing Orcs.

“Yah!” Bell’s spear stabbed straight through the neck of the first Orc. He pulled back and spun, dodging a swing from one of the Orc’s clubs and slashing deeply into the outstretched arm of the Orc.

“Gaoh!” The Orc roared and staggered backwards as blood flew from the large cut. It had dropped its weapon from the shock and before another could pick it up, Bell kicked it away.

“Firebolt!” Bell filled his spear with the spell and swung it in a wide arc, slashing through three Orcs at once. The erupting flames burned their insides and their skin as the blade passed through their bodies.

“Take this!” Welf swung his greatsword at a charging Orc, decapitating the Monster and sending its head flying. “Next!” He took a strong step forward and brought down his blade on a second Orc’s shoulder, splitting it open deeply as a fountain of blood flew from the grievous injury.

“Grooah!” An Orc attacked from behind, only to have three bolts pierce the side of its head in rapid succession. The charging Monster staggered forward a few more steps before collapsing to the ground dead.

“Thanks, Little Lili!” Welf called out, already engaged with another Orc.

“You’re welcome!” Lili yelled back, standing on top of the dead Infant Dragon, her work put on pause to help her team deal with the Orcs.

-Hours Later ~ Eleventh Floor-

“Hah…what a day.” Welf breathed out heavily as the three-man party made their way towards the surface.

“It really seemed like we were flooded with Monsters as soon as we took down the Infant Dragon.” Lili agreed, though there was a smile on her face at all of the Drop Items and Monster Parts that she’d managed to harvest today. “We got a tone of items and parts to sell.”

“Are you sure, Lili?” Bell asked sarcastically, a chuckle in his tone. “I’m sure we could take on another Infant Dragon before we leave.”

“ROOOAAARRRGGGHHH!!!” The roar of an Infant Dragon rang out from somewhere nearby.

“I WAS FUCKING KIDDING!!!” Bell cursed at the Dungeon, already hearing the heavy foot falls of the dragon getting closer.

“You just had to tempt fate, huh, Bell?” Welf readied his greatsword, already knowing this was going to be a much harder fight than the first one. They’d been mostly fresh when fighting the other Infant Dragon. Now, they were all a bit worn out from a full day of being swarmed on the Twelfth Floor.

“Lili suggests running.” Lili recommended, looking through the fog and trying to judge how fast they could get to the stairs up to the Tenth Floor.

“Too late!” Welf grimaced as the Infant Dragon emerged through the fog, its red eyes locking onto the three of them.

‘No! No more! Lili and Welf are in no shape to fight this thing!’ Bell thought to himself. He needed to activate Argonaut, but even if he did, it needed time to charge! That’s when he remembered his unused option, the spell he hadn’t used yet because Hestia said it gave her an ‘odd’ feeling. “Thunderbolt!” Bell called forth his third spell for the first time, thrusting his hand forward at the approaching dragon just like when he used Firebolt.

Lightning crackled around Bell’s outstretched hand. The outpouring of power rose so quickly that even Lili and Welf had to make some distance from Bell, lest they be shocked by his Magic. Bell felt his Mind reserves draining away rapidly, completely out of his control. Everything was being consumed by the spell all at once.

“ROOOAAARRRR!!!” The Infant Dragon roared at the lightning, flames appearing in its jaws.

KRAKBOOM

A massive lightning bolt blasted from Bell’s hand, tearing through the air and engulfing the Infant Dragon entirely. The spell carried on, blasting through the fog of the Eleventh Floor easily and crossing the large distance tow the far wall in the blink of an eye. The spell crackled and exploded against the wall, shattering the stone and leaving a large spiderweb of cracks across the surface.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” An Adventurer, male by the sound of the voice, yelled out in panic.

The air now had a strong smell of ozone and electricity sparked off the far wall and the carcass of the Infant Dragon. Said dragon was now at least a dozen meters further away from the three-man party than it had been before the spell had hit it.

“Bell…what the hell?” Welf looked at Bell only to see the Level Two collapse to his knees. “Bell?!”

“Master Bell!” Lili was at Bell’s side in an instant. She cradled his body as best as she could and tried to figure out what was wrong with him. “Mind Down?” Lili saw the ‘out of it’ look on Bell’s face and quickly pulled the citrus potion out of the part of Bell’s armor that was meant to store such things. “Master Bell, drink this…slowly, come on.” She gently eased the vial to her boyfriend’s lips and helped him drink it.

“Ugh…” Bell blinked a few times as the Mind Potion did its work and brought him back to lucidity. “What was that?” He refocused on what had just happened and tried to figure out what had gone wrong.

“We kinda need you to tell us that.” Welf spoke softly, knowing from experience that coming out of Mind Down usually involved a headache. The pain usually didn’t last long when a Mind Potion was used, but it was still not pleasant.

“You almost hit a Mind Down, Master Bell.” Lili explained as Bell now seemed alright. “Was that your third spell?”

“Yeah,” Bell nodded and Welf blinked at finding out that Bell had a third spell. “But it was weird…it took all of my Mind at once…I didn’t even have a chance to try and control the amount.”

“I’m not super knowledgeable about Magic…but a spell that strong should need a pretty lengthy incantation, right?” Welf looked between Lili and Bell for confirmation.

“It should.” Lili agreed with a nod. That was just common sense among Magic users.

“It’s so much more powerful than Firebolt.” Bell stood back up, smiling at Lili when she helped him. “But it’s the same type of Swift Strike Magic.” He pondered on his newest spell curiously. “Maybe it takes almost all of my remaining Mind regardless and that’s why it’s so powerful?” He postulated, looking between Welf and Lili to get their thoughts.

“An all or nothing type spell?” Welf scratched the back of his head. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of such a thing before.”

“Neither has Lili.” Lili shook her head at Bell’s odd spell. “We should talk to Hestia about it.”

“Yeah,” Bell nodded his agreement. “Let’s do that tonight.” He looked at the dead Infant Dragon for a moment. “So, should we leave this?”

“Absolutely not, Master Bell!” Lili denied instantly. “You killed it, so it’s yours!” Lili quickly headed towards the dead Monster. “Lili will do her best to harvest it as completely as possible!” No way was she letting her boyfriend’s kill be taken by anyone else!

“Best just let Little Lili do her thing.” Welf chuckled at seeing the Prum pulling out her tools again.

“Yeah…it is a boon, I guess.” Bell sighed at the double Rare Monster encounter. “Speaking of, how should we divide up the loot?”

“Same as last time works for me.” Welf motioned his head towards the dead dragon. “From the one we killed together, I’ll take one-third of the Drop Items and materials. This one is all yours though, I’ll just take the normal monetary cut from the rest of the day’s earnings.”

“Deal.” Bell and Welf shook hands on the deal for Welf’s portion to be split between Valis and materials again.

“At least we don’t have to worry about being swarmed by Monsters again.” Welf chuckled a minute later as they watched over the working Lili.

“Why’s that?” Bell looked at the Smith curiously.

“You broke the wall, remember?” Welf pointed his thumb over his shoulder and the destroyed section that was just barely visible through the returning fog.

“Oh yeah, damage to the Dungeon sends it into a ‘recovery mode’ where it stops producing Monsters and focuses on repairing itself.” Bell remembered that from Eina’s lessons. “That’ll help. I don’t think any of us are up for another horde today.”

“Yeah, let’s try and hold off on the hordes for a couple of days.” Welf laughed and patted Bell’s shoulder.

-Guild-

“TWO INFANT DRAGONS?!” Eina yelled, leaning over the table between her and Bell. “How?! Why?! Explain…” She leaned back into the couch she was sitting on with a heavy sigh.

“Master Bell tempted fate.” Lili spoke up with her arms crossed, nodding her head slowly.

“Lili!” Bell looked at his girlfriend with wide eyes.

“What did you do?” Eina narrowed her green eyes at Bell.

“Nothing.” Bell shook his head.

“What…did you do?” Eina asked with a sweet tone. Bell felt a shiver run up his spine just from hearing it. There was danger in that tone!

“Lili will explain.” Lili began to recount the day for Eina, ignoring Bell when he tried to interject, and finished with how the second Infant Dragon had appeared.

“Bell…” Eina spoke up as she finished filling out the report. Her glasses shone with reflected light, hiding her eyes from view. “We’re going to have a long talk about making jokes in the Dungeon.” Her tone left no room for argument, and made it clear that this wasn’t a request.

“Yes, Eina…” Bell looked at Lili as if she’d betrayed him.

Lili smiled at him before kissing his cheek softly. “No more jokes like that, okay, Master Bell?”

“Okay.” Bell didn’t know that the Dungeon would apparently have a second Infant Dragon ready and waiting for them! How could he have known?!

-Hestia Familia Home-

“A spell that uses all available Mind whenever it’s cast?” Hestia looked puzzled at the discovery of how Bell’s Thunderbolt spell worked. “I’ve never heard of that before…but I could ask around about it to a few people. Surely, it’s not completely unique, right?” She looked at Bell and then Lili, both of them giving her a shrug. They didn’t know anything about it either except for what they’d experienced from it already.

“I’ve learned to regulate how much Mind that I use when casting. With how often I cast my fire spell,” Bell made sure not to say the name, just in case. “It’s pretty much second nature now. But when I used my third spell…it just all flowed into it without me being able to do anything about it.”

“It might be best to save that as a last resort option, and even then, only if you have a Mind Potion available.” Hestia suggested strongly, her blue eyes meeting Bell’s rubellite gaze.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Bell agreed, looking at his right hand that had unleashed the spell. Powerful, but required careful preparation beforehand to unleash safely. ‘That kind of sounds Heroic, honestly.’ He thought to himself for a moment.

“Good.” Hestia smiled beautifully at Bell. “Now, let’s get both of your Statuses updated! I’m sure a day like today has helped a lot.”

Bell offered Lili to go first, as he usually did, and enjoyed seeing his girlfriend topless again. Hestia winked at Bell from over Lili’s shoulder as the Prum happily let Bell look at her breasts. The white-blue light of the Falna glowed from behind Lili’s back a second after Hestia let a single drop of her blood touch the bare skin.

“Damn…that’s a lot of Monsters.” Hestia commented as she watched Lili’s Excelia. “You’re numbers are definitely going to go up after this much.” She nodded before moving the Excelia into the Falna and letting it grow. Hestia placed a blank paper onto Lili’s back and copied over the newly updated Status. “You’re doing well, Lili.”

-Status-

Liliruca Arde

Level 1

Strength – H 141 > H 160

Defense – H 183 > H199

Dexterity – F 302 > F 321

Agility – E 454 > E 476

Magic – D 500 > D 528

-Magic-

Cinder Ella

Transformation Magic – Incantation: ‘Your wound is mine. My wound is mine. Echoing message of midnight.’

(Enables the user to transform into anything around their own size.)

-Skills-

Artel Assist – When the user is carrying a certain amount of weight, this skill will help compensate in abilities. The amount compensated depends on the weight.

Harvester - When breaking down monsters the user is more likely to acquire a Drop Item and higher quality ones too. Also enables the harvesting of other monster parts for material.

-Status-

“Lili got a good jump this time.” Lili looked at the spikes in her stats.

“At Level One it’s easier to grow, and you’re having multiple days of facing off against hordes of Monsters, so your growth reflects that, Lili.” Hestia hugged the Prum from behind and kissed her cheek.

“You’re always giving it your all in the Dungeon, Lili.” Bell praised her with a warm smile. “Welf and I couldn’t ask for a better party member.”

“Thank you, Master Bell.” Lili beamed at him, nearly lighting up the room all by herself.

“You’re turn, Bell.” Hestia let Lili up and patted the couch in front of her.

Bell stood up and removed his shirt. Lili briefly ran her hands over his chest and abs with a playful grin before taking his vacated seat. “Frisky.” He grinned at Lili, the Prum only licking her lips teasingly in response.

“Mmm, I can’t blame her though.” Hestia purred into Bell’s ear when he sat down in front of her. Her soft hands ran up and down his chest and abs slowly, feeling everything as she kissed his neck a few times.

“Hestia…” Bell tried to capture her hands with his own, but she pulled them away with a giggle.

“Ah, ah, we have to update your Status first.” Hestia reminded him as she let a drop of her blood fall onto his back. The Goddess watched Bell’s Excelia, seeing the fight against the Infant Dragon, the hordes of Monsters from the Twelfth Floor, and then the appearance of the second Infant Dragon. Seeing the Thunderbolt spell used from Bell’s perspective let Hestia have a better understanding of what had happened as well. ‘Definitely going to have to look into this spell.’ She nodded to herself as she moved the Excelia into the Falna. “You’re growing as well as always, Bell.” Hestia copied the numbers over onto a blank paper with a smile before handing it to him.

“Let’s see…” Bell looked over his newest Status Update carefully.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 2

Strength – H 171 > G 202

Defense – I 63 > H 100

Dexterity – H 173 > G 206

Agility – G 210 > G 264

Magic – H 165 > G 231

-Magic-

Firebolt

Vesta Enhance

Enchant Magic – Incantation: ‘Rise’

(Increases all Basic Abilities for five minutes. Then can’t be cast for five minutes after the increase wears off. Effect rises based on the Magic Stat.)

Thunderbolt

-Skills-

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Dual Wield – Significantly increases Strength and Dexterity when wielding a weapon in each hand.

Argonaut – Executes automatically after charging from active actions.

Heroic Will – Raises Stats when the user refuses to give up in the face of adversity. Those with lower Stats see the user as near unassailable.

-Developmental Abilities-

Luck – I

Hunter – I

-Status-

“I’m glad nothing crazy is happening this time.” Bell chuckled, seeing a normal Status Update (if you excluded the incredible rate of growth, of course) and no new Skill or anything popping up. ‘Not that I would mind another Skill.’ He thought to himself with a small grin.

-Hephaestus Familia Home ~ Hephaestus’s Office-

“You’ve been requesting Status Updates more often recently, Welf.” Hephaestus watched the Excelia and saw his busy day in the Dungeon. “Though I can see why.” She moved the Excelia and watched as Welf’s Falna grew stronger from it.

“I want to level up and earn the Blacksmith Developmental Ability.” Welf looked over his shoulder at Hephaestus as the glow faded away.

“You will eventually, if you keep trying.” Hephaestus looked over the Update before handing the paper over to Welf.

-Status-

Welf Crozzo

Level 1

Strength – D 568 > D 590

Defense – E 449 > E 472

Dexterity – D 579 > C 603

Agility – E 424 > E 449

Magic – I 59 > I 63

-Magic-

Will o’ Wisp

Anti-Magic Fire – Incantation: ‘Ignite, heretic spell.’

(Can cause an Ignis Fatuus to enemies if timed correctly.)

-Skills-

Crozzo Blood – The user can create Magic Swords. Can raise the power of Magic Swords during creation.

-Status-

“Wooo~” Welf whistled, seeing his improvement. It was certainly much higher than when he went into the Dungeon alone. ‘Being in a Party really does make a huge difference.’ He smiled at the progress he was making.

“Don’t do anything too crazy, Welf.” Hephaestus cautioned him. “You won’t reach your goal if you end up tripping while in a rush.” Left unsaid was that she didn’t want Bell’s craziness to rub off on Welf. That would surely give her gray hairs! Even if Deities never aged or changed, Bell’s craziness would probably find a way around even that.

“I don’t plan to do anything nuts.” Welf smiled at Hephaestus. “We’re working our way through the Twelfth Floor right now. We’ll head for the Middle Levels once we’re all ready.”

“Rarely does anyone try to have an accident…” Hephaestus shook her head slowly. “That’s why they’re accidents.”

“Well, tomorrow is a day off for us, so there’s no worry there, right?” Welf stood up and stretched a little. He crumpled up his Status Update and threw it into the fireplace to burn. “I’ll just be working with my new materials for most of the day.”

-The Next Day ~ Afternoon ~ Hephaestus’s Office-

“Hephaestus!” Hestia opened the door with a massive grin on her face and a box in her hands.

“Hestia.” Hephaestus looked at the box in her aunt’s hands curiously. “What’s that?”

“Oh, nothing big.” Hestia set the box down on Hephaestus’s desk and opened it to reveal two tied off sacks. “Just another three percent of my debt paid off!” She cheered with a bright laugh at the stunned look on her niece’s face.

“You’re kidding.” Hephaestus opened the sacks and was met with the golden forms of the highest denomination Valis coins.

“Not kidding.” Hestia had a happy little grin on her face.

“You’re certainly paying this off much faster than I expected.” Hephaestus moved the box to one side of her desk and placed a blank paper down. She wrote on it for a bit before signing the bottom and then stamping it with her personal seal. “Here.” She handed the paper over to Hestia.

“Thank you, Hephaestus.” Hestia giggled as she looked at the new receipt.

-Receipt-

Debt for Commissioned Knife

Previous Balance – 196,000,000 Valis

Payment Made – 6,000,000 Valis

Current Balance – 190,000,000 Valis

-Receipt-

“I take it you sold more Infant Dragon materials?” Hephaestus gave Hestia a knowing look, having seen the event from yesterday through Welf’s Excelia.

“Yep, to Goibniu this time.” Hestia smiled brightly at paying off the debt that hung over her Familia’s head bit by bit.

“I’m sure his Smiths were thrilled.” Hephaestus chuckled lightly. “Care for a drink?”

“Maybe just one.” Hestia agreed as she sat down in one of the chairs near the fireplace with a grin.

Things were looking up for her Familia and she hoped to see their fortune continue to increase in the future.

Unbeknownst to either of the two Goddesses, things that were currently happening within the Dungeon would soon have them both beyond worried for their Familia members.

-End Chapter-

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It was a joke, Dungeon!!! You prick!

Two Infant Dragons back to back?! That’s just not nice!

But…Bell finally used his Thunderbolt spell! And damn…it’s a big one!

Though it does have that rather large downside of almost sending Bell into a Mind Down from a single use.

Lili is growing! YAY!!!

Welf is growing! YAY!!!

Bell is growing like a weed! Duh.

Hestia makes her first expansion for the Familia as well! Renting out the lot and building across from their Home as an inn! A nice little 70,000 Valis rent payment a month will be nice to have as income! And once they have more finances, the rest of the Abandoned District will follow!

Landlord Hestia! KEK!!!

But we are now approaching the first ‘disaster’ in the Dungeon for the Hestia Familia! How will it play out this time?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you think with a review!

Until next time, later!