Is It Wrong To Seek Power In The Dungeon - 1.3 (Patreon)

After your time in Melen came to an end, you and your father returned to the clan. And before you knew it, another six months had come and gone.

And your eighth birthday washed over you like cheers.

Literally.

Currently, you found yourself within…another pit.

Though this one was much larger than the first your father had dug. And unlike the last that was in the middle of a forest.

This one…was right in the middle of where your clan had set up camp. And snapping their mandibles at you furiously, were three huge ants.

Killer Ants they were called.

And called the rookie killer in Orario, the monster most known for stealing the life of rookie adventurers.

These three were not as strong as their dungeon born counterparts…but there were three of them, and you did not have a falna.

The jeers and cheers of your clan, gathered around the pit to watch the show resounded through your ears.

"Crush them!"

"Come on give us a show!"

"Go for it!"

"Blood for the bone god!"

"Who the fuck is the bone god you twat?"

….Your clan were a rowdy bunch.

You jumped back, avoiding a lunging snap of razor sharp mandibles aimed at your lower leg.

Usually, you wouldn't have minded, you loved to fight, it was in your blood, you were the heir of a warrior clan…but your father had sprung this little fight on you as a 'gift'.

He'd went and hunted and captured these three…slaughtering a whole colony of thousands of them before dragging them back here and throwing them in pit…and then you.

Your father was always shit at giving gifts.

He could have at least brought back a little more…

Because three mere ants?

Were nothing.

With a disdainful sniff, you thrust your hands out, your skin rippling as bone emerged from your pores, writhing like liquid and forming into a pair of blades along the side of your wrists.

It stung painfully as it always did, but you were long since used to it.

You lunged forward yourself, punching down with your wrist over the neck of the ant that just attacked you…and sliced clean through its neck.

And wasted no time in leaping up and flipping over the other two as they lunged for you.

You landed, stamping down atop one of them, crushing its head beneath your feet, before kicking off of it and lashing out with both arms.

One sliced the last ants front two legs clean off and forced it to topple forward into your next slice that cut through its neck just like the first.

As its head fell, you punted it with your foot up out of the pit, where it smashed into the face of an older member of your clan, around sixteen years of age and knocked him onto his ass.

"There you stupid fucks! Are you entertained!" you goaded them.

And received thunderous cheers and laughter in response, your father, his arms around the waists of two members of his…harem, grinning down at you and giving you an approving nod.

"Artair you little shit!" the teenager who took a ant head to the face snarled, jumping to his feet, the ale that was in his hand previously, spilled all over his shirt, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Cal was his name, pleasant fellow as you could attest as he leaped into the pit and launched himself at you, initiating a brawl.

Which you won.

Within a few minutes, you had the older teenager pinned beneath you, his arms tied behind his back while you sat on him, your nose bloody and broken.

It would heal itself in an hour at most.

Soon, your name was being chanted by your fellow clan members and you couldn't help but shake your head in amusement.

Typical.

You let go of Cal, the teen huffing and sitting up, rubbing his wrists in pain, one of his eyes swollen, his own nose broken and his lip split, "Shit, you got me good brat." he complained, all in good fun.

He stood up a moment later and clapped you on the shoulder, "Come on, let's get some more ale!"

Yeah…ale sounded good right about now.

And you were right.

Especially when your father decided to stop the festivities to make a big announcement of you being a whole eight years old now and ready to choose your back up profession.

"Tell us!"

"Better be good brat, you spent a damn year thinking on it!"

"Fuck a profession, let's just get him a harem of bitches and have him breed em!"

"Yeah actually! He's the only one the bloodline naturally awoke in unlike that scruffy mug leader of ours, go the harem king route Artair! Live your best life!"

"Harem King!"

"Harem King!"

"Harem King!"

"Hey, if I can get a brat with the bloodline power, I'll let him knock me up!"

"You're a man dipshit!"

"You wanna go motherfucker!"

"It was only one time, get over it!"

….And a brawl broke out.

All the while you stood there, in front of your father casually groping two of his concubines, who you would never call mother no matter his urging…a tankard of ale in hand and staring blankly at your rowdy clan as chairs, tankards, barrels, plates, tables and people went flying.

"…..I decided to become a blacksmith!" you settled on announcing loudly. You'd thought long and hard on it. You even debated on just full on pursuing the path of a warrior with your full time or even learning magic.

Your father bragged a few times about having won a bet with an elf comrade of his back in the day when he was still with the Zeus Familia and learned how to cast the magic system the elves had made to use without the blessing of a god.

In the end though, you settled on the Blacksmith path when you learned it was possible to earn a Blacksmith skill upon levelling up with a God's grace and imbue magic properties into the falna when the skill rose to a high enough level, the creation of magic swords.

If you could imbue such a thing into your bones, which according to your father would only get stronger after you gained a blessing and levelled up, not only would you have powerful weapons at your beck and call, but so to would you be able to make a shit load of money!

It was a great plan if you did say so yours-

A tankard smashed into your face.

"Oh hell no!" you growled, shaking the ale from your face and pulling the shards that dug into your skin out, "Which bitch threw that? I'm gonna smash your face in!"

"It was me, come have a go boy!"

"Nah, stop stealing credit, I whalloped you heir boy, what you gonna do about it!?"

"Bring it on you little shit!"

You nodded once in understanding.

They were all getting it!

____________

The brawl lasted for well over an hour and by then, the huge campsite that housed your clan for the moment, was littered with unconscious bodies, groaning fools and laughing idiots who were celebrating over the brawl, drinking ale straight from the barrels.

…Most of the tankards had been used as weapons and destroyed. Once more, they'd need to have someone make a trip to a local town to buy more. As was typical for the Bein Clan…they, you all caused a lot of property damage.

Though, thankfully, everyone knew better than to involve the non combatants into their brawls.

Because the Bein clan was not just members of the Bein blood, but also of retainers that joined to serve the clan.

While you were a wandering warrior clan, that did not do much to explain the sheer scope of the size of the clan. There were over five hundred members of the Bein clan with the blood running through their veins and over five thousand others who had joined the clan as a servant caste.

Though, the servant caste numbering had swelled in size over the past few years due to your father's reputation and strength.

"Well, that was fun." your father commented, from where he sat on a literal pile of beaten, bloody and unconscious Bein clan members, his concubines having been shooed off when the fight got started and they all got the bright idea to challenge your father.

You wiped a trail of blood coming down from your forehead before it entered your eye, "…They didn't even listen to my choice." you pouted.

You'd spent so long debating on it too and had been excited to unveil it. How annoying.

You wanted to punch someone.

But the only one within reach was your father. And, you weren't in the mood to get punched unconscious…again.

For the moment.

"Bahahahahaha!" a loud, boisterous laughter echoed out suddenly, "I see the Bein clan never changes!"

Your father froze.

You blinked.

You turned to see a man leaning against the main tent, where your father lived, though calling it a mere tent was a disservice. It was a massive thing, a magical item that could rival a small manor in size and splendour.

Appearance wise, he didn't look all that impressive. He was an older man, with wild grey hair and a bushy beard, broad shouldered, slightly tan skin, clad in overalls and a straw hat to ward off the sun.

He just looked like a life long farmer, you saw many of them in your life. But, despite that, there was a distinct powerful, primordial feel that practically rolled off of the man.

…A god?

"Geezer?!" your father gaped at the man, before jumping off the bodies of your clan members and frowning at the man, "The hell are you doing here? Thought you were off playing grandpa?"

"Still am!" the man proudly puffed out his chest, "I just figured it was about time I come see my other one haha!" his eyes met your own and he beamed…happily and pridefully at you.

That was how you met Zeus, your self proclaimed grandfather.

__________

"I thought I told you not to appear in front of me unless you saw reason?" your father demanded.

Ten minutes later, all three of you had retreated into your fathers residence and it was not long, before an argument broke out.

"Still salty over that boy? You've got a kid of your own now, when you gonna grow up?" Zeus, as he introduced himself and you were still in a bit of muted shock at that and had a hard time tearing your eyes from the man, replied with a shrug and stuck his tongue out at your father.

"My wife is dead because of those pieces of trash and they've had seven years to grow their strength!" your father snarled, "A promise to treacherous cowards like them means nothing! If you would just open up the connection between us once more, I could go kill them all!"

"You say that, but you could just as easily go get some other gods blessing and do it," Zeus snorted, "It doesn't have to be my blessing, the strength of your falna still remains on your back, any god that activates it will allow you to access it."

Your father grit his teeth and did not respond.

Zeus grinned, "That loyalty of yours was always your best trait boy, though it can really sting you in the ass huh?" he said, voice knowing, before promptly spreading his arms wide out and welcoming, "You're such a cute kid Herak ma' boy, come on, give daddy a hug!"

Your eyes widened….did he just call your father…boy? Is that were he got it from?

Your father trembled, eye twitching, "Perverted geezer, I'm gonna kill you one day."

"Meh," Zeus shrugged, "I'll just shoot you in the ass with a lightning bolt from tenkai if you do."

Your father gnashed his teeth, before promptly…storming out of the tent, "I'm going to go hunt some monsters!" he declared.

Zeus laughed at him all the way.

Only when your father disappeared out of sight, did Zeus turn his attention back to you, a warm smile that seemed to eclipsed even Njord's sent your face, "Now that the tsundere is out of the way, it's really nice to meet you ma' boy," Zeus spoke to you, "Sorry I couldn't come sooner, but unlike you, my other grandson didn't really have anyone to take care of him, so I've been raising him."

"It's….fine?" you shrugged, you had wanted to meet the god your father spoke of all the time, but you didn't exactly hold it against him for being busy.

Though, one thing of what he said really caught your attention, "Other grandson?" you asked.

Zeus' smile widened, "Yup, his name's Bell, though I suppress my divinity around him, so he doesn't actually know I'm a god, a decision I've questioned lately after hearing of your exploits on the wind," he replied, "Well, probably for the best. He's a bit too frail for me to want to get a falna right now."

"Frail?" you tilted your head to the side. Like, sickly?

"Mmm, his mother was born with a horrendous disease that made her body weak all her life and, well his dad, one of my kids was a sly and smart one, but not exactly robust like your dear old papa and the others of my old familia," the god explained, "Really, it's just lucky he was born healthy at all, sadly I don't really see becoming a peerless warrior in his future like yourself, but who knows, that never stopped that demon girl, he might just surprise me."

Demon girl?

"Well, he's kind of like your cousin I suppose, just like you he was born of the kids bearing my ichor on their back, so try and watch out for him in the future, eh?" Zeus pat you on the shoulder.

Your father had always talked fondly of his former familia, even some weakling he referred to as punching bag he claimed was worth a million of any other familia.

And he always stressed the importance of the Zeus Familia to you. So you nodded and agreed, "Okay, if he needs me to protect him, I'll do it," you agreed. You already had the duty of protecting the servant caste of the clan and people you took missions for, so why not your…adopted cousin? "What do you mean by demon girl though?"

At your words, Zeus shuddered and looked over his shoulder as if said demon girl could pop up anywhere, "She's…Bell's aunt I suppose, from the Hera Familia, she was born with a weak body herself, but she rose to be even stronger than your father despite that, she was a real crazy broad," he explained, and then looked up at the roof of the tent and smiled dopily, "Probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. Tried to get a little feel of those amazing breasts of hers a few times, but she always stopped me…and then beat me up, a lot. She beat your dad up to, and Bell's dad. Amazing body, but horrible personality I tell you ma' boy."

You stared at him blankly, "Isn't that your own fault?" you asked.

It seemed Zeus was a perverted god, and perhaps just like his habit of calling you boy, your father perhaps got his voracious appetite for women from him.

Zeus laughed, "Sure, but it still hurt!" he replied.

You rolled your eyes, "What did my dad mean by a promise you made?" you asked, changing the subject.

"Ah that? I promised that annoying flat chested Loki I wouldn't start up my familia again for the next few hundred years in return for her kids not killing me and your dad when they usurped us, boring stuff a kid like you shouldn't be interested in, " he waved his hand airily, "Honestly, Herak's probably right they don't deserve it being honoured, but I'm not gonna go back on a promise I made, that would just make me a loser that can't keep his word. I mean, I'm not a wimp, right?"

Ah.

That explained why he was still alive and why your father even with that did not have access to his falna.

You clicked your tongue, "Which means I cannot join your familia." you noted.

"Eh, who knows, get to a high enough level and you might live that long, you Bein kids always lived longer thanks to your spirit blood anyway," Zeus just laughed, "Though by then you'll have already gotten a familia of your own and I doubt you'll want to leave it for a dusty old god of lightning who used to be a big shot back in the day."

…Well, he wasn't exactly wrong.

Like with your secondary occupation, you had thought long and hard about when you would seek out the blessing of a god, pondering on your fathers 'advice' all the while.

"I'll be seeking a falna when I turn fourteen, that seems like a good age to do it and train my body as much as I can in the mean time," you replied, "If you are not able to give me the blessing though, I may end up taking Njord up on his offer, I do not think I'll head to Orario at least without one already."

"Njord huh? He's an alright guy, though I think he'd stifle your potential if you stick around Melen," Zeus mused, "Honestly, I'd say keep your options open and go for a goddess over a god. Get one that'll spoil you, with great big tits! It's too bad Hestia hasn't descended yet, I'd definitely recommend going with her."

"Hestia?" you cocked your head to the side. You weren't familiar with the name.

"Yeah, she comes from the same place as me up in tenkai, lovely girl if a bit lazy, goddess of the hearth, y'know, the home and the one who watches over the eternal divine flame…and a virgin!" Zeus' eyes lit up at that last part and he clapped you on the shoulders with both hands and knelt down to look you in the eye, "You must promise me Artair my dear grandson. If you ever meet Hestia, you must accomplish the dream I never could and bury your head in those great big titties of hers! Accomplish what no god or man has done before!"

You resisted the urge to sigh. Definitely where your father got it from.

"…I'll keep that in mind," you said as an answer, you'd keep the name saved in your head at least. You weren't sure about burying your head between her breasts, but you'd think about that when you were older and if you ever actually met her. If she hadn't descended yet, the odds of her descending in your life time, was not really feasible, "Any other recommendations?"

"Definitely not Hera, she ain't under the same promise as me, but she crazy my grandson, plus she doesn't take guys, even if she'd love to get back at Loki and Freya," he tapped his chin, "Well speaking of, you obviously can't join Loki, your dad would probably disown you. Freya isn't a bad option for you though, she'd definitely be attracted to your soul and she's a hottie for sure, plus you could cuck those simps of hers. Hephy? Nothing you can do about that face, but woo nelly that ass! Not the biggest, but sure is tight and perky. If you get strong enough you could go Ishtar and make a harem for yourself out of those Amazon's of hers. Maybe Astrea? If you can get her virginity, I'll literally bow to you. Oooh, wait Demeter! Now those are some massive juggs!"

…Why were all his recommendations, goddesses? And why was it only about their bodies? This old man really was a perverted geezer, just like your father.

"Freya?" you cocked your head to the side, confused, "But…it's partly her fault my mother died and she helped disband the Zeus familia with Loki."

Zeus scratched his chin, "Eh, that's just in Loki's nature, I told my kids not to underestimate her, she's a goddess of war, trickery and chaos for a reason, but they only saw her kids that were way weaker and didn't put much thought into. My kids were all meatheads," he laughed, "But Freya? Nah, I don't really blame her. That's all on Hera, the crazy marriage obsessed weirdo. She went and beat the crap out of Freya's familia with her own and forced her to come to Orario. And since we were allied with Hera at the time, of course she'd take the chance to strike while we were all weakened. Honestly, Freya's kind of pitiful to be honest. that's why if you're good enough for it and fit the bill, you need to fuck hearts into her eyes ma' boy and make her yours."

You frowned.

So Freya only attacked in the end, because she was forced somewhere she did not want to go by Hera? So, that was…Hera's fault?

Annoying.

She was partly responsible for the death of your mother, but you could also clearly understand such reasoning. You may be young, but already you knew if anyone forced you do so something you did not want because they were stronger, you would lash out the first chance you had to strike them down.

"Well, no point thinking on it so hard now, you've got another what, five or six years before you join a Familia?" Zeus stroked his beard, "So, until your dad works off his angsty anger, how about we have some fun? Are you interested in stories at all? Bell loves them."

"What kind of stories?" you asked, happily burying the topic of what goddess was the most attractive and what one you should join in the hopes of…bedding them.

That was not why you wanted to join a familia, you sought strength!

"Take your pick," Zeus grinned, "I used to watch over you kids back when I was in tenkai, I documented down all the big names true journeys y'know? From Albert the great to even my own personal favourite, Argonaught."

Ah, the great heroes of the past that fought back the monster menace alongside your ancestor. You could not deny, your interests were piqued. Their strength, even without the blessing of a god was such they could even defeat the strongest around these days.

While your first thought was to ask about Albert, perhaps the strongest mortal known to have lived, a man who in the ancient past actually wounded the One Eyed Black Dragon, driving it away, taking its eye and being the one to give it its current moniker…you were curious about another.

Mostly because, when your father was deep in his cups and drunk enough to have no self control, he tended to ramble a lot. One such name, he rambled a bit about wanting to besmirch, was of a pallum object of worship to get back at someone called the 'Braver', whom he called a pitiful fake hero who could never rise to the true title.

"Is the goddess Fianna real?" you asked.

"Huh, that's…not what I expected you to ask about," Zeus gave you a surprised look, before shaking his head, "Yes, Fianna was a real person, though she was not a goddess, she was just perhaps the greatest of her race to ever live."

"…So she was just a simple pallum?" you asked, a bit disappointed in spite of yourself. While you had met some interesting pallums over your eight years of life, none of them had been what you would call…impressive. Shorter than you currently were, much weaker as well and a race full of thieves and liars, and it did not help that the 'Braver' whom your father loathed for being a fake hero and in his own words, a coward, was perhaps the greatest of them in this age.

"Hah, just a simple pallum," Zeus snorted in amusement, "She may have been a pallum, but there was nothing 'simple' about her. She was born with a special power in her soul called the Bloodfury Spear, once she managed to control it, she was easily as strong as level five, if not a level six. And when she made a contract with one of Goibniu's spirits, Finegas, I don't doubt she could trounce your dad at his strongest and he could have given a level seven a run for their money!"

…A pallum, that without a blessing, that could trounce someone capable of fighting a level seven? You did not even fully understand the scope of anyone stronger than your father right now, never mind at his peak, and definitely not someone who could defeat even that!

The world…truly was a big place. By your fathers estimates, you could give a slightly above average level one a hard fight, but that was thanks to your bloodline power.

You did not even come close to the likes of this Fianna.

Zeus went on to explain the history of Fianna as he knew it. Of a virtuous, if strict pallum that rose to prominence long before Albert the great or even Argonaut, the one considered the worlds first hero.

A symbol of glory to the pallums that slew countless monsters and protected, and every single pallum she trained, was at least as powerful as a level two, some even as powerful as the likes of level three's and fours.

The Fianna Knights, as a group slayed monsters that made the massive Aqua Serpent your father slaid in Melen, look like small tiny goblins in comparison, monsters rivalling even mountains in sheer size!

You hung upon his every word despite yourself, with awe.

To think that a group filled with such small, weak people by nature, could rise to such heights even without the blessing of a god.

You had not heard of any good things about 'Braver', but you could at least understand his high regard for a person such as Fianna.

It was no wonder the was worshipped even to this day by the pallum race.

'Bloodfury Spear.' you bit your lip. A spear that Zeus claimed could pierce even the depths of the underworld.

Despite your now admiration of Fianna, you couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened, "…Even with my bloodline, I'm nowhere close to as strong as even the weakest of the Fianna Knights," you said in a whisper, "Father always says I'll surpass him someday and become the strongest, but…hearing how strong Fianna was without a falna, I don't know how I'll ever measure up."

Your bloodline had awakened with you naturally due to your father. But, in comparison to your father, it was weak. Though as strong as his own when he had become a level three by his words, it was not close to the level of your ancestor at all.

The wall you had to surmount, which had been ingrained in you all your life, seemed so vast, impossible to reach even half way up never mind leap right over.

You were surprised by a pair of large hands grasping you under the armpits and lifting you into the air.

And blinked, confused when Zeus deposited you in his lap and plopped his hand in your hair.

"If you chase that route with all your might, then I don't doubt you can," Zeus told you, voice warm, a smile on his lips, "You mortals, even we gods cannot ascertain your limits. You are infinitely small, yet your potential for growth is infinitely limitless. One day in the future, you mortals may even surpass us gods. The reason those ancient people became so strong, is because they longed for it. They longed for the strength to beat back the monsters and live happily. If you long for that strength and do all you can to achieve it, then you have the chance for it. Never forget Artair, that you are the son of the Bone King Herak and the grandson of Zeus, the mightiest god of lightning that rules the heavens! The shadow of my ichor upon your fathers back, dwells in your soul to. Roar like thunder, challenge the heavens themselves and run down that path with all your heart and you can pierce through any obstacle in your way, I Zeus guarantee it!"

His words resounded in your ears and you felt your breath itch as you looked up at him. In this moment, you felt a wash of…something. Something greater than you could comprehend.

The full weight of a god that resounded in his words.