Is it wrong to Speak in a Dungeon? Chapter 8 (Patreon)

I do not own Danmachi/Jujutsu Kaisen or any other referenced franchise, only my own OCs.

{Thoughts}

“Speech”

Character Sheet / System Text

“Tvs, Radios, Texts, and newspapers…”

(Disclaimers)

*Onomatopoeia*

“Cursed Speech”

…

…

[?????]

l blinked at the crystal floating before me in confusion as it glowed brighter the closer it got to me.

I have many questions, a few guesses, and no fucking idea where the hell I am right now.

“... Edias?” I ask with a little bit of hesitance at the crystal approaching me, now practically inches away as it glowed brighter at the sound of my voice.

My connection with Edias has (naturally) always been a bit distant. After all, I may be inside of the dungeon walls, but I was not… inside of the dungeon walls. Rather, in between them.

I get what I mean.

But now… as the crystal practically throws itself into my arms, I feel Edias’s emotions radiate from between my arms.

Hesitance, Nervousness, Fondness, Regret, and Slight Fear. Those are all emotions I could feel between my arms from Edias as the crystal (edias?) pushes itself deeper into my arms.

“... Oh? So this truly is my Edias?” I ask with a grin as the crystal glowed blindingly at my use of ‘my Edias’ alongside a healthy amount of embarrassment and happiness.

It seems she’s too regretful over what happened earlier when I had to turn off my Cursed Energy Enhancement/Imbuement.

Speaking of.

I blink in surprise as I realize that I somehow already began imbuing CE into myself again instinctually.

Toge really wasn’t kidding when he said I did it subconsciously.

Speaking of Cursed Energy though, my Cursed Energy reserves have… not exactly increased… but I feel like…

There’s more space for Cursed Energy to be stored.

Like a significant amount of space. Even being in the… heart…? of the dungeon is not filling up even 1% of my new extra space. I can feel the Cursed Energy filling inside of me at a fast pace, yet not even filling a fraction of my reserves.

Was Toge’s presence inside of me- fuck- taking up some space that could have been filled with Cursed Energy? Interesting.

That’s actually a good way to train if limiting the amount of Cursed Energy I can store really does expand my container. I may utilize that in the future.

Thank you again, Toge!

Refocusing on Edias now…

“I never thought I’d get to embrace my Edias between my arms. This may just be the best day of my life~” I hugged the crystal with ‘happiness’ as Edias emitted an enormous amount of embarrassment alongside… smugness?

Why is she smug…? Wait…

“... Are you happy that you got to sit on my lap?~” I ask with a teasing smirk as she ‘blushed’ (figuratively, she really just glowed and the colors were mainly red) before emitting a feeling of satisfaction and affirmation.

I hum happily myself and pat the crystal on the ‘head’ while inspecting it thoroughly, something Edias seems to have noticed as she emitted a shy feeling while I smirked.

How adorable~

We sat there for a few minutes in silence as I inspected Edias’s ‘crystal’ avatar thing while patting her as she continued emitting feelings of contentment.

This… This could work.

“Hey, Edias. Do you trust me?” I suddenly ask as the crystal glowed a myriad of colors before Edias emitted a feeling of confusion alongside an overwhelming feeling of trust.

“Awww~ Thank you.” I grinned with slightly warm cheeks at the amount of trust she had in me as she glowed happily. “Please work with me on this, your experience with Cursed Energy manipulation is leagues ahead of mine, so you should be a great help.” She glowed proudly at my words but still emitted confusion and curiosity.

“Trust me on this.” I say with a whisper as I begin harnessing Edias’s direct Cursed Energy reserves.

Edias’s ‘being’ freezes for a second as I begin grasping her Cursed Energy, but emits a feeling of trust nonetheless.

It saddens me to feel the little bit of ‘fear’ she emits and tries to hide, and I quickly give a quick peck on the crystal’s surface as I rubbed it soothingly.

Edias lit up like a Christmas Tree but quickly dimmed down and began helping me in harnessing her energy as I began a very complicated process with very limited knowledge.

I could mess up really badly here, but I feel Edias’s energy entwined with mine to help me avoid any massive oopsies, so I trust myself to continue as I quickly shape the ‘crystal’ differently while slowly linking it directly to my own reserves.

I slowly over the course of the next couple of hours begin linking and shaping Edias into something else as Edias’s feelings fluctuate wildly during the entire process, starting with Curiosity and Confusion and eventually reaching Fascination and… Hope.

As a drop of sweat slides down my temple and falls to the ground, I let my hands fall from the unmoving position in the air I had them in for the last couple of hours while closing my eyes to allow them some rest.

I reopen my eyes to see… an egg.

Well, it’s a rather giant egg, as black as the night sky and more spherical than normal, but it looks close enough to an egg.

[Hope. Anticipation. Worry.]

I suddenly feel those words echo in my body, not at all gathered from my normal senses but instead directly into my brain.

“Congratulations, Edias. I’ve linked us together permanently. I guess this means we’re married, hm? Till death do us part~” I jump to tease Edias as soon as I confirm that everything worked as I intended and watch the black avatar of Edias float in the air for a second before slamming into me with excitement.

Wait, that’s just me experiencing her feelings naturally and understanding them a lot more easily. Nice.

[... Love… You.]

I pause.

I then immediately smile with a warm feeling bubbling in my chest.

That’s the first thing you say to me now that we are connected? A woman trying to conquer my heart I say…

“How honest of you, Edias… I never thought you to be such a straightforward woman! At least take me out for dinner first~” I tease with a laugh as Edias pushes herself deeper into my chest with embarrassment.

[... Cease.]

[Embarrassment. Joy. Fondness.]

“How ‘bout… no?~” I hug the floating sphere of cuteness tightly as it wiggles defiantly in my arms before settling down with ‘irritation’.

My very own Rika is here ladies and gentlemen! And she’s a Tsun Tsun too~

[... Thoughts… Rude.]

… What the fuck? Women's intuition extends to even my dungeon waifu???

“Hehe~ I was only speaking facts. You’re my little Tsundere, aren’t you?~” I nuzzle my face against the sphere cutie with a grin as she changes her form to become a lot more malleable to easily shape herself into something thinner and slip out of my arms with embarrassment, moving away from me.

[Confusion. Embarrassment. … Happiness.]

[Tsun… Dere…?]

Oh my god. I’m going to corrupt my dungeon waifu.

In more ways than one. Ehe~

“Yep! By the way… What’s up with the… trophies?” I gesture to the hundreds, maybe thousands of corpses around the room, which I now notice actually extends from behind where Edias’s crystal was floating earlier, so there’s gotta be hundreds more I’m not seeing if that neverending hallway is legit.

[Sheepish. Proud. Hateful.]

[... All… Pests… Died… Floors… 13-17…]

“... Are you telling me these are the corpses of everyone who has ever died in all floors from 13-17…?” My throat feels dry as I ask this question with Edias emitting smugness.

[Proud. Affirmation. Smug.]

[... Yes.]

“... Edias.” My voice becomes low as Edias shifts in the air in worry while standing ‘at attention’.

“WE JUST GOT RICH!” I yell out in triumph as Edias flies high into the air in confusion before swinging around in the air happily in agreement.

That’s the equipment of EVERY single person who’s died on the 17th floor before.

You know, the floor of the GOLIATH!

The LEVEL 4 boss monster.

The amount of equipment and maybe even Valis here must be-

“Wait.” I suddenly freeze. “You said from floors 13-17, does that mean you have another floor like this one for higher and lower floors?”

[Smug. Joy. Affirmation.]

[1-8… 9-12… 18-23… Hehe…]

… Oh my god.

“Did MY Edias just say ‘hehe’???” I ask with a faux-whisper as she vibrates in embarrassment before slamming into me with ‘irritation’.

[... Cease.]

I ignore her order and snuggle the hell out of my dungeon waifu as she continues giving waves of embarrassment all the while I’m laughing my ass off.

“By the way, Edias. Are you still gonna be able to spawn monsters on this floor now that we uh… changed your crystal?” I ask with a little bit of worry as the repercussions of floors 13-17 not spawning any more monsters are probably steep as hell.

[Indignant. Proud. Affirmation.]

[... Hmph… Easy.]

I hold back the urge to tease Edias despite how cute she’s acting and instead clear my throat to hide my intent.

“Hm, yes. My Edias can of course do that easily.” I nod to myself proudly as Edias gets a little bit embarrassed but emits more waves of happiness.

“Then we should pick up the crystals from the other floors on the way up, right?” That should probably boost the overall power of Edias’s new avatar. “You can come with me now, right? I did link us together so I won’t leave without you.” I poke Edias repeatedly with a smirk.

[Hope. Affirmation. Joy. Love. Desire.]

[... Yes… Together… Thank… You… See… The… Sun…]

The sun?

“You’ve never seen the sun before, Edias?” I ask with a frown while patting her.

[Sadness. Negative. Hope. Desire.]

[... No.]

… I want to murder someone right now. I don’t know who, but someone needs to die right now.

Who dares to deprive my Edias of the chance to see the sun??? I will DESTROY THEM!

I slowly hug Edias again while patting her head lightly. “You know, Edias…” I start, watching her emit an inquisitive feeling. “People always use you as the big bad villain of the stories, and the heroes are the ones that vanquish you and your monsters…”

[Sadness. Hate. Despair.]

“But… I don’t like that. So, from now on, you’re no longer the villain.” I declare with seriousness.

[... Confusion. Curiosity. Elation.]

[... Not… The… Villain?]

“No. You’re the princess, my princess to be specific.” I confidently state as she vibrates in confusion and slight shyness as I continue. “And me? I will be the hero that will bring you to the sun, relieve you of your cursed energy, and save you from the bad adventurers. I’ll be YOUR hero.” I proclaim my determination to Edias while hugging her as tightly as I physically can as Edias grows completely motionless in my arms.

The room is filled with an overbearing, unnatural silence as I suddenly realize just how isolated me and Edias are right now.

W-We’re gonna do naughty stuff like… hand-holding!

How lewd~

Edias’s avatar remains unmoving for a few more seconds without even releasing a single emotion as I continue rubbing the curvy spherical body of Edias (where is your mind going? She’s literally shaped like an egg.) while waiting for her response.

After another moment of silence, Edias suddenly begins vibrating at an alarming rate and crushing me between her and the wall while releasing intense emotions.

[Joy. Happiness. Excitement. Fondness. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.-]

Edias’s emotions overwhelm my mental link with her as she suddenly disfigures and wraps herself around me completely, covering me with herself as I find myself inside of complete darkness.

Is Edias devouring me right now?? So lewd…

“E-Edias! It’s my first time… Please be gentle~” I call out into the darkness as her feelings become more intense and I feel her lovingly wrap herself around me tighter.

I don’t know if I should be worried that this is gonna go in the wrong direction or amused that Edias is going full yandere ‘let's merge together’ type crazy.

My little serial killer murderhobo with millions of kills under her name~

Pfft.

“As much as it’s warm and nice being inside of you, Edias-” I smirk at the slight embarrassment that is immediately overwhelmed by the love in her feelings as I continue. “-We do need to get a move on so I can fulfill my hero duties and take you out to see the sun. So we’ll sadly have to stop this… for now.” Edias begins to unwrap herself from around me before the last comment hits and she wiggles shyly.

“By the way, I do want to test something now that we’ve linked each other together, do you mind if I ‘store’ something inside of you?” I wink at the now-spherical Edias as she starts vibrating in embarrassment.

[... Anticipation… Excitement… Affirmation… Willing… Love…]

[... Prepared…]

She places herself between my arms while wiggling her body around shyly as my smirk widens to considerable degrees.

Fufufu~ How adorable.

“What are you thinking I’m gonna do? I just wanted to see if I could store weapons and stuff inside you, y’know?~” I tease her with an amused smirk as I place my spear inside her.

Not that spear.

Also… It worked! I can store stuff inside Edias!

Though… You already know the only living thing going inside there is me. Ehe~

[... Annoyance. Pouty. Embarrassment.]

[... Hate… You…]

I collapse to the ground, lifeless, as Edias begins fretting over my fallen body.

“My… Edias… Hates me??” I mutter with despair as she begins pulling and pushing my unmoving body.

[Worry. Lament. Apology.]

[... Joke… Not… Truth… Love… You…]

I snap back to life with Edias in my arms as I jump to the ceiling and hit my head against the roof before falling back down and prancing around happily and hugging Edias. “My Edias doesn’t hate me! Praise the sun!!” I sang dramatically as she tried to escape my grip with embarrassment.

[Annoyance. Embarrassment. Joy.]

[... Let… Gooo…]

“Never!” I laughed and jumped all over the room while keeping Edias in my arms despite her efforts to escape, all the while peppering her with hugs and kisses.

[... Happiness. Joy. Embarrassment.]

[... Thank… You…]

I stop jumping around and hold Edias in my arms with a small smile as I stop acting dramatic and simply nod slightly while petting Edias.

“Sorry about worrying you earlier, Edias. I’ll repay you by fulfilling my promise to be your hero, okay?” Edias spins in my arms in a nodding way as I smile happily and look around the room.

“You mind if I uh… yoink your treasury? The amount of money and equipment I’d net from getting this stuff is too great to ignore…” I smile sheepishly at Edias as she happily spins in agreement before jumping out of my hands and beginning to expand and eat all of the corpses and items in the room as my eyebrows begin twitching violently.

Well… I did say I’d be the only living thing inside of her. Corpses don’t count… also, wow... She’s literally like a Roomba.

I watch in awe as Edias makes quick work of the thousands of corpses in the room and begin contemplating what exactly I’d find around here.

Most armor is probably gonna be fucking destroyed considering how… the people wearing it died.

Though some armor may have been inside Supporter bags that I saw around so I may get a couple pieces, and some adventurers may have died to a headshot or something so the rest of their body was left alone… Maybe.

I’m gonna have a shit ton of weapons though. Of like, every type. Probably up to even level 4 or maybe even higher if someone was dumb during a fight against the Goliath.

This is the gear of all the adventurers that died on these floors for the last dozen hundred years… There’s gotta be some ancient shit in here.

[A/N: Now I wonder… what cool things could be found here? Perhaps the readers have some ideas…]

I’m boutta be so set on Valis it’s not even funny. I saw monster drops, bags of valis, and even magic stones in here.

Speaking of…

“Could you bring me back up to the surface, Edias? Well, maybe not the surface but the first floor?” I ask with curiosity as Edias floats towards me after finishing all of the corpses and items in the room.

This place is now spotless- okay never mind, a corpse just fell out of the roof- aaand Edias quickly devoured it in embarrassment.

Now it’s spotless.

[Embarrased. Smug. Affirmative.]

[... Yes… Bring… You… Rooms…]

“Like… the other crystal rooms?” I ask with slightly widened eyes as she nods with a spin.

[... Up… Only… Down… Hard… Dangerous…]

“That’s still amazing! Can you also do it for Bell?” Edias freezes at my question but ‘sighs’.

[... Yes… But… Only… You… Rooms…]

“Only I can go into the crystal rooms? That’s perfectly fine with me as long as you can quickly bring Bell back up to the first floor! We wouldn’t have to waste time returning up to the surface and save so much time that we can use to get stronger!” I happily hug Edias’s avatar as she vibrates in my grasp happily.

“Oh, by the way, you can enter my body or shadow or something to hide, right?” I quickly ask as I furrow my brows, slightly worried that I won’t be able to have Edias with me at all times.

[... Confusion. Curiosity. Embarrassment.]

Embarrassment? Oh. Enter my body. Pfft, nice.

“Please try it.” I request from Edias as she hesitantly floats in front of my torso before moving into it and slowly entering as I feel something ticklish inside of me.

“Ah~ Please be gentle, Edias… It’s my first time~” I dramatically groan as Edias continues entering me, hiding my smirk at the overwhelming embarrassment she’s emitting.

She’s eventually completely inside of me and I feel the big amount of space Toge was apparently occupying now filled with Edias.

I also feel that it’s much easier to access her Cursed Energy reserves now and HOLY SHIT!

That is a LOT of Cursed Energy. Maybe like severalfold my current reserves.

I don’t think I can take too much of this without being overwhelmed because of my tiny reserves compared to hers.

“Way to make someone feel self-conscious, Edias…” I grumble good-naturedly as she smugly wiggled inside of me while making herself comfortable.

“Alright, Edias! Onwards!” I call out happily as the floor splits underneath me and I find myself within Edias’s embracing presence once again.

…

[Some time later…]

I stare at the new form of Edias as she shifts underneath my gaze.

She’s almost humanoid now that she’s devoured the two other crystals in the other two floors we visited on the way up.

I also picked up all of the loot on those floors and… Hoo boy. It was a lot.

The 1-8 floor was filled with… MILLIONS of dead bodies.

They are not joking when they say that thousands of adventurers die every year. And most of them are on the first 8 floors.

Thousands of fodder rookies die without ever going past the 8th floor, and that leaves millions of bodies for Edias to store in her trophy room over hundreds of years.

Well… I now know that Edias has nigh-infinite space inside of her. Not sure how I’m supposed to ‘please’ that in the future. It’s like Black Hole-chan all over again.

I’m about to be sucked into an endless abyss.

On a serious note, if I ever need biomass or blood for one of my future powers, I have enough to spare and more.

Maybe I can use '1000-year-old elf corpse’ with Mystery to make something? You know how it is with old materials and being more valuable, right?

I poke the still completely black humanoid body of Edias as she slaps my hand away with hers and looks away in embarrassment.

She doesn’t have feet yet, and her ‘legs’ from the knees down are just black energy. Everything else is there though, just with fewer details since she’s made up of one color.

Right now, her clothing consists of a modern outfit I designed in my mind consisting of a skirt that reaches just above the knees, a crop top with a jacket that reaches her waist, and thigh-highs because I’m cultured like that.

She’s got eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and raven black hair that is so long it goes down to the ground despite floating in the air.

She’s only 5’3 though not counting how she floats in the air. Which isn’t really saying much considering how I’m 5’6 myself.

The few inches I have put me at an even level with her despite her floating though, so I use the chance to grab her into a hug while brushing through her hair with my fingers to enjoy the extremely smooth feeling of it.

[... Happiness. Relaxation. Fondness. Warm. Love.]

[... Thank you… I love… You… So much…]

I move my head back and smile happily at the happy smiling figure of Edias as I brush her long hair away from her face and bring my face closer to hers while closing my eyes.

[!!!!!!!]

[Surprise. Elation. Love. Joy. Desire. Love. Love. Love.-]

I kiss Edias’s new lips passionately as she wrapped her thin arms around my neck and pulled me closer with surprising strength, bringing our bodies as close as they physically can be without literally entering each other.

We stood there for what felt like hours, simply basking in each other’s presence and enjoying the other’s touch all the while exploring each other’s lips lovingly.

Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the floor alerts us of reality again and we quickly separate to look at what just happened.

The horrified body of a human girl stares back at us as I facepalm and Edias lets out a sound similar to a ‘groan’ from her new body.

“... Well that’s a mood killer if I’ve ever seen one.” I comment dryly as Edias quickly extends her hand and a big blob of black matter engulfs the new corpse in the room before quickly returning back and reshaping into the small thin hand of Edias as she nods in agreement before quickly giving me a tight hug followed by a peck and then entering my body in embarrassment.

She really enveloped my entire body with hers yet gets embarrassed at a little kiss. She’s so cute~

“Okay Edias! To the surface!” I call out with an arm in the air superhero style as the floor splits underneath me and I feel myself get enveloped in Edias’s presence again while quickly making my way through the floors and eventually spewing out of one of the walls, dungeon monster style.

As I exit the wall, I find myself literally right in front of the exit to the first floor just as a pallum kid(?) exits the door to the entrance with nervousness.

I watch as he stares at me in shock while Edias hits me with immense feelings of embarrassment and shame.

I slowly walk right in front of his face as he looks at me fearfully, but I don’t do anything except kneel down to be face-to-face with him and stare him straight in the eyes.

“... No one will ever believe you.” I whisper right in front of his face as his eyes widen in shock before quickly turning to despair as I use my super speed to run out of the dungeon all the while Edias is cackling inside of me.

[Embarrassment. Amusement. Joy.]

[... Nice.]

I cackle quietly as I make my way out of the dungeon and promptly freeze.

The sun is almost at sundown. It’s been several hours since I entered and several more hours since I should’ve left.

Bell and Hestia are probably panicking so hard right now.

WAIT! Didn’t Edias make a massive earthquake earlier in anger?? They must REALLY be worried right now! Fuck.

[... Sheepish. Apologetic. Embarrassment.]

[... Sorry…? Hehe… Love you…]

I roll my eyes with a smile. {Love you too. It’s alright.} The amount of development I reached today is more than enough compensation for all the bullshit I had to deal with today.

Speaking of bullshit.

“... What are you doing… Bell.” I call out to the worried-looking bunny boy as he walks RIGHT PAST ME towards the dungeon with a determined face before quickly freezing and turning around to face me.

“MIKEY!” He calls out in surprise before launching himself at me in surprise as I quickly catch him and pat him on the back as he sobs.

“... Hello, Bell.” I smile wryly at the slightly teary-eyed boy.

“Why didn’t you come back at your usual time?? We thought something happened to you and… the earthquake… the guild is in chaos right now and Eina could barely spare enough time to tell me that you hadn’t visited her yet… I was so worried…” He sniffled and rubbed his eyes as I patted him on the head while internally thinking about how I wanted to spin this.

How about…

“... Sorry, Bell. I was caught off-guard when the earthquake happened and Edias needed me to explore further in the dungeon to test if anything was amiss. From what I’ve seen, everything should be fine and the earthquake was just an unlikely incident.” I internally congratulated myself for mostly not lying and Edias did so as well as I felt her envelop me warmly.

Bell blinked slowly as he processed my words before smiling wryly and rubbing the tears out of his eyes. “I see… Of course it’s about Edias… your… w-waifu…” Bell stuttered the last word while glaring at me with shame for even having to say that word while I smugly grinned.

“Speaking of, I have something to show you when I get home. Though for now, I do need to go deal with something that I was supposed to deal with earlier but had to put off for later. Head back home and I’ll be there in an hour or two at most.” I paused. “Also go calm Hestia down since she’s probably still very worried.”

Bell seemed like he was going to object at first but then paled at the last part and nodded sheepishly.

“A-alright. Please come home as soon as you can!” Bell let go of me and waved as he quickly ran out of the underside lobby of the Babel tower and towards the blacksmithing district.

I nodded and raised my hand in a half-hearted salute before quickly dashing out of the area myself once Bell was out of sight.

I need to find a good place to let Edias out while the sun is still out.

[Amusement. Warm. Love.]

…? Huh? What’s so amusing?

[... I am… Invisible… To everyone… Unless… I want… To be… Seen…]

I blink.

{Really?} I ask in confusion before I suddenly realize.

Cursed Spirits are invisible to most humans. Monsters aren’t exactly Cursed Spirits as they are fundamentally different in almost every possible way from actually Cursed Spirits.

I assumed that she’d be visible to everyone like all monsters since she’s from this world and the literal creator of monsters, but she’s actually closer to a Cursed Spirit than monsters actually are.

It makes sense that they’d struggle to actually see her now that I linked her directly to my Cursed Energy, something that is actually from JJK, basically making this avatar of hers work based on MY rules.

Wait.

{Edias, can you see my memories and stuff or only my feelings and emotions?} I ask curiously in my head through the link as she shifts inside of me.

[... No? … Only emotions… Maybe you… can show…?]

{I’ll show you true culture when we get home. Our home.} I stress the last part when I feel her get slightly sad and watch her brighten up happily while inside me.

I eventually reach an open roof with enough coverage to block the view of anyone that could possibly see Edias because I’m still certain higher leveled adventurers and possibly gods could see her.

“Okay, Edias. Come out...” I call out and watch Edias exit me hesitantly from behind me, on the opposite side of the sun.

She wraps her arms around me and pushes her face into my back while emitting a little bit of nervousness and anticipation.

Awww… Is she scared that something could happen if the sun touched her?

“Don’t worry, Edias. I’m with you.” I grab her small smooth hands and gently unwrap them from around me while turning around and hugging her between my own arms.

She pushes her face into my chest and grips my shirt as I kiss her on the forehead once and slowly turn us around until the sun is directly shining on Edias.

[... Nervous… Happy… Peaceful… Love… Love…]

[... Thank you… again…]

Her face looks up at me with a smile as I peck her on the lips and slowly turn her around to face the sun.

[... Can’t see… Idiot…]

I freeze at her words before quickly facepalming and groaning at my idiocy while she ‘giggled’ at me.

I quickly deepen our link’s connection and stare at the sun like a maniac while transmitting my sight to her as I watch her freeze in my arms.

“... How about now?” I whisper in her ear while still staring at the sun and begin running my fingers through her hair calmingly while using my other hand to hold her closer to me.

She stays silent and leans back further into me as I hug her closer and stare at the sun together with her peacefully.

The sun was already close to sundown, so we were now staring at the sunset together as the orange sky slowly dimmed and the sun fell lower and lower.

[... Beautiful… The most… beautiful… I’ve ever… seen…]

Edias finally speaks as the sun nears the end of its cycle today and we could barely see half of it now.

I kiss the back of her head and tighten my hold on her. “Actually, that statement belongs to you.” I tease lightly as she lights up in embarrassment and pinches my arm.

[... S-shut up…]

“Never~” I laugh and kiss her head again as she grumbled and closed her eyes to focus more on my own vision so she can see the last rays of sunlight.

“... We’ll see it every day. Together. The moon and stars too. Whatever you want, whenever you want.” I whisper to her as the sun finally dims and the sky slowly darkens into the night.

Edias looked a bit crestfallen when the sun finally left, so I did my best to cheer her up as she smiled and turned around to hug me.

[... Love you… more than… the world…]

She grabbed my face and pulled it down to hers as we softly kissed under the rising moon, not needing to say another word to each other to express our feelings.

We stood there making out for however long we needed to take for us to finally be satisfied as the cold breeze of the night gave us an excuse to huddle closer to each other despite our resistance to the cold.

We did not care if we were cold or not, all we cared about was how much warmth we could get from the other, how much closer we could get to other.

[... Your familia… is waiting… for you…]

Edias hesitantly stops our kiss and backs away as I purse my lips.

“They can wait.” I drag her back to me.

…

[Time Release: Timeskip no Jutsu]

I walk into the Hestia Familia Manor with my hands in my pockets and a small satisfied smile on my face as I close the door behind me and freeze in place.

… She’s still there.

[RAGE. WRATH. HATE. ANGER. DISDAIN. MURDEROUS.-]

{Please calm down, Edias. I cannot handle the repercussions of placing her in her place yet.} More than I already have, at least.

Hestia and Bell are sitting in the living room with Syr and happily chatting before they all glance at me and I watch Hestia’s face light up.

Syr’s gaze was brightly smiling before she laid her eyes on me, but once she did she suddenly froze with widened eyes.

“Mikey! I’m so happy to see you safe!” She runs at me and tackles me into a hug as I struggle to hold back Edias from coming out to stop her.

{That’s my goddess, Edias! Without her, I can’t grow stronger or do anything to get stronger. She’s also quite dear to me, so please try to get along with her despite her being a goddess.} I can feel Edias’s outrage but she stops trying to break out of my body as I breathe out a sigh of relief.

“I’m happy you’re safe as well, Hestia. I’m sorry I worried you.” I pat her on the head as I hug her small form and she hugs me back tightly.

“It’s okay, Mikey. I know you have stuff you need to do as the Familia Captain, and I won’t stop you from doing it as long as you come back safely every day.” I smile warmly and pat her on the head as Bell smiles at me with closed eyes while Syr readjusts her face and giggles at me (the bitch).

I feel Edias’s mood surrounding Hestia calm down slightly once she hears her words.

[... She is… Acceptable…]

“I have no intention of ever dying, so you do not need to worry about that.” I let go of Hestia as she rubs her eyes a little bit and quickly drags me to the couch while looking at Syr and gaining a look of realization.

I think she just remembered what happened earlier today as she let go of me and gave me a dirty glare.

… Bruh.

{Thank you, Edias. I have such an understanding girl~} I mentally ‘hug’ Edias happily as she grumbles but reciprocates.

“Oh! Syr came to visit us while we were at the dungeon and sat with our goddess for a bit.” Bell suddenly ‘realizes’ as I stop my lips from twitching at him.

Syr and Hestia fail though as they cover their smiles. The former definitely failed to do it on purpose though, she’s too good at acting to not be able to control her facial expressions easily.

“I see. It’s good to see you again, Syr.” I comment dryly with a blank stare and then almost facepalm at Hestia’s suddenly appalled stare and Syr’s pout.

They just noticed that lie.

[Amusment.]

{You be quiet. Hmph.} She hugged me with amusement (figuratively) as I cleared my throat to change the subject.

“It’s good to see you as well Mikey! It’s been days since we last saw each other.” I almost roll my eyes at that but notice Hestia staring at Syr with a slightly edged look.

Oh shit. She didn’t detect a lie because Syr is another goddess, but she knows that that was a lie.

Looking at Syr’s eyes I can tell that she noticed that she messed up herself and seems to want to change the subject quickly as she stands up with some sort of plastic bag in her hand.

What’s that? I sense something inside of it.

“Ah! I believe I have overstayed my welcome with how many hours I’ve been here, I wouldn’t want to bother you all any longer. Mikey, may we speak privately for a moment?” I’m getting a bit of deja vu here…

[Anger. Hate. Denial. Hate. Disdain.]

[... Kill her… Please…?]

My eyebrows twitch as the serial killer in my head begs me to kill a goddess that is currently asking to speak to me in a private sound-proofed room.

{No.} I roll my eyes mentally and deny Edias as she pouts.

“Sure thing. Please wait for me here, Bell, Hestia.” I nod to the duo as they enthusiastically give me a thumbs up, less so for Hestia as she’s too busy staring at Syr with furrowed brows.

I take Syr into a private room (that just so happens to be the one I cornered little Lefiya in, hehe~) and close the door behind me just in time for Syr to suddenly jump me from behind.

“What have you done!? Your soul has changed so drastically…” She inhales my scent with palpable intensity while placing her lips on the back of my neck and biting.

[MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER. MURDER.-]

I ignore Edias for now as I furrow my brows in confusion at Syr’s words.

Soul changed? Because of Toge leaving? Or is it Edias’s presence?

I forcefully turn around and grasp Syr in my arms as she moans (for some reason) and pushes her face into my chest, nuzzling it.

“What do you mean changed? How has it changed?” I demand from her as she rubs her face against me more and smiles.

“Mmm… It’s… so beautiful… It’s like you took an artistic abstract art masterpiece and actually deciphered and drew it normally as an even greater art piece… The clashing Platinum outer layer no longer exists over the entrancing Purple inside, instead… They’ve combined completely… It’s like staring at a whole new color on the most beautiful painting in existence with the color itself being the most beautiful color in existence… Your soul… I do not know if I can hold back anymore…” Syr begins unwillingly releasing her charm ability as I watch her face try to hold herself back but fail miserably as she grabs my face and pulls it to her level while pushing hers as deep into my lips as she can.

… I don’t feel myself being charmed? I can think rationally and still want her the fuck off of me.

… Indomitable Will? Nice.

As soon as our lips connect Freya freezes and pulls her face back in shock.

I furrow my brows in confusion before her lips twist into a knowing smirk that worries me to no end.

“Ho~? To leave me alone in bed after forcing me to lose my mind to pleasure and then have an affair with a different woman while I’m still stuck in bed…” I freeze at her words as her smile widens. “You truly are a playboy just as your goddess said!”

[... How does… she know…? Stupid… annoying… goddess…]

I ignore Edias’s grumbles in my head despite mentally agreeing as I stare at Syr with twitching eyebrows.

“Oh?~ Wondering how I know, are you? I am a goddess of love. I can easily feel the signs of all the ‘loving’ you did with your lips after you left me alone in bed.” She pouts by the end of it but I ignore it in favor of glaring at her with narrowed eyes.

“Awww don’t be like that!~ I don’t mind as long as you give me my fill~ I already know that a man like you will attract girls by the dozens once you’re stronger. After all, you’re as strong as high level 3 and low level 4 already despite only being level 2!” I freeze again, looking at her with shock as she giggled at me while smugly smirking and covering it with her hand.

How the fuck does she know how powerful I am? I am certain she’s never looked at my status before as I’ve always kept my senses to the max when updating them. Plus, she shouldn’t even know how strong I am even IF she saw it because my real strength is not quantified by the Falna.

“Hehe~ You’re now wondering how I know how strong you are despite not ever looking at your falna, right? Your reactions are sooooo cute~” She teases me and pecks my lips as my face darkens.

She brings a hand up and moves my hair away from my eyes while looking at me with a glint in her eyes that wasn’t there before. “You see, my Mikey… I can tell how strong an Adventurer is just by looking at their soul…” She begins whispering in my ear sensually as I don’t pause my glaring.

She ignores it however and continues. “You yourself have a much more complicated soul than all others, which makes it harder to make out your exact strength…” She smirked and leaned in right next to my ear. “... Which is why I used a little strategy named ‘guessing’.”

My glare could not gain any more heat as I felt Edias rampage inside of me to escape and kill this bitch.

It seems Syr noticed as well as her eyebrows furrowed slightly despite her smile and she seemed to have been looking elsewhere despite staring me straight in the eyes.

“... What is it that’s inside of you and so… powerful? I believed you to have just grown a second, more powerful ‘Cursed Energy’ container…. Yet…” She muttered in confusion while trailing her fingers over my face gently.

“That’s none of your business. I believe we’ve spoken enough for today.” I decide with finality while moving her hand away from my face. “Though if I could have it my way, that would be enough interaction with you for a year.” I grind out through gritted teeth as Freya’s smile turns slightly into a frown.

“Mmm… There’s no need for such hate, no? I don’t remember doing something that warrants such an intense reaction…” She moves her hand back on my face without a care as my glare intensifies.

“Try being in a situation where you’re being blackmailed into being someone’s toy with the threat of the strongest adventurer possibly coming to kidnap you and force you into being a slave and take you away from your family if you attempt to resist. After that, come back to me and tell me if you still think you’ve done nothing.” Her eyes widen slightly as her frown deepens.

[Hate. Agree. Murder.]

“... I did not think about it that way, but that is how this currently looks… no?” She mutters sadly while gently rubbing my face with her hand.

I roll my eyes at her words before she suddenly kneels and I almost have a heart attack.

Oh, she’s grabbing something from the plastic bag that was in her hand. Whew.

Dodged a bullet there. I don’t think I could’ve held Edias back if Freya began giving me the gluck-gluck 9000.

[... You would… not have… been able… to.]

Edias’s wry voice sounds out as I suddenly realize I must have transmitted that into our link accidentally.

Gotta make sure I don’t do that in the future. That could be a recipe for disaster.

“Here. This should be a good way to compensate you for all of the ‘blackmailing’ I did to you.” She pushes two fancy-looking books into my hands and I promptly freeze upon glancing at them once.

… These are grimoires…

Holy fucking shit. These are grimoires.

I know she gave one to Bell in the show, but I expected her to not bother with me since I already had magic so she didn’t need to worry about not training my magic before leveling up.

Wait… Why two?

My eyes widened in realization.

This… How the hell can she predict me so easily?

“Hehe~ I see you already understood why I gave you two Grimoires instead of just one?” She asks in a teasing tone while arching forward slightly to smile up at me ‘cutely’.

“Because I would’ve given any grimoire I got to Bell so he can train his magic stat up before leveling up.” I answer her with an aggrieved glare as she giggled at me like I was being an unruly child.

“Yep! You got it in one! Would you like a reward?~” She says the last sentence with lust as I blankly turn away from her and stare at the grimoires.

“... How much did these cost you?” I ask her seriously as she pouts at how I ignored her.

“Mmm... Doesn’t matter. Just take it!~” I glare at her and step right in front of her face.

“How much did these cost?” I slowly word out every part of my question as she pouts at me again but sighs.

“Maybe 600 million Valis? I got them some time ago and kept them in my room to use when I felt like it. I saw them the other day and thought that I should give them to you as a congratulatory gift for leveling up~” She hugged me happily as my glare died down slightly into a heated stare instead.

I sighed. “Let it be known that I am a man that repays his debts. I will not kill you once I surpass your familia despite how you treated me.” I stared down at her with irritation as she looked up at me with a sad smile.

“You do not need to hate me so passionately… All I wish to do is love you with all of my heart… Is that so wrong…?” She asks with vulnerable eyes as I almost narrowed mine.

She has to be acting, right?

“As long as the other person you wish to love actually loves you back… No. There’s nothing wrong with it.” I answer with slight sharpness as her eyes widen slightly and her smile brightens up.

For… some reason?

“... That’s all I have to do…? I see…” She pushes her face into my chest and hugs me tightly as I continue standing in confusion.

What does she have to do?? Huh???

[... Grumble… Annoyance… ]

[... Stupid…]

…? What now?? I’m so confused…

Wait, am I being a clueless MC right now or something?

Okay, let’s review what I just said and analyze-

Syr brought her lips back on mine one last time before quickly moving past me and out of the door while giggling.

“I’ll see you soon, my Mikey. Wait for me~” She whispered to me with a bright smile and then quickly made for the door before I can react.

Well, I can definitely react, but I just don’t know what I should be reacting to at the moment.

I eventually make my way out of the room and into the living room as Hestia and Bell smile at me while gesturing for me to sit.

“Syr left a bit ago after saying she had places to be and that she wished us a good night. Did you want to update your falna or eat dinner first?” Judging by Hestia’s drooling, she expected me to cook and wanted to eat first herself.

… At least she’s giving me the illusion of choice?

“I wanted to show you guys a few important things first.” I stare at Hestia from the edge of my vision seriously as she blinked and then nodded seriously while composing herself and staring at the curious Bell.

“Ah? What’s up Mikey?” He tilts his head and I cough in my fists and poke Edias inside of me.

{Your time to shine, Edias. Make sure to make a good impression, wouldn’t want you to be on bad terms with the in-laws.} I tease lightly as she ‘blushes’ and grumbles before materializing next to me.

Judging by how Bell is still staring at me in confusion while Hestia is staring at the seat next to me with alarm, my earlier theory of gods being able to see Edias has been confirmed.

“Everyone, I’d like to formally introduce you all to my girlfriend, Edias.” Edias turns to look at me with horror before quickly materializing so Bell can see her while adjusting her hair to look as good as she can.

Which is pointless. She always looks the best.

Bell jumps out of his seat and points at Edias with a shocked face while his mouth moves to say anything but doesn’t say anything.

Hestia is currently staring at Edias with a pale face and horror strewn on it, probably because she thought Edias was just shit Bell made up to make her laugh at how I hug the dungeon and whatnot.

“T-t-t-the DUNGEON IS HERE?!?!?” If I didn’t have the house sound-proofed long ago, I would’ve choked Hestia to death for her big mouth.

Edias shrunk down slightly at Hestia’s reaction and I quickly wrapped my right arm around her and brought her closer to my chest while giving Hestia that glare.

Hestia sat down faster than lightspeed and quickly picked a teacup up while filling it with tea and teleporting next to Edias with a bright smile and an offered cup of tea.

“It’s so nice to meet you Edias! I’ve heard so much about you! I’m so happy to have you here!” Edias wordlessly took the offered cup of tea as Hestia blitzed back into her seat with a sweet smile.

[... She was… lying…]

HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE.

First of all. EDIAS HAS A LIE DETECTOR LIKE THE GODS???

Second of all. IT WORKS ON THE FUCKING GODS???

{Edias you have a lie detector??? Since when??} I ask in shock as she pushes her face into my chest in embarrassment while holding the teacup in her hand.

[... Forever… You never… ever lied… to me… Love you…]

I struggle and fail to hold back my blush as I both realize how terribly I could’ve messed up without that knowledge, and also because of how cute my Edias is being right now.

Hestia seems to have noticed as she smirked at me despite still glancing at Edias nervously.

I clear my throat. “Hestia, Edias has a lie detector that works on gods.” Hestia paled and began glancing at Edias in fear. “Also please stop looking at my girl like that, she’s not gonna hurt you. She knows that you mean too much to me and won’t ever harm you unless you do something to her first.” Hestia blinked at me as I hugged Edias close to me before nodding in amusement.

“I see… I apologize for my reactions then, Edias. I had thought you’d want to murder me for being a goddess.” Hestia quickly apologized to Edias and I notice Edias happily smiled and nodded to her after glancing back for a second.

I’m happy to see that Hestia doesn’t mind Edias as soon as she knows that Edias wouldn’t hurt her. This is why Hestia is Bestia. One of the most understanding Goddesses (as long as you smack her out of her dumbassery ASAP) and one of the most caring ones as well.

“U-uhm… N-nice to meet you, Miss Edias. I-I’ve been in your care, so uhm… T-thank you?” Bell hesitantly started as Edias smirked and nodded to him as well while drinking her tea in one gulp before simply devouring the cup as well.

… I’m gonna have to teach her a lot of stuff…

Bell and Hestia sheepishly smiled at her as Edias looked around in confusion at the sudden change of mood.

“Ahem. Anyways, I made a connection between Edias and me when I was in the dungeon that will allow me a lot of power thanks to my amazing Edias’s capabilities.-” I quickly kissed Edias on the head as she stared up at me in horror while Hestia smiled teasingly and Bell blushed up a storm at our PDA. “- Some of these capabilities include the ability to store objects inside of-” Hestia quickly dashed out of her seat and pushed her hands on my mouth with a glare as I deadpanned at her while pushing my hand inside of Edias’s hair and pulling out a beautiful looking falcon sword under Hestia’s disbelieving and then embarrassed gaze.

Bell looked at Hestia in confusion as she quickly walked away from me with shame before he looked back at me and started staring at the sword I took half out of Edias in awe. “That’s amazing! Mikey, Edias, you too are amazing!”

Edias blinked once before she turned to me with a slightly embarrassed expression as I returned the same one.

{... You get used to it. Show him the littlest of tricks and he’ll praise you like you’re a literal goddess and showed him salvation.} She scrunched her nose at the notion of being looked at like a goddess but then looked at me incredulously as I wryly smiled at her.

“Thank you, Bell. Now, another thing she can help us with is that she can take us from anywhere in the dungeon back up to the first floor as long as we enter her walls.” Hestia’s and Bell’s faces grew shocked at my words, probably understanding what that means. “That severely cuts down the amount of time we have to waste coming back to the surface alongside giving us more time to spend in the dungeon.”

Edias puffs her chest out happily as I suddenly blink.

“You think you could give Edias a falna?” Everyone’s faces turned to look at me with so much horror you’d think I drowned a group of puppies in cold blood while smiling like a maniac.

[... NO.]

“N-no!”

“OH HELL NO.”

I think you can all guess who said what.

“Huh. Oh well. Anyways as I was saying.” They all continued staring at me like I was crazy while I just hid my smirk as best as I can.

Edias sighed and brought my face down while giving me a peck on the nose as Hestia and Bell blushed at the continuous PDA.

[... Idiot… My idiot…]

I’m not blushing... You are.

How about you get a girl to call you that before looking at me like that, huh!?!? Valentine's just passed. I bet you were spending your time alone crying while I made out with Edias!

Wait… Fourth wall break. My memory goes goodby-

“Bell, if you’re ever in inescapable danger, call out to Edias and jump into a wall. She’ll open a hole for you to enter and escape. Use this only as a last resort, understand?” Bell’s eyes widened but he nodded with a small smile as I turned to Edias and leaned in next to her face.

“You don’t mind, right?” I whisper to her and she smiled and quickly shook her head.

“T-thank you for taking care of me, Miss Edias.” Edias slowly turned to me with a deadpan.

[... Tell the… rabbit boy… to stop… the Miss…]

“She says to tell the rabbit boy to stop saying miss.” I turn back to Bell as he blushed at ‘rabbit boy’ before quickly nodding.

“Y-yes. Sorry, E-edias.” She nodded happily to me before nodding to him.

“Well guys, as unofficial as it technically is, we’ve got our fourth Familia Member here today! She’s technically linked to me so we’re one but it counts!” Everyone raised their hands in celebration as Edias quickly pushed her face into my chest at being called ‘one’ with me with embarrassment.

My shy dungeon waifu is too cute~

“Welcome to our familia, Edias!” Hestia cheered loudly as Bell followed suit and I laughed happily.

Edias pushed her face deeper into me but could not hide the happy smile on her face.

[... Joy. Merry. Glad.]

[... H-happy to… be here…]

“We’re happy to have you here as well, Edias.” I subtly let the others know what Edias said as they nodded and Edias hugged me with a smile.

We all sat down and talked for a while, simply enjoying the lively presence of the group as we spoke.

“By the way, what are the two books you have with you, Mikey? They look very fancy!” Bell suddenly asks an important question (which is very unlike him) as I sigh and take one out with a smile.

“Bell, I have a gift for you to reward you for all of the efforts you’ve put into your training the last couple of weeks.” I suddenly announce as Bell’s eyes sparkle and Hestia looks at me questioningly.

Probably thinks I should’ve told her first before doing something like this, but this kinda sprung up on me as well. Sorry, Hestia.

Edias smiled wryly at me as I shushed her and gave her a kiss on the cheek ‘discreetly’.

They noticed, but other than some light blushes they didn’t comment.

I put the book in front of me and beckoned Bell to move closer as he does and takes the book in my hands.

“This is a grimoire worth 300 million Valis.” I suddenly announce as Hestia and Bell freeze and pale into oblivion as Bell’s grip on the book somehow becomes shaky yet as firm as one can be.

“W-WHAT!?!?” Hestia shouts out first.

“W-WHAT!?!?” Bell follows suit second.

“What?” I decide to join in on the fun.

[... What…? Hehe…]

I hold back the urge to hug my Edias as she also decides to join in on the fun like the cutie that she is.

Hestia takes a deep breath and rubs her temples as Bell struggles not to collapse, only achieving that impossible feat by remembering that he currently holds a 300 million Valis Grimoire in his hands.

“Michael… Why- How did you get your hands on a 300 million Valis Grimoire…” Hestia asks ‘calmly’ as I smirked in anticipation of what I’m about to do.

[... Stupid idiot… Do it… Funny…]

[Amusement.]

Edias truly understands the way of the ‘do it for the funny’.

“I didn’t.” I announce as they both look confused while I take the other book and place it on my lap. “I got my hands on TWO Grimoires worth 300 million Valis each.”

They both lost all color in their bodies, from hair to skin to even eyes.

Though that doesn’t mean much in Bell’s case, he’s literally white in every single way except his eyes.

They both lifelessly collapse onto the couch, Bell flailing around with the Grimoire and barely placing it safely on the table before falling face-first into the pillows.

“... Did I go too far, Edias?” I turn my head to the beauty sitting next to me as she smirks and nods.

[... Yes.]

“Was it worth it?” I smirk as her smirk widens into a grin.

[... Yes.]

“Agreed. It was.” I grab her and quickly place a few pecks on her lips as she blushes in a very animated way before reciprocating.

“Y-Y-Y-YOU TWO!?!?!! YOU DO NOT JUST DUMP THAT ON SOMEONE, REFUSE TO ELABORATE, AND THEN BEGIN MAKING OUT IN FRONT OF US!!!” Hestia indignantly begins screaming as I ignore her and kiss Edias more despite her protests and explosive embarrassment because of how we’re doing it in front of Hestia and Bell.

This is my fucking revenge over how many times I’ve had to either be your third-wheel or wingman, Hestia. Suffer under the unstoppable PDA me and Edias are going to be committing from now on.

I side-eye Hestia for a second with a smug glint in my eye as she realizes my intent and stares at me with horror as I grab the shy Edias and pull her closer to me.

Bell seems to have lost all the life in his body as I watch him lay down flat on the couch.

Hestia places her hands in front of her eyes to block us from her vision but immediately begins peeking through her fingers as I begin using my tongue with Edias.

[... CEASE… CEASE… CEASE… CEASE… CEASE…]

Edias is a broken record right now and keeps repeating that in my head while pushing herself deeper into the kiss, contrary to what she’s asking for in the link.

I eventually break the kiss as a trail of saliva extends between our lips, lewdly bridging between our lips as I hear Hestia collapse from where she’s sitting.

[... Indignation. Embarrassment. Shame. Desire. Lust. Love.]

[... Stupid… Idiot… Ha- Dislike y-you… S-sorry… Joking… Love you…]

I begin acting sad for a split moment before Edias switches out of her Tsundere mode and lovingly hugs me while hiding herself from Hestia and Bell.

I suddenly blink as I realize how badly this is gonna corrupt Bell.

Oh well. He needs to grow up eventually, and if his parents didn’t traumatize him when he was young by ‘doing it’ with the door open, then I have to take the mantle and do it instead as the older brother.

It is my duty, and my destiny.

“Heh. Alright, enough drama now. Bell stop acting dead or I’ll make you see death tomorrow during training.” Bell sat up so fast you’d think he ate a 1-up mushroom.

“I am awake and ready to do whatever needs to be done.” He intones in a serious voice that is only slightly tainted by fear.

“Good. Now, reading this grimoire will grant you the magic of your desire, but there are some drawbacks to this.” Bell focuses on me seriously as Hestia also rises to look at me seriously.

“Everyone calm down, it’s not detrimental to anything other than your future progress. Now, the problem here is that this grimoire gives you magic that defines YOU. Or fits you the most in a way.” Bell tilts his head in confusion, not seeing the problem.

I sigh. “The problem is Bell. You’re dumb.” Bell collapses into the ground in pain before remembering my earlier threat and sitting up with a pale face.

“Hey, that’s uncalled for!” Hestia stands up angrily to defend ‘her’ Bell as I turn my gaze towards her and she immediately sits down silently with a polite smile and a teacup in her hand that she sips on in a polished way.

[... Whipped.]

… Oh my god I am so proud of my Edias right now.

I quickly raise her head from my chest, give her a peck on the lips, and set her back down.

Wow, we really are going to commit mass PDA now that we’re together. I cannot wait.

[... Idiot…]

Love you too~

“As I was saying, the problem with using a grimoire like this one is that they are usually made for people with advanced magical knowledge that can easily gain magic with considerable power.” Bell makes a sound of understanding and relief as he realizes I wasn’t just calling him dumb, but rather uneducated in magic studies.

He’s wrong though. I am just calling him dumb. Because he’s a dumbass.

“I see… then what should I do?” He looks at me with hope in his eyes, probably thinking that I have a plan to fix this issue.

And I do, because I’m that good.

“I cannot give an exact solution to this as even I myself don’t have very extensive magical knowledge, only enough to know what I should do.” Bell looks slightly downtrodden. “But.” He pipes back up and looks at me with more hope. “I can offer you some advice to ensure you get something useful.”

Bell is now sitting in seiza position in front of Edias and me with a notepad in his hands, a pen firmly held with the other hand, and a gaze that all teachers wished they could see in their students every day.

“It’s not much, but it’s my personal view on magic.” I begin. “Magic is a powerful tool that can be used for many things. Utility, Healing, Defense, Attack, and much more. It can be used as a way to craft powerful items, unstick yourself out of a sticky situation, or maybe even do cool tricks like breathing underwater. It can be used to remove poison from someone’s body, heal them from near death, and even make new limbs if you’re powerful enough. It can also create a shield for you and your allies to hide behind, fortify items and buildings, and even counterspell magic.” I pause for but a second before moving to the last point.

“Lastly, attack magic. If you do go with that route, you’re going the route of sheer destruction. The route of the unstoppable force, the dauntless thunderstorm, the unending whirlpools, the almighty firestorms, and maybe even the immovable earth. Whatever element you choose, it must have the subtlety of a thunderstorm, the relentlessness of a tsunami, the destructive power of a fiery meteor, and the inflexibility of a boulder.” I end my tirade of bullshit spewing to hopefully get Bell a better spell than that fucking flame bolt cantrip he had for the 3 fucking levels I saw in the series.

I mostly just tried to sound informative while really just giving him delusions of massive power when it comes to destructive magic so he can get something much stronger. Here’s hoping his admiration for me affects his little chibi inside that book thing that gave him magic.

“That is all I will be giving you. Now, get to reading.” I order him without any room for negotiation as he quickly picks the book up and opens it only to fall unconscious the next moment and faceplant into the ground.

“BELL!?!?” Hestia screams out as I place Edias next to me while angling her to the side and laying the back of my head on her chest before opening the book and feeling sleep overtake my consciousness.

…

…

[???]

I ‘wake’ in a dark world, with nothing to illuminate my path or guide my way in the never-ending expanses of darkness surrounding every inch of my vision.

I sit in silence as my dull eyes stare at the endless abyss, waiting for something.

Eventually, something appears as bubbles begin passing by me by the hundreds, ignoring the little area I sit on and instead curve around and avoiding me like the plague as I look at what’s inside of them.

I watch silently as… people… things… items… weapons… everything I could ever imagine, inanimate and not passes by me without ever sparing me a single glance.

No matter how much I reach out to the beautiful golden-hilted weapon with red veins or run to it with reckless abandon, I am unable to move even a single step of the way towards it.

No matter how much I struggle to touch the golden apple, wishing to taste but a single bite, it always seemed just a little bit too far for me to reach.

No matter how much I desired the beautiful set of demonic plate black armor floating before me, I could never jump high enough to touch even the closest edge of even the boots.

Yet… when I felt the dark figure standing out of my sight, always standing behind me no matter how much I turned my head to look at it… I refused to allow myself to let it go, no matter what.

When it eventually stopped looking at me and tried to leave me as all others did, I took a single breath, and I PULLED.

…

…

I feel a light feeling passing through my admittedly long hair in soft strokes.

It combed through my hair in a soothing way that lulled me close to sleep, yet prevalent enough that I couldn’t easily dismiss it and simply sleep without any worries.

I opened my eyes slowly and stared at the black eyes of my Edias with warmth as she continued running her soft and small hand through my hair, allowing my crown relaxation I have not felt since entering this world.

A blink and a slight tilt to the left alerted me of the sun rays shining through the windows of the manor, not yet bright enough to disturb me, signaling the emergence of the early sun.

I tilt my head back and stare at the person I feel at ease with most in this world with a small smile as she reciprocated my smile and gently ran her hands down my cheek with her free hand.

“... Good morning, Edias.” I speak first, muttering my words in a low voice fitting for a peaceful and quiet morning, very much like the current one I am happily living through.

[... Good morning… Mikey…]

I blink at the sound of my name through the link, only now realizing that this is the first time she said my name.

“As a celebration of you saying my name for the first time, can I get a good morning kiss? I’m too comfortable to move right now though, so you’ll have to bend down.” I have the barest hint of a smirk on my face as Edias huffs and smacks my forehead lightly.

[... Fine.]

She bent down in a very flexible way and gave me a peck on the cheek before rising again with a ‘flush’ on her cheeks. Mostly a slight grayness on the normally black cheek of hers.

So that’s how she blushes. I didn’t notice yesterday because I was too occupied with other stuff and the lack of light at night.

“Did you not sleep all night while giving me a lap pillow?” I furrow my brows with a frown as I ask this question before my face gains sudden realization and I don’t backtrack fast enough for Edias not to comment.

[... Stupid… I don’t… need to… sleep…]

She smirked at me as I (had totally not) pouted.

“My Edias bullies me too much. I demand justice and compensation!” I whine childishly as Edias huffs again. “Kisses and hugs now! Also, run your hand through my hair more.” I demand with ‘fierce’ eyes as Edias rolls her eyes and continues running her hand through my hair while massaging my head before bending down and giving me light kisses everywhere on my face.

Wait, I’m ignoring a very important fact right now.

“Thank you. Did I sleep all night after reading the book?” I ask with furrowed brows as Edias raises her head with a small smile.

[... Yes… Rabbit boy… woke up… midnight… You slept… until now…]

Bell woke up before me…? That can’t have been just a coincidence.

Why did he wake up before me? Is it because he opened the book before I did? But it was only by a single moment, not enough to make a difference…

Wait… What did happen once I opened my book?

… I don’t remember…

I don’t remember…

I don’t REMEMBER-

Edias suddenly bent down and kissed me on the lips, calming me out of my panicking.

[... You okay…? Emotions are… rampant…]

I smile at Edias’s concern and kiss her deeper as I try to remove the remaining anxiety floating through my chest over my memory loss.

Edias and I peacefully kiss for some time, not deepening or intensifying it more, simply enjoying the peaceful touch of the other as the sun rises higher and higher.

Eventually, we hear a loud yawn alongside light steps approaching the living room from the stairs and a drowsy Hestia enters the room.

“... Mmn, Good mornin’... Has Mikey woken up yet-” She froze at the scene of our kissing but then continued again unabashed, clearly aiming to do her best to ignore us in favor of anything else.

I break out of our kiss with a smirk as I finally remove my head from the glorious lap pillow of Edias and sit up properly to face Hestia.

“Mind giving me a Status Update? I need to see what I got.” I ask her lazily as Hestia grumbles but complies and makes her way to where I’m sitting as I take my shirt off.

I then lay my face into Edias’s thighs, already aware of how embarrassed both she and Hestia are at the moment.

“Stupid child…” Hestia grumbles and gets on my back.

[... Agree… Stupid idiot…]

[Embarrassment. Joy. Shy.]

“Edias agrees with you but you’re both wrong.” I muffledly speak through Edias’s amazing thighs as Edias’s embarrassment upsurges into the roof from the vibrations of my voice while Hestia snorts as she’s in the dark about what I’m doing with Edias right now.

Though, you can make a very good argument about me being in the dark right now. Heh.

I hum after a few moments of Hestia pressing stuff on my back, ignoring Edias’s rising embarrassment and shameful pleasure while Hestia stands right there.

“What the fuck!?” Hestia suddenly shouts out as Edias tilts her head in confusion.

“What?” I ask and Edias suddenly remembers her plight as she lowers her head shamefully and pushes my face down.

“You tell me! What the hell is this magic.”

Yes.

That is indeed what we all want to know.

What the hell is this magic?

…

…

Haha, losers. I finished this chapter’s editing in only a few hours after spending 24 hours struggling and failing to write a single chapter of my other story. I’m so built different it’s very epic.

This chapter is the Edias chapter with how much time was put into showing off the waifu’d dungeon. Hope you fuckers that kept threatening me with knives for more chapters with the best waifu are now satisfied, you got an entire chapter of almost all Edias.

I don’t really have much else to say so… Poggers.

Hello Patron homies! If I make a mistake in the format it's not because I'm dumb it's because I'm stupid. Sorry and I'll maybe fix it in the morning. If you do see a mistake then lmk in the comments so I spot it better. Have fun losers~