Chapter 1: The Sword Soul in the Labyrinth City
Labyrinth City Orario. The towering Babel stands in the city's central area, and the streets running through Orario divide the city into eight sections.
In the slum area in the eastern part of the city, it appears much more dilapidated compared to the bustling city.
Collapsed houses are visible everywhere, moss-covered stone brick roads, and weeds nearly half a person high along the roadsides highlight the decay.
In front of a completely abandoned church square, a somewhat slender young man's figure relentlessly swings an iron sword in his hand under the scorching sun.
Sweat has completely soaked his clothes as he repeats the practice of basic swordsmanship.
Slash, thrust, cleave, lift.
With each swing of the iron sword, it seems as if the young man's thin figure might collapse at any moment, but what is most striking is his left arm.
The skin glows with an unnatural white luster.
It's as if infected by some terrifying plague virus; under the sunlight, the sinister blood vessels hidden beneath the skin are clearly visible.
The demonic, eerie hand almost reaches his shoulder, stopped at the end by black manacles reinforced with iron chains.
If not for the restraint of the corrective device.
It's hard not to imagine to what extent the disease would eventually spread!
Rather than saying the black iron manacles are a restriction on the disease, it's more accurate to say they are a seal on some unspeakable existence.
Finishing the dull and tedious basic swordsmanship practice.
Liam Moon slowly exhales a turbid breath; physical exhaustion forces him to rest. When all his attention is focused on the practice of the way of the sword.
Time is like sand slipping through fingers, always passing by quietly.
"Is this the way of the sword?"
"It's truly easy to become engrossed in it," he can't help but sigh, but when he looks at the desolate scene of the abandoned church, his eyes hold a hint of melancholy.
As a transmigrator, Liam has been in this world for some time now.
As for the method of transmigration, it was very simple, no dramatic clichés involved, just a stroke of "good luck" when he went out to buy breakfast after pulling an all-nighter.
And then he arrived in this overall familiar world of DanMachi.
He was taken in by a black-haired, blue-eyed girl who called herself a "goddess," and at her enthusiastic invitation, he joined the Hestia Familia.
Becoming a dependant of a god.
As an anime fan, Liam learned more about Familias through Hestia's explanation; they are factions composed of gods and lower-world beings.
Gods bestow their grace (Falna) upon lower-world beings, established around labor and money.
There are significant differences in scale and nature, but only when both Familia members and a god exist can it be called a Familia.
As for the core setting of the Falna, he is, of course, aware.
After receiving a god's Falna, one obtains something like a "status panel," and ability scores are displayed on the dependant's back.
The key is being able to possess an "Excelia."
It's roughly about developing the potential within the human body, slowly excavating it, including abilities like magic, skills, and so on.
Adventurers also have level classifications to define their specific strength.
Liam Moon, he is currently a Level 1 adventurer in the Hestia Familia.
Of course.
He is also the only adventurer in the Familia.
Joining at the very beginning of the Familia's establishment, developing from scratch with no companions, isn't a hellish start for Liam as a transmigrator.
After all, transmigrators naturally come with a cheat system, which is also the direct cause of his left arm's demonic transformation.
"Sword Soul Template."
It's from a certain "conscientious" game operated by a "conscientious" company in his previous life, where every day was filled with 70,000 (a meme related to the game's difficulty/grind), the once massively popular Dungeon Fighter Online.
As one of the 8 million DNF champions before transmigrating, even pulling all-nighters was for team raids, so carrying a "Sword Soul Template" with him.
Liam figures this is quite reasonable.
Good news: He transmigrated to a Dungeon world carrying a game class template.
Bad news: It's the Dungeon in the Labyrinth City Orario.
The cheat's function is very concise; it provides the Sword Soul class template, discarding systems like costumes, enhancements, etc., and retaining the subsequent functions.
A pure level and skill system.
Gain experience points to level up, obtain SP (Skill Points), and after meeting the requirements, one can learn various skills of the "Sword Soul" class.
Take the essence, discard the dross!
"Liam Moon"
"Level: 1"
"Experience: 0%"
"Skill: Secret Sword Art"
"SP: 0"
For this kind of cheat that discards cumbersome pay-to-win functions and only retains the level and skill system, Liam's favorability is maxed out.
If there's anything to complain about, it's the acquisition of experience points.
Having left behind the various quests and dungeons of the Arad continent, how to raise the level of the Sword Soul template has become particularly crucial!
"Experience points."
"Monsters also exist in the Dungeon. I just don't know if I can get experience points after killing them and raise the Sword Soul class level?"
"Then again, when will I finally be able to truly start adventuring?"
Liam can't help but think of that lively and cheerful goddess who doesn't put on any divine airs, impoverished and without financial strength.
Yet, she always tries to act mature, Goddess Hestia.
When he first joined the Familia, she muttered, "Liam-kun is my dependant, there will be a place to live, and there will be food!"
Although immediately after, he was brought to the slums.
After discovering the abnormality in his left hand, she would still pat her chest and say: "Even if I have to work part-time, I will save enough Valis to help you get treatment." "Taking care of dependants is a god's responsibility!"
"."
"Your injuries haven't even fully healed, how could I possibly feel at ease letting you adventure in the Dungeon?"
Hestia had said such things many times. Towards the goddess who took him in, unreliable yet possessing a strong sense of responsibility.
It all overlapped with her image from the original work in his previous life; he couldn't bring himself to dislike her no matter what.
Even if the material conditions weren't particularly abundant, at least Liam felt quite comfortable here, barely managing to consider the dangers in times of peace.
His desire for strength also became increasingly urgent.
He couldn't possibly rely on a goddess working part-time to support him, could he?
According to the Dungeon's settings, after killing monsters, they drop magic stones and materials, which can be exchanged for Valis at the Adventurer's Guild.
To have a place of his own in this DanMachi world.
Not only does he need money.
Strength is an indispensable element!
At this moment, at the other end of the church path, a young girl in a white dress is walking briskly towards the Familia's home.
Her youthful appearance wavers between that of a young lady and a girl.
Her overly proper, beautiful face is both endearing and heroic; at least, Liam has never seen such a beautiful face.
Her smooth black hair is tied into twin tails, and her somewhat childish girlish face is paired with an extremely unreasonable figure.
She wears white sleeves on both hands and is holding a box full of fried potatoes.
Hestia.
In a sense, she is also a legendary goddess in Orario, known by many adventurers on North Main Street as a "natural disaster," a poor god in various senses.
She notices the young man sitting in front of the church.
Is he waiting for her?
Hestia's heartfelt smile becomes even brighter, and she waves from afar, "Liam-kun, let's end the training here for today!"
"There are quite a few ingredients left over from the stall today."
"Freshly made fried potato pieces, sprinkled with a little salt and pepper for seasoning." Without any divine airs, after arriving at the abandoned church.
She naturally sits down beside Liam, opening the paper box that is still steaming.
Her jade-like hands, covered by white sleeves, reveal a gentle and delicate nature, her fingers long and well-proportioned. Considering Liam's inconvenient left hand.
Hestia gently skewers a piece of fried potato with a bamboo skewer and brings it directly to his mouth.
However, this time, the feeding didn't go as smoothly as usual.
".Lady Hestia, I have something I want to tell you." Without deliberately distancing himself from the goddess, Liam turns to look at her.
"It's something very important."
"."
"Are you tired of eating fried potatoes every day?" Hestia asks softly, her tone containing complex nervousness.
She doesn't dare to think in the worst direction.
But this is something she must face. From Liam's perspective, his talent could allow him to join those powerful Familias.
To obtain much better conditions and treatment.
There's absolutely no need to live a hard life with her here, residing in the basement of an abandoned church, eating these cheap foods every day.
She doesn't harbor self-deceiving thoughts; the facts are as they are.
She tries hard to calm her emotions, thinking that a qualified goddess should consider her dependant's future!
The process of becoming a qualified goddess is difficult, but persisting for just this little while, Hestia feels she should be able to do it.
"Liam-kun."
"I respect your choice."
"Really?"
Liam is stunned upon hearing this, not expecting the process to be so smooth. "Lady Hestia, I want to go to the Dungeon to start adventuring."
"After all."
"To become a true swordsman, one must experience battle."
"Huh?"
The sudden turn of events leaves Hestia astonished. Looking at Liam's crimson eyes, pure and incredibly serious.
The heart that was hanging in suspense finally settles.
Inevitably curious about the motive for his request to adventure, her expression gradually becomes serious as she asks, "Can you tell me the real reason?"
"Liam-kun."
"Improving strength is quite crucial in the Labyrinth City Orario."
"Moreover."
Liam shrugs helplessly, his tone embarrassed, "As your dependant, I really can't accept relying on a goddess working part-time to make a living."
(End of this chapter)