Extracting the magic stones from all of the dead killer ants, took longer for me than drawing them in and slaughtering them.
I mean, I'm totally new to all this and just rip the corpses apart with my hands, so it's not exactly optimal, and I've only been doing this for five days, so my inexperience shows quite a bit in this regard.
But still, adding up all the time I spent looting magic stones from my kills, from the first floor down to the seventh floor pantry was well over two hours, possibly closing in, or surpassing three hours.
When taking into account my trek all the way down here and time spent fighting, I've probably spent a good six or so hours down here.
I hadn't worn my watch before I ended up in this place I'd forgotten it before heading out that very morning, and I wasn't exactly going to bring my precious phone down here, now was I?
So keeping track of time was a pain.
Sighing to myself, I crunched down on the last magic stone I ripped out of the final killer ant corpse remaining, and decided to head on up back to the surface.
'Considering how nasty I must smell right now because of all this blood, I'll need a shower before meeting up with Hestia.' I mused. I'd left rough at nine in the morning to come here, so if my estimates were right, it was somewhere around three in the afternoon.
I was meeting up with my goddess not far from where she worked at a jagamarukun stall, some kind of fried potato snack stall, at around half five.
So I had roughly two and a half hours to get topside, have a shower, and make myself presentable for my date with her. I know there's a shopping district over there, and quite a few clothing shops as well according to Hestia.
And her favourite bookstore was on the same street.
'Good thing the guild has showers for adventurers.' I mused.
Though I'm not sure what I'll do with my armour.
Well, I'll think of something. I can probably just jump back home and leave it at the church if I'm quick enough anyway.
I trekked back through the seventh floor towards the staircase leading back up to the sixth floor.
Along the way, very few monsters spawned. Much less than I was used to, just a few needle rabbits that were simple and easy to kill.
The last one I killed, had tried to burst out of the way right beside the staircase.
Its corpse now hung half inside the wall, half out, dangling pitifully. A single punch to the face had crunched its little furry skull.
Just as I pulled its chest open and retrieved its magic stone, forcing the corpse to turn to dust, I heard voices echoing from behind me.
"Heh, sure is quiet today on the way back up," a male laughed, "Good thing for you, huh useless? Can't imagine a little weakling like you can handle walking for long."
"Lili is grateful for your concern Mr. Ged, Lili will make sure not to disappoint you." A small, light voice replied submissively.
I stopped, my eyes blinking once in surprise.
I recognise that voice, a female voice specifically, and one referring to themselves in the third person.
"See that you don't," The now named Ged scoffed, "Honestly, I don't even know why I bother with a piece of shit like you. All you're good for is carrying my crap, as if that's worth even five percent of my loot, never mind ten!"
"Lili apologises for stepping out of t-"
"Ugh, just shut the fuck up you stupid little bitch, that annoying little voice of yours is so grating." Ged cut Lili's apology off, and I heard him grumbling a moment later as footsteps began to echo louder and louder.
I turned around and watched as two figures approached out of the passage I'd just come from myself.
I hadn't seen them anywhere on the seventh floor. So it's safe to assume they were at least down at the eighth before coming back up.
My eyes fell on a man a few inches taller than me, with a slim build, wearing a dark red overcoat and the black handle of a longsword hanging over his shoulder, a red tassel dangling from the tip.
He froze as soon as he saw me, his hand reaching up to the handle of his weapon.
I ignored him, my eyes locking onto the small figure standing just slightly behind him. She was tiny, little more than three and a half feet tall, clad in a full-body white cloak that covered everything but her face, dim, almost dead-looking chestnut eyes peered out from beneath the cloak's hood, while on her back she carried a massive backpack that was nearly twice her height.
Liliruca Arde.
Just the girl I wanted to find.
"Hey, who the fuck are you!" Ged unsheathed his sword and pointed it at me, his eyes were wild and wary.
"Mr. Ged…maybe it would be better to be po-" Lili spoke up, only for him to backhand her, shutting her up.
She didn't make a sound, even as she fell to her backside, a red welt on her face from the blow.
"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up?" he spat at her, before turning his attention to me again, "Hey, I asked you who you were buddy!"
I stared at him for a moment, taking in what he just did, before scoffing, "Who the hell are you calling buddy?" I growled, "Don't associate yourself with me at all you piece of trash."
Fucking revolting, having someone like this call me buddy. This guy is an utter clown.
Who the hell brought out his weapon and made demands like that after seeing a fellow adventurer in the dungeon?
Especially if they were scared.
His arm trembled noticeably at my reply, the longsword that seemed to be of some rather nice make shook in his grip.
"Trash!? Do you know who you're speaking to you piece of shit?!" Despite his apparent fear, Ged's eyes widened in outrage, "I'm the captain of the Coalemus familia!" he boasted.
…As if that was supposed to scare me or something.
Who the fuck was Coalemus? I've never heard of any god like that.
"Yeah, well I'm the Captain of the Hestia Familia." I crossed my arms. Now that was something to boast about. The oldest of the Greek Gods, one of the twelve Olympians and one of the strongest at that, the goddess that ruled over the eternal flame.
Hestia the Bestia.
"Hestia Familia? The hell is that? I've never heard of any familia named that!" Ged scoffed and began to relax, the fear leaving him as he cottoned on to something, "A new familia?"
"Not like anyone's ever heard of a Coalemus familia either," I snorted, "And yeah, a totally new familia what of it?"
In contrast to his earlier fear, Ged's face split into a wide grin, "That's some nice armour you've got there for a baby rookie," he pointed out, "Guess you were a noble or something before becoming an adventurer. How about you hand it over and I'll let you live?"
…Is this fucker a moron? Can't he see I'm down here on the seventh floor, alone? Granted, considering the way he was looking down on Lili just a minute ago, despite how fucking useful a supporter clearly is, evidenced by the time I lost pilfering monster magic stones earlier…I'm inclined to believe he is.
"How about you hand over all your shit instead, get on your knees, call me master, and beg for mercy and I might let you live, you twat." I uncrossed my arms and raised one hand up, giving him the middle finger.
His grip on his blade tightened and his teeth audibly ground together at my reply, "…See, here I was trying to be nice, now I'm gonna gut you kid." he spat, raising his blade up above his head and launching towards me.
He was fast.
Faster than the frog shooters' whipping tongues and faster even than the needle rabbits on foot.
He was very nearly as fast as me even.
Almost.
But not quite.
A moment later, his blade scythed down in a flash from above, coming down at where the joint in my armour should be at my neck. One of the typical weak spots of a full body set of armour.
Not mine though.
The blade clanged audibly against my shoulder, and sparks burst into existence from sheer friction as his blade ground against my armour.
And left naught a scratch.
And he left himself completely open, so arrogant in his victory.
My hands flared into a claw shape, my clawed gauntlets glinting in the dim light of the dungeon and I thrust out.
Ged screamed in pain as my clawed gauntlet finger tips pierced into his stomach and I squeezed, tightening my grip into his puncture wounds.
Then I pulled him towards me and delivered a wall-shaking headbutt to the bridge of his nose with my helmet-clad head.
Crunch went his nose, and I ripped my fingers free of his gut, arcs of blood spurting through the air.
He screamed, rolling across the ground back and forth, clutching at his stomach and nose with his hands.
I kicked him in the head a second later and his lights went out, eyes rolling up into the back of his head as he fell unconscious.
If he doesn't get medical treatment, it's likely he'll bleed out. As I look over his unconscious body, it's kinda surprising how little I care about that fact.
I don't give a shit if he dies.
I looked at him for a moment, and now that I did, I noticed how high-quality that cloak of his is. If I'm not wrong, isn't that coat made of Salamander Wool?
I think at least.
I heard the cocking sound of some kind of mechanism and looked over to find Lili, eyes now much more alert and staring at me warily, her tiny shoulders tensed and one arm pointed at me, a small crossbow mounted on her wrist pointing at me.
It's funny, she's way more of a threat than he was. From what I know she has a bunch of things prepared to escape from others like smoke bombs and shit, and I know she has a magic sword tucked away.
Unlike Ged, that might actually hurt me through my armour.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you miss supporter," I held my hands up in surrender, "I wouldn't have even bothered with you both if this clown didn't start shit with me first."
"Mr. Ged definitely started it, but forgive Lili if she's wary, after all, Mr. Ged is strong and you beat him easily," Lili replied, voice level, none of the fear apparent that Ged had, "If Lili let's you get close and you attack, then Lili will die."
Was he strong? Relatively, for a level one he might have been. But, my armour alone is at the pinnacle of level two, a durability beyond a minotaur's even.
And I remember Lefiya stating she couldn't hurt a minotaur solo until she was level three. Which was why Bell beating what amounted to an enhanced minotaur at level one was so amazing. And Bell right after levelling up, was actually faster than the level three Lefiya.
Which was all I needed to know, to understand how bullshit my crystal armour is right now on the upper floors.
Wearing a full set of this armour, means I'm pretty much immune to damage from anything below around the eleventh floor or twelfth floor where some big fuckers like orcs, silverbacks, and Infant dragons begin spawning.
Unless Lili pulls out her magic sword, she doesn't really have a way of hurting me.
But, I need to reassure her I'm not gonna hurt her.
So I sat down on the unconscious form of Ged, making my form smaller and less threatening, "You're not wrong, though I've got no beef with you," I shrugged, "I mean, I heard what this guy was saying to you on the way here, he was treating you like shit."
"Lili is just a leech supporter, not a powerful honoured adventurer," the small girl shrugged, "A useless person like that, is obviously treated badly."
"Except, that's wrong," I shrugged and refuted, "This guy I'm sitting on and most of the others, probably like feeling strong bullying weaklings to make themselves feel better about being weaklings themselves. I can say that with confidence after my time down here, that supporters are in no way useless."
Lili's eyes narrowed at me as she stared at me oddly, but she never once lowered her crossbow.
"I've been down here over six hours," I shrugged, continuing my explanation, "More than half of that was looting monster corpses. If I had a supporter to take care of that for me, I'd have been done in a fraction of the time and gotten to hunt even more. The fact that a few clowns high on their tiny amount of strength think otherwise just makes them bigger clowns. There's a reason why bigger families like the Loki familia have designated supporters, hell, one of their supporters Protagonista is a level four, now that guy must be hella useful."
She was quiet for a moment before replying, "…Lili admits she sees your point in a way, but Lili also doesn't understand why you're trying to make it," the small prum girl said, "If you meant no harm, it would make more sense to leave."
"You're a smart one," I shrugged, reaching up and pulling off my helmet so I could smile at her, she looked surprised, giving me an odd look again, before recovering her passive look, "I just said, didn't I? I wasted a ton of time myself, I'm looking for a supporter. And I like the looks of you, how about it?"
"You…wish to hire Lili?" the surprise look returned.
"Yup," I confirmed with a nod, "It's a pretty good deal I think, I mean, I'm pretty impressive I think, considering I've only been an adventurer for five days and I'll give you an equal share, fifty-fifty, with an experienced supporter I should be able to kill easily double or more the amount I usually would."
"Five days…?" the prum girl trailed off, the surprises just seeming to shock her one after another, "Mr. Adventurer is so young looking, and is right to think he is impressive, it usually takes others at least a year to reach this low alone."
"Caelan, that's my name," I introduced myself, "Fourteen years old, first child of Hestia and the de facto captain of the familia, you?"
"…Liliruca, but you can call Lili, Lili," she finally replied after a moment, "Fifteen years old, supporter of the Soma Familia."
My smile transitioned into a grin, "So, you up for it then?"
This time she smiled back, though it was definitely fake, It would be a while before I could get the genuine article, "Lili would be a fool to not accept Mr. Caelan's generous offer." she replied.
"Good stuff," I stood up off of the unconscious body, and yanked the coat right off of him, hanging it over my shoulder, "We can start tomorrow if you want," I added, reaching down and grabbing up Geb's longsword, and tossed it over to Lili.
She fumbled as she caught it, "…You're giving me Mr. Ged's sword?" she goggled.
"He won't need it much longer," I shrugged, "Unless you plan on hauling him out, because I'm not gonna. And since you were his supporter, well I figure that stuff is all yours now, though I like the jacket, so I'm gonna keep it."
"…It's made of Salamander Wool, Mr. Ged bragged about it quite a bit," she explained, "It cost a lot, but this sword was made by the Hephaestus familia, it is worth a lot more, are you sure you want to give this to Lili?"
"Considering how crappy he was treating you and how little of the loot cut he was gonna give you, I'm guessing you're strapped for valis," I pointed out, "You keep it, alongside whatever loot you guys earned today to yourself, honestly I'd give you this jacket as well, but I need a new one, so this will have to do."
"…Mr. Caelan is generous." Lili mused after a moment, walking over to me and looking up at me with that big, cute, and totally fake smile.
I laughed and threw my arm around her small shoulders, she blinked, a surprised sound leaving her mouth as I pulled her flush against my side, "Not really, I'm a selfish bad guy at heart," I said as I began walking, "But even bad guys are allowed to take care of things and people they like, right?"
Lili looked completely lost.
=======================≠==========≠===
"Hmhmhm~ hmhmhm~ hmhmhm~" Hestia hummed to herself happily as she soaked in the lovely, warm water of the divine bath house.
All around her were other goddesses in varying states of undress. Some of them she knew in passing, some decently well, and the rest, she'd only heard of, maybe exchanged a few words with up in Tenkai.
That suited her just fine. Most of the other divines were a super pain in the backside. And if someone bothered her and found out about her new child, it would become a real bother.
They would ruin her date with her precious Caelan!
…Especially if it was someone annoying like Freya.
All the children down here in the mortal realm needed to do was gaze on her face and most would find themselves charmed by her.
His skill had some form of protection for his mind, it was why he wasn't overwhelmed by the instincts and memories of the monsters he devoured the magic stones of when absorbing them. But, she wasn't sure how that would stand up to a goddess of love's charm.
And never planned on seeing how it did.
'I'd rather he meet Loki than her, ugh.' Hestia grimaced.
Honestly, she'd rather he not stand out all too much before he was strong enough to tell others to back off.
…At the rate he was going though, that would only last until he levelled up. His rate of growth was far too absurd. She'd never heard of anyone growing as absurdly fast as he did, never mind accumulating so many abilities.
Typhon had to be one of the most powerful skills she'd ever heard of. It was odd in of itself for a skill to manifest so quickly as well. Usually, a skill was formed through intense repetition or accomplishing a grand feat. In rare times though, a skill could manifest naturally, usually through an innate talent or trait that the holder possessed.
She wasn't really sure what it meant that Caelan possessed such a trait. Just that he had the potential to reach far beyond most thanks to it.
'It's still a month and a half until the next Denatus.' she mused inwardly.
At the rate he was growing, while it wasn't ideal, it would have to be enough. Because Hestia saw the story inscribed on his back every night, a new page for to read, how he approached things, how he fought. There was a savage, wild brutality to her first child in battle and he had started off on his path not walking down it, not jogging, but full on sprinting as fast as he could.
When it came to the ability to level up…he already had it. He just needed to accomplish something worthy of it.
And something told her, it wouldn't be long before he pushed through the ceiling of level 1 to level 2.
'He's amazing, the best child I could ever ask for…but that's what makes it troublesome.' she sighed.
Because all the other troublesome and childish bratty gods who loved to make a nuisance of themselves in the search for a good time would hound him constantly, trying to steal him away.
Well, there was no point sitting around moping over those thoughts. The best she could do, as Caelan's goddess was to support him all the way and believe in him.
'And keep the skanky goddesses away from him!' She stood up in the bath, pumping her fist with a righteous nod to herself.
And of course, those who would try it just to annoy her because she was his goddess.
'Well, not that Loki no boobs and Aphroflatty would be a threat.' Hestia looked down at her breasts with a smirk, heh!
Anyway, it was about time to head out! It wouldn't be long before she had to meet up with Caelan for their date!
Reaching over, Hestia retrieved her towel from where she had left it sitting on the rim near the water and wrapped it around her body, before pulling herself up and out and making her way back to the changing rooms where she'd stored her clothing.
She quickly set about drying her body, before doing the same to her hair and brushing it out. She decided to leave her hair down for tonight, so with that done and her body dry, she quickly put on her dress.
Before realising that messed up her hair a bit again, forcing her to brush it. And to top it off, she finished the outfit with a smaller choker that the sales girl had tossed in for free when she bought the dress.
"Hmm." Hestia hummed, inspecting herself in the mirror of the changing room she was in.
The dress looked good, while short it showed off her legs and a tasteful amount of cleavage, not the absurd amount that Freya and the like loved to show off.
She grinned, leaning forward to the mirror and cupping her chin, "Heh-heh, I'll knock him dead!"
She slipped her ribbons onto her wrists, and then fitted her high heels on, and then Hestia was off, leaving the divine bath house behind!
She wasn't used to wearing high heels and stumbled a bit here and there, but even with that, she couldn't wipe the huge smile off of her face, or stop the skip in her step.
…Which probably contributed to her tripping quite a bit more than she actually would of but she didn't care at all.
In a few minutes, she arrived at her destination and found her first child already waiting for her, leaning against the monument statue in the middle. The square where she asked him to meet her was a popular date spot, and already, with the sun only beginning to dip below the horizon, it was filled with couples.
It was busy for sure, but Caelan stood out. Despite his young age, and not the tallest out there yet, he was broad and his hair stood out vividly, being a spiky pure black with golden blonde highlights.
'Hmm, that's new.' she thought when she approached. He was wearing his usual clothes that she had met him in, except for one difference. A crimson red, stylish jacket that looked really expensive.
Wait, wasn't that Salamander Wool?
Getting a jacket made of that would be super expensive, way beyond her budget!
'Ack!' Hestia froze mid-skip, the feeling of failure welling up in her. She was such a useless goddess, she couldn't even provide him with stylish and expensive things, he had to get them himself!
She almost sniffled, maybe would have if Caelan's head didn't turn then and meet her eyes, and a big grin spread across his face, "Good timing, I just got here a few minutes ago." he called over to her, pushing off the monument and making his way over to her.
He paused as he reached her, looking her up and down, checking her out, and his grin got even bigger as he met her eyes, "You look really nice." he complimented.
In the face of his boyishly handsome grin and compliment, her depressed feelings were washed away and she felt her cheeks heat up, a wide smile spreading across her face, "You think so?" she beamed, hopping in place happily.
The motion caused his eyes to flicker to her chest, which had bounced noticeably and he stared for all of a split second before looking her in the eye again, it was so quick if she wasn't looking at him directly she would have missed it, "Definitely, all the other guys around will be totally jealous." he replied.
'I saw that, you can't hide that gaze from me~' Hestia giggled internally, he tried his best to, and had been for the last few days, but his interest in her breasts had been quite apparent.
Not that she minded.
Actually, she was quite pleased.
'In fact~' a mischievous thought occurred, "Then I'm glad." She beamed at him and hopped in place noticeably once more, making her breasts bounce.
His eyes moved to stray down before he caught himself, and Hestia almost pouted. But instead, she latched onto his arm, hugging it between her breasts, "So where are we headed first?" she grinned up at him.
There would be plenty of chances to tease him tonight.
"Wherever you want," he shrugged, "Though before we get right down to the date, I was hoping you could update my falna."
Hmm, seemed he was excited to get an update on his status and didn't want to wait, "Sure, there's a place in the bookstore I like we can use." Hestia agreed. She liked it because it had some small private rooms where people could read quietly and in private.
Also, she couldn't deny that she was super curious to see his growth from the day.
=================================°
Less than ten minutes later, kneeling over the bare torso of her first child, the symbol of their bond showing proudly on his back, Hestia found herself staring gobsmacked.
'This…this is absurd.' she goggled.
Like, she was just thinking about how absolutely amazing and powerful his skill was while in the divine bathhouse.
But…he'd completely blown her expectations out of the water…again.
His rate of growth was truly mind-boggling.
"…Did you do something special today?" she couldn't help but ask as she idly pressed a piece of paper against his back, beginning to imprint a copy of his status onto it so he could see it.
Because they were going out on their date, she was just giving him a quick update and hadn't really looked into his adventure of the day, since it would take quite a bit of time to see all of it.
"I made a killing in the dungeon, one of my plans paid off and I found a really special monster that gives a really amazing drop item," he replied, "I've been trying to spawn it since my first time in the dungeon, I got lucky with it today. And then I used some of the money I got off of it to buy six Infant Dragon magic stones, and I made my way down to the seventh floor today and killed like a hundred monsters in total down there."
'Six!?' Hestia's eyes flew wide open. Never mind the fact he'd gone down that far already, or killed such a huge amount of monsters, but six magic stones from Infant Dragon's?
He'd eaten five in total before today. That explained where the massive bulk of his improvement came from, and if he really did kill that many monsters, from the seventh floor at that…
Well, it made sense.
But still, this was crazy!
Caelan Odhar
Level: 1
Strength: S912
Endurance: S910
Dexterity: S906
Agility: S908
Magic: S907
Skills
Typhon: Rising Monster King. The power to devour the magic stones of monsters, growing stronger from doing so, and gaining the abilities of monsters. Evolving physiology towards the pinnacle body. Enhanced teeth. Monstrous combat instinct and the power to break through all limits.
Monster Abilities
Night Vision: The ability to see clearly even in total darkness.
Crystal Armour: The ability to generate crystal armour as over the body to enhance durability.
Enhanced Senses: Vastly enhanced eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell.
Flame Breath: The ability to breathe out a torrent of flame from the mouth.
Temperature Control: The ability to raise and lower the body's temperature.
Flame Resistance: A resistance to heat and flame.
Magic Resistance: A resistance to effects of a magical nature.
Whirlwind Sprint: The ability to enhance movement speed with magical energy.
Surface adherence: The ability to cling to solid surfaces with magical energy.
Shadow Conceal: The ability to sink into a shadow.
Tongue Extension: The ability to elongate the tongue.
Poison Powder: The ability to create poison powder from magic energy.
Poison Resistance: An innate resistance to poison.
Scent Alteration: The ability to alter the natural musk and scent.
Healing Powder: The ability to create a powder that heals the wounds of those it touches.
Magic
All of his stats had risen up to the S-rank! That was absurd! The number of people who gained an S-rank in one stat before levelling up was apparently absurdly low.
And in less than a week he'd brought all of his stats to over it!
And that wasn't even the end of it. He'd gotten his hands on eight new abilities since she last saw him this morning. They weren't exactly all super high-tier skills or spells, but each was incredibly useful. Speed enhancement, poison, poison resistance which most usually gained as a development ability on levelling up, even an ability to heal others!
'Forget being one of, Typhon might very well be the strongest skill ever!' Hestia teetered back and forth on her child's back, wide-eyed in shock and body numb.
Never mind blowing her expectations out of the water, he ran circles around them before blowing a raspberry in their face and kicking them in the crotch before running off into the horizon.
If this was how strong he'd gotten in just a mere five days…how strong would he be after a year?