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Alex paid an extra 200 points and brought Erica and Liliana Kranjcar with him to Orario.
Hestia was over the moon, praising him nonstop for being such a devoted and reliable captain.
…
After returning to the DanMachi world, Alex immediately received notifications from the chat group.
[Group member Alex has completed the five-star mission: Path of the Strong. Reward: 100 points.]
[Group member Alex has completed the nine-star mission: Godslayer. Reward: 80 points.]
Because he had reached Lv.6 in the Godslayer world, Hestia's mission was considered completed ahead of schedule.
The Godslayer mission originally rewarded 100 points, but since three people had accepted it, the remaining 20 points were split between Hestia and Esdeath.
Alex received the largest share because he had personally slain two gods.
With the mission completed, it also meant he couldn't remain in this world indefinitely anymore.
Orario, the church.
Four flashes of light appeared as Alex and Hestia returned, accompanied by Erica and Liliana.
The two women curiously took in their surroundings, their eyes filled with excitement and wonder.
The Hestia Familia's base had completely transformed.
With the help of the Ganesha Familia's construction efforts, what used to be ruins had become a massive castle.
A large courtyard surrounded the outer walls, with a huge pool at its center.
In the middle of the pool stood a statue of Hestia, fountains spraying water all around it.
There were also green lawns and a training ground.
The level of luxury rivaled even the Loki Familia's base.
At this moment, people were sparring in the training field.
As they drew closer, they saw that it was Saeko Busujima and Artoria.
Rather than a real match, it was more like Saeko seeking guidance, learning swordsmanship from Artoria.
Everyone else sat on the surrounding steps watching.
The training ground was built like a small coliseum, with several tiers of seating encircling the central arena.
Whenever someone sparred, the steps became spectator seats.
Watching the duel, Erica and Liliana instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons.
Alex reminded them, "Relax. They're all on our side. Members of the Hestia Familia."
Erica asked curiously, "My king, what exactly is a familia?"
"Well, a familia is basically…" Alex gave them a detailed explanation of how this world worked, along with some common knowledge about Orario.
By the time he finished, both women's eyes were practically shining.
A dungeon, adventurers, blessings, leveling up. This was straight out of a light novel.
A fantasy-filled otherworld like this was simply amazing.
Liliana asked expectantly, "My king, when you said you would train us, does that mean letting us join the Hestia Familia?"
Alex nodded. "That's right. Your strength is already impressive, but you've hit a wall at the great knight level. If you want to break through, the blessing system might help."
"Thank you, my king!" Both women dropped to one knee in excitement.
"Up, up. This isn't the Godslayer world. Keep your respect in your heart. You don't need to kneel all the time," Alex said, lifting a hand. A surge of magic gently raised them back to their feet.
"Yes!" Erica and Liliana nodded.
As they stepped into the training ground, the other members noticed Alex and Hestia.
"Our god-slaying captain is back!" Roxy said cheerfully.
Saeko stopped and asked, "What level are you now?"
Alex smiled faintly and held up six fingers.
Roxy and Saeko immediately offered their congratulations, while the others looked completely confused.
Merlin, Morgan, and Artoria, along with Irisviel and the others, weren't members of the chat group, so they had no idea what had happened in the Godslayer world.
They didn't quite understand the conversation.
But Merlin and Morgan could clearly sense something different about Alex.
The pressure he gave off now was intense. That god-slaying aura felt almost identical to Luo Hao's.
Had their captain really slain a god?
Was that even possible?
Merlin and Morgan exchanged glances, shock written all over their faces.
Irisviel couldn't help asking, "What are you talking about?"
Seeing this, Roxy explained, "The captain traveled to another world a couple of days ago and killed two gods. He's already Lv.6 now!"
The words stunned everyone.
Then came an explosion of cheers.
Hestia stepped forward and announced, "To celebrate our captain Alex reaching Lv.6, and to welcome our two new members, Erica and Liliana, we're having a feast tonight. We're drinking till we drop!"
Everyone turned their eyes to Erica and Liliana.
Feeling the powerful aura radiating from them, the crowd cheered even louder.
The Hestia Familia really was getting stronger by the day.
After introducing themselves to the newcomers, everyone got busy.
Some went shopping for ingredients, others started cooking. Smiles were everywhere.
On the second floor of the castle was a grand hall with a massive floor-to-ceiling window. One entire wall was glass.
From there, you could see the entire base.
Alex stood by the window, thinking about what he should do next.
Hestia suddenly came up beside him. "Not planning to stay in Orario any longer?"
Alex nodded. "I've grown too strong. The dungeon monsters can't help me improve anymore."
Hestia replied, "So which world do you want to go to? The strongest one in the group right now should be Misaka Mikoto's world, right?"
Alex shook his head. "That world's too dangerous. Not suitable for now."
Hestia rolled her eyes. "Then where do you want to go?"
Alex gave a wry smile. "I don't know. That's why I'm stressed."
Hestia thought for a moment, then suggested, "Why don't you stay in Orario for now? Wait for new members to join the group. Maybe a suitable world will come along."
"That works. Let's do that," Alex agreed.
Hestia smiled in response.
She immediately posted a new mission in the group.
[Group member Hestia has posted a mission: Master Craft. Difficulty: Seven stars. Reward: 100 points.]
[Group member Alex has accepted the mission!]
With a new mission active, Alex could continue staying in Orario.
After checking the details, he couldn't help smiling.
The so-called Master Craft meant raising one's forging skill to the level of a god, enough to create divine weapons.
In other words, he had to forge an actual Godly Weapon to complete the mission.
That was far harder than simply leveling up.
Night fell, and the food was ready.
Everyone gathered around an enormous round table and started celebrating.
Drinking, eating meat, boasting, and laughing.
Once Hestia had a few drinks, she got carried away and started bragging about how she had possessed Alex in the Godslayer world and completely crushed the god king Melqart.
Everyone listened with sparkling eyes, full of admiration.
Erica and Liliana were deeply shaken as well. They never imagined that humans and gods could get along so naturally.
Their entire worldview was shattered.
The feast lasted until ten at night.
That night, Alex finally didn't need to sleep at an inn.
The new castle was huge, with over a hundred rooms. No matter how many members joined, there was plenty of space.
Lying in bed, Alex thought about what he should focus on next.
Besides learning forging techniques, as captain he should also contribute to the familia's growth.
The Hestia Familia wasn't like the Loki Familia. They couldn't rely solely on hunting monsters and selling materials and magic stones.
They needed a steady source of income.
As a side business, opening a restaurant seemed like a good idea.
Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, after all. Running a restaurant fit her domain perfectly.
In the future, the familia could be split into two branches: combat and support.
The combat branch would focus on dungeon exploration, while the support branch handled the restaurant, income, and logistics.
They also needed to recruit more members.
Not just Bell, Liliruca, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, and Ryuu from the original story, but many more.
The Night Raid members from Esdeath's world were excellent candidates.
So were certain ghouls and investigators from Takatsuki Sen's world.
Names flashed through Alex's mind. They were all geniuses who didn't deserve to die like they did in the original stories.
It would be such a waste.
Thinking about all this, Alex slowly fell asleep.
…
The next morning, he signed in, got dressed, and washed up.
When he reached the dining hall, Serra and Lieselotte had already prepared breakfast for everyone.
Alex ate a little, then headed out.
He planned to visit the Hephaistos Familia to continue learning magic sword forging from Tsubaki.
On the way, however, he ran into members of the Loki Familia.
"Alex!" Finn waved at him.
"Heading into the dungeon?" Alex asked.
"Yeah. A lot of weapons were damaged during the last expedition. Reforging and repairs cost a fortune, so we're planning to farm some magic stones," Finn replied.
"I see." Alex looked over the group.
A temporary team of six: Aiz, Finn, Riveria, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya.
Except for Lefiya, they were all top-tier fighters.
The scene felt familiar. It was clearly the Sword Oratoria storyline, where they would encounter the Xenos-like creature Revis.
With that in mind, Alex changed his plans.
"Mind if I come along?" he asked Finn.
"Of course," Finn agreed.
They weren't heading into the deep floors, and having someone like Alex along would only make things safer.
"Alex, it's only been a month, but you feel way different," Tiona said as she came up beside him.
"Different how?" Alex asked with a smile.
"Hmm… hard to say. Your vibe, maybe your strength too," Tiona said, thinking hard.
"Probably just your imagination." Alex flicked her forehead lightly.
"No way. My instincts are never wrong," Tiona said, scrunching her nose.
Alex just shook his head and said nothing more.
After entering the dungeon, the group moved smoothly toward the lower floors.
Any monsters they encountered were instantly wiped out.
After nearly a full day, they reached the seventeenth floor.
At the Wall of Sighs, the giant Goliath had respawned, blocking their path.
Finn looked at Alex. "Want to handle it?"
What he really meant was who would get the magic stone.
Everyone present except Lefiya could easily one-shot Goliath.
To them, it was just a very valuable magic stone.
If Alex wanted it, Finn would step aside.
Alex shook his head. "Nah. You guys need it more than I do."
They had come here to earn money. There was no need for him to take it.
He was mainly here to watch and, more importantly, to see this so-called monster.
"I'll do it," Aiz said, stepping forward and drawing her sword.
It wasn't her usual Despair sword, but an ordinary blade.
The Despair sword was probably still being repaired by the Ganesha Familia, so she had grabbed a temporary replacement.
Goliath charged.
Everyone quickly retreated, clearing the battlefield.
Aiz burst forward, sword in hand. Three flashes of steel cut through the air.
Goliath was sliced into pieces and collapsed, deader than dead.
"Man, Aiz's damage against dungeon monsters is just absurd," Alex thought to himself.
And it all came down to that utterly broken skill of hers, Avenger Princess.
The Dungeon, Floor Eighteen.
By the time they made it this far, the group had farmed up a hefty pile of magic stones.
Unlike Alex, who had Unlimited Blade Works to use as a personal storage space, the members of the Loki Familia didn't have anything like that. They also hadn't brought any supporters along. So after some discussion, they decided to head to Rivira to sell off all the magic stones at once.
The merchants in Rivira Town paid on the low side. After all, they just bought the stones to resell them to the Guild. The lower prices were simply how they pocketed their cut in the middle.
"..."
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