Pov: Zane
With my newly acquired skill, I quickly descended through the floors, killing a few monsters along the way. Every time I killed one, the EXP I gained was tripled. That only made me even more excited to keep hunting.
After some time, I reached the 12th floor.
Once there, I walked through the mist, searching for an Orc or a slightly stronger monster. After looking for quite a while, I finally found one—an Orc carrying a weapon.
It was the first Orc I had seen wielding a weapon.
I smiled and raised my knife to the level of my face.
I hid within the mist and waited for the Orc to approach. As soon as it got close enough, I made my move. It noticed my presence, but I was faster. I activated the skill "Afterimage LV1" and attacked.
I don't know if it was just my imagination, but activating the skill seemed to increase my speed.
In a single second, I closed the distance and deeply slashed the Orc's stomach. I stepped back and then I saw it—an identical image of my current appearance performing the same attack.
Its body was transparent, yet the attack still happened. I think it was a little weaker?
Even so, another slash appeared across the Orc's stomach.
Incredibly, my "clone" didn't cut the same spot I did—it struck a different area.
The Orc, paralyzed by the poison, roared in pain. I approached and drove my knife into its head. It died, and a mid-level magic stone fell onto the dungeon floor.
'I'm really not getting any item drops. How am I going to explain this to Hestia?'
Well, technically, I don't need to show her what I obtain inside the dungeon. I also don't need to sell the magic stones to the Guild since I can exchange them for money using the system.
But if I never sell magic stones or items at the Guild even once, that would look suspicious, wouldn't it? Actually, I haven't even registered with the Guild yet. 'Hestia should have told me about the Guild, but she didn't.'
I sighed and looked at the magic stone in my hand.
'As soon as I leave the dungeon, I'll go to the Guild. I'm curious about it.'
They can't even properly keep track of who enters or leaves the dungeon.
They're definitely much worse than the Guild in the original story.
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Pov: Third Person
Hestia was lying on the sofa when Bella approached, protecting her injured hand. When she saw her, Hestia asked, "We need to buy a healing potion for you. Your hand will take too long to recover."
She sat up on the sofa, and Bella sat beside her.
Bella looked at her hand, which had suffered a deep cut and a fracture. It hurt. And how had it happened? A monster had struck her hand, and her own knife had ended up cutting her.
"It's fine. We can't keep spending money on something like this." Bella smiled.
"…" Hestia looked at Bella's hand and sighed.
She was determined to get a potion for Bella, even if she had to ask for help.
"Goddess, don't think about doing anything unnecessary. We can't waste money. Don't worry—I recover quickly."
"You recover quickly from minor injuries, but this wound is more serious than you think! What if you lose movement in your hand?"
"You're exaggerating." Bella laughed lightly.
"Don't laugh! I'm serious." Hestia stood up from the sofa. "I'm going out. I'll be back soon."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to see a friend."
"…" Bella felt suspicious but said nothing more.
Hestia then left her home and walked toward Babel Tower. She entered the tower and went up several floors until she reached the level where the Hephaestus Familia's shops were located. As soon as she stepped inside, she was greeted by several members of the Hephaestus Familia.
After speaking with them briefly, Hephaestus appeared.
"Hestia? What happened?"
"Can we talk in private?"
"Of course. Follow me," Hephaestus said, leading Hestia to her private room inside the tower.
Hephaestus sat down and asked, "Would you like some tea?"
"No, thank you. Listen, Hephaestus."
"Hmm?"
"Can you lend me some money?"
"Money?" Hephaestus raised her eyebrows. "Isn't that girl in your Familia Level Three? Isn't she exploring the dungeon?"
"Well…" Hestia gave a bitter smile. "Even though she's Level Three, she doesn't explore the dungeon much—and she gets injured often."
"…"
"The money she earns is only enough for us to get by."
"So, what do you need the money for?"
"Bella seriously injured her hand, even though she keeps saying it's nothing. I want the money to buy a healing potion. A high-level one."
"Huh? That's it? Doesn't a high-level potion cost only 5,000 valis? You don't even have that?"
"…"
Hephaestus stared at Hestia in disbelief. Was the member of her Familia really that useless? She had already heard about Bella—she was somewhat famous, mainly because of her appearance.
She hadn't imagined Bella was this incompetent.
"How about working here?" Hephaestus asked.
"Huh?" Hestia couldn't believe what she had heard. "Are you asking me to work for you?"
"Yes. I'll pay you a good salary to handle cleaning and help with sales. It's not a difficult job. You spend most of your day doing nothing anyway, don't you?"
Hestia froze for a moment.
The offer wasn't that bad. But she didn't want to work there.
Her answer was brief. "I refuse."
"Then I don't know if I should lend you the money."
"That's blackmail!"
"That's not blackmail." Hephaestus smiled. Then she picked up the money and handed it over. "Here's the money."
"Huh?"
"Think carefully about my job offer."
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