Hestia
Something was wrong.
Very, very wrong.
Her fingers hovered over her first child's back; her breath caught in her throat. She didn't even have time to relish the fact that she had just gained her first ever familia member.
Because this wasn't what she was told would happen.
The Falna she gave was supposed to appear as a simple emblem, her emblem—a mark that signified that he had received her blessing. That was what Hephaestus had told her. That was what others had told her. That was what she instinctively knew was supposed to happen.
But this...?
She swallowed, her hands trembling.
The symbol on his back was… shifting. Not like ink on skin, but like it was alive. She could see it rising a little, then shifting, like swollen, solidified tar, before it settled, masking her emblem which she could vaguely feel and make out beneath it.
It pulsed, twisting subtly, shifting between patterns she didn't recognize. It wasn't static. It wasn't normal.
"It kinda tingles a bit. Is that normal?"
She heard her child speak but she couldn't reply.
What… was this?
Why did it feel so different?
A deep, unsettling pit formed in her stomach.
"Um… I… I don't know what's happening."
She finally admitted, eyes still looking at the shifting thing on his back.
He turned his head slightly, concern flickering in his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
She stared helplessly at the mark, trying to make sense of it.
Trying to understand why her blessing—her Falna—wasn't acting the way it was supposed to.
And why, for some reason…
She felt like she had just touched upon something she wasn't meant to.
-x-
After much deliberation and desperate attempts to keep her child still so she could observe the phenomenon properly, all the while trying to delay the increasingly nervous questions he was throwing her way to which she had no proper answer, she finally concluded: This was beyond her.
She needed a more experienced God or Goddess to help her with this.
With that conclusion came the sheer and utter helplessness and panic.
Oh, heavens!
What had she done?! Why did it turn out this way!?
After weeks of trying—and failing—to recruit familia members, she had finally managed to get one—her first child. And she messed up the ritual!
She couldn't think of any other reason for this. It had to be her. The boy she had given her Falna to was just a regular human from the looks of it. Even when she had touched upon his soul and spirit, she hadn't found anything strange or unique. By all means this should have been an easy task. But she had somehow messed it up!
She didn't know what went wrong. What that sudden feeling of blockage that quickly formed on him the moment she imbued her Falna into him was.
…. No, why… Why did it have to be this way…?
After she had finally gotten her first Familia member…
She wanted to bawl. To lie on her back and throw her arms and legs in the air, bawling her eyes out at this unfairness.
She actually did choke a sob, but had to hide it so as to not panic her child more. He was already looking at her with worry clear in his eyes.
Oh, she was such a useless goddess.
She couldn't even give this child who had come to her for her Falna her Falna.
She kept berating herself for some time before she finally heaved a defeated and tired sigh.
She needed to go and see Hephaestus about this.
She didn't want to bother her friend, especially after she was kicked out for mooching on her for so long, but this situation demanded that. And she would do it, even if it meant listening to her friend tear into her for messing up the Falna imbuement process on her first child.
… Maybe it could still be recovered.
She could at least hope.
Sighing again, she looked at the young man, her first child, her ray of hope that she felt she had somehow already betrayed by messing up her blessing.
Taking another deep breath in, she began explaining it to him what happened to the best of her ability and his ability to comprehend—which, she realized quickly was much more than she anticipated, so that went much easier than expected.
Finally, after she was done, she waited for his judgement, fist bowling and head hung low in shame and pain.
It was obvious what was going to happen.
He put his trust in her and she had already failed him.
There was no way he would want to stay with her, to join her Familia.
Why would he? She was the klutz Goddess who messed up the most basic and common procedure of giving her blessing, her own Falna, to him.
She waited for his ultimatum, for him to shout at her, to be angry.
After all, he was within his rights to do it.
She probably deserved it.
But she did promise herself that she would make things right. Even if did decide to leave her familia after this, she would request him—even beg him, if need be—to go with her to Hephaestus to at least get his Falna fixed or her blessing properly removed.
She wouldn't let him suffer for her mistakes.
Heavens, it stung so harsh, feeling the most probable loss of her first ever familia member. She felt her heart ache and eyes burn.
-x-
To say I was confused would be the understatement of the century.
I had expected there to be complications, mostly due to my otherworldly origins. I had been preparing myself for the inevitable barrage of questions Hestia would throw my way, the possible allegations and accusations regarding me using my foreknowledge to get her to accept me. In a way, I had sort of used Hestia's desperation for my own motives, hoping to gain cheat powers from it. I didn't simply join her familia out of the goodness of my heart or wanting to help with her cause, which, for the record, she never even mentioned. She had been too elated at the prospect of getting her first Familia member.
I also felt like I took away Bell's position by doing it. But that was a whole other thing.
But no, none of that ended up transpiring and instead, I had been told that Hestia's Falna had a bizarre reaction on me.
That my back was apparently a moving and shifting mass of black tar-like substance.
To say I was disturbed by that revelation would be an understatement.
What the fuck? Why? Why did it happen?
I had no clue, but I had some hypotheses on the possibilities, mostly relating to my nature as an otherworlder.
I briefly wondered if I not being a denizen of this world had caused that.
Or perhaps it was related to my special nature or even powers?
I wouldn't lie I was secretly relieved that Hestia couldn't read my experiences like Gods and Goddess normally could. But there was also a slight disappointment at the fact. That meant I'll either have to live hiding my true nature from Hestia or tell her about it myself.
Both options were complicated and troublesome.
I watched Hestia spiral into a quiet panic and emotional self-flagellation while explaining that my Falna had... not taken the way it should have. She looked like she expected me to lash out at her. But honestly, I wasn't mad at her. How could I be? From where I was standing, she hadn't done anything wrong.
"It's not your fault."
I finally said, breaking her train of thought.
"I don't think this happened because of you. It's probably something to do with me. Maybe I'm just... not normal?"
This was the most I could say without diving straight into my Origin Story to her. I still wasn't sure if I should come clean to her.
She looked up at me with wide, teary eyes, and I gave her a small, unsure smile. Something came up in my head and I thought it was a pretty good distraction, for both of us.
"Hey Hestia, can you still show me what it says? The stats and stuff?"
She blinked.
"W-what?"
"You know, the Status sheet. Or whatever it's called. Even if it's weird, maybe we can still read what it says, right?"
I was still curious about what my Status looked like, if it even could be read with my unusual and bizarre familia crest. Maybe, just maybe this was an effect of my hidden ability or something? I hadn't lost hope on that yet.
Surprisingly, she could do it.
With hesitant movements, she picked up a sheet of parchment that she had lying nearby and summoned the divine script only she could see on my back.
I lay there, silently, letting her copy the Status which she did by putting the paper on my back and drawing a circle on it.
I could feel the sensation, muffled by the paper, on my back and it tickled a little.
Finally, she glanced at the sheet, froze for a while, then mechanically handed me the sheet and I saw my Danmachi-style status for the first time.
-x-
Ethan Cole
Lv. 1
Strength: I0
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I0
Agility: I0
Magic: I0
[]
[Essentia Luctatoris]
Power forged through torment and sufferingEach day of survival stores potential within the soulAt the end of a set period, accumulated potential merges to grant immense powerGreater struggle yields greater reward
[Fons Aeternus]
Mana without end
[Development Abilities]
[]
-x-
The stats part of the page was about what I expected from my metaknowledge. I was Level 1 and had I0 in all my stats.
Seeing no Magics was not really a disappointment as I was instead immediately distracted by the two Skills in my Status sheet.
Now, I knew it was exceedingly rare to have an inherent and unique to an individual. Having one was a great boon. Me having two meant…
Looking at Hestia's bewildered look, I knew exactly what it meant.
Hoo boy, I did ask for powers, but this would no doubt need to be kept hidden from others.
Especially given their contents. And boy was I bittersweet about what the two abilities were.
Starting with the less nice of the two: Essentia Luctatoris. Apparently, it translated to: The Essence of the Struggler.
And what it did was, from the looks of it: Feed on my struggles and torments until a certain point and then give me an immediate boost to my stats. At least, that's what I got from it.
The fact that it fed on my torment and suffering didn't bode well, but I hoped it was not going to force me to do it.
The second skill, on the other hand, was a true Cheat. Sweet, simple, Unlimited Power (Mana, in this case)!
I was reminded of a certain meme from the internet, and I couldn't help but feel a smile blooming on me.
"I think I just won the lottery on Skills."
I commented, looking at Hestia who was still dumbstruck.
I blinked, then waved in front of her and called out her name again, causing her to break out of her stupefaction. The next thing I knew, she had lunged on me like a desperate koala.
"Oh heavens! Why?! Why am I being punished like this?! After so long I finally got a familia member, and he turned out to be a diamond in a heap of coal and then I just had to mess it up. Please! Please don't leave me. I'm so sorry for messing up the blessing! I promise I'll fix it! I swear! But please, don't leave me. Uwaahh!"
And she began bawling on my back.
I was jolted by the sudden glomp and the subsequent marshmellowy feeling from her… two assets as she clung to me tightly, wetting my upper back and shoulders from her tears.
I was left in a slightly uncomfortable position where I was still lying on my stomach and having a short-stack goddess with bigger than usual assets clinging to me. The worst part was that the said goddess was distraught and in clear need of consolation. The second worst part was that I couldn't hug her back and enjoy the feeling while trying my best to calm her down.
I eventually managed to flip myself when she eased on her tight clutch. Then, with Hestia on my stomach, looking tearing eyes, apologetic and pretty vulnerable, I stretched my hands to pull her into a cuddle embrace, using my left hand to caress her silky-smooth black hair while my right hand went to her lower waist to hold her.
"Hestia, it's alright. I said I don't blame you. It's not your fault. And I never said I wanted to leave your familia, did I? You just assumed it on your own."
Hearing my words, she glanced at me, our faces close enough for us to notice all the imperfections on our faces. Except, hers was flawless from even up close. I couldn't spot a single mark, dent or anything that wasn't flawless fair skin on her pretty little face. She was beautiful, despite the tear stains and a bit of snot running down her nose.
I winced, though—now I probably had some of that snot on my back and chest. Ugh.
I hid my reaction and instead smiled reassuringly at her. She stared right into my eyes.
"Really? You're really not angry? With your skills any Familia would beg you to join them. You're still going to stay in my poor Familia?"
She asked, her voice low and vulnerable, with a clear hint of desperation and hope.
I nodded.
"Yup. I still want to be in your Familia. I'd rather be in your Familia than any other Familia."
I don't know if I truly meant those words at the moment. It was something that just came to me and I spoke it without much thought hoping to comfort her. But the sheer relief and joy that statement from me brough on Hestia was a sight to behold.
She lit up like a Christmas Tree on a moonless night. Her brilliance was almost palpable as she started to radiate. Logically, I knew it was possibly a trick of light and illumination, but in the world where Magic was real, I could choose to believe she actually lit up, gaining a bright sheen and it could be even true.
Regardless, I received the most affectionate of hugs for my words and a fast and repeated strings of 'thank you's from the Goddess.
I couldn't help but feel bittersweet at it.
Hestia was a nice person. And she had worn her emotions on her sleeves so far. Not once had she tried to coerce or manipulate me, at least not knowingly or with ill intent. It showed the type of person (or rather, Goddess in this case) she was. I had known of her flaws from the Anime. But right here and now, since the moment we'd met, she's been nothing but sincere to me. She had switched between being enthusiastic to panicked and distraught and then joyful again, but in all that, her sincerity remained constant.
I realized I had to be better if I didn't want to break this poor (no pun intended) Goddess's heart. Despite my own agendas, whatever those were going to be moving forward, I had chosen to be part of Hestia's familia, and I had to take that into consideration from now on.
Once again, I needed information. Mainly, on the exact timeline of when I was. I needed to be sure I hadn't butterflied Bell joining the Hestia familia. I didn't even want to imagine the repercussions of that deviation.
I knew my presence here alone had disrupted my foreknowledge of canon events, but I still wanted to clutch to what I knew so I could plan things accordingly. Foreknowledge was such a powerful thing to have, yet it was also a dangerous addiction. The more one relied on it, the more it unraveled the present. Anyone in my place would want to preserve it so as to make changes and take actions that yield the best results for them and the ones they care about. But one had to be careful about the repercussions of their actions when doing so. Things didn't always go the way one might want, after all.
-x-
We stayed silent for some time, still in a cuddle embrace.
If I were to be honest, I could have stopped doing it ages ago, but I didn't let go of her, letting her lay on me while I kept caressing her hair and holding onto her small waist, feeling the soft white fabric and the very beginnings of her lower mounds that I was quite close to but not close enough, on my right palm.
So far, I had learned a few new things about Hestia: One, she smelled really nice. Sweet and pleasant, there was a certain warmness in her that seemed to make me feel comforted and relaxed as I held on to her.
She was also very soft and cuddlable. Her short stature and, contrarily, her supple assets made for a rather fascinating effect when I held on to her.
I kind of sort of didn't want her to let go and just hold her like this. So, I did exactly that, waiting for her to let go first.
For reasons only she knew and to my delight, she didn't let go or made to move either.
And so, the cuddle embrace continued for some time, the room having grown silent and the only noise we could feel was each other's breaths and the beating of our hearts. Hers was now rhythmic and easing up when before it had been a bit erratic and loud as she clung to me in desperation and then joy and relief. Mine, on the other hand, was growing slightly erratic as I quickly realized that the comfort and warmth I was feeling from Hestia didn't just relax my mind and body. Or rather, it didn't relax a very specific part of my body which seemed to instead feel uneasy and in need of attention.
Oh fuck, I was getting a boner.
Why now?! Oh, of fucking course it'll be now. I was literally holding a very attractive short stack, cuddling with her while half naked. My body seemed to react instinctively to that.
The realization jolted me slightly as my eyes flew down, not seeing the slightly hardened member obviously as it was covered by Hestia's body instead. Instead, I saw Hestia's back. The two round mounds formed a striking silhouette beneath her pure white, thin fabric that was desperately holding onto her upper tights to not slip upwards, revealing very tempting Goddess ass. Seeing them didn't help ease me; no, it instead did the opposite as I started to feel the tightness below grow.
Oh god, I was definitely popping a boner right now.
I felt Hestia stiffen on top, her face hidden within my neck, not visible to me, but I could guess her eyes were probably widened in surprise and hopefully not in disgust or any other negative emotion.
Suddenly, the situation had turned ecchi without me realizing.
I blamed this world for that. Danmachi was obviously and ecchi anime and this was definitely the work of the forces governing this world which most likely forced such a situation after that serious and sober conversation just now. And it certainly wasn't simply because I was a young hot-blooded male who had an attractive short stack Goddess lying on top of him while he was half-naked. Nope.
Sighing, I resigned myself to what was to come.
"Um…"
Hestia finally spoke; her face still hidden but she was no longer stiff at least. Although I couldn't tell how she felt right now because I could only see her head and her back from my view, the latter of which was something I was trying not to focus on out of both politeness and because it would no doubt feed my lower head's reaction.
Instead, I looked at her smooth hair and waited for her to continue.
"I just realized… I never asked for your name. I'm sorry. I forgot. I know it's Ethan from your Status, but still. That wasn't very nice of me."
"Ah."
I stopped and thought back. Yeah, I never did manage to introduce myself before I was dragged inside by an excited Hestia. But she had read my Status Page which had my name on it.
On a slightly unrelated note: How curious. To be able to know the name of a person just like that. Well, that's Divine Power for you, I suppose. Even when they were limited to human-like states, Gods and Goddesses were still their namesake, divine entities with nigh-unfathomable power.
I had to stop and ponder that as I realized I was cuddling with a very powerful, if restricted in her current form, being. A literal Goddess.
"Damn."
I murmured before continuing to answer her.
"That's fine, Hestia. I didn't introduce myself either. Let me do it properly: I am Ethan Cole. I am 24 years old. I'm from outside Orario, far away. It's a pleasure to meet you, Goddess Hestia."
I finished with a smile.
Meeting Hestia had been a whirlwind so far. So many emotions and expressions in such a short time. It sure had been the most exciting time I'd had in recent years. Not counting the literal transmigration from my world to an Anime world, that is.
With that short introduction, I had managed to distract junior enough to calm him down. Phew. Crysis averted for now.
But I couldn't help but feel like my crotch area was very hot. I guess it was the combined body heat of our prolonged embrace cuddle and also due to the fact that Hestia was unironically very warm to the touch. Warmer than usual, that is. I didn't know if all women here were so warm to touch (probably not) but she had this warmth to her that you could easily feel, especially as I was now, with my chest bare and with her thin clothing barely separating our skins from touching.
Oh, never mind, the shield hero had started to rise again. For fuck's sake, Junior.
"And I'm Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth."
I could feel the capital letters in the words Goddess and Hearth. Those words held weight—like they weren't just titles, but a core part of who she was. And I could tell she didn't mean to sound pretentious or anything, though she did seem to hold pride in her divine aspect, that is Hearth.
My response to her introduction came out before I could filter it.
"Makes sense. You're really warm and nice. Definitely a Goddess of the Hearth."
"Hehe."
The giggle that followed was so soft and sincere, it caught me off guard. There was something incredibly pure about it. It also gave me the impression that she wasn't used to being complimented so plainly.
How did I know? Because right after came the hug. Sudden. Tight. Full of warmth.
"Aw, thank you. That's really nice to hear, Ethan."
She pulled back just enough to look up at me, her blue eyes practically glowing and a megawatt smile on her face.
"I'm so happy to have such a sweet first child! This is going to be the start of something amazing, I just know it!"
I returned her smile and nodded.
"It is."
With my cheat powers finally revealed, I had a feeling I'd perhaps be able to handle whatever this world had to throw at me. And boy did this world had shit to throw at me: Dungeon Overflow, Monsters in the deeper floor, possible future human/demihumans/elf/etc. enemies, the truth lying at the end of the Dungeon, if it even had one, the One-eyed Black Dragon, who was capable of killing entire top ranking Familias. Fuck, there was a lot the world could throw at me, alright. If I didn't want to be dependent on Bell and his future friends and companions to deal with it all, I will have to step up and take that role.
There was just one problem with that. Well, two, actually. But the main problem right now was– Even with the knowledge that I did in fact have an OP Skill or two, I was nervous about going into the dungeon… alone.
And then there was the other problem, namely, I didn't want to take Bell's position as the protagonist and having to deal with it all the mess of this world. As much as I coveted power and the idea of meeting and getting acquainted with some of the girl in Danmachi enticed me, I wanted to live a peaceful and quiet life while making sure I am not undefended from forces that might seek to harm me or anyone I come to care—I glanced at the cute Goddess on top me at that—and getting into trouble was going to very much ruin that sort of life for me.
So, I was in a bit of a dilemma on what to do.
…
Before this revelation about my powers, I had been planning to get a job that wasn't directly related to dungeoneering to start earning money so I can survive in this world. Now, I had the option to go the Adventurer route, but I was hesitant to follow it. None of my powers made me strong per se and they both seemed to require a certain amount of either effort/struggle or another ability (namely, Magic). I was still a pretty squishy human with absolutely zero experience fighting monsters.
So, maybe my cheats weren't as unequivocally OP as I had hoped, but it was still better than nothing, at least. I'm just glad I didn't have to go to the dungeon in hopes of activating my cheats in a perilous situation or something. That would have been a very dangerous bet to take.
That Unlimited Mana cheat was begging me to go the Magic route. I could already imagine: Me spamming Firebolt or some other magic ability and clearing hoards of Monsters without any extra effort.
Though I knew I was being dumb assuming it'd be so easy. Real life was not the same as an Anime. Even when I was in a world that resembled one, I had a feeling reality will continue to dowse things and not have things too easy for me. After all, why else would I be given the ability to gain power from Struggle and Torment otherwise? Not to mention, where on Earth would I find a grimoire that'll let me learn Magic. I knew of only one and that would be for Bell to gain his famous Firebolt skill. Buying one would probably cost millions of Valis, while I had a big fat zero right now with no clear source of income that didn't also involve an inherent danger to my life.
As I planned on my next actions, Hestia still lying on top of me, I failed to consider if my so-called boon might have a hidden curse or cost.
Alas, I'll remain unaware of that fact until the next day.
-x-