Three days later, the Loki Familia would officially begin their expedition. Which meant, for now, they still had today. As usual, after clearing several floors and collecting a decent haul of magic stones, Su Mo and Ais finally wrapped up their dungeon run for the day. On their way back, Su Mo noticed the dungeon walls subtly trembling. It was a familiar phenomenon—the dungeon was in the process of spawning new monsters.
"I remember there's a theory that the dungeon itself is a living organism that gives birth to monsters daily," Su Mo commented casually.
"Sounds plausible, but I thought the dungeon wasn't actually sentient?" Ais responded with the common knowledge most adventurers held.
"That may not be the case," Su Mo replied, shaking his head. "But more than whether it's alive or not, I'm curious about the mechanism behind how the dungeon spawns monsters."
While the monsters themselves weren't particularly powerful, the fact that the dungeon could consistently produce living, combat-ready creatures bordered on the miracle of life itself. Su Mo found it unlikely that the monsters' flesh and bodies were simply formed from dungeon walls. There just weren't enough raw materials to account for it, not even from fallen adventurers.
Given that the magic stone served as the core of each monster, it wasn't hard to guess that the flesh might actually be generated from the stone itself. If magic stones were refined into Philosopher's Stones, they surely had the potential to produce organic matter too—not just energy.
If that were true… then theoretically, Su Mo himself could generate monsters using cores. Or, more precisely—create his own Pokémon? If he could pull that off, grinding the dungeon would be completely unnecessary. With a handful of healing-type Pokémon, he could open an invincible and wildly profitable medical center.
The only issue was that the dungeon's mechanism was internal and not easily observable. And he wasn't particularly adept at this sort of alchemical research. He had no idea if his counterpart in the Genshin world had managed to obtain the kind of alchemy capable of creating life. Shaking his head, Su Mo decided to shelve the idea for now and focus on the tasks at hand.
After parting ways with Ais, he returned home—only to be greeted by his smug little goddess, who looked up at him expectantly with a "Praise me, praise me!" expression plastered all over her face. That threw Su Mo off slightly.
"You actually pulled it off?"
He wasn't particularly interested in titles or status, but he was surprised all the same. Hestia, his shut-in goddess, had somehow managed to secure something useful?
"What do you mean 'actually'?" she huffed.
"Are you underestimating this great goddess?!" She crossed her arms, wearing the most triumphant look she could muster.
"I am the mighty goddess Hestia herself! What can't I accomplish when I put my mind to it?!" ...A bold claim, to be sure.
Still, since it was rare for her to achieve anything, a little smugness was forgivable. But then again, Su Mo couldn't help but remember how notoriously awful Hestia's interpersonal relationships were. In the original timeline, it had taken help from Freya to pull something like this off.
And right now, that blind, tone-deaf goddess—who failed to recognize the purity, sincerity, and divine charm that he represented—was unlikely to lift a finger for him. Which meant there was only one other candidate who could've helped Hestia swing this.
"Don't tell me... it was Loki who helped you?" Su Mo narrowed his eyes.
There weren't many gods or goddesses capable of swaying divine opinion. If Loki had caught wind of his name and wanted to earn some goodwill, she might've intervened. And judging by Hestia's reaction, he hit the bullseye.
"Eh? How'd you know that?" Her confident posture immediately deflated.
She had hoped to be praised, only to be instantly exposed. But before Su Mo could say anything else, Hestia's expression shifted into one of fierce indignation.
"Oh, right! Loki told me something else too—have you been going out every day with a girl?!"
She struck a dramatic pose, like a jealous wife catching her husband in the act. Su Mo, of course, remained unfazed and answered calmly.
"While I wouldn't call it a date, I have been with Ais these past few days." That earned him a puffed-up pout from Hestia.
"What's so great about Ais? Is she prettier than me? Cuter than me?"
"From a normal perspective, probably yes—she's more traditionally beautiful," Su Mo answered honestly. "But to me? Hestia's cuter."
Hearing that, Hestia's cheeks flushed with joy and her expression softened. But she wasn't letting it go that easily.
"Then why not take me with you next time?!" She proposed enthusiastically.
Su Mo, however, shook his head. "If I bring Ais, she helps lure monsters and picks up magic stones."
"But if I bring you... what exactly can you do?"
His useless, stay-at-home goddess was far better off staying exactly where she was.
"Ugh..." She had no rebuttal. She really was kind of a useless goddess.
—And she couldn't exactly say, "I can cheer for you!" Still, she hated the idea of Su Mo getting too close to other girls. After all, her divine possessiveness wasn't something to be taken lightly. Watching her sulk like a pouting child, Su Mo couldn't help but laugh.
"Someone's jealous."
"Not saying who, of course." He teased.
Hestia's face went red like a tomato.
"I am not jealous! I'm just worried about you, okay?!"
"Don't get fooled by those girls out there! They're all bad news!"
Yes, that's right. She was just looking out for him. Girls outside the Familia were dangerous. Better to pick someone within the Familia. And it just so happened that the only girl in the Familia... was her. Couldn't be helped, right?
As Su Mo listened to her blanket condemnation of all women, his eyes slowly drifted toward the door.
"So, by your logic, even Hephaestus can't be trusted?" He asked, just to poke the bear. Hestia took the bait instantly.
"Of course! Even Hephaestus isn't safe!"
"All female gods—except me—are man-eating tigers!" Hestia tried desperately to paint all other goddesses in the worst light possible, trying to ward Su Mo off from developing any ideas. That was when a familiar voice rang out at the door.
"Hestia!" That was the voice of Hephaestus, the goddess of the forge. Hestia instantly froze in place. When she turned around, she was met with the sight of a thoroughly displeased Hephaestus.
Looking miserable, Hestia twisted her head back toward Su Mo. "Su Mo, you set me up!" But Hephaestus had no intention of letting her go on. "I heard your child had advanced to Level 2. I actually came here intending to apologize for not trusting you last time," she said, smiling sweetly. "But I never expected to hear something like that."
"The wicked Hephaestus? A fire-breathing man-eating tigress? Hmph!" The aura of the forge goddess was absolutely overwhelming. "Listen, Hephaestus, let me explain! I didn't mean it like that!" Hestia clutched at the hem of Hephaestus' coat, trying to plead her case. But the goddess simply sneered. "Relax, I'm not mad."
"Eh? Really?" Hestia's innocent eyes lit up with hope—only for Hephaestus to follow up with: "Of course. I'm not mad at all. So, if I were to... oh, I don't know, repeat those things you said to the other goddesses, there wouldn't be any consequences, right?" As she said this, Hephaestus turned to leave.
Hestia immediately clung to her leg. "No, please! Have mercy, Hephaestus!"
"I didn't mean it, really! You're my best friend—don't do this to me!" Watching this entirely self-inflicted mess unfold, Su Mo felt zero sympathy. In fact, he was tempted to pull out a bench and popcorn. Unfortunately, Hephaestus was too soft-hearted. After scaring Hestia a bit, she didn't follow through. After the two goddesses talked for a while, Hephaestus finally explained her purpose for coming.
Seeing that Hestia had seriously established her Familia and even heard that her child had genuinely reached Level 2, she had come to offer an apology for her earlier doubts—and as a show of support, she brought a well-crafted set of armor as a gift.
While that equipment wasn't of much use to Su Mo, he appreciated the gesture.
"Hephaestus really is a good person," he remarked. "She is! She's always looked after me," Hestia nodded, full of agreement. "Then why were you badmouthing her?" Su Mo asked, half amused.
"That's a different matter entirely! Besides, how was I supposed to know she was here?" Hestia huffed. She'd just been venting without thinking, but deep down she did respect Hephaestus a great deal.
Respect was one thing. But guarding against other goddesses poaching her precious child? That was something else entirely. Seeing Hestia still trying to justify herself, Su Mo just shook his head. Then he remembered the thing he meant to bring up that morning.
"By the way, Hestia—time to level me up."
"My experience should be enough to hit Level 5 now."