A novice adventurer's stats all start at base values. You raise them by grinding the Dungeon, and a god updates them afterward.
Stats are broken down into tiers from I to S:
"i: 0–99, H: 100–199 … A: 800–899, S: 900–999."
When your stats hit a ceiling and won't go higher, you need a feat of great merit to level up as an adventurer; your prior training converts into your new base.
Keyaru knew these basics.
But in the DanMachi world, raw stats alone don't guarantee victory; magic, skills, and technique matter more.
Conveniently, the moment he received a god's blessing, he already had a spell of his own—
"Heal."
"Am I actually a prodigy?"
Staring at the parchment, Keyaru's mood whipped up and down like a roller coaster. He'd kept his expectations low—his hero's crest had vanished in this new world… Even becoming a bottom-rung Orario adventurer would beat going back to a wage job, or so he'd told himself.
He never imagined he'd be one of the rare few to start out with a particularly powerful magic.
"A spell that heals wounds, restores stamina, purges poison, lifts curses, and returns the target to their original state."
Its effects were no different from the Healer's.
Keyaru forced himself to calm down. If he remembered right, "Heal" had a fatal drawback:
When you use it, everything the target has experienced floods into the caster in an instant.
The pain is unimaginable; an ordinary person can't tank it on willpower alone. Whether that side effect still existed was his biggest concern.
If it didn't, this would be even more outrageous than Amid the silver saint's "Dia Fratel"!
…
Thinking gets you only so far—experiments are the only proof that counts.
He knew that. But he couldn't very well hurt himself just to try "Heal" on his own wounds.
No such thing.
Then his eyes fell on Hestia. Giving a first blessing, she'd pressed the needle a bit too hard. Gods seal their power when they descend, and down here they're no different from ordinary people—they feel hunger, pain, and so on.
A tiny bead of blood still welled on the tip of her fair index finger. Inspiration struck Keyaru at once.
"Lady Hestia."
"Would you like me to… use magic to treat your cut?"
"Huh?"
"It's nothing, really."
Hestia waved it off. She could ignore that kind of pain—and now that her Familia was officially founded, she had to act mature and responsible as a goddess.
"I actually just want to test the spell."
"In that case, go ahead."
She didn't refuse further. She was just as curious about Keyaru's "Heal." Judging by the description alone, it was top-tier for Orario.
"Okay."
Nervous but forcing himself to stay cool, Keyaru focused. The cut wasn't so tiny that it would vanish instantly, but the pain was minimal.
He had to concentrate to catch what it felt like as it healed.
Unlike most magic in DanMachi, his "Heal" needed no chant. He took Hestia's soft hand in his.
With no prior experience using magic, he could only recite the spell silently in his heart.
A gentle light rose and wrapped the goddess's palm. The pinprick closed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
There was no overwhelming "shared pain" like he'd feared.
Only a needle-prick flash of sensation skimmed across his mind—followed by a wave of dizziness he couldn't quite suppress.
"Why do I feel… a little lightheaded?"
He still couldn't be sure whether "Heal" had side effects; he'd need more test cases.
Sitting on the bed's edge, he tried to shake off the vertigo, with little effect.
"Dizziness is actually normal."
Hestia examined the spotless skin at her fingertip. Ordinary healing magic could handle a cut like this, sure—but still…
That kind of effect is limited to simple surface wounds.
She trusted the magic's description wouldn't lie. If even a damaged body could be restored to its original state… How crazy would the other Familias go if they found out about this?
"Your Magic stat is i0. Casting is like overdrawing your… spirit, so your body shows it as a side effect."
"So that's it."
Keyaru's understanding of DanMachi came only from the anime; he hadn't seen details like this in practice. It made sense.
Hypothesis:
If his "Heal" only consumed his own mana with no other backlash, could he branch it into skills like "Imitation," "Looting," "Transformation," or "Corruption"?
If he could…
Then: "To reclaim the Healer's glory—count me in!"
But before that, he faced a very practical problem: as a non-combat support, how was he supposed to raise his stats?
"This is… tricky."
He had no interest in spreading doom and gloom. Objectively, the Loki Familia would be the best stage for his growth.
But between reason and impulse—
Keyaru decided to follow his "little" heart. If you can stick close to a baby-faced goddess, who still pines for a powerful Familia to boost your career?
Hestia had the same worry. With magic like his, given time, he'd become a top-tier support, surpassing even the "Silver Saint" Amid Teasanare. But how would they get through the process?
A brand-new Familia with only one sapling—Keyaru.
"Keyaru."
"Now that you've got such a powerful spell… do you regret joining… my Familia?"
"As your patron," the girl's face clouded, brows knitting with the bitterness in her heart, "as much as I hate to admit it… the Familia that suits you best in Orario is the one Loki founded."
Keyaru didn't meet the goddess's eyes. Looking down, he saw her dainty feet. After a brief pause, his answer was firm:
"I believe that with you here, Hestia, the Familia will get better."
Of course it would.
A Healer isn't just a normal support. If he could develop spinoff abilities, his combat level would leap.
Exploring the Dungeon might be tougher for a while…
But with a kind, baby-faced goddess providing emotional support, Keyaru felt any amount of effort would be worth it.
With that thought, he took Hestia's fair hand and smiled, earnest:
"I want our Familia's future to be something we build together, Hestia. Ask me a hundred times—you'll get the same answer."
Straight talk never goes out of style.
Hestia felt the boy's sincerity. He hadn't answered her question directly, but… wasn't that a bit unfair?
"Keyaru…"
"Okay—then let's entrust the Familia's future to us!"