Moreover, don't be fooled by how the protagonist's group in the original story always seemed to encounter Floor Bosses right as they respawned. In reality, for larger Familias with adventurers of Level 4, 5, or even higher, bosses like Goliath and Amphisbaena were merely targets for farming high-tier drop materials or helping Familia members accumulate Excellia.
Usually, not long after they spawned, they would be hunted down and killed.
To put it another way, it was like a guild in an MMO camping the spawn point of a world boss.
Levi's current strength wasn't weak; within the entire city of Orario, based purely on combat power, he could easily rank within the top two hundred.
But if he were to face a medium-to-large Familia like the Loki Familia, Freya Familia, or Ganesha Familia alone, the outcome would obviously only be defeat and death.
So...
Levi, having finished his Falna update, turned to look at his goddess. "Hestia, I'm about to do something greedy."
...
"That child's soul... it's become brighter again."
In the hanging gardens of Babel, Freya gazed down at Levi walking out of the Hestia Familia's residence. As she murmured, a flush gradually spread across her cheeks.
"Ottar."
"I am here."
The undisputed strongest in Orario, the 'King' (Ottar) who had long raised his abilities to the limit of Level 7 and only lacked sufficient Excellia to reach Level 8, stepped out from the shadows nearby. He was also the goddess's most loyal Boaz warrior.
As he spoke, he lowered his head slightly, his expression remaining serious and indifferent.
Freya, long accustomed to this, paid it no mind and continued speaking to herself. "What should I do, Ottar? I suddenly want that child so badly."
"I will go bring him here." Since this wasn't the first time, Ottar simply replied as such.
However, as soon as the words left his mouth, he was met with the goddess's refusal.
"But I can't do that." The gray-haired goddess, her long hair reaching her waist and her attire rather revealing, cupped her cheeks with both hands. Despite looking like a maiden in love, a hint of conflict appeared between her brows. "That child confessed to Hestia publicly at the Guild. From what other gods say, Hestia didn't reject him either."
"Although I don't fear Hestia, clashing directly with her would honestly be a bit troublesome."
Again, snatching a child with outstanding potential and snatching a god's lover were two completely different matters with vastly different consequences.
If it were just the former, the gods might sigh or feel regret, but they would ultimately choose to let it go.
But if it were the latter...
Then, even Freya couldn't guarantee that the other party wouldn't go insane.
Especially Hestia. In the Upper World, she was responsible for guarding the Sacred Flame. If something went wrong with that thing, let alone the Lower World, even Heaven would fall into chaos.
"Then, my lady, what do you intend to do?" Ottar asked.
Freya brushed her fingers lightly through the hair by her ear. Hearing this, she smiled confidently. "Ottar, you seem to have forgotten. I... am the Goddess of Beauty."
Although she didn't dare use her Authority of 'Charm' directly for fear of Hestia's hysteria.
But relying solely on her tens of millions of years of life experience, she believed she could completely hook Levi Bright.
When the time came, facing Hestia's accusations, the gray-haired goddess could simply brush it off by saying Levi had a change of heart.
As for whether the other party listened or not? Hehe~ That wasn't something she needed to consider.
However, a goddess's existence was a bit too exalted; it might scare him away at first...
"I've got it!" Freya clapped her hands together, her tone filled with a mix of joy and mischief. "I'll approach him using the identity of 'Syr Flova'."
"Besides, how can a child with such a dazzling soul hide himself? That's simply too wasteful."
"I remember that in Heaven, Hestia didn't get along with Apollo~ In that case..."
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Danmachi : I'm Surrounded by Goddesses (68 Chapters, Ongoing)
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Listening to his Goddess of Beauty's plan, Ottar, standing by the side, said nothing, continuing his silence.
...
Freya, hiding in the dark, thought she was the hunter. Little did she know that the moment her emotions fluctuated, Levi sensed it through his Status Panel.
[Current Active Blessings:][II · 'Goddess of Beauty' Freya's Twisted Love II: Mental Abnormality Resistance Massively Increased]
Levi, who was walking towards the dungeon entrance, suddenly halted his steps. The next second, he returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
He forcefully suppressed the instinct to look up at Babel, pretending he hadn't noticed anything.
Inside, however, he was deeply puzzled.
Why did Freya's affection for me increase?I shouldn't have done anything to pique her interest, right?Or could it be...
The eyes of the boy hidden under his hood flickered, quickly reaching a conclusion:
Is it because my soul underwent some kind of transformation?
In the world of Danmachi, every person's soul is unique and carries its own base color.
But this doesn't mean that after experiencing various events, the soul won't change.
When he first obtained the 'Goddesses' Love Blessing' magic, although he didn't say it, Levi had been curious about what his soul looked like.
After all, it had attracted the attention of Freya, the goddess who could see the color of souls.
But as the days passed without her taking further action, he had tossed such thoughts to the back of his mind.
Verified by Hephaestus, Levi had confirmed that Level I affection hadn't reached the level of romantic love.
In other words, his soul might be somewhat peculiar, but definitely not enticing enough to be included in the Goddess of Beauty's hunting range.
But right now...
Is it because of 'Constellation Resonance'?Or is it because I switched to a higher-tier artifact set?Or both?
Levi thought wildly. But obviously, until he truly met Freya or her alt account 'Syr', all guesses would remain just guesses.
Thinking of this, Levi couldn't help but sigh.
What a hassle...
In the anime from his previous life, there were only a handful of named goddesses.
Among them, Levi's favorite was undoubtedly Hestia; both her personality and appearance were right up his alley.
That was why, even though it was a bit unethical, upon discovering that Hestia hadn't met the original protagonist Bell Cranel yet, Levi had made his move immediately.
As for goddesses like Hephaestus and Loki who also had significant screen time, saying he had zero affection for them would be a lie.
Men are sexual creatures by nature.
There was no point denying it, especially since his awakened magic was literally 'Goddesses' Love Blessing'.
But if you asked if there were any goddesses he disliked...
Then Levi wouldn't hesitate to answer immediately: "The Goddess of Beauty."
Yes, the Goddess of Beauty.
To be precise, the Goddesses of Beauty—plural!
He disliked all Goddesses of Beauty.
Not because they were promiscuous or had chaotic private lives.
They weren't his lovers anyway, so why should he care about that?
The real reason Levi disliked the Goddesses of Beauty was their Authority of 'Charm', which could be activated at will, disregarding the will of others.
No one wants their free will stripped away, their thoughts and feelings controlled.
Levi, who possessed a Pay-to-Win cheat and was destined to stand at the very peak of Orario as long as he didn't die prematurely, felt this even more strongly.
And a Goddess of Beauty, especially one wrapped up in 'love', was undoubtedly the biggest and most troublesome accident waiting to happen.
That said, Levi couldn't do anything right now.
He couldn't possibly run up to Freya's alt, Syr, just to verify his guess.
In fact, to prevent Freya, who was now eyeing him, from noticing anything wrong, he needed to maintain his current pattern of action as much as possible.
Tsk, still not strong enough. Levi twitched his mouth, thinking to himself. Also, I need to find a way to increase my Charm Resistance.
Hopefully, after reaching Level 4, the Standard Pool will unlock Bell's 'Liaris Freese' skill.
Murmuring this, the boy with pale-gold short hair stepped into the dungeon entrance.
Before leaving the residence, Levi had actually confirmed through consuming Skill Proficiency Tickets that Level 3 ability values could be treated as effectively double that of Level 2.
During this process, whether it was the recently acquired 'Ancient Yunlai Swordsmanship' and 'Favonius Bladework', or the 'Hunter Archery' and 'Rockbreaker Spear Technique' he had been learning for a while, all of them advanced to perfection under the supply of inexhaustible proficiency tickets.
Among them, the 'Rockbreaker Spear Technique' (lit. Stepping on Stars and Seizing the Dipper) in particular. As a 4-Star martial art, after advancing to Master rank, Levi mastered a technique to condense a disposable transparent platform under his feet using mana, granting him the ability to change direction in mid-air to a certain extent.
In a sense, the current Levi, apart from his body and instincts not fully adapting to the freshly added stats, had already reached his most perfect state!
As for what came next...
Arriving at the 5th Floor of the labyrinth, he didn't continue down the main path to the next floor. Instead, after seven turns and eight bends, he soon appeared at the edge of the current floor.
The next second.
Accompanying the opening of his inventory, a drop of blood radiating golden light fell from the opening.
[Divine Blood · 7-Star: Divine blood provided by the 'Goddess of the Hearth' Hestia. Bound by Adeptus Order spirit words, it contains powerful divine aura that has yet to dissipate.]
Levi raised his right hand and drew a rune towards the divine blood held in his left palm.
From his mouth came a soft shout: "Release!"
Immediately, the unsealed divine aura began to spread continuously into the surroundings.
About a dozen seconds later, the cave Levi was in suddenly shook violently.
Countless rocks fell from the walls in all directions, revealing a monster within the southern stone wall. Its body was nearly half the size larger than its ordinary kin, covered in ferocious bone spikes, looking utterly unfriendly—a Pitch-Black Infant Dragon!