5 - BLESSING AND TRAINING (1ST SPECIAL CHAPTER)

On the streets of Orario, the adventurers observed dumbfounded as a handsome tall man helped a young man walk, it was surprising how there was so much difference between their outer appearance, the boy was dirty and full of injuries, but the man was fully clean and seemed like he had just taken a bath. But they weren't the only ones surprised.

After wearing this robe for so much time, Tehom noticed that it had some sort of special property, it would always repair itself no matter how much damage it took, and somehow it could keep him and itself as clean as possible, although this last part only happened if he remained without fighting for some time. The only downside was the lack of protection, since other than those abilities it was no different than normal clothes.

Soon they arrived at the church, seeing how Hestia was walking around filled with worry, Tehom shook his head, he would have felt sympathy in case she was a mortal, but a god... At least she cared about their safety, it made him look at her with a little bit better opinion.

Seeing Bell, she started tearing and ran towards him, she hugged him and said. "Bell, what happened! Where are you guys all night?!"

"Kami-sama... I... We were inside the dungeon..."

"....." She looked him up and down and started to boil in rage. "I-Idiot! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? Entering the dungeon like that ... Besides, FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT!?"

"...Sorry." Bell couldn't look at her face as he apologized.

She then turned to Tehom and clenching her fist she said. "And you! Didn't you wanted the position of captain!? Why didn't you protect my Bell! What if he died there!?"

He looked at her and slightly laughed.

"There seems to be a little misunderstanding here." Listening to his words she was startled. "I did protect him, when I found him inside the dungeon he was crying and had lost all rationality, he would probably go much deeper if it wasn't for me, besides..."

He patted Bell's back and said. "As a man, I can perfectly understand his frustrations, he had to vent some of that pent up rage. And this was good in a way or another since we managed to collect 150 thousand Valis."

"You... what!? 150 thousand..." Her mind went blank after hearing this amount... Usually, Bell would only be capable of collecting this amount of Valis in a month and a half.

But it didn't take long for her to recover. She looked at Bell and asked.

"What happened to you? Why were you so reckless?"

Bell remained silent at this question, it was fine telling his captain, because he was a man like him and it was less embarrassing, but to his goddess...

In the end, he could only say one thing.

"I... Want to become stronger!"

She sighed and silently accepted his answer.

They went inside and Hestia started updating their Falna, she started with Bell who was the most tired and would probably fall asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

As she stared at his back and worked on the <Sacred Text>, after some time she stopped and her expression changed a few times. Seeing this Tehom raised an eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously.

"Kami-sama?"

"Ah... It's nothing." She then pretended to keep updating his status.

After a few seconds, she stopped and said. "Bell-kun, can I verbally pass on your status today?"

"Uh? Okay, I don't have a problem with this..." He yawned after saying those words.

Bell was surprised about his rapid growth and started asking questions about how he's getting stronger so fast, Hestia was a bad lier, she tried to conceal something as she denied some of his words and told him to stop increasing his floor count.

She reprimanded him a few more times and told him that his "growth period" was only because he is talented.

Tehom only watched their interaction, he was surprised seeing this girl overflowing with emotions, if this was back on his previous life, he would confidently say that she is madly in love with him. After all, asking him to not leave her alone while crying, only a girl in love would do this, right?

She told him to sleep while she updated Tehom status, Bell nodded and fell on the bed, the moment he closed his eyes he started dreaming, this was the extent of how tired he was currently.

Without waiting for her to ask he removed his upper robe and let her work with the <Sacred Text>.

While she was doing it he asked.

"What are you hiding, Hestia?"

Caught off guard by his sudden question she gasped.

"W-what are you talking about? I-I'm not hiding anything..." She shuddered as she worked.

"..." Tehom turned his head to look at her. "You are a really bad lier."

She could only avoid his gaze at this moment, she was feeling guilty for hiding the truth about Bell's growth, but she couldn't tell him about it, he would never be able to hide this ability, and she was worried that he would get arrogant and make a mistake.

But... She looked at Tehom and thought for a moment, this man, even if she didn't completely trust him yet, based on what Bell told her, she knew he was serious about leading her Familia, Bell even managed to get the skill swordsmanship I in a single night, this was a sign of what he learned under Tehom's guiding.

Perhaps, she could tell him about this.

"Sigh... The truth is that Bell has a skill that allows him to grow faster than others, it all depends on his desire, the stronger it is, the faster his growth. Your growth like his is fast, but I'm pretty sure that it's because you overexert your body when fighting, using every bit of potential you have, otherwise you wouldn't have swordsmanship S, I know that this type of skill would only exist in someone who has decades of experience... That and the fact that a god somehow managed to bless you without Tenkai reacting to it."

She stopped for a moment and continued. "I'm afraid that Bell would get arrogant and commit mistakes inside the dungeon, I don't him to die..."

Tehom listened to her words and sighed. "You love him too much you know."

"WHAT!?" She heavily blushed after hearing his words. "What are you t-talking about? I don't love Bell..."

"Yeah, and I don't despise the gods. Good try."

She frowned at his words but the blush remained on her face. "What do you have against the gods? Actually, why don't you tell me more about you? As far as I know, living legend is a skill that only someone who literally becomes a legend could have, but the majority would be dead before this happened, and I never heard of you before, so how come you are a legend, and how did you acquired the skill reserved only for heroes, I've never heard of your heroic deeds."

"You gods are selfish, having this much power and never doing anything for us mortals, only descending here to have fun, as if it was some sort of holiday for you... You wanna know why I'm a legend, a hero, and despise the gods? Well, it's simple."

"I fought in a war like no other, sacrificed countless things in order to succeed, and managed to save my entire race from annihilation, and the gods not even once offered some sort of help, so tell me wouldn't this qualify me as a hero and a legend?"

"What? This can't be true, since the gods descended there was no situation that could wipe out an entire race..." She stopped for a moment and started to connect the missing pieces in the puzzle.

"You are... No... This isn't possible... How?" At that moment another ability of his come to her mind and made her understand. "The undead... a person who came back from the dead... You are a reincarnated individual..."

Tehom laughed at her words.

"You know, for someone with horrible lying skills your deduction skill is top-notch." He had a grin on his face as he commented.

"Why did you told me that? Aren't you afraid of others discovering your secret and targeting you!?" She asked with a shocked face.

"What secret? Have you ever seem me trying to hide this fact? Just because I don't go out shouting that I reincarnated doesn't mean I'm trying to hide anything. Besides..." His eyes became slightly dark as he laughed in a terrifying way. "So what if they target me? I'm immortal and killed so many in my life, they are more than welcome to try, hehe!"

He wasn't lying, he didn't fear anyone, he would welcome anyone that target him with open arms, but as the saying goes, "If you point a gun to someone, you better be prepared to kill or be killed", if necessary he would make his path towards the top through a mountain of bones and corpses, nothing would stand on his way.

Hestia paled and shuddered at his words, she had a kind and gentle nature, it was her first time dealing with someone so ruthless and decisive, she could even feel the powerful killing intent on his voice. He definitely wasn't kidding...

She finished updating his status and gave him a paper with them.

Tehom

Lv 1

STRENGTH: I 0 -> I 25

ENDURANCE: I 0 -> H 100

DEXTERITY: I 0 -> I 40

AGILITY: I 0 -> I 75

MAGIC: I 0 -> H 100

----------------------------------------

<Magic>

[ ]

<Skills>

[SWORDSMANSHIP] S

. Increase the chance of critical by 100%

. Increase the damage caused when using swords by 200%

. Increase your attack speed by 100%

[LIVING LEGEND] S

. Your presence is enough to affect your allies

. Creates a passive domain that affects 50 meters around you

. Increase your allies mana and stamina recovery by 50%

. Increase your allies natural regeneration capabilities by 50%

[TRUE HERO] S

???

[JADE EMPERORS' BLESSING] S

. Mortal limits removed

[THE UNDEAD] SSS

. It is impossible to die, your body don't age and doesn't need food or water and regenerates any injuries extremely fast

[PAIN TOLERANCE] B

. Increase your resistance to pain by 25%

In terms of growth, it wasn't comparable to Bell, but he wasn't so far behind. After checking his status for some time he turned to Hestia and asked her something that had been on his mind for some time now.

"Hestia, do you know what this skill does exactly." He pointed at the Jade Emperor's blessing.

"This..." She hesitated for a moment. "I can only think of two possible explanations for it. The first one is that it removes your mortal body natural limit at 999 points per status, this could explain why you had so many points on your attributes despite being an Lv 0 before."

He nodded at her words, it made sense, if that was true, he had the possibility of leveling up with status much higher than the other adventures could. This would grant him some advantages on the next level, since his previous status wasn't erased, but remained as hidden attributes.

"The other is that maybe you could ascend to godhood somehow... After all, this god, the Jade Emperor was mortal himself before ascending, so it makes sense that he gave you the capability to do the same as him." She gritted her teeth after saying those words as if this reminds her of something that she wanted to forget, unfortunately, Tehom didn't notice this.

"I see... Hestia, I wanted to ask you one other thing." He said as he wore his robes once again.

"I'm listening."

"Do you know who is the blacksmith that made this weapon? He took the sword he gave to Bell and showed it to her."

Seeing the emblem engraved on the blade she replied. "This was made by the <Hephaestus Familia>, are you interested in buying their products? I must tell you now if so, they are quite pricey."

"Yeah, I imagined that would be the case, but good equipment is always a must, and this sword level of quality is truly superb, I wanted to see if I could buy something better for me and Bell, this would make our progress easier, and we also need to buy him a new armor."

She nodded and thought for some time, she was already thinking about getting Bell a special gift anyway... Since her Familia increased she might as well try to get something for the two of them, and it would probably be easier than she thought at the beginning since they were getting quite a large amount of Valis thanks to Tehom... Sighing she stood up and took a letter from within a shelf.

After reading its content she turned to Tehom and said.

"I'll have to leave the house for a few days probably, could you tell Bell that I went to a friend's gathering? It's has been some time since I last saw them so I wanted to pay a visit."

"No problem."

She was about to leave, but before that, she turned to Tehom and said. "Please, take care of Bell."

Tehom silently nodded.

Seeing this she sighed and left.

....

It has been 7 hours since they arrived, and considering that it was more or less 5 am when that happened, now should be midday. After Hestia left, having nothing better to do Tehom decided to keep practicing some exercises, his strength was too low when compared to his other status, so he wanted to try increasing his strength through conventional means. It wouldn't be as effective as collecting <Excelia>, but it was good enough for him.

Bell entered the church Hall and observed Tehom training for a few seconds before asking.

"Hey, captain, did you saw Kami-sama? Did she went to work?"

"She said that she had to meet some friends in a gathering and would be out for a few days." Tehom finished his push-ups and after stretching a little he stood up.

"I see, thanks for telling me." He bowed slightly.

"You should stop behaving like that."

"Huh? Why?"

Tehom shook his head and said. "Because you are very tense when you talk to people. Are you ashamed or something similar?"

"N-no..." Bell looked down while trying to avoid his gaze.

"Ah... whatever, let's go, we have a busy day in front of us."

"Where are we going? I still need to apologize to the Syr-san and the owner of the <Hostess of Fertility>..." He blushed a little when he said the name of the girl.

"That's fine, we can have lunch there and then we can go and buy new armor for you, a better sword for me, and the bags."

The two left the church and went to the restaurant first.

They stopped in front of the restaurant and read the sign that said "Open", seeing that Bell had already steeled his determination, he went inside.

There were only a few adventurers inside, the girls that worked here could be seen talking to each other with a slightly bored expression on their faces.

Seeing the handsome Tehom approaching, one of the girls came closer and said. "Hello, customer how may I help you?"

"We want to buy some food, but first, the boy has something to say." He pointed to Bell.

"Uh... Is Syr Flova-san here? And also the female boss..."

From that point on, a weird discussion started happening, but Tehom wasn't really paying attention, he simply took a sit on one of the tables and read through the menu. After some time Bell finally managed to solve the problem with the girls and the owner of the restaurant.

He took a seat beside Tehom and was followed by a girl called Syr.

"Uh, who is he Bell, I've never seen you two walking together or anything similar."

"Oh, right... Syr-san this is the captain of my Familia, his name is Tehom."

Tehom only nodded and replied with a simple "Nice to meet you."

She smiled at both of them and asked what they would want for lunch.

Tehom simply told her to bring the specialty of the restaurant while Bell asked for the same thing he ate yesterday. After eating they bid their farewells and went to the shops that were inside the giant tower <Babel>.

There, bell bought a white light armor, while Tehom bought a good katana in one of the shops of the <Hephaestus Familia>.

From there, they went to the 6th-floor of the dungeon once again.

"What we are going to do, captain?"

"I'll train your foundations."

"Eh?"

He shook his head and said. "Take out your weapon. Let's start with a simple spar."

"But... what about the monsters?"

"Don't worry about them, I'll finish any that come closer.

Bell nodded and prepared himself. Seeing the way he was holding the sword, Tehom slightly smiled and said.

"Do you know why you have to hold your sword like that?"

Bell simply shook his head, he had no idea.

"It's all about preparation against your enemy, the objective of a fighting stance is to allow you to defend against or to attack your enemy more easily."

He lifted the sword and brought it down vertically. Seeing the sword approaching him, Bell adjusted the position of his sword and defended the attack.

"See? Depending on how you prepare yourself its easier to defend against your enemy or attack him."

From that moment on, they kept training non-stop this would only end at night. At some point, he was showing Bell how to fight groups of enemies, but he stopped for a moment and asked him.

"Bell, do you know what guides your sword?"

"My hands?" Seeing that Tehom shook his head he said. "I don't know..."

"My sword is guided by the desires of my heart..." As Tehom said that, memories of his past played on his mind.

....

Inside a shooting range, a 16-year-old boy practiced with a simple pistol, but no matter how many times he fired, he always missed the target.

Seeing his failure, he threw the gun to the floor in anger and punched the wall. "What the hell! Why am I so bad with firearms!? How am I going to pass the qualifying exam like that? I only have one year left before the test date..."

At that moment a voice came from behind, startling him, he then turned back to see who was it.

"Punching the innocent wall is not going to make you learn to shoot or help you pass the exam."

She was his mentor, Miss Larson, she is a true war veteran who has gone through countless life and death situations. Her gray hair was a testament to her old age, but if it weren't for that, everyone would think she is only 30 years old at the most.

Genetic improvements greatly reduce the aging process and ensure that a human being never leaves its peak state, always conserving its strength even when very old.

"So what should I do, mentor? No matter what I do, I can't learn to use these damn firearms ..."

She looked at him for a moment and said. "If you can't use firearms then why don't you try the sword?"

"But I never trained in martial arts..."

"It is always a good time to start practicing." She walked over to a wall and touched a button, right after on some of the tables around them, two swords materialized as if they were always there.

Seeing that his mentor had taken one of the swords, he took the other.

"Do you know what the difference is between a soldier and a warrior?"

He shook his head, he had no idea about the difference.

"A warrior knows which battle to fight and which one to give up, a soldier just follows orders. You, as my student, are much more than a soldier, you are a warrior. And as such you must know that there are losses, but there is no suffering. A true warrior knows that losing a battle is improving his art of wielding the sword. You will know how to fight with more ability in the next combat."

She pointed the sword at him, and advanced quickly, seeing the blade approaching at high speed, he panicked and tried to counterattack, but she just deflected his blow and knocked him down with one movement.

"Stand up."

He gritted his teeth and stood up.

"Pay attention to how I move, how I handle the sword and use it to attack my enemies." She made a small gesture and the firing range became a type of arena in the blink of an eye, at that moment, several dolls as tall as an adult man appeared carrying different types of weapons and ran over her.

For each enemy, she acted differently, but in all cases, her movements were fluid and deadly, any living being would have met its death in the movements she made.

Tehom was completely immersed in his master's movements and gestures, that could be a struggle, but somehow, it was as if he was seeing her life and philosophy.

"My sword is guided by the desires of my heart." She said when she closed her eyes. "My body is made of swords. My blood is made of iron, and my heart is made of glass. I overcame countless battlefields without defeat. Without ever backing down, and without ever being understood. Always alone, on the hill of swords intoxicated with the victory. Thus, this life has no meaning. This body is nothing but a sword."

The moment she finished saying those deep words, all of her enemies were defeated. At that moment Tehom felt enlightened, somehow he finally understood that his path was clear, his path would be that of the swords, he would follow the footsteps of his mentor and make her proud.

....

"My sword is guided by the desires of my heart." He said when he closed his eyes and continued to fight the monsters as if his action didn't affected him in any way. "My body is made of swords. My blood is made of iron, and my heart is made of glass. I overcame countless battlefields without defeat. Without ever backing down, and without ever being understood. Always alone, on the hill of swords intoxicated with the victory. Thus, this life has no meaning. This body is nothing but a sword."

Bell was completely shocked by the scene, at this moment, Tehom wasn't like the other times, he felt like he was in the presence of an old monster that faced countless wars. His heart seemed to beat faster as he listened to his words.

Soon after saying those words, the last monster died and fell on the ground, around Tehom there were no less than 15 monsters, and each one of them he defeated with his eyes closed.

Tehom's next words wake up Bell that listened with curiosity.

"That was my mentor's motto. She was the greatest warrior and swordsman I've ever seen, thanks to her I discovered the path of the swords and made it my most lethal weapon, even today I still hope to carry on her legacy."