[Arc 1]Chapter 2

Hephaestus' POV

"Hmm...", the boy who was sprawled over the bed opened his eyes. Hephaestus looked at his empty blue eyes in wonder, however this soon ended when she realised the boy was looking directly into her eye with expectation.

'I guess he wants me to explain.', Hephaestus slightly frowned.

"Your in my apartment, boy. What's your name?", Hephaestus questioned the youth, however her answer was a rotation to his head which seemed as if it just tilted. 'He doesn't remember his name?', Hephaestus suspected.

"Do you remember your name?", Hephaestus once again questioned, however the only difference this time was that he firmly nodded sideways, meaning he doesn't remember.

"Can you talk?", Hephaestus thought impatiently.

"Y-yes.", the boy replied as if he himself didn't know.

"Great, where are your parents?", Hephaestus asked.

The boy titled his head and replied with:

"Don't know."

'Amnesia, is it?', Hephaestus observed. Hephaestus sat down on the chair near the bed because her legs were getting slightly sore.

"Where?", the blue eyed questioned.

Hephaestus knew what he was trying to say and hence she replied:

"Your in Orario.", however to Hephaestus' reply the boy looked as if he had even more questions.

"Do you know what 'Orario' is?", Hephaestus said with suspicion, and as if to confirm this suspicion he shook his head.

"Orario is the dungeon city, also known as the centre of the world.", Hephaestus saw that at the mention of 'dungeon' the boy's eyes glistened.

"Dungeon?", the raven haired boy questioned.

"You know what's a dungeon?", Hephaestus questioned as if she had a lead on his identity.

"...Monster?", the boy said with his head titling, seeing this Hephaestus sighed.

"It's a place where people called 'adventurers' can earn valis, or money.", Hephaestus explained.

Hephaestus decided to get some tea and as she was proceeding to exit the room, the boy stopped her.

"Wait."

"Hmm?", Hephaestus looked back with a questioning glare.

"Name?"

Hephaestus replied and answered with: "I'm Hephaestus.", and then she was going to continue to leave until the boy once again called out towards her.

"Wait."

Hephaestus was getting annoyed and she slowly said:

"Ye~s?", with a hint of annoyance, however to this the boy smiled and pointed towards himself.

"Phaes.", he said with eagerness.

"Phaes?", she questioned with a blank face.

"I'm Phaes, nice to meet you.", the boy said with a fully-bloomed smile.

Hephaestus saw the connection between his name and her name and realised that he just made it up on the spot, to this she smiled warmly and replied with:

"Nice to meet you, Phaes. I'm Hephaestus.", and then she exited the room.

As Hephaestus was roaming her mansion towards the kitchen, everyone could see a warm childish smile across Hephaestus' face which made anyone passing by smile involuntarily.

Hephaestus grabbed the coffee machine and then began to heat up the water, while also grabbing some tea bags out of the cabinet.

"Hehehe... Phaes...", she muttered as she began thinking about the boy who named himself 'Phaes'.

Hephaestus' familia who were spectating this peaked out towards her and they argued amongst themselves. They were all newbie familia members hence why they were quite naive. However, them being naive doesn't mean they're not serious about smithing.

"Psst! Greg, what's wrong with her?", a talkative brunette haired questioned a small dwarf.

"I don't know, but I like it.", the grumpy dwarf smiled.

"Me too.", the red haired commented.

"Lara, what about you?", the brown eyed girl once again questioned.

"Isn't it probably because the boy?", the blonde replied.

"Boy?", they all questioned in sync.

"Yeah, a boy dtopped from sky and she decided to pick him up. Also, when I was passing by I heard that he named himself after Ms. Hephaestus.", The blonde replied.

"Doesn't he know his own name?", Welf - The red haired - questioned.

"Amnesia.", the blonde named 'Lara' calmly stated.

"Aww... So cute. He named himself after his saviour.", Stacia - The brunette young girl - smiled.

As they were going to continue to gossip, they heard footsteps coming their way so they all scattered back to their rooms.

Hephaestus, who was in a happy mood, practically skipped down the hallway while humming, however when she got to the boy's room she put on her 'serious face'.

CLICK

Hephaestus opened the door and saw that the boy was fast asleep. Seeing this, she smiled widely. Hephaestus never had anyone or anything named after her, hence this was a new and heart-throbbing experience.

'He has to join my familia... He definitely has to...', Hephaestus thought with a smile, however when she put down the tray that contained the beverages on the table she saw a mirror and instantly frowned. 'He'll never want to see my full face, though...', Hephaestus thought as she got her mood back to the average gloomy mood.

"Hnng...", she heard the boy mumble as he slowly awakened.

"Phaes, here's some tea.", Hephaestus said while giving him a cup of tea. Phaes brought the tea towards his mouth and burnt his tongue.

"HUHA!", he gave a weird exclamation.

Hephaestus chuckled and then proceeded to say:

"Be careful, it's hot.", with a smile. The boy replied by nodding, and then blew the tea a few times then continued drinking.

Hephaestus looked at the boy with fleeting feelings of familyhood.

"What's wrong?", Phaes questioned.

"Nothing.", she lied.

"Lies.", he called out looking a bit annoyed.

"I'm thinking if you wanted to join my familia.", she answered truthfully.

"What's a familia?", Phaes questioned.

Hephaestus was stunned for a second and then realised that he was an amnesiac.

"A familia is a place where gods and goddesses grant people 'familyship', and with this 'familyship' they gain powers and abilities through the use of [Falna] and [Excelia]. Gods and goddesses usually refer to those who take on their blessing as their 'children' because in a sense, thats what they become.", Hephaestus explained.

Phaes heard her explanation and nodded a few times before replying.

"Who's your familia god?", Phaes questioned.

"Me.", Hephaestus replied.

"Then I guess it's okay.", Phaes replied.

"W-wait, really?", Hephaestus couldn't help but hesitate as she didn't think it would be this easy to get his approval.

"Mhm.", Phaes nodded.

'He's also going to need a second name...', Hephaestus went into deep thought and ventured her thoughts for a good second name for the boy, seeing as he didn't have a second name due to amnesia. 'Sky... Fell from the sky... No, a visitor from the sky... So how about...'

"Urian.", Hephaestus mumbled.

"Hmm?", Phaes tilted his head.

"How about your name be 'Urian', or 'Phaes Urian'.", Hephaestus offered.

Phaes thought about it while staring at the ceiling, and then after a while he smiled.

"Okay! Nice to meet you, I'm Phaes Urian."

"Good.", Hephaestus said with a thumb up.

"Now then show me your back...", Hephaestus instructed.

After Phaes laid on his front, he saw that Hephaestus got on top of him and started fiddling with her hands. He got nervous at first, bu then stared to relax.

Meanwhile, Hephaestus dipped a drop of blood that was automatically infused with a bit of [Falna], and then proceeded to do the ritual to accept him as a familia member.

Once the ritual was done, a tattoo appeared on Phaes' back which depicted two hammers and a mountain, that looks somewhat like a volcano.

Hephaestus smiled realising that the ritual was complete, however when she saw his [Status] she couldn't believe her eyes. He already had [Skills], [Developmental Skills] and [Magic] unlocked the moment the [Falna] fused with him. In history this had happened for only a small 1000, and they usually die due to arrogance.

Hephaestus steadied her resolve to teach Phaes how to be careful, and the reality of the world.

Meanwhile, Phaes felt a chill down his spine.