[Arc 1]Chapter 9

Hephaestus' POV

"WOOOOOOOOOOOO~!", everyone cheered and gave applause to Phaes.

He's done it. It's amazing, within three months he could defeat a weakened [Level 4].

'Just how has he been training?', I asked myself this question.

I know he 'secretly' hunts monsters by travelling outside and I always have people follow him, but for some reason they always lose sight of him and he becomes drastically stronger.

'Just what is he hunting, exactly?', I asked myself another question.

Also, according to my sources the Artemis Familia seem to hold a great debt towards Phaes, and no matter how much I try to gain information I can't seem to find any.

I took an exasperated sigh and smiled. I looked at the smiling Phaes - who still has his old cat's eyes - and clapped along with the audience.

I could see Phaes offer his hand towards Ryu and she took it. Phaes lifted her off the ground, and shook her hand. It's good to see that Phaes has obtained Ryu's trust, considering that she lets him make physical contact with her. Afterall, physical contact for elves is very important, only people they have full trust in can even make contact.

I could see Phaes' eyes roam the surroundings until his eyes finally landed towards me. Phaes gave a fully-bloomed smile that seemed to cause a ruckus among the crowd, as he headed towards my direction.

I sighed once more and my smile became apparent.

"You'll allow me, right?", he inquired, almost asking.

I smiled and replied with:

"Yes, I allow you."

Phaes hearing my words, dropped onto the ground and started laughing like a maniac. For some reason, I laughed with him, seeing us laugh the audience also began laughing.

"Hmm... But before I allow you, you must do one thing.", hearing my words the laughter began to die down.

Phaes also looked at me like I killed his cat which made me chuckle slightly.

"Let's celebrate! Everyone from our familia is already here, so why not? Afterall, you've been working really hard, haven't you?", I calmly stated while carrying a soft smile.

Phaes nodded while a small tear trickled down his cheek, I smiled wryly as I saw him rub it away with his sleeve.

"Yes.", Phaes said with a shy nod, how cute.

Through the corner of my eye I could see people bleeding through their noses, damn perverts.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE, TODAY WE'RE GOING TO PARTY!", I shouted to my familia, but for some reason the audience also decided to cheer along too.

"WOOOOOOOOO~!", everyone cheered.

Mia's gonna get so much money from this, isn't she? She better thank me, or at the very least thank Phaes.

After a while of drinking and celebrating I decided to observe Phaes' situation.

Looks like Loki's familia has gained an interest in him and even began to ask him questions. I chuckled slightly when I realised that Phaes was becoming nervous through all this attention, however it's hard to tell from an outside perspective. He truly is like Ais.

Talking about Ais, she's just staring at him with an... odd gaze? Its a look that sends waves of nostalgia to the observers.

Have they met before? I don't think any of my sources have told about them meeting in any shape or form.

Phaes noticed her gaze and he looked back.

'Hmm... interesting.', I thought to myself as I spectated their staring.

Phaes started to release the same type of gaze towards her.

"O~h, have you fell for the princess?", a drunk Bete responded when he noticed them staring at each other.

Ais walked towards Phaes and Phaes allowed her to come. They both asked the same question when they were face to face.

"Have I met you before?", they asked each other in sync.

Interesting. They both feel that they've met each other before, but have no recollection of it.

The duo opened their eyes wider as they both processed what the other said. Riviera who was nearby had her ear twitch, Gareth stopped drinking and began to listen in on their conversation. Finn who was earlier asking him questions stopped asking questions and observed their interactions.

"You have the same question?", Phaes raised an eyebrow.

"Yes.", Ais nodded.

Phaes raised two fingers to grip his chin as he began to think.

"I've no recollection of our meeting.", Phaes stated.

"Me neither.", Ais replied.

Maybe, they met in a previous life? It's not uncommon that people feel nostalgia with someone if they met in their previous life, but the nostalgia being to this level is either rare or impossible.

After a few minutes of silence, Phaes sighed and then stated:

"Meh, this is going to be our new first meeting then, I guess."

Ais nodded and then responded with:

"I'm Ais Wallenstein, [Level 5].", she stated towards Phaes, who responded in kind.

"Phaes Urian, [Level 1].", when Phaes stated this everyone in the bar except me exclaimed one word.

"WHAT~!"

Finn who had lost his composure decided to speak for everyone.

"Y-you mean you have that strength, at [Level 1]?", Finn who asked this looked exasperated, while also looking at Phaes as if a worthy rival appeared.

'So he's seeking rivalry, is he?', I thought to myself, but then a few short moments later I grinned and added on, "Very well, I allow this rivalry. Not that I can even stop it at this point.".

Phaes looked at Finn in wonder as he nodded his head.

"It's only a four [Level] difference.", he stated calmly.

"FOUR?!", everyone shouted, as they looked towards Ryu who was allowed to have work off today.

Ryu nodded while blushing.

"Although she did drink a potion to decrease her abilities to that of a [Level 3]. So, you shouldn't be too excited.", he added on.

"A [Level 3]?!", everyone once again shouted, even me.

Does Phaes even know the difference a single [Level] makes? I haven't updated his [Status] since the first time he got it, because he said he'd rather experience his growth and not see it. I'm going to update it before he goes to the dungeon, though. Whether he likes it or not.

"Do you know what a single [Level] difference even does?", Riviera asked the question everyone wanted to ask.

"Hmm? Isn't it just a small power boost, or something?", Phaes tilted his head, while lots of people face palmed, including me.

"NO, YOU BIG DUNCE!", Bete who was eavesdropping shouted towards Phaes, only to be stopped by Riviera.

"You are mistaken, a single [Level] can be more than 2 times or even 3 times than that of the previous [Level]. It depends on the parameters someone reaches.", Riviera stated calmly.

"I-is that so?", Phaes responded, however everyone knew he didn't understand.

I sighed and then said to him:

"In short, you get a big power boost. I can't wait to update your [Status]."

Phaes nodded and then the party resumed.