Chapter 7

Thordrin's mace was in his hand the second Hephaestus gasped, which seemed to be more of a knee-jerk reaction than anything else. He remained still as the goddess looked over my falna, grabbing a piece of paper and placing it flat against my back. Once she pulled the paper away, she spoke in an authoritative and serious tone.

"Thordrin, leave us but remain outside. Make sure nobody intrudes on us during this conversation," she said, causing the dwarf to nod and exit the room with a raised eyebrow as he threw one last glance back at me.

I sat up and put my shirt back on as the goddess handed me my piece of paper, which had my status magically imprinted onto it. I took a moment to glance down at it, but everything was as I expected. The only notable things were my magic and skill, which was rare because most level 1s don't have either a skill or a magic ability at all. I scanned my stats, but since I had just gained my falna, they were all at the lowest possible rank.

- - - Status - - -

Name: Augustus Ahriman

Level: 1

Strength: I0

Endurance: I0

Dexterity: I0

Agility: I0

Magic: I0

 - Magic -

Psychic Might

 - Skills -

Inventory

- - - Status - - -

I looked back to Hephaestus, who was inspecting me intently, "You are certainly a lucky find," she said, gesturing to the paper in my hands, "A magic ability that I have never heard before and a personal skill which should grant you endless storage if my interpretation of the name isn't wrong."

She paused once she guessed at what Inventory does, clearly expecting me to fill in the blanks, "Yes, it gives me access to a limitless storage space that I can access at any time and anywhere."

She nodded as I confirmed her suspicions, "This ability alone would make you invaluable to any familia since it removes most of the hassle from transporting goods out of the dungeon, and it can even be used to store supplies for expeditions to the deep floors."

"True," I acknowledged, "Perhaps in the future, we can leverage my ability with the Loki Familia so that they can help me level up faster or just provide us with money comparable to the cost of my services."

Hephaestus smiled as I spoke, "You're already thinking like a salesperson. I think you'll fit in well here. However, that is only one of your abilities. I am honestly not even sure what the other one does at all." she admitted.

Despite only meeting her a few minutes ago, from what I had seen in the show and what my keen sense told me, I could trust her. So, to demonstrate, I brought up my hand and connected my mind with the Immaterium of this world for the first time. It was like looking at a vast silver sea with my mind's eye as I drew in power that funneled through my mind and then raced through my nervous system as the power took on the form of electricity. Finally, it meshed with the innate magical power in my body, and I pushed that final product out of my fingertips. Arcs of bio-electricity flashed from one finger to the next on my upraised hand.

I turned to Hephaestus and activated my Witchsight, which I learned was a terrible mistake a moment later. Activating my Whichsight had me seeing the Immaterium overlaid on top of the physical universe in front of me, which allowed me to see the effects of my psychic power in more detail, but it also allowed me to see the souls of others. Being a goddess of extreme power, her soul was like a star shining brightly amid the tranquil silver seas of the Great Ocean. I closed my eyes immediately, but I knew I would still be blinking away the afterimages of Hephaestus's should hours later.

I nearly fell from my stool as the wave of light hit me, but I deactivated the ability immediately and reached up to my face. I canceled my use of Smite, which was the name of the ability to create and manipulate bio-electricity with my psychic powers and focused on checking if there was any damage to my physical eyes. I pushed some energy into my eyes and manipulated it to heal any damage that it found there. All the while, I could sense Hephaestus's confused gaze on me, so I opened my eyes to find a blurry world around me. However, as I blinked a few times and my healing did its work, I found that I was able to see better, but there were still bright spots in my vision. 

"This 'magic' allows me to do quite a lot of effects, but for now, I can only manipulate living tissue in myself and others," I said, pretending that I wasn't half blind from peering at her soul.

"Then what was the lightning?" she asked, "How is that biological in nature?".

"I generated it from within my own body, then projected it outward with the help of my magical energy," I said, deciding to keep the other parts of my ability to myself since they would be too complicated to explain. 

She nodded as I spoke, seemingly understanding the principles of this sort of ability, "You said this is just what you can do for now. That implies that you can do much more in the future?"

"Yes," I confirmed, "I feel that there is much more I can do, but I think it will only become available over time, maybe at each level up or after a certain amount of training."

"Hmm... That is interesting. I have never heard of magic that grows with its user like that." she said with a shrug, "That just makes you even more valuable than you already were. I assume you can heal people, too, since you are able to manipulate flesh and blood?"

I nodded in confirmation, which made her pause. Then she continued on, giving me an intense look.

"I am going to ask that you only show the electricity ability for now. Over time you can start to show more powers, but for now, I will ask that you please refrain from doing so. I can protect you with both my power, reputation, and status, but there are gods that wouldn't be above trying to assassinate you in the dungeon if they can't have you." she warned.

I nodded as I listened to her speak, "I feel the same way. I'll just use electricity for now in public." I confirmed since I was already thinking about all the dangers she had mentioned before she had voiced them. It would be better to be safe rather than dead, especially since I will probably become untouchable in the future.

"I was originally going to have you act as any normal recruit to the familia and live in the dorms, but I changed my mind," she said decisively, standing up and gesturing for me to follow, "I want you as close as possible. You will get one of the apartments for high-ranking members of the familia in Babel so that you are closer to me and the captain of this familia, Tsubaki."

"That's fine with me, but what about going into the dungeon? I think a team with me or a high-level adventurer would draw too much attention accompanying a level 1." 

"You want to go in solo?" she asked, with her eyebrow raised and a dubious expression on her face.

"No, necessarily, but I think that with my abilities, I will be able to go faster and further than an ordinary level 1, so I wonder how much a team will slow me down. How about I give a test run on the first floor and see how things go, then report back to you? You can even send someone with me to confirm." 

I wasn't against having a team. In fact, I kind of wanted to be a part of a team, but I didn't want to be slowed down. That was especially true since the faster I grow, the quicker I will gain access to more of my psychic abilities so that I can become even more powerful. Hephaestus seemed to see that in my face as well, since she just sighed and stopped with her hand on the door out of the room.

"I will trust you and allow you to go into the dungeon alone since everything you say makes sense, but we will need to get you set up with the guild and give you some equipment first. I am betting on you, so don't disappoint me if you can help it," she said with a sigh.

"I will make you proud, Hephestus. I guarantee it," I said with an exaggerated bow.

"I'm sure of it. So, let's go," she said, pushing open the door and walking out of the room, with me trailing just behind her.