Chapter 14

(A/N: Everything thus far has pretty much-been setup, but now I'll begin transitioning into the main story)

=== Fortuna POV ===

I sat on the crumbling stone wall of the abandoned church and watched Galahad struggling with the new technique that seemed to make him invisible. I still had no idea how just one skill could give him access to so many different abilities, but there was clearly more going on than meets the eye. I had been subtly talking to some of my trusted friends amongst the gods to see if any of them had an idea about either his skill or magic, but none of them knew anything. However, none of them had even the slightest clue about what they were or what they meant.

I knew that he was purposely hiding his past, which intrigued me. I had tried to peek through the Falna to see at least a glimpse of his past, but despite the Falna giving the god a bit of leeway to see their children's pasts, there was nothing. It was like he suddenly just spawned out of nowhere one day. If I were more noisy, then I would have tried to press him slightly, but truthfully I didn't care. Everyone has secrets of their own, even me. The thought of what I was withholding made me squirm subconsciously since I didn't want it to drive him away since he was the first member of my familia here in the Mortal Realm.

Even more, than the fact that he was my first familia member was the fact that we were fated to meet. I don't know how it happened, but I peeked into the void with my divine senses and looked at his soul, shining like a small beacon in the darkness. Of course, it was hard to see its full brilliance standing next to the supernova of twisting energies that was my own soul. Despite that, I could see the web of fate that still eluded even the oldest of the gods. The strings of fate led off in every direction, but they were usually on the width of a human hair, symbolizing a small connection.

The thread of fate binding Galahad and me was the size of a rope used to anchor only the biggest ships. Its power was more or less inescapable, which made me a bit more comfortable revealing the uncomfortable truth about my... our familia's financial situation.

=== Galahad POV ===

I had just finished my training for the day and looked over to see Fortuna with a troubled expression, "What's up?" I asked, already having a slight idea about what she wanted to talk about.

"Well," She said uncomfortably, "Promise you won't get upset when I tell you?"

"Sure," I said with a shrug since not many things could faze me anymore, so I doubted her "uncomfortable" information would even move me.

"Yeah, we're kinda in a bit of debt," she said, cringing as she said it, but after seeing no reaction from me, she quickly rushed on, "I have been slowly paying it off with the shop, but if I don't finish paying off the debt in the next two months, then it will increase.

I nodded as she spoke, I had expected something like this. After all, it isn't free, even for gods, to start up a high-end shop of their own while also living in an apartment. Of course, if this were my old world, then any debt would have been the worst-case scenario she could have mentioned, but here in Orario, I wasn't worried. As long as the debt wasn't in the hundreds of millions range, then I could probably clear it in a decent amount of time. I'll just need to take on more quests while going deeper. That did bring me to my only question.

"How much?" I asked curiously.

"75 million Valis," she said, looking down.

"That's not as bad as it could be," I said with a shrug, "What happens in two months if we don't pay?"

"We basically become homeless, and the shop gets taken from us," she said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take on some more quests and spend some more time in the dungeon," I said with an easy grin.

"Thank you, Galahad, I was hoping you'd say that," she said, "Truthfully, I grabbed a quest from the guild, not to force you to do it, but because I think it will interest you and help you build connections among other familias."

She held out the paper to me, and I took it curiously. The mission didn't pay too much, only 10,000 Valis for a full day of work, but clearly, that wasn't what would interest and draw in most people. The mission was to escort two members of the Hephaestus familia into the dungeon to get some materials and get some battle experience while being protected. Three adventurers were being requested to be the chaperones for the Hephaestus familia members. This quest was clearly more about networking among familias than anything else, which was exactly what I needed right now.

I was pretty much alone in Orario with no friends. More specifically, friends form powerful and influential familias that can back me up if I get into trouble. Or just people who I could call in favors from in times of need. I already had plans to force a meeting between myself, Fels, and Oranous to get on their good sides while maybe even becoming a guild operative of some sort. 'Seems like I need to speed up my plans,' I thought as I folded the paper and slipped it into my pocket.

The meeting time for the mission was in an hour and a half, so I decided to start making my way to the meeting location, which was one of the shops on the fourth floor of Babel. Fortuna and I walked side by side in silence as we made our way back toward Babel. I could see why she was particularly interested in me taking this specific mission since it involved the Hephaestus familia. Every crafting familia in the city wants to be on good terms and forge connections with the Hephaestus familia, especially the goddess herself.

I would put my plans of seeking out the Xenos to force a meeting with Fels and Oranous on hold while I would try to network and gather money for a bit. Of course, when mentioning networking, one of the best familias to get a connection is the Loki familia which I already had a plan for how to attract their attention if need be. However, that was too many delicate plans for me to be executing all at once since there would undoubtedly be some unexpected wrenches thrown into each and every plan. Of course, the first wrench was introduced as soon as I showed up for the mission briefing in Babel.

I walked into the shop, showing the quest paper to a woman at the door who let me in and saw a young man and dwarf from the Hephaestus familia. They were the ones we would be escorting, but the trouble came in the form of my two fellow chaperones. One was a demi-human woman from the Hermes familia, while the other was a male elf from the Freya familia. 'Well, this will be interesting if nothing else,' I thought as I looked at my fellow adventurers who were clad in full armor while I still just wore my normal clothes. I did have my spear strapped to my back since I didn't want to show any outsiders my Spatial Storage until I was strong enough to deal with the consequences.

'Why does it have to be the children of the two most annoying and obsessive Gods here with me?' I thought with a sigh as introductions began. The man and dwarf were named Logan and Hoghath, respectively. The woman from the Hermes familia was Emma, while the elf was Acreon. Eventually, it was my turn to introduce myself to the group.

"I'm Galahad from the Fortuna familia," I said, "We're quite the diverse group, aren't we?"

That got a chuckle from the dwarf, at least, but everyone else just rolled their eyes at my observation. I immediately decided that I liked the dwarf the best and that I would stick near him for the duration of the mission. Despite looking like he would fist-fight a bear and win, Hoghath was only a level one who had never even entered the dungeon. 'I guess most crafters don't really have a reason to enter the dungeon,' I thought as our group got prepared to enter the dungeon.

-

Elsewhere in the city, a man with blonde hair, orange eyes, and a feathered hat perked up, "I have a feeling something interesting is about to happen," he said suddenly, causing the blue-haired woman next to him to give him a look.

"What is it this time?" she asked with a sigh, since any time her god spoke like this, it usually meant more work for her.

"Perhaps it is the hero I have been searching for Asfi," Hermes said with a smile that was somehow bright and dark at the same time.

Asfi just shrugged her shoulders before saying, "Perhaps,"