Chapter 2: First Member

The newly appointed god Ptah walked through the bustling streets of Orario, exploring his surroundings. Everything seemed quite strange and unwelcoming. The people coming and going showed grim faces, and the atmosphere felt depressing and somber. He had a bad feeling and approached a corner before murmuring:

"System, what time period am I in?"

[You are in the year 991, just a third into the year 992 since the descent of the first gods.]

Hearing this, Ptah looked astonished.

"Do I look like a native? Just tell me how many years have passed since the Zeus and Hera Familia faced the One-Eyed Black Dragon or when Bell will arrive in Orario," he asked, visibly annoyed.

[It has been six and a half years since the Zeus and Hera Familia faced the One-Eyed Black Dragon.]

"Can you tell me how long until the great confrontation between Orario and the Evilus?" he asked with great concern, even considering leaving Orario and building his Familia outside to avoid being involved when gods start being killed by psychopaths.

[The system cannot respond about dates of events that have not yet occurred and are not well-known to the general population.]

Ptah clicked his tongue and left the place. Instead of focusing on finding someone talented, he would have to settle for someone who wanted to become an adventurer.

What bad luck, I would have preferred to appear a few years before Bell came to Orario, to plan stably and safely whom to recruit for my Familia. In times of peace, Familias grow steadily, and adventurers come to this place hoping to earn money or fulfill their dreams. Now, instead, there will only be a shortage of people pursuing those dreams, and instead, there will be people leaving Orario because of the danger surrounding them.

While Ptah was deep in thought, Boom! Boommm!

Loud explosions began to be heard coming from some streets quite close to where Ptah was. Passersby started running in all directions away from where the explosion occurred, except for some people dressed in armor and adventurer clothes who ran towards the explosions. Screams filled the air, and the cries of people feeling despair over all the chaos happening could be heard.

"Evilus! The Evilus are attacking!" someone shouted.

Ptah felt a knot in his stomach. The Evilus, an organization of criminals and wrongdoers currently the largest and most dangerous terrorist faction in Orario, were attacking Orario.

This was not part of my plans, but I have no choice but to face the situation.

Ptah slipped through side streets, looking for a safe place to take refuge. I can't get involved in this now. I need to find a place to stay and then find someone who wants to join my Familia. Getting involved in something where I'm not needed is stupid, especially when I'm just a god without a Familia and not even the power to defend myself. I don't even know if I'll ascend if I die, so it's even more reason not to get involved, though my thinking would have been different if I were an adventurer.

As he walked quickly through the alleys, Ptah realized the explosions were sounding closer. People were running terrified around him, and his instinct told him to stay away from danger.

This is a disaster, he thought.

As he went deeper into the alleys, the sounds of explosions and people's screams diminished, allowing him to feel a bit calmer until he came upon a somewhat sad and devastating sight.

"Brother!" A girl was hugging the body of a boy who had completely stopped breathing, crying loudly, and her whole body was stained red with the blood that must have belonged to the corpse. There was a trail of blood on the ground indicating the body came to this place before dying or was dragged.

He didn't know whether to simply ignore it and move on, but when the girl started holding a knife that was in one of the corpse's hands, covered with a lot of blood, with her trembling hands and tears in her eyes, pointing the knife at her chest, she was just inches away from ending her own life.

Ptah, who didn't know if he should get involved or not, couldn't contain himself any longer and ran in her direction.

When the girl seemed completely determined to end her own life and was about to stab herself, she was interrupted by a pair of hands grabbing hers, preventing her from continuing with what she was about to do.

The girl slowly turned her gaze, which looked completely empty and lifeless, to see a boy with black hair and reddish eyes, who held her hands, preventing her from stabbing herself. It didn't take her long to recognize that the boy was a god, despite being in an unstable mental state; it was impossible not to recognize a god by the divinity emanating from his body.

"Why... why do you... stop me?" she stammered before breaking down in tears again.

"Idiot! Are you really going to take your own life without thinking about what your brother might feel if he were watching you?" Ptah shouted in frustration. The girl in front of him briefly reminded him of his past when he was just a child. Of how he lost his parents and the emptiness and pain he felt every time he tried to remember them, until he gradually recovered thanks to his uncles who had adopted him.

"Why him?!" The girl screamed before dropping the knife and starting to explain with empty eyes, "He spent most of his time working in different places to avoid the dangers of the dungeon, while ensuring we could live comfortably and save to leave this city." The girl kept shedding tears while explaining about her brother to a strange god who appeared out of nowhere to stop her from ending her suffering.

He didn't know what to say. Despite being able to abandon her and continue on his way to avoid exposing himself to danger, he refused to leave the young girl in such a vulnerable state. Despite his desire not to get involved, something inside him told him he had to help her.

"Listen!" Ptah said, trying to stay calm amidst the chaos. "I can't understand how you feel, but there are other ways to honor your brother's memory. Life goes on, and even though it seems dark now, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel."

The girl, with her empty gaze, barely seemed to hear him. "I… I have no one else. I can't go on alone."

"And what if you do it for him? For his memory!" exclaimed Ptah, squeezing the girl's hands tighter. "You can't give up like this. You need to be strong. Not just for yourself, but for everyone still around you."

She hesitated, the knife trembling in her hand. "But I have no one else. And the pain is too much... There's no hope. I just... I just want to be with him." Ptah was already starting to feel a bit frustrated.

What can I do to help her? Ptah thought, feeling his helplessness grow with each word he spoke. "What if I promise to do everything possible to help you move forward?"

She looked at him, the desperation still reflected in her eyes, but a small spark of doubt appeared. "You... you would really do that?"

"Yes!" Ptah affirmed without hesitation. "I am a god, the God Ptah, and I'm here for a reason. Maybe it's not the right time, but I can help you find another path. I promise you are not alone."

Finally, the girl's hands began to relax, and the knife fell to the ground with a dull clink. "Why... why are you helping me? You don't know me."

"Because I have seen pain, and I know there is hope, even in the darkest moments. I'm not going to let you hurt yourself, not here, not now," Ptah said, his voice firm and resolute.

She fell to her knees, tears flowing like a torrent. "I don't know if I can go on... I don't know if I have the strength."

"Then I will give you the strength you need! Don't you want to be part of my Familia?" Ptah responded, kneeling beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's start from here. You don't have to do everything alone." He began to feel embarrassed by the words coming out of his mouth due to his modern mentality, but despite that, he continued speaking.

The girl finally nodded, and with that, Ptah felt a relief in his chest. It was a first step, and although it wasn't much, it was a beginning. He had already gained the first member of his Familia.

"What is your name?" he asked, trying to change the subject and give the heavy atmosphere a break.

"Saly," she murmured, wiping her tears with her sleeve. "My name is Saly."

"Well, Saly," said Ptah, smiling reassuringly, "together we'll find a way out of this situation. Do you have a safe place where we can go?"

She took a moment to think, her eyes still reflecting the pain of the loss, but there was a glimmer of determination in them. "Just the small house we inherited from our parents. It's quite close."

"Perfect," Ptah responded, determined. "I have nothing to lose, and neither do you. Let's go, Saly. Together we can do it." He wanted to cry at this moment, remembering all the corny things he said, so he wanted to get away from the place as quickly as possible and find a safe place to pass the time.

With a new spark of hope, Saly stood up, still trembling, but with growing resolve. Ptah felt he had made the right decision in helping her. Together, they headed toward the girl's house, hoping to find some safety and, perhaps, the beginning of a new Familia. After everything had passed, they could return to find a place to give the girl's brother a proper burial.

As they walked, the rumble of explosions still echoed in the distance, reminding them that danger still lurked in Orario.

Finally, they reached the entrance of the small wooden house. They closed the door when they entered, and after a few minutes, with the girl having calmed down, they relaxed a bit. She lay down on her bed, while Ptah sat in a chair, hoping this small house wouldn't end up exploding like some others.

"How do I grant the falna?" murmured Ptah, having no idea how to grant the falna exactly or what procedures to follow after placing a drop of blood.

[Just drop a drop of divine blood, and the rest you will do instinctively. Because you are a god, you can read the hieroglyphics and just need to place a piece of paper over the back after completing the entire process.]

"Are you ready? There will be no turning back. I don't know what kind of Familia we will form. But sooner or later, you'll have to go to the dungeon to grow, so it can be very dangerous," Ptah asked, while the girl left her back bare for him to grant the falna.

Saly nodded, exposing her bare back while lying on the bed, with a much firmer look than before.

Ptah dropped a drop of blood, and a tattoo began to cover Saly's back. The tattoo took the form of a central flame, held by hands symbolizing creation, surrounded by stars evoking magic. Three prominent stars of different shapes represented the fusion and transformation of materials using alchemy, while two hammers pointing to the flame symbolized forging. This compact and meaningful design suggested mastery over alchemy, forging, and magical arts.

After the tattoo appeared, symbols emerged in a kind of sphere floating in the air, readable by Ptah as if they were common words. To complete the process, he returned all the hieroglyphics to Saly's back, then held a piece of paper he had torn from a blank notebook and placed it over the tattoo. He began to infuse a bit of his divinity that spread throughout the paper, then stepped back for a moment. Words and numbers representing the status began to appear.

After finishing, a pop-up window appeared.

[Congratulations on completing your first mission]

[As the main reward, you will have access to the system interface, in addition to the extra rewards]

[The talent is significantly above the average of adventurers for having an ability upon receiving the falna, the knowledge involved with the dungeon or very useful knowledge in general is very little, a very common race, and the ambition to overcome everything for the person who helped her in her most difficult moment and to gain the strength needed to avenge her brother. The following rewards will be granted.

-Saly will learn magic depending on her current emotional state and recent experiences.

-Basic knowledge of alchemy for beginners.]