Celebration party

An hour later, the Denatus meeting was concluded.

Ouranos told the deities that he found no trace of Arcanum or Insignia in the child's Falna. If Ouranos himself couldn't find it, then it doesn't exist, case closed.

'We did see the kid activate Miach's Insignia. How did that happen?' is what the deities thought.

The gods and goddesses of the Denatus spent an hour discussing the possibilities.

In the end, "Divine Limit-off" was the conclusion they reached. It's a name they derived from 'Limit-off'.

Limit-off is the temporary state in which the surrounding conditions combine with emotions to overload the Falna, exponentially increasing Skill power.

But in Rick's case, his Skill power didn't increase. Instead, he activated a new skill entirely (a Divine one).

And this was how they came to name it.

They explained its occurrence by saying that the essence of Miach's mana manifested and activated his Insignia.

Falna is created through a Deity's mana to give power to mortals. Theoretically, the mana of a Deity would manifest itself if the Falna he created was overloaded.

This manifested mana would be in its pure form. It wasn't shaped or formulated to take a specific attribute. So, this pure mana of a Deity can only take the shape of his essence (his Insignia).

Anyway, that was the only explanation that they could agree on.

The deities then discussed whether Rick Stark is just the first one to achieve this state or that he is a singularity (and only him can achieve Divine Limit-off).

But they couldn't reach a conclusion on this matter. So each one of them silently hoped that one of their followers would be the second to achieve it.

-----

After the Denatus, we leave the Tower of Babel heading for the Hephaestus Tower.

Along with Hephaestus, Hestia, and Takemikazuchi, Miach accompanying Nahza, Cassandra, Daphne, and me.

The god and goddesses' congratulations start to hail on Miach and me. They express their surprise when they saw the level of my skills.

But something about their atmosphere feels off.

"Rick, you were too harsh on Miach inside". Says Hestia.

"It is okay, Hestia". Miach says.

"Did you see it that way? I saw it the other way around", I shrug my shoulders. "Inside, I received help from neither of you. Why was that?"

"You don't get it, do you? The world doesn't revolve around you, you know!" Says Hestia.

"Miach is not stupid; he is just too nice. You better sit down and talk…" Says Takemikazuchi.

"Please, stop!" Miach interrupts.

"Fufu" Listening to this exchange, Hephaestus only chuckles.

I don't get what! I know that the world doesn't... not stupid but too nice? What was that?

..

"Congratulations!" "Let's celebrate!" "BRING SOME MEAD!"

We reach the building and my thoughts get cut before the dozens of adventurers greeting us.

The Familias of the three deities (Hestia, Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi) prepared a celebratory party for us at the Hephaestus Tower.

We join them and have one hell of a party. Everyone present is genuinely happy,

Except for one person: Fernard (a High Smith from Hephaestus Familia).

"Look how they massacred my boy!"

That is what he says when he sees Heartseeker (what's left of it) in my hand. He was the one who forged the sword.

After a few minutes of mourning, he tells me that repairing won't be enough to make the sword usable again.

So, he takes it and tells me that he will re-forge it. He says that a portion of the metal is lost, and the new sword will be a bit smaller than a longsword.

'If it's a bit smaller than a longsword, then I think it will be a good fit'.

I had a design for a weapon that will perfectly fit my fighting style. It will be the ideal spare weapon for me.

I tell Fernard about the design in my mind and ask him to forge it.

But then, a problem presents itself to me. If Fernard forges me a spare weapon, then what will be my main weapon?

I stop myself from asking Fernard to forge me a first-grade sword. Because in front of me, a woman with an eyepatch is chugging down a barrel of dwarven ale.

Don't get me wrong, Fernard is a good blacksmith. But why would I confine myself to dealing with him?

Tsubaki is the best blacksmith in the world and she's right in front of me, what's wrong with asking her to make me a masterpiece of a sword?

In the end, I decide to ask Tsubaki to forge a sword for me. I tell her to give it the 'Durandal' attribute (High-smiths can add attributes to their creations - Durandal: Indestructible).

Oh, money?... Don't worry, I have it!

------

Two days ago:

As a part of the preparation for the War Games, Rick had gone through his inventory. He sold all the useless junk stuff and sorted out the rest.

He looked at his total Gold amount (about 0.25 billion) and then looked at the equipment he could buy from the System Store.

Even though the amount of Gold seems astronomical, the Items within his budget weren't that much better than the ones he had.

For 0.25 billion Gold: he could easily afford a good A-rank Item, maybe two.

But he wasn't attracted to A-rank Items because above them, he could see the S-rank ones (which he still couldn't afford).

There was a huge gap between A-rank and S-rank Items in terms of power and effects. So he thought that it would be a waste to spend his precious Gold on a non-S-rank Item.

He was already equipped with two S-rank and one A-rank armor pieces, the rest were all B-rank. So, one upgrade wouldn't make a big difference here.

His main weapon 'Heartseeker' was a B-rank and the spare 'Beast Lord' was a C-rank; A better sword would be useful.

But he could always strengthen his weapon with Brilliant Light magic, so he decided to wait till he can afford an S-rank sword.

Then he took out an item (that he had forgotten about after leaving it in the Inventory for a long time). An 8 million vals Payment Contract.

He had received it for selling some drop items from an instant dungeon (Orcish Helmet and Orcish Greaves) to Fernard.

Fernard didn't have the money on hand in his workshop, so he gave Rick a Payment Contract (it's an agreed-upon method of payment between adventurers). It was signed by Fernard and sealed by the Hephaestus Familia's Emblem.

All Rick had to do to receive the money, was show-up in Hephaestus Tower and exchange the piece of paper for the money.

Well, he was already in Hephaestus Tower, so he did the exchange. While he was at it, he looked at the weapons being sold on the ground floor of the tower.

As he had expected, his 8 million vals can only buy items that are equal to C-rank items from the System Store.

So, he didn't buy anything. Instead, he decided to use the money in another way.

Since he was going to have a War Game anyway, he thought he could use it to make a profit.

He wanted to bet on himself and hit two birds with one stone. He would win the War Game and a huge amount of money.

He knew that all the bets would be against him. And winning against the odds would make his profit astronomical.

But there was a problem. He couldn't place the bet himself, because the betting windows would only open right before the event.

So he gathered the members of Hestia and Takemikazuchi Familias, gave them money, and asked them to bet it on Miach Familia's win in different bars and casinos.

And throughout his stay at the Hephaestus Tower: whenever he got to know someone, he would give them money and ask them to bet it on him.

Naturally, he made them sign a form: admitting that they had received money from him for the purpose of placing a bet. He also signed that they will receive a ten percent commission fee of the profits.

After the War Game, Rick's 8 million suddenly became 61 million vals.

And the ones who placed the bets for him just earned some easy money. That's why they prepared a celebration and partied wholeheartedly.

***

Freya never shows up to the Denatus or public events (except when Bell Cranel is involved).

Of course, as a goddess, she was curious about the human that activated the power of Arcanum.

But it was just curiosity, not enough to waste a few hours of her time attending the Denatus meeting.

Instead, she asked some god about the summary and the conclusion of the trial. "Limit off?", It sounded stupid to her, but she didn't give it much thought.

Freya didn't care much about Rick as a man. Because once a man catches Freya's eyes, she won't notice or pursue anyone else (until that man satisfies her).

Right now, she can only see Bell Cranel.

Freya doesn't choose her men based on their looks, strength, or potential. But based on the purity of their souls. When Freya looks at mortals, she sees right through their souls.

Thus, she likes Bell because of his pure "clear transparent soul".

But when she watched Rick in the War Game, his soul wasn't pure. It was hazy. And the look in his eyes was undetermined and full of uncertainty. She thought that it was because he didn't have a clear goal in his life.

Even though his soul shone brightly during the fight, it was dimmed right away after.

It was because, at that moment, he had a clear goal in front of his eyes "Win!". But once he won, it was over.

Someone like that didn't interest Freya at all. However, his skill and fighting capabilities would be a desired addition to her Familia.

But after his performance in the War Game, advances from Freya to take the boy wouldn't go unchecked by her rivals. Of course, Freya would never cower in front of competition.

But right now, she would prefer to find Bell Cranel, put some obstacle in front of him, and get off watching him suffer.

She told her followers to keep an open eye. So, if an opportunity presents itself, Freya would go in and snatch the boy to her Familia.

***

The next day after the party, Miach thanked Hephaestus for everything and left the building.

Miach and Nahza went to find a hotel to stay in for now. Cassandra and Daphne went hunting in the dungeon.

And Rick woke up to find that his System is back and working with no problem. He told his Familia that there was a place he wanted to visit before he left.

That place was the Dian Cecht Familia Pharmacy.

…

Rick arrived at the Pharmacy, which is a white building on North West Main Street.

He casually waltzed into the shop and started looking around and examining the merchandise on the shelves.

The workers inside the shop were all from the Dian Cecht Familia. And they knew about the rivalry between them and Miach Familia.

Normally, if an adventurer from their rival Familia visited their pharmacy, they would throw him out.

But the one standing in their pharmacy right now is far stronger than all their Familia members combined. They didn't know how to react.

They looked at their captain, Amid Teasanare for instructions.

Instead of giving instructions or dealing with the situation, she just looked at Rick with a mortified expression that didn't suit her looks.

Amid was a 150cm tall, petite, human girl. She had straight, silver hair hung down around her thin face and large eyes lined with long eyelashes. She wore her Familia's uniform, a plain white robe that was similar to a nurse's.

She was frightened because she knew about the deal between her lord and Argus Familia. In fact, she knew about all the shady deals of her god.

He always took her with him wherever he went. He liked to gloat by wearing gold clothes (not golden, real gold) and accompanying his Dia Saint (The singular healer that could heal everything).

That's why she got scared when she saw Rick in front of her. She knew that he came here to pay them back.

Seeing her face, Rick spoke:

"Well, this makes things easier. It seems that you know why I'm here. So, where is Dian Cecht?"

"At home." She answered.

"I don't know where that is. Will you show me the way?"

That was what Rick said as he took a step back and motioned with his hand for Amid to lead the way.

"HEY!" "What are you…!" "Don't you d…!" "Who do…!" Objected the different workers in the pharmacy.

"It's okay, everyone." But Amid stopped them.

'There is nothing we can do anyway' was what she thought as she started walking.

…

At the home of Dian Cecht Familia, which was a palatial mansion adorned with their emblem (a ball of light and an herb), sat a middle-aged god with graying hair and a beard.

He looked quite a bit older than most gods and goddesses in Orario, still, he was handsome looking. He was wearing an extravagant gold robe with intricate embroidery.

This god's name was Dian Cecht and he wore a grave expression on his face as he silently listened to Rick.

"Let me save you some time, I know everything. So don't you deny and make a fool of yourself, okay?

Before the War Game, I caught one of Argus's men and interrogated him. He told me all about your little assassination contract.

Believe it or not, Argus intended to fuck you over after killing me. But now, you get to be fucked over by me... What a lucky man you are!

But you see… the problem is that I can't decide how to do it. Your way or Argus's way?

If I do it your way, I'd assassinate your entire Familia and let you live in the woe of their deaths.

The Argus way would be taking all your money. And once you make some more money, I would take it. This way, your Familia would get poorer and poorer until you lose it entirely.

Your way is fast, easy, and more importantly… cruel. I personally like this one.

But the Argus way is a practical one. Because you see… someone just burned everything we own to the ground.

So, what do you think? Should I do it the cruel way or the practical one?"

The faces of Amid and Dian Cecht only got grimmer and grimmer as they sat silently and listened to Rick.

They didn't dare to answer or retort.

"Hey, give me an answer here.

Should I just leave now? Then you would start to continuously hear the news of the deaths of your Familia members.

Or would you prefer it if I start making demands here? You would accept them unconditionally, wouldn't you?

What? You have no answer?

Then what about you Amid? You look like a doll. Killing you would be very easy for me, yet it'd be very painful watching you die. Don't you think?

Tell you what… I'll let you choose, doll. Which way should I do it, Dian Cecht or Argus?"

Rick looked into Amid's eyes as he finished talking. Then, he waited. Amid fearfully looked at her god. It was his decision, not hers after all.

He sat silently for a while, then stood up and said: "Very well, see you soon."

"Just say your demands, scum!" Shouted Dian Cecht.

"You should be careful with your words, considering that you're talking to the one who has got you by the neck.

But never mind, I thought you would never ask about my demands.

Okay then, we lost our house and we need a new one. I would've taken this wonderful mansion, but we only have a few members. A house this big would only be a nuisance to maintain.

So, I will ask Goibniu Familia to rebuild our old building. You'll cover the bill of course.

Be prepared it will be a hefty sum. I plan on building a tower; I've grown to like them main after staying in the Hephaestus Tower.

You'll have to cover all the bills for furniture, clothes, equipment, and merchandise. I think it's only fair since we lost all of them because of your little contract.

It's not just a one-time thing; It's a lifetime deal. Whenever I need something, you'll be the one to pay.

Oh, And don't think that this will be enough to make me forgive you!

If I ever see members of your Familia in the dungeon, I'll make it so that they never return.

And if I find myself frustrated and want to release some tension, …"

As Rick said that, there was a loud noise from the ceiling and the huge chandelier fell down and stopped a few inches above Amid and Dian Cecht's heads.

"Accidents may happen and decrease the numbers of your Familia."

Then Rick waved his hand and the chandelier was thrown away. He stood up and was about to leave but stopped.

"Show me this wonderous healing magic of yours that everyone is talking about. Cast it on me, I'd like to see how it works."