First Experiences

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Unedited chapter yet.

"… I trust that as a goddess you are familiar with the concepts of reincarnation?" I tentatively ask, determined to adapt my answer to the details she gives me.

This little conversation here could make or break our relation. The only details that I know about her were seen through the scope of another person, after all, Bell was the main character, not Hestia.

I couldn't say that I was sure that nothing I could say about that topic would be dangerous for me to expose to Hestia, but at the same time, I know so little about this world broadly speaking that I could be breaking multiple taboos that I'm not aware of.

Hestia puts her index on the side of her mouth and looks up at the sky, visibly thinking about it.

"Hmm, I wouldn't say that I am familiar, but I know that it happens sometimes. Even though I'm a goddess, I did not dabble into reincarnation specifically. The things that I know about it are only tales."

I sigh in relief when I hear that she seemingly doesn't know much about reincarnation.

That lessens the chance that I say something I shouldn't say.

After a quick pause, I start the explanation of my situation: "The thing is, not even three hours ago, I was not in this world…"

Realizing that Hestia is just waiting for the details and isn't truly shocked by that information, nothing stops me from going on. "Anyway, my home was struck by lightning twice at the same spot for no reason. Being hit by the second strike, I died instantly… When I opened my eyes again, I was there." That particular sentence gets a raised eyebrow from my goddess, but she seems to just wait for me to finish.

"I woke up in the forest near Orario. With the help of a stranger that also wanted to enter the city, I came here and started to search for a familia immediately. I believe that the reason why I have these skills and magic is linked to my strange circumstances."

Technically not a lie, therefore she can't get suspicious about it. Plus, it isn't like I know much more about what exactly happened to me.

"I see," she simply says, before she once again engulfs me in her tiny arms. She looks at me with a worried look, "Are you sure that you died?"

I have to say, I'm surprised it's that element that she latches on, but it just says more about her character. I try to make my best reassuring smile while I figure something out for my rapidly beating heart and tell her that I don't know.

"I have no idea, it is just speculations since all I can remember is the lightning hitting me, and then boom, I'm here," I answer, "But I'm pretty sure that human beings are not supposed to be alive after being hit by lightning."

Hestia releases me and puffs up her chest before taking a scholarly stance: "For your information Tian-kun, most mortals don't die after being hit by lightning. Many gods use it to annoy the mortals they don't like. They smite them from the heavens and generally speaking, it doesn't kill them. At least not instantly."

She takes pride in the fact that she was able to teach me something, and in return, I just chuckle. "Aren't I a smart goddess? You see, you really chose the right familia, Tian-kun!" She added, humming in satisfaction.

I pat her head by instinct, "Yes, yes I chose the right familia Hestia." Her smug face slowly crumbles under my hand. She glares at me reproachfully and mutters something about being treated like a kid. After a while, she removes my hand in embarrassment and with a pink dusting on her cheeks, asks me the last question.

"Ahem, but if you just arrived in this world, how did you know me before we even met?"

I knew this question was bound to happen due to what I said, so I am prepared to answer it.

Prepared to tell the truth. Maybe there is a way to beat around the bush and escape the fact that I need to tell her about my past life, but I am neither intelligent enough nor do I have the will to deceive my goddess on this.

However, I am unwilling to tell her the principles of cultivation for multiple reasons, but the fact that I know her from my past life isn't as big of a deal as the implications of someone that could rise above the level of gods.

The fragile knowledge of the future that I possess could very well be used efficiently by Hestia as well. Hogging it would only make me lose some of the capacity to influence it.

I think that letting her get in possible danger by selfishly keeping knowledge about the future because of some sort of inflated ego when I know that I'm nowhere near competent enough to handle this kind of knowledge alone, is dangerous to the well-being of both of us.

Despite the way she was portrayed most of the time in the anime, she is still a goddess that was born at the beginning of time. Her experience, even if only between other gods, completely dwarfs mine. I think that telling her what I know about the future is like giving her a tool that could protect her when the time comes.

With what I'm about to do and more importantly what I'm about to be, there is no way that she wouldn't be targeted in the future. Giving her rudimentary information about who the other players are and what they want is the least I can do in exchange for her having to bear a troublesome first child in her familia.

But the moment I see the clock ticking, I understand that my time is limited and that we will have to discuss this tonight.

"The reason why you directly went to you is that, back in my previous world, there was a book that detailed your adventures in Orario," I say and watch her eyes widen at the implications.

Instead of being scared or creeped out, she just gets those sparkles in her eyes and looks at me expectantly.

"Ohhh~And what happens in this book?" she asks me, getting close as if she doesn't want me to escape.

"W-well, the thing is I don't necessarily know a lot about it. I haven't read all of it before I left for this world." That was the truth. I didn't bother to watch past the second season of the anime, to be truthful I didn't even read the books, but I didn't want to waste time explaining what an anime is to Hestia.

"But…" I continue, thinking about how to reveal concisely the information I have, "What I know is that you are supposed to meet a white-haired child as your first member. He'll obtain a skill called Liaris Freese due to his intense feeling for a girl called Ais Wallenstein from the Loki familia. Because of his unique soul, he'll get into a lot of trouble with the Freya familia since their goddess developed an obsession for him."

Satisfied by the quick synopsis of the adventures of Bell in Orario, I watch my words make her completely stop. She takes a bit of time to process the information.

While she seems frozen in the air, I look around the dilapidated church to scan the state of the building. The anime didn't go into the abandoned church Bell and Hestia lived in, but since it's about to be my residence, I can't help but feel like I have to make sure it's in a decent condition.

Before saying anything, she looks at the clock and sighs. "Mmmmmh, even though I have a lot of questions for you, I, unfortunately, have to go to work right now,' she returns to her normal state and picks up her belongings before walking towards the door.

"However, you will tell me more about that tonight when I come." Her tone is completely serious and leaves no room for argument.

I sigh, as the tension in my body escapes it, I am now only realizing how stressed I was about this.

It certainly felt like I took a weight off my shoulders. Still, I can't help but feel like a coward.

So much for taking her away from Bell if he was there. I couldn't even tell her one critical aspect of the story. I couldn't tell her that she is supposed to be in love with him.

I guess I'm not unwilling to lie to get what I want.

#####

When Hestia leaves the door, she realizes that she forgot to tell her first child something very important. But she reassures herself by thinking about the fact that he is supposed to know a bit about the functioning of this city for adventurers.

"If he read about my time in Orario with that mysterious child, surely he knows that he's supposed to get registered at the guild before diving into the dungeon, right?"

#####

After Hestia leaves, I immediately prepare to go into the dungeon. I required money as soon as possible. Even if cultivators generally fight without armor on, instead choosing to keep their ample robes even in their conflicts, I wasn't.

I knew how to throw a punch, how to kick and how to clench thanks to the training I did in my past life. I don't know how much of it would be translated into real fights in this world against creatures with vastly different biological frames, but it was an advantage that I could not afford to squander for the time being.

I don't bother to go looking for anything in the market of the city, even if it's just to look since I don't have a single valis on me.

With the help of a stranger in the street, I arrive at the entrance of the dungeon rather easily.

While I know that it is supposed to be a dark place full of danger, the guild made it rather clear that they are willing to spend a lot to keep adventurers from going inside of it.

From the propaganda of the riches waiting for you in the jaws of the dungeon to the way the entrance to it is decorated, everything is made to make sure that more adventurers kill themselves in the dungeon each year.

Just so that hopefully someone truly strong could emerge from it.

I don't care, but if Ouranos's end goal is to lay waste to the one-eyed dark beast, then maybe this amount of wasted lives could be justified.

If the reality of the life of an adventurer was revealed to the public, I imagine that the dungeon's first floors would become deserted very quickly.

The plethora of maimed ex-adventurers you can find begging on their knees for a few valis in the darker parts of this city is only one example of this reality.

Once I get past the bright-colored decorations outside of the tower of Babel, I enter the rather austere first floor of the tower itself. Severely lacking light, the giant room has nothing but gloom stone bricks to offer. The immensity of the room is here to remind you of your insignificance in the grand scheme of things. A clear contrast to the outside building.

Going down to the first underground floor of the tower of Babel, I am greeted by the gigantic hole leading to the first floor of the dungeon. The hole, completely dark, represents well enough the abyss that is the dungeon for the average adventurer.

Good thing I am not average anymore.

I step inside the circular stair leading to my first adventure, not able to stop my heart from beating out in excitement.

The mood of the surrounding adventurers is nothing like those that step out of the dungeon. Those that manage to survive can go to the guild building and earn money, taken from their effort against death.

The ones that enter the dungeon are never sure of coming back up after all.

I scan the people descending the stairs with me, and none of them seems to be truly well-equipped or even remotely powerful. Considering that my sixth sense can't find a powerful threat among the beginners going into the first floors, I feel like breathing in relief.

After all, I am going completely unarmed into a dungeon that will inevitably try to kill me. Feeling the fact that I should be stronger than those also going to the dungeon is kind of an assessment of my strength.

Even though I know what the average cultivator is capable of, and the knowledge scribed inside my brain by the book tells me how much stronger I can become, it doesn't mean much right now since I am completely unaware of the prowess of the monsters on the first floors.

In the end, I am rather relaxed when I step onto the first floor.

The first floor starts with a wide hallway, making it impossible to get ambushed and the visibility is pretty high. There's light everywhere, no doubt thanks to the adventurers that decided to make it easier for the beginners.

Surprisingly, there's no one near me on the floor. But the fact that I can feel people further away meaning that the hallway is so big that encountering another adventurer should only be intentional explains the situation.

I keep eying around, waiting for my first enemy to spawn as I walk further into the first floor. To help my hunt, I stick close to one of the walls of the hallway.

The moment something starts to come out of the wall near me, I immediately sense it and turn around. The process is rather weird from my point of view. The view is like the monster is coming out of the wall, but the energy is being created in real-time in front of me. the show that I get of the body of the creature slowly being formed makes it a bit too similar to birth for my tastes.

Slowly but surely, a goblin escapes the wall of the dungeon. Its eyes are filled with hate and saliva drops on the ground from his ugly mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth.

Despite the menacing look, the fact that it wears nothing but a rag and is exceptionally thin makes it less threatening.

Equipped with his dangerous-looking claws, he lurches himself at me, roaring in a primal cry of hunger. As the monster approaches me, I can't help but notice how…

Slow it is.

The next moment, the goblin starts to disappear on the ground with a punch-sized hole in its stomach. It did not even have the time to realize what happened and it disappears letting out a final shriek.

"Well, this will be easier than I thought," I say to no one in particular. Realizing that I am too powerful for the first floor, I choose to dive deeper into the dungeon. Goblins are essentially a non-factor for me.

When the dungeon takes note of the fact that I pulverize its minions, it starts to send more, way more, goblins at me. They come out from every wall, even from the ground, and launch themselves with abandon the moment they see me.

After a little test, I realize that their claws can indeed draw blood from me, but my flesh is hard enough that the goblins can barely burrow them inside of my body. All it can do scratch my skin and get drops of my blood.

When I step onto the second floor, I can feel that the atmosphere is different.

First, the sight of a corpse half-eaten on my way makes it difficult for me to put this stage in the same category as the last one. At the same time, I start to feel like I'm being looked at. I wonder if all of these speculations about the dungeon being alive are real and if my cultivator senses can pick it up, or if I'm just being paranoid here.

I don't have the time to ponder on the question since the dungeons immediately send agents to kill me.

The monsters that come out to fight me are not goblins. Instead, bipedal small but muscular creatures come out. They are equipped with leather armor and crude, rusted weapons. Their head takes after dogs, however, they are malicious-looking, with their teeth being crooked and much more pointy than their friendly counterparts. The hate in their eyes is palpable, but I can't expect more from creatures born to kill people like me.

I take an amateurish stance, one that I think could resemble boxing adapted to fighting someone with a weapon, and wait for them to attack me.

The three kobolds in front of me all rush at the same time. Their advantages lie in number, and I'm not sure if I would be able to shrug off the edge of a sword, even if a bit chipped away, the same way I simply shrugged off the goblin's claws.

I dodge the first strike and proceed to violently kick the kobold away from me since the two others are attacking me at the same time.

The monster screeches in pain after taking the hit. The sound it makes when impacting the wall is music to my ears.

Taking a step back, I utilize my superior speed to punch one of them in the face, making his skull bend and break under my knuckles. this one immediately dies after losing its brain.

Seemingly taken aback by my performances, the last one standing hesitate a bit before attacking me the same way his two predecessors did.

Knowing that I took already one down and that the other was heavily disoriented, I decide to try something out and reach to grab the edge of the incoming sword of the last kobold remaining standing up.

When that fails spectacularly and the edge slips away due to the lack of strength in my grip, I quickly take away my hand before the sword can cut through it.

Thank god I was that much faster than the creatures attacking me.

Annoyed by the fact that I dodged his attack, the kobold pours out all of his hatred in his voice, and the resulting scream resonates on the walls of the dungeon.

When I decided to go for the end on the disoriented kobold that got plastered on the wall with my kick and the one glaring at me, ready to try to slash me again, I hear other kobolds spawn behind me.

"Shit, that's what they mean by 'you can feel the dungeon trying to kill you' I guess…"

I blitz the kobold in front of me, delivering a nasty uppercut that breaks everything from his jaw to his skull. Before I can finish the last one of the original group, I sense a mace being launched at my back.

Dodging the attack, I realize that I have now 8 kobolds in total to contend with. All of them are prepared to kill me viciously.

Sighing in annoyance, but with a visible smirk on my face, I can only condition myself to do the same.

#####

Hestia sighs once more. She lost count of the amount of happiness she already expelled from her with her sighs.

The fact that her child hasn't come back yet from the dungeon makes her very anxious and stressed.

While the link they now share allows her to know that he isn't dead, it doesn't tell her anything more either. He could be gravely injured and in danger, and she wouldn't know about it.

As the clock ticks, she continues to look into her reflection in the beverage she prepared and filled her cup with.

The heart of her mortal disguise is beating heavily and quickly, waiting for Tian to come back. She feels powerless, which funnily enough, is what she sought when she left the Heavens to land on the mortal ground.

While the lower world has been nothing but a lot of positive experiences so far, she realizes that her future will be filled with dread at the fact that her child, her precious child, is putting his life on the line every day.

How she wishes to be able to hold him close to her and never let go…

But she can't do that.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be different from that goddess Freya.

Her small hands clench her cup when she thinks about what Tian-kun told her, about what would have happened if he didn't come to her. Her first child would have been a boy called Bell, someone talented enough to have Freya try to put her dirty claws on him.

She wouldn't let that happen. She would find Bell, make him part of her familia alongside Tian-kun and protect the both of them. She knew how dangerous Freya was, especially for someone as ill-established as herself, but she would never let her touch her precious children.

That, she swore on her Arcanum.