[Arc 1]Chapter 10

Hephaestus' POV

It is now the next day. I'm currently waiting for Phaes to come into my office.

While I was waiting I decided to theorize on how he got stronger so quickly.

A definite reason is because of his [Skill] [One Track Mind] however that can't be all, afterall there are few who have similar [Skills] but they haven't developed at the rate that Phaes is developing.

Another reason may be because he fights monsters that are drastically stronger than him, and if that's true then he may even be able to [Level Up] after I update his [Status].

The last reason I can think of is foolish and unrealistic, but it may be because of his pure hard work. He's a human, humans are adaptive creatures which give them an innate enhancement to their development abilities, he also has some high elf blood which explains his [Magic] prowess. Lastly, Phaes is hardworking, to the point that it wouldn't be suspicious if he died from overwork. Add all these together and you get someone who should be able to develop at impossible rates.

I sighed and I had a grim thought at the end of my thought process.

'I may have to hand him over to another familia like Loki's familia, because Freya and Apollo are gaining an interest in him.', I thought this with a sigh and my heart felt heavy when I thought about it. It always does, when your considering about using [Conversion] on one of your own children.

Freya probably won't act considering when I met her last time, she said that in two years something may happen which interests her and considering this is Freya we are talking about, it seems plausible. Freya has an amazing intuition, and this is an indisputable fact.

The problem is Apollo. Apollo is impulsive, completely unlike his sister Artemis. My familia has more wealth and necessary weapons, however his familia has more attack power. If he starts a [War Game], then not only will we lose the match, we will also lose assets, reputation and wealth.

I need to think this through more carefully.

KNOCK KNOCK

I heard someone knocking and I knew who it was.

"Enter.", I called out.

CLACLINK CREAAAAAK

I heard the door open and I saw the same blue eyed child, as yesterday.

"I'm here.", Phaes stated.

'The moment of truth is here.', I thought to myself.

You see, when adventurers obtain [Excelia] they also gain the ability to allow gods to see their history, meaning I can find out why he's grown so fast.

"Sit down and take off your shirt.", I ordered Phaes.

Phaes sat down on the chair in front of me and showed me his back, when he took off his shirt.

I held my needle and poked my finger with it, so only a droplet of blood leaked. I then swiped my droplet of blood on his back and his [Status] was revealed.

Seeing his [Status] I unintentionally sucked in a breath.

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Name: Phaes Urian

Level: 1 [+]

STR: I 53 -> SS 1050

VIT: I 75 -> S 999

DEX: E 450 -> SSS 1500

AGL: I 90 -> SS 1075

MAG: I 25 -> SSS 1800

<Skills>

Single Road Mind - The ability to put 100% consciousness on one activity which increases the growth or quality of the result by the amount of will used.

Enchant - imbue a spell or attribute in an item, either permanently or temporarily

Detect Presence - The ability to detect all presences within a certain range.

<Developmental Skills>

Swords Prodigy - The ability to develop sword abilities, skills and techniques faster with more efficiency and quality.

Nirvana Body - All status effects and ailments are nullified, there is also a 1% HP per hour bonus.

<Magic>

Akashic Records - The ability to summon your self into the realm of a library which has lots of information.

Mana Clad - The ability to summon pure mana through your body and either clad a weapon in it or throw it directly.

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'Huh. It really did rename itself [Mana Clad].', I thought absent mindedly.

Once I regained my calm, i had a lot of things to process. Like, how his [Parameters] had exceeded [Rank S], or how two of his [Skills] had evolved. Buy first...

"Kneel.", I demanded of Phaes in a harsh voice.

"Huh?", he let out a stupid voice.

"I said kneel.", I repeated what I said.

"H-huh. O-okay?", Phaes was showing a vast amount of confusion and hesitation but I didn't care.

Once he keeled I slapped his face multiple times, and then I slapped his back. I asked him one question:

"Do you know why I did this?", I asked in a harsh voice, while I saw Phaes visibly shake.

"N-no.", Phaes muttered out as he was on the verge of tears.

"You fool.", I said as I brought Phaes into a hug.

"You could've died.", I stated.

"B-but if I didn't then they could've died.", he whispered as he responded to my hug.

"I don't care. You are my responsibility, and I can't bare to one day hear the death of one of my own children.", I said while hugging him tighter.

"WAAAAA~!", Phaes began to cry in my embrace as he hugged me tighter.

I forget sometimes but he's also a child. If you include his amnesia, then it hasn't even been a year since he was born. The stress he must have had from keeping this a secret must have been abysmal.

After a while, he stopped crying.

"Your not mad?", he inquired.

"I am mad.", I stated.

"I would do it a hundred times, you know?", he stated.

"I know and I'll still be mad all those hundred of times.", I stated back.

'He's truly like a child.', I thought while lightly patting his back.

As a side note though, the Artemis Familia owes both me and him big-time. They owe me for causing stress, and owe him for risking his life.

'I may have to convert him to the Loki Familia.', I thought with heavy feelings.

Loki Familia is one of the familias in Orario that carry the most weight, even Apollo wouldn't dare attack them for one of their children.

After tens of minutes of hugging I asked him one question.

"Would you like to [Level Up]?"

I asked him because if he becomes strong so fast then adventuring in the dungeon may become boring for him.

Not like that matters anymore, considering that he's already fought beasts.

Phaes thought for a while but in the end he nodded.

"Great.", I muttered.

After, I asked him to sit down once again and then started his [Level Up] process. His [Status] changed into this:

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Name: Phaes Urian

Level: 2

STR: I 0

VIT: I 0

DEX: I 0

AGL: I 0

MAG: I 0

Grand Magus: A

<Skills>

The Messenger's Wish: Mezerin - The ability to charge for an active action. This [Skill] can summon mana swords, allow the user to obtain any magic the user strives to learn, and also increase the user's ability to teach. This [Skill] is heavily dependent on the user's will.

Single Road Mind - The ability to put 100% consciousness on one activity which increases the growth or quality of the result by the amount of will used.

Enchant - imbue a spell or attribute in an item, either permanently or temporarily

Detect Presence - The ability to detect all presences within a certain range.

<Developmental Skills>

Grand Magus - All magic affinity and greatly reduces magic damage. Greatly improves the power, effect range and greatly decreases mind usage. This [Developmental Skill] also shortens chants. The side effect is that all magic circles are coloured golden and user will never be able to obtain healing magic.

Swords Prodigy - The ability to develop sword abilities, skills and techniques faster with more efficiency and quality.

Nirvana Body - All status effects and ailments are nullified, there is also a 1% HP per hour bonus.

<Magic>

Akashic Records - The ability to summon your self into the realm of a library which has lots of information.

Mana Clad - The ability to summon pure mana through your body and either clad a weapon in it or throw it directly.

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This day marks the start of Phaes Urian's grand adventure.