After making love, bathe and say goodbye to Semiramis and Scheherezade. Sakura, Ana and Viggo went to the dungeon. Viggo wore his usual clothes, in the purest Spartan style: with a bare torso, a thick belt made of leather with the head of a lion in the center. Underneath he wore a red robe that covered him from the waist to the knees. He had only exchanged the sandals and grebas for brown boots. On the other hand, instead of carrying his axe, he carried a bow and a quiver with arrows to function as a support for the sisters.
At the same time, Sakura and Ana were dressed in black pants and t-shirts, while wearing a metal breastplate made by Hephaestus herself. In addition, Ana's daggers were changed to new purple ones while Sakura obtained a purple bow and a quiver with the emblem of Hephaestus. Well, all the weapons that Hephaestus made carried his emblem, but these were special. Hephaestus had told them how things worked with adventurers and told them that some behaved like ruffians. So, if they had any problems, they just had to hand over their weapons and say who they were. No matter how stupid the adventurers who caused them trouble were, no one would dare to put their hands on the favorites of the goddess of forging. In the worst case they would lose their weapons, but no one would dare to harm them. Being the third most influential goddess in the city of Orario was not just to show off.
However, leaving aside the overprotective side of Hephaestus, the girls seemed happier than ever. They were attached to Viggo's arms as he wore an uncomfortable smile as he was looked at by the rest of the adventurers in the blacksmith district. After the incident of the other time, many were investigating him with the intention of knowing the support. Viggo had been devastating with the adventurer and someone who could beat a level 3 with a single punch would never be a nobody. Of course, once the adventurers learned that Viggo was the son of the goddess of forge they abandoned any kind of affront they had against him. Instead, the adventurers took it upon themselves by spreading rumours that Viggo had obtained wives with his mother's influence and money.
Despite the annoying looks, Viggo continued with his journey through the entire blacksmith district until he reached the main avenue, turned left, and went to the city center, where the huge tower of Babel was visible. At 7 a.m., the streets of Orario in the center of the city were full of adventurers, all bound for the dungeon. At that time, the girls were still on Viggo's arm, but they were concentrated looking at the different types of races: cat, dog, wolf men, small pallum, tall golden-haired elves and humans, the latter of which made up the bulk of the population of Orario.
Once they reached the dungeon, Sakura and Ana separated from Viggo. Ana took the lead by leading the way and exploring the surroundings while Sakura and Viggo followed her with their bows ready to support her. With that formation, they were advancing without major problem from floors 1 to 5. Only on the sixth floor where they complicated by the large number of killer ants that came out to meet them. Viggo could have finished all of them on his own, but if he did that, this wouldn't be a workout. So, Viggo spaced his shots at the ants that got dangerously close to Sakura and Ana, but the bulk of the work was done by them.
The main problem Ana had was anticipating the attacks, since the ants appeared randomly from holes made in the walls. So, didn't have a way to predict where they were going to appear. However, once they overcame the ants, the road became much more expeditious and with all the exploration work by Ana and Sakura's support, they were able to reach the 10th floor, a foggy place that looked like a dark forest.
However, once they faced an Orc, they knew their limit. At the time, it was just an Orc in the middle of a desert plain covered in haze. The white trees without leaves and with dark shapes, gave the impression of a haunted forest.
For his part, Viggo stepped aside and let them experience for themselves.
As always, Ana was the main attacker while Sakura was the support with her arrows. Viggo watched as Ana threw herself head-on at her top speed with a purple dagger in each hand. She was fast for a level 1 and skilled enough to avoid the orc's attack with a long club. However, when she overcame the defenses and launched her attack against the back of the orc's knees, her cuts were useless. She backed up by flipping and generating distance. Inside, she couldn't believe that she wasn't even able to penetrate the monster's skin.
At the same time, Sakura took advantage of throwing a pair of arrows simultaneously and reached the eyes. The orc gave a pitiful roar as he threw the club and brought his hands to his eyes to remove the arrows. Ana continued to retreat as Sakura took a new arrow from her quiver. She pointed at his neck, tightened the bowstring, and let go. The arrow flew through the mist and hit directly into the neck area, but the power of the arrow was unable to overcome the skin barrier. Sakura was shocked for a moment, but she recovered immediately and set out to pull out another arrow to try again. However, Viggo took her hand, she looked him in the eye, and he denied.
-Leave it to me- Viggo said, Sakura frowned, but nodded anyway.
Then Viggo began to trot in the direction of the creature that once the arrows were removed from his eyes, continued to cover his face with both hands. Viggo took advantage of increasing the speed, came in front of the orc and kicked the right knee head-on. The bones sounded as if someone broke a rod in half, and the orc fell on its knees. Then Viggo clenched his fist and threw a powerful punch. The orc's head sank leaving a crater at the top. The orc died instantly and fell face to the ground and then turned into specks of light, disappeared, and dropped a purple stone.
Viggo crouched down to pick up the stone and turned to look at the girls. He walked to them and laid the stone to Sakura. She made an uncomfortable smile at being unable to fight on her own, but she accepted the stone and kept it in a leather bag where she kept the other monster stones.
-Don't take it so seriously- said Viggo -you're just learning to lead this lifestyle and over time you'll become stronger-
Sakura nodded seriously, and Viggo smiled contentedly at his determined attitude. On the other hand, Ana looked a bit down. Viggo walk to her, give her a little hug, and whisper the same thing he said to Sakura. She raised her small face and nodded seriously just like her sister.
After explaining the strengths and weaknesses of each, Viggo guided them to the surface. By the time they reached the square that preceded the entrance of the dungeon, it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the sun was in full swing. Viggo took the girls to the ice cream shop that Flora recommended and gave them an ice cream to each one. Then they went to a square and saw a concrete bench sheltered under the shade of a tree. The three of them walked to the bench and sat down while eating their ice cream. Because of the hot weather and the schedule, there were only them and another couple in the park. However, the couple was about fifty meters away from them. Viggo from where he was could only see the back of the couple, they seemed close and on good terms. At the same time, Sakura and Ana rested their heads on Viggo's shoulders.
-Mother said Viggo couldn't use falna- Sakura said.
Viggo narrowed his eyes looking through the square without understanding who she was referring to, but realizing how his own mother treated them, he assumed that Sakura was referring to Hephaestus. Then he nodded and replied -that's right, I couldn't use the falna, but from the beginning I never needed it. I was born strong and grew strong by the influence of my divinity. However, when time comes, I reach my limit. So, when my father sent me to train outside, they sealed my divinity so that it will stop trusting me with that power and start creating my own power. It sounds great when I say it like that, but the reality is that I had to train my body and push it to the limit to gain strength-
-Will we have to do the same?- asked Ana.
-I do not think so, the falna works more in resonance to the will of the person and the soul. Many people talk about having an "adventure" and reaching unsuspected limits, but my father's books say other things that make a lot more sense. Later we stop by Dad's house and ask him for his books, surely, he lends them without putting any problem-
-But isn't that valuable?- asked Sakura.
Viggo looked at her sideways and smiled -that would be a problem if you were two strangers, but now you are family- he replied -in addition, my old man loves to teach other people. Even if he calls Jason, Achilles, and Odysseus "the three idiots." He always smiles at the thought of them. So, if you become good at reading, could even my father teach you something. He is the man of a thousand abilities, from cooking a delicious meal to making magic without even needing a magic support system-
Viggo bowed his head thinking about how far he was from being able to fight his father and his gaze became sad. Sakura and Ana noticed it, and each brought her ice cream cone to Viggo's mouth. The latter was taken aback for a moment, but after understanding what they were doing, he smiled. He tasted both ice creams and smiled at having them.
-Viggo also has a lot of skills- Sakura said.
-Yes, it's true- Ana replied in a serious tone -Viggo will grow strong and one day be stronger than Dad-
Viggo smiled, gave each of them a kiss on the lips, and they sat in the shade of the tree as the afternoon wore on.
Once they finished eating, the three of them went to the Adventurer Guild and met Aina. She was busy as one of the guild administrators, so she assigned them an advisor who was to her liking. The advisor took them to the booths to exchange stones for valuables and once the exchange took place, Viggo and company said goodbye and went to Kain's house.
Once they arrived at the house, just like other times, they found Kain sitting under the apple tree. At that time, he was accompanied by Maria, who collected dandelions that grew with the undergrowth. Baby Eina slept in a crib placed next to Kain's chair while Kain was sitting in a chair with several foods and bottles on the table.
Once Viggo arrived in front of the table, he said with a smile -hello, father-
Kain smiled in response, stretched out his hand as if offering to offer them that they will sit at the table with him -What are you in boy?- he asked in a good mood. Viggo, Ana and Sakura sat on the other side of the table to look at Kain head-on.
Viggo was taken aback for a moment by the question, but remembering who he was talking to, he smiled -yes, you see- he said looking at Sakura and Ana at his sides -Sakura and Ana want to learn how to level up and become stronger. So, I wanted to borrow some books from the library so they can read them-
-Okay- he replied -What do you want to know about?-
-To begin with, how to improve the skills-
Kain squeezed his septum for a moment, and Sakura and Ana looked at him worriedly. However, Viggo took his hands under the table and put them on their hands. In turn, they looked at him and he denied, as if wanting to tell them that it is not as if their father had become angry. Someone like his father surely knows many things and must try to remember some of them.
And just as Viggo thought, Kain the minute later opened his eyes and raised his left hand, where he wore the ring with an embedded sapphire. The ring gave off a small glow, and the next instant four thick books appeared on the table.
Viggo put on an uncomfortable smile when he saw them, as he didn't like to read. Which made Kain frown.
-Did you read the book about touki?- asked Kain.
Viggo scratched his head and nodded -yes, it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I had to fight sleep on several occasions-
-Idiot, the important thing is to learn How many times do I have to tell you? Once you understand how a skill works, the only thing left is the practice and control of energy-
Kain let out a sigh and looked at the girls -these are books that can teach them how to improve their skills- he said pointing to the four books on the table -if they learn the mechanics behind leveling up and improving a skill, in the future they will be able to give Viggo a good beating-