Chapter 5: First Dive

The next day I find myself walking into the main Guild building. I see multiple lines of people in front of the counters so I find the one with the least amount of people and head over there. Before long, I'm in front of a beautiful wolf eared woman with long wavy red hair that goes halfway down her back and golden yellow eyes.

"Hello and welcome to the guild. My name is Rose, how can I help you my lord?" The woman asks me. I can already see how this is going to go.

"Well Rose, I'm here to register as an adventurer." I say and she freezes and stares at me.

". . ."

". . . Is this a joke?" she asks me.

"No it's not a joke and before you say anything, I'm not a god." I firmly say.

". . . Alright, I won't pry then. What Familia are you a part of?" she asks me calmly.

"Hephaestus Familia." I state as I hand over the fee for registration and she nods her head then hands me a sheet of paper.

"Please fill out the relevant information." she says and I proceed to do so. After I finish, I hand the paper back to her and she checks it over before nodding.

"Okay, everything looks fine. There are a few things I have to explain now. The Guild takes no responsibility for any losses you incur within the dungeon, Including your own life. Any Illegal activities over a limit will be subject to a penalty. If you are placed on the blacklist, you won't have any assistance from the Guild and any stones or drop items will be confiscated. Do you understand?" she asks me and I nod my head. I already knew these things so It's not like It's hard to agree.

"Good, now do you want an advisor? If you choose to have one, they will assist you whenever you are here in the Guild for free?" I nod.

"What is your preferred gender and race for Advisor? Keep in mind that you may not get what you want." she ask me and I smile.

"Female werewolf please!" I say with a cheeky grin.

". . ." she stares at me, unamused.

"Come back tomorrow to meet your advisor, have a nice day." she stoically says.

I walk out of the Guild and proceed to make my way to the Tower of Babel in the center of Orario. Now that I'm registered, I can head into the dungeon. Thinking about it is getting me excited. I'll actually be fighting monsters just like in all of the fantasy stories I've read.

I pick up the pace and soon enough I arrive at the tower. I go inside and make my way to the center before going down one of the three staircases that lead to the giant spiral staircase going down into the dungeon.

Once I reach the bottom I walk for a bit and find myself in the first floor of the dungeon. I excitedly run forward in hopes of finding my first monster to fight. After running for a bit through the blue walled tunnel, I finally come across a single Goblin. It's a tiny little thing green thing with three horns and lots of brown hair covering it's lower body. I grin and pull Gideon off of my hip and rush forward towards the goblin.

It notices me and tries to swing at me as soon as I get close. I block it's strike with my forearm-guard on my left arm and swing Gideon at it's head. Upon contact, the head explodes, sending out a spray of blood and chunks of brain matter flying everywhere.

I stand there in silence for a few moments before face palming. That's right, I started out with 100 in every stat so I'm 'over leveled' for the first floor. On top of that, even though Gideon is still shrunken down, It has its full weight as a war hammer. heavy weight, small surface area, high speed and power. The recipe for destruction.

I shake my head, and start running through the first floor of the dungeon. The sooner I move on to the next floor, the sooner I can actually have a real battle. I spend about ten minutes running and killing Goblins before I finally find the stairs leading down to the next floor. I head down as I try to remember what Tsubaki told me yesterday.

On the second floor, there should still only be goblins. However, they should be stronger. Even so, It shouldn't be until I reach the Kobolds that start appearing on the third floor that I can actually get a decent fight. Soon, I'm proven right when I start decimating the Goblins on the second floor. I sigh in disappointment as I start looking for the entrance to the next floor.

After finding it, I descend once more and after killing some Goblins I run into something different. I see a humanoid man with the head of a wolf and gray fur on his back and upper legs. Finally, I found a Kobold.

I smile and run forward to fight it. It jumps towards me in an attempt to tackle me to the ground so I stop and move to the side making it miss me. As it lands, I swing Gideon and hit it right in its snout. It falls over and many of it's teeth fall out but it doesn't die. It slowly tries to get up, face bloody and growling in anger. I don't let it though as I swing my hammer downwards directly onto it's skull, shattering it.

The Kobolds are definitely tougher than the Goblins but the difference is not that big. I can kill them in two to three hits so I won't get that much of a fight out of them. I decide I should keep going deeper to at least the fifth floor. There, I'll find War Shadows and Killer Ants which should be the perfect opponents for my level. Most importantly though, the monster birth rate will be faster. This will give me plenty of enemies to go up against and grow stronger.

I repeat the process of looking for the way to the next floor. Along the way I run into a few larger groupings of monsters that give me a bit more of a challenge due to their numbers, but not close enough to satisfy me. Am I becoming a battle junkie? Putting aside my thoughts, I find the way to the fourth floor then make my way through it and arrive at the fifth floor.

Here it doesn't take me long to find out why Killer Ants and War Shadows are known as newbie killers. I first run into the Killer Ants, more so, around twenty of them. One rushes me and I dodge backwards to avoid its pincers. Its size and shape make it inconvenient for me to fight it with Gideon in this form so I have it grow to its full size.

Once It's in range, I swing Gideon down onto its head. It lets out a screech that draws the attention of the other Killer Ants as it staggers back from the hit. I look and notice its head has a few cracks in it but nothing too serious. That's not good for me though as it makes me realize I may have done exactly what Hephaestus didn't want me to do. Bitten off more than I can chew.

Seeing the other Killer Ants rushing towards me, I try to finish off the one in front of me. That was a bad idea though, as even after hitting it again in the same spot with Gideon, It's still not dead. Although, It's very close. In the time it took me to hit it, the other Killer Ants arrive and one of them manages to hit me in torso while I'm pulling back from my swing.

The wind gets knocked out of my lungs and I get sent flying backwards. I hit the ground and roll a few times before I get up as quickly as I can and start running. The pain in my side from as I run makes me realize I probably have a few broken ribs. I try my best to think about what I can do. Gideon, although great, is only as good as I am. I don't have enough strength at the moment to kill the ants faster. Wait, I have {Divine Flame}!

Hephaestus said it should be both an attack and support skill. She was right about it greatly supporting my black smithing so I'm willing to bet she's right about it being an attack one as well. I don't know how to use it but I decide to risk it and follow my instincts. They have yet to lead me astray after all.

I stop and turn around, seeing the swarm of Killer Ants still chasing me, I lift Gideon up above my head with both hands and channel my mind into it as I slam it down onto the ground with all my strength. As Gideon hits the ground, I feel my mind getting drained faster and a shockwave of {Divine Flame} gets sent out in all directions.

The Killer Ants closest to me all died instantly while the ones further away are still alive, but not for long. They're squirming and screeching in pain from the flames engulfing them and soon enough they all die as well. The only exception being one singular ant with several cracks on its head that lagged behind the rest of the group as it was moving slower due to its injury.

I grin as I go forward and slam Gideon onto Its head one last time, killing it. I do my best to calm my breathing from running as I look around at all the corpses around me. With this experience as a lesson, I decide not to go past the seventh floor as that's when the monsters will get stronger again. I myself can't grow until I head back to Hephaestus and get my status updated so I should hold off on going further than that.

I notice that the pain in my side isn't as bad as before and realize it receded after the flames from the shockwave passed through me. Getting an Idea, I light my hand up with {Divine Flame} and press it to where it hurts. I feel my injuries mending and soon I'm completely healed. So the flames can heal me as well, that's good, It'll help me save on potions.

I'm about to leave to keep hunting but stop as I realize something. I was excited for battle before but after that fight I'm calmer and thinking more clearly. This leads me to realize that I haven't been grabbing the magic stones from the monsters I've been killing. I groan at forgetting something so important but I guess it's not that bad since they were just Goblins and Kobolds. I shake my head and grab all the magic stones from the Killer Ants and place them in my {Dimensional Storage}.

I make my way through the fifth floor, fighting several more groups of Killer Ants along the way. Well, not exactly fighting, more like luring them together so I can kill them all with a {Divine Flame} shockwave. I also make sure to kill extra Goblins and Kobolds to make up for all the ones I didn't loot. Eventually though, I get to the sixth floor.

On this floor the other of the two monsters nicknamed 'Newbie Killer' appears, War Shadows. Learning from my mistake with the Killer Ants, I choose to proceed with caution. After making my way through the floor for a while and killing more Killer Ants, I finally come across them.

A pack of about 30 or so dark black, humanoid, shadow looking creatures with sharp claws. Each of them sporting a singular red glowing red eye. I hesitate at the large number of War Shadows, but decide I want to see how the shockwave does against them before anything else. If it doesn't work, I'll run.

I run forward towards the group and stop just a bit a way from them. I raise Gideon as they notice me and start running at me. Shit, they're way faster than the Killer Ants. I bring the hammer down as fast as I can and manage to make it just as a War Shadow Slashes my unarmored arm. The shockwave kills all of them instantly showing that it's better against them than the Killer Ants.

I fall to one knee in exhaustion from the low amount of mind I have. Maybe I won't go to the seventh floor today. I'm already low and about to be lower once I heal my arm. I light up my left hand and proceed to heal my arm. After I'm done, I grab all the magic stones from the War Shadows and start to head back up.

After I reach the entrance floor of the tower, I waste no time in heading off to the guild to trade in my magic stones. I get there and notice the much smaller amount of people due to the late time of day. I came out later than most and I realize Hephaestus might be worrying about me right now.

'Hey Hephy, just want to let you know I'm okay and will be seeing you soon' I think while focusing on her hearing it.

'Okay, be safe on your way back. I want to know why you came back so late' she sends back. I smile at her care and head over to where I see Rose behind the counter.

"You're back." she says. A woman of few words, this one is. I remember that she cares a lot about the adventurers under her care and has seen too many of them die. That's why she's so serious all the time.

"I came to trade in the magic stones I got today." I say and she stares at me for a few moments before telling me to put them on the counter. I nod and do just that, shocking her in the process when she sees them pour out of my {Dimensional Storage}. She gets over her shock rather quickly, most likely due to years of experience as a Guild worker, and efficiently counts up my total.

"You've made 60,832 Valis. . . You shouldn't push yourself. This is far more than a level 1 should be bringing back." She says calmly but I can hear the worry in her voice. Yeah, she definitely has a caring heart under that stoic façade.

"Thanks for caring and I'll keep your words in mind." I say with a smile and she nods before handing me my Valis. I put them in storage and proceed make my way back home to Hephaestus. I arrive at the tower and make my way up to her office where she looks at me the moment I enter.

"Your armor is torn! Are you okay!?" she asks me as she runs up to check on me. I smile and give her a quick hug before taking my jacket off.

"I did get injured but it turns out {Divine Flame} can heal me so I'm perfectly fine." I say and she sighs in relief.

"That's good, since you took your jacket off and are now taking off your armor I guess you want a status update?" she asks and I nod as I take off my shirt and lie face down on the couch like the first time she did this. She walks up to me and updates my status before letting out a groan.

"Yeah. . . I can see that you got injured a few more times than just once. This much of an improvement after one day is unheard of. Frankly, it should be impossible." she says as she glares at me. I grab the paper from her hands and take a look at it.

[Name] - Heine

[Age] - 15

[Race] - Demi-God

[Level] - 1

[Strength] - H100 -> F309

[Endurance] - H100 -> F374

[Dexterity] - H100 -> G213

[Agility] - H100 -> G244

[Magic] - H100 -> F398

[Skills] - {Hammer of Hephaestus} - {Forge Library} - {Dimensional Storage} - {Armament Master} - {Demi-God}

[Magic] - {Divine Flame}

[Development Abilities] - {Divine Blacksmith}

{Hammer of Hephaestus}: Gained due to constantly spending your blood, sweat, and tears for a year straight to create a blade worthy of your love for Hephaestus.

- Divine Blacksmith: Can smith weapons and armor on the level of gods as well as apply different effects and magics to them.

- Divine Connection: Hephaestus's Arcanum flows through you granting you a direct connection to her through it allowing you to communicate with her no matter the distance. It also gives the both of you access to each other's senses and should you allow it, Hephaestus can temporarily take control of your body.

- Extension of Hephaestus: You can use your connection to Hephaestus to access and update the falna of the members of her Familia.

{Forge Library}: Grants you a mental library of blueprints of every weapon or armor you have ever created or assimilated.

- Browse: Allows you to browse through all the blueprints in your library.

- Withdraw: Allows you to withdraw a copy of a blueprint from the library into physical form.

- Automate: Allows you to automate the smithing process. The better your understanding of the process the better the result.

- Replicate: Allows you to replicate a weapon or armor. The better your understanding of the original item and how it is made the better the replication.

- Assimilate: Allows you to learn the crafting process of a weapon or armor while destroying it in the process. The more you Assimilate the better the blueprint. Likewise, you can also practice crafting the item to improve the blueprint.

{Dimensional Storage}: Grants you access to a personal Storage dimension.

- Open: Opens a storage space.

- Close: Closes a storage space.

- Swap: Swaps the currently active storage.

- Create: Creates a new storage space.

- Erase: Erases the currently active storage space and everything inside of it.

{Armament Master}: You have an immediate mastery of a weapon or armor the moment you pick it up or equip it.

{Demi-God}: Through your love and dedication towards Hephaestus, The goddess of the forge, you have received access to her Arcanum, remaking you into a Demi-god.

- God eyes: You can see through the lies of mortals as well as Illusions. You can also see details most people cannot and will instinctively be able to tall when something is out of place.

- Language of the Gods: As a Demi-God you have an innate understanding of hieroglyphs.

- Divine Aura: You have a presence that seems otherworldly to mortals and overbearing when you want it to be.

- Divine Body: Your limit surpasses that of mortals allowing you to grow much more and your foundation is stronger.

- Divine Growth: You grow at a much faster pace compare to mortals.

"Hehehe. . . I'm pretty impressive, aren't I?" I ask, which makes her glare at me harder.

"You're reckless is what you are! I have half a mind to prevent you from going into the dungeon tomorrow!" she says and I quickly get up and give her a peck on the lips, silencing her as her face goes red.

"I love you too Hephy. Now, I'm tired so I'm gonna go sleep. Goodnight!" I say before grabbing my clothes and running out of her office and up to my room.

'This isn't over. . . cheeky brat. . .'