Astraea Familia

"Where am I?" was my first thought when I woke up in a different place. "Did I die again?"

I took a brief moment to remember what had happened.

It's true. They found me on the fifth floor when I was trying to get out of the dungeon. I really should stop trying to do crazy things. At least, I should be well prepared for the consequences.

I looked around the place where I was and found myself in a quite impressive room. The bed was very comfortable, unlike what I normally use. The ceiling was quite high, and in general, the room was much bigger than the attic where I usually sleep or the other rooms of my familia members.

"Hey, stupid. Are you done waking up yet?" I heard a voice coming from beside me.

The sudden voice surprised me, and I looked in the direction it came from. It was a girl slightly taller than me with pink hair and pink eyes. I have to admit, she looked quite adorable. Although I felt a little offended by what she said, I couldn't help but reply to her.

"First of all, who are you? Second, I'm not stupid."

"I am Lyra, a member of the Astraea familia. Also, I called you stupid because you went to the seventh floor of the dungeon alone, without even being prepared for it. To be honest, I don't like people who do the same thing you did, but that could change if you help me improve Alise and Kaguya's weapons."

I frowned at what she said, but couldn't argue with it because it was true.

"Don't worry, I can pay you whatever it takes if you improve my weapons." I looked at her with confusion for a moment, but then remembered that she was talking about weapons. For a moment, I thought about collecting a decent amount of money, but then I remembered that they were the ones who helped me in the dungeon. So, I thought it would be rude if I didn't at least thank them by doing them a favor.

"Okay, you don't need to pay me because they helped me when I was in the dungeon. Leaving that aside, where am I?"

She put on a better expression when she heard what I said. "You are in the Stardust Garden."

"Where?" The name sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember it.

"The Astraea familia House."

"Ah." I felt a bit of an idiot for asking something so obvious and for forgetting that little detail.

"How long have I been asleep?" I tried to change the subject.

"You've been asleep for almost three whole days. Your familia was very worried about you. They didn't leave the room, and Alise had to convince them that it was better for you to stay alone and recover with the help of our healing magicians." She must be talking about Ryuu and another member of the Astraea familia that I can't remember.

"Does that mean that Ryuu herself healed me? It's a shame that the first time we meet is when I'm unconscious, not that it matters too much," I thought.

"Can I leave this room?" I asked. I wanted to return to Goddess Abeona as soon as possible to update my falna. I was hoping that my status in relation to her had increased significantly because of everything that had happened.

"The best thing for now is that you rest. When we found you, you were in very bad shape because the poison had spread to a large part of your body. Ryuu said that you must have spent a lot of time with the poison in your body. That's why I said you're an idiot for going to the seventh floor without even taking an item to counter poisons."

I sighed, hearing her insult me every chance she got.

"You must be very lucky to have been found by us. It's a miracle that you didn't die, and the fact that you have no injuries confirms that any monster could have killed you in that state."

How bad was my situation? Had I relied too much on my abilities and magic, becoming arrogant? Had I become too reckless by going to the dungeon almost every day? The more I thought, the worse my mood became with every question and doubt I had.

"You look really bad, you change from depression too fast. It's not my job to babysit anyway. So I'll go tell the girls that you've woken up," she said.

My mood was so bad that I didn't even bother with the last thing she said before leaving the room and just kept thinking about the decisions I had made.

After what seemed like a short moment, I heard the door open and saw many girls of different races peeking through the door.

There was a woman of the werewolf race, an amazon, two elves - one of which was Ryuu, who had long hair instead of short and I think it suited her better. The other elf was a little girl. There were also Alisia and Kaguya. The rest were humans or similar races. Although I have a hard time telling the difference between dwarves, pallums, and humans unless they're already adults. There was one brown-haired, blue-eyed woman who stood out among them all because of the feeling she gave off, she was quite similar to Abeona and Adeona.

My whole mood changed from depressed to embarrassed. I rarely get involved with too many people I don't know, and I also don't like being the center of attention from strangers.

"See, I told you that he had very strange eyes."

"What race do you think he belongs to?"

"I don't know. It's the first time I've seen someone like him."

"He also has very nice wings on his head."

"His skin is very pale. I think he could try many types of makeup with that skin type and make him look amazing next to his pretty eyes!"

I could hear some things they were saying even though they were quite far away.

But then the woman entered, along with Alisia and Kaguya. She closed the door, leaving all the other girls outside.

She started to walk in my direction, and when she got to the bed, she sat down in a chair before starting to speak.

"Liam, I apologize for the inappropriate behavior of my familia."

"I don't think they did something wrong or inappropriate." I seriously don't know what she are talking about. Besides, they are not the only people who have commented on my strange appearance. For some reason or out of courtesy, many people avoid talking about how I look when they see my face, and few are so direct.

"I hope you're feeling better, and let me thank you for helping improve my daughter's weapon."

"Don't worry, there's no need to thank me. I just wanted to experiment with my skills on weapons made by much better blacksmiths than me. Plus, they gave me the materials to experiment with."

It was one time when I borrowed Fresk's forge room and found Alise and Kaguya at the entrance. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I offered them a deal. They would allow me to experiment with the Crimson Order (Alise's Sword) and the Higanbana (Kaguya's Katana), and they would provide the materials. I did warn them that it's possible that the materials will be wasted and it won't help at all. They seemed to consider the pros and cons, but they ended up accepting.

They went to get the materials they had, and when they came back, I used the materials as a sacrifice. Then, I returned the swords to them, but none of us knew if the sword had improved or not.

In the end, I didn't know if the sacrifice I offered worked because they weren't weapons that I created myself. It's not like I knew if it had or not because I could only notice what Adam and Eve did when using them. They gave me a small chance to crit, making some of my attacks feel stronger than others.

"Liam, let me thank you for the Crimson Order upgrade. My fire magic has improved much more when I use it than before," Alise said.

"Also, let me thank you because my katana sometimes becomes more powerful, and I feel that my strength and dexterity usually improve when I use it."

For some reason, I was able to breathe a small sigh of relief. At least now I understand my skill a bit better, and mostly both swords didn't land critical hits because it would be hard to explain.

"You seriously don't have to thank me. Besides, you already helped me enough by rescuing me from the dungeon. But I'd be grateful if you didn't tell anyone about me."

"Okay," they said at the same time.

"If you need our help, don't hesitate to ask for it. Rest well. Lyra already went to tell your familia that you woke up," Astrea said.

"Get well," Alise said with a small smile.

"I wish you the best," Kaguya said before saying goodbye.

I don't know what to think of this meeting. Maybe if I sleep, when I wake up, all my doubts will clear themselves up. Well, it never hurts to dream.